I was a big fan of Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln when it first came out last November. If I had written a top 10 of 2012, Lincoln would have landed at number two, behind only Silver Linings Playbook. Now out on Blu-ray and DVD, Spielberg’s late-period masterpiece only grows richer with repeat viewings, thanks largely to Daniel Day-Lewis’ remarkable performance in the title role, but also because of the quality of the craftsmanship at every level of the production.
I’ll spare you the plot recap (if you’re curious, you can read my full review of Lincoln here) and get to what every Blu-ray buyer worth his salt is wondering: How do the bonus features stack up? On this front, I have both good and bad news.
First, the good news: Lincoln’s extras are wonderfully produced, cover most aspects of the production, and are included on their own bonus Blu-ray disc in full HD. I especially enjoyed “Living With Lincoln,” an overview of principal photography that clocks in at just under a half hour (meaty for this release), “A Historical Tapestry,” which showcases Richmond, Va. (where the film was largely shot) and includes sweeping vistas of Civil War-era battlefields and mansions, and “In Lincoln’s Footsteps,” which chronicles the meticulous (some would say insane) work of the sound department, and composer John Williams recording Lincoln’s excellent musical score with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in the Second City.
There are anecdotes galore, including reminisces from all the actors and Spielberg himself. Personal favorites include Day-Lewis talking about working with Tommy Lee Jones; James Spader discussing his clotheshorse of a character (he claims the character had more costume changes than Mary Todd Lincoln); and Spielberg detailing a meeting with Day-Lewis right after shooting had ended, where the actor spoke to him in his own Irish-accented voice for the first time since filming began, and Spielberg began to weep knowing that his Lincoln was gone.
Now for the bad news: The extras are so good that you’ll wish there were more of them. The included featurettes run about an hour in total, which isn’t very long when you consider the movie runs two and a half. I would have liked to see more from Doris Kearns Goodwin, whose book was the underlying source material for the film. The cast and crew constantly reference all the research they did for the film, tracking down old photos and driving the National Archives and Smithsonian nuts with requests. Would it have been too much to include some of these photos and papers? And finally, there’s no director’s commentary track. As far as I know, Spielberg has never done one, so it’s not like he skimped on Lincoln. But come on, Steve, speak!
The biggest nitpick of all is that there are two Blu-ray editions of Lincoln, one of which doesn’t include the bulk of the extras. (You have to spring for the four-disc edition to get everything.) Seems chintzy for such a classy production.
Despite the weakness of the bonus materials, I still highly recommend Lincoln on Blu-ray, largely because it’s a great film presented with excellent picture and sound quality (the film looks better on my home TV than it did in the theater), and because Day-Lewis’ performance ranks as one of the finest in cinema history.
This article appears in Mar 28 – Apr 3, 2013.