Sling Blade (DVD, 2005, Special Edition)

This is the way classic award winning films should be released on DVD. Billy Bob Thornton's classic triple-threat (starring/writing/directing)de​but is an American masterpiece. With portraying life in the South without ever being patronizing or stereotypical, this film about tortured soul Karl Childers, a simple yet disturbed man coming home after 25 years of being hospitalized for the murder of his mother and her lover at the age of 12, is quite frankly one of the last great American film classics of the past fifteen years. There's no denying the acting expertise of Thornton, who worked at his craft for over ten years before finally being given the chance to show his creation to the world with his stunning transformation into the embodiment of Childers, and all without the use of today's special effect makeup or dreaded CGI. It's all Thorton, and played amazingly. It's no wonder then in 1996, he won the award for Best Adapted Screenplay ("adapted" due to his earlier 1994 short film version of Karl in "Some Folks Call It A Sling Blade") as well as being nominated that year for the Best Actor Oscar.

This new 2005 second edition DVD, is packed with mandatory new features. First, the movie itself is now 13 minutes longer (totaling 2 hours and 28 minutes long!) with additional & extended scenes that add to the film without altering the overall feel of the original. Second, the DVD's second disc is jammed packed with Bonus features ranging from a historical view of the career & life of Thornton, roundtable discussions with the majority of the film's cast (including excellent reflections by the late great John Ritter), and behind the scenes featuring Billy Bob directing the film and the amazing physical transformation he did to become Karl Childers.....

....However, that last one isn't so visibly accessible. For it's this Collector Series' DVD Easter Egg! So, I'd like to tell you how you too can access this brief yet interesting Easter Egg, here we go:

Go to Disc Two, and choose the first documentary "Mr Thornton Goes To Hollywood". At this point either select Chapter 11 "Lightnin', You're The Boss" or "Play All" and go to exactly 52:09 into the documentary. Once at that point, wait until you reach the part with John Ritter starting to explain the visual transformation of Billy Bob becoming Karl and you will see in the bottom right hand corner of your screen a silhouette of Karl sitting down facing the left. Quickly press "ENTER" on your remote to activate this button (this is the only way to get to this). Once there, you will see what Ritter was talking about, showing footage on the film's set Billy Bob physically changing into Karl right before a few takes each, lasting only about 21 seconds total. After it plays the DVD will automatically take you back to the exact point in the documentary where you left off.

This is an excellent DVD to add to anyone's library, standing proudly by other classics like "Rain Man", "Forrest Gump", and "I Am Sam". Entertaining as well as informative, this film gets better and better with repeated viewings. And this Miramax Collector's Series 2 Disc DVD finally does this film, as well as the talent of Billy Bob Thornton, justice.

Thank you for readin' I reckon, mm hm!

One of Billy Bob Thornton best performances. Dwight Yoakam does an excellent job in his role. An unforgettable movie. The two disc collector's edition features both a director's cut and an abundance of actor's conversations about the movie and their roles as well as other special features.

The movie was (and is) Great on it's own, but this latest release on DVD (actually a 2 dvd set) is one of the BEST dvds i have ever owned (or viewed for that matter) the extras on the 2nd dvd are like none I have seen on any other dvd, they really get into Billy Bob, his past, this film the actors and crew with so many interviews, about 4 hours worth of extra material in all., the movie itself on disc 1 is the directors cut with some great scenes added not in the theater release, many times directors cuts really mess a movie up (ex. The original 3 star wars films and Apocalypse now redux come to mind) but this one just made an oscar caliber film even better (in my opinion) overall this is one great film and a great dvd.

This movie is one of Billy Bob Thorton's best performances. It really brings the viewer into the world of the small southern town, and how people are labled, stereotyped and judged. I understand that most sellers consider this a horror movie but I think it it is better described as a drama.

this was a very extra special movie sad , yet funny carl having served most of his life in a mental institution is released to general public to make it on his own he befriends many people but his truelly best friend was the boy and when carl sees the abuse this boy is taking from doyle , carl is left with one choice {protecting his best friend} and giving this boy a chance to grow up in a normal home . very touching movie .