The Movie
In the summer of 2000, a superhero film was released that swept America off its feet, with one of the best representations of comic books ever to grace the silver screen. X-Men really kicked major butt. Then, a few months later, The Specials was released, to much indifference. As good as X-Men is, The Specials deserves a much larger amount of acclaim than it's received to this point. A terrific look at what goes on behind the scenes in the world of superheroes, this film is a subtle, wonderful ensemble comedy.

A mix of standard comedy and mockumentary, the film follows the day-to-day tribulations of a group of superheroes named The Specials. Led by The Strobe (Thomas Haden Church, Sideways), the group is (according to an on-screen message) the 6th or 7th best superhero team in town, and is made up of a group of freaks and misfits, like U.S. Bill, a mental midget with super strength, and MinuteMan, who can get small, not fight in the Revolutionary War. These "heroes" are focused more on the toys being made of their likenesses or getting into each other's superpants than fighting crime. The team's newest member, Nightbird (Jordan Ladd, Cabin Fever), gives a good insight into what's going on, using her innocent, unjaded eyes, which is the biggest part of the plot, as the team begins to crack under pressure.

The film's sense of humor is very subtle, but it's not afraid to take a stab at a broad joke, as seen when a team member spends a large portion of the film with a maxipad on his face. The actual style is a bit confused, as the standard comedy is mixed with direct-address "confessional" moments, where the superheroes talk directly to the camera, and a packaged introduction to the team, which doesn't hit the screen until almost 15 minutes in. The tone of the film is similarly twisted, as the merciless comedy that makes up the first 40-or-so minutes melts away in favor of emotion and drama. According to the commentaries (see The Extras), there was some trouble during production, so maybe there's a reason for the film's disjointed nature.

While the concept is absolutely great, the cast might be better. Church is terrific as the stereotypical macho leader, and Paget Brewster ("Huff") is the right choice as his put-upon wife, Ms. Indestructible. The rest of the cast is pure gold, from hotshot anti-hero, the Weevil (Rob Lowe) and former bad guy, Amok (Jamie Kennedy), to constantly-annoyed gateway to the dead, Deadly Girl (Judy Greer, The Hebrew Hammer) and dippy Power Chick (Kelly Coffield, "In Living Color"). They are so good at being superheroes that the audience doesn't need to see them battling villains to believe them. Greer, in particular, is fantastic as the gothic brooder, getting some of the best lines in the film.

If the film has a weakness, it's the ending. Without a real plot at work, there's no story to wrap up, so the film seems to meander a bit before coming to a crash landing. When the final credits rolled, it was almost a surprise, as if in my mind, I was saying, "That's it?" But even at that, it's an entertaining ride, edging closer to X-Men and Spider-Man than Mystery Men or Catwoman/

The DVD
Five years after it first graced theaters, Anchor Bay has put an anamorphic widescreen version of The Specials on store shelves in a one-disc special edition, packaged in a mild-mannered standard keepcase, with a two-sided insert that has the film's poster art and chapter stops. A previous version was released in 2001, but is long out of print. The disc features an animated, anamorphic widescreen menu, with options for playing the film, extras, audio set-up, and chapter selections. Audio options include Dolby 5.1 and 2.0 English tracks, while the chapter selection menus have still previews and titles for each scene. The menus are comic-themed, with word balloon-style option buttons. There are no subtitles, but the disc is captioned for the hearing impaired.

The Quality
For a really low-budget independent film almost five years old, The Specials doesn't look half bad, with quality skin tones, good detail and a minimum amount of grain. Black levels are solid while the colors are a good mix of vivid and muted, without bleeding. Check out Amok's design, a blend of hot red and deep blue, to see how good this disc can be. While there doesn't seem to be any edge enhancement, once in a while, some dirt is visible, but it's rare.

As far as the audio goes, the 5.1 track only really kicks in when the musical soundtrack takes center stage. The film, despite being a superhero flick, is mainly dialogue-driven, with the characters' voices filling the center speaker, and the surrounds providing some musical atmosphere. The music surrounds are quite well-done actually, but they aren't as frequent as they could be.

The Extras
The Specials received the special treatment, hitting DVD with a fine complement of extras. A pair of commentaries are the main attraction. The first track features writer/actor James Gunn and Ms. Indestructible herself, Paget Brewster. The duo work well together, chatting about what went into making the film, with plenty of fascinating background to the production. This is truly a rare treat, as the two actors take apart the movie, talking about what they would have done differently and the problems they had. It really is honest and revealing, unlike many "isn't that great?" tracks, as shown by a discussion of Lowe's ditching of the movie once he got a bit of fame back.

A second commentary brings back Gunn, and teams him with director Craig Mazin, producer Mark Altman and visual-effects supervisor Mojo. This track is markedly different from the first commentary, mainly because it's overwhelmingly positive, unlike Gunn and Brewster's take. The group is having a good time chatting together (an interesting situation after listening to the first commentary) but with such a positive energy, you get plenty of "isn't _____ great?" There are some interesting "how'd they do that?" moments, but there's some similar ground covered in the first commentary and a few lengthy silent passages too.

A reel of deleted scenes includes 4:30 seconds of excised footage from the film. Most of it is made up of unused "confessional" footage by The Specials, and there's nothing here that really would have changed the movie. The quality isn't up to the level of the true film, but it isn't workprint-bad.

Two pieces of video that are featured in the movie are presented in their full length on this disc. The commercial for The Specials' toy line is a bit of goofy fun, which here can be seen for all its silliness, while the faux wedding video for The Strobe and Ms. Indestructible isn't all that interesting. An album of behind-the-scenes photos and the film's theatrical trailer wrap things up nicely, in terms of bonuses.

The Bottom Line
It's a superhero movie without action, yet it still works. That alone makes The Specials a surprising treat. Throw in a subtle, understated sense of humor and a cast of talented actors, and you get a sleeper film that should be fun for just about anyone, but especially fans of the men and women in comic-book tights. The DVD presentation stands up against the quality of the film, with some really interesting extras, particularly the commentaries, which illustrate the strife involved in making a movie. If you've ever read a comic book and enjoyed it, you'll probably get a kick out of this one. Anyone else should make the effort and check this out.

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*The Reviewer's Bias section is an attempt to help readers use the review to its best effect. By knowing where the reviewer's biases lie on the film's subject matter, one can read the review with the right mindset.