CAMP Film

It’s been a few weeks since the Easter Bunny hopped away for another year, but there are still many Easter Eggs to be found for film lovers.

Let’s start with a little film geek translation:

Easter Eggs: Small hidden tidbits of bonus material found within a DVD.

For anyone who has sat, arms folded, on the sofa, singing "Is that all there is?" after rooting thorough the measly "Bonus Features" portion of a newly purchased DVD, fear not. There may be several little goodies just waiting for you within that shiny little disc.

Easter Eggs are nothing new, actually. They have been around since the inception of video games. Computer programmers (apparently with way too much time of their hands) would sneak in a "secret stash" of extras for players to enjoy, or surprise them when they stumbled upon them. Extra lives, invincibility, a better shade of lipstick for Ms. Pac-Man—countless little novel nuggets were packed into games for added enjoyment.

On film, the history of the name "Easter Egg" is sketchy. There are some rumors that it began with The Rocky Horror Picture Show in 1975.

While filming during Easter, the staff and crew decided to take a break and have a little Easter Egg hunt, many of which were scattered throughout the set. While it is not sure how many actually were left, there are at least three visible in various scenes for eagle-eyed viewers (I will not divulge where and let all of you with panoramic home theater systems and a copy of the DVD find them on your own!).

Some say this spawned a habit of rewarding film-goers with such attention to detail.

Other purists argue that hiding eggs in films dates back as early as The Wizard of Oz, but there is no concrete evidence to support it.

Flash forward to the advent of the digital video disc. Aside from being more compact, easier to operate and pretty resilient, DVDs also have the capacity to hold much more information than VHS. Therefore, directors could dump extra material within, much to the delight of film junkies (present company included) who want to squeeze every last drop of information out of a film as possible.

For those of you who have been trying to find even more shelving space for that ever-expanding DVD collection, here is an opportunity to dust off some of those seldom-viewed gems and take them out for another spin.

Here is just a smattering of titles, for even more films, visit dvdeastereggs.com, dvdangle.com, or dvd.ign.com:

Citizen Kane: On the Special Features features menu, click on the sled to see some extra interviews with actress Ruth Warwick, outtakes from the documentary. In the Production Notes, under the Postscripts/On The Set section, the same sled takes you to extra interviews with editor Robert Wise, who later directed The Sound of Music.

The Matrix: In the cast and crew menu click on the very bottom one (Warner Bros) and on the next screen there is a red pill that shows a short film about the concept of the film.

Pirates of the Carribean: On Disc 2 of the two-disc special edition, there are a number of options for eager viewers: On the "Moonlight Serenade Scene Progression" option, select "main menu," press "down" twice, then hit enter. An interview with Keith Richards (after whom Johnny Depp modeled his pirate character) can be found.

Also on Disc 2 main menu, select the "Below Deck" option, highlight the "Set Sail" option and press "left" twice. After the skull lights up, you can view several computer generated scenes located within the film.

Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me: From the disc’s main menu, go to the special features section. Just wait and watch Austin "get his mojo" and don’t touch anything. After about one minute, Dr. Evil’s spaceship will hover in, leaving the Evil symbol behind. Click on the symbol and you’ll be treated to a number of features dedicated to Austin’s nail-chewing nemesis, including a hysterical 20-minute Comedy Central special.

Adaptation: For fans of the trippy Nicholas Cage flick, the producers have actually left a hidden phone number for fans to call in and comment. On the DVD’s Main Menu, highlight the "Play Movie" menu entry and then press the "Up" arrow key on your remote control. This will highlight a phone, next to the Adaptation logo. Press "Enter" now and you will be taken to a separate screen that contains a phone number. This phone number actually connects to a real answering machine where viewers can leave their comments, thoughts and feedback on the movie.

Godfather DVD Collection: On the "Bonus Materials" disc from the box set that contains all the supplements, go to "Set Up" and once you are in that submenu, press the "Right" arrow key on your remote control. This will highlight a globe in the background, giving you access to a collage of clips from various language versions of the film, including Italian, German and English.

Also included on the bonus disc: Go to "Galleries" on the Main Men and select "DVD Credits." In this section, keep following the next arrow at the bottom of the screen all the way to the end and you will be treated to a clip of the Sopranos trying to watch an "advance bootleg" version of the Godfather DVD.

James Cann enthusiasts may also be interested in this disc as well: Go to the "Family Tree" section and select "Sonny," which takes you to the family tree of Santino Corleone. Here, select "Sonny" again and you will be taken to his biography. Press the "Left" arrow key on your remote control to highlight the image of James Caan and then press "Enter." This brings up Caan’s own biography. Press the "Left" arrow key once again to highlight the portrait of him on the left side and if you press "Enter" now, you will be treated to a screen test by James Caan for his part as Sonny Corleone.

Rocky Horror Picture Show: Apart from the two separate cuts of the movie on the 20th anniversary DVD, you can also find a third version of the film well hidden on this DVD. From the disc’s main menu highlight the "Scene Selections." Then, press the "Left" arrow key on your remote control and a pair of lips will be highlighted at the bottom of the screen. Press "Enter" now and presto...you get the chance to see Richard O’Brien’s original vision of the film, in which the first part is entirely in black and white, until he opens the door to the ball room in the "Time Warp" scene. More information on this special version of the film can be found in the documentary that is also part of this release.

The Royal Tenenbaums: Insert the second disc of the set and on the Main Menu press the "Up" arrow key on your remote control to highlight the "Criterion Collection" logo. If you press "Enter" now you will be treated to an introduction to the movie by Ben Stiller. Also on the second disc, select the "Murals" menu entry and then highlight the entry called "Storyboards." Then press the "Down"’ arrow key and the Dalmatian mouse on the floor will be highlighted. If you press "Enter" now you will get to see some behind-the-scenes footage of Bill Murray elaborating on mice and snakes.

The Princess Bride: The Rob Reiner comedy classic features a few cute little bonuses on the special edition. In the disc’s main menu, highlight the "Play" entry and then press the "up" arrow key on your remote control. This will highlight a gem at the top of the screen, giving access to a separate menu screen. This screen features the heads of the film’s main characters, which can be selected to obtain small sound bites from the movie.

For two additional sound bites, simply select the two gems that frame the main menu at the bottom of the screen.

Pulp Fiction: Play the feature on disc one of the special edition, press the "subtitle" button on your remote to start listing the languages in which the subtitles are available. Three languages are available, and if you press the button a fourth time, bits of fiction trivia will pop up.

The list could go on, with everything from mini-documentaries to outtakes to alternate endings to some of your favorite films. Go pick up that remote and start pounding at those keys to discover the hidden secrets of your DVD collection.

Happy hunting!