The Survivor 2 DVD promised a lot -- does it deliver? Is it as good as the first Survivor DVD? Or does it fall flat?
I was very surprised when I saw the Survivor 2 DVD at my local mall for sale a full week early. After the first Survivor DVD, which was excellent, I've been eager for this package for a long time. To see unedited footage of the pig incident with Michael, or the "ghost tribal counsel" where they put out Michael's torch, or to simply have all the castaways’ profiles and voting history right there on a disc was something I was looking forward too. I wasn't very happy with what I saw, though.
This was a very disappointing package compared to the first Survivor DVD. The main feature runs 122 minutes, and many of the things promised to be shown in the DVD are not there. You will not see Michael kill the pig, or the ghost Tribal Counsel where Michael's torch was put out. You won't see very many challenges, and it does not show complete tribal counsels.
The main feature is done in the exact same way as the Survivor 1 DVD was done. They give you an introduction to the game, then they show you a profile of each player in the order they were voted out, complete with audition tapes and interviews. You then see a quick feature on what they were like in the game (mostly what led to them getting kicked out). They then show everyone who voted for that person read their vote to the camera. Then they show the person's "exit speech." For the final vote, they show who everyone voted for, and then they show the final vote get read off. There is then a quick, meaningless preview for Survivor 3 that gives you no information whatsoever.
Next, there are the special features. In the Survivor 1 DVD, they had detailed profiles on all the Survivors, their final words, voting history, favorite things, etc. None of that is present here. There are no profiles, exit interviews, etc. However, they do give you clipped footage of the castaways' Early Show interviews, and that's it. There is also one DVD ROM feature that I couldn't test out.
I can't understand why CBS just doesn't release the entire season on DVD. I think the first Survivor would still sell big if it was sold in a boxed "complete season" set like The X-Files or Sex in the City. There were certainly more things that could have been used as special features. Late Show (David Letterman) clips perhaps? Maybe an interview with Mark Burnett would have been nice. And why couldn't they just put the reunion show on this disc?
The only part that I found entertaining was new footage of Nick basking in the glory of his newly made bench. It got me to thinking... was it Nick Brown who put this disc together? The same work ethic seems to be here. Worth a rental only.
Survivor 2 DVD Click Here to Buy It Now through Amazon.com if you’re still interested. Survivor 1 DVD Click Here to Buy It Now for around Half Price at Half.com if you long for the scheming days of the first series.
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Survivor 2 DVD
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