DVD Review Duo: Slumdog Millionaire and Quantum of Solace

What do Slumdog Millionaire's Jamal and James Bond have in common? Both are mourning the loss of or separation from lady loves and both men are determined to get some payback. Otherwise, Quantum of Solace and the Oscar-winning "Slumdog" couldn't be more diverse. Of course, "Slumdog" has a kickin' musical soundtrack and "Quantum" has serious action... and hot Daniel Craig!....thus making a well-rounded double-feature for you and your home theater homies.

From 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment

Slumdog Millionaire

In this tale of star-crossed young love, 18-year-old Jamal (Dev Patel) has made it to the top tier on the Indian version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?". Each diverse question oddly seems to relate to remembered horrors of his Mumbai slum-born life, his gangster-bound older bro Salim (Madhur Mattal) and the love of his life Latika (Freida Pinto). As we learn of the life-long trials this young man has suffered, we root for him to triumph, win the big money and get his girl!

Special Features: "Deleted Scenes". A lot of these on DVDs are just trims for pacing etc. and you can see why they weren't needed. These scenes are great! They add depth to the story and characters and allow better understanding of the plot! There is more of the kids in the slum, more with the sleazy host of the "Millionaire" program, more with a cop who actually ends up helping Jamal and probably getting fired for it, a beautiful scene with younger Jamal watching an opera that parallels his life, etc. This is very, very good stuff! Wish Danny Boyle had introduced them, however so we'd learn why they were cut.

You get two audio "Commentaries". One with director Danny Boyle and young male star Dev Patel that is very friendly, fast-paced and informative; especially their tales about filming on actual slum locations with tons of Indian film fans in front of camera messing up the shots! We also learn that the vat of "poo" that the very young Jamal dives into was actually chocolate and peanut butter! There is a bit about the Bollywood dance number at the end, etc. Very enjoyable.

The second "Commentary" is the screenwriter and producer. Not as upbeat but informative. You learn that the term "slumdog" was made up. The title of the book was a boring "Q and A" and the writer coined the term after seeing all the street-wise, stray slum pups in Mumbai.

In "Slum Dog Dreams", a "making--of" featurette, we see Danny directing the kids and learn the history of the project, the casting process and choices, actors talking about their roles and auditions, kids from the real slums, the famous Indian actor playing the game show host (his teen son told him to do the part), street shooting challenges and the huge Bollywood dance number. Entertaining to watch.

"Slumdog Cutdown" is a big montage of scenes under the Oscar-winning song "Jai Ho". Entertaining especially if you like the song.

Wrapping Up: This is a wonderful film, especially for teens who can identify with star-crossed lovers Jamal and Latika and be transported to another world right here on earth. Sure, there are some scenes of crime and squalor that are hard to watch but very emotionally satisfying and hey, the lovers are together at the end in a huge dance number that you can join in on! Very buy and rentable!

Quantum of Solace: Two-Disc Special Edition

Picking right up where Daniel Craig's Bond debut Casino Royal left off, his lady love Vesper Lynd is dead and Bond wants revenge on the Quantum crime organization responsible. He meets Camille (Olga Kurylenko) who is cozying up to Quantum villain Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric) in order to get to the evil South-American General who killed her family. Bond goes off the grid several times, freaking out his bosslady "M" (Judy Dench) while he and Camille end up foiling a plot to control a huge water supply in the Chilean desert.

Special Features: On the first disc, you get the feature film and the title song "Another Way to Die" music video by Jack White and Alicia Keys that is pretty strange but entertaining. On disc two are the slick extras. In "Bond On Location" we see the search for locations in South America and Italy as well as work at the famous Pinewood studios in the U.K. In "Start of Shooting" we have director Marc Forster telling us about the pressure he was under to make a great sequel and there is behind-the-scenes footage from the first day of shooting and early on. "On Location" is more of the same location stuff. We do see how the plane chase sequence was filmed and some bits on the wicked car chase that opens the film.

"Olga Kurylenko and the Boat Chase" introduces pretty Olga and shows her trying to hang on and stay in the boat. The big stunt rehearsals for that impressive sequence are profiled. "Director Marc Forster" is mostly the cast talking about their director and the director talking about doing his job. In "The Music" we have composer David Arnold covering the various musical themes in the film and his work in the recording studio.

Also included is "Crew Files", almost an hour's-worth of little video clips shown on the web featuring a ton of crew members explaining what they actually do on the film. This is interesting for teens who want to be in the film business but they are very "dry".. only a couple are humorous.

Wrapping Up: Quantum of Solace is packed with clever, creative and great action sequences, a Bond we can root for as he tries to deny that he's really on a revenge kick and a "Bond Girl" who may be the first not to hook up with Bond! (don't worry, he gets action elsewhere from a hot agent named "Strawberry Fields"). I'd say, to follow the plot, watch Casino Royale first (you can't get too much of yummy Daniel Craig). I'd love more candid stuff, goof ups and bloopers, especially for a "serious" film like this and there are none here. Having interviewed Daniel, I know he can be a very funny guy. You get a little of him on set and speaking off the cuff, but not enough. The extras are a bit too slickly "produced" and "press kit style" for me but do add to the enjoyment of the DVD. If you haven't seen the film, you must rent it to experience closure for Bond after "Casino". If you are a Craig or a Bond fan, this is a must buy!