The Samurai

A natural cult classic, The Samurai is perfectly suited to small screen viewing - on your own as you try to figure out some of its mysteries or with your friends as part of a cult movie night. This fantastic package includes interviews with the director and two principal stars, a Making Of featurette and the trailer. As all but the latter contain significant spoilers, you should resist watching them until after you've seen the film itself.

Although a fair bit of the material in the interviews echoes what has been said elsewhere,there's also some wholly new stuff, including explorations of deepest fears and a lengthy discussion of the difficulty involved in getting an erection in a cold forest when surrounded by beardy men with cameras. The Making Of (which, it should be noted, communicates entirely through subtitles, so may be problematic for partially sighted viewers - there isn't even any German language audio) provides a solid overview of the project and then explores some of the FX shots in detail. They're not particularly unusual in terms of craft - in fact, the individual in charge of them wasn't even a professional, due to the tight budget - but they'll intrigue those new to the genre and, like much of the material here, they're the focus of entertainingly told tales. Overall, this is a strong set of extras that captures the playful spirit of the film and will provide fans with an extra thrill.