Forgotten Silver (Mockumentary/Anchor Bay)

 

Picture:  C     Sound: B-     Extras: B     Documentary: B

 

 

Before the upcoming King Kong and before any of the Lord of the Rings films, director Peter Jackson and long time associate Costa Botes collaborated on Forgotten Silver (1995).  Without knowing better, one might mistake Forgotten Silver for a real documentary, when in reality it is a clever mockumentary.  While some fans of this body of work hail its long awaited release, I am only mildly enthused.  Forgotten Silver gives a fictional account of legendary filmmaker Colin McKenzie and how his story was almost lost forever.  It is obvious that Jackson and Botes put a lot of effort and time into telling this compelling story.  As I watched the film, I was impressed with what I was seeing but I could not help but wonder why Jackson and Botes wasted such talent on a fake story instead of tackling true subject matter?

 

Judging by the sticker on the cover of this DVD stating: Co-directed by Lord of the Rings Director Peter Jackson.  This DVD release is obviously an attempt to make more money from the Peter Jackson and Lord of the Rings fan base.  If I were one of the producers of Forgotten Silver, I would use this name recognition in hopes of making lots of money too.  The 1.66 X 1 letterboxed widescreen video is not anamorphic, nor would that be the proper ratio for footage as old as the film claims, yet the quality of the video is sufficient.  There are not any noticeable defects that distract from the enjoyment of the show.  The same can be said of the Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo mix of the audio, though it fares better technically.

 

Included in the DVD is a special features portion with insightful commentary by Co-Director Costa Botes. I do believe that the majority of Peter Jackson fans will surely miss his presence within this commentary.  Next, in a twenty-one minute documentary is information about creating footage that looked like it had aged 70 years and how well that footage helped trick the viewers into believing it was real. Finally there is a ten-minute clip that contains scenes that did not make the final cut.

 

Forgotten Silver will go down as a huge practical joke that wasn’t worth creating at all, no matter what was achieved aesthetically.  However, this is the second edition on DVD, but the extras are different between this and the older First Run Features editions.  Jackson fans might actually hunt down both versions, but we’ll pass altogether.

 

 

-   Jimm Needle