How good is the ''Fish Called Wanda'' DVD?
ORIGINAL
Can we just pretend it never happened? The skimpy 1999 DVD, with only an
eight-page booklet featuring trivia and production notes, doesn't even
include an Italian audio track, which would at least seduce the Wandas
of the world. Disappointed!
REISSUE
Cleese stars in a commentary, deleted scenes, and several featurettes
that explore his love/hate relationship with America and England. A
giddy look back includes the rest of the cast, but the must-see for
Python lovers is an extended scene between Cleese and Michael Palin
frantically trying to communicate.
VERDICT
Order up the DVD special with extra Cleese. Its features explore the
darker film that almost was: a cynical — even morbid — ending and relentless
animal cruelty, highlighted by a discarded subplot in which Kevin
Kline's Nietzsche-loving psychopath uses stray cats for target practice.
(Which apparently is wrong.)
