Ultimately, director Wolfgang Petersen's ''The Perfect Storm'' remains far from a perfect film because of the decision to focus on the fictitious, toothless conflicts on board the Andrea Gail; the obvious choice, as the doomed ship story line offers the no brainer lead role for a star like Clooney, and the wrong one. Here is the case of an utterly riveting book that never should've been made into a movie. It also doesn't help that for the last hour, her crew has nothing to do but drown in terrifically stunning computer generated seascapes. You know how Eskimos have, like, a hundred different words for snow? ''The Perfect Storm'' has a hundred different shades of wet.
The DVD, on the other hand, has everything you've come to expect from a Warner release of a summer blockbuster: top notch audio and video transfers, documentaries (including testimonials from folks who survived the storm and footage of Gloucester under siege), storyboards, a photo montage and conceptual art gallery, and theatrical trailers. It even features three separate commentaries -- one from Petersen, another from visual effects maestros Stefen Fangmeier and Helen Elswit, and the last from Junger himself -- so that you can appreciate the making of the film from every conceivable angle. All in all, a wonderful DVD edition of a film that doesn't really deserve it.
Movie: C
Bonus Features: B+
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