Has anyone seen the DVD reviews on this!?! They're out of this world, and for good reason, as it's an excellent film! Almost every major DVD publication that I happened to come across reviewed the Willard DVD as one of their top 10 DVD's for 2003 - in the same category as the Lord of the Rings, Matrix, and Alien boxed sets. I've got to think that the Year of the Rat documentary is one of the major reasons for that, considering that those same publications unanimously called it one of the best making-of documentaries ever made (some even went so far to say it was possibly the best). Congratulations to New Line Cinema and the the creators of this film for making such a revealing, interesting, and honest exploration of the film making process. I highly recommend it. It sets an entirely new standard for a behind-the-scenes making-of documentary. I wish they were all this good!
4 Reviews
Innovative Documentary.
PatrynXX12 December 2003
Great Documentary!
fred_lipgore4 January 2004
This is one of the finest making-of documentaries I've ever seen. I think DVDfile.com said it best when they included the Willard DVD as one of their Top Ten DVD picks of 2003 and wrote : "WILLARD. This year's wild card slot goes to...Crispin Glover and a rat named Ben!? A flop during its theatrical release but an instant cult classic, this is a DVD that packs a surprisingly wallop - the most underrated documentary of 2004. "The Year of the Rat" is by turns heartbreaking, hilarious and frightening, and one of the most frank and informative looks ever created on the triumphs and tragedies of making a movie. A real sleeper."
Interestingly, Julie Ng presents herself as a giddy first time filmmaker while at the same time giving a remarkable look behind the scenes of one of 2003's most underrated films.
Anonymous_Maxine12 December 2004
As a making-of documentary, I loved how much time was spent showing the actors and director actually on set rehearsing scenes, even practicing certain lines and actions in various ways to see which one looks the best. I hate when behind the scenes documentaries are nothing but interviews with the cast and crew with random shots of filming edited over them. I like to be able to see and hear what went on during the making of the movie, and Julie Ng succeeds in showing that aspect while at the same time avoiding dull moments.
Ng does, however, commit the cardinal sin of editing interviews. She cuts away while someone is talking. Dialogue, interestingly enough, is very easy to edit, interviews are not, especially when you have a large number of them and want to edit them together. Jumping from one interview to another with nothing in between gives kind of a jarring sensation, and it makes the film seem muddled and disorganized. Look, for example, at Looking Back at The Hills Have Eyes, another good making-of documentary that does the same thing.
Even worse, at more than one time, Crispin Glover, for example, is cut off in mid-sentence. He'll say something like 'what happened that day was ' and then Ng cuts to someone else. There is a way to edit together footage of multiple people talking about the same thing, and cutting people off in mid-sentence is not it. She does, however, manage to get some interesting footage for film fans, including one scene where R. Lee Ermey talks briefly about when he was working with Stanley Kubrick on Full Metal Jacket. She just edited some of it badly.
There is a curious procession of tone throughout the film, from the fascination with the idea and excitement about the possibilities at the beginning to the eager participation during production, which gradually becomes frustration about certain difficulties and, ultimately, disappointment that the film did not receive the good public response that everyone involved believed it deserved. I also liked that it talked about how they were able to generate the most public interest in the movie because it starred the 'Eccentric Crispin Glover,' probably because he was about 90% of the reason that I wanted to see the film, and because he was something like their fifth or sixth choice for the role.
I would also certainly encourage you to watch the music video Ben, which Crispin Glover directed to promote the film, and which I believe he sings himself. The music in the film is one of its best features, and Crispin Glover's music video, which at first seems a little goofy, it actually very well made and is even a good song. His audio commentary is pretty interesting, although he is talking so fast that it is sometimes hard to follow him, and it's odd that he could turn in such a good performance for the movie but it's so obvious here that he's reading his commentary from a prepared script. No matter.
Despite it's technical post-production flaws, The Year of the Rat is a great making-of documentary and an excellent addition to the Willard DVD which is probably more impressive than the movie itself, which I have to say was pretty impressive.
Ng does, however, commit the cardinal sin of editing interviews. She cuts away while someone is talking. Dialogue, interestingly enough, is very easy to edit, interviews are not, especially when you have a large number of them and want to edit them together. Jumping from one interview to another with nothing in between gives kind of a jarring sensation, and it makes the film seem muddled and disorganized. Look, for example, at Looking Back at The Hills Have Eyes, another good making-of documentary that does the same thing.
Even worse, at more than one time, Crispin Glover, for example, is cut off in mid-sentence. He'll say something like 'what happened that day was ' and then Ng cuts to someone else. There is a way to edit together footage of multiple people talking about the same thing, and cutting people off in mid-sentence is not it. She does, however, manage to get some interesting footage for film fans, including one scene where R. Lee Ermey talks briefly about when he was working with Stanley Kubrick on Full Metal Jacket. She just edited some of it badly.
There is a curious procession of tone throughout the film, from the fascination with the idea and excitement about the possibilities at the beginning to the eager participation during production, which gradually becomes frustration about certain difficulties and, ultimately, disappointment that the film did not receive the good public response that everyone involved believed it deserved. I also liked that it talked about how they were able to generate the most public interest in the movie because it starred the 'Eccentric Crispin Glover,' probably because he was about 90% of the reason that I wanted to see the film, and because he was something like their fifth or sixth choice for the role.
I would also certainly encourage you to watch the music video Ben, which Crispin Glover directed to promote the film, and which I believe he sings himself. The music in the film is one of its best features, and Crispin Glover's music video, which at first seems a little goofy, it actually very well made and is even a good song. His audio commentary is pretty interesting, although he is talking so fast that it is sometimes hard to follow him, and it's odd that he could turn in such a good performance for the movie but it's so obvious here that he's reading his commentary from a prepared script. No matter.
Despite it's technical post-production flaws, The Year of the Rat is a great making-of documentary and an excellent addition to the Willard DVD which is probably more impressive than the movie itself, which I have to say was pretty impressive.
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