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<\/a>The Noah<\/a><\/i> Blu-Ray is here \u2014 and with it, a bunch of behind-the-scenes stuff that we have never seen before. Here are some quick notes on the bonus features.<\/p>\nFirst, a reminder that different editions of the film come with different bonus features.<\/p>\n
As far as I know, seven bonus features have been released one way or another so far, and all of them are available on the \u201cexclusive\u201d Target edition<\/a> of the Blu-Ray. (The bilingual packaging on the disc I bought here in Canada listed only six bonus features, but the actual disc had all seven.) But only three of them are available on the Blu-Ray that is available everywhere else.<\/p>\n Also, three bonus features are apparently included if you purchase the film directly from iTunes (if you use iTunes to get the free \u201cdigital copy\u201d that comes with your disc, you won\u2019t get any bonus features, just the film), but one of the iTunes bonus features is actually from the Target disc and not from the regular Blu-Ray.<\/p>\n Confused yet? I\u2019ll try to sort it all out below.<\/p>\n First, the two bonus features that appear on all versions of the Blu-Ray and<\/i> in iTunes:<\/p>\n Iceland: Extreme Beauty.<\/b> The filmmakers started by shooting exteriors in Iceland for five weeks \u2014 and even some interiors, if you count Methuselah\u2019s cave, which was apparently a real, bona fide<\/i> cave and not an artificial set.<\/p>\n Director Darren Aronofsky says he wanted to film on land that was as new as possible, and that meant shooting on volcanic terrain rather than in a desert or some such thing. Production designer Mark Friedberg notes that the land may actually be a bit more ambivalent than that, since volcanoes also signify destruction, and he says that fits since the whole film basically revolves around the question of whether the Flood is primarily about the end of the old world or the beginning of a new one.<\/p>\n One of the more bizarre revelations here \u2014 which will no doubt give the film\u2019s enemies that much more reason to dismiss it \u2014 is that the crew made \u201cdaily offerings\u201d to the \u201cIcelandic elves\u201d to keep them happy: singing songs, burning incense, and so on. All tongue-in-cheek perhaps, but still, there it is. Interestingly, however, when the filmmakers capture a shot of a genuine rainbow near the end, Aronofsky is awestruck, and when one of the crew reflexively thanks the elves, Aronofsky replies, \u201cI don\u2019t know if that\u2019s the elves. That\u2019s someone else. That\u2019s the Creator, right there.\u201d<\/p>\n The Ark Exterior: A Battle for 300 Cubits.<\/b> This featurette covers the exteriors that were shot in New York, including the massive Ark set and the massive rig that was built for the simulated rain. Just as this film set a record for the most complex visual-effects shot<\/a> ever rendered by ILM, because of all the fur-bearing computer-generated animals, so too it set a record for the most fake rain in a single shot.<\/p>\n Naturally, there is some discussion regarding the design<\/i> of the Ark, and co-writer Ari Handel describes it as \u201cjust a raft with a roof,\u201d because it\u2019s designed simply for survival and not<\/i> like a boat that was meant to take people on a journey to a destination. Handel adds: \u201cIt\u2019s a much more passive, trapped, imprisoned situation.\u201d<\/p>\n We also get to meet Vera Fried, the teacher who inspired Aronofsky to become a writer many years ago. She has a cameo in the film as a one-eyed crone pointing her finger accusingly at Noah, and we see Aronofsky direct her in the scene<\/a>.<\/p>\n Next, the bonus feature that is on all versions of the Blu-Ray but not<\/i> in iTunes:<\/p>\n The Ark Interior: Animals Two by Two.<\/b> After wrapping exteriors in Iceland and on Long Island, the filmmakers shot the interiors on a set that was built in an armoury in New York City \u2014 and while Handel described the Ark as a \u201cprison\u201d in the previous featurette, Aronofsky, who is apparently tired of having to deal with bad weather and the like, says he feels \u201ccompletely safe and protected\u201d on the indoor set.<\/p>\n This featurette includes some really interesting concept art (including one of a glowing Adam \u2014 or is it Eve? \u2014 reaching up for the forbidden fruit) and some discussion of the film\u2019s moral themes, much of it courtesy of Handel and Ray Winstone, who plays the villain Tubal-Cain. Winstone, in particular, asks if Noah is really the good guy for wanting to \u201ccull\u201d his own species, but he also notes that Tubal-Cain, as a stand-in for the sort of people who rationalize our own exploitation of the world, represents \u201cthe voice of so-called reason\u201d \u2014 which is to say, it isn\u2019t as rational as it thinks it is.<\/p>\n This featurette also includes two bits of deleted footage, both of which involve Tubal-Cain. In one, he gets Ham to hold his busted leg while he swings a hammer down on it, talking all the while about how it takes a strong will to survive, etc. And in the other, during Tubal-Cain\u2019s climactic confrontation with Noah, he rams home the film\u2019s association of Tubal-Cain with modern industrialization by saying, \u201cYou watched mankind perish. All their creations, all their innovations.\u201d<\/p>\n Next, the bonus feature that is on the Target disc and<\/i> in iTunes:<\/p>\n Special Makeup FX on Noah<\/i>.<\/b> Surprisingly, perhaps, this featurette looks not just at the makeup effects, but also at the various animatronic animals that were designed for the film (some, but not all, of which were later replaced with CG). I\u2019d venture to say that there\u2019s a lot more about the movie\u2019s animals in this featurette than there is in the featurette that has the words \u2018Animals Two by Two\u2019 in the title.<\/p>\n Finally, the three bonus features that are exclusive to the Target disc:<\/p>\n The Watchers.<\/b> Possibly the one bonus feature that I was most eagerly anticipating was this look at how the Watchers \u2014 the \u201crock monsters\u201d who are also referred to here as the Nephilim \u2014 were conceived, designed and animated, including a brief look at the ballet dancers who did some motion-capture work for the characters.<\/p>\n I confess that when I first saw the film, I found the whole \u201crock monster\u201d concept kind of been-there-done-that, cinematically speaking \u2014 the Watchers certainly weren\u2019t portrayed that way<\/a> in the original script or graphic novel \u2014 but it\u2019s interesting to hear the rather unusual route by which the filmmakers ended up there.<\/p>\n This featurette also includes another deleted sequence from the film in which the rains begin and one of the Watchers says to the others, \u201cThe Creator weeps.\u201d The shot is fully animated, so it must have been deleted fairly late in the game, alas.<\/p>\n Noah<\/i>\u2019s Score.<\/b> Mostly a collection of fly-on-the-wall footage of Clint Mansell, the Kronos Quartet and Patti Smith working in the recording studio. I\u2019m a little disappointed that there are no interviews here \u2014 I would have loved to hear Mansell explain some of his unusual musical choices \u2014 but, as one who has listened to the soundtrack frequently over the last four months, I did enjoy hearing snippets of certain musicians and vocalists isolated from the rest of the score.<\/p>\n I also liked hearing Aronofsky tell Mansell he wanted the music when Noah and Naameh\u2019s hands touch to be more \u201cheartbreaking, sad\u201d. That\u2019s always been one of my favorite scenes, and one of my favorite cues.<\/p>\n The Sounds of Noah<\/i>.<\/b> A look at how the various audio effects were created for the film, including the bags of rocks that provided the sounds that accompanied the Watchers as they walked around and moved their arms.<\/p>\n A couple other comments:<\/p>\n Each of the featurettes begins with a quote from Genesis, but for some reason the ancient text that we see in the background behind those quotes is written in Greek or Coptic or some such alphabet \u2014 definitely not Hebrew.<\/p>\n Also, for the sake of some of the more sensitive viewers out there, I should note that the bonus features do include a bit of coarse humour, as when Russell Crowe explains the meaning of \u201cpulling your tit\u201d (cf. \u201cpulling your leg\u201d), the filmmakers discuss how to fit a prosthetic leg on Winstone without touching his \u201cknob\u201d, and so on.<\/p>\n Finally, I would have liked to see some more discussion of the religious elements in the film. Possible featurettes could have looked at the Jewish traditions<\/a> that informed the film, or they could have profiled the film\u2019s \u201cbiblical advisor<\/a>\u201d, etc.<\/p>\n Ah well. Perhaps when the film gets re-issued for its fifth or tenth anniversary.<\/p>\n