Almost Famous: Wishing upon rock stars

This movie is great for so many reasons, whether it's the awesome story, the great music, the amazing acting or the extraordinary love story. The DVD on the other hand is not the greatest out there, but it still holds its own.\n"Almost Famous" is based on the true story of writer-director Cameron Crowe, who wrote for Rolling Stone at age 15. William Miller (Patrick Fugit) is based on Crowe and his experiences with the Allman Brothers Band, Led Zeppelin, the Who and many others. Crowe combined all his experiences into one band: the fictional Stillwater.\nThe story follows Miller and his couple of weeks on the road with Stillwater as he desperately tries to finish his first article for Rolling Stone. The plot deals with this, but much of the movie revolves around his close relationship with new friend Penny Lane (Kate Hudson), a groupie … sorry, "band-aid," who travels with whatever band will take her along. She's no ordinary band-aid; she is queen of the band-aids.\nThe DVD is worth the money for any "Famous" fan but could have been improved with more special features.\nThe good features include an amazing behind-the-scenes vignette that goes in-depth so the viewer can see what went in to making this film. Interviews with the cast and filmmakers let viewers experience the beauty of this movie. Another great feature is Crowe's original Rolling Stone stories. This lets the viewer see Crowe's talent during his teenage years.\nThere is a video for Stillwater's "Fever Dog," but it is only the scene during the film where the song is played. The worst oversight is the lack of director's commentary. This could have been the greatest film commentary ever placed on a DVD. It's mind-boggling that Crowe decided not to do it. The film company probably wanted to release the DVD as soon as possible before the Oscars and wait to make more money by releasing a "Special Edition" disc with the commentary. Either that, or Crowe might not want the audience to know which parts were true and which were fabricated. Either way, there should have been some commentary. The film makes this a good disc, but commentary could have made it a great disc.