Delayed film now on disc

If there was an award for the most underrated comedy of the year, I think "Big Trouble " would be a top contender. Thanks to bad timing -- the film was released three days before Sept. 11 -- it was eventually pulled because it came too close to real life. Unfortunately, when producers released the film again in April, there was no advertising done, and the film flopped. This is such an undeserving fate for one of the most hilarious films I've seen in a good long time.\nIt isn't hard to understand just why this movie is so consistently funny. Dave Barry wrote the book on which the film is based, and it lives up to his brand of comedy. "Big Trouble" also features one of the best ensemble casts assembled for a comedy in a long time.\nYet, the only special features on this disc are a full-length commentary by director Barry Sonnenfeld and a five-minute "condensed" version of the film, which shows all the important events in a short viewing. Certainly this is nothing that is going to make it into the DVD hall of fame.\nStill, I was impressed by Sonnenfeld's commentary. I'm not usually a fan of sitting and listening to directors talk for hours about their films, and the only ones I'd enjoyed before were those that graced "The Simpsons" DVD sets. But Sonnenfeld consistently keeps his commentary relevant to the scenes at hand, and you learn a lot of interesting facts about the cast and the process of filming. He also gives a lot of insight into what similar things he's done in this film compared to his other films, including references to "Get Shorty" and "Raising Arizona."\nThe film itself is nicely transferred, including excellent sound quality, which makes the movie all the more enjoyable. With most of the film taking place at breakneck speed and all the characters interacting at a fast pace, it helped to have crisp visuals and audio quality that lived up to the DVD name.\nYet I was a little disappointed that there were no trailers, no missing scenes, not even a "making of" short to add to the special features. If you are a fan of good commentaries, you'll like this DVD, but if you just want the movie, or if you were looking for loads of special features, you're best off buying a VHS copy.