Hot off the success of Taxi Driver in 1977, director Martin Scorsese opted for something completely different with the revisionist musical New York, New York. He re-teamed with Robert De Niro and brought in Liza Minnelli for a gritty love story told against a Technicolor backdrop. It flopped in spectacular style and reviews were mixed, but in almost three decades since its release, appreciation of the film has grown. Likewise this Special Edition DVD enables a greater understanding of Scorsese's original vision.

Taking On Manhattan

The New York, New York Stories is a two-part documentary that offers an unusually comprehensive look at the development of the project. Maverick producers Robert Chartoff and Irwin Winkler talk about making deals on napkins ("I still have the napkin!" claims Chartoff), while Scorsese explains that it was the idea of marrying "artifice and truth" which appealed to him most. In specific terms, he puts it that, "The tension was the naturalistic behaviour of the actors within the confines of an artificial looking film." Meanwhile cinematographer Laszlo Kovacs is on hand to explain the difficult process of creating a stylised environment while trying to keep up with the actors' improvisations.

Kovacs gets down to the nuts-and-bolts - or rather, gels and filters - in a commentary for three of the film's major set-ups. They include the opening shot that starts at De Niro's feet and sweeps up and over as he blends into a heaving crowd. Budding directors may be interested to know that this sequence was shot with a Titan Crane. Most of you won't care, but for a film so intricately technical, this feature is a great addition to the package.

A massive 40 minutes of deleted footage reflects just how much of the film was improvised. Scenes that mostly feature the lovers bickering are presented in varying forms as the actors play around to see what fits. At one point, De Niro momentarily slips into Travis Bickle, barking, "Hey, I'm tryin'a talk here!" Along with an alternate ending, this section provides a fascinating insight into the actor's process. Of course Liza Minnelli sings her co-star's praises in a 20-minute interview, but also shares a few behind-the-scenes anecdotes, like the time dad Vincente Minnelli visited the set. He directed Golden Age musicals, a few of which starred Liza's mother Judy Garland, and his presence made her so nervous that she almost fell down a staircase during a tricky set-piece.

Biting The Big Apple

Scorsese shares a patchwork commentary with critic Carrie Rickey, who provides a neat counterpoint by deconstructing the film as it unfolds. Naturally the director's interpretation is always the more compelling and Scorsese also offers insight into the complicated logistics and creative dilemmas. The choice to have his actors improvise comes up again, only this time he admits to biting off more than he wanted to chew. "Normally I plan everything in great detail," he says, "But I decided not to do that on this picture and it ran way over budget."

Despite the supposed lack of planning, a gallery of storyboards shows that many of Scorsese's original ideas ended up in the final cut. In fact a few of these were sketched by the director himself (the ones with the stick men).

Completing this set of extras - which are spread across two discs - are five behind-the-scenes photo galleries. Sadly there's no word from Robert De Niro and, for such a lavish production, there's very little on art design or choreography and the film itself looks rather grainy. Even so, this Special Edition DVD offers engaging and entertaining analysis of a very complex movie.

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