If I was to make a list of my top 100 favorite flicks, Sin City would rank someplace in the top 10. I’ve been a huge supporter of this film since day one, so it only seems fitting that it’s the first flick I review for The Screamin’ Demon!

Today, we’re going to take a look at Sin City: Recut - Extended - Unrated available on now on DVD. This version of the flick is billed as “the ultimate Sin City DVD collection” featuring a new never before seen re-edited version of the film, and a whole slew of boner-inducing special features.

This two-disc set includes both the Original Theatrical Release (124 minutes) and A Recut, Extended, Version (147 minutes). Now you may be wondering why exactly you want the original cut of the film, along with the unrated version. Well thats because someone got the bright idea to cut the film up into its four separate parts and release them as “shorts”. This is both a good idea, and the stupidest thing I’ve ever sen. Allow me to explain.

“The Customer Is Always Right” (the opening and closing scenes of the film, with Josh Hartnett) contain absolutely nothing new, and really don’t work that well on their own. But are presented here completely separate from the rest of the film, along with four minutes of closing credits.

“The Hard Goodbye” (the stuff with Marv) only has about two minutes or so of extra footage. Basically he finds his gun, and has a small encounter with his mother. It also includes… four minutes of closing credits.

“The Big Fat Kill” (Clive Owen and Benicio Del Toro) only has about a minute of extra dialog included and does nothing to really significantly alter the story. Guess what it also includes… four minutes of closing credits.

“That Yellow Bastard” (Bruce Willis) has the most altered story of the bunch. Featuring an extra four minutes or so of footage including more visitors to Bruce when he’s in the hospital, more dialog with Mr. Shlubb and Mr. Klump (!!!), and an extra visitor when hes sitting in the jail cell. It also features, you guessed it…. four minutes of closing credits.

The package claims “Over 20 minutes of additional footage!” which is a flat out lie. There are maybe seven extra minutes of footage in the extended cut, how they got the “extra 20″ was by including those damn credits after every short (even the first, in which the credits are actually longer than the film footage!). Its really a cheap thing, and had this been the end of the set… I’d be screaming refund right now! Thankfully Robert Rodriguez loves DVD extras as much as I do, because Sin City totally makes up for lying about the extra footage.

We get two new commentary tracks, one featuring Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller. The second featuring Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino. We also get the bad-ass audience reaction track which totally makes you feel like your watching the film in a packed theater. Personally its my favorite way to watch the movie!

The exclusives are where this set takes off and makes it all worth while they include:

• 15 minute film school with Robert Rodriguez
• The Long Take: 14 Uninterrupted minutes of Tarantino’s Segment!
• “Sin City Live” Filmmakers Cast and Crew Party
• 10-Minute Cooking School with Robert Rodriguez
• How It Went Down: Convincing Frank Miller To Make The Film
• The Cars of Sin City
• The Costumes of Sin City
• Special Effects Make-Up
• The Movie In High-Speed Green Screen
• The Props of Sin City
• Special Guest Director: Quentin Tarantino
• Teaser & Theatrical Trailers
• Interactive Game

Now this is what a DVD Set should look like. Anything and everything you’ve ever wanted to know about this film included. From a look at Quentin Tarantino’s segment, to the lengths Robert Rodriguez went through to convince Frank Miller to make this movie, to the all green screen version of the film. Its more than anyone could have asked for. These are the real reasons to buy the set!

Also included is the entire graphic novel “The Hard Goodbye”. I’ve you’ve never picked up a Sin City Novel before, you really owe it to yourself to do so. If you’re a fan of the film, you’ll enjoy the books. It was a very good decision to include one with the set!

Overall this is a very solid set. It does a fine job of making the single disc version of the film obsolete, gives you every special feature you could want (and more!), it comes in a cool package, and it includes a book for you to read when you finish watching everything it has to offer! Sure it lies about the actual length of the added footage, but we can forgive it for that. This set is a must have for any DVD collection!