Spider-Man 2 Gift Set (Widescreen Special Edition W/Comic Book/Postcards/Sketch Book/Photo Booklet)

Gift set items:
* Exclusive limited edition portfolio of artwork: Over 25 well-known comic book artists created artwork inspired by Spider-Man 2 specifically for, and only available in, this collector's edition DVD
* Collectible "Concept to Screen Comparison" portfolio: view the transformation of various scenes of Spider-Man 2 from sketches and concepts to images from the final production
* Postcard collection of Spider-Man 2 Artwork: five postcards which feature original artwork used in the theatrical advertising campaign of "Spider-Man 2" including the well-known trilogy campaign of "Sacrifice," "Choice," and "Destiny"
* The Amazing Spider-Man #50 comic book: reduced-size reprinting of the original comic book in which Peter Parker decides to give up being Spider-Man

Customer reviews:

Good, 2008-09-18
The dread franchise film has killed off many a potentially interesting character (Superman, Batman, Ripley, Rocky) & given leases of life to characters that are paper-thin (Indy Jones, Jason Voorhees, Catwoman). The latest franchise film is Spider-Man 2, directed by Sam Raimi. The 1st Spider-Man was probably the best comic book film ever made- mostly because its leads- Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker/Spider-Man, & Kirsten Dunst as his love- Mary Jane Watson a) can both act (unlike, say Christopher Reeve as Superman), b) are well cast (unlike Michael Keaton in the 1st 2 Batman films). & c) have chemistry (unlike Reeve & Margot Kidder in the Superman films). Maguire, especially, is so good an actor that he is 1 of those rarities that can run a panoply of emotions through just his eyes. He is almost irresistible to watch onscreen.... All in all, a very good film, & along with the 1st film, simply the best superhero films ever made. I hope the writers from this film stick with the whole series because, next to Batman, Spidey probably has the best pantheon of villains in comic book lore. Future baddies could include Dr. Doom, Venom, Carnage, the Sandman, Rhino, the Lizard, & Electro, among others. But, what makes good writing in such a film valuable are the little moments- like Peter's confession to Aunt May about how & why Uncle Ben really died, a surreal moment on an elevator between Spidey & a shocked citizen, references to other characters in the Marvel Comics universe, allusions & parallels to Oscar Wilde's The Important Of Being Earnest, & a street musician singing the old Spider-Man tv cartoon series theme song from the 1960s. Such touches are what invigorate this franchise above the others & what killed off the increasingly dark & directionless Batman franchise. Sam Raimi proves he is a director who knows how to milk a proven commodity without imposing his own distorted `vision' on it- unlike Batman director Tim Burton.

Good for Geeks, Though a Bit Short on Features, 2008-09-11
If you liked Spider-man 2, you should love Spider-man 2.1. The extra scenes are all great scenes that add nuance to the already-excellent film. They're mostly extra character bits, things that weren't needed, but certainly help paint the picture. The extra bits are so well-blended into the old footage that I didn't even recognize one new shot as such until, when watching the original version again, I noticed that it wasn't there.
Most memorable to me were J. Jonah Jameson wearing his newly-found Spider-man suit and pretending that he's the superhero, a much more rational and less venal confrontation between Peter and Harry at his birthday party (I'd always thought that scene in the original version was a bit choppy and emotionally sporadic) and a wonderful conversation between Mary Jane and her Maid-of-Honor about why she's marrying John Jameson.
The DVD set was lacking in features. There is a new commentary track featuring Producer Laura Ziskin and Writer Steve Ditko, but it's not very interesting. In addition, the other two commentary tracks were removed. For commentary buffs like myself, this should not be.
Most of the rest of the special features are all new, including a featurette about the new material. Unfortunately, these few extras have replaced the old bonus disc. You could do what I did, find a cheap copy of the original Spider-man 2, keep that bonus disc and give the movie itself to a friend so you have a 3-disc set, but that seems a lot to do just to have the complete set of bonus features.
In all, I would highly recommend this version. If you're a Spider-man fan or just a DVD geek, get this movie, just be prepared to have less bonus features than before.