Sylvain White’s big-screen adaptation of the DC/Vertigo comic book series, “The Losers,” will undoubtedly get plenty of airtime when it premieres on basic cable, but as one of the many man-on-a-mission movies released this year, it’s probably the weakest of the bunch. Fortunately, Warner Bros. has still thrown together a pretty decent collection of extras that, while not incredibly memorable, are certainly worth checking out once.
“Band of Buddies: Ops Training”
This three-part featurette is the closest thing you’ll find to an official making-of, but it just barely scrapes the surface at only 17 minutes. Each section covers a different topic, including training the actors to resemble Special Forces soldiers, using Puerto Rico as a stand-in for the movie’s various global locations, and the tricks employed to film certain stunts. It’s a nice tease, but it really could have been better.
“The Losers: Action-Style Storytelling”
Creators Andy Diggle and Jock sit down to discuss the origins of the comic book and how it compares to the film adaptation. There are some cool accompanying shots from the comic that show the similarities between the two versions, while Diggle comments on the necessary changes to the main villain in order for it to work in the context of a movie. Fans of the comic might be relieved to see that the creators are happy with the final product, but I can’t help but feel like they were legally bound to hold back from revealing their true feelings.
“Zoe and The Losers”
Zoe Saldana is the center of attention in this short featurette about the film’s only female character that includes some flattering interviews from the cast and crew and a fairly in-depth look at a key fight sequence between her and Jeffrey Dean Morgan. It’s just too bad Warner Bros. didn’t see it fit to expand this character featurette to include the rest of the cast.
“Deleted Scene”
It’s not very long, but this alternate ending featuring Chris Noth as a U.S. government official who takes over the role of Max would have been a nice after-credits teaser for a potential sequel.
“Sneak Peak – Batman: Under the Red Hood”
I’m not exactly sure what it’s doing here, but this 13-minute teaser of DC Universe’s newest direct-to-video animated movie is probably the best thing on the disc. I guess there’s a bit of a comic connection going on, but usually Warner Bros. reserves these types of things for other DCU movies.
Granted, it’s hard to complain about the weakness of the extras when the movie didn’t exactly perform well at the box office, but while I didn’t expect anything as extravagant as Maximum Movie Mode (something Warner’s other release this week, “Cop Out,” does boast), it would have been nice to at least get a director commentary. Apparently, that’s asking too much.
