Director's Cut

Just so you know, this is pretty much false advertising. They aren't director's cuts, just deleted scenes like they included for Sacrifice I & II on the Season 3 DVDs. Not what I was expecting, but still interesting. They have the clips in a much better format this time. Both the rough and final cuts run on the same screen; then the final cut is paused while the rough cut keeps going, allowing the deleted footage to run. It's a lot easier to watch than what they had for Sacrifice.

A Good Day

Nice to see the complete versions of the two main Xena/Gab chats from "A Good Day," an episode that I love that you never seem to hear mentioned a lot. What can I say, I'm a sucker for Steve Sears' historical eps. The nighttime scene where Xena and Gab are looking out at the Roman camps
helps sell Gab's ability to lead the army much better than the final cut. The end also makes a little more sense, clearing up Gab's javelin throw and what exactly happened. Xena's response of "I can't answer that question" always seemed a little weird to me. Something just seemed a little off. And now I see that it was actually the response to a different question of Gab's that was cut. Good to know I wasn't crazy. And funny enough, this also shows where that blooper of Lucy's stomach rumbling comes from. I could never quite figure out what episode that was from, but those lines are here in the deleted footage. Huh.
 

Locked Up and Tied Down

"Locked Up and Tied Down" - if you thought there was Gab/Thalassa subtext before, wait'll you see this! Gab giving Thalassa a face-to-face facial and neck massage with Thalassa laying it on pretty thick! I don't think there's any question of Thalassa's feelings for Gab after watching this.


Between The Lines

"Between the Lines" - very extended Mendhi painting scene, but the best bits are all in the final cut. Just a little one of the Gab Abs getting mendhied was left out. And a long section with Shakti, Arminestra, and Khindin after Xena, Gab, and Alti have all gone back in time. A little heavy-handed and not well acted. I can see why they cut it. Those other actors just ain't our Lucy and Renee!

 

Bloopers

There are a few new bloopers that aren't on the old Season 4 blooper reel. Ok, ok, don't get too excited. There are 1 and 1/2 more. But that's better than nothing. There's one that looks like Amazons and
Romans fighting in "Endgame" that involves a severed limb, and the blooper where Lucy's stomach is rumbling is actually a bit longer. She makes the problem a bit more audible, which helps a lot.

And, sadly, Rob tells of a great blooper from "Paradise Found" that was never printed. It's at the end where they're back in the cave and Gab is naked, hiding behind Xena. Well, Renee's supposedly there in pasties and a bikini (when you're done enjoying that mental image, please continue reading), and at one point during the scene, Lucy just up and walked away, leaving Renee a little exposed. Renee, of course, shrieked and tried to cover her near nakedness, and the crew burst out laughing. Rob asked Renee if it'd be ok to print it for the gag reel (where they would of course blur things out a bit), but LUCY put her foot down and forbade him from doing that. Makes you wonder what other great gags happened that we'll never get to see :(

 

Disc Description
 

Disc 1:

Adventures In The Sin Trade
Interviews: Rob Tapert, Lucy Lawless & Renee O'Connor; RJ
Stewart & Eric Gruendemann; Donald Duncan

Adventures In The Sin Trade II
Interviews: Donald Duncan; RJ Stewart & Eric Gruendemann; Rob
Tapert, Lucy Lawless & Renee O'Connor

A Family Affair
Interviews: Chris Manheim; Liz Friedman; Doug Lefler
Weblink
Still Gallery (Note: they've added a frame around the images, so these
don't make as good screencaps as the previous DVD photo galleries)

Credits

Disc 2:

In Sickness And In Hell
Audio/Video Commentary: Lucy Lawless & Renee O'Connor

A Good Day
Interviews: Eric Gruendemann & Liz Friendman; Steve Sears; Rick
Jacobson

A Tale Of Two Muses
Interviews: Rob Tapert & Michael Hurst; Gillian Horvath (writer)

Disc 3:

Locked Up And Tied Down
Interviews: John Cavill; Rob Tapert; Rick Jacobson

Crusader
Interviews: Donald Duncan; RJ Stewart & Eric Gruendemann; Liz
Friedman

Past Imperfect - no extras

Disc 4:

The Key To The Kingdom - no extras
Daughter Of Pomira - no extras

If The Shoe Fits...
Interviews: Lucy Lawless & Renee O'Connor

Disc 5:
Paradise Found
Audio/Video Commentary: Rob Tapert & Chris Manheim
Interviews: Rob Tapert; Chris Manheim

Devi - no extras

Between The Lines
Interviews: John Cavill; Rick Jacobson; Steve Sears

Disc 6:
The Way
Interviews: RJ Stewart; John Cavill

The Play's The Thing - no extras

The Convert
Interviews: Chris Manheim; RJ Stewart; Donald Duncan

Disc 7:

Takes One To Know One - no extras

Endgame
Interviews: Steve Sears; Eric Gruendemann

The Ides Of March
Audio/Video Commentary: Lucy Lawless & Renee O'Connor
Interviews: RJ Stewart; Hudson Leick; Rob Field

Disc 8:

Déjà Vu All Over Again
Audio/Video Commentary: Renee O'Connor
Interviews: Rob Tapert, Lucy Lawless & Renee O'Connor; Ted Raimi

Bloopers & Outtakes - some slight additions to the old Season 4 blooper
reel

Bringing Monsters to Life at KNB EFX Group
Documentary about season 4 monsters & effects with some
behind-the- scenes footage of the Destroyer, Hanuman, and the
Indrajit/Kali multi- arm battle

Bruce & Ted in "Cabin Fever"
Home movie style chat with Bruce and Ted about their careers,
experiences on XWP, and some talk of season 4 episodes - mostly just
the two of them goofing around :)

Disc 9:

Adventures In The Sin Trade: An Exploration
Two-part documentary, first discussing the Amazons and shamanism
with Sheila Briggs, professor of Religion & Gender Studies at USC,
then discussing the martial arts of XWP (focused more on the entire
series, rather than just AITST) with Douglas Wong, including
behind-the-scenes footage and photos of Hudson and Lucy in
early-training

A Good Day Director's Cut
Deleted scenes

Locked Up And Tied Down Director's Cut
Deleted scenes

Between The Lines Director's Cut
Deleted Scenes

Disc 10 (CD-ROM):
Xena Chronicles (episode & character info)
Cast & Crew Bios
Xena Trivia
Xena Legends (stories behind characters & myths)
Extras (production sketches)