Cheap Forgotten Silver (DVD) (Peter Jackson) (Costa Botes, Peter Jackson) Price

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Customer Reviews of Forgotten Silver

The film is the creation of Peter Jackson, best known today as director of The Lord of the Rings, and actor Costa Botes. Jackson, playing himself in the movie, claims to have discovered a collection of old films in a neighbor's shed, revealing that New Zealander Colin McKenzie (Botes) invented motion picture cameras, color film, sound technology and other landmarks of cinema in complete obscurity before others who are regularly credited for doing so. His ultimate achievement, a biblical epic called Salome, is the lost treasure of film history.

Jackson enlists the aid of other well-known film personas, including critic Leonard Maltin, to explore the life of Colin McKenzie and reveal just how sensational this discovery is. Most of the humor is subtle and tongue-in-cheek, as it is in Peter Jackson's other films. However, the subject matter is treated with the utmost seriousness and therefore hard to discern from fact. Similar to the effects created by Woody Allen in Zelig, Jackson creates extremely authentic-looking black-and-white nitrate footage in which Colin's achievements are well documented. A sequence in which the filmmaker sets out in search of the ruins of the Salome set feels like an episode of "National Geographic Explorer." In fact, the overall film is so utterly believable that it caused a minor scandal in its native land upon its original airing. The populace of New Zealand demanded to know why one of its native sons had never received the recognition he so clearly deserved.

The DVD's special features serve to enhance the already-convincing documentary aspects, even though they open up the whole bag of tricks like magicians revealing their secrets. In addition to a commentary audio track by Jackson and Botes, the DVD includes interviews detailing the production of the film and the controversy Jackson and Botes created by doing their jobs so well. What truly enhance the overall viewing experience are the inclusion of footage outtakes and a demonstration of the special-effects test shots. The outtakes invigorate the film's impressive mystique, and the test shots are illuminating inside looks at the tools of the film trade and the progress that has been made.

Superb mockumentary
Peter Jackson, he of Lord of the Rings fame, filmed this sharp as a razor, short (50 minutes) mockumentary about Colin MacKenzie, New Zealand's first great film maker, in 1994. The script was co-written by Jackson with Costa Botes, another New Zealander, and the two have a ball chronicling all kinds of fictional events that are so skillfully interwoven with real ones (e.g., New Zealand's participation in WW I) that it really does seem to be the case that MacKenzie did exist and did make his epic film Salome in the New Zealand jungle.

The frequent interviews with and sound bytes by Leonard Maltin, Sam Neill, MacKenzie's "wife", film archivists, and others contributes to the feel of authenticity which, of course, only adds more to how much fun this all is. Especially interesting is the featurette "Behind the Bull" in which Jackson and a host of others talk about how the film was made--in particular, the lengths to which the filmmakers went to make "archived" footage look as old as it does.

This, along with Heavenly Creatures, stands as Jackson's best work and should be seen by those who really love a good pulling of the leg. Recommended.

Forgotten Silver - Discover It!!!
Here is an interesting DVD. If you were a Peter Jackson freak back before LOTR, you might be lucky enough to have a copy of this wonderful film on DVD. Peter Jackson is obviously a great storyteller, and he has conjured up a beauty with this "forgotten" gem! A great, original take on documentaries.....and starring Peter Jackson himself! The discovery of the incredible filmaker from New Zealand, Colin MacKenzie, who worked making films in obscurity for years..... creating many firsts for early cinema....lost for years until his films were re-discovered by Mr. Jackson in a backyard garden shed......this has to be seen to be believed!
So well done, even with its tongue in its cheek, that you really can't tell if they are pulling our legs or are dead serious....such a fun film to "discover"
If you can find a copy, you must see it. It helps to see why I think Peter Jackson is one of THE BEST storytellers in film to come along in a long time....he just keeps getting better and better. We are so lucky to have films like this to watch, and to be able to look forward to more from this talented filmaker and storyteller.