Gone Girl Out On Dvd

Getting Your Hands on Gone Girl on DVD

The Gone Girl DVD came out in 2015, about four months after the theatrical release. It's the David Fincher-directed thriller based on Gillian Flynn's novel, starring Rosamund Pike and Ben Affleck. If you're looking to pick up a copy or need to know what you're getting into, here's the straight rundown. The DVD is the standard edition with no significant differences from the Blu-ray in terms of extra features. The special features include deleted scenes, behind-the-scenes footage, and a few commentaries. Nothing groundbreaking. You're mainly paying for the movie itself and the convenience of watching it on a disc. I bought the DVD back in 2015 myself, partly because I wanted something physical and partly because my internet at the time was trash. The 149-minute runtime fits fine on a single layer disc, which is honestly kind of surprising for a film with this many close-ups. Fincher's compression choice was tight but clean enough that you don't get the usual DVD mushiness.

Here's the thing people don't tell you when they're selling you on this. The DVD bitrate is around 6 Mbps, which sounds fine until you compare it to the Blu-ray at about 20 Mbps. The difference shows most in dark scenes. The infamous kitchen scene with the candlelight? On DVD it looks a bit flat. On Blu-ray it actually has depth. If you care about picture quality even a little bit, just go with the Blu-ray. It's not an expensive upgrade and the difference is real. There was also a digital download option released at the same time. Some people picked that up because they didn't want to wait for shipping. I've seen both used on Amazon, eBay, and sometimes even at local video rental places that haven't quite died yet. Prices for the DVD have dropped to around five dollars these days, so it's not like it's going to break your budget either way. The audio is dolby digital 5.1 and it holds up reasonably well. Not reference quality by any means, but it gives you the atmosphere Fincher was going for. The score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross is subtle enough that you won't notice anything broken unless your speakers are completely mismatched. Which honestly most people's are.

If you're really set on getting this and want the cheapest route, check your local library. They usually have copies sitting around and you can borrow it for free. I've done this with several copies of this movie over the years just because I forget I already own it. Saves money and the discs last forever if you treat them right. One edge case that caught me off guard. The DVD region coding can trip people up if you buy from international sellers. I picked up a cheap copy from an overseas marketplace once and couldn't play it on my player. Had to return it and buy a region-free version instead. Make sure you check the region code before you click buy, especially if you're not in the US. Region 1 for North America, Region 2 for Europe, that kind of thing. Overall it's a solid thriller on DVD. The picture won't win awards and the audio is adequate, but it does what it needs to do. You'll get the movie, you'll understand the ending on the first watch, and maybe you'll want to see it again once you know what's going on. That's pretty much the whole experience in a nutshell.