At last count I had something like 250 DVDs. (What? I like movies.) Of late, I’ve been trying to only buy DVDs when they’re used and/or on sale, because it’s just too expensive to but them otherwise. Here’s a secret: Despite the fact that they cost between $15-25, new DVDs rarely boast anything to justify that price tag. So I’ve got a pretty iron-clad, failsafe rule when it comes to paying full price for DVDs: If it’s something on Criterion, it’s worth the cash, and two directors—Peter Jackson and Guillermo Del Toro—can be trusted to load up their discs with pretty amazing stuff.

Case in point: The newly released two-disc edition of Del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth. I really like the film, but somehow, I liked it less than everybody else seemed to. (Even people who vehemently dislike Del Toro’s other work seemed to gravitate to this film, and it’s probably the most lauded genre picture since The Lord of the Rings.)

That said, I picked up the DVD knowing that it’d be a solid purchase, but I wasn’t prepared for what a great set this is—its special features accomplished the rare feat of actually making me appreciate the film more, not less, and they opened up whole new avenues of looking at the film. I’m recommending it here ‘cause if you’ve got some time to kill this long weekend and don’t mind parting with $25 bucks, you’d be hard pressed to find a better DVD purchase. Hit the jump for specifics.

First disc is the film and a commentary from Del Toro, but the second disc is where it's at--it's packed with great, insightful features about the film, all of them anchored by the awesome, charming Del Toro. There are in-depth featurettes on the mythological bases for Del Toro's story, documentaries on the visual effects and makeup, a deconstruction of Del Toro's use of color throughout the film, clues re: the plots' symbolism that I never would've picked up on otherwise, and a ton of galleries featuring gorgeous production artwork.

Some of the best stuff, though, comes from the pages from Del Toro's notebooks--the guy keeps incredibly detailed sketchbooks when he's making his films, and their pages contain everything from story elements to sketches of the characters and locations. They're beautiful to look at (he also included pages from his notebooks on the great three-disc Hellboy set), and a genuinely fascinating look at the writer/director's creative process. (That's one of the pages, above.)

Even better, Del Toro talks about his motives for making the film and his attitudes towards the characters and the story. The disc also boasts a pretty great episode of The Charlie Rose show in which Del Toro is interviewed along with Alfonso Cuaron (Children of Men) and Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu (Babel). (Though you can also watch that here.) Thankfully, all of these special features aren't just studio-approved PR dribble, like most discs' special features--they're the filmmakers talking about the legitimate challenges, upsides, and downsides of the film. (At one point, Del Toro even addresses my chief complaint with the film, which is that many of the characters are written like stereotypical heroes/villains, rather than like actual people. And his explanation--though it doesn't necessarily fix the rather glaring problem--does make his choice make a lot more sense.)

So anyway, yeah--I don't usually just recommend people go out and buy DVDs, but hey, it's a long weekend, and if you liked Pan's Labyrinth (or even if you didn't) and you see the two-disc version for sale somewhere, pick it up. Most discs aren't worth buying due to their anemic and/or half-assed special features, but this is a pretty great example of how awesome DVDs can be. At their bare minimum, DVDs let you enjoy a film away from an expensive theater filled with text messaging and/or talking jackasses, but at their best--like with this set--they can enhance the film, taking the experience of watching it to a whole new level.