The Arrested Development Documentary Project (Standard Edition)

Next to Seinfeld or The Office, one TV show captured the hearts and comedic minds of audiences and celebrities alike. That show is Arrested Development which had a turbulent time at Fox and after its cancellation, it transitioned to the streaming giant Netflix for more seasons. People worldwide still quote dialogue from this show daily and clamor for more seasons with the incredible A-list cast. Fifteen years ago, a couple of small-time filmmakers and fans of the series crowdfunded a project that turned into a documentary about the series titled The Arrested Development Documentary Project that not only had fans of the show talking about their favorite moments, but also somehow received the entire cast and crew to talk about their fond memories working together sans two people. 

The two filmmakers are Jeff Smith and Neil Lieberman who use their extremely small budget to the best of their ability in this documentary. Unfortunately, there are no clips from the show to enhance the elements the cast and crew discuss throughout this 75-minute documentary. Their strongest aspect is the amount of time they get with big names such as Ron Howard, Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, Portia De Rossi, David Cross, The Russo Brothers, and Mitch Hurwitz to name just a few. The only two people who are missing are Jessica Walter and Michael Cera. Additionally, Neil and Jeff interview super fans of the show from around the world who talk about certain episodes, funny moments, and how the show affected the culture and comedy around them personally. 

More insightful discussions with the cast and crew reveal how the show started, its cancellation, the casting of the series, the amount of rewrites, and the best episodes. It's clear that the entire cast and crew look back fondly on making the show and know they all had something special. Sadly, this documentary was made back in 2011, meaning there are no new interviews with any of the actors or filmmakers which could be a bummer for anyone new to hearing about this documentary. There isn't any behind-the-scenes footage either, however, at 75 minutes, the interviews fly by with some entertaining and energetic topics where the cast lovingly talks about creating one of the best shows of all time. For fans of the series who want a bigger glimpse into the making of this beloved show, this documentary satisfies with great interviews with most of its cast and crew. 

Vital Disc Stats: The Blu-ray
The Arrested Development Documentary Project  Comes to Blu-ray from ETR Media and OCN Distribution. The sole disc is housed inside a hard, clear plastic case. If you ordered from Vinegar Syndrome you picked up a slipcover, otherwise there isn't any insert booklet. There is reversible cover art. One side has silhouettes of the show's characters on the stair truck. The other side has memorable food items from the show. 

The Arrested Development Documentary Project arrives in 1080p but actually has the look of an SD upscale rather than a recently shot digital presentation. The interviews from the mid-2000s are not sharp or vivid. It has a hazy and almost blurry look to it. The camera equipment was probably solid for that generation but its limited resolution and cooked-in artifacts don't make it the most beautiful piece to look at Even the colors burn a bit brighter to the point of being too warm. 

This release comes with a DTS-HD 2.0 mix and a Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo mix that does its job on the front two speakers. There are no sound effects or ambient noises in this documentary. The DTS-HD sounds a little more robust but there's not much of a difference here since the entire documentary is of talking head interviews. The difference in both audio options comes when the music plays in the background. There is only a subpar musical score in certain areas with talking head interviews. The dialogue is clean and clear for the most part, but it can sound a tiny bit tin-canny. The music is not even the music from the show but a funny rip-off from the theme. 

Only a new commentary track from the filmmaking duo is included here. 

• Audio Commentary - Jeff Smith and Neil Lieberman deliver a new commentary track about making the movie which is decent enough. There are some pauses and gaps in between their talking, which is odd due to the complete silence of the actual film that was not given any audio for the commentary track. 
• Trailer (SD, 2 Mins.) Trailer for the film. 

The Arrested Development Documentary Project is a fun interview series with most of the cast and crew of the iconic series along with its biggest fans from across the globe. It's just too bad there were no clips or behind-the-scenes footage included. It's a super low-budget documentary, however, for fans of the series, there is something special here. While presented on a Blu-ray disc, this transfer has the appearance of an SD upconvert - at best. It's not the most visually stunning piece, to say the least, and there is a DTS-HD 2.0 mix and a Dolby Digital 2.0 audio track that gets the job done. The new audio commentary from the two filmmakers has gaps of silence but is interesting enough. For Fans Only.