Futuristic thriller The Island was said to be a change of pace for director Michael Bay. Well, he did at least try to provoke some intelligent thought on the dangers of cloning, but only in between lots of "relentlessly overblown action." For stars Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson, it meant running a lot, which they weren't used to, and even so, they couldn't put bums on seats. Ultimately, The Island sank like a stone, recouping just $35m of its $122m budget.

Marooned

There's very little too buoy spirits on this DVD release - just a 15-minute Making Of featurette. It begins with earnest proclamations from cast and crew, eg Steve Buscemi assuring us, "It's more than just an action film," and Mr Bay himself explaining that "it's a fun ride" as well as having "a human core".

We're then taken on a whistle-stop tour of the impressive sets, some of which were so vast they could only be erected at the local Boeing plant! However, the most interesting facet of Bay's madness/method is the so-called Bay Bomber - an armoured truck, rigged with cameras, which he uses to shoot car crashes from the bumper's point of view...

Attack Of The Clones

To round things off, cast and crew gives us that old spiel about how the director "has a great visual sense" and "really knows what he wants," but McGregor is keen to point out that Bay is also a laidback guy despite the hoopla that surrounds him. As he puts it: "He's not a nightmare, he's Michael Bay!" Overall though, McGregor doesn't get much talk time and Johansson declines to comment at all.

Finally, for some inexplicable reason, the director's commentary is not available on the disc itself, but can be accessed on your computer via a web-link. The truth is, this DVD edition of The Island is pretty much deserted.

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