The mixed language track (Cantonese and Mandarin mainly with some English) in Dolby Digital 2.0 contains clear dialogue and music adds fine atmosphere when employed. A 5.1 option is also available.

Aside from some minor spelling errors, the English subtitles do a good job in conveying all situations. Traditional and simplified Chinese subtitles are also available.

Panorama are stepping up their focus on genuine special editions, even going so far as subtitling extra features into English. They've not yet gone the lengths to translate audio commentaries so the Cantonese language track on hand here featuring co-producer/writer/director Yan Yan Mak, actor Eric Kot and film critic Kwan King Chung is of no use to anyone in need of a translation. For the goodies that Westerners CAN take in, we move on to disc 2.

The disc is kind enough to let us know under the subtitles section which programs to expect that on. The first one being the Exclusive Interviews With The Cast. First out of the gate is Josie Ho (8 minutes, 48 seconds), answering the on-screen questions with enthusiasm and intelligence. Topics include talk of a deleted scene she thought was vital, her own insecurities about child care, other ending possibilities, and the struggles with a particular scene that inspired an English language poem that Josie gave away as a present to director Yan Yan Mak.

Tian Yuan is up next (9 minutes, 24 seconds), providing tidbits about her first acting experience, the surprise at getting nominated for awards, her choice of ending the film if given the chance of rewriting it and music career vs. one in film. A fairly insightful look at the train of thoughts of the young musician/actress.

Eric Kot quickly breaks out out of any subdued behaviour in the film for his 6 minute, 10 second chat, first revealing that Butterfly at one point ran 3 hours. He then gives us a solid take on the meaning of the film from his character's perspective and his radically different choice of ending on a comedic level as well as on a serious one. Kot also touches upon his background as a graphic artist (he was behind the poster art for 2004's Jiang Hu, the only good thing to come out of that project) and rightly puts forth the idea that as an actor you can always improve.

Isabel Chan and Joman Chiang are paired up for the final piece (7 minutes, 55 seconds). A giddy pair of young actresses, they go into fair detail about what they gained from the Butterfly experience, the sometimes difficult to understand tactics of Yan Yan Mak and once again, the "what if you could change the ending" question comes up. I sense an insecurity on the filmmaker's behalf.

The Making-of Documentary (17 minutes, 27 seconds) utilizes a 16mm look to be in tune with the film and is more of a slight retrospective on making the film. We see Josie Ho interviewed at the beach in Venice, having gone to the Film Festival to promote Butterfly and Tian Yuan also turns up at a separate interview session. Some information from the prior interviews appears again but generally we get a worthwhile look at the unusual challenges of making the film. Topics include the love scenes, finding new ways to act, gaining experience from working with the veterans and Ho expresses a fear for Eric Kot's changed acting persona in the film.

15 deleted scenes (total running time 23 minutes, 30 seconds) with optional Cantonese commentary by Yan Yan Mak represents a major extra but Panorama dropped the ball here by giving us absolutely no subtitles whatsoever. What can be picked up by just watching is some minor additions but they doesn't seem to lift the film into a new realm. These includes scenes with Josie Ho's Flavia still pregnant, her popularity with her students, more cracks in the marriage, extended happy and sad times for young Flavia and Jin, the purchase of the 16mm camera and an extension to the attempted suicide scene by Flavia's mother that takes place in the 70s (the scene Ho refers to during her interview).

The music video for at17's "The Best Is Yet To Come" (made up of movie clips only) and the theatrical trailer ends disc 2...almost. An Easter Egg can be found by highlighting the Making-of Documentary option and clicking left on your remote to highlight the butterfly. This will take you to a second music video, this time the "I See You" song by Hopscotch, featured briefly in the film described by Tian Yuan in her interview.

Also in the package is a fine looking 16 page booklet containing both Chinese and English content. Director's statement is an interesting piece from Yan Yan Mak, talking about her way of filmmaking and the deep rooted effects of the summer of the Tiananmen Square Massacre. Yan and Josie Ho also gets informative biographies while the remainder of the cast (Tian Yu, Eric Kot, Joman Chiang and Isabel Chan) receive more your basic career summaries. The booklet ends with a more spoiler filled and philosophical plot synopsis plus autographs from the cast & crew involved. An addition such as this and well-done subtitles on some of the special features has made Panorama a player on the Hong Kong dvd market to look out for. Their problem is that they may feel like putting in effort on only certain titles, regardless of box office success.

Panorama's 1.85.1 anamorphic widescreen transfer is very nice. While there is some noticeable edge enhancement pretty much throughout, print damage is never a problem nor is mpeg compression. Some faint shimmering is noticeable in a few scenes but the colors are nice and strong and the image is clean and clear with a nice, high level of detail.

Sound:

The Cantonese Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound mix comes with optional subtitles available in Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, and English. Though there are some awkward moments in the English subtitle translations, for the most part Panorama has done a fine job with the audio on this release. While there isn't a lot of background music or too many sound effects used throughout the movie, the dialogue is crystal clear and when the movie calls for channel separation, you get it. Bass response, while minimal because of the sound design for the film itself, is fine when it needs to be but for the most part that isn't all that often. This is a pretty mellow track, but it works just fine within the context of the story that the film is telling. There's also a Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo mix available on the disc as well, also in Cantonese.

Extras:

On the first disc, the only extra feature is a commentary track with director Yan Yan Mak, actor Eric Kot, and film critic Kwan King Chun. Unfortunately there are no English language dub or subtitle options provided for this track so I've got no idea what they're talking about but they seem to be having fun on it.

On the second disc is a "Making Of" feature that runs roughly seventeen minutes and features interviews with the majority of the principal cast members who discuss their roles in the film as well as how they feel about the subject matter. To make this feature stand out, they've shot it using some of the same mixed media techniques that were used to give the feature itself it's distinctive look.

There are also interviews with Josie Ho (8:34), Tian Yuan (9:12), Eric Kot (5:57), and Isabel Chan with Joman Chiang(7:48). Each of the cast members discusses in some detail their role in the film, how they feel about the subject matter, how they got into character and how a few of them could relate to the roles that they were playing in the film. Josie Ho and Eric Kot are the most interesting interviews, Ho goes into some nice detail about her working relationship with the director and Eric Kot is just amiable and humorous.

There are deleted fifteen scenes available with or without commentary from the director (again, no subtitles for the commentary and sadly, none for the deleted scenes either). As best I could tell, there's nothing to earth shattering contained in these scenes, mostly character interaction and minor ‘getting to know you' scenes that were likely (and wisely) cut for pacing and length reasons.

Rounding out the extras on the second disc are a music video for the song "The Best is Yet to Come-at17" and the film's theatrical trailer. There's also an Easter Egg that brings you to a second music video (just click the big butterfly on the upper left side of the main menu screen on the second disc – it isn't hard to find).

Worth noting is how nice a job Panorama has done on the packaging for this two-disc set. Not only does the slipcase look subtle and elegant but also the menu design on the DVDs themselves is also top notch. A nice color booklet in both English and Chinese is also included inside the first keepcase that gives a director's statement as well as some biographical information on a few of the cast members. Final Thoughts:

Panorama's DVD looks and sounds great and the extras aren't half bad. Given that, this two disc set comes recommended.