Panic Room: Special Edition

Submitted by Ken Seeber and Chris Coleman

It is easy to overlook the hidden features on Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment’s new release of the “Panic Room” Special Edition, but here’s how you, too, can check them out.

Insert the second disc of the DVD set and from the Main Menu go to the’Production“ submenu. Here, highlight the ”Main Menu“ entry and then press the ”Right“ arrow key on your remote control. This will highlight an icon in the fireplace. Now press the ”enter“ key and you will get to see a brief clip of Special Effects Coordinator Joe Viskocil explaining how the effect of Jodie Foster breaking a mirror with a sledge hammer has been created.

Now, back from the disc’s Main Menu go to the ”Pre-Production“ menu where you select ”Prep“ and then highlight the menu entry ”Safe Cracking School.“ Now, press the ”right“ arrow key on your remote control followed by the ”Enter“ key and you will see a six minute featurette on real panic rooms with the film’s security consultant, Gavin DeBecker, and safe room constructor Gary Paster.

A third Easter Egg can be found when you play the special effects featurette ”The Big Shot’ that is also on this disc. Make sure to let it play all the way to the end. After it finishes you will automatically be taken to an otherwise inaccessible 3-minute featurette that plays the scene in split-screen mode, with BUF Compaigne’s wire-frame effects on the left side of the screen, and the finished film on the right.