The Corner Penthouse

A few years ago, Lionsgate released the Escape Plan: 3-Movie Collection on Blu-ray and DVD, which collects the three films starring Sylvester Stallone. I blindly purchased each of them from the same Walmart store a few months apart. The DVD was purchased first for $5.00, and the Blu-ray a few months later for $7.50. Both came with a shiny slipcover. Since there were no reviews of either online, that I could find, I did not have the information beforehand to know more about them. Since I now have both releases, I thought I would write a quick comparison review so everyone would have the information that I didn't. Read on to find out more...

Neither of the two releases tell you on the slipcover or case how many discs are inside and what special features are included. All they tell you are the video and audio specifications. (The first two images can be enlarged.)


Imagine my surprise when I opened up the DVD set and saw THREE discs inside! Yes, for $5.00, I got all three of the original individually-released discs in one case. Imagine my disappointment when I opened up the Blu-ray set and saw only TWO discs inside. Instead of the original discs for all three films, the first two were collected onto a single disc. That can't be good.


As I do this comparison, I will NOT be comparing the video and audio specifications. All of the films are in their proper aspect ratios with English audio and English & Spanish subtitles. The Blu-rays are, of course, in a higher resolution, but that is irrelevant for the purposes of this comparison review. What I will be looking at are the special features included in both sets. Let's start with the DVD set.


The Escape Plan (2013) DVD includes these special features:

• Audio Commentary - by director Mikael Hafstrom and co-writer Miles Chapman.
• Executing the Plan: the Making of Escape Plan (22:12)

The Escape Plan 2: Hades (2018) DVD includes these special features:

• Making Escape Plan 2: Hades (9:57)
• Creating the Look of Escape Plan 2: Hades (3:33)
• Building the Robot of Escape Plan: Hades (4:05)
• Cast/Crew Interviews (Play All, 53:52) - Includes Director Steven C. Miller (5:51), Dave Bautista (15:03), Wes Chatham (7:18), Jaime King (13:14), Jesse Metcalfe (5:40), and Director of Photography Brandon Cox (6:46).

The Escape Plan: The Extractors (2019) DVD includes these special features:

• Audio Commentary - with director John Herzfeld and actors Sylvester Stallone, Devon Sawa, and Daniel Bernhardt.
• The Making of Escape Plan: The Extractors (10:03)

Man, that sure is a lot of stuff for $5.00. Now, let's look at the Blu-ray set.


The Escape Plan 1 & 2 Blu-ray includes these special features: NOTHING!

I knew when I saw that both movies were on one disc, it would be bad. Not only do we lose out on all of the featurettes, commentary, and interviews from the two DVDs, but the individually-released Blu-ray for the first film includes two additional featurettes and 11 deleted scenes, as listed at DVD Compare.

You pay more money for the Blu-ray set, but get LESS content. That's insane!


The Escape Plan: The Extractors (2019) Blu-ray includes these special features:

• Audio Commentary - with director John Herzfeld and actors Sylvester Stallone, Devon Sawa, and Daniel Bernhardt.
• The Making of Escape Plan: The Extractors (10:03)

Since this movie was on its own disc, I had no doubt that it would be the same disc that was also released individually with the same special features. Sure enough, it is! Why couldn't Lionsgate include the original Blu-ray discs for the first two films as well?

Although no special features were listed on the back of either case, since the DVD set used all three original discs, it has a handful of extras for each film. The Blu-ray set only uses the original disc for the third film, so it's the only film with extras. The first two films are crammed onto a new disc with none of the extras from the two original discs ported over. As such, you get a more complete package in the DVD set than you do in the higher-priced Blu-ray set. If you don't care about picture resolution, the DVD set is the one to get. If you want the three films in HD, ignore the 3-Movie Collection and just buy the three individual Blu/DVD Combo Packs: Escape Plan (2013), Escape Plan 2: Hades (2018), and Escape Plan: The Extractors (2019).

Both of these items were purchased using my own money. They were NOT provided by Lionsgate.