The mermaid comedy classic Splash comes back to DVD in a jam-packed 20th Anniversary Edition thanks to Touchstone Home Entertainment. Presented in an anamorphic 1.85:1 widescreen picture with brand-new Dolby Digital 5.1 audio, the flick looks and sounds better than ever. Bonus features are where this sucker really scores the points, and it all starts with the "Making a Splash" all-new featurette. Clocking in at 24 minutes and chock-full of interviews new and old, the making-of is a fun and informative look at the film through the eyes of all involved (including a few archival moments with the great John Candy). Also worth a look are the original Ron Howard audition tapes with Tom Hanks and Daryl Hannah. An introduction by Howard leads you into these interesting glimpses at the stars-before-they-were-stars as they work out deliveries and character quirks in a back-and-forth with the director. If that weren't enough, you also get a group commentary from Ron Howard's gang of partners in crime, including the director himself, his spiky-haired producer chum Brian Grazer, and the hilarious comedy writing duo of Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel. The chat is light and brisk as the track bops its way along, with Mandel and Ganz cracking wise every chance they get, while Grazer proves once again why producers don't make for good commentators -- the "This is Brian" tag that he throws in literally before everything he says gets old really fast! Some would call out the studio for not including a trailer, but that unfortunately seems to be the norm in big discs these days. If you're a fan of the flick and have been looking forward to a better version than the first slim release, you'll flip over this edition.

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