The Arrested Development Documentary Project is a love letter and the definitive documentary to one of the most beloved and well-written shows of all time, Arrested Development. The documentary delves into the incredible story of this brilliant, witty, and one-of-a-kind TV show, peeling back the many layers of what made it so special.

Featuring interviews with creator Mitch Hurwitz, narrator Ron Howard, plus many memorable cast members including Will Arnett, David Cross, Portia De Rossi, Jeffrey Tambor, along with fan favorites Henry Winkler, Andy Richter and Scott Baio, this truly is a must-watch for fans of the Bluth family!

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Video Quality

The Arrested Development Documentary Project comes to Blu-Ray from ETR Media with an HD source that is limited by the quality of the material. This feature made about 15 years ago consists of contemporary interviews with the cast and creative team along with brief interjections from super fans. It looks like all of this footage was shot on a consumer-grade camera that does not quite hold up to modern HD standards, often looking like an upscaled DVD. That being said, the material does appear to look the best it possibly could with this release. There is still a decent amount of detail in close-up shots, and the colors are saturated well. The encoding does not falter when it comes to compression artifacts or unwanted digital nuisances. Even if it is not a visually stunning feature, we are glad to have it on Blu-Ray.

Audio Quality

This Blu-Ray disc comes with a DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio track that captures this material as desired. Interviews are the focus in the center channel as you get these anecdotes and passionate feelings delivered in a stable environment. The interviews offer an impressive array of talking heads to give context to the show’s life. The music comes through with favorable fidelity that evokes memories of the series. There are no egregious digital anomalies or other issues spotted. This track does what it is supposed to. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided.

Special Features

Audio Commentary: Director Jeff Smith and Executive Producer Neil Lieberman provide a straightforward and informative commentary track in which they discuss how the project came to be, how interviews were secured, the passion of the subjects, the shooting locations, the interviews they couldn’t make happen, and more. There are some stretches of silence, but you get some decent anecdotes about the production.

Trailer: The two-minute trailer is provided.

Final Thoughts

The Arrested Development Documentary Project is a film for superfans of the titular series. Arrested Development is one of the best comedies of the past few decades, and it being taken off the air crushed a lot of the fans at this time, especially. It is understandable that this would inspire someone to do a deep dive into such a beloved topic. The execution is very straightforward and hamstrung slightly by the inability to use clips, but the amount of people they secured to participate is a coup for devotees of the series. It is unlikely to mean much to those who don’t follow the series, but those who love it will find it to be a valuable companion. ETR Media has released a Blu-Ray featuring an A/V presentation as good as the source will allow and a couple of cool special features. Recommended

The Arrested Development Documentary Project is currently available to purchase on Standard Edition Blu-Ray or with a Limited Edition Slipcover exclusively through Vinegar Syndrome.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: ETR Media & OCN Distribution have supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.