There are some differences in the image quality but I don't know if they are anything to get excited over. I don't think the image benefited from the film being spread over two discs - as it is in the new Special Edition. Colors may be marginally truer in the new double disc release, but bottom line is that the image is not significantly improved upon in the Special Edition in fact in some areas I prefer the older more compressed appearance. A shade of the digital noise from the old release has been removed and the new image is smoother.  

Where the new DVD package is superior are the extras which include an extensive commentary by director/writer Frank Darabont (few gaps in the 3 hour film - he talk a lot). I really enjoyed listening to him - here is a man who knows his stuff pointing out detail after detail of the film including extraneous information that you would thought he might not even be aware of. He also expresses a strong knowledge and respect for films of the past which he intermittently draws upon in The Green Mile. The Behind-the-Scenes Documentary Walking the Mile is duplicated from the first release but there is much added - Two Deleted Scenes with Optional Commentary, Tom Hanks Makeup Tests, Michael Clarke Duncan Screen Test and a new 90-minute Miracles and Mystery: Creating the Green Mile: A 6-Part Documentary. So you are really getting your money's worth. I was a bit disappointed the feature was spread over two DVDs but I suppose it is nice for an 'intermission' of sorts to swap discs.

Some film fans snobbishly reject this offering from Darabont with unfair expectations after his masterful The Shawshank Redemption. Another prison based film from a Stephen King literary work - but I personally loved it. It certainly harkens to a modern Capraesque feel with extensive effort in small details. Darabont is a solid director and while this is no masterpiece - it is better than it has been given credit for. 

Gary W. Tooze