Watch: Go Behind The Scenes Of 'The Irishman' With Criterion's 36-Minute Making-Of Documentary

What's the point in owning the Criterion edition of Martin Scorsese's modern gangster masterpiece, The Irishman, you might ask? Well, we can debate about the benefits of digital versus physical copies for ages, but the special features alone would make it worth it. Criterion's The Irishman Blu-ray release includes everything from video essays, scene breakdowns, and making-of-featurettes, the latter of which has been made available to watch for free on YouTube now. Watch the Making The Irishman featurette below.

A making-of featurette of The Irishman has been released on Netflix's YouTube channel, to promote the film's Criterion Collection Blu-ray release. And while it seems like a bit of a cheat to drop this entire 30-minute making-of video on the internet for free, it does give us a taste of director Martin Scorsese's craft, and his close relationships with stars Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Joe Pesci that only gets expanded on in the rest of the Criterion release's special features.

But Netflix has never been about exclusivity, and it is cool to see them celebrate Scorsese like this by making the entire featurette available. It's incredible to see Scorsese at work — the first two minutes of this featurette show him directing Pacino, and waving his hands as Pacino performs the scene, as if he were a conductor of an orchestra. It's beautiful to watch, and will perhaps make more casual fans of Scorsese's work interested in seeking out the Criterion release, which is available for purchase now.

Special Features Include: