A few years ago I read that “Three Games To Glory,” a celebration of the Patriots’ Super Bowl XXXVI victory, was the highest-selling NFL Films production ever, and I had a theory. I was thinking that New England fans not only wanted to relive their team’s magical ride that season but also to simulate a pinch-of-the-arm moment and make sure that they really did see the Pats win it all.

Honestly. I felt it. Growing up in Boston, you learn to live with disappointment and suffering, even allowing it to take on a masochistic form of therapy over time. Since the Boston Celtics’ NBA championship in 1986, pain had become standard. Letdown was mundane.

So when the Pats won it all, I truly believed there were people in New England who went to Logan Airport the next day or to the parking lot of Foxboro Stadium or were one of the million-plus people who attended the parade in downtown Boston just to make sure that what they had seen was real. If they missed those celebrations, buying the first “Three Games” video certainly was proof enough.

Fast-forward two years, and the talk of dynasty and the Patriots being the “team of the decade” already is pervasive. It’s no longer disbelief that the Patriots are winners; the tone has changed.

What, then, do we make of “Three Games To Glory II” — the team’s aptly named collection for its latest Super Bowl title?

This video is not an affirmation, but rather a coronation. It’s also a clear sign that the Patriots’ organization just does things right, top to bottom, and that it approaches its product with the fans in mind first. What a refreshing notion. In an era of secrecy and suspicion around the NFL, the Patriots open their doors with candor — and they win big because of it.

Six hours’ worth of material, including all-access (their words), behind-the-scenes looks at the team’s locker room following every game of the team’s 15-game winning streak is what you get for about 30 bucks. It also shows NFL Films’ productions of the three playoff games, with dubbed-over radio voices of Patriots broadcasters Gil Santos and Gino Cappelletti, including every play of the Super Bowl — even the fair catches, incomplete passes and penalties.

Edited down — things such as timeouts, dead time between plays and Janet Jackson’s breast were removed to leave just the meat and potatoes — the three games by themselves can be watched in about two hours. That leaves four hours of bonus material, including the locker-room stuff, and I suggest you watch every minute of it. Unless you can’t stand the team, of course.

There are commentaries by Mike Vrabel, Deion Branch and David Givens that can be heard over the Super Bowl video with such commentary as: “That was a nice catch” and “Great play” — thrilling insights that spur the imagination of even the most milquetoast fan into a virtual maelstrom.

But truth be told, the players’ humor and candor do shine through eventually, and the other extras are quite worthy.

You can watch “Belichick Breakdowns,” where, aptly, Coach Bill breaks down a dozen total significant plays from the three 'Glory' games combined. It’s probably the best feature of the new DVD for the hard-core Patriots fan and the football junkie alike, but beware: once, you select this option, you can’t fast-forward through it. But this is not torture. The usually humdrum Belichick comes to life here, and you can see why he is regarded as one of the best football minds around.

It’s not quantum physics though. Belichick does not use terminology foreign to your average fan, but he does shed light on how an offense might attack a cover-2 defense, for instance, by using play-action with Kevin Faulk to suck in Panthers MLB Dan Morgan, freeing TE Daniel Graham on a perfect skinny post pattern down inside the Carolina 10.

The other stuff — the more fun features on the discs — is more palatable to the masses, and there is a bit if hilarity as well.

Before the Tennessee game, Titans OG Zach Pillar is caught saying, “I can’t feel my hands and feet. I am freaking out here.”

Then there is the exchange between Steve Smith and Muhsin Muhammad — a mock sideline interview — after the Panthers took a fourth-quarter lead that is sure to make the collective hair on Patriots fans’ necks rise a la the Rams’ Justin Watson from the first video.

By the end of watching the locker-room scenes, if you are not a fan of Tedy Bruschi and his postgame victory call and response, well, doggone it, you just aren’t much fun.

The parade scenes are also phenomenal. Boston proper might only go a little more than 600,000 people, but the crowd this time is estimated at about 1.5 million people, all there to relish the presence of their heroes. Girls in their best February bikinis, kids skipping school, businessmen hanging out office windows and frat guys climbing traffic lights — it’s all captured.

What are captured are the player speeches to the crowd, thanking them for their loyalty — and their insanity. One particularly revealing speech comes from Ty Law, who summons “Mr. Kraft, Coach Belichick and Tom Brady” to recreate their dancing from the first parade. One unfortunate caveat: Belichick does not reprise his ridiculous moves. But it’s a great team moment.

Have you gone back and watched all this feel-good team stuff, Ty?

And you’re just plain communist if you don’t love the pre-Super Bowl visit of Snoop Dog and his youth team (yes, Snoop coaches these kids) with the Patriots, including a fashion lesson for Coach Bill.

“Belichick, we are gonna get you one of these,” Snoop said, brandishing his full-length red (yes, red) fur coat.

Of course, the banausic Belichick — at his glibbest — counters: “Yeah, everyone complains about my fashion. That’s why I need one.”

Jon Gruden after a double latte, this is not.

It’s evident, though, that the move to bring in Snoop and his young players the day before the big game lightens the mood around the team. It's something the fans rarely get to see. Another revealing moment was watching the players’ expressions change and their pulses quicken as the team, fresh off the plane to Houston, rides in the bus past Reliant Stadium some seven days before they would win the game there.

But the highlight of the entire film is Belichick’s pre-Super Bowl speech at an “undisclosed location.” The coach, now known for his Churchill-like orations, demands the rapt attention of his players, who sit listening to him almost in awe:

“When you’re a champion, no one can take it away from you. They can never take it away from you. You earned it. And you keep it.”

Then, with his players in the palm of his hand, he places the Vince Lombardi Trophy — the one from two years ago — on the table in front of him.

“This is what symbolizes it. This is not about the past. We’re not trying to honor the past here. What this trophy stands for is the team. Not the guy who leads the league in punting. Not the guy with 15 sacks. It’s about the team.”

Some six hours later, confetti is everywhere. Post-game party with Kid Rock and Steven Tyler. It’s all there.

And that is why this DVD is great theater. Perhaps Rodney Harrison madly pontificates a bit too much during his “Winner Take All” segment with Bruschi. Maybe narrator Scott Graham waxes a bit too poetic (“The burning desire to win resides in the belly of every player, planted there by Bill Belichick.” Yuck.) during the voiceover, but most fans will eat this up.

As it approaches Ken Burnsian lengths, this is meant for the hard-core Patriots fan. Few can take this much football, especially for a team that once charmed the hardened heart of football fans two years ago but now might be considered a bit passé. But the story is remarkable, and the access is better.

More than anything. it sets the bar for future NFL Films productions and shows that the Patriots are ahead of the curve, not only in terms of talent hoarding and winning football games but also in terms of marketing and promotion. Credit the Kraft family and the organization for allowing the cameras so close to the team and, transitively, the fans so close to their hearts.

The NFL is as hot as ever, and “Three Games To Glory II” is sure to be a hit. The first version sold more than 50,000 copies, smashing records for NFL video sales, and this one blows the original out of the water.

We quickly are becoming a DVD culture of extras — now, the movie itself is almost superfluous to the little goodies they stash on Disc Two. I have honestly considered spending good money on the DVDs for “This Is Spinal Tap” and “The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension,” movies I have seen ad nauseum, just to watch the extra nuggets. And this production could be watched for the bonus material alone — it’s that good.

What would “Three Games To Glory II” be without the extras? Probably filler on the NFL Network until next season starts. But I’d still watch it.