Five years before helming Lawrence of Arabia, director David Lean saw this film, Bridge on the River Kwai, receive critical praise and a handful of awards. Both films are among the top 15 of all-time according to the American Film Institute's list. Set at a Japanese prison camp in World War II, Bridge is one of the most fantastic war movies without any scenes of war. Like Lawrence, Columbia TriStar gave Bridge a wonderful 2-disc set, with a beautiful looking transfer and a nice selection of extras. And Obi-Wan's in it.
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Part of Fox's Five Star line is the 1963 epic drama Cleopatra starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. This movie is NOT to be confused with Cleopatra the music group of energetic African American teens. But Fox didn't even feel it was necessary for this movie to have a hit like "Cleopatra Comin' At Ya" and they gave it a 3-disc set anyway! There is a two-hour documentary, a featurette from 1963, and a commentary in which Martin Landau joins the sons of the late director Joseph Mankiewicz
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Considered by many to be the most chilling film of all-time, The Exorcist is undoubtedly a pinnacle of horror cinema. Voters chose this, the 25th Anniversary Edition over the revisionist's release (The Version You've Never Seen). This original DVD release of the 1973 theatrical cut is out of print and kind of difficult to track down. Extras include a 74 minute documentary, two audio commentaries, a plethora of trailers & TV spots, production notes, an introduction from William Friedkin, plus an anamorphic transfer and 5.1 track to boot.
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Only Tim Burton would be responsible for a Christmas film involving the kidnapping of Santa Claus and violence that made Disney disown the film and release it under the Touchstone label instead of the family-friendly Disney logo. This DVD re-release does give us a DTS track, two Tim Burton short films, commentary from director Henry Selick, and deleted footage. Even without anamorphic enhancement, this Special Edition is a steal at under $20.
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Ten years after the phenomenal success of The Silence of the Lambs, America got another movie starring Anthony Hopkins in his trademark role as Hannibal "the Cannibal" Lecter in Hannibal. Gone are Jodie Foster and Jonathan Demme's creative input; in are Ridley Scott and Julianne Moore. The DVD release (a rare 2-disc set from MGM) contains commentary from Ridley, over a half-hour of deleted scenes, 8 featurettes, trailers, a photo gallery, and more. Plus, anamorphic widescreen and DTS for the film.
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This Sci-Fi Future Noir gets the New Line Platinum treatment. Director Alex Proyas (The Crow) shrouds the proceedings in a surreal gothic atmosphere and the crystal-clear video transfer reveals details in the deepest shadows. In addition, the disc boasts one of the finest audio commentaries ever, from one Roger Ebert.
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While not the huge special edition that people were hoping for, Fox's DVD release for Bryan Singer's film version of the famous comic and animated heroes of X-Men pleased fans with its stellar transfer and outstanding audio. Throw in some decent extras, jazzy menus, and the fact that it retails for just $19.95 and you've got an satisfying overall release. Good DVDs at good prices are, yes, good.
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When Universal first released Spartacus on DVD, the picture quality was lacking and extras were just about non-existent. Fortunately, the Twikoff re-release of this 1960 gladiatorial film starring Kirk Douglas was able to right those wrongs, which was a big positive in the eyes of fans. While some have complained about a possible twikoff glitch in the mastering of this disc, most would argue that twikoffs aside, this is one nice (albeit overpriced) DVD set that certainly is better treatment than the initial release.
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After a bunch of waiting for the blockbuster smash that is Men in Black to come to the DVD format, Columbia TriStar finally announced three versions of releases for the fall of 2000. Some people had trouble deciding, since the 2-disc Limited Edition did not offer DTS and retailed for $12 more than its single-disc counterparts. However, if you were smart (and if you're reading this site, you must be!) you went for the pricier Limited Edition set like me. Now, some have complained about video quality, but frankly the transfer looks perfect to me. If you want to argue about something regarding this release, talk about how "limited" it is. Filled with extras, including an innovative but underwhelming Editing Workshop and a Visual commentary with Tommy Lee Jones and director Barry Sonnenfeld (a la the Ghostbusters commentary), this release offers everything an MIB fan could want.
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Oliver Stone's Platoon is one of the best Vietnam films. Charlie Sheen's role is a lot like his father's role in Apocalypse Now which was released just seven years earlier. Sheen's got his future Major League co-star Tom Berenger and Men at Work co-star Keith David along for the journey that is Vietnam. Willem Dafoe, big teeth and all, also gives a solid performance. This MGM special edition re-release features an awesome documentary in addition to the quality film. That pretty much sums up why this is one of the best DVDs ever.
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