6/7/05 Edition
June
Buena Vista DVD Round-up
Andy
Reviews The Latest HELLRAISER and PROPHECY Sequels
Plus:
Bruckheimer Director's Cuts, SLING BLADE, TV on DVD & More!
The majority of made-for-video sequels shoot blanks, despite often
being tidy profit makers for their respective studios. Once in a while,
though, a small-screen affair is produced with a little bit of
ingenuity behind it, and serves as an entertaining programmer in its
own right.
Two
years ago, filmmaking tandem Joel Soisson and Patrick Lussier scored a
hit with “Dracula II: Ascension,” the first of
back-to-back sequels to
their forgettable Dimension theatrical release “Dracula
2000.” “Legacy”
boasted good performances for its type, an intriguing story and
adequate effects. In short, it surpassed its bigger-budgeted
predecessor for sheer entertainment value, in the process paving the
way for next month’s overdue debut of “Dracula III:
Legacy.”
Now, Soisson is back at it again -- this time singlehandedly -- with
another made-for-video foray,
THE PROPHECY: UPRISING (**½, 88 mins., 2005, R;
Miramax/Dimension), which in
many ways resembles the small-screen “Dracula”
efforts.
For starters, it’s the first installment in two connected
made-for-video sequels, with a completely open-ended finale serving as
a trailer for the next film. Like the “Dracula”
movies, it boasts its
own, self-contained story line, here involving an attractive young
woman (Kari Wuhrer) who has to safeguard a magical book -- the
“Lexicon”-- after warring fallen angels battle over
its prophecies and
other supernatural powers. And, much like “Dracula
II,” it’s an
appreciable upgrade on the previous “Prophecy”
films.
Granted, the latter may not say much, but in the realm of small-screen
sequels “Prophecy: Uprising” is most definitely a
cut above. Soisson
has created a fun little B-movie with an interesting story line that
takes the core premise from Gregory Widen’s original film and
gives it
its own spin. Gone is the most of the pretension and religious
mumbo-jumbo (for the most part) from the other
“Prophecy” films;
instead, Soisson focuses on a fast-paced story that should sustain the
interest of genre fans for most of its efficient 90-minute run time.
The cast, including Sean Pertwee, Jason London and Doug
“Pinhead”
Bradley, aids in the fun, while Joe LoDuca contributes a spirited
musical score.
Dimension/Miramax’s DVD offers an amusing group commentary
with
Soisson, Wuhrer and other cast members; a deleted scene and extended
ending; a Making Of featurette; cast auditions and a still gallery. The
1.85 transfer and 5.1 Dolby Digital sound are both satisfactory.
Also out this week is the latest entry in the never-ending
“Hellraiser” series, HELLRAISER:
DEADER (**, 88 mins., 2004, R; Dimension/Miramax).
Stan Winston produced this average low-budget sequel, which is a
marginal improvement on the last installment in the series -- though
that, understandably, doesn’t say much. Kari Wuhrer (again!)
stars as a
reporter in Romania who uncovers those crazy, fun-loving Deadites still
at work after being resurrected by a underground Bucharest group
(won’t
they ever learn??).
Rick Bota’s competent though forgettable offering (reportedly
finished
two years ago) sports only a few minutes of screen time for
“Pinhead”
veteran Doug Bradley, something that may disappoint die-hard fans,
though fear not: the next entry in the series,
“Hellworld,” is due out
later this year on DVD.
Dimension’s DVD sports deleted and extended scenes with
optional
commentary from Bota; a pair of commenatries on the film itself; an
amusing, albeit brief, gag reel; a Making Of featurette;
visual
effects and make-up featurettes; storyboards and photo gallery; and a
1.85 transfer with 5.1 Dolby Digital sound.
New
Director’s Cuts and Special Editions From Buena Vista
A pair of Jerry Bruckheimer productions -- both critically panned
box-office hits -- receive expanded “Director’s
Cut” editions this week
on DVD from Buena Vista, all appealingly priced (around $15 in most
outlets).
Eighteen minutes of footage has been restored to 2000's GONE
IN 60 SECONDS (**, 127 mins., Unrated), the
mindless Nicolas Cage check-cashing venture that manages to squander a
game supporting cast (Robert Duvall, Angelina Jolie) in a movie
that’s
never as exciting as you’d think it might be.
Cage leads a group of car thieves in a loose remake of H.B. Halicki's
'70s low-budget actioner, one that managed to drum up $100 million at
the domestic box-office despite receiving bad reviews. That the movie
has fallen off the face of the Earth in the years since -- despite its
cast -- is proof of how forgettable the picture is.
Nevertheless, the Touchstone Director’s Cut includes plenty
of
supplements in addition to the deleted footage that’s been
restored to
the DVD. Featurettes include “Zero to 60,” a
script-to-screen
featurette; the “Wild Rides” car stunts featurette;
“The Big Chase”;
“Stars on the Move”; “Action
Overload,” boasting “spectacular
adrenaline-pumping scenes, music video style”;
“Conversations With
Jerry Bruckheimer”; a music video and the original trailer.
The disc’s
2.35 transfer and 5.1 Dolby Digital sound are both outstanding, but the
movie runs out of gas long before it meanders to the finish line.
Piper Perabo stars as a small-town New Jersey gal who moves to NYC to
strike it rich as a singer in COYOTE
UGLY (**½, 107 mins., Unrated),
another Bruckheimer production from that same summer of ‘00.
This inoffensive, slickly-made and sometimes entertaining "Flashdance"
variant benefits from solid chemistry between the likeable Perabo and
co-star Adam Garcia, plus a throbbing Trevor Horn/Diane Warren
soundtrack. Unfortunately, after hooking viewers with a strong opening
hour, the movie all but evaporates as it nears its badly-assembled,
obviously reshot ending.
Touchstone’s DVD offers a superlative DTS soundtrack of the
film, which
is here extended by seven minutes of restored footage. The
“Unrated
Extended Cut” also boasts additional supplements including
commentary
with Bruckheimer, director David McNally, and “The
Coyotes”; two
behind-the-scenes featurettes; LeAnn Rimes’ music video for
“Can’t
Fight The Moonlight”; the trailer; another “Action
Overload” reel; and
a sparkling 2.35 widescreen transfer.
Billy Bob Thornton’s acclaimed, if not somewhat overrated, SLING
BLADE (***, 148 mins., 1996, Unrated)
also receives a new double-disc Director’s Cut this week as
part of the Miramax “Collector’s Series.”
Some fourteen minutes of footage have been inserted back into
Thornton’s adaptation of the short film “Some Call
It a Sling Blade,”
complimented by a new commentary track with the star-filmmaker. Disc
two offers an abundance of supplements including the featurette
“Mr.
Thornton Goes to Hollywood” and a Bravo profile of Thornton;
a
roundtable discussion with Thornton, co-star Dwight Yoakam, and
producer David Bushnell; a conversation between Thornton and Duvall; an
interview with Thornton and composer Daniel Lanois; a Robert Duvall
interview; several “On the Set” featurettes; a 1.85
widescreen transfer
and 5.1 Dolby Digital sound.
It’s a perfectly nice set, but the absence of the
“Sling Blade” short
film is a regrettable omission in an otherwise recommended release.
Finally, though not a Director’s Cut, Touchstone this week
also rolls
out the 15th Anniversary Edition (albeit some 18 months ahead of time!)
of FATHER
OF THE BRIDE (***, 1991, 105 mins., PG),
Charles Shyer and Nancy Meyers’ hit remake of the
‘50s MGM classic with Spencer Tracy and Elizabeth Taylor.
Hopefully Steve Martin will find as much comedic prowess in his
forthcoming “Pink Panther” re-do as he did here
essaying George Banks,
dad to budding bride Kimberly Williams in Shyer and Meyers’
gentle
reworking of the original “Father of the Bride.”
Diane Keaton makes for
a perfect counterpart to Martin’s shenanigans, while Martin
Short pops
up in an extended cameo as a delirious wedding planner -- a role that
was unfortunately expanded upon in the needless 1996 sequel
“Father of
the Bride Part II.”
An amusing interview with Short and Martin is the highlight of Buena
Vista’s new DVD, which also includes a commentary track with
Shyer and
a standard Making Of, “An Invitation to ‘Father of
the Bride.’” The 5.1
Dolby Digital sound and 1.85 transfer are both just fine and each
superior to the film’s previous DVD edition.
Animation,
TV and Family Fun
TARZAN
II (72 mins., 2005, G; Disney):
Disney’s latest small-screen animated sequel falls somewhere
in the
middle of the studio’s direct-to-video efforts in terms of
overall
entertainment value. Actually a prequel to the events that took place
in “Tarzan,” this follow-up focuses on the juvenile
adventures of Lord
Greystoke as he tries to fit in with his wacky animal pals.
Subsequently, one can argue this 72-minute effort actually takes the
weaker aspects of the original “Tarzan” and expands
them into an entire
film, one that will be best appreciated by younger viewers (though,
fortunately, Rosie O’Donnell didn’t return to voice
Terk the Ape). The
animation isn’t bad and Phil Collins provides a few new,
forgettable
songs to help pass the time. Disney’s DVD looks great in 1.78
widescreen and sports a fairly active 5.1 DTS and Dolby Digital
soundtrack. Extras include the “Backstage Disney: Bringing
The Legend
To Life” featurette, a Tiffany Evans music video, and several
interactive games for the little ones.
BEAR
IN THE BIG BLUE HOUSE: 4 Releases (Buena Vista, 72 mins. each):
Jim Henson and the Disney Channel’s popular big furry guy
returns to
DVD with four new volumes of edu-tainment for young viewers.
“Sense-Sational!,” “Storytelling With
Bear,” “Visiting the Doctor With
Bear” and “Early to Bed, Early to Rise”
each offer three episodes
(totaling 70 minutes), plus bonus sing-a-longs from the Emmy-winning
children’s series.
THE
BEST OF TOKYO PIG (171 mins., Buena Vista): Compilation
of the popular ABC Saturday morning series at least gives you some bang
for your buck: nearly three hours (!) of entertainment featuring
third-grader Spencer and his buddy Sunny Pig. Imaginative and offbeat
children’s programming.
SPIDER-MAN:
THE VENOM SAGA (95 mins., Buena Vista): While
Spidey fans continue to wonder why full season packages of the
web-slinger’s acclaimed ‘90s Fox Kids series are
bypassed in favor of
theme-oriented DVD anthologies, Buena Vista carts out another entry in
the latter this week. Sporting five episodes focusing on
everyone’s
favorite “modern” Spider-Man villain -- Venom --
these connected
stories do show off the series at its best...which will have to do
until comprehensive box sets are released. DVD extras offer Stan Lee
“Soapbox” comments and episode introductions.
POWER
RANGERS S.P.D.: JOINING FORCES, Volume One (107 mins., 2005):
Those nutty Power Rangers are back again in this five-episode
compilation from the latest incarnation of the popular, long-running
kids’ series. Extras contain a “Virtual
Simulator,” a featurette for
kids, a full-screen transfer and 2.0 Dolby Digital surround stereo.
HOME
IMPROVEMENT: The Complete Second Season (580 mins., 1992-93; Buena
Vista)
TILT:
The Complete First Season (419 mins., 2005; ESPN/Buena Vista).
Tim Allen and Co. were kings of TV comedy back in the mid
‘90s when
“Home Improvement” graduated into a full-blown hit
on the ABC airwaves.
In its second season, Allen’s Tim Taylor and his clan juggled
domestic
drama and slapstick comedy with equal aplomb, far more effectively than
the series did as it aged throughout the decade. Extras in Buena
Vista’s 2nd season box set are again sparse -- a
“Loose Screws” gag
reel and that’s it -- but fans of the show
shouldn’t complain with the
set’s transfers and uncut broadcast episodes.
Available next week from Buena Vista is the complete first season of
ESPN’s second dramatic series, “Tilt.”
This look at the Vegas casino
scene and a trio of poker players who unite to take down the reigning
champ (Michael Madsen) is, on the one hand, yet another attempt to
capitalize on the recent poker fad. On the other, at least the series
is more entertaining and well-performed than the sports
network’s prior
series offering: the controversial (and short-lived) football expose
“Playmakers.” Extras include outtakes, deleted
scenes, auditions, an
alternate season finale, snippets of the 1998 “World Series
of Poker”
final table (oh the memories!), 1.78 widescreen transfers and 5.1 Dolby
Digital sound.
NEXT TIME: THE REIVERS makes its way to DVD at last! Don't
forget
to drop in and debate EPISODE III (or the new Varese CD Club releases)
on the Message
Boards, direct
any emails to the
link
above and
we'll catch you
then. Cheers!
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