The picks, from J.R. to J.R.R.
THE studios take advantage of summer by releasing one big-budget extravaganza after another, and the same pattern seems to be holding true for home entertainment. Though box office hits, TV series and golden oldies will flood the DVD market, here are five must-haves:
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
For the record:
12:00 a.m. May 28, 2004 For The Record
Los Angeles Times Friday May 28, 2004 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 50 words Type of Material: Correction
“Dreams” DVD -- The Video Shelf review of the “Field of Dreams” DVD in Thursday’s Calendar Weekend section said in the line in the movie, “If you build it, he will come,” the “he” referred to baseball player “Shoeless” Joe Jackson. It refers to the father of Kevin Costner’s character.
Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortensen
New Line, $25 for VHS; $30
On Tuesday, New Line released this two-disc theatrical version of the final installment of Peter Jackson’s trilogy based on the J.R.R. Tolkien classic fantasy. Winner of 11 Academy Awards including best picture, “Return” also is the box office champ of the three, becoming just the second film -- 1997’s “Titanic” was the first -- to earn more than $1 billion worldwide. This DVD edition features two hours of extras, including behind-the-scenes specials, featurettes, trailers and TV spots. New Line will be offering an extended four-disc set later this year -- in time for the holidays -- with commentaries and in-depth documentaries.
*
Field of Dreams
15th Anniversary Edition
Kevin Costner, Burt Lancaster
Universal, $27
Release date: June 8
Baseball movies have always been hit or miss at the box office, but in 1988 Kevin Costner struck gold with his raucous baseball comedy “Bull Durham.” He followed that success a year later with this sentimental baseball tale. Costner plays an Iowa farmer who hears a voice telling him, “If you build it, he will come.” The “it” just happens to be a baseball field, and the “he” is none other than the ghost of Shoeless Joe Jackson. Adapted and directed by Phil Alden Robinson from W.P. Kinsella’s novel “Shoeless Joe,” it was nominated for three Oscars including best picture.
The two-disc set has a plethora of new features including a roundtable discussion on the sport with Costner and baseball greats Johnny Bench, George Brett and Bret Saberhagen; a look at the original movie set, which still exists; a how-to on building a baseball field; deleted scenes; and commentary with Robinson and cinematographer John Lindley.
*
Dallas: The Complete
First and Second Seasons
Larry Hagman, Patrick Duffy
Warner Home Video, $50
Release date: Aug. 24
The granddaddy of prime-time soaps makes its DVD debut with a five-disc set featuring the first 29 episodes of the CBS melodrama about the rich and often devious Ewing family.
With delicious overacting, the wonderfully vile villain J.R. Ewing (Larry Hagman) as well as enough sex, murder and intrigue for 10 series, “Dallas” was a mainstay on the network for 14 seasons. The set includes a reunion special that aired on television and commentary on the pilot episode with Hagman, costar Charlene Tilton and creator David Jacobs.
*
The Passion of the Christ
James Caviezel, Monica Bellucci
Fox Video, $30
Release date: Aug. 31
Mel Gibson’s controversial, R-rated retelling of the last hours and crucifixion of Christ defied the odds. It’s in Aramaic, Hebrew and Latin with subtitles -- and has taken in more than $370 million domestically. The DVD is strictly a vanilla-wafer affair. There are no documentaries, deleted scenes or commentary. The reason? Fox issued a statement explaining: “This is a single-disc release, and our first priority to the fans of the film and DVD collectors is to insure that it has the best possible audiovisual elements and the bit-rate transfer ate up a lot of room on the disc.”
*
The Martin Scorsese Collection
Warner Home Video,
$20-$27 each; $60 for the set
Release date: Aug. 17
This five-film collection of Martin Scorsese’s work includes a two-disc special edition of his 1990 gangster film “Goodfellas,” his 1985 black comedy “After Hours,” the 1974 romantic comedy “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore,” his seminal 1973 crime drama “Mean Streets” and his first feature, 1969’s “Who’s That Knocking at My Door?”
Each film features commentary from Scorsese and retrospective featurettes. The “Goodfellas” set also includes a discussion of the film’s influence. For “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore,” Scorsese is joined in his commentary by Ellen Burstyn, who won the best actress Oscar, and costar Kris Kristofferson.
