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Number One Movie of All Time:
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope

Directed & Written by George Lucas

1977
Rated PG

121 minutes (original)
125 minutes (special edition)

Don't even have yet on DVD - Comes out September 21, 2004

12 Monkeys
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Starring: Willis, Bruce Stowe, Madeleine Pitt, William Bradley Stowe, Madeleine Plummer, Christopher Melito, Joseph Morse, David Chance, Michael Chance, Michael Walls, H. Michael
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Director: Gilliam, Terry	Rating: R	Running Time: 129 minutes
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Category: Sci-Fi	User Rating: 7.9/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com essential video Inspired by Chris Marker's acclaimed short film La JetŽe (which is included on the DVD Short 2: Dreams), 12 Monkeys combines intricate, intelligent storytelling with the uniquely imaginative vision of director Terry Gilliam. The story opens in the wintry wasteland of the year 2035, where a virulent plague has forced humans to live in a squalid, oppressively regimented underground. Bruce Willis plays a societal outcast who is given the opportunity to erase his criminal record by "volunteering" to time-travel into the past to obtain a pure sample of the deadly virus that will help future scientists to develop a cure. But in bouncing from 1918 to the early and mid-1990s, he undergoes an ordeal that forces him to question his own perceptions of reality. Caught between the dangers of the past and the devastation of the future, he encounters a psychiatrist (Madeleine Stowe) who is initially convinced he's insane, and a wacky mental patient (Brad Pitt in a twitchy Oscar-nominated role) with links to a radical group that may have unleashed the deadly virus. Equal parts mystery, tragedy, psychological thriller, and apocalyptic drama, 12 Monkeys ranks as one of the best science fiction films of the '90s, boosted by Gilliam's visual ingenuity and one of the finest performances of Willis's career. The Collector's Edition DVD includes a fascinating behind-the-scenes documentary (The Hamster Factor and Other Tales of 12 Monkeys) in addition to the theatrical trailer, production notes, and a 12 Monkeys archive of still photos, design concepts, and storyboards. --Jeff Shannon From the Back Cover A lone time traveler from the year 2035 must solve a riddle that may save his people...but it may also take him to the brink of madness. Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe and Brad Pitt star in this brilliant sci-fi masterpiece from Terry Gilliam, the acclaimed director of The Fisher King. After the world's population is devastated by a killer virus, survivors must live in dank underground communities. Cole (Willis) "volunteers" to travel into the past to obtain a pure virus sample, thereby... read more

2001: A Space Odyssey
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Starring: Dullea, Keir Lockwood, Gary Lockwood, Gary Richter, Daniel Rossiter, Leonard Beatty, Robert Beatty, Robert Sullivan, Sean Sullivan, Sean Miller, Frank
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Director: Kubrick, Stanley	Rating: G	Running Time: 159 Minutes
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Category: Sci-Fi	User Rating: 8.3/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com essential video When Stanley Kubrick recruited Arthur C. Clarke to collaborate on "the proverbial intelligent science fiction film," it's a safe bet neither the maverick auteur nor the great science fiction writer knew they would virtually redefine the parameters of the cinema experience. A daring experiment in unconventional narrative inspired by Clarke's short story "The Sentinel," 2001 is a visual tone poem (barely 40 minutes of dialogue in a 139-minute film) that charts a phenomenal history of human evolution. From the dawn-of-man discovery of crude but deadly tools in the film's opening sequence to the journey of the spaceship Discovery and metaphysical birth of the "star child" at film's end, Kubrick's vision is meticulous and precise. In keeping with the director's underlying theme of dehumanization by technology, the notorious, seemingly omniscient computer HAL 9000 has more warmth and personality than the human astronauts it supposedly is serving. (The director also leaves the meaning of the black, rectangular alien monoliths open for discussion.) This theme, in part, is what makes 2001 a film like no other, though dated now that its postmillennial space exploration has proven optimistic compared to reality. Still, the film is timelessly provocative in its pioneering exploration of inner- and outer-space consciousness. With spectacular, painstakingly authentic special effects that have stood the test of time, Kubrick's film is nothing less than a cinematic milestone--puzzling, provocative, and perfect. --Jeff Shannon

Alien Resurrection
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Starring: Weaver, Sigourney Ryder, Winona Ryder, Winona Pinon, Dominique Perlman, Ron Dourdan, Gary Wincott, Michael Flowers, Kim Flowers, Kim Freeman, J.E.
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Director: Jeunet, Jean-Pierre	Rating: R	Running Time: 108 minutes
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Category: Sci-Fi	User Rating: 6.0/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com Perhaps these films are like the Star Trek movies: The even-numbered episodes are the best ones. Certainly this film (directed by French stylist Jean-Pierre Jeunet) is an improvement over Alien 3, with a script that breathes exciting new life into the franchise. This chapter is set even further in the future, where scientists on a space colony have cloned both the alien and Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), who died in Alien 3; in doing so, however, they've mixed alien DNA with Ripley's human chromosomes, which gives Ripley surprising power (and a bad attitude). A band of smugglers comes aboard only to discover the new race of aliens--and when the multi-mouthed melonheads get loose, no place is safe. But, on the plus side, they have Ripley as a guide to help them get out. Winona Ryder is on hand as the smugglers' most unlikely crew member (with a secret of her own), but this one is Sigourney's all the way. --Marshall Fine

Alien
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Starring: Skerritt, Tom Weaver, Sigourney Weaver, Susan Alexandra Hurt, John Holm, Ian Cuthbert, Ian Holm Stanton, Harry Dean Cartwright, Veronica Cartwright, Veronica Skerritt, Tom
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Director: Scott, Ridley	Rating: R	Running Time: 116 minutes
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Category: Sci-Fi	User Rating: 8.3/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com essential video A landmark of science fiction and horror, Alien arrived in 1979 between Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back as a stylishly malevolent alternative to George Lucas's space fantasy. Partially inspired by 1958's It! The Terror from Beyond Space, this instant classic set a tone of its own, offering richly detailed sets, ominous atmosphere, relentless suspense, and a flawless ensemble cast as the crew of the space freighter Nostromo, who fall prey to a vicious creature (designed by Swiss artist H.R. Giger) that had gestated inside one of the ill-fated crew members. In a star-making role, Sigourney Weaver excels as sole survivor Ripley, becoming the screen's most popular heroine in a lucrative movie franchise. To measure the film's success, one need only recall the many images that have been burned into our collective psyche, including the "facehugger," the "chestburster," and Ripley's climactic encounter with the full-grown monster. Impeccably directed by Ridley Scott, Alien is one of the cinema's most unforgettable nightmares. --Jeff Shannon

Aliens (Special Edition)
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Starring: Weaver, Sigourney Biehn, Michael Henn, Carrie Biehn, Michael Reiser, Paul Henriksen, Lance Paxton, Bill Matthews, Al Matthews, Al Rolston, Mark
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Director: Cameron, James	Rating: R	Running Time: 154 minutes
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Category: Sci-Fi	User Rating: 8.2/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com essential video Aliens is one of the few cases of a sequel that far surpassed the original. Sigourney Weaver returns as Ripley, who awakens on Earth only to discover that she has been hibernating in space so long that everyone she knows is dead. Then she is talked into traveling (along with a squad of Marines) to a planet under assault by the same aliens that nearly killed her. Once she gets there, she finds a lost little girl who triggers her maternal instincts--and she discovers that the company has once again double-crossed her, in hopes of capturing one of the aliens to study as a military weapon. Directed and written by James Cameron, this is one of the most intensely exciting (not to mention intensely frightening) action films ever, with a large ensemble cast that includes Bill Paxton, Lance Henriksen, Paul Reiser, and Michael Biehn. Weaver defined the action woman in this film and walked away with an Oscar nomination for her trouble. --Marshall Fine --This text refers to the VHS Tape edition. DVD features The Director's Cut of Aliens includes 17 minutes of bonus footage. The added scenes are intermittently spread out through the film, fleshing out certain characters and plot. Included is a much-needed explanation of what happened to the colony, LV-426 (the decimated planetary outpost the Space Marines are sent to). In addition, there is more focus on the emotional state of Ripley (Signourey Weaver) after she is awoken following 60 years of space hibernation--only to find that all the people she... read more

Armageddon -- Criterion Collection
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Starring: Willis, Bruce Thornton, Billy Bob Tyler, Liv Bob Thornton, Billy Stewart, Charles David, Keith Clarke Duncan, Michael Wilson, Owen Wilson, Owen Buscemi, Steve
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Director: Bay, Michael	Rating: PG-13	Running Time: 2 Hours 33 Minutes
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Category: Sci-Fi	User Rating: 5.7/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com essential video The latest testosterone-saturated blow-'em-up from producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Michael Bay (The Rock, Bad Boys) continues Hollywood's millennium-fueled fascination with the destruction of our planet. There's no arguing that the successful duo understands what mainstream American audiences want in their blockbuster movies--loads of loud, eye-popping special effects, rapid-fire pacing, and patriotic flag waving. Bay's protagonists--the eight crude, lewd, oversexed (but lovable, of course) oil drillers summoned to save the world from a Texas-sized meteor hurling toward the earth--are not flawless heroes, but common men with whom all can relate. In this huge Western-in-space soap opera, they're American cowboys turned astronauts. Sci-fi buffs will appreciate Bay's fetishizing of technology, even though it's apparent he doesn't understand it as anything more than flashing lights and shiny gadgets. Smartly, the duo also tries to lure the art-house crowd, raiding the local indie acting stable and populating the film with guys like Steve Buscemi, Billy Bob Thornton, Owen Wilson, and Michael Duncan, all adding needed touches of humor and charisma. When Bay applies his sledgehammer aesthetics to the action portions of the film, it's mindless fun; it's only when Armageddon tackles humanity that it becomes truly offensive. Not since Mississippi Burning have racial and cultural stereotypes been substituted for characters so blatantly--African Americans, Japanese, Chinese, Scottish, Samoans, Muslims, French ... if it's not white and American, Bay simplifies it. Or, make that white male America; the film features only three notable females--four if you count the meteor, who's constantly referred to as a "bitch that needs drillin'," but she's a hell of a lot more developed and unpredictable than the other women characters combined. Sure, Bay's film creates some tension and contains some visceral moments, but if he can't create any redeemable characters outside of those in space, what's the point of saving the planet? --Dave McCoy Description Bruce Willis and and an all-star cast of roughneck oil drillers blast off on a mission to save the planet in Michael Bay's doomsday space epic.

As Good As It Gets
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Starring: Nicholson, Jack Hunt, Helen Kinnear, Greg Gooding Jr., Cuba Knight, Shirley Knight, Shirley Smith, Yeardley Ontiveros, Lupe Ontiveros, Lupe Osterwald, Bibi
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Director: Brooks, James L.	Rating: PG-13	Running Time: 2 Hours 19 Minutes
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Category: Comedy	User Rating: 7.7/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com For all of its conventional plotting about an obsessive-compulsive curmudgeon (Jack Nicholson) who improves his personality at the urging of his gay neighbor (Greg Kinnear) and a waitress (Helen Hunt) who inspires his best behavior, this is one of the sharpest Hollywood comedies of the 1990s. Nicholson could play his role in his sleep (the Oscar he won should have gone to Robert Duvall for The Apostle), but his mischievous persona is precisely necessary to give heart to his seemingly heartless character, who is of all things a successful romance novelist. As a single mom with a chronically asthmatic young son, Hunt gives the film its conscience and integrity (along with plenty of wry humor), and she also won an Oscar for her wonderful performance. Greg Kinnear had to settle for an Oscar nomination (while cowriter-director James L. Brooks was inexplicably snubbed by Oscar that year), but his work was also singled out in the film's near-unanimous chorus of critical praise. It's questionable whether a romance between Hunt and the much older Nicholson is entirely believable, but this movie's smart enough--and charmingly funny enough--to make it seem endearingly possible. --Jeff Shannon

Bram Stoker's Dracula
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Starring: Oldman, Gary Ryder, Winona Hopkins, Anthony Hopkins, Anthony Campbell, Billy Elwes, Cary Reeves, Keanu E. Grant, Richard E. Grant, Richard Waits, Tom
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Director: Coppola, Francis Ford	Rating: R	Running Time: 2 Hours 10 Minutes
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Category: Horror	User Rating: 7.1/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com essential video With dizzying cinematic tricks and astonishing performances, Francis Coppola's 1992 version of the oft-filmed Dracula story is one of the most exuberant, extravagant films of the 1990s. Gary Oldman and Winona Ryder, as the Count and Mina Murray, are quite a pair of star-crossed lovers. She's betrothed to another man; he can't kick the habit of feeding off the living. Anthony Hopkins plays Van Helsing, the vampire slayer, with tongue firmly in cheek. Tom Waits is great fun as Renfield, the hapless slave of Dracula who craves the blood of insects and cats. Sadie Frost is a sexy Lucy Westenra. And poor Keanu Reeves, as Jonathan Harker, has the misfortune to be seduced by Dracula's three half-naked wives. There's a little bit of everything in this version of Dracula: gore, high-speed horseback chases, passion, and longing.

Braveheart
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Starring: Gibson, Mel Gleeson, Brendan McCormack, Catherine McGoohan, Patrick Lawlor, Sean Marceau, Sophie
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Director: Gibson, Mel	Rating: R	Running Time:
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Category: Action	User Rating:	Color SurroundSound

Mel Gibson directs and stars in this Academy Award-winning epic based on the life of legendary thirteenth century Scottish hero William Wallace. Returning to his homeland following the death of an heirless king, Wallace (Mel Gibson) finds the political landscape precarious. Edward the Longshanks, King of England (Patrick McGoohan), has captured Scotland's throne and threatens the freedom of all Scottish people, as tyrannical policies instituted by the English plague the Scots. Initially, Wallace is content to stand by the wayside, yearning for the simple life of building a home and raising a family. However, when the woman he loves (Catherine McCormack) suffers a cruel fate at the hands of English soldiers, Wallace takes a stand against the new rule. With his fierce patriotism and determination, he gathers an amateur but passionately rebellious army. Although this makeshift force may be outnumbered by the English troops, their desperation and love for their land surpass any military maneuvers, as evidenced in the film's breathtaking battle sequences.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)
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Starring: Dreyfuss, Richard Truffaut, Franois Garr, Teri McNamara, Pat Balaban, Bob Blossom, Roberts Dillon, Melinda Weathers, Carl Weathers, Carl Kemmerling, Warren
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Director: Spielberg, Steven	Rating: PG	Running Time: 2 Hours 17 Minutes
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Category: Sci-Fi	User Rating: 7.8/10 (IMDB)	Color DTS Surround Sound

Amazon.com essential video Anybody who has written him off because of his string of stinkers--or anybody who's too young to remember The Goodbye Girl--may be shocked at the accomplishment and nuance of Richard Dreyfuss's performance in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Here, he plays a man possessed; contacted by aliens, he (along with other members of the "chosen") is drawn toward the site of the incipient landing: Devil's Tower, in rural Wyoming. As in many Spielberg films, there are no personalized enemies; the struggle is between those who have been called and a scientific establishment that seeks to protect them by keeping them away from the arriving spacecraft. The ship, and the special effects in general, are every bit as jaw-dropping on the small screen as they were in the theater (well, almost). Released in 1977 as a cerebral alternative to the swashbuckling science fiction epics then in vogue, Close Encounters now seems almost wholesome in its representation of alien contact and interested less in philosophizing about extraterrestrials than it is in examining the nature of the inner "call." Ultimately a motion picture about the obsession of the driven artist or determined visionary, Close Encounters comes complete with the stock Spielberg wives and girlfriends who seek to tether the dreamy, possessed protagonists to the more mundane concerns of the everyday. So a spectacular, seminal motion picture indeed, but one with gender politics that are all too terrestrial. --Miles Bethany --This text refers to the VHS Tape edition. DVD features The Collector's Edition (CE) represents Steven Spielberg's third version of Close Encounters. Created in 1998, this sequence contains most of the judicial edits made for the Special Edition (SE) in 1980, speeding up Roy Neary's first contact with the UFOs and adding a scene of a discovery in the Mongolian desert. The CE also reinstates the comical madness of Neary tearing up his own front yard, replaced in the SE by a scene where he breaks down in the shower; both scenes are restored in... read more

Contact
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Starring: Foster, Jodie McConaughey, Matthew Woods, James Hurt, John Skerritt, Tom Bassett, Angela Lowe, Rob Fichtner, William Fichtner, William Malone, Jena
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Director: Zemeckis, Robert	Rating: PG	Running Time: 2 Hours 30 Minutes
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Category: Sci-Fi	User Rating: 7.3/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com essential video The opening and closing moments of Robert (Forrest Gump) Zemeckis's Contact astonish viewers with the sort of breathtaking conceptual imagery one hardly ever sees in movies these day--each is an expression of the heroine's lifelong quest (both spiritual and scientific) to explore the meaning of human existence through contact with extraterrestrial life. The movie begins by soaring far out into space, then returns dizzyingly to earth until all the stars in the heavens condense into the sparkle in one little girl's eye. It ends with that same girl as an adult (Jodie Foster)--her search having taken her to places beyond her imagination--turning her gaze inward and seeing the universe in a handful of sand. Contact traces the journey between those two visual epiphanies. Based on Carl Sagan's novel, Contact is exceptionally thoughtful and provocative for a big-budget Hollywood science fiction picture, with elements that recall everything from 2001 to The Right Stuff. Foster's solid performance (and some really incredible alien hardware) keep viewers interested, even when the story skips and meanders, or when the halo around the golden locks of rising-star-of-a-different-kind Matthew McConaughey (as the pure-Hollywood-hokum love interest) reaches Milky Way-level wattage. Ambitious, ambiguous, pretentious, unpredictable--Contact is all of these things and more. Much of it remains open to speculation and interpretation, but whatever conclusions one eventually draws, Contact deserves recognition as a rare piece of big-budget studio filmmaking on a personal scale. --Jim Emerson

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
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Starring: Chow, Yun-Fat Yeoh, Michelle Ziyi, Zhang Fat, Chow Yun Lung, Sihung Li, Li Yeoh, Michelle Ziyi, Zhang Ziyi, Zhang Cheng, Pei Pei
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Director: Lee, Ang	Rating: PG-13	Running Time: 2 Hours
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Category: Sci-Fi	User Rating: 8.3/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com essential video Hong Kong wuxia films, or martial arts fantasies, traditionally squeeze poor acting, slapstick humor, and silly story lines between elaborate fight scenes in which characters can literally fly. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon has no shortage of breathtaking battles, but it also has the dramatic soul of a Greek tragedy and the sweep of an epic romance. This is the work of director Ang Lee, who fell in love with movies while watching wuxia films as a youngster and made Crouching Tiger as a tribute to the form. To elevate the genre above its B-movie roots and broaden its appeal, Lee did two important things. First, he assembled an all-star lineup of talent, joining the famous Asian actors Chow Yun-fat and Michelle Yeoh with the striking, charismatic newcomer Zhang Ziyi. Behind the scenes, Lee called upon cinematographer Peter Pau (The Killer, The Bride with White Hair) and legendary fight choreographer Yuen Wo-ping, best known outside Asia for his work on The Matrix. Second, in adapting the story from a Chinese pulp-fiction novel written by Wang Du Lu, Lee focused not on the pursuit of a legendary sword known as "The Green Destiny," but instead on the struggles of his female leads against social obligation. In his hands, the requisite fight scenes become another means of expressing the individual spirits of his characters and their conflicts with society and each other. The filming required an immense effort from all involved. Chow and Yeoh had to learn to speak Mandarin, which Lee insisted on using instead of Cantonese to achieve a more classic, lyrical feel. The astonishing battles between Jen (Zhang) and Yu Shu Lien (Yeoh) on the rooftops and Jen and Li Mu Bai (Chow) atop the branches of bamboo trees required weeks of excruciating wire and harness work (which in turn required meticulous "digital wire removal"). But the result is a seamless blend of action, romance, and social commentary in a populist film that, like its young star Zhang, soars with balletic grace and dignity. --Eugene Wei Description An epic set against the breathtaking landscapes of ancient China, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, combines the exhilarating martial arts choreography by Yuen Wo-Pind (The Matrix) with the sensitivity and classical storytelling of an Ang Lee film. The result is something truly unexpected: romantic, emotionally powerful entertainment.

Dances with Wolves
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Starring: Costner, Kevin McDonnell, Mary Greene, Graham Grant, Rodney A. Westerman, Floyd Red Crow Pastorelli, Robert Studi, Wes Rocket, Charles Rocket, Charles Herman, Jimmy
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Director: Costner, Kevin	Rating: PG-13	Running Time: 181 minutes
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Category: Drama	User Rating: 7.7/10 (IMDB)	Color Stereo

Amazon.com essential video Kevin Costner's 1990 epic won a bundle of Oscars for a moving, engrossing story of a white soldier (Costner) who singlehandedly mans a post in the 1870 Dakotas, and becomes a part of the Lakota Sioux community who live nearby. The film may not be a masterpiece, but it is far more than the sum of good intentions. The characters are strong, the development of relationships is both ambitious and careful, the love story between Costner and Mary McDonnell's character is captivating. Only the third-act portrait of white intruders as morons feels overbearing, but even that leads to a terribly moving conclusion. Costner's direction is assured, the balance of action and intimacy is perfect--what more could anyone want outside of an unqualified masterpiece? --Tom Keogh Description Rewarded for his heroism in the Civil War, Lt. John Dunbar wants to see the American frontier before it is gone. He is assigned to an abandoned fort, where a Sioux tribe is his only neighbor. Overcoming the language barrier and their mutual fear and distrust, Dunbar and the proud Indians gradually become friends. Winner of seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, Kevin Costner.

Dangerous Liaisons
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Starring: Close, Glenn Malkovich, John Pfeiffer, Michelle Reeves, Keanu Thurman, Uma Natwick, Mildred Thurman, Uma Capaldi, Peter Capaldi, Peter Gogan, Valerie
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Director: Frears, Stephen	Rating: R	Running Time: 2 Hours
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Category: Drama	User Rating: 7.6/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com essential video A sumptuously mounted and photographed celebration of artful wickedness, betrayal, and sexual intrigue among depraved 18th-century French aristocrats, Dangerous Liaisons (based on Christopher Hampton's Les Liaisons Dangereuses) is seductively decadent fun. The villainous heroes are the Marquise De Merteuil (Glenn Close) and the Vicomte De Valmont (John Malkovich), who have cultivated their mutual cynicism into a highly developed and exquisitely mannered form of (in-)human expression. Former lovers, they now fancy themselves rather like demigods whose mutual desires have evolved beyond the crudeness of sex or emotion. They ritualistically act out their twisted affections by engaging in elaborate conspiracies to destroy the lives of their less calculating acquaintances, daring each other to ever-more-dastardly acts of manipulation and betrayal. Why? Just because they can; it's their perverted way of getting get their kicks in a dead-end, pre-Revolutionary culture. Among their voluptuous and virtuous prey are fair-haired angels played by Michelle Pfeiffer and Uma Thurman, who have never looked more ripe for ravishing. When the Vicomte finds himself beset by bewilderingly genuine emotions for one of his victims, the Marquise considers it the ultimate betrayal and plots her heartless revenge. Dangerous Liaisons is a high-mannered revel for the actors, who also include Swoosie Kurtz, Mildred Natwick, and Keanu Reeves. --Jim Emerson

Donnie Brasco
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Starring: Pacino, Al Depp, Johnny Madsen, Michael Heche, Anne Kirby, Bruno Kirby Jr., B. Grenier, Zach Becker, Gerry Becker, Gerry Tarantina, Brian
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Director: Newell, Mike	Rating: R	Running Time: 127 minutes
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Category: Drama	User Rating: 7.5/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com Based on a memoir by former undercover cop Joe Pistone (whose daring and unprecedented infiltration of the New York Mob scene earned him a place in the federal witness protection program), Donnie Brasco is like a de- romanticized, de-mythologized version of The Godfather. It offers an uncommonly detailed, privileged glimpse inside the world of organized crime from the perspective of the little guys at the bottom of Mafia hierarchy rather than from the kingpins at the top. Donnie Brasco is not only one of the great modern-day gangster movies to put in the company of The Godfather films and GoodFellas, but it is also one of the great undercover police movies--arguably surpassing Serpico and Prince of the City in richness of character, detail, and moral complexity. Donnie (Johnny Depp, a splendid actor) is practically adopted by Lefty Ruggiero (Al Pacino), a gregarious, low-level "made" man who grows to love his young protŽgŽ like a son. (Pacino really sinks into this guy's skin and polyester slacks, and creates his freshest, most fully realized character since his 1970s heyday.) As Donnie acclimates himself to Lefty's world, he distances himself from his wife (a terrific Anne Heche) and family for their own protection. Almost imperceptibly his sense of identity slips away from him. Questioning his own confused loyalties, unable to trust anybody else because he himself is an imposter, Donnie loses his way in a murky and treacherous no-man's land. The film is directed by Mike Newell, who also headed up Four Weddings and a Funeral and the gritty, true crime melodrama Dance with a Stranger. --Jim Emerson

Edward Scissorhands
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Starring: Depp, Johnny Ryder, Winona Wiest, Dianne Depp, Johnny Larkin, Bryan Wiest, Dianne Baker, Kathy Jones, O-Lan Jones, O-Lan Jones, O-Lan
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Director: Burton, Tim	Rating: PG-13	Running Time: 1 Hour 45 Minutes
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Category: Sci-Fi	User Rating: 7.6/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com essential video Edward Scissorhands achieves the nearly impossible feat of capturing the delicate flavor of a fable or fairy tale in a live-action movie. The story follows a young man named Edward (Johnny Depp), who was created by an inventor (Vincent Price, in one of his last roles) who died before he could give the poor creature a pair of human hands. Edward lives alone in a ruined Gothic castle that just happens to be perched above a pastel-colored suburb inhabited by breadwinning husbands and frustrated housewives straight out of the 1950s. One day, Peg (Dianne Wiest), the local Avon lady, comes calling. Finding Edward alone, she kindly invites him to come home with her, where she hopes to help him with his pasty complexion and those nasty nicks he's given himself with his razor-sharp fingers. Soon Edward's skill with topiary sculpture and hair design make him popular in the neighborhood--but the mood turns just as swiftly against the outsider when he starts to feel his own desires, particularly for Peg's daughter Kim (Winona Ryder). Most of director Tim Burton's movies (such as Pee Wee's Big Adventure, Beetlejuice, Batman) are visual spectacles with elements of fantasy, but Edward Scissorhands is more tender and personal than the others. Edward's wild black hair is much like Burton's, suggesting that the character represents the director's own feelings of estrangement and co-option. Johnny Depp, making his first successful leap from TV to film, captures Edward's childlike vulnerability even while his physical posture evokes horror icons like the vampire in Nosferatu and the sleepwalker in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Classic horror films, at their heart, feel a deep sympathy for the monsters they portray; simply and affectingly, Edward Scissorhands lays that heart bare. --Bret Fetzer --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Elizabeth
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Starring: Blanchett, Cate Rush, Geoffrey Dench, Judi Deayton, Angus O'Hea, Brendan Eccleston, Christopher Craig, Daniel Hardwicke, Edward Hardwicke, Edward Cantona, Eric
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Director: Kapur, Shekhar	Rating: R	Running Time: 124 minutes
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Category: Drama	User Rating: 7.6/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com essential video One of the big Elizabethan-era films of 1998, Shekhar Kapur's Elizabeth serves up a brimming goblet of religious tension, political conspiracy, sex, violence, and war. England in 1554 is in financial and religious turmoil as the ailing Queen "Bloody" Mary attempts to restore Catholicism as the national faith. She has no heir, and her greatest fear--that her Protestant half-sister Elizabeth will assume the throne after her death--is realized. Still, the late Queen Mary has her loyalists. The newly crowned Elizabeth finds herself knee-deep in dethroning schemes while also dodging assassination attempts. Her advisers (including Sir William Cecil, superbly played by Richard Attenborough) beg her to marry any one of her would-be suitors to stabilize England's empire. No matter that she already has a lover. The passionate Robert Dudley (Joseph Fiennes) is married, however, and shows he cannot stand up to the growing strength of the Queen. With the help of her aide Walsingham (Geoffrey Rush), Elizabeth strikes against her enemies before they get to her first. But her rise ultimately entails rejecting love and marriage to redefine herself as the indisputable Virgin Queen. Cate Blanchett's Oscar-nominated performance as the naive and vibrant princess who becomes the stubborn and knowing queen is both severe and sympathetic. Her ethereal, pale beauty is equal parts fire and ice, her delivery of such lines as "There will be only one mistress here and no master!" expressed with command rather than hysterics. As striking as Blanchett's performance is the film's lavish and dramatic production design. The cold, dark sets paired with the lush costuming show the golden age of England's monarchy emerging from the Middle Ages. Rich velvet brushes over the dank stones while power is achieved at any price, and with such attention to physical detail, Elizabeth fully immerses you into its compelling chronicle of pioneering feminism and revisionist history. --Shannon Gee

Enemy of the State
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Starring: Smith, Will Hackman, Gene Voight, Jon Voight, Jon King, Regina Bonet, Lisa Dean, Loren Busey, Jake Busey, Jake Pepper, Barry
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Director: Scott, Tony	Rating: R	Running Time: 2 Hours 12 Minutes
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Category: Action	User Rating: 7.0/10 (IMDB)	Color Stereo

Amazon.com essential video Robert Clayton Dean (Will Smith) is a lawyer with a wife and family whose happily normal life is turned upside down after a chance meeting with a college buddy (Jason Lee) at a lingerie shop. Unbeknownst to the lawyer, he's just been burdened with a videotape of a congressman's assassination. Hot on the tail of this tape is a ruthless group of National Security Agents commanded by a belligerently ambitious fed named Reynolds (Jon Voight). Using surveillance from satellites, bugs, and other sophisticated snooping devices, the NSA infiltrates every facet of Dean's existence, tracing each physical and digital footprint he leaves. Driven by acute paranoia, Dean enlists the help of a clandestine former NSA operative named Brill (Gene Hackman), and Enemy of the State kicks into high-intensity hyperdrive. Teaming up once again with producer Jerry Bruckheimer, Top Gun director Tony Scott demonstrates his glossy style with clever cinematography and breakneck pacing. Will Smith proves that there's more to his success than a brash sense of humor, giving a versatile performance that plausibly illustrates a man cracking under the strain of paranoid turmoil. Hackman steals the show by essentially reprising his role from The Conversation--just imagine his memorable character Harry Caul some 20 years later. Most of all, the film's depiction of high-tech surveillance is highly convincing and dramatically compelling, making this a cautionary tale with more substance than you'd normally expect from a Scott-Bruckheimer action extravaganza. --Jeremy Storey

Far and Away
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Starring: Cruise, Tom Kidman, Nicole Gibson, Thomas Meaney, Colm Babcock, Barbara Prosky, Robert Pollock, Eileen Meaney, Colm Meaney, Colm Johnson, Michelle
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Director: Howard, Ron	Rating: PG-13	Running Time: 2 Hours 20 Minutes
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Category: Drama	User Rating: 6.2/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com essential video Filmed in the widescreen splendor of "Panavision Super 70" and blessed with the finest production values that Hollywood clout can buy, this tale of spunky Irish immigrants forgot one crucial ingredient: a decent screenplay. The film is entertaining enough, and director Ron Howard brings his technical proficiency to the simple plot, culminating in a dynamic, breathtaking depiction of the Oklahoma land rush of 1893. But the movie is really just a vacuous vehicle for married stars Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman as (respectively) the poor tenant farmer and rich landlord's daughter who flee Ireland to be American pioneers. The scenery and the stars are never less than stunning, but Howard falls short of the mark in his attempt to match the epic sweep of films by David Lean. On the other hand, this movie is certainly never boring even if it rarely makes sense, and Lean's own Irish epic, Ryan's Daughter, is a snoozer by comparison. --Jeff Shannon

Four Weddings and a Funeral
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Starring: Grant, Hugh MacDowell, Andie Thomas, Kristin Scott Grant, Hugh Atkinson, Rowan Thomas, Kristin Scott MacDowell, Andie Fleet, James Fleet, James Crowe, Sara
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Director: Newell, Mike	Rating: R	Running Time: 1 Hour 58 Minutes
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Category: Comedy	User Rating: 7.2/10 (IMDB)	Color Stereo

Amazon.com essential video A surprise hit and one of the highest grossing films ever to come out of Great Britain, this effortlessly enchanting romantic comedy finds confirmed bachelor Hugh Grant (Nine Months) attending weddings with his single friends as they all lament not being able to commit. Grant keeps running into an attractive American (Andie MacDowell) at these festivities and begins a long-running affair with her, even as he attends her own wedding, the funeral of one of his best friends, and his own pending nuptials. Featuring a spirited supporting cast including Kristin Scott Thomas (The English Patient) as the acerbic friend quietly in love with Grant, this touching and funny film with a mischievous sense of humor and some truly heartbreaking moments is destined to become one of the classic romantic comedies of all time. --Robert Lane --This text refers to the DVD edition.

Gattaca
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Starring: Hawke, Ethan Thurman, Uma Law, Jude Law, Jude Dean, Loren Vidal, Gore Berkeley, Xander Brook, Jayne Brook, Jayne Rudolph, Maya
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Director: Niccol, Andrew	Rating: PG-13	Running Time: 1 Hour 46 Minutes
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Category: Sci-Fi	User Rating: 7.5/10 (IMDB)	Color Stereo

Amazon.com essential video Confidently conceived and brilliantly executed, Gattaca had a somewhat low profile release in 1997, but audiences and critics hailed the film's originality. It's since been recognized as one of the most intelligent science fiction films of the 1990s. Writer-director Andrew Niccol, the talented New Zealander who also wrote the acclaimed Jim Carrey vehicle The Truman Show, depicts a near-future society in which one's personal and professional destiny is determined by one's genes. In this society, "Valids" (genetically engineered) qualify for positions at prestigious corporations, such as Gattaca, which grooms its most qualified employees for space exploration. "In-Valids" (naturally born), such as the film's protagonist, Vincent (Ethan Hawke), are deemed genetically flawed and subsequently fated to low-level occupations in a genetically caste society. With the help of a disabled "Valid" (Jude Law), Vincent subverts his society's social and biological barriers to pursue his dream of space travel; any random mistake--and an ongoing murder investigation at Gattaca--could reveal his plot. Part thriller, part futuristic drama and cautionary tale, Gattaca establishes its social structure so convincingly that the entire scenario is chillingly believable. With Uma Thurman as the woman who loves Vincent and identifies with his struggle, Gattaca is both stylish and smart, while Jude Law's performance lends the film a note of tragic and heartfelt humanity. In addition to a superb widescreen transfer, the DVD edition of Gattaca includes several deleted scenes (and one humorous outtake), which further establish the story's social context and provide additional insight into the scientific and ethical issues explored in this extraordinary film. --Jeff Shannon

Gladiator
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Starring: Crowe, Russell Phoenix, Joaquin Nielsen, Connie Reed, Oliver Clark, Spencer Treat Moeller, Ralph Arana, Tomas Harris, Richard Harris, Richard Nielsen, Connie
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Director: Scott, Ridley	Rating: R	Running Time: 2 Hours 35 Minutes
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Category: Action	User Rating: 8.0/10 (IMDB)	Color DTS Surround Sound

Amazon.com essential video A big-budget summer epic with money to burn and a scale worthy of its golden Hollywood predecessors, Ridley Scott's Gladiator is a rousing, grisly, action-packed epic that takes moviemaking back to the Roman Empire via computer-generated visual effects. While not as fluid as the computer work done for, say, Titanic, it's an impressive achievement that will leave you marveling at the glory that was Rome, when you're not marveling at the glory that is Russell Crowe. Starring as the heroic general Maximus, Crowe firmly cements his star status both in terms of screen presence and acting chops, carrying the film on his decidedly non-computer-generated shoulders as he goes from brave general to wounded fugitive to stoic slave to gladiator hero. Gladiator's plot is a whirlwind of faux-Shakespearean machinations of death, betrayal, power plays, and secret identities (with lots of faux-Shakespearean dialogue ladled on to keep the proceedings appropriately "classical"), but it's all briskly shot, edited, and paced with a contemporary sensibility. Even the action scenes, somewhat muted but graphic in terms of implied violence and liberal bloodletting, are shot with a veracity that brings to mind--believe it or not--Saving Private Ryan, even if everyone is wearing a toga. As Crowe's nemesis, the evil emperor Commodus, Joaquin Phoenix chews scenery with authority, whether he's damning Maximus's popularity with the Roman mobs or lusting after his sister Lucilla (beautiful but distant Connie Nielsen); Oliver Reed, in his last role, hits the perfect notes of camp and gravitas as the slave owner who rescues Maximus from death and turns him into a coliseum star. Director Scott's visual flair is abundantly in evidence, with breathtaking shots and beautiful (albeit digital) landscapes, but it's Crowe's star power that will keep you in thrall--he's a true gladiator, worthy of his legendary status. Hail the conquering hero! --Mark Englehart

Heat
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Starring: Pacino, Al Niro, Robert De Kilmer, Val Kilmer, Val Sizemore, Tom Voight, Jon Venora, Diane Brenneman, Amy Brenneman, Amy Williamson, Mykelti
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Director: Mann, Michael	Rating: R	Running Time: 2 Hours 52 Minutes
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Category: Action	User Rating: 7.8/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com essential video Having developed his skill as a master of contemporary crime drama, writer-director Michael Mann displayed every aspect of that mastery in this intelligent, character-driven thriller from 1995, which also marked the first onscreen pairing of Robert De Niro and Al Pacino. The two great actors had played father and son in the separate time periods of The Godfather, Part II, but this was the first film in which the pair appeared together, and although their only scene together is brief, it's the riveting fulcrum of this high-tech cops-and-robbers scenario. De Niro plays a master thief with highly skilled partners (Val Kilmer and Tom Sizemore) whose latest heist draws the attention of Pacino, playing a seasoned Los Angeles detective whose investigation reveals that cop and criminal lead similar lives. Both are so devoted to their professions that their personal lives are a disaster. Pacino's with a wife (Diane Venora) who cheats to avoid the reality of their desolate marriage; De Niro pays the price for a life with no outside connections; and Kilmer's wife (Ashley Judd) has all but given up hope that her husband will quit his criminal career. These are men obsessed, and as De Niro and Pacino know, they'll both do whatever's necessary to bring the other down. Mann's brilliant screenplay explores these personal obsessions and sacrifices with absorbing insight, and the tension mounts with some of the most riveting action sequences ever filmed--most notably a daylight siege that turns downtown Los Angeles into a virtual war zone of automatic gunfire. At nearly three hours, the film qualifies as a kind of intimate epic, certain to leave some viewers impatiently waiting for more action, but it's all part of Mann's compelling strategy. Heat is a true rarity: a crime thriller with equal measures of intense excitement and dramatic depth, giving De Niro and Pacino a prime showcase for their finely matched talents. --Jeff Shannon --This text refers to the VHS Tape edition.

Interview with the Vampire - DTS
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Starring: Cruise, Tom Pitt, Brad Banderas, Antonio Banderas, Antonio Cruise, Tom Slater, Christian McCollam, Virginia McConnell, John McConnell, John Logan, Bellina
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Director: Jordan, Neil	Rating: R	Running Time: 2 Hours 2 Minutes
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Category: Horror	User Rating: 7.1/10 (IMDB)	Color DTS Surround Sound

Amazon.com essential video When it was announced that Tom Cruise would play the vampire Lestat in this adaptation of Anne Rice's bestselling novel, even Rice chimed in with a highly publicized objection. The author wisely and justifiably recanted her negative opinion when she saw Cruise's excellent performance, which perceptively addresses the pain and chronic melancholy that plagues anyone cursed with immortal bloodlust. Brad Pitt and Kirsten Dunst are equally good at maintaining the dark and brooding tone of Rice's novel. And in this rare mainstream project for a major studio, director Neil Jordan compensates for a lumbering plot by honoring the literate, Romantic qualities of Rice's screenplay. Considered a disappointment while being embraced by Rice's loyal followers, the movie is too slow to be a satisfying thriller, but it is definitely one of the most lavish, intelligent horror films ever made. --Jeff Shannon --This text refers to the DVD edition.

Jaws (25th Anniversary Widescreen Collector's Edition)
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Starring: Scheider, Roy Shaw, Robert Dreyfuss, Richard Scheider, Roy Hamilton, Murray Gary, Lorraine Kramer, Jeffrey Filley, Jonathan Filley, Jonathan Fierro, Lee
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Director: Spielberg, Steven	Rating: PG	Running Time: 2 Hours 5 Minutes
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Category: Horror	User Rating: 8.2/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com essential video In the vastly overrated 1998 book Easy Riders, Raging Bulls, author Peter Biskind puts the blame for Hollywood's blockbuster mentality at least partially on Steven Spielberg's box-office success with this adaptation of Peter Benchley's bestselling novel. But you can't blame Spielberg for making a terrific movie, which Jaws definitely is. The story of a Long Island town whose summer tourist business is suddenly threatened by great-white-shark attacks on humans bypasses the potboiler trappings of Benchley's book and goes straight for the jugular with beautifully crafted, crowd-pleasing sequences of action and suspense supported by a trio of terrific performances by Roy Scheider (as the local sheriff), Richard Dreyfuss (as a shark specialist), and particularly Robert Shaw (as the old fisherman who offers to hunt the shark down). The sequences on Shaw's boat--as the three of them realize that in fact the shark is hunting them--are what entertaining moviemaking is all about. --Marshall Fine --This text refers to the VHS Tape edition.

Jurassic Park - Widescreen Collector's Edition
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Starring: Neill, Sam Dern, Laura Goldblum, Jeff Neill, Sam Jackson, Samuel L Mazzello, Joseph Ferrero, Martin Attenborough, Richard Attenborough, Richard Knight, Wayne
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Director: Spielberg, Steven	Rating: PG-13	Running Time: 2 Hours 7 Minutes
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Category: Sci-Fi	User Rating: 7.3/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com essential video Steven Spielberg's 1993 mega-hit rivals Jaws as the most intense and frightening film he'd ever made prior to Schindler's List, but it was also among his weakest stories. Based on Michael Crichton's novel about an island amusement park populated by cloned dinosaurs, the film works best as a thrill ride with none of the interesting human dynamics of Spielberg's Jaws. That lapse proves unfortunate, but there's no shortage of raw terror as a rampaging T-rex and nasty raptors try to make fast food out of the cast. The effects are still astonishing (despite the fact that the computer-generated technology has since been improved upon) and at times primeval, such as the sight of a herd of whatever-they-are scampering through a valley. --Tom Keogh --This text refers to the VHS Tape edition.

Legend (Ultimate Edition)
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Starring: Cruise, Tom Sara, Mia Curry, Tim Sara, Mia Playten, Alice Barty, Billy Hubbert, Cork O'Farrell, Peter O'Farrell, Peter Lanyon, Annabelle
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Director: Scott, Ridley	Rating: PG	Running Time: 3 Hours 24 Minutes
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Category: Sci-Fi	User Rating: 6.0/10 (IMDB)	Color DTS Surround Sound

Amazon.com essential video This strange, 1985 experiment by Ridley Scott (Blade Runner) starred the up-and-coming Tom Cruise in a fairy-tale world of dwarfs and unicorns and demons. After the horn of a unicorn is broken, darkness and winter descend upon the world. Cruise's character, helped along by a magic sprite played by David Bennent (The Tin Drum), descends into hell to save paradise. This movie is almost a classic case of art direction gone amok. The somewhat amorphous Cruise doesn't lend much dramatic focus or artistic definition, but the drama between Tim Curry's satanic majesty and Mia Sara's character, who becomes a sort of princess of the netherworld, is pretty captivating. A mixed experience all around that makes one wish it had been more successful. --Tom Keogh --This text refers to the VHS Tape edition.

Legends of the Fall - Special Edition
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Starring: Pitt, Brad Hopkins, Anthony Quinn, Aidan Cardinal, Tantoo Hopkins, Anthony Pitt, Brad Thomas, Henry Lombard, Karina Lombard, Karina Cardinal, Tantoo
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Director: Zwick, Edward	Rating: R	Running Time: 2 Hours 15 Minutes
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Category: Drama	User Rating: 6.6/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com A box-office hit when released in 1994, this sprawling, frequently overwrought familial melodrama may get sillier as its plot progresses, but it's the kind of lusty, character-based epic that Hollywood should attempt more often. It's also an unabashedly flattering star vehicle for Brad Pitt as Tristan--the rebellious middle son of a fiercely independent Montana rancher and military veteran (Anthony Hopkins)--who is routinely at odds with his more responsible older brother, Alfred (Aidan Quinn), and younger brother, Samuel (Henry Thomas). From the battlefields of World War I to his adventures as an oceangoing sailor, Tristan's life is full of personal torment, especially when he returns to Montana and finds himself competing with Alfred over Samuel's beautiful widow (Julia Ormond), whose passion for Tristan disrupts the already turbulent Ludlow clan. Under the wide-open canopy of Big Sky country, this operatic tale unfolds with all the bloodlust, tragedy, and scenery-chewing performances you'd expect to find in a hokey bestselling novel (in fact, it's based on the acclaimed novella by Jim Harrison), but it's a potent mix that's highly entertaining. Not surprisingly, John Toll won an Academy Award for his breathtaking outdoor cinematography. --Jeff Shannon Additional Features For anyone who loves this sweeping melodrama, the extras in this special edition make it a must-have--even if you bought the disc in its initial release. Director Ed Zwick and Brad Pitt (on one track) inject a lot of humor into their stories on dealing with the film's production. The other commentary track has cinematographer John Toll (who won an Oscar) and art director Lilly Kilvert illuminating how the two technicians worked together to create the film's luscious look. They don't talk about... read more

Leon - The Professional (Uncut International Version)
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Starring: Reno, Jean Oldman, Gary Oldman, Gary Oldman, Gary Badalucco, Michael Portman, Natalie Regen, Elizabeth Matusovich, Carl J. Matusovich, Carl J. Badalucco, Michael
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Director: Besson, Luc	Rating: Unrated	Running Time: 2 Hours 13 Minutes
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Category: Action	User Rating: 8.4/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com Luc Besson (The Fifth Element) made his American directorial debut with this stylized thriller about a French hit man (Jean Reno) who takes in an American girl (Natalie Portman) being pursued by a corrupt killer cop (Gary Oldman). Oldman is a little more unhinged than he should be, but there is something genuinely irresistible about the story line and the relationship between Reno and Portman. Rather than cave in to the cookie-cutter look and feel of American action pictures, Besson brings a bit of his glossy style from French hits La Femme Nikita and Subway to the production, and the results are refreshing even if the bullets and explosions are awfully familiar. --Tom Keogh --This text refers to the VHS Tape edition.

Life as a House - New Line Platinum Series
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Starring: Kline, Kevin Christensen, Hayden Christensen, Hayden Sheridan, Jamey Malone, Jena Christensen, Hayden Steenburgen, Mary Somerhalder, Ian Somerhalder, Ian Bakula, Scott
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Director: Winkler, Irwin	Rating: R	Running Time: 2 Hours 4 Minutes
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Category: Drama	User Rating: 7.5/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com A respectable tearjerker, Life as a House is a welcome throwback to angst-ridden family dramas like Ordinary People and Terms of Endearment. It falls short of those modern classics, but you'll probably still need Kleenex if you appreciate Kevin Kline's underrated dramatic skills. As the title suggests, Kline's project is a broad metaphor for repairing damaged lives from the foundation up. Playing an architect with terminal cancer, he gives an Oscar^®-caliber performance, reaching out to his estranged, nihilistic son (future Star Wars star Hayden Christensen) and ex-wife (Kristin Scott-Thomas) as he wrecks and rebuilds the Malibu cliff-top home that contained his most painful memories. Director Irwin Winkler's flair with actors helps to minimize lapses in a script (by As Good As It Gets scribe Mark Andrus) that occasionally borders on maudlin. Overall, this is a fine reminder that Hollywood hasn't lost its soul to action and special effects. --Jeff Shannon --This text refers to the Theatrical Release edition.

Meet the Parents
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Starring: Niro, Robert De Stiller, Ben Danner, Blythe McCarthy, Thomas George, Phyllis Danner, Blythe Polo, Teri Rebhorn, James Rebhorn, James Wilson, Owen
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Director: Roach, Jay	Rating: PG-13	Running Time: 1 Hour 48 Minutes
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Category: Comedy	User Rating: 7.0/10 (IMDB)	Color DTS Surround Sound

Amazon.com Randy Newman's opening song, "A Fool in Love," perfectly sets up the movie that follows. The lyrics begin, "Show me a man who is gentle and kind, and I'll show you a loser," before praising the man who takes what he wants. Greg Focker (Ben Stiller) is the fool in love in Meet the Parents. Just as he's about to propose to his girlfriend Pam (Teri Polo), he learns that her sister's fiancŽ asked their father, Jack Byrnes (Robert De Niro), for permission to marry. Now he feels the need to do the same thing. When Greg meets Jack, he is so desperate to be liked that he makes up stories and kisses ass rather than having the courage of his convictions. It doesn't take an elite member of the CIA to see right through Greg, but that's precisely what Jack is. Directed by Jay Roach (the Austin Powers movies), Meet the Parents is an incredibly well-crafted comedy that stands in nice opposition to, say, the sloppy extremes of the Farrelly brothers. Stiller is great at playing up the uncomfortable comedy of errors, balancing just the right amount of selfishness and self-deprecating humor, while De Niro's Jack is funny as the hard-ass father who just wants a few straight answers from the kid. What makes the Jack character all the funnier is Blythe Danner as his wife, the Gracie to his George Burns, who is the true heart of the movie. Oh, and Owen Wilson turns in yet another terrific comic performance as Pam's ex-fiancŽ. --Andy Spletzer --This text refers to the Theatrical Release edition.

Minority Report (Widescreen Edition)
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Starring: Cruise, Tom Sydow, Max von Morton, Samantha McDonough, Neal Gross, Arye Capshaw, Jessica Smith, Lois Von Sydow, Max Von Sydow, Max Stormare, Peter
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Director: Spielberg, Steven	Rating: PG-13	Running Time: 2 Hours 26 Minutes
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Category: Sci-Fi	User Rating: 7.8/10 (IMDB)	Color Stereo

Amazon.com essential video Set in the chillingly possible future of 2054, Steven Spielberg's Minority Report is arguably the most intelligently provocative sci-fi thriller since Blade Runner. Like Ridley Scott's "future noir" classic, Spielberg's gritty vision was freely adapted from a story by Philip K. Dick, with its central premise of "Precrime" law enforcement, totally reliant on three isolated human "precogs" capable (due to drug-related mutation) of envisioning murders before they're committed. As Precrime's confident captain, Tom Cruise preempts these killings like a true action hero, only to run for his life when he is himself implicated in one of the precogs' visions. Inspired by the brainstorming of expert futurists, Spielberg packs this paranoid chase with potential conspirators (Max Von Sydow, Colin Farrell), domestic tragedy, and a heartbreaking precog pawn (Samantha Morton), while Cruise's performance gains depth and substance with each passing scene. Making judicious use of astonishing special effects, Minority Report brilliantly extrapolates a future that's utterly convincing, and too close for comfort. --Jeff Shannon --This text refers to the Theatrical Release edition.

Notting Hill (Collector's Edition)
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Starring: Roberts, Julia Grant, Hugh Bonneville, Hugh Bonneville, Hugh Chambers, Emma Ifans, Rhys McInnerny, Tim McKee, Gina McKee, Gina King, Lorelei
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Director: Michell, Roger	Rating: PG-13	Running Time: 2 Hours 4 Minutes
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Category: Comedy	User Rating: 7.0/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com essential video They don't really make many romantic comedies like Notting Hill anymore--blissfully romantic, sincerely sweet, and not grounded in any reality whatsoever. Pure fairy tale, and with a huge debt to Roman Holiday, Notting Hill ponders what would happen if a beautiful, world-famous person were to suddenly drop into your life unannounced and promptly fall in love with you. That's the crux of the situation for William Thacker (Hugh Grant), who owns a travel bookshop in London's fashionable Notting Hill district. Hopelessly ordinary (well, as ordinary as you can be when you're Hugh Grant), William is going about his life when renowned movie star Anna Scott (Julia Roberts) walks into his bookstore and into his heart. After another contrived meet-cute involving spilled orange juice, William and Anna share a spontaneous kiss (big suspension of disbelief required here), and soon both are smitten. The question is, of course, can William and Anna reconcile his decidedly commonplace bookseller existence and her lifestyle as a jet-setting, paparazzi-stalked celebrity? (Take a wild guess at the answer.) Smartly scripted by Richard Curtis (Four Weddings and a Funeral) and directed by Roger Michell (Persuasion), Notting Hill is hardly realistic, but as wish fulfillment and a romantic comedy, it's irresistible. True, Roberts doesn't really have to stretch very far to play a big-time actress who makes $15 million per movie, but she's more winning and relaxed than she's been in years, and Grant is sweetly understated as a man blindsided by love. Together, in moments of quiet, they're a charming couple, and you can feel her craving for real love and his awe and amazement at the wonderful person for whom he has fallen. The only blight on the film is its overbearing pop soundtrack, though Elvis Costello's heart-wrenching version of "She" gets poignant exposure. With Rhys Ifans as Grant's scene-stealing, slovenly housemate and Alec Baldwin in a sly, perfectly cast cameo. --Mark Englehart --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

October Sky
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Starring: Gyllenhaal, Jake Cooper, Chris Dern, Laura Owen, Chris Scott, William Lee Ellis, Chris Canerday, Natalie Miles, Scott Miles, Scott Ellis, Chris
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Director: Johnston, Joe	Rating: PG	Running Time: 1 Hour 48 Minutes
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Category: Drama	User Rating: 7.7/10 (IMDB)	Color Stereo

Amazon.com Based on the memoir Rocket Boys by Homer H. Hickam Jr., October Sky emerged as one of the most delightful sleepers of 1999--a small miracle of good ol' fashioned movie-making in the cynical, often numbingly trendy Hollywood of the late 20th century. Hickam's true story begins in 1957 with Russia's historic launch of the Sputnik satellite, and while Homer (played with smart idealism by Jake Gyllenhaal) sees Sputnik as his cue to pursue a fascination with rocketry, his father (Chris Cooper) epitomizes the admirable yet sternly stubborn working-man's ethic of the West Virginia coal miner, casting fear and disdain on Homer's pursuit of science while urging his "errant" son to carry on the family business--a spirit-killing profession that Homer has no intention of joining. As directed by Joe Johnston (The Rocketeer), this wonderful movie is occasionally guilty of overstating its case and sacrificing subtlety for predictable melodrama. But more often the film's tone is just right, and the spirit of adventure and invention is infectiously conveyed through Gyllenhaal and his well-cast fellow rocketeers, whose many failures gradually lead to triumph on their makeshift backwoods launching pad. Capturing time and place with impeccable detail and superbly developed characters (including Laura Dern as an inspiring schoolteacher), October Sky is a family film for the ages, encouraging the highest potential of the human spirit while giving viewers a clear view of a bygone era when "the final frontier" beckoned to the explorer in all of us. --Jeff Shannon

Pitch Black (Rated Version)
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Starring: Diesel, Vin Mitchell, Radha Burke, Simon David, Keith Fitz-Gerald, Lewis Mitchell, Radha Diesel, Vin Burke, Simon Burke, Simon Chantery, Les
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Director: Twohy, David	Rating: R	Running Time: 109 minutes
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Category: Sci-Fi	User Rating: 6.6/10 (IMDB)	Color DTS Surround Sound

Amazon.com Owing a major debt to Alien and its cinematic spawn, Pitch Black is a guilty pleasure that surpasses expectations. As he did with The Arrival, director David Twohy revitalizes a derivative story, allowing you to forgive its flaws and submit to its visceral thrills. Under casual scrutiny, the plot's logic crumbles like a stale cookie, but it's definitely fun while it lasts. A spaceship crashes on a desert planet scorched under three suns. The mostly doomed survivors include a resourceful captain (Radha Mitchell), a drug-addled cop (Cole Hauser), and a deadly prisoner (Vin Diesel) who quickly escapes. These clashing personalities discover that the planet is plunging into the darkness of an extended eclipse, and it's populated by hordes of ravenous, razor-fanged beasties that only come out at night. The body count rises, and Pitch Black settles into familiar sci-fi territory. What sets the movie apart is Twohy's developing visual style, suggesting that this veteran of straight-to-video schlock may advance to the big leagues. Like the makers of The Blair Witch Project, Twohy understands the frightening power of suggestion; his hungry monsters are better heard than seen (although once seen, they're chillingly effective), and Pitch Black gets full value from moments of genuine panic. Best of all, Twohy's got a well-matched cast, with Mitchell (so memorable with Ally Sheedy in High Art) and Diesel (Pvt. Caparzo from Saving Private Ryan) being the standouts. The latter makes the most of his muscle-man role, and his character's development is one more reason this movie works better than it should. --Jeff Shannon --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Predator
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Starring: Schwarzenegger, Arnold Weathers, Carl Weathers, Carl Carrillo, Elpidia Ventura, Jesse Peter Hall, Kevin Armstrong, R.G. Chaves, Richard Chaves, Richard Hall, Kevin Peter
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Director: McTiernan, John	Rating: R	Running Time: 107 min
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Category: Sci-Fi	User Rating: 7.3/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com essential video Rambo meets Alien in this terrific science-fiction thriller from 1987, directed by John McTiernan just a year before Die Hard made him Hollywood's most sought-after director of action-packed blockbusters. Arnold Schwarzenegger leads an elite squad of U.S. Army commandos to a remote region of South American jungle, where they've been assigned to search for South American officials who've been kidnapped by terrorists. Instead they find a bunch of skinned corpses hanging from the trees and realize that they're now facing a mysterious and much deadlier threat. As the squad is picked off one by one, Arnold finds himself pitted against a hideous alien creature that's heavily armed and wearing a spacesuit enabling the creature to render itself invisible. The title says it all in describing the relentless, escalating action that follows, maintained by McTiernan with an abundance of visual flair. The film's special effects are still impressive, and stunning locations in the Mexican jungles create a combined atmosphere of verdant beauty and imminent danger. The plot doesn't hold up to much scrutiny, but the movie's so exciting and tightly paced that its weaknesses seem irrelevant. --Jeff Shannon

Pride and Prejudice - The Special Edition
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Starring: Firth, Colin Ehle, Jennifer Ehle, Jennifer Whitrow, Benjamin Harker, Susannah Bonham-Carter, Crispin Bamber, David Sawalha, Julia Sawalha, Julia Lukis, Adrian
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Director: Langton, Simon	Rating: NR	Running Time: 5 Hours
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Category: Drama	User Rating: 9.2/10 (IMDB)	Color Stereo

Amazon.com essential video Jane Austen's classic novel of 1813, Pride and Prejudice, still wins the hearts of countless schoolgirls with its romantic story of Elizabeth Bennet and her Mr. Darcy. Now, the 1996 BBC miniseries is winning over adults, with its faithful adaptation, gorgeous scenery, and superb acting. The essence of the story is the antagonism between Mr. Darcy, a wealthy single man who believes Elizabeth to be beneath him, and Elizabeth, who upon being insulted at a dance by the aloof Darcy refuses to associate with him in any manner. Austen evokes incredible tension with the wit and flirtation of the two characters, and director Simon Langton (who also directed Upstairs Downstairs) successfully translates the repartee and conflict in this six-hour miniseries. Dialogue, for the most part, is painstakingly replicated, except when fleshing out and smoothing for modern sensibilities was necessary. Darcy, for instance, is drawn out, giving his personality significantly more depth. The acting sweeps you away to Regency England: Jennifer Ehle (of Wilde) is convincing as the obstinate Elizabeth, who, despite her mother's attempts to marry her off, spurs the attentions of Darcy. And Colin Firth (of The English Patient) will have women everywhere longing for a Mr. Darcy of their own. For those who have been on an Austen binge--enjoying such excellent adaptations as Sense and Sensibility and Persuasion--this miniseries will round out the ultimate Austen video library. For those new to these romantic period pieces, this version of Pride and Prejudice will have you hooked and longing for more. One caveat, however: plan to watch it in an entire day, because very few have the self-control to not watch all six hours in a single sitting. --Jenny Brown --This text refers to the DVD edition.

Sense and Sensibility
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Starring: Winslet, Kate Thompson, Emma Winslet, Kate Grant, Hugh Jones, Gemma Walter, Harriet Wise, Greg Stubbs, Imogen Stubbs, Imogen Hardy, Robert
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Director: Lee, Ang	Rating: PG	Running Time: 2 Hours 16 Minutes
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Category: Comedy	User Rating: 7.7/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com essential video Emma Thompson scores a double bull's-eye with this marvelous adaptation of Jane Austen's novel. Not only does Thompson turn in a strong (and gently humorous) performance as one of the Dashwood sisters--the one with "sense"--she also wrote the witty, wise screenplay. Austen's tale of 19th-century manners and morals provides a large cast with a feast of possibilities, notably Kate Winslet, in her pre-Titanic flowering, as Thompson's deeply romantic sister. Winslet attracts the wooing of shy Alan Rickman (a nice change of pace from his bad-guy roles) and dashing Greg Wise, while Thompson must endure an incredibly roundabout courtship with Hugh Grant, here in fine and funny form. All of this is doled out with the usual eye-filling English countryside and handsome costumes, yet the film always seems to be about the careful interior lives of its characters. The director, an inspired choice, is Taiwan-born Ang Lee, who brings the same exquisite taste and discreet touch he displayed in his previous Asian films (such as Eat Drink Man Woman). Thompson's script won an Oscar, and 1995 was a fine year for Jane Austen all around: Persuasion was made into an excellent picture, and Emma became the spritzy high school comedy Clueless. --Robert Horton --This text refers to the VHS Tape edition.

Shakespeare in Love
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Starring: Rush, Geoffrey Fiennes, Joseph Rush, Geoffrey Affleck, Ben Dench, Judi Dench, Dame Judi Firth, Colin Callow, Simon Callow, Simon Clunes, Martin
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Director: Madden, John	Rating: R	Running Time: 123 minutes
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Category: Comedy	User Rating: 7.5/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com One of the most winning and intelligent romantic comedies of the '90s, Shakespeare in Love is filled with such good will, sunny romance, snappy one-liners, and devilish cleverness that it's absolutely irresistible. At the 1999 Academy Awards, this dark-horse costume comedy sneaked off with seven Oscars, besting the highly favored Saving Private Ryan for Best Picture. With tongue placed firmly in cheek, at its outset the film tracks young Will Shakespeare's overwrought battle with writer's block and the efforts of theater owner Philip Henslowe (Geoffrey Rush, in rare form) to stage Will's latest comedy, Romeo and Ethel, the Pirate's Daughter. Most of the jokes in the first one-third of the film are along these lines: Will's anachronistic therapist session, a mug inscribed "A Souvenir from Stratford-Upon-Avon," Henslowe's battles to pay off his debts, and the backstage high jinks of pre-production. However, once Will sets his eyes on the beautiful Viola De Lesseps (Gwyneth Paltrow), joking takes a backseat to ravishing romance. Well, almost--turns out Viola wants to break into the world of male-only theater, and disguises herself as a young man to wangle herself an audition. She wins the part of Romeo and, after much misunderstanding, the playwright's heart. Soon enough, Will's pirate comedy becomes a beautiful, tragic romance, and Ethel is shoved aside for a woman named Juliet. Will and Viola's romance, however, is equal parts comedy and tragedy--he's married, and she's betrothed to the slimy Lord Wessex (Colin Firth), and it doesn't take an English major to figure out that it's not all's well that ends well. Like Shakespeare's work itself, the film is instantly accessible to everyone, from the raucous groundlings looking for low comedy to the aesthetes hankering for some intellectual bite behind their entertainment. The way that Oscar-winning screenwriters Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard enfold their story within the parameters of Romeo and Juliet (and even Twelfth Night) is nothing short of brilliant--it would take a Shakespearean scholar to dissect the innumerable parallels, oft-quoted lines, plot developments, and thematic borrowings. And most amazingly, Norman and Stoppard haven't forgotten to entertain their audience in addition to riding a Shakespearean roller coaster. Director John Madden (Mrs. Brown) reigns in his huge ensemble with a rollicking energy that keeps the film's momentum going at top speed for its entire two hours. Along the way there are small gems to be found: Ben Affleck's riotous egotistical actor, Imelda Staunton's nimble nurse, and of course Judi Dench's eight-minute, Oscar-winning turn as a truly regal Queen Elizabeth. However, the key element of Shakespeare in Love's success rests on the milky-white shoulders of its two stars. Fiennes, inexplicably overlooked at Oscar time, is a dashing Will as we might expect him at the early stage of his career, bundled full of comedy and tragedy but unsure of how to harness his talent. And as for Best Actress winner Paltrow... well, nothing she'd done before could have prepared viewers for how amazing she is here. Breathtakingly beautiful, fiercely intelligent, strong-willed, and lovestruck--it's a performance worthy of Shakespeare in more ways than one. By the film's end, you'll be thoroughly won over--and brushing up your Shakespeare with newfound ardor. --Mark Englehart

Somewhere in Time - Collector's Edition
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Starring: Reeve, Christopher Seymour, Jane Plummer, Christopher Wright, Teresa Plummer, Christopher Voskovec, George French, Susan Alvin, John Alvin, John Bennett, Audrey
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Director: Szwarc, Jeannot	Rating: PG	Running Time: 1 Hour 44 Minutes
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Category: Drama	User Rating: 6.8/10 (IMDB)	Color Stereo

Amazon.com It's silly, it's superficial, it's so desperately earnest about its tale of time-spanning love that you almost wish for a cheap flatulence gag just to break the solemn mood. But there's something so unabashedly gushy and entertaining about Somewhere in Time that you can't begrudge its enduring popularity. The film has become a staple of romantic-movie lovers since its release in 1980, and endless showings on cable TV have turned it into a dubious classic of sorts--a three-hanky weeper that anyone can enjoy as a guilty pleasure or a beloved favorite, with no apologies necessary. In his first film after the star-making success of Superman, Christopher Reeve stars as a contemporary playwright who visits a posh hotel and sees the portrait of an actress (Jane Seymour) who had performed there in 1912. He becomes obsessed with this beautiful woman and learns all he can about her, and then discovers a method of hypnotically transporting himself backward in time to meet her. "Is it ... you?" she says upon seeing the lovestruck playwright, and it's clearly a mutual attraction. But even the slightest reminder of the playwright's modern time can jar him from his seemingly real existence in the past, so his wonderful love affair is constantly just a step from being stolen away. Based on Richard Matheson's novel Bid Time Return, this flaky film may strain one's tolerance for plot holes and corny romance, but it's hard to deny its lasting appeal--and let's face it, guys, it'll make wives and girlfriends swoon if they're in a tearjerker mood. --Jeff Shannon --This text refers to the VHS Tape edition. Additional Features For devoted fans of Somewhere in Time, the exclusive documentary on this DVD will provide welcomed insight, background history, and poignant validation. The film was virtually saved from oblivion by a combination of cable TV exposure and grassroots fandom, and this engrossing documentary benefits from the participation of the film's principal cast and crew, all of whom remain as fond of this production as its legion of fans. Taped in 2000, the interviews are highlighted by the perspective of... read more

Somewhere in Time
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Starring: Reeve, Christopher Seymour, Jane Plummer, Christopher Wright, Teresa Wright, Muriel Teresa Voskovec, George French, Susan Alvin, John Alvin, John Bennett, Audrey
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Director: Szwarc, Jeannot	Rating: PG	Running Time: 104 Minutes
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Category: Drama	User Rating: 6.8/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Space Cowboys
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Starring: Eastwood, Clint Jones, Tommy Lee Jones, Tom Lee Sutherland, Donald Garner, James Cromwell, James Babcock, Barbara Brown, Blair Brown, Blair Harden, Marcia Gay
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Director: Eastwood, Clint	Rating: PG-13	Running Time: 2 Hours 10 Minutes
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Category: Sci-Fi	User Rating: 6.5/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com This slice of cornball Americana is so much fun you'll be tempted to stand up and salute. Director and costar Clint Eastwood manages to turn what might have been ludicrous into a jubilant tribute to age and experience, and Space Cowboys succeeds as two movies in one--a comedy about retired pilots given one last shot at glory and an Apollo 13-like thriller with all the requisite heroics. With a dream cast of Hollywood vets playing old farts described in tabloids as "The Ripe Stuff," the movie jumps from a 1958 prologue (establishing their lost bid for space travel) to 40-plus years later, when the retired Air Force aces (Eastwood, James Garner, Donald Sutherland, Tommy Lee Jones) volunteer to rescue a falling Russian satellite that only Eastwood's character can repair. It turns out that Russky bird is a cold war leftover equipped with live nuclear warheads, and Space Cowboys revs up to a rousing climax in which our heroes prove their mettle. But first the comedy: watching these codgers struggle to pass NASA's physical tests is a total hoot, with running gags about wrinkles, dentures, and oysters for sagging libidos. (Sutherland is the scene-stealer, but they're all having a blast.) Once in space, the movie gets down to business, and the visual-effects wizards at Industrial Light and Magic provide stunning vistas from Earth's orbit; a shot looking down at the boot of Italy is particularly beautiful. A subplot involving a weasely NASA administrator (James Cromwell) is rather perfunctory, but it hardly matters. Space Cowboys earns its wings, once again demonstrating Eastwood's comfort with any genre he chooses. --Jeff Shannon --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. Additional features Even though this DVD doesn't boast that it's a special edition, it has some of the nicest extras you'd want to see. There's nearly an hour of behind-the-footage material, all of it superior made-for-cable featurettes so often included on DVDs. The technicians divulge little tricks of the trade, revealing more computer effects in the film than you'd think. Longtime Eastwood editor Joel Cox provides insight into the director's work routine. The highlight, though, is an extended version of the four... read more Description In 1958, the members of Team Daedalus, a group of top Air Force test pilots, were ready to serve their country as the first Americans in space but were pushed aside. Now, as a Russian satellite fails and is about to crash into earth, Team Daedalus is back in action in a rescue mission.

Spy Game (Full Screen Edition)
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Starring: Redford, Robert Pitt, Brad McCormack, Catherine McCormack, Catherine Jean-Baptiste, Marianne Bryggman, Larry Marsh, Matthew Boyce, Todd Boyce, Todd Hagon, Garrick
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Director: Scott, Tony	Rating: R	Running Time: 2 Hours 7 Minutes
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Category: Action	User Rating: 7.0/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com A thinking person's thriller, Spy Game employs dense plotting without sacrificing the kinetic momentum that is director Tony Scott's trademark. The film has the byzantine scope of a novel, focusing on veteran CIA operative Nathan Muir (Robert Redford), whose protŽgŽ Tom Bishop (Brad Pitt) is scheduled for execution in a Chinese prison. It's Muir's last day before retiring (clichŽ alert!), and Bishop is being deliberately sacrificed by oily CIA officials to ensure healthy trade with China. Muir has 24 hours to rescue Bishop and his perfunctory love interest (Catherine McCormack), and Spy Game connects the mentor's end-run strategy to flashbacks of his student's exploits in Berlin, Beirut, and beyond. Ambitious but emotionally bland--and not as exciting as Scott's Enemy of the State--Spy Game offers pass-the-torch humor between leather-faced Redford and pretty boy Pitt, and although their dialogue is occasionally limp, the movie compensates with efficient style and substance. --Jeff Shannon --This text refers to the Theatrical Release edition.

Star Wars - Episode I, The Phantom Menace (Widescreen Edition)
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Starring: Neeson, Liam McGregor, Ewan Portman, Natalie Lloyd, Jake August, Pernilla Oz, Frank McDiarmid, Ian Davies, Oliver Ford Davies, Oliver Ford Best, Ahmed
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Director: Lucas, George	Rating: PG	Running Time: 133 min
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Category: Sci-Fi	User Rating: 6.5/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com "I have a bad feeling about this," says the young Obi-Wan Kenobi (played by Ewan McGregor) in Star Wars: Episode I, The Phantom Menace as he steps off a spaceship and into the most anticipated cinematic event... well, ever. He might as well be speaking for the legions of fans of the original episodes in the Star Wars saga who can't help but secretly ask themselves: Sure, this is Star Wars, but is it my Star Wars? The original elevated moviegoers' expectations so high that it would have been impossible for any subsequent film to meet them. And as with all the Star Wars movies, The Phantom Menace features inexplicable plot twists, a fistful of loose threads, and some cheek-chewing dialogue. Han Solo's swagger is sorely missed, as is the pervading menace of heavy-breather Darth Vader. There is still way too much quasi-mystical mumbo jumbo, and some of what was fresh about Star Wars 22 years earlier feels formulaic. Yet there's much to admire. The special effects are stupendous; three worlds are populated with a mŽlange of creatures, flora, and horizons rendered in absolute detail. The action and battle scenes are breathtaking in their complexity. And one particular sequence of the film--the adrenaline-infused pod race through the Tatooine desert--makes the chariot race in Ben-Hur look like a Sunday stroll through the park. Among the host of new characters, there are a few familiar walk-ons. We witness the first meeting between R2-D2 and C-3PO, Jabba the Hutt looks younger and slimmer (but not young and slim), and Yoda is as crabby as ever. Natalie Portman's stately Queen Amidala sports hairdos that make Princess Leia look dowdy and wields a mean laser. We never bond with Jedi Knight Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson), and Obi-Wan's day is yet to come. Jar Jar Binks, a cross between a Muppet, a frog, and a hippie, provides many of the movie's lighter moments, while Sith Lord Darth Maul is a formidable force. Baby-faced Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd) looks too young and innocent to command the powers of the Force or wield a lightsaber (much less transmute into the future Darth Vader), but his boyish exuberance wins over skeptics. Near the end of the movie, Palpatine, the new leader of the Republic, may be speaking for fans eagerly awaiting Episode II when he pats young Anakin on the head and says, "We will watch your career with great interest." Indeed! --Tod Nelson --This text refers to the VHS Tape edition. DVD features The spectacular DVD release of Star Wars: Episode I, The Phantom Menace--arguably one of the best DVDs ever--will go a long way toward making it up to Star Wars fans who were disappointed by the theatrical release. (But, in case you're wondering, there's no option to delete Jar Jar.) The picture and sound are outstanding, it's loaded with bonuses, and even the menus are action-packed fun. Disc One includes the film with a commentary track by George Lucas, producer Rick McCallum, editor Ben... read more Description Feature-Length Audio Commentary The creators of Episode I give you insight into the film like no one else can. Hear from: writer/director George Lucas, Producer Rick McCallum, sound designer and film co-editor Ben Burtt, ILM animation director Rob Coleman and ILM visual effects supervisors John Knoll, Dennis Muren and Scott Squires. "The Beginning" Making Episode I Documentary Film Culled from over 600 hours of behind-the-scenes footage, this all-new hour-long documentary film takes you inside Lucasfilm and Industrial Light & Magic during the making of The Phantom Menace. Sit in on the film's production process including: pre-production, casting, principal photography, editing, rough-cut reviews, visual effects meetings and other events that few people have had access to before. Exclusive Deleted Scenes and Documentary All-new documentary featuring George Lucas, Rick McCallum and guests discussing the painstaking process every director must go through in determining what scenes make the final cut. View seven exclusive deleted sequences that were created specifically for this DVD and le

Star Wars - Episode II, Attack of the Clones (Widescreen Edition)
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Starring: McGregor, Ewan Portman, Natalie Christensen, Hayden Baker, Kenny Smits, Jimmy Neeson, Liam Oz, Frank Portman, Natalie Portman, Natalie McDiarmid, Ian
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Director: Lucas, George	Rating: PG	Running Time: 2 Hours 22 Minutes
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Category: Sci-Fi	User Rating: 7.1/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com If The Phantom Menace was the setup, then Attack of the Clones is the plot-progressing payoff, and devoted Star Wars fans are sure to be enthralled. Ten years after Episode I, Padmé Amidala (Natalie Portman), now a senator, resists the creation of a Republic Army to combat an evil separatist movement. The brooding Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) is resentful of his stern Jedi mentor, Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor), tormented by personal loss, and showing his emerging "dark side" while protecting his new love, Amidala, from would-be assassins. Youthful romance and solemn portent foreshadow the events of the original Star Wars as Count Dooku (a.k.a. Darth Tyranus, played by Christopher Lee) forges an alliance with the Dark Lord of the Sith, while lavish set pieces showcase George Lucas's supreme command of all-digital filmmaking. All of this makes Episode II a technological milestone, savaged by some critics as a bloated, storyless spectacle, but still qualifying as a fan-approved precursor to the pivotal events of Episode III. --Jeff Shannon --This text refers to the Theatrical Release edition. DVD features Star Wars: Episode II, Attack of the Clones is a superior DVD, repeating many of the elements that made its predecessor, Episode I, The Phantom Menace, so good. The picture and sound are spectacular, helped immensely by the fact that the film was shot entirely in digital, making this the first live-action direct digital-to-digital DVD transfer. This version of the film was the one shown in digital-projection theaters; there are subtle differences from the standard theatrical version, such as... read more

T2 - Extreme DVD
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Starring: Schwarzenegger, Arnold Hamilton, Linda Furlong, Edward Morton, Joe Furlong, Edward Boen, Earl Merkerson, S. Epatha Guerra, Castulo Guerra, Castulo Goldstein, Jenette
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Director: Cameron, James	Rating: R	Running Time: 2 Hours 32 Minutes
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Category: Sci-Fi	User Rating: 8.1/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com essential video After he pushed the envelope of computer-generated special effects in The Abyss, director James Cameron turned this hotly anticipated sequel to Terminator into a well-written, action-packed showcase for advanced special effects and for one of the most invincible villains ever imagined. Terminator 2: Judgment Day is a legitimate sequel: there's more story to tell about a hulking, leather-clad android (Arnold Schwarzenegger) who arrives from the future to protect a rebellious teenager and future leader (Edward Furlong) from being killed by the tenacious T-1000 robot (Robert Patrick), whose liquid-metal construction makes him seemingly unstoppable. The fate of the future lies in the balance, with Linda Hamilton (who would later marry her director) reprising her role as the rugged woman whose son will change the course of history. --Jeff Shannon --This text refers to the VHS Tape edition. DVD features Because the Terminator 2 Ultimate Edition set the standard for feature-packed DVDs when it was released back in 2000, is there a need for an Extreme Edition? The simple answer is yes. The 2003 Extreme Edition features a brand-new, better-looking transfer and an extremely powerful and involving Dolby 5.1 EX soundtrack. (The Ultimate's DTS track might have had a bit more detail, but it had to be sacrificed due to disc space.) The Extreme Edition focuses on the extended version of the film, but... read more Description He said he'd be back. This time experience T2 like never before! Go EXTREME with the best picture and sound ever! ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER returns as the Terminator in this explosive action-adventure spectacle. Now he's one of the good guys, sent back in time to protect John Connor, the boy destined to lead the freedom fighters of the future. LINDA HAMILTON reprises her role as Sarah Connor, John's mother, a quintessential survivor who has been institutionalized for her warning of the nuclear holocaust she knows is inevitable. Together, the threesome must find a way to stop the ultimate enemy - the T-1000, the most lethal Terminator ever created. Co-written, produced and directed by James Cameron ("The Terminator," "Aliens," "Titanic), this visual tour de force is also a touching story of survival.

Terminator 3 - Rise of the Machines (Widescreen Edition)
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Starring: Schwarzenegger, Arnold Stahl, Nick Danes, Claire Stahl, Nick Danes, Claire Loken, Kristanna Famiglietti, Mark Harris, Moira Harris, Moira Lawford, Christopher
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Director: Mostow, Jonathan	Rating: R	Running Time: 1 Hour 49 Minutes
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Category: Sci-Fi	User Rating: 7.0/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com With a reported budget of $172 million, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines starts in high gear and never slows down. The apocalyptic "Judgment Day" of T2 was never prevented, only postponed: John Connor (Nick Stahl, replacing T2's Edward Furlong), now 22 and disconnected from society, is being pursued yet again, this time by the advanced T-X, a sleek "Terminatrix" (coldly expressionless Kristanna Loken) programmed to stop Connor from becoming the savior of humankind. Originally programmed as an assassin, a disadvantaged T-101 cyborg (Arnold Schwarzenegger, bidding fond farewell to his signature role) arrives from the future to join Connor and his old acquaintance Kate (Claire Danes) in thwarting the T-X's relentless pursuit. The plot presents a logical fulfillment of T2 prophesy, disposing of Connor's mother (Linda Hamilton is sorely missed) while computer-driven machines assume control, launching a nuclear nightmare that Connor must survive. With Breakdown and U-571 serving as worthy rehearsals for this cautionary epic of mass destruction, director Jonathan Mostow wisely avoids any stylistic connection to James Cameron's Terminator classics; instead he's crafted a fun, exciting popcorn thriller, humorous and yet still effectively nihilistic, and comparable to Jurassic Park III in returning the Terminator franchise to its potent B-movie roots. --Jeff Shannon --This text refers to the Theatrical Release edition. DVD features There's only one deleted scene in this two-disc DVD set, but it's a doozy. The "Sgt. Candy Scene" is a must-see and, unfortunately, the best thing on the second disc. The rushed HBO documentary shows us far more flash than substance. Better is the Visual Effects Lab that goes more in-depth with four sequences, although you need to wade through a hokey interface for each segment. Making your "own" effects isn't that much fun; you can only choose a few effects that change in two scenes. Anyone... read more Description A decade has passed since John Connor (NICK STAHL) helped prevent Judgment Day and save mankind from mass destruction. Now 25, Connor lives "off the grid" - no home, no credit cards, no cell phone and no job. No record of his existence. No way he can be traced by Skynet - the highly developed network of machines that once tried to kill him and wage war on humanity. Until?out of the shadows of the future steps the T-X (KRISTANNA LOKEN), Skynet's most sophisticated cyborg killing machine yet. Sent back through time to complete the job left unfinished by her predecessor, the T-1000, this machine is as relentless as her human guise is beautiful. Now Connor's only hope for survival is the Terminator (ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER), his mysterious former assassin. Together, they must triumph over the technologically superior T-X and forestall the looming threat of Judgment Day?or face the apocalypse and the fall of civilization as we know it.

The Bourne Identity (Widescreen Collector's Edition)
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Starring: Damon, Matt Potente, Franka Owen, Clive Owen, Clive Potente, Franka Owen, Clive Mann, Gabriel Stiles, Julia Stiles, Julia Stiles, Julia
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Director: Liman, Doug	Rating: PG-13	Running Time: 1 Hour 59 Minutes
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Category: Action	User Rating: 7.2/10 (IMDB)	Color Stereo

Amazon.com Freely adapted from Robert Ludlum's 1980 bestseller, The Bourne Identity starts fast and never slows down. The twisting plot revs up in Zurich, where amnesiac CIA assassin Jason Bourne (Matt Damon), with no memory of his name, profession, or recent activities, recruits a penniless German traveler (Run Lola Run's Franka Potente) to assist in solving the puzzle of his missing identity. While his CIA superior (Chris Cooper) dispatches assassins to kill Bourne and thus cover up his failed mission, Bourne exercises his lethal training to leave a trail of bodies from Switzerland to Paris. Director Doug Liman (Go) infuses Ludlum's intricate plotting with a maverick's eye for character detail, matching breathtaking action with the humorous, thrill-seeking chemistry of Damon and Potente. Previously made as a 1988 TV movie starring Richard Chamberlain, The Bourne Identity benefits from the sharp talent of rising stars, offering intelligent, crowd-pleasing excitement from start to finish. --Jeff Shannon --This text refers to the Theatrical Release edition.

The Exorcist: 25th Anniversary Special Edition
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Starring: Burstyn, Ellen Sydow, Max von Sydow, Max von Flynn, Keri McRae, Ellen Gillooly, Edna Rae Blair, Linda Von Sydow, Max Von Sydow, Max Cobb, Lee J.
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Director: Friedkin, William	Rating: R	Running Time: 3 Hours 17 Minutes
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Category: Horror	User Rating: 7.9/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com essential video Director William Friedkin was a hot ticket in Hollywood after the success of The French Connection, and he turned heads (in more ways than one) when he decided to make The Exorcist as his follow-up film. Adapted by William Peter Blatty from his controversial bestseller, this shocking 1973 thriller set an intense and often-copied milestone for screen terror with its unflinching depiction of a young girl (Linda Blair) who is possessed by an evil spirit. Jason Miller and Max von Sydow are perfectly cast as the priests who risk their sanity and their lives to administer the rites of demonic exorcism. Ellen Burstyn plays Blair's mother, who can only stand by in horror as her daughter's body is wracked by Satanic disfiguration. One of the most frightening films ever made, The Exorcist was mysteriously plagued by trouble during production, and the years since have not diminished its capacity to disturb even the most stoic viewers. The film is presented in letterbox format on digital video disc, with a remastered soundtrack that's guaranteed to curdle your blood. The 25th-anniversary Special Edition DVD of The Exorcist is packed with bonus features, including a 74-minute documentary titled The Fear of God: The Making of The Exorcist, which includes interviews with cast and crew, audio commentary by William Friedkin and author William Peter Blatty, a special introduction by Friedkin, theatrical trailers and TV spots, and DVD-exclusive coverage of the film's storyboards and production design. --Jeff Shannon

The Fifth Element
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Starring: Willis, Bruce Oldman, Gary Holm, Ian Holm, Ian Cuthbert, Ian Holm Perry, Luke Tucker, Chris James, Brion James, Brion Lister, Tiny
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Director: Besson, Luc	Rating: PG-13	Running Time: 2 Hours 6 Minutes
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Category: Sci-Fi	User Rating: 7.1/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com essential video Ancient curses, all-powerful monsters, shape-changing assassins, scantily clad stewardesses, laser battles, huge explosions, a perfect woman, a malcontent hero--what more can you ask of a big-budget science fiction movie? Luc Besson's high-octane film incorporates presidents, rock stars, and cab drivers into its peculiar plot, traversing worlds and encountering some pretty wild aliens. Bruce Willis stars as a down-and-out cabbie who must win the love of Leeloo (Milla Jovovich) to save Earth from destruction by Jean-Baptiste Emmanuel Zorg (Gary Oldman) and a dark, unearthly force that makes Darth Vader look like an Ewok.

The Last of the Mohicans
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Starring: Day-Lewis, Daniel Stowe, Madeleine Means, Russell Studi, Wes May, Jodhi Waddington, Steven Roeves, Maurice Postlethwaite, Pete Postlethwaite, Pete Studi, Wes
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Director: Mann, Michael	Rating: R	Running Time: 122 minutes
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Category: Action	User Rating: 7.5/10 (IMDB)	Color Stereo

Amazon.com Wildly romantic, daringly exciting, Michael Mann's film of James Fenimore Cooper's novel created a new babe magnet out of Daniel Day-Lewis, he of the heaving pecs and flowing mane. As Hawkeye, he plays an American settler raised by the Mohicans who is forced to serve as a guide for British adventurism in upstate New York. But the British have been outflanked by the French (and their Indian allies); then British honor is betrayed when a band of renegades assaults them during their retreat. Mann captures the viciousness of this era's hand-to-hand combat in startling battle scenes. But he also invests the film with heartfelt romance, as the feelings swell between Day-Lewis and Madeleine Stowe. The ending is a stunner, a long, nearly wordless sequence of battle and loss. Strong performances all around, particularly by Russell Means as Chingachgook and Wes Studi as the evil Magua. --Marshall Fine --This text refers to the VHS Tape edition.

The Long Kiss Goodnight
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Starring: Davis, Geena Jackson, Samuel L. Malahide, Patrick Malahide, Patrick Bierko, Craig Cox, Brian Morse, David Morse, David Morse, David Kanakaredes, Melina
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Director: Harlin, Renny	Rating: R	Running Time: 2 Hours
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Category: Action	User Rating: 6.5/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com essential video Geena Davis and her former husband, director Renny Harlin, attempted to pick up the pieces after the debacle of their box-office disaster, Cutthroat Island. What they came up with was this repulsive ode to American film noir, based on a script by Shane Black (Lethal Weapon) about an amnesiac schoolteacher (Davis) who searches for her true identity and finds she is actually a secret agent immersed in a deadly plot to topple the government. Mechanistic in its violence, obnoxious in its attitude, the film makes Davis, a once-promising actress, nothing more than a special effect. She tosses one to sadists in the audience by allowing her character to be beaten, punched unconscious, and tortured. The DVD release has optional full-screen and widescreen presentations, plus Dolby surround sound, theatrical trailer, cast information, optional French-language soundtrack and optional Spanish subtitles. --Tom Keogh --This text refers to the VHS Tape edition.

The Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring (Platinum Series Special Extended Edition)
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Starring: Wood, Elijah Lee, Christopher Mortensen, Viggo Astin, Sean Bean, Sean Holm, Ian Rhys-Davies, John Weaving, Hugo Weaving, Hugo Tyler, Liv
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Director: Jackson, Peter	Rating: PG-13	Running Time: 3 Hours 28 Minutes
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Category: Sci-Fi	User Rating: 8.8/10 (IMDB)	Color DTS Surround Sound

Amazon.com essential video In every aspect, the extended-edition DVD of Peter Jackson's epic fantasy The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring blows away the theatrical-version DVD. No one who cares at all about the film should ever need to watch the original version again. Well, maybe the impatient and the squeamish will still prefer the theatrical version, because the extended edition makes a long film 30 minutes longer and there's a bit more violence (though both versions are rated PG-13). But the changes--sometimes whole scenes, sometimes merely a few seconds--make for a richer film. There's more of the spirit of J.R.R. Tolkien, embodied in more songs and a longer opening focusing on Hobbiton. There's more character development, and more background into what is to come in the two subsequent films, such as Galadriel's gifts to the Fellowship and Aragorn's burden of lineage. And some additions make more sense to the plot, or are merely worth seeing, such as the wood elves leaving Middle-earth or the view of Caras Galadhon (but sorry, there's still no Tom Bombadil). Extremely useful are the chapter menus that indicate which scenes are new or extended. Of the four commentary tracks, the ones with the greatest general appeal are the one by Jackson and cowriters Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, and the one by 10 cast members, but the more technically oriented commentaries by the creative and production staff are also worth hearing. The bonus features (encompassing two complete DVDs) are far superior to the largely promotional materials included on the theatrical release, delving into such matters as script development, casting, and visual effects. The only drawback is that the film is now spread over two discs, with a somewhat abrupt break following the council at Rivendell, due to the storage capacity required for the longer running time, the added DTS ES 6.1 audio, and the commentary tracks. But that's a minor inconvenience. Whether in this four-disc set or in the collector's gift set (which adds Argonath bookends and a DVD of National Geographic Beyond the Movie: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring), the extended-edition DVD is the Fellowship DVD to rule them all. --David Horiuchi Description DISCS 1-2: The Feature Unique version of the epic adventure with over 30 minutes of never-before-seen footage incorporated into the film and new music scored by Academy Award(r)-winning composer Howard Shore (approx. 208 minutes); four audio commentaries by director and writers, the design team, the production team, and the cast featuring more than 30 participants including Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, and Academy Award(r) winners Richard Taylor, Andrew Lesnie, Howard Shore, Jim Rygiel, Randy Cook, and many more. DISCS 3-4: The Appendices Two discs with hours of original content including multiple documentaries and design/photo galleries with thousands of images to give viewers an in-depth behind-the-scenes look at The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring DISC 3: "From Book to Vision": Adapting the book into a screenplay & plannin g the film Designing and building Middle-earth Storyboards to pre-visualization Weta Workshop visit: An up-close look at the weapons, armor, creatures, and miniatures from the film Atlas of Middle-earth: Tracing the journey of the Fellowship An interactive map of New Zealand highlighting the location scouting process Galleries of art and slideshows with commentaries by the artists Guided tour of the wardrobe department Footage from early meetings, moving storyboards, and pre-visualization reels And much more! DISC 4: "From Vision to Reality": Bringing the characters to life A day in the life of a hobbit Principal photography: Stories from the set Scale: Creating the illusion of size Galleries of behind-the-scenes photographs and personal cast photos Editorial and visual effects multi-angle progressions Sound design demonstration And much more! DVD-ROM Content: Includes access to exclusive online features

The Lord of the Rings - The Two Towers (Platinum Series Special Extended Edition)
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Starring: Wood, Elijah McKellen, Ian Mortensen, Viggo Astin, Sean Dourif, Brad Rhys-Davies, John Weaving, Hugo Wood, Elijah Wood, Elijah Blanchett, Cate
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Director: Jackson, Peter	Rating: PG-13	Running Time: 3 Hours 43 Minutes
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Category: Sci-Fi	User Rating: 8.9/10 (IMDB)	Color DTS Surround Sound

Amazon.com The extended edition of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring was perhaps the most comprehensive DVD release to date, and its follow-up proves a similarly colossal achievement, with significant extra footage and a multitude of worthwhile bonus features. The extended version of The Two Towers adds 43 minutes to the theatrical version's 179-minute running time, and there are valuable additions to the film. Two new scenes might appease those who feel that the characterization of Faramir was the film's most egregious departure from the book, and fans will appreciate an appearance of the Huorns at Helm's Deep plus a nod to the absence of Tom Bombadil. Seeing a little more interplay between the gorgeous Eowyn and Aragorn is welcome, as is a grim introduction to Eomer and Theoden's son. And among the many other additions, there's an extended epilogue that might not have worked in the theater, but is more effective here in setting up The Return of the King. While the 30 minutes added to The Fellowship of the Ring felt just right in enriching the film, the extra footage in The Two Towers at times seems a bit extraneous--we see moments that in the theatrical version we had been told about, and some fleshed-out conversations and incidents are rather minor. But director Peter Jackson's vision of J.R.R. Tolkien's world is so marvelous that it's hard to complain about any extra time we can spend there. While it may seem that there would be nothing left to say after the bevy of features on the extended Fellowship, the four commentary tracks and two discs of supplements on The Two Towers remain informative, fascinating, and funny, far surpassing the recycled materials on the two-disc theatrical version. Highlights of the 6.5 hours' worth of documentaries offer insight on the stunts, the design work, the locations, and the creation of Gollum, and--most intriguing for rabid fans--the film's writers (including Jackson) discuss why they created events that weren't in the book. Providing variety are animatics, rough footage, countless sketches, and a sound-mixing demonstration. Again, the most interesting commentary tracks are by Jackson and writers Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens and by 16 members of the cast (eight of whom didn't appear in the first film, and even including John Noble, whose Denethor character only appears in this extended cut). The first two installments of Peter Jackson's trilogy have established themselves as the best fantasy films of all time, and among the best film trilogies of all time, and their extended-edition DVD sets have set a new standard for expanding on the already-epic films and providing comprehensive bonus features. --David Horiuchi Description Not seen in theaters, this unique version of the epic adventure features over 40 minutes of new and extended scenes integrated into the film by the director. DVD set consists of four discs with hours of original content including multiple documentaries, commentaries and design/photo galleries with thousands of images to give viewers an in-depth behind-the-scenes look at the film. Frodo Baggins and the Fellowship continue their quest to destroy the One Ring and stand against the evil of the dark lord Sauron. The Fellowship has divided and now find themselves taking different paths to defeating Sauron and his allies. Their destinies now lie at two towers - Orthanc Tower in Isengard, where the corrupted wizard Saruman waits and Sauron's fortress at Baraddur, deep within the dark lands of Mordor.

The Matrix Reloaded (Widescreen Edition)
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Starring: Rendall, Kimble Wachowski, Andy Wachowski, Larry Gaye, Nona Reeves, Keanu Weaving, Hugo McColm, Matt Bernhardt, Daniel Bernhardt, Daniel Pinkett-Smith, Jada
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Director: Wachowski, Larry	Rating: R	Running Time: 2 Hours 18 Minutes
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Category: Sci-Fi	User Rating: 7.2/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com Considering the lofty expectations that preceded it, The Matrix Reloaded triumphs where most sequels fail. It would be impossible to match the fresh audacity that made The Matrix a global phenomenon in 1999, but in continuing the exploits of rebellious Neo (Keanu Reeves), Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne), and Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) as they struggle to save the human sanctuary of Zion from invading machines, the codirecting Wachowski brothers have their priorities well in order. They offer the obligatory bigger and better highlights (including the impressive "Burly Brawl" and freeway chase sequences) while remaining focused on cleverly plotting the middle of a brain-teasing trilogy that ends with The Matrix Revolutions. The metaphysical underpinnings can be dismissed or scrutinized, and choosing the latter course (this is, after all, an epic about choice and free will) leads to astonishing repercussions that made Reloaded an explosive hit with critics and hardcore fans alike. As the centerpiece of a multimedia franchise, this dynamic sequel ends with a cliffhanger that virtually guarantees a mind-blowing conclusion. --Jeff Shannon --This text refers to the Theatrical Release edition. DVD features Go right to the 30-minute feature on the incredible freeway chase. Here you get the inside scoop on how the titanic 12-minute sequence was put together. If you want more in-depth stuff on this physically impressive movie, amazingly it's not here; there's not even a commentary track. Perhaps the Wachowski brothers want to keep their enigmatic aura, or perhaps there's a better DVD coming after the trilogy ends. There is plenty of material on the second disc, but it's just filler, with the actors... read more Description In the second chapter of the Matrix trilogy, Neo (Keanu Reeves), Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) and Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) continue to lead the revolt against the Machine Army. In their quest to save the human race from extinction, they gain greater insight into the construct of The Matrix and Neo's pivotal role in the fate of mankind.

The Matrix Revolutions (Widescreen Edition)
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Starring: Fishburne, Laurence Wachowski, Andy Wachowski, Larry Wilson, Lambert Spence, Bruce Weaving, Hugo Alice, Mary Moss, Carrie-Anne Moss, Carrie-Anne Bellucci, Monica
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Director: Wachowski, Larry	Rating: R	Running Time: 2 Hours 9 Minutes
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Category: Sci-Fi	User Rating: 6.3/10 (IMDB)	Color Stereo

Amazon.com Despite the inevitable law of diminishing returns, The Matrix Revolutions is quite satisfying as an adrenalized action epic, marking yet another milestone in the exponential evolution of computer-generated special effects. That may not be enough to satisfy hardcore Matrix fans who turned the Wachowski Brothers' hacker mythology into a quasi-religious pop-cultural phenomenon, but there's no denying that the trilogy goes out with a cosmic bang instead of the whimper that many expected. Picking up precisely where The Matrix Reloaded left off, this 130-minute finale finds Neo (Keanu Reeves) at a virtual junction, defending the besieged human enclave of Zion by confronting the attacking machines on their home turf, while humans combat swarms of tentacled mechanical sentinels as Zion's fate lies in the balance. It all amounts to a blaze of CGI glory, devoid of all but the shallowest emotions, and so full of metaphysical hokum that the trilogy's detractors can gloat with I-told-you-so sarcasm. And yet, Revolutions still succeeds as a slick, exciting hybrid of cinema and video game, operating by its own internal logic with enough forward momentum to make the whole trilogy seem like a thrilling, magnificent dream. -- Jeff Shannon --This text refers to the Theatrical Release edition. DVD features This two-disc set certainly improves upon the fluffy Reloaded DVD release. Although there's still no Wachowski brothers talking about their creation, there's a lot of good stuff here in the three main segments. We are constantly reminded how long the back-to-back filming schedule was, and it's most interesting to hear from the actors and artists as they come to the end of this long road. When a white rabbit flashes on screen, you can "branch" the most interesting documentary footage: how "bullet... read more Description Provocative Futuristic Action Thriller. The Matrix Revolutions marks the final explosive chapter in the Matrix trilogy.

The Matrix
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Starring: Reeves, Keanu Fishburne, Laurence Fishburne, Laurence Weaving, Hugo Pantoliano, Joe Foster, Gloria Chong, Marcus Parker, Anthony Ray Parker, Anthony Ray Arahanga, Julian
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Director: Wachowski, Larry	Rating: R	Running Time: 2 Hours 16 Minutes
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Category: Sci-Fi	User Rating: 8.5/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com essential video By following up their debut thriller Bound with the 1999 box-office smash The Matrix, the codirecting Wachowski brothers--Andy and Larry--annihilated any suggestion of a sophomore jinx, crafting one of the most exhilarating sci-fi/action movies of the 1990s. Set in the not too distant future in an insipid, characterless city, we find a young man named Neo (Keanu Reeves). A software techie by day and a computer hacker by night, he sits alone at home by his monitor, waiting for a sign, a signal--from what or whom he doesn't know--until one night, a mysterious woman named Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) seeks him out and introduces him to that faceless character he has been waiting for: Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne). A messiah of sorts, Morpheus presents Neo with the truth about his world by shedding light on the dark secrets that have troubled him for so long: "You've felt it your entire life, that there's something wrong with the world. You don't know what it is, but it's there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad." Ultimately, Morpheus illustrates to Neo what the Matrix is--a reality beyond reality that controls all of their lives, in a way that Neo can barely comprehend. Neo thus embarks on an adventure that is both terrifying and enthralling. Pitted against an enemy that transcends human concepts of evil, Morpheus and his team must train Neo to believe that he is the chosen champion of their fight. With mind-boggling, technically innovative special effects and a thought-provoking script that owes a debt of inspiration to the legacy of cyberpunk fiction, this is much more than an out-and-out action yarn; it's a thinking man's journey into the realm of futuristic fantasy, a dreamscape full of eye candy that will satisfy sci-fi, kung fu, action, and adventure fans alike. Although the film is headlined by Reeves and Fishburne--who both turn in fine performances--much of the fun and excitement should be attributed to Moss, who flawlessly mixes vulnerability with immense strength, making other contemporary female heroines look timid by comparison. And if we were going to cast a vote for most dastardly movie villain of 1999, it would have to go to Hugo Weaving, who plays the feckless, semipsychotic Agent Smith with panache and edginess. As the film's box-office profits soared, the Wachowski brothers announced that The Matrix is merely the first chapter in a cinematically dazzling franchise--a chapter that is arguably superior to the other sci-fi smash of 1999 (you know... the one starring Jar Jar Binks). --Jeremy Storey Editor's note Some DVD players may experience technical difficulties while playing the Matrix DVD. The disc itself is not affected. For more information, go to the following URL: http://www.pcfriendly.com/support/title/matrix/ Description Set in the 22nd century, "Matrix" tells of a computer hacker (Reeves) who joins a group of underground insurgents fighting the vast and powerful computers who now rule the earth. The computers are powered by human beings...

The Patriot
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Starring: Gibson, Mel Ledger, Heath Richardson, Joely Cooper, Chris Karyo, Tcheky Wilkinson, Tom Ledger, Heath Saacs, Jason Saacs, Jason Symansky, Adam
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Director: Emmerich, Roland	Rating: R	Running Time: 2 Hours 45 Minutes
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Category: Action	User Rating: 6.8/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com Aimed directly at a mainstream audience, The Patriot qualifies as respectable entertainment, but anyone expecting a definitive drama about the American Revolution should look elsewhere. Rising above the blatant crowd pleasing of Stargate, Independence Day, and Godzilla, director Roland Emmerich crafts a marvelous re-creation of South Carolina in the late 1770s (aided immeasurably by cinematographer Caleb Deschanel), and Robert Rodat's screenplay offers the same balance of epic scale and emotional urgency that elevated his earlier script for Saving Private Ryan. Unfortunately, Emmerich embraces clichŽs and hackneyed melodrama that a more gifted director would have avoided. Instead of attempting a truly great film about the most pivotal years of American history, Emmerich settles for a standard revenge plot with the Revolutionary War as an incidental backdrop. On those terms, the film is engrossing and sufficiently intelligent, especially when militia leader Benjamin Martin (Mel Gibson) cagily negotiates with British General Cornwallis (Tom Wilkinson) in one of the most rewarding scenes. For the most part, the story concerns Martin's anguished quest for revenge against ruthless redcoat Colonel Tavington (played with snide relish by Jason Isaacs), and the rise to manhood of Martin's eldest son, Gabriel (Heath Ledger), whose battlefield honor exceeds even that of his brutally volatile father. At its best, The Patriot conveys the horror of war among innocent civilians, and the epic battle scenes, while by no means masterful, are graphically intense and impressive. And although Ledger's love interest (Lisa Brenner) is too bland to register much emotion, the focus on family (which frequently relegates the war to background history) provides a suitable vehicle for Gibson, who matches his achievement in Braveheart with an effectively brooding performance. --Jeff Shannon --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. Additional Features Like the movie itself, there's little in the supplementary materials for The Patriot that requires more than one viewing, but they're interesting while they last. "The Art of War" featurette purports to be a study of the film's elaborate battle logistics, but it offers only a cursory appreciation of sequence planning and stunt work. The "True Patriots" featurette is much better, examining the painstaking efforts toward authenticity in production design, artillery, and costuming. The visual... read more

The Shawshank Redemption
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Starring: Robbins, Tim Freeman, Morgan Gunton, Bob Freeman, Morgan Gunton, Bob Rolston, Mark Bellows, Gil Whitmore, James Whitmore, James Brandenburg, Larry
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Director: Darabont, Frank	Rating: R	Running Time: 2 Hours 22 Minutes
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Category: Drama	User Rating: 9.0/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com essential video When this popular prison drama was released in 1994, some critics complained that the movie was too long (142 minutes) to sustain its story. Those complaints miss the point, because the passage of time is crucial to this story about patience, the squeaky wheels of justice, and the growth of a life-long friendship. Only when the film reaches its final, emotionally satisfying scene do you fully understand why writer-director Frank Darabont (adapting a novella by Stephen King) allows the story to unfold at its necessary pace, and the effect is dramatically rewarding. Tim Robbins plays a banker named Andy who's sent to Shawshank Prison on a murder charge, but as he gets to know a life-term prisoner named Red (Morgan Freeman), we realize there's reason to believe the banker's crime was justifiable. We also realize that Andy's calm, quiet exterior hides a great reserve of patience and fortitude, and Red comes to admire this mild-mannered man who first struck him as weak and unfit for prison life. So it is that The Shawshank Redemption builds considerable impact as a prison drama that defies the conventions of the genre (violence, brutality, riots) to illustrate its theme of faith, friendship, and survival. Nominated for seven Academy Awards including Best Picture, Actor, and Screenplay, it's a remarkable film that signaled the arrival of a promising new filmmaker--a film that many movie lovers count among their all-time favorites. --Jeff Shannon Description A prominent banker unjustly convicted of murder spends many years in the Shawshank prison. He is befriended by a convict who knows the ropes and helps him to cope with the frightning realities of prison life.

The Terminator (Special Edition)
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Starring: Schwarzenegger, Arnold Biehn, Michael Hamilton, Linda Hamilton, Linda Biehn, Michael Henriksen, Lance Paxton, Bill Winfield, Paul Winfield, Paul Boen, Earl
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Director: Cameron, James	Rating: R	Running Time: 1 Hour 47 Minutes
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Category: Sci-Fi	User Rating: 7.9/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com essential video This is the film that cemented Schwarzenegger's spot in the action-brawn firmament, and it was well deserved. He's chilling as the futuristic cyborg who kills without fear, without love, without mercy. James Cameron's story and direction are pared to the bone and all the more creepy. But don't overlook the contributions of Linda Hamilton, who more than holds her own as the Terminator's would-be victim, Sarah Connor--thus creating, along with Sigourney Weaver in Alien, a new generation of rugged, clear-thinking female action stars. It's surprising how well this film holds up, and how its minimalist, malevolent violence is actually way scarier than that of its far more expensive, more effects-laden sequel. --Anne Hurley --This text refers to the VHS Tape edition. DVD features The Terminator is back, and it's better looking and louder than ever. The cleaned-up print of this DVD is a revelation, as is the digitally remastered Dolby 5.1 EXsoundtrack: from the opening MGM lion's roar to the crunch of Arnold Schwarzenegger's boots and the pounding of Brad Fiedel's techno-industrial score, both picture and sound are of a quality that belie the movie's age. The first side of the disc has the movie plus a DVD-ROM feature containing three different versions of the screenplay.... read more

The Usual Suspects (Special Edition)
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Starring: Byrne, Gabriel Spacey, Kevin Palminteri, Chazz Spacey, Kevin Esposito, Giancarlo Palminteri, Chazz Pollak, Kevin Toro, Benicio Del Toro, Benicio Del Hedaya, Dan
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Director: Singer, Bryan	Rating: R	Running Time: 1 Hour 46 Minutes
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Category: Action	User Rating: 8.7/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com essential video Ever since this convoluted thriller dazzled audiences and critics in 1995 and won an Oscar for Christopher McQuarrie's twisting screenplay, The Usual Suspects has continued to divide movie lovers into opposite camps. While a lot of people take great pleasure from the movie's now-famous central mystery (namely, "Who is Keyser Sšze?"), others aren't so easily impressed by a movie that's too enamored of its own cleverness to make much sense. After all, what are we to make of a final scene that renders the entire movie obsolete? Half the fun of The Usual Suspects is the debate it provokes and the sheer pleasure of watching its dynamic cast in action, led (or should we say, misled) by Oscar winner Kevin Spacey as the club-footed con man who recounts the saga of enigmatic Hungarian mobster Keyser Sšze. Spacey's in a band of thieves that includes Gabriel Byrne, Stephen Baldwin, Kevin Pollak, and Benicio Del Toro, all gathered in a plot to steal a large shipment of cocaine. The story is told in flashback as a twisted plot being described by Spacey's character to an investigating detective (Chazz Palmintieri), and The Usual Suspects is enjoyable for the way it keeps the viewer guessing right up to its surprise ending. Whether that ending will enhance or extinguish the pleasure is up to each viewer to decide. Even if it ultimately makes little or no sense at all, this is a funny and fiendish thriller, guaranteed to entertain even its vocal detractors. --Jeff Shannon --This text refers to the DVD edition.

The X-Files: Fight the Future
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Starring: Duchovny, David Anderson, Gillian Mueller-Stahl, Armin Danner, Blythe Landau, Martin
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Director: Bowman, Rob	Rating: Rated PG-13 (MPAA)	Running Time: 122 minutes
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Category: Sci-Fi	User Rating:	Color THX Sound

Description: "...X-philes can look forward to appearances by series regulars..."

There's Something About Mary
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Starring: Diaz, Cameron Stiller, Ben Dillon, Matt Elliott, Chris Evans, Lee Post, Markie Williams, Harland Silverman, Sarah Silverman, Sarah Shaye, Lin
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Director: Farrelly, Peter	Rating: R	Running Time: 119 minutes
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Category: Comedy	User Rating: 7.2/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com There's Something About Mary is one of the funniest movies in years, recalling the days of the Zucker-Abraham-Zucker movies, in which (often tasteless) gags were piled on at a fierce rate. The difference is that cowriters and codirectors Bobby and Peter Farrelly have also crafted a credible story line and even tossed in some genuine emotional content. The Farrelly brothers' first two movies, Dumb and Dumber and Kingpin, had some moments of uproarious raunch, but were uneven. With Mary, they've created a consistently hilarious romantic comedy, made all the funnier by the fact that you know that they know that some of their gags go way over the line. Cameron Diaz stars as Mary, every guy's ideal. Ben Stiller plays a high-school suitor still hung up on Mary years later; the obstacles standing between him and her include a number of psychotic suitors, a miserable little pooch, and, oh yeah, a murder charge. The Farrellys' admittedly simplistic camera work, which adapts easily to a TV screen, and the fact that you'll likely laugh yourself so silly over certain scenes you'll want to replay them to see what you were missing while you were busy convulsing, make this a perfect video movie. --David Kronke

Underworld (Widescreen Edition)
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Starring: Beckinsale, Kate Speedman, Scott Sheen, Michael Sheen, Michael Grevioux, Kevin Brolly, Shane Myles, Sophia Gee, Robbie Gee, Robbie McBride, Danny
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Director: Wiseman, Len	Rating: R	Running Time: 2 Hours 1 Minute
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Category: Sci-Fi	User Rating: 6.3/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com Blade meets The Crow and The Matrix in Underworld, a hybrid thriller that rewrites the rulebook on werewolves and vampires. It's a "cuisinart" movie (blend a lot of familiar ideas and hope something interesting happens) in which immortal vampire "death dealers" wage an ancient war against "Lycans" (werewolves), who've got centuries of revenge--and some rather ambitious genetic experiments--on their lycanthropic agenda. Given his preoccupation with gloomy architecture (mostly filmed in Budapest, Hungary), frenetic mayhem and gothic costuming, it's no surprise that first-time director Len Wiseman gained experience in TV commercials and the art departments of Godzilla, Men in Black, and Independence Day. His work is all surface, no substance, filled with derivative, grand-scale action as conflicted vampire Selene (Kate Beckinsale, who later became engaged to Wiseman) struggles to rescue an ill-fated human (Scott Speedman) from Lycan transformation. It's great looking all the way, and a guaranteed treat for horror buffs, who will eagerly dissect its many strengths and weaknesses. --Jeff Shannon DVD features The Underworld DVD has a powerful soundtrack that makes good use of ambient noises (e.g., bullet casings pinging on the floor) and has a clear, well-defined picture, which is especially impressive considering the film's predominant look is black leather at nighttime. The first segment of the four-part, 54-minute documentary is mostly self-congratulation and plot summary (which is not necessarily a bad thing); more interesting are the creature effects and the actors learning how to do their own... read more Description Underneath the city streets, amid the labyrinth of subway tunnels and gothic ruins, the two most notorious creatures of the night are embroiled in an all-out war that has been going on for centuries. It is the culmination of a blood-thirsty battle between the vampires and their mortal enemies, the werewolves. Stars: Kate Beckinsale (Pearl Harbor, My Life Without Me), Scott Speedman (My Life Without Me, TV's "Felicity").

Unforgiven
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Starring: Eastwood, Clint Hackman, Gene Alder, Eugene Freeman, Morgan Harris, Richard Woolvett, Jaimz Fisher, Frances Levine, Anna Levine, Anna Campbell, Rob
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Director: Eastwood, Clint	Rating: R	Running Time: 2 Hours 11 Minutes
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Category: Westerns	User Rating: 8.1/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com essential video Winner of four Academy Awards, including best picture, director, supporting actor, and best editing, Clint Eastwood's 1992 masterpiece stands as one of the greatest and most thematically compelling Westerns ever made. "The movie summarized everything I feel about the Western," said Eastwood at the time of the film's release. "The moral is the concern with gunplay." To illustrate that theme, Eastwood stars as a retired, once-ruthless killer-turned-gentle-widower and hog farmer. He accepts one last bounty-hunter mission--to find the men who brutalized a prostitute--to help support his two motherless children. Joined by his former partner (Morgan Freeman) and a cocky greenhorn (Jaimz Woolvett), he takes on a corrupt sheriff (Oscar winner Gene Hackman) in a showdown that makes the viewer feel the full impact of violence and its corruption of the soul. Dedicated to Eastwood's mentors Sergio Leone and Don Siegel and featuring a colorful role for Richard Harris, it's arguably Eastwood's crowning directorial achievement. --Jeff Shannon

Valmont
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Starring: Firth, Colin Bening, Annette Tilly, Meg Tilly, Meg Balk, Fairuza Bening, Annette Firth, Colin Drake, Fabia Drake, Fabia Blair, Isla
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Director: Forman, Milos	Rating: R	Running Time: 2 Hours 17 Minutes
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Category: Drama	User Rating: 6.7/10 (IMDB)	Color Stereo

Amazon.com Talk about too little, too late. A year after Stephen Frears's marvelous Dangerous Liaisons, Milos Forman released this film, based on the same material: the novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses. Shot at the same time but held so as not to compete, it suffered by comparison. The story--about a pair of aristocrats, former lovers, who wager that the man cannot seduce a particularly chaste woman--is still awash in lust and intrigue. But, while Forman's craft was exceptional, his cast couldn't match the power of its predecessor. In particular, Colin Firth, as the game-playing title character, lacked the snaky charm of John Malkovich, and Meg Tilly couldn't compare to the tragic beauty of Michelle Pfeiffer. Annette Bening, though born to play a vixen, seemed callow and insubstantial next to the sinister depths of Glenn Close. --Marshall Fine --This text refers to the VHS Tape edition.

X2 - X-Men United
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Starring: Stewart, Patrick Jackman, Hugh McKellen, Ian Davison, Bruce Berry, Halle Janssen, Famke Paquin, Anna Cumming, Alan Cumming, Alan Marsden, James
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Director: Singer, Bryan	Rating: PG-13	Running Time: 2 Hours 14 Minutes
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Category: Sci-Fi	User Rating: 7.9/10 (IMDB)	Color DTS Surround Sound

Amazon.com X2 does a fine job of picking up where X-Men left off, giving fans more of what they liked the first time around. Under the serious-minded custody of returning director Bryan Singer, the second film of this Marvel comics franchise ups the ante on Professor Xavier (Patrick Stewart) and the superhero mutants from the first film, pitting them against a mutant-hating scientist (Brian Cox) who's determined to wipe out the mutant race by tricking Xavier into abusing his telepathic powers. More a series of spectacles than a truly satisfying thriller, X2 introduces new mutant allies while giving each of the X-Men alumni--notably the temporarily helpful Magneto (Ian McKellen)--their own time in the spotlight. Well aware of the parallels between "mutantism" and virulent intolerance in the real world, Singer lends real gravity to the proceedings, injecting dramatic urgency into a continuing franchise that, in lesser hands, might've grown patently absurd. --Jeff Shannon --This text refers to the Theatrical Release edition. From the Back Cover Following a shocking attack on the President, the X-Men must stand united with their deadliest enemies to combat a menace that threatens every mutant on the planet - and possibly all of mankind. Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, and Halle Berry lead an all-star cast in this dazzling, action-packed spectaclethat is "arguably the greatest superhero movie ever!" (Entertainment Weekly)

XXX (Widescreen Special Edition)
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Starring: Diesel, Vin Argento, Asia Csokas, Marton Jackson, Samuel L e, Ev Csokas, Marton Roof, Michael Everett, Tom Everett, Tom Everett, Tom
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Director: Cohen, Rob	Rating: PG-13	Running Time: 2 Hours 4 Minutes
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Category: Action	User Rating: 5.6/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com Vin Diesel is no James Bond, and he doesn't want to be. That's why XXX announced Diesel as the adrenalin-junkie Bond of the PlayStation generation, copying the Bond formula so shamelessly that this action-packed silliness would be a Bond movie if it starred Pierce Brosnan. Reuniting Diesel with his Fast and the Furious director Rob Cohen, XXX has an attitude (if not a brain) all its own, plucking Diesel's Xander Cage from his celebrity as an extreme sports renegade, recruited by a National Security Agency big shot (Samuel L. Jackson) to foil a nasty Czech villain (Marton Csokas) who's eager to depopulate Prague with remote-controlled biological weaponry. Toss in a sulky, sultry Russian agent (Asia Argento) and you've got extreme Bond-age for anyone who thinks tuxedos are passé. With a handful of eye-popping action sequences, XXX launched a movie franchise with a cool guy, another cool muscle car, and plenty of box-office sizzle. --Jeff Shannon --This text refers to the Theatrical Release edition.

Number One Movie of All Time: Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope

Number One Movie of All Time:
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope