DVD Picks & Pans: Post-Election Edition

Military.com - Tom Miller

After seven years of non-stop campaigning, the 2008 presidential election is finally in the books. 

Okay, so it wasn't seven years.  It just seemed that way.  For those suffering withdrawal—assorted political junkies and sadists—we at Military.com have some suggestions.  Spend more time with your family.  Go for a run.  Coach your child's soccer team.  Youth soccer's a lot like politics.  There's a lot of running around in circles, nobody knows what's going on, and everybody gets orange slices.  Well, maybe not the orange slices.

Or, maybe a movie can take your mind off Judy Woodruff, Keith Olbermann, and Bill O'Reilly.  If so, we're here to help.  We've been perusing the new DVD releases and have come up with some suggestions:  an animated feature starring a politically correct trash compactor; a politically incorrect satire of Hollywood and war movies; a collection of Ron Howard classics; and a season of television drama set in paradise. 

Vote for your favorite at your local video store.

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"Tropic Thunder, 2-Disc Director's Cut" DVD-2008 ($34.98, Dream Works Home Entertainment) Also available in single-disc edition, Blu-ray edition, and Spanish edition.

Director and star Ben Stiller misses the mark badly in this wannabe parody of Hollywood and war movies. 

The concept holds promise.  Take a film crew shooting a war movie in Southeast Asia and expose the pampered actors to the real thing.  Unfortunately, Stiller's preference for over-the-top silliness and crude antics quickly overwhelm the concept and the promise.

Stiller plays Tugg Speedman, an action star who hopes to revive his flagging career in a Rambo-like role.  Joining him on the set in Vietnam are Jeff Portnoy (Jack Black) whose singular talent is farting; hip-hop star Alpa Chino (Brandon T. Jackson), Australian Oscar-winner and method actor Kirk Lazarus (Robert Downey, Jr. in blackface), and unknown Kevin Sandusky (Jay Baruchel). 

With the movie behind schedule and over-budget and the studio head (more later) breathing fire, the novice director finally loses patience with his overbearing actors.  Installing cameras throughout the jungle to record their movement, he abandons the actors in the middle of the wilderness with a map. 

It doesn't take long for them to stumble upon reality: a gang of ruthless drug smugglers.  Thinking the American actors are DEA agents, the natives set out to kill or capture them. 

There are some funny moments here, but Stiller always goes too far.  The pretentiousness of method actors is a rich vein to mine, but even in the capable hands of Downey, the joke gets tiresome after a while.  The same is true for grasping agents—represented here by Matthew McConaughey as Speedman's mercenary rep. 

The highlight of the movie is an extended cameo by Tom Cruise as a studio executive from hell.  Bald and overweight, Cruise spews profanity and does a mean rapper impersonation.  His performance is almost enough to save the whole endeavor. 

Military.com Rating: ** ½

(DVD extras include director and cast commentaries, deleted and extended scenes, alternate ending, and several featurettes including: "Before the Thunder," "Blowing S*%t Up," "Designing the Thunder," "The Cast of Tropic Thunder," "Dispatches from the Edge of Madness," and more.) 

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"Wall-E," DVD-2008 ($29.99, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment) Also available in 3-Disc Special Edition, Blu-ray, and Spanish Edition.

If the environmental Cassandras responsible for "Wall-E" are to be believed, the human race is destined to render the planet uninhabitable in the near future. 

Wall-E, the protagonist of this brilliantly-rendered, if thematically-problematic, animated feature is a mobile trash compactor.  A robot.  In fact, the last functioning robot—or functioning anything—on Earth.  Somebody apparently forgot to turn him off so he continues to run on, programmatically collecting and compacting mountains of trash left behind by the fleeing human race. 

The humans responsible for this environmental apocalypse have sailed off into an 800-year exile in outer space.  They can return to Earth only when it's able to support life again. 

To that end, robots are sent periodically to Earth to collect evidence.  One such visitor, a sleek girl robot named Eve, meets Wall-E and a sweet love story is grafted onto an animated polemic.  

When Eve returns to the spaceship with evidence of life on Earth—followed by a love-struck Wall-E—a struggle ensues over the question of returning to Earth. 

There is no doubt that "Wall-E" represents state-of-the-art animation.  Many scenes are simple breathtaking, and Wall-E and Eve will capture the hearts of young and not-so-young alike. 

But, the extreme darkness at its center weighs the film down and robs it of much of its magic. 

Military.com Rating: ** ½

(DVD extras include deleted scenes, audio commentary with director Andrew Stanton, animated short "Burn-E, animated film "Presto," and two featurettes: "Sneak Peek: Wall-E's Tour of the Universe" and "Animation Sound Design: Building Worlds from the Sound Up.")

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"The Ron Howard Spotlight Collection," DVD-2008 ($39.98, Universal Studios Home Entertainment)

Who among us old enough to have grown up with Ron Howard—from Opie Taylor to Richie Cunningham—would have expected him to become one of the best film directors of his generation?  Actors, yes.  Directors, not really.  But, he did and the proof is on view in this collection of four of his best-loved films:

   "A Beautiful Mind," the story of a mathematical genius (Russell Crowe) who becomes involved with Cold War espionage and suffers a mental breakdown, for which Howard won an Oscar as Best Director.

   "Apollo 13," a dramatization of an ill-fated, real-life 1970 space mission.  It was nominated for nine Academy Awards including Best Picture and won two: Editing and Sound.

   "Cinderella Man," an inspiring biopic about the fall and comeback of Depression-era heavyweight boxer Jim Braddock (played by Russell Crowe). 

   "Backdraft," a breathtaking thriller about the heroic work of professional firefighters starring Robert DeNiro and Kurt Russell. 

In addition to the four films, this 8-disc set includes 4 discs of bonus material. This one would make an excellent Holiday gift for a movie fan. 

Military.com Rating: ****

(DVD extras include deleted scenes, feature commentary, production notes, theatrical trailers, and a dozen featurettes including: "Creating the Villain: The Fire," "Real-Life Firemen, Real-Life Stories," "Lost Moon: The Triumph of Apollo 13," "Lucky 13: The Astronauts' Story," "For the Record: A History of Boxing," and "Jim Braddock: The Friends and Family Behind the Legend.")

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"Hawaii Five-O: The Fifth Season," DVD-2008 ($54.99, CBS DVD/Paramount Home Entertainment)

For twelve years (1968 until 1980) and 278 episodes, when there was trouble in paradise, you could be sure that Steve McGarrett and his Hawaii Five-0 officers were on the case. 

McGarrett (Jack Lord), a former Navy officer, heads the fictional statewide police agency that spends much of its time chasing international spies—the deadly Chinese agent Wo Fat (Kheigh Dheigh) is a recurring nemesis—organized crime figures, and other dangerous criminals sullying paradise.

McGarrett, hard-nosed and no-nonsense, is ably assisted by officers Danny Williams (James MacArthur), Chin Ho Kelly (Kam Fong), and Kono Kalakaua (Zulu). 

Filmed on location in Honolulu and around Oahu, the series benefits from exotic scenery, solid acting, straight-forward story-telling, and plenty of action. 

A Nielsen fixture, the show was nominated for five Emmys and won two.  "TV Guide" recently listed McGarrett as #9 in a survey of favorite television detectives.  The show's catchy theme song, composed by Morton Stevens and recorded by The Ventures, rose to #4 on the "Billboard" chart and is the unofficial fight song of the University of Hawai'i. 

Military.com Rating: ***

(Bare bones DVD includes all 24 Season Five episodes on six discs plus episodic promos.)

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Military.com Picks & Pans Rating Scale

* Pan—Save your time
** Borderline Pick—Okay but only as a last resort
*** Pick—Worthwhile & enjoyable
****Enthusiastic Pick—Excellent 
*****Not to Be Missed—A Classic

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Copyright 2009 by Tom Miller