DVD Picks & Pans: Something Old, Something New

Military.com - Tom Miller

Oct 06, 2008

This week's movies include a surprise, if long-overdue, nuptial.  So, in keeping with the wedding theme, I've selected something old (a trio of classics—each digitally remastered and including a trove of bonus material—from the "master of suspense," Alfred Hitchcock) and something new (a couple of swashbuckling action-thrillers) from this week's crop of new DVD releases.  Have the tissues ready.  I always cry at weddings.  Well, at least my own. 
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Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
DVD-2008 ($34.99, Paramount Home Entertainment) Also available in 2-disc Special Edition and Blu-ray.

After a nineteen-year hiatus, Harrison Ford returns—perhaps for the last time—to the signature role of his illustrious career.  And, for all those who feared that the sixty-something actor might not be up to the task, I've got one word: Relax.

Despite his advancing age—which is the subject of more than a few asides here—Dr.  Jones, college professor and archaeological sleuth, isn't ready to retire his trademark fedora and bullwhip just yet.  

The action this time revolves around the pursuit of a rumored crystal skull that is believed to possess remarkable psychic powers.  Since the action has moved forward in time to reflect our hero's aging, Indiana's rival this time out is the Evil Empire of the Soviets, circa. 1957.  The Soviet operation to recover and exploit the crystal skull is led by a villainous officer, Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett).  In his efforts to thwart the Soviets, Indy is ably assisted by a young sidekick named Mutt (Shia LaBeouf), whose mannerisms and derring-do remind one of a young Indiana Jones. 

Anyone who has seen any of the earlier Indiana Jones films will recognize the perilous situations, swashbuckling action, high-octane chases, and wry humor.  Moreover, our hero is reunited with the heroine of the first Indy movie, the redoubtable Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen) who's been keeping a secret from her former flame since their last encounter. 

There's not much new here, but there's plenty of what Indiana Jones fans enjoy and have come to expect.  The action sequences are the equal of anything in the franchise, the script is straight-forward enough (in these films, after all, the story-line exists to support the action), and the acting is solid.  Ford belies his age; LaBeouf holds his own; and Blanchett makes for a formidable foe. 

Military.com Rating: ****     

(The single-disc edition is bare-bones.  The 2-disc Special Edition and the Blu-ray Edition include hours of special features.)
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Iron Man
DVD-2008 ($34.99, Paramount Home Entertainment) Also available in Two-Disc Special Collector's Edition and Two Disc Blu-ray Edition.

What do you call a superhero who has an idiosyncratic alter ego, becomes unrecognizable when he dons his crime-fighting costume, and can leap tall buildings?   If you guessed Superman, Batman, or Spiderman, you're wrong, wrong, and wrong.  It's Iron Man, the latest Marvel superhero to make the leap from the pages of a comic book to the big screen.

Iron Man is rich, famous, and brilliant industrialist Tony Stark (played with aplomb by an unlikely Robert Downey, Jr.) whose Stark Industries makes high-tech weapons for the U.S. military—weapons that Stark develops himself. 

When Stark, who is in Afghanistan demonstrating his latest missile to the military, is kidnapped by terrorists, he escapes by fashioning a veritable suit of armor complete with a propulsion system that allows him to fly. 

During his captivity, Stark learns that the terrorists have also managed to acquire many of his weapons, and he returns home a changed man—determined to abandon the arms business.  His partner Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges) is just as determined to stop him from ruining the business.

Meanwhile, Stark heads to his private laboratory to make a more sophisticated version of his original suit of armor.  When he's perfected it, he's ready to take on the terrorists and the nefarious Stane. 

Director Jon Favreau has fashioned a visually-arresting, fast-paced thriller that's solidly anchored by a flawed but likable hero.  The acting is superb: Downey is excellent; Stane oozes evil; and Gwyneth Paltrow (in another casting surprise as Stark's personal assistant Pepper Potts) is a delicious blend of vulnerability and efficiency. 

Given the film's blockbuster success at the box office, don't be surprised to see a sequel in the not-so-distant future. 

Military.com Rating: ****  

(DVD extras include additional scenes, theatrical trailer, and featurette: "Easter Eggs."  The two-disc editions include a variety of bonus material.)
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Hitchcock Legacy Trio: "Psycho - Special Edition," "Vertigo - Special Edition," and "Rear Window - Special Edition,"
DVD-2008 ($26.98 each, Universal Studios Home Entertainment)

Universal Studios adds three of director Alfred Hitchcock's most enduring thrillers to its "Universal Legacy Series" with the release of these digitally remastered classics.  Each film comes in a two-disc set that includes hours of bonus material—much of it new. 

First, an admission: Hitchcock is my favorite director.  Nobody else is close.  I grew up in the 1950's and '60's watching Hitchcock's iconic thrillers at the local picture show for thirty-five cents, and I've returned to them often in the intervening half-century.  Remarkably, they're as surprising, provocative, and, yes, scary, now as they were then. 

These three are among Hitchcock's most acclaimed.  All three appear on the American Film Institute's "100 Years . . . 100 Movies"—a list of the best one hundred films in Hollywood's history.  "Vertigo" comes in at a lofty #9; "Psycho" at #14; and "Rear Window" at #48. 

"Vertigo" is the story of an acrophobic San Francisco police detective (played by Jimmy Stewart) and his obsession with a mysterious blonde (Kim Novak) who bears a striking resemblance to a woman who died 100 years earlier.  

"Psycho" follows a young woman on the lam (Marion Crane, played by Janet Leigh) who stops for the night at the creepy Bates Motel whose proprietor is a psychopath (Norman Bates played brilliantly by Tony Perkins).  Marion meets her end in one of the most iconic scenes in cinema history. 

"Rear Window" matches Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly in a provocative story about a professional photographer (L.B. Jeffries, played by Stewart) who's laid up in his apartment with a broken leg.  Ms. Kelly plays his stylish girlfriend, Lisa.  With nothing to do, Jeffries spends his days spying on his neighbors.  Eventually, he convinces himself that one of them has murdered his wife, dismembered her body, and shipped the pieces to an address in the country.  But, with no proof, he has trouble convincing the cops to take him seriously. 

As a young, impressionable boy, I "learned" a lot from Hitchcock.  I learned to avoid decrepit off-the-beaten-tracks motels; to locks all doors before taking a shower; to close the curtains before engaging in questionable activities; and to seek shelter when large flocks of birds appear.  I also learned (and this from a single transcendent scene in "Rear Window") that the young Grace Kelly was touched by a God.   

Military.com Rating: ***** (for all three)

(DVD extras:  Each comes with hours of bonus material including much that is new to this edition.  The bonus material includes full-length documentaries, interviews with Hitchcock, full-length episodes of the "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" television series, and audio commentaries.)
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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 2008 by Tom Miller