‘Ultimate Fights’ packs punches with hard-hitting moments
The DVD version of “Ultimate Fights” offers five hours of bonus material, including: a featurette (“Behind the Punches”) on staging a cinematic fight, audio commentary by Hong Kong action director Tsui Hark, and a techno-party mix (“The Ultimate Rumble Party Mix”) accompanying the battles. ‘Rangers’ ride at last
Coming Soon!
The following titles either have been or soon will be released to video stores. (If your local tape outlet doesn’t stock them, tapes can be mail ordered by calling (800) 523-0823 or DVDs by calling (800) 624-3078, unless otherwise noted.)
– “Behind Enemy Lines” (Fox; $99.99, tape; $27.99, DVD; April 23) with Gene Hackman (“Heist”) and Owen Wilson (“Shanghai Noon”) in a military action thriller about a Navy flier trapped in war-torn Bosnia.
– “My First Mister” (Paramount; $99.99, tape; $29.99, DVD; April 23) with Leelee Sobieski (“Joy Ride”) and Albert Brooks (“Broadcast News”) in a charming slice-of-life tale about the friendship that develops between an offbeat teen-age girl and a lonely 49-year-old clothing store owner who reluctantly hires her.
– “Novocaine” (Artisan; $99.99, tape; $24.99, DVD; April 23) with Steve Martin (“Bowfinger”) as a conservative dentist who finds his world turned upside down when he falls for a free-spirited woman (Helena Bonham Carter of “Fight Club”) who seduces him and then pressures him to write prescriptions for pain killers.
– “Osamu Tezuka’s Metropolis” (Columbia TriStar; $99.99, tape; $27.99, DVD; April 23), the critically acclaimed Japanese anime epic that is set in the future in a city populated by humans and robots who are strictly segregated. The DVD comes in a special double-disc offering with numerous extras, including a history of the “Metropolis” comic book, a biography of series creator Tezuka, a making-of featurette, theatrical trailers and digitally mastered DTS and Dolby Digital 5.1 sound
– “Brigham City” (Spartan; $99.99, tape; $29.99, DVD; April 23) with Wilfred Brimley (“Cocoon”) in a mystery thriller about country lawmen who find the peace in their quiet community shattered when the lifeless body of a young woman from California is found.
– “The Learning Curve” (MGM; $99.99, tape; $26.99, DVD; April 23) with Carmine Giovinazzo (“Black Hawk Down”), Monet Mazur (“Blow”) and Steven Bauer (“Traffic”) in a thriller about a couple who dabble in crime for easy money and then find themselves on a dangerous job far beyond their small-time capability.
– “Tart” (Trimark; $99.99, tape; $24.99, DVD; April 23) with Dominique Swain (“Lolita”), Bijou Phillips (“Bully”) and Brad Renfro (“Ghost World”) in a melodrama about the mean-spirited antics of the in-crowd at a posh New York prep school.
– “Looking For an Echo” (USA; $99.99, tape; $26.99, DVD; April 23) with Armand Assante (“The Mambo Kings”) and Diane Venora (“Heat”) in a tale about a former pop singer who enjoyed popularity three decades ago and wants to relive his glory days.
– “Dracula: The Dark Prince” (Artisan; $99.99, tape; $24.99, DVD; April 23) with Rudolf Martin (“Swordfish”), Jane March (“The Lover”), Peter Weller (“RoboCop”) and The Who’s lead singer Roger Daltrey (“Tommy”) in a dark tale about Vlad the Impaler, the Romanian prince on whom Bram Stoker based “Dracula.”
– “Aberdeen” (First Run; $99.99, tape; $24.99, DVD; April 23) with Stellan Skarsgard (“Breaking the Waves”) and Charlotte Rampling (“Under the Sand”) in a tale about an estranged father and daughter coming to terms with the past.
– “Happenstance” (New Yorker; $99.99, tape; $24.99, DVD; April 23) with Audrey Tautou (“Amelie”) in a feel-good French film about several strangers whose lives intersect during a single day in Paris.
– “Fatal Attraction: Special Collector’s Edition” (Paramount; $24.99, DVD only; now available) with Michael Douglas (“Traffic”) and Glenn Close (“The Big Chill”) in British director Adrian Lyne’s sexually charged hit about a woman stalking the family of her married lover. This version will contain numerous extras, including the famous “suicide” alternate ending.
– Six titles – “Indecent Proposal” with Demi Moore and Robert Redford, “The Accused” with Jodie Foster and Kelly McGillis, “Eye for An Eye” with Sally Field and Kiefer Sutherland, “The Temp” with Lara Flynn Boyle and Timothy Hutton, “Thief of Hearts” with Steven Bauer and David Caruso and “Flesh and Bone” with Meg Ryan and Dennis Quaid (Paramount; $24.99 each, DVD only; now available) – in the “Masterful Shocker” series.
– “Pootie Tang” (Paramount; $14.99, tape; $29.99, DVD; now available) with Chris Rock (“Lethal Weapon IV”) in a reduced-price version of the PG-13 comedy based on a character developed on HBO’s “The Chris Rock Show.”
– “Legally Blonde” (MGM; $14.99, tape; $26.99, DVD; now available) with Reese Witherspoon in a reduced-price version of the PG-13 comedy hit about a fashion-obsessed young woman who shocks professors and students by going to the top of the law class at Harvard.
– “Kurosawa – The Epic Master” (Wellspring; $24.99, tape; $34.99, DVD; April 23) with Clint Eastwood and James Coburn speaking about late, great Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa, who died in 1998. The documentary will feature clips from some of Kurosawa’s greatest works, including “Rashomon,” “Seven Samurai,” “Yojimbo” and “Throne of Blood.”
– “Directed by Alan Smithee” (Wellspring; $19.99, tape; $19.99, DVD; April 23) with filmmakers John Singleton, Martha Coolidge and Arthur Hiller being interviewed in a documentary about the fake name directors and writers are permitted to put on a film if they want their names removed from the credits.
– “Todd McFarlane: The Devil You Know” (Docurama; $19.99, tape; $24.99, DVD; April 26), a documentary on the comic-book writer who created the incredibly successful “Spawn” series and turned it into a toy and publishing empire.
– “Misunderstood Minds” (WGBH Boston Video; $19.99, tape only; (800) 949-8670 April 23), a documentary about the learning differences between children and how they have an impact on a student’s success or failure.
– “Windham Hill in Concert” (Pioneer; $24.99, DVD only; April 23) with musicians such as William Ackerman, Michael Hedges and Scott Coccu performing new-age music.
– “Petula Clark: A Sign of the Times” (MPI; $14.99, tape; $19.99, DVD; (800) 777-2223; now available) with the British pop singer performing hits such as “Downtown,” “I Know a Place” and “Don’t Sleep in the Subway.”
– “Back to the Secret Garden” (Artisan; $14.99, tape; $19.99, DVD April 23) with Camilla Belle (“Jurassic Park”) in the Hallmark Hall of Fame sequel to “The Secret Garden.”
– “Batman: The Animated Series – The Legend Begins” (Warner; $14.99, tape; $19.99, DVD; April 23) featuring the first five episodes of the animated series.
– “Batman Beyond: Return of The Joker – The Original, Uncut Version” (Warner; $19.99, DVD only), a special unedited version of the animated movie available for the first time.
– Three titles – “Justice League,” “Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero” and “The Batman Superman Movie” (Warner; $14.99 each, tape; $19.99 each, DVD; April 23) – in the Classic Comic Book Heroes series.
– Two titles – “Friends Take Flight” and “Soaring Sky High” (Columbia TriStar; $12.99 each, tape only; April 23) – in the “Jay Jay the Jet Plane” animated children’s series designed to introduce preschoolers to science and nature. A DVD version of “Jay Jay the Jet Plane” ($19.99) with five adventures – including “Supersonic Pals” and “Learning Life’s Little Lessons” – will also be released.