Patriotic mood to skyrocket for July 4th holiday with ‘Pearl Harbor’ release
Those seeking a patriotic film for the July 4 holiday should get a red, white and blue experience out of “Pearl Harbor: The Director’s Cut” (Touchstone; $39.99, DVD only). The special edition four-disc set of the box-office hit, which will arrive in stores on July 2, chronicles the Japanese bombing attack that drew the United States into World War II.
For last summer’s original theatrical release, director Michael Bay was pressured to deliver a PG-13 cut to allow the film – starring Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett, Kate Beckinsale, Cuba Gooding Jr. and Alec Baldwin – to play to the widest possible audience. Bay, who received a 2001 MTV Award (voted upon by viewers of the music-oriented cable network) for best action sequence for “Pearl Harbor,” had wanted the war epic to have a tougher edge, a la Steven Spielberg’s gritty “Saving Private Ryan.”
The filmmaker, whose other credits include “The Rock” and “Armageddon,” received his opportunity to do that with this “Director’s Cut” DVD, which features an R-rated version (for strong war violence and language) of “Pearl Harbor” that runs 183 minutes and is presented with an anamorphic wide-screen image to recreate the correct theatrical aspect ratio. The special package, which features 12 hours of extras, also spotlights commentaries by Bay, Affleck, Hartnett, Baldwin, producer Jerry Bruckheimer and others on disc one.
Disc two contains more commentary, a documentary, “Journey to the Screen: The Making of ‘Pearl Harbor,'” which includes facts about the U.S.S. Arizona, and a music video of the film’s theme song, “There You’ll Be,” by Faith Hill. Disc three features a production diary, the theatrical teaser, the theatrical trailer, and two documentaries (“One Hour Over Tokyo” and “Unsung Heroes of Pearl Harbor”) from The History Channel.
Disc four offers an interactive attack sequence, a music-only channel, a conversation between Bay and visual effects supervisor Eric Brevig on the striking images, a look at the bombing effects shots created by George Lucas’ special-effects house, Industrial Light & Magic, a gallery of stills, a historical timeline DVD-ROM feature and more.
All of these elements help to explain why “Pearl Harbor,” an old-fashioned World War II picture with amazing digitally created visuals, cost $140 million to produce and grossed more than $500 million worldwide. (“Pearl Harbor” also remains available in regular PG-13 theatrical-release version on VHS and DVD for $24.99 and $29.99, respectively.)
Coming Soon!
With July 4 right around the corner, software manufacturers have been flooding stores with offerings for people to watch over the extended holiday weekend.
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 going to the Web site www.Amazon.com, unless otherwise noted.)
– “Shallow Hal” (Fox; $99.99, tape; $27.99, DVD; July 2) with Jack Black (“High Fidelity”) and Gwyneth Paltrow (“The Royal Tenenbaums”) in a comedy about an average guy who will only date beautiful women.
– “The Affair of the Necklace” (Warner; $99.99, tape; $26.99, DVD; now available) with Hilary Swank (“Boys Don’t Cry”) and Jonathan Pryce (“Tomorrow Never Dies”) in a fact-based story about a young woman who fights to restore the name of her family during the late 18th century in France.
– “Grand Theft Auto: 25th Anniversary Special Edition” (New Concorde; $9.99, tape; $19.99, DVD; now available) with Ron Howard making his directing debut with this 1977 car-crash comedy. The DVD also features commentary by Howard and legendary B-movie producer Roger Corman.
– “Chat Room” (Artisan; $19.99, tape and DVD; July 2) with Brian Hooks (“3 Strikes”) and Darryl Brunson (“The Eastsidaz”) in a comedy about a computer whiz who uses his skills to land what is referred to as “cyber booty.”
– “The Other Brother” (Xenon; $39.99, tape; $19.99, DVD; now available) with Mekhi Phifer (“O”), Andre Blake (“Philadelphia”), Tangi Miller (“Too Legit: The MC Hammer Story”) and Regina Hall (TV’s “Ally McBeal”) in a comedy about a nice guy who continually has bad luck with relationships and turns to his “player” sibling for some advice on making a woman happy.
( “Gabriela” (First Look; $99.99, tape; $24.99, DVD; now available) with Jaime P. Gomez (“Training Day”) and Seidy Lopez (“Selena”) in a romantic comedy about an engaged woman who meets a handsome health worker and believes he may be the man of her dreams.
( “Blood Moon” (Spartan; $99.99, tape; $29.99, DVD; now available) with Tim Curry (“The Rocky Horror Picture Show”) and Grace Jones (“Vamp”) in fright film about a young woman cursed with a disease that transforms her into a werewolf.
( “The Attic Expeditions” (First Look; $99.99, tape; $24.99, DVD; now available) with Seth Green (“Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery”), Jeffrey Combs (“Re-Animator”) and rocker Alice Cooper in a thriller about a young patient who awakens from a coma with no memory of his past and is told that he murdered his fianc’e.
( “Extremely Dangerous” (BFS Video; $29.99, tape and DVD; now available) with Sean Bean (“The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring”) in a thriller about a mysterious man who may be a spy or a gangster and is imprisoned after his wife and daughter are murdered.
( Eleven titles – “UHF” with Weird Al Yankovic, “Mr. Saturday Night” with Billy Crystal, “Best Seller” with James Woods, “Caveman” with Ringo Starr, “Great Balls of Fire” with Dennis Quaid, “The Hero and The Terror” with Chuck Norris, “High Spirits” with Daryl Hannah, “The Manhattan Project” with John Lithgow, “Unforgettable” with Ray Liotta, “Men at Work” with actor/brothers Charlie Sheen and Emilio Estevez and “Cheech & Chong’s The Corsican Brothers” (MGM; $14.99 each, DVD only; now available) – in the “Movie Time Collection” series.
( “Are You Being Served? The Movie” (Anchor Bay; $19.99, DVD only; now available) with John Inman and Mollie Sugden in a feature-length version of the British TV favorite about the antics of the eccentric employees at the Grace Brothers department store in London.
( “Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Two DVD” (Fox; $59.99, DVD only; now available) with Sarah Michelle Gellar (“Scooby-Doo”) as the title character and David Boreanaz (“Valentine”) as Angel in all 22 episodes of the second season pressed on six discs and including extras such as audio commentaries, TV spots and an interview with the show’s creator, Joss Whedon.
( “Star Trek: The Next Generation – The Complete Third Season DVD Gift Set” (Paramount; $99.99, DVD only; July 2) with Patrick Stewart in a seven-disc package featuring all episodes from the third season and four featurettes.
( “Dune: Special Edition Director’s Cut” (Artisan; $26.99, DVD only; now available) with William Hurt (“Body Heat”) in a special three-disc set that features 30 minutes of new footage added to the acclaimed TV miniseries based on Frank Herbert’s science-fiction novel.
( “Farscape: Season 2” (Hallmark; $19.99, tape; $39.99, DVD; now available), unedited episodes of the Sci Fi Channel fantasy hit.
( “Brilliant Madness” (Warner; $14.99, tape; $19.99, DVD; now available), a PBS documentary on the life of John Forbes Nash Jr., the brilliant Princeton mathematician whose life was the subject of the Oscar-winning film, “A Beautiful Mind.”
( “Diana Krall: Live in Paris” (Eagle Eye; $19.99, tape; $24.99, DVD; now available) with the artist performing songs such as “But Not For Me” and “Let’s Face the Music and Dance” at the Olympia Theater in France.
( “Ray Charles: Live” (Pioneer; $19.99, tape; $24.99, DVD; now available) with the 12-time Grammy Award-winning singer performing tunes such as “Busted” and “I Can’t Stop Loving You” at the Montreux Jazz Festival.
( Four titles – “Scooby-Doo’s Original Mysteries,” “Scooby-Doo Goes Hollywood,” “Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School” and “Scooby-Doo’s Creepiest Capers” (Warner; $14.99 each, tape; $19.99 each, DVD; now available) – in the animated “Scooby-Doo” series that has been turned into a live-action box-office smash.
( “We Stick Together Like Glue” (Touch Studios; $14.99, tape only; (800) 378-9193; now available) with pop singer Crystal Lewis providing songs for this first installment of “The Music Land Band” children’s animated series that deals with two guitars who get the blues after their friendship fades.
( “Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius” (Paramount; $14.99, tape; $19.99, DVD; July 2), the hit big-screen adaptation of the Nickelodeon cartoon series that follows the title character and his friends as they blast into space to save their parents, who have been kidnapped by aliens. The G-rated film received an Oscar nomination for best-animated picture of 2001.