Fast-moving series to energize even most laid-back couch potatoes
Even the most laid-back couch potatoes should find themselves energized while watching the equally fast moving and involving “24: Season One” (Fox; $59.99, DVD only). The innovative series, which unfolds in real-time during a single 24-hour period (with each episode running 60 minutes), follows a highly trained government counter-terrorist agent (Kiefer Sutherland). He finds himself trying to simultaneously save his kidnapped wife (Leslie Hope) and daughter (Elisha Cuthbert) and protect the life of the first African-American presidential candidate (Dennis Haysbert).
As a TV series, “24” depended on viewers seeing each episode due to the plot’s tight timeline and numerous twists. Missing one or two episodes made a viewer feel out of the dramatic loop.
The six-disc DVD set has all 24 episodes in anamorphic wide-screen image and Dolby Digital sound and allows viewers to watch as many installments in a row as they desire. That’s a huge advantage with “24: Season One,” which also contains an alternate ending and optional commentary.
The second season of the critically acclaimed “24,” which was nominated for 10 Emmy Awards, begins on Oct. 29 at 9 p.m. on Fox.
A re-mastered ‘Civil War’
Director Ken Burns’ acclaimed 1990 documentary, “The Civil War” (Warner; $99.99, tape; $129.99, DVD), has been digitally re-mastered for its home-video presentation.
The special DVD package contains five discs and a new Dolby Digital 5.1 sound mix. Other DVD extras include a behind-the-scenes look at the series, five hours of commentary by Burns, interactive battlefield maps and a trivia game on the Civil War.
The 101/2-hour series traces the war between the North and South from the abolitionist movement, through the major battles, to the death of President Abraham Lincoln to the beginnings of the Reconstruction. Burns, whose previous documentaries include “The Statue of Liberty” (1986), “Baseball” (1994) and “Jazz” (2001), employs interviews with experts and images of historical documents as tools to bring “The Civil War” to life.
A rip-roaring ‘Wolf’
Just sit back and be carried away by “Brotherhood of the Wolf.”
An acclaimed ‘Room’
The haunting Italian import, “The Son’s Room” (Miramax; $99.99, tape; $29.99, DVD), looks at the way happy, middle-class parents (Nanni Moretti, who also directed, and Laura Morante) handle grief after their teenage son (Giuseppe Sanfelice) dies in a tragic scuba-diving accident.
“The Son’s Room” follows the teenager’s parents and sister (Jasmine Trinca) as each comes to terms with the young man’s passing. They embark on a healing process aided by a young woman (Sofia Vigliar) who had an innocent relationship with the victim and helps the family members to move beyond their devastating sorrow.
The R-rated picture won the award as best picture at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival. The DVD of “The Son’s Room” features an anamorphic wide-screen image and the theatrical trailer.
An unforgettable ‘Unforgiven’
In addition to a digitally enhanced picture and Dolby Digital 5.1 sound, the two-disc set features numerous extras. Those include: commentary by Eastwood biographer Richard Schickel; a 10th anniversary featurette, “All on Account of Pullin’ a Trigger,” hosted by Morgan Freeman (who has a key role in the film); interviews with Eastwood and co-stars Gene Hackman and Richard Harris; and even a 1959 “Maverick” episode (“Duel at Sundown”) featuring Eastwood in a younger incarnation of his role as the aging gunfighter in “Unforgiven.”
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 going to the Web sites www.Amazon.com or www.moviesunlimited.com, unless otherwise noted.)n “Insomnia” (Warner; 22.99, tape; $26.99, DVD; Oct. 15) with Al Pacino (“Simone”), Robin Williams (“One Hour Photo”) and Hilary Swank (“Boys Don’t Dry”) in director Christopher Nolan’s hit remake of the foreign thriller.
– “Life Or Something Like It” (Fox; $99.99, tape; $27.99, DVD; Oct. 15) with Angelina Jolie (“Lara Croft: Tomb Raider”) and Ed Burns (“Saving Private Ryan”) in a romantic comedy about a success-hungry TV reporter.
– “Scooby-Doo” (Warner; $24.99, tape; $26.99, DVD; Oct. 11) with Sarah Michelle Gellar (TV’s “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”), Freddie Prinze Jr. (“Summer Catch”) and Matthew Lillard (“Scream”) in the hit adaptation of the cartoon favorite about a crime-solving dog and his human friends.
– “Windtalkers” (MGM; $99.99, tape; $26.99, DVD; Oct. 15) with Nicolas Cage (“The Rock”) in director John Woo’s fact-based tale about Native Americans who developed a World War II military code that was never broken by the enemy.
– “Sorority Girls” (Buena Vista; $99.99, tape; $29.99, DVD; Oct. 15) with Harland Williams (“Half Baked”) and Heather Matarazzo (“The Princess Diaries”) in a comedy about three college guys who impersonate women to obtain housing on campus.
– “Italian For Beginners” (Miramax; $99.99, tape; $29.99, DVD; Oct. 15), a Danish import about seven strangers who attend a class to learn to speak Italian and find their lives becoming romantically intertwined.
– “Perfectly Legal” (Playboy; $39.99, tape; $19.99, DVD; Oct. 15) with Lauren Hays and Alison Miller in an erotic thriller about two ambitious attorneys serving as opposing counsel in a court battle.
– “Casino Royale” (MGM; $19.99, DVD only; Oct. 15) with David Niven, Woody Allen, Orson Welles and Peter Sellers in a spy spoof based on the first Ian Fleming spy novel with James Bond.
– “The Mechanic” (MGM; $14.99, DVD only; now available) with Charles Bronson (“Hard Times”) in the action favorite about a veteran assassin who agrees to train a young man (Jan-Michael Vincent) in his lethal line of work.
– “Derailed” (Artisan; $99.99, tape; $19.99, DVD; Oct. 15) with Jean-Claude Van Damme in an action thriller about a deadly virus on a speeding train.
– “Barrio Wars” (York; $54.99, tape; $14.99, DVD; Oct. 15) with underground rapper-turned-actor Chino XL in a retelling of “Romeo & Juliet” as a young man and woman from opposing gangs feel romantic attraction.
– A double feature – “Missing in Action II: The Beginning” and “Braddock: Missing in Action III” (MGM; $14.99, DVD only; now available), both starring Chuck Norris – on a single disc.
– “Spring Break: Greatest Moments & Best Of” (Image; $14.99, tape and DVD; Oct. 15), a Playboy Exposed video title that chronicles the wild spring break happenings at college parties.
– “2003 Playboy Video Playmate Calendar” (Image; $19.99, tape and DVD; Oct. 15) with centerfolds such as Nicole Narain and Kimberly Stanfield.
– “The Iron Ladies” (Strand; 59.99, tape; $29.99, DVD; Oct. 15), a fact-based story about a gay Thai volleyball team that won a national championship.
– “Princesa” (Strand; $79.99, tape; $29.99, DVD; Oct. 15) with Ingrid de Souza in an Italian/German/Brazilian co-production about a 19-year-old Brazilian transsexual in a search for identity.
– Seven titles – “The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming” with Alan Arkin, “Exodus” with Paul Newman, “Barbary Coast” with Miriam Hopkins, “The Big Knife” with Jack Palance, “How to Murder Your Wife” with Jack Lemmon, “The Hoodlum Priest” with Don Murray and “The World of Henry Orient” with Peter Sellers (MGM; $19.99 each, DVD only; Oct. 15) – in the “Vintage Classics Collection” series.
– “Law & Order: The First Season” (Universal; $99.99, DVD only; Oct. 15), featuring 22 episodes on six discs of the popular crime series created by Dick Wolf.