‘The Bourne Identity’ offers enough twists, turns to wake viewers from winter slumber
The DVD version contains numerous extras, including deleted scenes, an alternate ending and commentary by Liman. A silver celebration for ‘Movies’
Mail-order powerhouse Movies Unlimited has marked its silver anniversary by publishing a catalog that ranks as pure gold.
With the “Movies Unlimited Video Catalog: 25th Anniversary Edition,” the co-editors – Joseph McLaughlin, Gary Cahall, Irv Slifkin, Brian Sieck, Chris Cummins, Jon Morgereth and Jay Steinberg – provide an 816-page publication listing more than 50,000 titles available in VHS and DVD. Of course, the publication is first a sales catalog, but in addition, it’s a fact-filled reference that provides interesting information on each title listed.
The catalog also has breakout boxes listing the availability of titles featuring stars such as Jack Nicholson, Russell Crowe, Bruce Lee, Eddie Murphy, Johnny Depp, Sonny Chiba and Sigourney Weaver and directors such as Samuel Fuller, Paul Verhoeven, Jean-Luc Godard, Quentin Tarantino, Tom Tykwer, Roman Polanski and Lina Wertmuller.
“We wanted to make the anniversary catalog new and old at the same time,” said Slifkin, a Delran resident. “By new, I mean we wanted to have as many DVDs listed as possible, and by old, I’m referring to the lists of favorite movies we have throughout the catalog under ‘Our 25 Faves’ listings in various genres.”
For tape fans, the catalog has some very good news. While trade magazines and industry insiders are hailing the growth of DVD and predicting the demise of VHS, Jerry Frebowitz, the president of Movies Unlimited, said that his quarter-of-a-century-old company has no plans to eliminate VHS despite the popularity of the state-of-the-art 5-inch disc format.
“Not a day goes by when a customer asks about the demise of VHS,” Frebowitz says in the catalog. “Our answer: What demise?
“At Movies Unlimited, VHS is still going strong, and we intend to keep it that way.”
The “Movies Unlimited Video Catalog: 25th Anniversary Edition” retails for $9.95, plus $3 shipping. A $5 discount coupon for a future purchase is included with each catalog. To order, call 800-4MOVIES or go to the Web site www.moviesunlimited.com.
Very different documentaries
PBS Video has released two very different documentaries – “Ansel Adams” and “The Donner Party” ($14.99 each, tape; $19.99 each, DVD) – both created as part of the “American Experience” series and directed by Rick Burns (“New York: A Documentary Film”).
With “Ansel Adams,” Burns (the brother of famed documentary filmmaker Ken Burns) celebrates the photographs taken by the artist and environmentalist who was famous for capturing striking images of American landscapes. Narrated by David Ogden Stiers (TV’s “M*A*S*H”), the PBS production was created to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of the late Adams, who was born in 1902 San Francisco.
With “The Donner Party,” Burns uses performers such as Timothy Hutton (“The General’s Daughter”), Amy Madigan (“Field of Dreams”) and Eli Wallach (“The Misfits”) to read dispatches and letters to relate the plight of 1846 pioneers who were stranded during a long, harsh trek to California. Eventually, the travelers were forced to eat the flesh of those who died in order to stay alive.
Both titles are unrated, and “The Donner Party” is presented in regular stereo, while “Ansel Adams” is present in Dolby Surround stereo.
Cult series concludes
On Jan. 28, “The Avengers ’68, Set 5” (A&E; $39.99, DVD only) will arrive, and the double-disc set contains the final seven episodes with Linda Thorson playing Tara King opposite Patrick Macnee’s John Steed.
The last season of the famed English series that turned into a cult sensation featured Thorson as a ministry agent anxious to work with Steed, whom she looked upon as a distinguished mentor. Guest stars such as Roy Kinnear (“Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory”) and Julian Glover (“Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade”) are featured in “The Avengers” episodes, all of which have been digitally remastered and are presented in their original broadcast order from British television.