New DVDs: 'Transformers' rolling in HD DVD

Pick of the week: A Mighty Heart
Dog of the week: Sorry, no woofers

"Transformers" fanboys shrieked like fangirls when they heard old-guy Michael Bay was going to direct the feature film based on their beloved techie toys. "Boy, I had a lot of death threats," the king of boxoffice bombast says as he begins the DVD commentary.

The morphable mini-machines debuted in the U.S. in 1984, when Bay was 21 and presumably not playing with toys. Still, the director says, he won the hearts and minds of fanboys big and small by going to "Transformers" school at Hasbro and spending a year and a half obsessing about robots. And, of course, Bay brought the noise and nonsense to the project like few other directors could.

Bay turned to his many pals in the Pentagon for loans of the latest in high-tech weaponry, in a bid to make the movie fun for red-state adults. The military loves cooperating with Bay, he says: "They look good at what they do in my movies."

My son, 14, shook his head and bailed after about an hour of "Transformers" -- even though the HD DVD version lit up the living room with reference-quality visuals and a high-energy audio mix. I was willing to go all the way, comfortably numbed by the ILM-Digital Domain visual effects and the high-def dazzle.

Bay may not make good movies, but he does come up with some great DVDs (such as "Pearl Harbor"). His commentary for "Transformers" is focused and entertaining. He tells great stories about working with the military, producer Steven Spielberg and the teenage actors. The DVD featurettes go into exhaustive detail, and look good doing it (they're in high def on the HD DVD). One of the best is "I Fight Giant Robots," showing the actors taking combat training from the pros. An interactive feature allows for 360 examinations of the robot characters.

HD DVD owners with long ethernet cables can take advantage of the web-enhanced features that are rolling out as the video hits the market.

Also spinning on the DVD blog's players this week: "The Hoax," the once-over-lightly look at the Howard Hughes book scam -- featuring a terrific oddball performance by Richard Gere; Warner Bros.' box-set celebration of its tentpole film "The Jazz Singer"; the under-appreciated "A Mighty Heart," a grim tale transcended by Angelina Jolie's finest work to date.

In time for Halloween there's "Planet Terror," the zombie half of the "Grindhouse" double-feature, cruelly sheared away from "Death Proof" upon arrival on DVD. Your DVD Spin Doctor will be performing a tricky review procedure that will reunite them.

I'll also be writing up "Treasures III: Social Issues in American Film, 1900-1934" from Image Entertainment -- a four-disc set filled with crime, punishment and corruption as our forefathers knew them. Essential for film history buffs and part of a great series.

New and notable:

Believers (Warner Raw Feed)
Carlos Saura's Flamenco Trilogy (The Criterion Collection)
Casshern (Paramount)
Christmas Do-Over (Sony)
Crazy Love (Magnolia Home Entertainment)
Girl 27 (Red Envelope, Westlake Entertainment)
The Hoax (Miramax)
Hollow Man Director's Cut (Sony)
Icons of Horror Collection: Sam Katzman (Sony)
The Jazz Singer 80th Anniversary Collector's Edition (Warner)
Jingle All The Way (Fox)
A Mighty Heart (Paramount)
Murder Party (Magnolia)
Warren Miller: No Boundaries (Shout!)
Planet Terror (The Weinstein Co./Genius Products)
Return to House on Haunted Hill (Warner)
Squidbillies, Vol. 1 (Warner)
That '70s Show 7th season (Fox)
Tobe Hooper's The Damned Thing (Anchor Bay)
Transformers (Paramount)

Complete list of today's releases on my pal Harley's site, onvideo.org

Comments

[Tom]

Dvd spin doctor those titles are lesser known and thats where you find the gold. I will definitely be checking out warren miller's new film, looks effin sick!

[Glenn Abel]

Hey Tom -- thanks for the comment.

Yeah, I like to work the lesser-known titles ... Hope people investigate some of the mystery titles that appear on the release list.

I think of the typical reader of this DVD blog as a hip, smart movie-loving pal who's open to the fringe material, but isn't a snob, either.

Then again, when a film like Transformers comes along it's hard to ignore -- so the DVD blog covers some of the splashy stuff, too.

What did Duke Ellington say when asked what his favorite type of music was -- "There's two kinds of music, good and bad. I like the good."

Take care ...