New DVDs: 'American Gangster,' 'Terror'

Director Ridley Scott says in the DVD extras for "American Gangster" that he was out of his element -- "this is not my kind of film."

Perhaps Sir Ridley feels more comfortable in the distant future or long-ago past, but with "Gangster" he has booted up one of the best crime dramas in decades.

Incredibly, the Oscars didn't find room in the top categories for this movie, its director or the fine work of Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe. At least they nominated the terrific Ruby Dee, probably for all the wrong reasons.

Universal Studios' double-disc release of "American Gangster" contains a stash-house full of extras, including a first-rate feature-length docu about the production and the men who lived the true story: drug lord Frank Lucas (played by Washington) and the honest cop who brought him down (Crowe).

Scott does a feature-length commentary with writer Steve Zaillian (taped separately).

I have Scott down as a hall of fame commentator, but some listeners are driven a bit nuts by his slow-mo talks. In a video extra, we see the director learning how to judge the purity of heroin, pushing for accuracy in a pivotal scene. By the time we get to the commentary, Scott's an expert, going on at length about the drug.

Scott tells how the project had 135 speaking roles, 360 locations and 160 scenes: "I shoehorned them in, somehow."

Another extra visits a production meeting that shows how the real cop, Richie Roberts, had a hand in vetting the script.

Universal has released the film on DVD and HD DVD combo disc; both include the theatrical cut and a branched version with 18 extra minutes.

Unfortunately, on my HD DVD machine, the disc froze repeatedly trying to navigate the extra content. When shifted to a DVD machine, that disc continued to freeze. The standard DVD version had momentary freezes in some of the same places but functioned well otherwise.

The audio and video in both formats are up to major studio standards, with the 1970s funk-and-soul soundtrack getting some solid bottom out of the .1

One troubling aspect of the making-of docu was watching the actors and producer Brian Grazer suck up to Lucas, now an old ex-con. Their movie, to its credit, makes it clear that Lucas was a killer whose drug empire took countless lives because of its high-powered product. Nothing new here. Hollywood and crime figures are old friends, of course. When the cameras roll, all is forgiven.

* * * *

"Terror's Advocate," another must-see DVD release, explores even more perilous moral badlands.

Barbet Schroeder's 2007 documentary examines the career of French/Algerian lawyer Jacques Verges (left), who made a career out of defending terrorists, dictators and assorted slime such as Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie.

"I was asked if I would defend Hitler," the suave and engaging lawyer says. "I said, 'Of course, I would even defend Bush.' "

During the French trial of Barbie ("the Butcher of Lyon"), Verges somewhat successfully compared the Nazis' brutality to the actions of the French in post-WWII Algeria. As a young man, he defended Muslim bomber Djamila Bouhired, a hero of the Algerian revolution.

Years later, he married Bouhired -- but grew bored and left their family to hang out with the likes of his school-days buddy Pol Pot in Cambodia. Then it was on to German bombers and the terror icon Carlos the Jackal.

Unfortunately, there are no extras in this Magnolia Entertainment release aside from a detailed historical timeline that fills in many of the gaps in Verges' career.

Whether you come to see Verges as the product of colonial repression or just a terror groupie, there's a case to be made that this guy is one of the most interesting people on the planet.

Also circling the DVD blog's players this week are two from the Criterion Collection:

"Walker," the curious Alex Cox movie about U.S. imperialism in Nicaragua of the 1850s, comes with a documentary about the guerrilla film production that's better than the movie itself.

"Pierrot le Fou" is a Jean-Luc Godard film from 1965 about a bored Parisian (Jean-Paul Belmondo) who runs off with his babysitter (Anna Karina). Gangsters are in hot pursuit of the fun couple and their stolen cash. Viewers will have to make some allowances for the 1960s Zeitgeist, but this remains a cool time capsule filled with beautiful people.

Pick of the week: Terror's Advocate
Dog of the week: Redacted

New and notable:
American Gangster (Universal)
Black Water (Sony)
Cops: 20th Season Anniversary (Fox)
The Final Inquiry (Fox)
Gabriel (Sony)
Gorillas on the Brink (Animal Planet/Genius Products)
In the Valley of Elah (Warner)
It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown (Warner)
Lust, Caution (Universal)
Margot at the Wedding (Paramount)
Michael Clayton (Warner)
Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project (Salient Media)
Pierrot Le Fou (The Criterion Collection)
Walker (The Criterion Collection)
Rendition (New Line)
Walker, Texas Ranger, season 4 (Paramount)

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