DVD Spin Doctor

Massive Kurosawa set due from Criterion

Criterion will cheer fans of Japanese cinema with its December release of "AK 100: 25 Films by Akira Kurosawa." 

The $400 set includes a swarm of previously released Criterion Kurosawa releases, bolstered by four new-to-region 1 titles, all made during WWII: "The Most Beautiful" (1944), "The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail" (1945), and the two "Sanshiro Sugata" movies (1943, 1945).

"Sanshiro Sugata" aka "Judo Saga" tells the story of a martial arts student who fights his way to maturity. The "Sugata"sequel (poster below) sends the hero up against American boxers. "Sanshiro Sugata" was Kurosawa's first film as a primary director. Its release on DVD was long overdue on these shores. These are clearly the best new titles.

 "Tiger's Tail" tracks a fugitive lord and his entourage as they travel in disguise through a dangerous forest. It's an hourlong film, lightly regarded. "Tiger's Tail" was banned by occupying U.S. forces.

 "The Most Beautiful" is a propaganda-like effort that profiles young women who work in an optical plant in the waning days of WWII.

"AK 100: 25 Films by Akira Kurosawa" includes many classics -- such as "The Lower Depths," "Throne of Blood," "Rashomon" and "Seven Samurai" -- as well as the obscure. There is "Kagemusha," but not "Ran." 

Among the other early titles are "One Wonderful Sunday" (1947) and "Scandal" (1950) two terrific entertainments from last year's "Post-War Kurosawa" box. (View the list of the new Kurosawa box set's titles.)

Note that the versions of these films in the box set are not necessarily the latest and greatest from Criterion, which has done multiple releases of many Kurosawa works.

Criterion's Kurosawa regulars Stephen Price and Donald Richie contribute to an illustrated book that comes with the linen-bound set. 

The Kurosawa box set from Criterion streets Dec. 8. 

"Throne of Blood," also included, has just been rereleased as an Essential Art House title, going for about $14 on Amazon. This is the master at his best. Also, "Kagemusha" hit Blu-ray last month with stunning visuals.

Other upcoming Criterion issues of note are "Wings of Desire" (Nov. 3), "Z" (Oct. 27) and the recent "A Christmas Tale," with Catherine Deneuve (Dec. 1). 

Buy "AK 100: 25 Films by Akira Kurosawa" at Amazon for only $299.

'Star Trek' Blu-ray, DVD star date: Nov. 17

J.J. Abrams' enormously entertaining prequel to the world of "Star Trek" arrives on Blu-ray and DVD on Nov. 17, in time for the Thanksgiving holiday.

"Star Trek" beams down in three versions: a triple-disc Blu-ray with digital copy, a two-disc DVD with the copy and a single-disc DVD.

Abrams, who does a feature-length commentary on all three editions, singled out the Blu-ray as the mothership of this title: "The behind-the-scenes features on the DVD -- and especially the Blu-ray -- give a wonderful look at the crazy hard work and incredible fun that went into making this movie,” he said in Paramount Home Entertainment's canned quote.

 The Blu-ray and DVD share some core extra features:

• A New Vision: About Abrams' take on the sci-fi series and his efforts to make the prequel "feel real."
• To Boldly Go: The director, writers and producers talk about the challenges of stepping into the closely watched franchise.
• Casting: About the search for look-alikes who could handle the acting and capture "the essence of these mythic characters."
• Aliens: Designers Neville Page and Joel Harlow talk about their new species and the reimagining of the Vulcans and Romulans.
• Deleted scenes: Includes "Spock birth," "Klingons take over Narada" and "Prison Interrogation and breakout." Optional commentary.
• Trial games for Xbox 360, PC and PlayStation Net.

The three-disc Blu-ray version of "Star Trek" adds branching "pods" to the featurettes, providing extra content triggered by the viewer. Extra features exclusive to the Blu-ray include:

• NASA news: A BD-Live link to the space agency's latest announcements.
• Starships: Director Abrams and production designer Scott Chambliss go over their new designs for the older vessels.
• Planets: Abrams wanted to shoot on real locations whenever possible ... including the new worlds. Where they went to find these extreme environments.
• Gene Roddenberry's Vision: Leonard Nimoy joins Abrams for a discussion of the "Star Trek" creator's world.
• Starfleet Vessel Simulator: One of those interactive 360-degree breakdowns.

I was never all that big on "Star Trek" in any form, although revisiting the original TV series with the new special effects (DVD, Blu-ray) has been a treat. (I was more of a "The Prisoner" young man.) The series' movies ranged from OK to dreadful.

Abrams' modestly named "Star Trek" movie is another animal, a perfect example of a 21st century popcorn movie. It is this year's "The Dark Knight."

 The expansion of the Oscars' best picture race to 10 contenders no doubt will open the doors for medium-brow films, and "Star Trek" will be right there come March.

'Dr. Strangelove' targets Blu-ray format

Open the bomb-bay doors again: The sixth Stanley Kubrick classic is coming to high definition with this summer's debut of "Dr. Strangelove" on Blu-ray.

Five years ago, Sony released the black comedy in a solid 40th anniversary collection. Instead of taking the traditional double-dip, Sony went Blu-ray only for the 45th anniversary release. Ground zero, no doubt, will be the 50th year edition.

Talk about nuclear proliferation: this makes six U.S. releases of "Dr. Strangelove" in the past decade.

"Strangelove" joins "Raging Bull" and "The Third Man " as classics of black-and-white cinematography released on HD.

It'll be interesting to see the video presentation on the new Kubrick Blu-ray: The 2004 "Dr. Strangelove" DVD was surprisingly dark at the expense of imagery previously much more brightly cast. The older DVDs tended toward coarse, blown-out contrasts, though -- the 2004 release felt more elegant and sinister.

Also, the 2004 "Strangelove" went to anamorphic widescreen after mostly full-screen video versions. A direct comparison of the 2001 DVD and the 2004 disc revealed a good bit of lost visual information, some of it of note. To solve that problem, Criterion's marvelous laserdisc of 1992 shifted between 1.66 and 1.33, following the late director's wishes.

(Sony Pictures Entertainment restoration guru Grover Crisp said at the time of the 2004 release that "no disrespect" was intended to Kubrick's wishes.)

The Sony Blu-ray also appears to be in 1.66:1 widescreen. Warner's Kubrick releases of a year ago favored widescreen as well. 

The Blu-ray "Strangelove" ports over its documentaries from the 2004 release, including the informative but aging "Inside: 'Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb" (45 minutes).

The Blu-ray's lone new content appears to be "The Cold War: Picture-in-Picture and Graphic-in-Picture Pop-Up Trivia Track," an optional extra with a title as long as the film's.

 The previous Sony DVD brought in ex-Defense chief Robert McNamara ("The Fog of War") for a dissection of the nuclear brinksmanship spoofed in Kubrick's film. The Blu-ray adds picture-in-picture interviews with a pair of RAND Corp. think-tankers, Daniel Ellsberg and Thomas Schelling, as well as terror expert Richard A. Clarke and a couple of academics who specialize in nuclear weapons.

The Blu-ray "Dr. Strangelove" comes out June 16 in a "deluxe book package" with a 32-page booklet. (The 2004 version's book featured super-glossy photos and an essay by Robert Ebert.) The Blu-ray streets for $39.

Stanley Kubrick high-definition reviews:

"2001: A Space Odyssey"

Eyes Wide Shut

Preorder "Dr. Strangelove" on Blu-ray via Amazon.

Blu-ray news: 'Donnie Darko,' 'South Pacific'

"Donnie Darko" comes to Blu-ray on Feb. 10, in a dual-version release from Fox Home Entertainment. The next month sees a 50th anniversary Blu-ray edition of "South Pacific."

Richard Kelly's first film, strange and wonderful in its 2001 theatrical version, returned in a "Donnie Darko" director's cut DVD in 2004. The Blu-ray edition packs in both versions, along with the extras from each of those DVD releases.

Great move. The films are discrete experiences, although I prefer the newer version. The first-time director has likened the new cut to a remixed record, one that plays 20 minutes longer. In the digital age, "There can hopefully be two versions of a film that exist," he said. And so there are, in one HD package. 

The DVD extras and three commentaries appear to be the same as on the original DVD releases. (These extras are all in standard definition on the Blu-ray.) They are quite good, especially the British documentary that examines the "Rocky Horror"-like cult gathered around this tale of alienated teen Donnie (Jake Gyllenhaal) and his strange friend, a man in a 6-foot bunny suit. 

The commentary with Kelly and "Clerks" director Kevin Smith is a real hoot. (DTS-HD Master Audio.)

As for "South Pacific," who knows what high definition will do with the bizarre themed color scheme that has clouded this high-spirited musical over a half century. 

Fox's "50th Anniversary Collector's Edition" of Rodgers & Hammerstein's love-it-or-hate-it musical comes in standard and extended roadshow versions, as did the DVD of 2006. Release date is March 31.

 The Blu-ray features a new feature-length HD documentary, "Passion, Prejudice and South Pacific: Creating an American Masterpiece." Mitzy Gaynor's screen test returns from the DVD, but this time in high def. Cool. Lots of ported-over extras as well. 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio.

More upcoming Blu-rays:

The Robe -- Arising March 17 on a Fox Blu-ray. Richard Burton, Victor Mature and Michael Rennie star in this tale of the Christ and the soldier who made off with his garments. The 1953 epic was a pioneer of CinemaScope and was directed by Henry Koster ("Harvey"). Complete set of extras on the Blu-ray version only. They examine the film as well as the 'Scope format. 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio.

The Passion of the Christ according to Mel Gibson gets a Fox Blu-ray release Feb. 17. Includes the bloody original and a toned-down version. Extras are repeats from the "Definitive Version" DVD. 

Raging Bull -- Martin Scorsese's dissection of prize fighter Jake LaMotta joins the select group of black-and-white classics released on Blu-ray, as of Feb. 10. Extras on MGM's disc all appear ported over, but they're terrific. Can't wait to revisit the work of cinematographer Michael Chapman and editor Thelma Schoonmaker in high def. 

Gandhi -- Spinning onto Blu-ray on Feb. 18 via Sony Pictures. Ben Kingsley stars and Richard Attenborough directs this Oscar-gobbling movie about the man who kicked Britain out of India, nicely. Dolby TrueHD 5.1.

DVD Gift Guide, a new Spin Doctor spinoff

Making a belated entrance for the holidays is my new home video site, DVD Gift Guide. As the handle says, it features DVDs and Blu-rays that would make great gifts, broken down by the sort of person on the receiving end.

The Gift Guide started last year as a page connected to this blog. Traffic was better than I expected and it learned the ways of Google love. I also wanted a site with a sophisticated look and feel, more in line with what I do for clients. 

The gift site is much more visually oriented than DVD Spin Doc, featuring one of those flash slideshows up top as well as a video slot. Hey, it's the big time ... sort of.

Spin Doctor, going on 2 years old, clearly has outgrown TypePad, and so this is the first step in the migration to self-hosting. (For the few who care, I went on a bit about launching this new site and its platform on my writing/SEO blog, Writing for Blogs).

The DVD Gift Guide lets me cover some of the ambitious box sets that don't make the cut here, and opens up less frequently covered categories such as family films and primetime TV-on-DVD. 

Some readers of this home video blog will find the new site a help; others may feel the level of conversation too basic and consumerish. For example, I'm about to review Sam Fuller's violent "White Dog" for this blog, a highly improbable candidate for under-the-tree gifting. For the DVD Gift Guide, I just did a quick look at the rerelease of that wonderful romance "Sabrina," a copy of which would please any woman with a pulse.

As with this DVD blog, support comes from readers who shop at Amazon via our in-text links or display ads. Some readers deliberately start their Amazon shopping trips on DVD Spin Doctor, which sends a few bucks to the cause and doesn't cost the shopper anything extra. Always greatly appreciated, friends.

I'll close with a wish that you enjoy the best of holidays and a prosperous, bull-market new year. And happy viewing to one and all.

'Firefly' on Blu-ray trajectory for Nov. 11

"Firefly: The Complete Series" touches down on planet Blu-ray in November -- long-awaited news for technologically advanced Joss Whedon fanboys.

All 14 episodes are set for release Nov. 11, in a three-disc box that retails for $90, Fox Home Entertainment confirmed. (Amazon lists "Firefly: The Complete Series" at $63.)

The episodes all unspool in 1.78:1 widescreen with English 5.1 DTS HD Master Lossless Audio -- nice presentation for a relatively low-budget sci-fi show that got the boot in season 1.

Extra features new and exclusive to the Blu-ray aren't much: a "Firefly Reunion" roundtable discussion and a single episode commentary with Whedon and three cast members. Other commentaries and features are ported over from the 2003 DVD box set "Firefly" set, presumably still in SD.

For the uninitiated, the terrific post-cancellation movie "Serenity" is the place to start. Then see how it all began, if you're inspired to enlist as a browncoat (fan). ("Serenity" is out on HD DVD; not yet on Blu-ray.)

"Firefly" debuted in fall 2002 on the Fox network, squeezing out 11 episodes before the ax fell. Whedon's many fans from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Angel" couldn't keep the show on the air, but they made enough noise -- and bought enough "Firefly" DVDs -- to convince Universal Pictures to release the "Serenity" film (it's named after the Millennium Falcon-like space ship).

Young fans of Fox's current "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" will be happy to get a look at the early years Summer Glau putting her ballet training to good use, kicking ass on burly bad guys. (Warner Home Video just released the new "Terminator" TV series on DVD and Blu-ray.)

Other players in Firefly's fine ensemble are Nathan Fillion ("Waitress"), Gina Torres ("Standoff"), Ron Glass ("Barney Miller"), Alan Tudyk ("3:10 to Yuma"), Morena Baccarin ("Stargate SG-1"), Adam Baldwin ("Chuck"), Sean Maher ("Party of Five") and Jewel Staite ("Stargate: Atlantis").

Here's the breakdown of the extras for the "Firefly" Blu-ray set:

• Disc 1

  "Serenity" (Part 1 & 2): commentary by executive producer Joss Whedon and actor Nathan Fillion

  "The Train Job": commentary by Whedon and executive producer Tim Minear

  "Bushwacked"

  "Shindig": commentary by writer Jane Espenson, actress Morena Baccarin and costume designer Shawna Trpcic

  Special feature: "Here's How It Was: The Making of 'Firefly' featurette

• Disc 2
  

  "Safe"
  

  "Our Mrs. Reynolds": commentary by Whedon and actors Fillion, Alan Tudyk and Ron Glass (Blu-ray only)
  

  "Jaynestown"
  

  "Out of Gas": Commentary by Minear and director David Solomon
  

  "Ariel"
  

  Special feature: "Firefly" reunion: "Lunch with Joss, Nathan, Alan and Ron" featurette (Blu-ray only, in HD)

• Disc 3
  

  "War Stories": commentary by actors Fillion and Tudyk
  

  "Trash"
  

  "The Message": commentary by Tudyk and actress Jewel Staite
  

  "Heart of Gold"
  

  "Objects in Space" commentary by Whedon
  

  Special features: "Serenity: The 10th Character"; Joss sings the "Firefly" theme; Joss tours the set; deleted scenes; gag reel; Tudyk's audition