'Indiana Jones' box set release ushers in new film
By Bruce Dancis
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
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Three discs, Paramount Home Entertainment, also available individually, various ratings
Arriving just before the May 22 premiere of the fourth Indiana Jones movie from director Steven Spielberg, producer George Lucas and star Harrison Ford, this set includes restored and remastered editions of the renamed "Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark" (1981, PG), "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" (1984, PG) and "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" (1989, PG-13).
Bonus features include "Raiders" cast and crew interviews; documentaries on the creepy creatures, locations and special effects in these movies; an American Film Institute interview with Karen Allen, Kate Capshaw and Alison Doody, who played the women in Indy's life; and more.
One and two discs, Genius Products/The Weinstein Co., rated PG-13
Denzel Washington directs himself, Forest Whitaker and an ensemble cast of young actors in this inspiring drama about a professor (Washington) who trains an award-winning student debating team at a small African-American college in Texas during the segregated 1930s.
The single-disc DVD includes a commentary by Washington and deleted scenes; the two-disc Collector's Edition adds a documentary on the real-life debaters, features on the making of the movie, its music and its costumes, a visit to Wiley College and more.
Anchor Bay Entertainment, PG-13
In this caper comedy, Diane Keaton, Queen Latifah and Katie Holmes co-star as cleaning workers at a Federal Reserve bank who decide to rob their employer. Special features include a commentary by director Callie Khouri and a documentary, "Makin' Money: Behind the Scenes of 'Mad Money.'"
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, R
Francis Ford Coppola's first film in a decade is about a 70-year-old Romanian linguistics professor (Tim Roth) in the 1930s who begins to get younger and develop extraordinary powers after being struck by lightning. Bonus features include a commentary by Coppola and short documentaries on how the movie was made, its music and its makeup.
Warner Home Video, not rated
The 10th anniversary of Frank Sinatra's death is commemorated by the release of four new box sets of his movies: "The Early Years" (five discs) includes "Double Dynamite," "It Happened in Brooklyn"; "The Golden Years" (five discs) includes "The Man With the Golden Arm," "None But the Brave"; "The Rat Pack Ultimate Collector's Edition" (three discs) includes "Ocean's 11" and "Sergeants 3"; and "The Frank Sinatra & Gene Kelly Collection" (three discs) packages "Take Me Out to the Ball Game," "On the Town" and "Anchors Away."
Four discs, Acorn Media, not rated
If HBO's recent miniseries on founding father/second president John Adams leaves you wanting more, this acclaimed 13-part PBS miniseries from 1976, making its DVD debut, may fill the bill.
It focuses on four generations of Adamses: John Adams (George Grizzard) and Abigail Adams (Kathryn Walker); sixth president John Quincy Adams (at different ages, David Birney and William Daniels); U.S. ambassador to Britain Charles Francis Adams (John Beal); historian Henry Adams (Peter Brandon); and railroad tycoon Charles Francis Adams, Jr. (Charles Siebert).