The Green Berets
from Warner Home Video
Anyone who fought in Vietnam can tell you that the war bore little resemblance to this propagandistic action film starring and codirected by John Wayne. But the film itself is not nearly as bad as its reputation would suggest; critics roasted its gung-ho politics while ignoring its merits as an exciting (if rather conventional and idealistic) war movie. Some notorious mistakes were made--in the final shot, the sun sets in the east!--and it's an awkward attempt to graft WWII heroics onto the Vietnam experience. But as the Duke's attempt to acknowledge the men who were fighting and dying overseas, it's a rousing film in which Wayne commands a regiment on a mission to kidnap a Viet Cong general. David Janssen plays a journalist who learns to understand Wayne's commitment to battling Communism, and Jim Hutton (Timothy's dad) plays an ill-fated soldier who adopts a Vietnamese orphan. In addition to its widescreen image, the digital video disc includes a promotional featurette and seven different theatrical trailers. --Jeff Shannon
John Wayne leads his special forces troops against the enemy in this first Hollywood treatment of the Vietnam War. It's rugged battle action all the way. David Janssen and Jim Hutton co-star.Running Time: 141 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE Rating: G UPC: 085391158608 Manufacturer No: 115860
The Illustrated Man
by Jack Smight
from Warner Home Video
Ray Bradbury's celebrated fiction has been notoriously resistant to screen adaptation, but that hasn't stopped the flawed film version of The Illustrated Man from gaining a small but devoted following. First published in 1951, Bradbury's classic book consisted of 18 stories framed by the tale of a man whose entire body is a living canvas of exotic tattoos, or "skin illustrations," each inviting the reader/viewer into Bradbury's ominous realm of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. In the film, this framing story takes place in Depression-era America, where a young drifter named Willie (well played by Robert Drivas) encounters Carl (Rod Steiger), the gruffly eccentric Illustrated Man. Gazing upon Carl's mesmerizing tattoos, Willie is transported into three of the 18 stories in Bradbury's collection. A pioneering exercise in virtual reality, "The Veldt" features a high-tech playroom (a precursor to Star Trek: The Next Generation's holodeck) where two children select an African veldt as their favorite virtual playground, ultimately trapping their parents (played by real-life couple Steiger and then-wife Claire Bloom) in a place of deadly danger. "The Long Rains" finds a quartet of astronauts (including Steiger and Drivas) stranded on Venus, where an incessant downpour preys on their sanity. "The Last Night of the World" takes place on the eve of a nuclear holocaust, as a desperate couple (again played by Steiger and Bloom) agonizes over the decision to euthanize their children before the end of the world.
As adapted by Howard B. Kreitsek and directed by Jack Smight (best known for Airport '75 and episodes of the original Twilight Zone), none of these stories work as well as the framing device, in which Steiger gives a brashly volatile performance. The story selection is curiously misguided and poorly executed, and Smight predictably fails to capture Bradbury's elusive quality of poetic allegory. Anthology films are always hit-or-miss anyway, but The Illustrated Man is more pretentiously frustrating than most (and more dated, especially in terms of sets and costumes), although it effectively captures the dreamy, contemplative tone that prevailed in many "art" films of the late '60s. If seen in the right mood, it's the kind of failed experiment that makes a lasting impression, despite its many shortcomings. --Jeff Shannon
Rod Steiger plays the tattoo-covered title role in this fascinating vision of doom and danger based on the classic short story collection by futurist Ray Bradbury. Robert Drivas portrays a good-natured drifter who can't tear his eyes from Steiger's freakish illustrations. And Claire Bloom is the mysterious seductress who created the "art" that curses its bearer - and comes to life in a nightmarish trio of tales. Two spoiled children turn playtime into slay time (from The Veldt). Shipwrecked astronauts wander across a planet cursed by The Long Rain. And loving parents choose their children's fate when the end nears (from The Last Night of the World). Every one of The Illustrated Man's pictures tells a story.And every story ends in terror.Running Time: 103 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA UPC: 085391112013 Manufacturer No: 111201
Guadalcanal Diary
by Lewis Seiler
from 20th Century Fox
This is a far cry from The Thin Red Line, but it's engaging and efficient World War II propaganda about the opening of the South Pacific campaign that would ultimately turn the tide of the war. Anxious and unsuspecting Marines land on the Solomon Islands and quickly learn how to engage the Japanese in foxhole warfare. It's full of archetypal characters (tough sergeant Lloyd Nolan, Brooklyn cabby William Bendix, lusty Mexican Anthony Quinn, and gravel-mouthed Lionel Stander) and well-staged battle scenes. There's even a battle-weary narration to provide authenticity and historical perspective. All around, a good grunt film. --Bill Desowitz
One of the greatest war movies of all time, combining action-packed, high-caliber battle sequences with quintessential foxhole-buddy camaraderie. Released in 1943, its authenticity and power remain undiminished.
The story follows one squad of Marines through the bloody assaults on the Solomon Islands during the opening stages of the war in the South Pacific. There's the tough sergeant (Lloyd Nolan), a cab driver from Brooklyn (William Bendix), a Mexican (Anthony Quinn) and a chaplain (Preston Foster). A battle-weary narrator reads from a diary, commenting on the typical grunt's everyday life, and death. Battles and dates of engagement are named, putting the explosive action into a solid historical context.
Based on Richard Tregaski's best-selling book, the script is by renowned screenwriter Lamar Trotti, who also wrote the screenplay for the wartime classic "To the Shore of Tripoli."
Greenwich Village
from 20th Century Fox
System Requirements:Running Time: 82 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: MUSICALS/MUSICALS Rating: NR UPC: 024543520030 Manufacturer No: 2252003
Basket Case 2
by Frank Henenlotter
from Synapse Films
Duane Bradley (Kevin Van Hentenryck, reprising his role from the first film) and his surgically-separated brother Belial return in this frightfully gory follow-up to Frank Henenlotter s original monster movie classic, BASKET CASE. After surviving a fall from a hospital window, the two brothers become a target of the media. Duane s aunt, Granny Ruth (played by world-renowned jazz singer Annie Ross), whisks the duo away to a secluded mansion where other freaks-in-hiding live out their days away from public scrutiny. But when a snooping tabloid reporter finds the location of the mutants, Duane his new family must stand together to keep their freedom a secret... and, in all the chaos, Beliah might actually find... true love! Synapse Films is proud to present BASKET CASE 2 in a beautiful, new high-definition transfer from the original 35mm camera negative.
A Piece of the Action
from Warner Home Video
The last, and least, film in the so-called Uptown trilogy, this 1977 buddy comedy is preachier than its more rollicking predecessors, Uptown Saturday Night and Let's Do It Again. It begins like The Sting, but then veers into To Sir, with Love territory, as Dave (Bill Cosby), a safecracker, and Manny (Sidney Poitier), a con man, are blackmailed by a retired detective (James Earl Jones, who would achieve pop-culture immortality that year as the voice of Darth Vader in the original Star Wars) to work at a community-improvement center and inspire the delinquent youth to respect themselves and find jobs. An answer to the violent and militant blaxploitation films of the period, these films, each directed by Poitier, were the Barbershop of their day. Poitier and Cosby are a seamless team; their ease, charm, and integrity carry the film's more plodding patches, as does Curtis Mayfield's authentic score. Fans of these icons will want to get a piece of this action. --Donald Liebenson
A pair of con men are obliged to help a social worker set some kids on the right track.Running Time: 135 min.System Requirements:Running Time 135 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating: PG UPC: 085392888627
The Green Berets
by John Wayne
from Warner Home Video
Anyone who fought in Vietnam can tell you that the war bore little resemblance to this propagandistic action film starring and codirected by John Wayne. But the film itself is not nearly as bad as its reputation would suggest; critics roasted its gung-ho politics while ignoring its merits as an exciting (if rather conventional and idealistic) war movie. Some notorious mistakes were made--in the final shot, the sun sets in the east!--and it's an awkward attempt to graft WWII heroics onto the Vietnam experience. But as the Duke's attempt to acknowledge the men who were fighting and dying overseas, it's a rousing film in which Wayne commands a regiment on a mission to kidnap a Viet Cong general. David Janssen plays a journalist who learns to understand Wayne's commitment to battling Communism, and Jim Hutton (Timothy's dad) plays an ill-fated soldier who adopts a Vietnamese orphan. In addition to its widescreen image, the digital video disc includes a promotional featurette and seven different theatrical trailers. --Jeff Shannon
Escape from the Planet of the Apes
by Don Taylor
from 20th Century Fox
Roddy McDowall and Kim Hunter reprise their roles from the original Planet of the Apes in this third chapter of the Apes saga. Two intelligent simians from the future Cornelius (McDowall) and Zire (Hunter) travel to present-day Earth. They become instant sensations wined and dined and treated like celebrities - until a high-level plot forces them to run for their lives!Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: SCI-FI/FANTASY Rating: G UPC: 024543228134 Manufacturer No: 2232813
The Brain That Wouldn't Die
by Joseph Green (II)
from Image
A scientist is driving around with his gorgeous girlfriend and everything's hunky-dory until he wrecks the car and her head goes flying off. Not to be discouraged, he wraps the decapitated noggin in his jacket and scurries off to his lab, where he keeps the poor woman's head alive in a developing tray with some coils and tubes running in and out of it. With his girlfriend's still-conscious cabeza back at the lab, the good doctor drives around shopping for bodies, ogling women who might make likely candidates for reattaching the head. Finally he finds a model with a gorgeous bod (and leopard print bikini), but a scarred face. He convinces the young woman that he can fix her looks with plastic surgery and convinces her to go back to the lab. Meanwhile, his girlfriend-head (silenced by a strip of duct tape over her mouth) has developed telepathy and a nasty grudge. This movie used to regularly leave late-night TV audiences aghast and scare the bejabbers out of the young'uns. Decades later, it's an indispensable trash classic, complete with a catfight, a pinhead monster, a deformed assistant, and even a spatter of gore. Make no mistake; this incredible, sleazy gem is a must-see for any self-respecting fans of camp cinema. They just don't come any better, and they definitely don't make 'em like that anymore. --Jerry Renshaw
Dr. Bill Cortner is a surgeon like his father. He is obsessed with performing surgical transplants and continues to experiment with amputated limbs he steals from the local hospital. While driving to his secret mountain laboratory to tend to an emergency, Cortner^Rs reckless driving causes an accident and his car careens off the road, killing his fiancie. Not one to pass up the opportunity, Cortner steals her decapitated head from the burning wreckage and tries to keep it alive long enough to find a suitable body to re-attach it to. As the doctor stalks women and searches for a new body, Jan^Rs decapitated head stays alive in a tray^Etelepathically communicating with something locked away in the laboratory closet^Eplotting her revenge on the doctor for not letting her die in peace.
The Brain That Wouldn't Die
by Joseph Green (II)
from Alpha Video
A scientist is driving around with his gorgeous girlfriend and everything's hunky-dory until he wrecks the car and her head goes flying off. Not to be discouraged, he wraps the decapitated noggin in his jacket and scurries off to his lab, where he keeps the poor woman's head alive in a developing tray with some coils and tubes running in and out of it. With his girlfriend's still-conscious cabeza back at the lab, the good doctor drives around shopping for bodies, ogling women who might make likely candidates for reattaching the head. Finally he finds a model with a gorgeous bod (and leopard print bikini), but a scarred face. He convinces the young woman that he can fix her looks with plastic surgery and convinces her to go back to the lab. Meanwhile, his girlfriend-head (silenced by a strip of duct tape over her mouth) has developed telepathy and a nasty grudge. This movie used to regularly leave late-night TV audiences aghast and scare the bejabbers out of the young'uns. Decades later, it's an indispensable trash classic, complete with a catfight, a pinhead monster, a deformed assistant, and even a spatter of gore. Make no mistake; this incredible, sleazy gem is a must-see for any self-respecting fans of camp cinema. They just don't come any better, and they definitely don't make 'em like that anymore. --Jerry Renshaw
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