Kershner, Irvin

Star Wars Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980 & 2004 Versions, 2-Disc Widescreen Edition)

The 2006 limited-edition two-disc release of The Empire Strikes Back is not only the first time the movie has been officially available by itself on DVD. It marks the first-ever DVD release of Empire as it originally played in theaters in 1980. What does that mean exactly? The film is without the various "improvements" and enhancements George Lucas added for the theatrical rerelease in 1997 as well as the DVD premiere in 2004. So no more of Ian McDiarmid (the Emperor) replacing Clive Revill with slightly revised lines, or Temuera Morrison rerecording of Boba Fett's minimal dialogue.

What do you lose by watching the 1980 version? Dolby Digital 5.1 EX sound, for one thing (only 2.0 Surround here), and digital cleanup. But for home-theater owners, the biggest frustration will be from the non-anamorphic picture. On a widescreen TV, an anamorphically enhanced (16x9) picture at a 2.35:1 aspect ratio will fill the screen with the exception of small black bars on the top and bottom. The original edition of Empire, however, on a widescreen TV will have large black bars on the top, the bottom, and the sides unless you stretch the picture (and distort it in the process, especially considering the substandard picture quality). If you're watching on a standard square-shaped (4:3) TV, though, you won't notice a difference.

Yes, it's true that serious home-theater lovers who want spectacular sound and anamorphically enhanced picture can always watch the 2004 version of the movie also included in this set. But chances are good that they already picked up the trilogy edition of all three films, so their decision to buy the 2006 two-disc edition depends on how much they want the original film. The official LucasFilm stance is that this is an individual release of the 2004 version of The Empire Strikes Back, and the 1980 version of the film is merely a "bonus feature." Common speculation is that the only reason the original versions are seeing the official light of day at all is to undercut the booming black market for the laserdisc version. Star Wars fans will have to decide for themselves if that's worth the purchase. --David Horiuchi

For the first time ever and for a limited time only the enhanced versions of the Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi will be available individually on DVD. Plus these 2-Disc DVD's will feature a bonus disc that includes for the first time ever on DVD the original films as seen in theaters in 1977 1980 and 1983.System Requirements:Running Time: 127 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: SCI-FI/FANTASY Rating: PG UPC: 024543263838 Manufacturer No: 2236383

Never Say Never Again

After years of enduring Roger Moore in the role of James Bond, it was good to have Sean Connery back in this 1983 film for a one-time-only trip down 007's memory lane. Connery's Bond, a bit of a dinosaur in the British secret service at (then) 52, is still in demand during times of crisis. Sadly, the film is not very good. In this rehash of Thunderball, Bond is pitted against a worthy underwater villain (Klaus Maria Brandauer); and while the requisite Bond Girls include beauties Kim Basinger and Barbara Carrera, they can't save the movie. The script has several truly dumb passages, among them a (gasp) video-game duel between 007 and his nemesis that now looks utterly anachronistic. For Connery fans, however, this widescreen print of the Irvin Kershner (The Empire Strikes Back) film is a chance to say a final goodbye to a perfect marriage of actor and character. --Tom Keogh

Agent 007 fights the SPECTRE organization once again to save Washington, D.C. from a nuclear attack.
Genre: Feature Film-Action/Adventure
Rating: PG
Release Date: 4-SEP-2001
Media Type: DVD

Raid on Entebbe

It was in June 1976 that an Air France plane carrying 244 passengers and a crew of 12 on a flight from Athens to Paris was hijacked by terrorists who forced the captain to alter course and eventually land at Uganda's Entebbe Airport. With the tacit appro

The Return of a Man Called Horse

"A Man Called Horse returns at full gallop" (Los Angeles Times) in this exceptional western that follows the plight of a horribly wronged tribe of Sioux Indians and the quest of the one man who would lead them to victory. The Return of a Man Called Horse is a "visually stunning" (Variety) and "hauntingly beautiful vision of American history" (Los Angeles Times).Lord John Morgan (Richard Harris) disillusioned with the "civilized" aristocracy of England returns to the American West in search of the vital and rugged life he once led among the proud Yellow Hand tribe. But what he finds instead is destruction: a brutal and bloody war inflicted on his adopted blood brothers by an unscrupulous trapper and his followers. Decimated enslaved and swept from their home their only hope of regrouping retaining their ancient customs and fighting back for their sacred homeland now lies with Morgan...a man they call Horse.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: WESTERN/MISC. Rating: NR UPC: 027616865823 Manufacturer No: 1002371

Eyes of Laura Mars

Robocop Trilogy

The first Robocop was thrilling, hilarious, and totally original--none of which has as much to do with the film's spawning two sequels (plus two separate television shows) as its $50 million-plus take at the box office. Though the Law of Diminishing Returns inevitably applies to the theatrical trilogy, the central premise is so strong that each of the lesser sequels has at least a few moments worth catching. That's because the original (wherein Detroit cop Peter Weller, killed in the line of duty, gets transformed into a crime-fighting cyborg) set up an entire world. Director Paul Verhoeven spends as much time lampooning television news, commercial products, and big business as he does on the story; however violent or gory things get (and they get quite icky), the tone throughout is comic, even giddy. Robocop 2, helmed by Irvin Kershner of The Empire Strikes Back fame, sobers up considerably. The film is rather underrated; sure, there are fewer ads and newsbreaks this time around, but there are several inventive touches--Robocop is briefly reprogrammed into a homily-spouting Dudley Do-Right; drug dealers step in to bail out the financially strapped city--and the villains (including the most foul-mouthed, amoral 12-year-old in movie history) are less outrageous than in the first installment. Robocop 3, however, is profit-driven hash. Having Robocop (now acted by Robert John Burke) join a citizens' uprising is a nice idea, and even the ninja android could have been fun, but the movie tries too often to be heartwarming, an emotion thoroughly out of place in this wickedly satirical series. --Bruce Reid

Robocop 2

With the surprise success--both critical and commercial--of Robocop, it was inevitable that a sequel would emerge (actually, two sequels). But this follow-up lacked the dyspeptically funny vision of filmmaker Paul Verhoeven and wound up skimming the surface to repeat only the most superficial elements of the original: the big, clunky hero (played by Peter Weller), the ultra-violence (minus a dark sense of humor), and the plethora of action sequences. What plot there is deals with the corporation that runs the cops and its two-pronged attempt to squeeze every dime out of the populace and the city: create a new drug crisis (with an incredibly addictive synthetic drug the corporation manufactures, spread by a charismatic drug lord) and then attack with a bigger robot, one that eliminates Robocop at the same time. Would that they had. --Marshall Fine

Robocop returns to fight his toughest opponent yet: his replacement! Filled with explosions and hundreds of thousands of rounds fired by automatic weaponry (Variety) Robocop™ 2 pits two unstoppable cyborgs against each other in a battle to the death that will leave only the strongest standing! When Detroit s descent into chaos is further compounded by a police department strike and a new designer drug called Nuke only Robocop can stop the mayhem. But in his way are an evil corporation that profits from Motor City crime and a bigger and tougher cyborg with a deadly directive: Take out Robocop. Containing the latest in gadgetry and weaponry as well as the brain of the madman who designed Nuke this new cyborg isn t only more sophisticated than his predecessor he s psychotic and out of control! And it s going to take everything Robocop has maybe even his life to save Detroit from complete and utter anarchy.System Requirements: Running Time 117 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE Rating: R UPC: 027616909251 Manufacturer No: M102652

Star Wars, Episode V- The Empire Strikes Back (Widescreen Edition)

Single Disc From Star Wars Trilogy, 2004 release

The middle film in George Lucas's enormously popular Star Wars science fiction trilogy is a darker, more somber entry, considered by many fans as the best in the series. Gone is the jaunty swashbuckling of the first film; the rebellion led by Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) suffers before the superior forces of the Empire, young hero Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) faces his first defeats as he attempts to harness the Force under the tutelage of Jedi master Yoda (voiced by Frank Oz), and cocky Han Solo (Harrison Ford) is betrayed by former ally Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams). In the tradition of the great serials, this film is left with a hefty cliffhanger. The leap in special effects technology in the three years since Star Wars results in an amazing array of effects, including a breathtaking chase through an asteroid field and a dazzling, utopian Cloud City, where Luke faces the black-clad villain Darth Vader (David Prowse, voice of James Earl Jones) in a futuristic sword fight and learns the secret of his Jedi father. Veteran director Irvin Kershner (The Eyes of Laura Mars, Never Say Never Again) took the directorial reins from creator and producer Lucas and invested the light-speed adventure with deeper characters and a more emphatic sense of danger. The special edition expands Luke's encounter with the Abominable Snowman-esque wampa and establishes the creature as a tangibly more terrifying beast, in addition to refining many of the existing effects. The trilogy is concluded in The Return of the Jedi. --Sean Axmaker

Star Wars Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (2-discs with Full Screen enhanced and original theatrical versions)

For the first time ever and for a limited time only the enhanced versions of the Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi will be available individually on DVD. Plus these 2-Disc DVD's will feature a bonus disc that includes for the first time ever on DVD the original films as seen in theaters in 1977 1980 and 1983.System Requirements:Running Time: 127 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: SCI-FI/FANTASY Rating: PG UPC: 024543263883 Manufacturer No: 2236388

The 2006 limited-edition two-disc release of The Empire Strikes Back is not only the first time the movie has been officially available by itself on DVD. It marks the first-ever DVD release of Empire as it originally played in theaters in 1980. What does that mean exactly? The film is without the various "improvements" and enhancements George Lucas added for the theatrical rerelease in 1997 as well as the DVD premiere in 2004. So no more of Ian McDiarmid (the Emperor) replacing Clive Revill with slightly revised lines, or Temuera Morrison's rerecording of Boba Fett's minimal dialogue.

What do you lose by watching the 1980 version? Dolby Digital 5.1 EX sound, for one thing (only 2.0 Surround here), and digital cleanup. Yes, it's true that fans who want spectacular sound and picture can always watch the 2004 version of the movie also included in this set. But chances are good that they already picked up the trilogy edition of all three films, so their decision to buy the 2006 two-disc edition depends on how much they want the original film. The official LucasFilm stance is that this is an individual release of the 2004 version of The Empire Strikes Back, and the 1980 version of the film is merely a "bonus feature." Common speculation is that the only reason the original versions are seeing the official light of day at all is to undercut the booming black market for the laserdisc version. Star Wars fans will have to decide for themselves if that's worth the purchase. --David Horiuchi

Barbra Streisand Collection (What's Up, Doc?/The Main Event/Up the Sandbox/Nuts)

What's Up Doc? The Main Event Nuts Up the SandboxFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY UPC: 085392340729

What's Up, Doc? (1972)
Director Peter Bogdanovich (The Last Picture Show) tipped his hat to the classic screwball comedies of the 1930s, and especially the most glorious of them all, Howard Hawks' Bringing Up Baby. Barbra Streisand plays a charming flake who distracts a self-absorbed musicologist (Ryan O'Neal). He's engaged to be married, but soon Streisand's character has him chasing after stolen jewelry and getting into one madcap fix after another. Bogdanovich, who is also a film critic, understands the engine of the screwball genre, and his loving revival of the form brings a smile, though it is not quite consistently inspired or funny. There are plenty of great moments, however, including a slap at O'Neal's own star-making vehicle, Love Story. --Tom Keogh

Up the Sandbox (1972)
Although not as successful as What's Up, Doc? or The Way We Were, Up the Sandbox springs from the early 1970s, when Barbra Streisand's career was in full stride. Streisand stars as Margaret, a stay-at-home mom in the middle of New York who's feeling the strain of her narrow life. Frustrated by her self-involved husband and the emotionally rewarding but mentally unstimulating tasks of motherhood, she escapes into fantasies--such as being hit on by a cross-gendered Fidel Castro, bombing the Statue of Liberty with black militants, and having a furious catfight with her overbearing mother. The movie's strength lies in these fantasies' slippery nature; some are over the top, but others are so subtle you're not always sure where they start and stop, making the portrait of Margaret's psyche intriguingly complex. Streisand fans should check out this sleeper. --Bret Fetzer

The Main Event (1979)
Comedic misfire from the mid-1970s in a futile attempt to bottle the same lightning that struck when Barbra Streisand teamed with Ryan O'Neal in What's Up, Doc? Here, Streisand plays a spoiled rich girl, the head of a bankrupt cosmetics company, who discovers she's lost everything--except her ownership of the contract of a washed-up boxer (O'Neal, known for his combative nature offscreen). So she tries to rally this dispirited pug into a comeback that will earn the kinds of purses that will put her back on her feet. Naturally, in the process romantic sparks are kindled. But despite a loud and energetic performance by Streisand, this Howard Zieff comedy doesn't add up to much. --Marshall Fine

Nuts (1987)
Barbra Streisand is a mad high-priced "escort" accused of murder, but whether she's mad as hell or mad as a hatter is the question in this courtroom drama, adapted from the play by Tom Topor. While her doting, willfully uncomprehending mother (Maureen Stapleton) and stepdad with a secret (Karl Malden) try to have her judged incompetent and sent to an asylum, she fights for her day in court with the help of a hapless legal aid attorney (a refreshingly understated Richard Dreyfuss). James Whitmore presides over the hearing with a compassion and sense of justice that gives one faith in a system and la Streisand (who developed and produced the project) sinks her teeth into the tempestuous role like a starving actress. The plot holds few surprised, but the drama lies in the characters and veteran director Martin Ritt (Hud) brings out the best in a top-flight cast. --Sean Axmaker