Stern, Steven Hilliard

Hawaii Five-O - The Fourth Season

Could it be that with Hawaii Five-O's fourth season, a third of the way into its remarkable '60s-'70s run, the show has gotten... well, cool? Actually, there are signs throughout this six-disc set of 24 digitally-remastered episodes that point to yes. Let's not get carried away here; Five-O is still basically as square as Tiananmen and Trafalgar, and as long as Steve McGarrett (portrayed, as ever, by Jack Lord) is in charge, its groove factor will never rival that of, say, CSI: Miami, or any other glossy new millennium cop drama. Indeed, the show's corniness and utter lack of irony remain integral to its charm. But there are a few interesting developments in this '71-'72 season. There's a good complement of snappy dialogue (one particularly large perp is "so big he could go bear-hunting with chopsticks"). And although the pacing can be pretty stodgy, the editing is a bit more deft; many scenes flow more naturally, and in at least one instance ("I Want Some Candy, and a Gun that Shoots," wherein a sniper is picking off cops on a coastal highway), the entire episode is more exciting than the Five-0 norm. The direction and lighting are also more stylish, while the music (not just Morton Stevens' classic theme song but the incidental sounds as well) and location scenery, two elements that have always been among the series' strong suits, are as good as ever; in fact, the islands look so lush and inviting that one wonders why the bad guys can even get motivated to commit their dirty deeds.

But they do, of course, and McGarrett and his faithful team (James MacArthur as Danno, Kam Fong as Chin Ho, and, in what remains one of the great TV credits ever, "Zulu as Kono") are there to stop 'em. This time around they're dealing with everything from a big money travelers check scam ("3,000 Crooked Miles to Honolulu," with Jed Clampett... er, Buddy Ebsen as a guest villain), eco-terrorism ("Is This Any Way to Run a Paradise"), political assassination ("Rest in Peace, Somebody"), and racism-rape ("Skinhead"), along with the usual murders and encounters with Red Chinese nemesis Wo Fat (Khigh Dhiegh). McGarrett is for the most part still as stiff as his hair, but Lord occasionally displays considerable passion, as when he breaks down in tears upon being informed that a nasty car accident did not leave him paralyzed (in "The 90-Second War," a two-parter). As always, bonus material is limited to brief, previous-week promos for each episode. --Sam Graham

Filmed entirely on location in Hawaii the show followed Jack Lord as he played Steve McGarrett head of an elite state police unit investigating "organized crime murder assassination attempts foreign agents felonies of every type." James MacArthur played his second-in-command Danny ("Danno") Williams with local actors playing members of the Five-O team.System Requirements:Running Time: 1215 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating: NR UPC: 097368920743 Manufacturer No: 892074

McCloud - Seasons 1 and 2

A viewer's favorite from the get-go, McCloud applied country-to-city humor to the popular police-series formula that exploded on TV networks in the early 1970s. Although it would eventually become part of the three-way line-up on the "NBC Mystery Movie" schedule (where it rotated with McMillan & Wife and Columbo, the series pilot premiered (on September 16, 1970) as part of NBC's "Four-in-One" cycle of TV miniseries (Rod Serling's Night Gallery was also in that foursome), and its popularity quickly earned a regular network timeslot, first on Wednesdays at 9:00 p.m. and later as the "Mystery Movie" threesome settled into a well-rated Sunday-night slot. To be sure, McCloud owed almost all of its success to the perfect casting of Dennis Weaver as Deputy Marshal Sam McCloud, of Taos, New Mexico, a good ol' boy crimefighter who spends the two-hour pilot ("Portrait of a Dead Girl") tracking a key witness who's escaped from his custody. This takes him to New York City, where the show's premise (involving McCloud's temporary assignment with Manhattan's 27th precinct, to "learn the methods of a large metropolitan police force") placed him at constant odds with his immediate superior, Chief Clifford (J.D. Cannon) as he partnered up with Sgt. Joe Broadhurst (Terry Carter, later on the original Battlestar Galactica) and pursued an on-and-off romance with Chris Coughlin (Diana Muldaur), a journalist who finds McCloud endlessly intriguing (not to mention newsworthy).

These characters are now far more appealing than the hoary plots that frequently found McCloud applying Southwest sleuthing to Big Apple crimes. Like McCloud himself, many of these 11 episodes are lanky and loose-jointed, and not quite as involving as nostalgic reverie might suggest. The first-season episodes are also the "condensed" versions, resulting from the subsequent combination (after their original broadcasts) of two original one-hour episodes into one 90-minute segment, hence the credits for two directors and two-layered plotlines in episodes like "Manhattan Manhunt," starring Richard Dawson as a Cockney-accented theater producer threatened by a would-be killer. (The second-season episodes are fully intact as originally shown.) And while the cost-cutting expediency of '70s TV production is painfully evident in cheesy process shots, blunt ADR recording, and oft-repeated stock footage, the tongue-in-cheek charm of McCloud remains fully intact, as Weaver adopts his signature line ("There ya go!") and commands his role with a gentleman's demeanor and a wry, fish-out-of-water perspective on big-city police work in episodes costarring a who's-who of '70s guest stars including Barry Sullivan, Nina Foch, Milton Berle, Stephanie Powers, Susan Strasberg, Bo Svenson, Sebastian Cabot, Susan Saint James (just prior to McMillan & Wife) and many more. The sight of McCloud navigating Manhattan's concrete canyons on a galloping horse was iconic in the playful spirit of the series: It makes no sense whatsoever, but with Weaver in the role, you bought it immediately and happily went along for the ride, which explains why McCloud aired for five enjoyable seasons until 1977. --Jeff Shannon

"There ya' go." Rustle up some action and adventure as police drama McCloud rides on to DVD for the first time ever! Emmy winner Dennis Weaver stars as the brave Deputy Marshal Sam McCloud, the toughest cowboy to ever take on the mean streets of New York, as well as the by-the-book detectives on the NYPD. Despite the demands of his strict supervisor, Chief Peter B. Clifford (J.D. Cannon), McCloud finds himself in an endless showdown with some of the meanest criminals east of the Mississippi. This amazing DVD set from the popular NBC Mystery Movie Series features all 11 thrilling episodes of McCloud Seasons 1 & 2 ' including the series' pilot, as well as a gripping bonus episode of the popular McMillan & Wife. Saddle up with entertaining guest stars including Milton Berle, Pat Morita, Stefanie Powers and more in the series that proved that sometimes all you need to solve a crime is a little good ol' country know-how.20

Breaking the Surface: The Greg Louganis Story

Breaking the Surface is about the tough times Greg Louganis had on his way to becoming one of the world's top Olympic divers. Some topics discussed were Greg's childhood problems his homosexuality and him contracting the HIV virus.System Requirements:Run Time: 95 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: DOCUMENTARIES/MISC. Rating: NR UPC: 631008050492 Manufacturer No: CQC504

Mazes and Monsters

Bound together by a desire to play Mazes and Monsters Robbie and his four college classmates decide to move the board game into the local legendary cavern. When Robbie starts having real life visions the line between reality and fantasy fuse into a harrowing adventure.System Requirements:Running Time - 100 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: PG UPC: 692865248330 Manufacturer No: T-2483

The Harrad Experiment / Love All Summer (Sexy 70's Double Feature)

SEXY 70S DOUBLE FEATURE! THE HARRAD EXPERIMENT: The Sex Manifesto Of The Free Love Generation! LOVE ALL SUMMER: The Shocking Sequel To The Harrad Experiment! Liberated Relations Between Coed Students! Harrad Collegewhere free liberated relations between c

The Silence of Adultery

The Devil and Max Devlin

Watch all the fireworks as Elliott Gould and Bill Cosby star in Disney's delightfully devilish adventure -- new on DVD. When ruthless landlord Max Devlin (Gould) is struck by a bus, he meets a diabolical "soul manager" with an offer he can't refuse. Max can return to life on earth if he can convince three innocent people to sign their souls over to the devil within two months. In a riotous race against time, all his targets have other ideas. Featuring the music of Marvin Hamlisch, and introducing talented songstress Julie Budd, this is a magical, romantic comedy the whole family will enjoy.

To Save the Children

Money

Black Fox