Classics

Lawrence of Arabia (Single Disc Edition)

There's no getting around a simple, basic truth: watching Lawrence of Arabia in any home-video format represents a compromise. There's no better way to appreciate this epic biographical adventure than to see it projected in 70 millimeter onto a huge theater screen. That caveat aside, David Lean's masterful "desert classic" is still enjoyable on the small screen, especially if viewed in widescreen format. (If your only option is to view a "pan & scan" version, it's best not to bother; this is a film for which the widescreen format is utterly mandatory.) Peter O'Toole gives a star-making performance as T.E. Lawrence, the eccentric British officer who united the desert tribes of Arabia against the Turks during World War I. Lean orchestrates sweeping battle sequences and breathtaking action, but the film is really about the adventures and trials that transform Lawrence into a legendary man of the desert. Lean traces this transformation on a vast canvas of awesome physicality; no other movie has captured the expanse of the desert with such scope and grandeur. Equally important is the psychology of Lawrence, who remains an enigma even as we grasp his identification with the desert. Perhaps the greatest triumph of this landmark film is that Lean has conveyed the romance, danger, and allure of the desert with such physical and emotional power. It's a film about a man who leads one life but is irresistibly drawn to another, where his greatness and mystery are allowed to flourish in equal measure. --Jeff Shannon

The Longest Day (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)

After seeing Saving Private Ryan, this epic tale about the Normandy invasion will look sanitized. But in its re-creation of events leading to the epochal battle, the film is captivating and grand, and the parade of famous actors who cross the screen naturally give the already charged action even more of a boost. Three directors worked on it: Ken Annakin (Battle of the Bulge), Andrew Marton (Crack in the World), and Bernhard Wicki (this film being his only credit). --Tom Keogh

This special collector's commemorative edition has been issued in honor of the June 6 1944 Allied invasion of France which marked the beginning of the end of Nazi domination over Europe. The attack involved 3000000 men 11000 planes and 4000 ships comprising the largest armada the world has ever seen.The Longest Day is a vivid hour-by-hour recreation of this historic event. Featuring a stellar international cast and told from the perspectives of both sides it is a fascinating look at the massive preparations mistakes and random events that determined the outcome of one of the biggest battles in history. Winner of two 1962 Oscars® (Special Effects and Cinematography) The Longest Day ranks as one of Hollywood's truly great war films.System Requirements:Running Time: 263 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE Rating: NR UPC: 024543234647 Manufacturer No: 2233464

The Adventures of Robin Hood (Two-Disc Special Edition)

Dashing Errol Flynn is the definitive Robin Hood in the most gloriously swashbuckling version of the legendary story. Warner Brothers reunited Michael Curtiz, their top-action director, with the winning team of Flynn and Olivia de Havilland (Maid Marian) and perennial villain Basil Rathbone as the aristocratic Sir Guy of Gisbourne, and pulled out all stops for the production. It became their costliest film to date, a grandly handsome, glowing Technicolor adventure set to a stirring, Oscar-winning score by Erich Wolfgang Korngold. The decadent Prince John (a smoothly conniving Claude Rains) takes advantage of King Richard's absence to tax the country into poverty but meets his match in the medieval guerrilla rebel Robin Hood and his Merry Men of Sherwood Forest, who rise up and, to quote a cliché coined by the film, "steal from the rich and give to the poor." Stocky Alan Hale Sr. plays Robin's loyal friend Little John (a part he played in Douglas Fairbanks's silent version), Eugene Palette the portly Friar Tuck, and Melville Cooper the bumbling Sheriff of Nottingham. Flynn's confidence and cocky charm makes for a perfect Robin Hood, and his easygoing manner is a marvelous counterpoint to Rathbone's regal bearing and courtly diction. The film climaxes in their rousing battle-to-the-finish sword fight, a magnificently choreographed scene highlighted by Curtiz's inventive use of shadows cast upon the castle walls. --Sean Axmaker

Errol Flynn is eternally charming as Robin, defender of the poor, in this rousing family adventure that co-stars Olivia de Havilland and Claude Rains. Year: 1938 Director: Michael Curtiz, William Keighley Starring: Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone, Claude Rains, Alan Hale

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (Two-Disc Special Edition)

John Huston won the Academy Award(R) for writing and directing this powerful saga that pits gold and greed in the wilds of Mexico and stars his father (Walter Huston) and Humphrey Bogart. Year: 1948 Director: John Huston Starring: Humphrey Bogart Walter Huston Tim HoltRunning Time: 126 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA UPC: 012569581623 Manufacturer No: 65816

Ranked at No. 30 on the American Film Institute's list of the 100 all-time greatest American films, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre is a genuine masterpiece that was, ironically, a box-office failure when released in 1948. At that time audiences didn't accept Humphrey Bogart in a role that was intentionally unappealing, but time has proven this to be one of Bogart's very best performances. It's a grand adventure and a superior character study built around the timeless themes of greed and moral corruption. As adapted by writer-director John Huston (from a novel by enigmatic author B. Traven) it became a definitive treatment of fate and futility in the obsessive pursuit of wealth. Bogart plays Fred C. Dobbs, a down-and-out wage-worker in Mexico who stakes his meager earnings on a gold-prospecting expedition to the Sierra mountains. He's joined by a grizzled old prospector (Walter Huston, the director's father) and a young, no-nonsense partner (Tim Holt), and when they strike a rich vein of gold, the movie becomes an observant study of wretched human behavior. Bogart is fiercely intense as his character grows increasingly paranoid and violent; Huston offers a compelling contrast as a weathered miner who's seen how gold can turn men into monsters.

From its lively opening scenes (featuring young Robert Blake as a boy selling lottery tickets) to its final, devastating image of fateful irony, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre tells an unforgettable story of tragedy and truth. With dialogue that has been etched into the cultural consciousness (who can forget the Mexican bandit who snarls "I don't have to show you any stinking badges!") and well-earned Oscars for John and Walter Huston, this is an American classic that still packs a punch. --Jeff Shannon

Hatari!

John Wayne heads a group of highly skilled professional game hunters in Africa to capture animals for zoos and circus attractions.
No Track Information Available
Media Type: DVD
Artist: WAYNE/KRUGER/MARTINELLI/BUTTON
Title: HATARI!
Street Release Date: 07/24/2001
Domestic
Genre: ACTION / ADVENTURE

Howard Hawks's 1962 adventure-comedy is basically the same, loosely plotted movie Hawks made over and over again for decades. A collection of professionals with a common goal--in this case, animal trapping in Tanganyika--forms a pocket community and holds each other to high standards in their work. This is a film about camaraderie, crisp banter, romance, and exciting action (the animal sequences are great). John Wayne played this part in about a thousand ways for Hawks over the years, and he could not be more entertaining as a grizzled pro. --Tom Keogh

Rio Bravo (Two-Disc Special Edition)

John Wayne stars as the sheriff of a small western town who arrests a murderer and then must contend with the aggressive efforts of the killer's brother to free him before the state marshall arrives. Surrounding the town the villains make repeated runs at the tiny jailhouse where their comrade is incarcerated. The sheriff is left to defend the territory almost single-handedly -- his only aid being a rag-tag crew of misfits including a drunk an old cripple a saloon woman and a singing teenager. The plot's tensions build to one of the most explosive finales in cinema history.System Requirements:Running Time: 247 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: WESTERN/MISC. Rating: NR UPC: 085391145349 Manufacturer No: 114534

When it comes down to naming the best Western of all time, the list usually narrows to three completely different pictures: John Ford's The Searchers, Howard Hawks's Red River, and Hawks's Rio Bravo. About the only thing they all have in common is that they all star John Wayne. But while The Searchers is an epic quest for revenge and Red River is a sweeping cattle-drive drama ("Take 'em to Missouri! Yeeee-hah!"), Rio Bravo is on a much more modest scale. Basically, it comes down to Sheriff John T. Chance (Wayne), his sobering-up alcoholic friend Dude (Dean Martin), the hotshot new kid Colorado (Ricky Nelson), and deputy-sidekick Stumpy (Walter Brennan), sittin' around in the town jail, drinkin' black cofee, shootin' the breeze, and occasionally, singin' a song. Hawks--who, like his pal Ernest Hemingway, lived by the code of "grace under pressure"--said he made Rio Bravo as a rebuke to High Noon, in which sheriff Gary Cooper begged for townspeople to help him. So, Hawks made Wayne's Sheriff Chance a consummate professional--he may be getting old and fat, but he knows how to do his job, and he doesn't want amateurs getting mixed up in his business; they could get hurt. This most entertaining of movies also achieved some notoriety in the '90s when Quentin Tarantino (director of Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs, and Jackie Brown) revealed that he uses it as a litmus test for prospective girlfriends. Oh, and if the configuration of characters sounds familiar, it should: Hawks remade Rio Bravo two more times--as El Dorado in 1967, with Wayne, Robert Mitchum, and James Caan; and as Rio Lobo in 1970, with Wayne, Jack Elam, and Christopher Mitchum. --Jim Emerson

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold

John le Carre's classic spy yarn gets a suitably brisk, unromanticized telling in this quintessential Cold War movie. A British agent (Richard Burton) sets up an elaborate cover story for being lured into defecting to the Communists, but he hardly needs to manufacture his disgust and cynicism over spying. The grim business of point-counterpoint espionage has rarely been depicted with less glamour; Burton's great climactic speech on the subject is the definitive take on sinking to the level of the enemy. Claire Bloom is an offbeat love interest, and a bearded Oskar Werner is an East German investigator on Burton's case (the pecking order in the Communist spy hierarchy is a source of black humor). Director Martin Ritt extends his unvarnished approach to the movie's stripped-down look, which means that Richard Burton is constantly in a harsh, unflattering light. He looks terrible, but it's in the service of a fine performance. --Robert Horton

The Thief of Bagdad - Criterion Collection

The Thief of Bagdad legendary producer Alexander Korda's Arabian Nights marvel is one of the most spectacular fantasy films ever made an eye-popping effects pioneer brimming with imagination and technical wizardry. When Prince Ahmad (John Justin) is blinded and cast out of Bagdad by the nefarious Jaffar (Conrad Veidt) he joins forces with the scrappy thief Abu (the incomparable Sabu in his definitive role) to win back his royal position as well as the heart of a beautiful princess (June Duprez). With its luscious Technicolor vivid sets and unprecedented visual wonders The Thief of Bagdad has charmed viewers of all ages for decades.SPECIAL EDITION DOUBLE-DISC SET FEATURES:Restored digital transferTwo audio commentaries: one featuring renowned directors Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese and one with film and music historian Bruce EderNew interviews with special-effects experts Ray Harryhausen Dennis Muren and Craig Barron about the technical achievements of The Thief of BagdadThe Lion Has Wings (1940) Alexander Korda's propaganda film for the English war effort made during The Thief of Bagdad's production hiatusExcerpts from codirector Michael Powell's audio dictations for his autobiographySelections of music by composer Miklos Rozsa not used in the final filmStills gallery featuring rare Dufaycolor images of the film's productionTheatrical trailerPLUS: a booklet featuring new essays by critics Andrew Moor and Ian ChristieSystem Requirements:Running Time: 106 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: SCI-FI/FANTASY/FANTASY Rating: NR UPC: 715515029926 Manufacturer No: CC1754DDVD

Often hailed as the greatest fantasy film ever made, The Thief of Bagdad (1940) was producer Alexander Korda's crowning achievement. Deservedly winning Academy Awards for art direction, color cinematography, and special effects, this Arabian Nights adventure appeals to all ages with its fantastical tale of Abu (Sabu), the little thief who befriends the prince of Bagdad (John Justin) and foils the nefarious plans of the evil grand vizier (Conrad Veidt), who seizes control of Bagdad and covets the princess of Basra (Joan Duprez). From its gorgeous, epic-scale sets to flying horses, magic carpets, and, best of all, Rex Ingram's towering jinni of the bottle, this Thief has all the magic of the tales that inspired it, and vibrant Technicolor brings it all to life in dazzling style. Six esteemed directors worked on this infamously troubled production, but the final result exceeded all expectations, becoming an instant classic that endures to this day. --Jeff Shannon

Zulu

A towering cinematic achievement. An astonishing true story. And "a battle film in the grand tradition of Four Feathers and Gunga Din" (Time)! Filmed against the exotic locales of Africa and starring Stanley Baker (The Guns of Navarone) Jack Hawkins (Lawrence of Arabia) and Michael Caine (in his first major motion picture role) Zulu is a thrilling account of one of history's fiercest battles!As a terrifying war chant echoes across the majestic African plains 4000 Zulu tribesmen rise up from the tall grass that hides them. Furiously beating their swords against their shields the warriors descend upon a small garrison of English soldiers. "Usuto! Usuto! (Kill! Kill!)" they cry as they launch into a battle with the vastly outnumbered English militia... who must manifest incredible skill and incomparable bravery just to survive.System Requirements:Starring: Stanley Baker Michael Caine Jack Hawkins James Booth Ulla Jacobsson Directed By: Cy Endfield Running Time: 138 Min. Color Copyright 2003 MGM Studios.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE Rating: NR UPC: 027616885807 Manufacturer No: 1004529

"Sentries have come in from the hill, sir.... They report Zulus to the southeast. Thousands of them." One of the best pure action movies ever made, this rousing adventure recounts the true story of a small 18th-century regiment of British troops (including a very blue-blooded turn by a young Michael Caine) endlessly besieged by an seemingly unceasing number of fierce attackers. Although the basic premise has since been executed with more technical skill and panache (most notably by Aliens and Michael Mann's The Last of the Mohicans), it's unlikely that anything will ever top the utter spectacle and, above all, sheer unbelievable size of the combat scenes that almost wholly comprise the last half of this film. A gloriously exhilarating essential for anyone looking to get lost in the heat of cinematic battle, topped off with a healthy dose of gallows humor. Not to be missed. Richard Burton voiced the stirring narration. Zulu was followed by a slightly dry but still recommended prequel, Zulu Dawn. --Andrew Wright

Easy Rider

Experience the real uncensored 60s counterculture in this compelling mixture of drugs sex and armchair politics. Academy Award - winner Jack Nicholson (Best Actor One Flew Over the Cuckoo s Nest 1975; Best Supporting Actor Terms of Endearment 1983; Best Actor As Good As It Gets 1997) stars with Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper (Who also directs) in this unconventional classic which Time magazine hails as one of the ten most important pictures of the decade.Nominated for an Academy Award (1969) for Best Screenplay (written by Peter Fonda Dennis Hopper and Terry Southern) Easy Rider continues to touch a chord with audiences of all ages.System Requirements:Starring: Peter Fonda Dennis Hopper and Jack Nicholson. Directed By: Dennis Hopper. Running Time: 95 mins color. This film is presented in "Widescreen" format. Copyright: 1999 Columbia TriStar Home Video. Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: R UPC: 043396017498 Manufacturer No: 01749

This box-office hit from 1969 is an important pioneer of the American independent cinema movement, and a generational touchstone to boot. Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper play hippie motorcyclists crossing the Southwest and encountering a crazy quilt of good and bad people. Jack Nicholson turns up in a significant role as an attorney who joins their quest for awhile and articulates society's problem with freedom as Fonda's and Hopper's characters embody it. Hopper directed, essentially bringing the no-frills filmmaking methods of legendary, drive-in movie producer Roger Corman (The Little Shop of Horrors) to a serious feature for the mainstream. The film can't help but look a bit dated now (a psychedelic sequence toward the end particularly doesn't hold up well), but it retains its original power, sense of daring, and epochal impact. --Tom Keogh