Historical Epic

Gandhi (Widescreen Two-Disc Collector's Edition)

Sir Richard Attenborough's 1982 multiple-Oscar winner (including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor for Ben Kingsley) is an engrossing, reverential look at the life of Mohandas K. Gandhi, who introduced the doctrine of nonviolent resistance to the colonized people of India and who ultimately gained the nation its independence. Kingsley is magnificent as Gandhi as he changes over the course of the three-hour film from an insignificant lawyer to an international leader and symbol. Strong on history (the historic division between India and Pakistan, still a huge problem today, can be seen in its formative stages here) as well as character and ideas, this is a fine film. --Tom Keogh

Stills from Gandhi (click for larger image)

Beyond Gandhi on Amazon.com

Other Oscar Winners at Oscar Central

More Biographies on DVD

The Films of Ben Kingsley

A critical masterpiece, GANDHI is an intriguing story about activism, politics, religious tolerance and freedom. But at the center of it all is an extraor- dinary man who fought for a nonviolent, peaceful existence, and set an entire nation free. Winner of 8 Academy Awards® including Best Picture, Best Director (Lord Richard Attenborough) and Best Actor (Sir Ben Kingsley), GANDHI's highly acclaimed cast also includes Candice Bergen, Edward Fox, Sir John Gielgud, Roshan Seth and Martin Sheen.

The extras include more than 90 minutes of new material, including interviews with director Lord Richard Attenborough; actors Geraldine James, Saeed Jaffrey, and Edward Fox; Diana Hawkins (Director of Publicity), Terry Clegg (Executive in charge of production), Billy Williams (Cinematographer) and Stuart Craig (Production Designer). The DVD includes a Director's commentary with Attenborough, who also filmed a personal introduction to the film. The featurettes include In Search of Gandhi, Reflections on Ben, Madeleine Slade: An Englishwoman Abroad, The Funeral, Shooting an Epic In India, Looking Back, Designing Gandhi (3 mini featurettes) and From the Director's Chair (2 mini featurettes).

The Right Stuff (Two-Disc Special Edition)

Philip Kaufman's intimate epic about the Mercury astronauts (based on Tom Wolfe's book) was one of the most ambitious and spectacularly exciting movies of the 1980s. It surprised almost everybody by not becoming a smash hit. By all rights, the film should have been every bit the success that Apollo 13 would later become; The Right Stuff is not only just as thrilling, but it is also a bigger and better movie. Combining history (both established and revisionist), grand mythmaking (and myth puncturing), adventure, melodrama, behind-the-scenes dish, spectacular visuals, and a down-to-earth sense of humor, The Right Stuff chronicles NASA's efforts to put a man in orbit. Such an achievement would be the first step toward President Kennedy's goal of reaching the moon, and, perhaps most important of all, would win a crucial public relations/morale victory over the Soviets, who had delivered a stunning blow to American pride by launching Sputnik, the first satellite. The movie contrasts the daring feats of the unsung test pilots--one of whom, Chuck Yeager, embodied more than anyone else the skill and spirit of Wolfe's title--against the heavily publicized (and sanitized) accomplishments of the Mercury astronauts. Through no fault of their own, the spacemen became prisoners of the heroic images the government created for them in order to capture the public's imagination. The casting is inspired; the film features Sam Shepard as the legendary Yeager, Ed Harris as John Glenn, Dennis Quaid as "Gordo" Cooper, Scott Glenn as Alan Shepard, Fred Ward as Gus Grissom, Scott Wilson as Scott Crossfield, and Pamela Reed and Veronica Cartwright are superb in their thankless roles as astronauts' wives. --Jim Emerson

In the middle of the 20th century America pondered its future - and looked to the skies. Based on Tom Wolfe's book The Right Stuff is the tale of how that future began a thrilling epic of intrepid test pilot Chuck Yeager and the seven pioneering astronauts of the Project Mercury space program. Philip Kaufman scripts and directs pushing the envelope with a filmmaking bravado that matches this soaring story of training and heroism; and of sudden fame for which there is no training. Ed Harris Barbara Hershey Sam Shepard Dennis Quaid and Fred Ward are among the perfect cast of this winner of 4 Academy Awards* that in a pristine 20th-anniversary digital transfer remains the stuff of must-see entertainment. Let's light this candle flyboys!Running Time: 193 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA UPC: 085392449927

Joyeux Noel (Widescreen)

Academy Award® Golden Globe® and BAFTA nominee for Best Foreign Film JOYEUX NOEL (Merry Christmas) tells the true-life story of the spontaneous Christmas Eve truce declared by Scottish French and German troops in the trenches of World War I. Enemies leave their weapons behind for one night as they band together in brotherhood and forget about the brutalities of war. Diane Kr ger (Troy) Daniel Br hl (Good Bye Lenin!) and Benno F rmann (The Princess and the Warrior) head a first-rate international cast in a truly powerful must-see film.SPECIAL FEATURES:Interview with Writer/Director Christian CarionCommentary with Writer/Director Christian CarionSystem Requirements:Run Time: 116 minsFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE/MILITARY & WAR UPC: 043396150997 Manufacturer No: 15099

Joyeux Noel captures a rare moment of grace from one of the worst wars in the history of mankind, World War I. On Christmas Eve, 1914, as German, French, and Scottish regiments face each other from their respective trenches, a musical call-and-response turns into an impromptu cease-fire, trading chocolates and champagne, playing soccer, and comparing pictures of their wives. But when Christmas ends, the war returns...Joyeux Noel has been justly accused of sentimentality, but if any subject warrants such an earnest and hopeful treatment, it's the horrors of trench warfare. The largely unknown cast--the more familiar faces include Diane Kruger (Troy), Daniel Bruhl (Good Bye Lenin!), Benno Furmann (The Princess and the Warrior), and Gary Lewis (Billy Elliot)--deliver low-key but effective performances as the movie dwells on the everyday elements of life in the face of war. Based on a true incident (though considerably fictionalized). --Bret Fetzer

Stills from Joyeux Noel (click for larger image)

Sally Hemings: An American Scandal

No Description Available.
Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: NR
Release Date: 3-JAN-2006
Media Type: DVD

Seven Years in Tibet

If it hadn't been for Brad Pitt signing on to play the lead role of obsessive Austrian mountain climber Heinrich Harrer, there's a good chance this lavish $70 million film would not have been made. It was one of two films from 1997 (the other being Martin Scorsese's exquisite Kundun) to view the turmoil between China and Tibet through the eyes of the young Dalai Lama. But with Pitt onboard, this adaptation of Harrer's acclaimed book focuses more on Harrer, a Nazi party member whose life was changed by his experiences in Tibet with the Dalai Lama. Having survived a treacherous climb on the challenging peak of Nanga Parbat and a stint in a British POW camp, Harrer and climbing guide Peter Aufschnaiter (nicely played by David Thewlis) arrive at the Tibetan city of Lhasa, where the 14-year-old Dalai Lama lives as ruler of Tibet. Their stay is longer than either could have expected (the "seven years" of the title), and their lives are forever transformed by their proximity to the Tibetan leader and the peaceful ways of the Buddhist people. China looms over the land as a constant invasive threat, but Seven Years in Tibet is more concerned with viewing Tibetan history through the eyes of a visitor. The film is filled with stunning images and delightful moments of discovery and soothing, lighthearted spirituality, and although he is somewhat miscast, Pitt brings the requisite integrity to his central role. What's missing here is a greater understanding of the young Dalai Lama and the culture of Tibet. Whereas Kundun tells its story purely from the Dalai Lama's point of view, Seven Years in Tibet is essentially an outsider's tale. The result is the feeling that only part of the story's been told here--or maybe just the wrong story. But Harrer's memoir is moving and heartfelt, and director Jean-Jacques Annaud has effectively captured both sincerity and splendor in this flawed but worthwhile film. --Jeff Shannon

Hawaii

Two cultures collide in this vast lavish and truly spectacular film starring Julie Andrews Max Von Sydow Richard Harris Gene Hackman and Carroll O'Connor. Adapted from James A. Michener's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel and nominated* for seven Oscars® this "majestic gorgeously framed epic is adventuresome picture-making a credit to the industry" (The Film Daily) and riveting entertainment!They came to bring God but instead brought disease and destruction. The Rev. Abner Hale (Von Sydow) and his gentle wife Jerusha (Andrews) attempt to convert early 19th-century Hawaiian natives to Christianity but find themselves ill-equipped to endure the unexpected tribulations of paradise. Surging with the excitement of windstorms firestorms shark attacks and magnificent island scenery Hawaii shines as passionately as the island paradise itself!*1966: Supporting Actress (Jocelyne LaGarde) Cinematography Color Costume Design Color Special Visual Effects Score Song SoundSystem Requirements:Running Time: 161 Min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: NR UPC: 027616921918 Manufacturer No: 1008152

George Roy Hill (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid) directed this adaptation of James Michener's novel about the history of the 50th state. Max von Sydow plays a zealous missionary with a Calvinist bent, intent on enlightening the natives even as his wife (Julie Andrews) is romanced by the dashing Richard Harris. The film is both a glossy vision of Hawaii in the early 19th century and a sometimes-brutal drama full of death, a rough childbirth, stormy weather, etc. Hill's blunt editing, meant to emphasize the more terrifying aspects of the natural order of life, makes the film look particularly dated and mannered today. This is best appreciated for its cast, all of whom were making inroads in Hollywood at the time. --Tom Keogh

The Right Stuff

Philip Kaufman's intimate epic about the Mercury astronauts (based on Tom Wolfe's book) was one of the most ambitious and spectacularly exciting movies of the 1980s. It surprised almost everybody by not becoming a smash hit. By all rights, the film should have been every bit the success that Apollo 13 would later become; The Right Stuff is not only just as thrilling, but it is also a bigger and better movie. Combining history (both established and revisionist), grand mythmaking (and myth puncturing), adventure, melodrama, behind-the-scenes dish, spectacular visuals, and a down-to-earth sense of humor, The Right Stuff chronicles NASA's efforts to put a man in orbit. Such an achievement would be the first step toward President Kennedy's goal of reaching the moon, and, perhaps most important of all, would win a crucial public relations/morale victory over the Soviets, who had delivered a stunning blow to American pride by launching Sputnik, the first satellite. The movie contrasts the daring feats of the unsung test pilots--one of whom, Chuck Yeager, embodied more than anyone else the skill and spirit of Wolfe's title--against the heavily publicized (and sanitized) accomplishments of the Mercury astronauts. Through no fault of their own, the spacemen became prisoners of the heroic images the government created for them in order to capture the public's imagination. The casting is inspired; the film features Sam Shepard as the legendary Yeager, Ed Harris as John Glenn, Dennis Quaid as "Gordo" Cooper, Scott Glenn as Alan Shepard, Fred Ward as Gus Grissom, Scott Wilson as Scott Crossfield, and Pamela Reed and Veronica Cartwright are superb in their thankless roles as astronauts' wives. --Jim Emerson

Augustus

Caesar has been assassinated. As the Roman Empire struggles to regain itself a young Emperor steps forward prepared to claim the abandoned throne. He is Augustus appointed to theRoman Consul at only 19 years of age and determined to leave the mark of his rule for centuries to come.System Requirements:Running Time: 178 Min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: R UPC: 043396096554 Manufacturer No: 09655

Augustus is equal parts history lesson and soap opera, and thoroughly engaging at all levels. Peter O'Toole plays Octavius/Augustus, heir to his doomed uncle Julius Caesar's command of the far-flung Roman empire. Surviving an assassination attempt and struck by news of the death of his old friend and ally, Agrippa (Ken Duken), in the same day, Octavius waxes nostalgic about his youthful exploits in Caesar's army (Benjamin Sadler plays the young Augustus in flashbacks) and his unprepared immersion in the deadly politics of the Mark Antony (Massimo Ghini) era. More immediate are Octavius' problems trying to stave off conspiracies by his wife Livia (Charlotte Rampling) to set up the emperor's stepson, Tiberius (Michele Bevilacqua), as heir, and talk his dutiful daughter Julia (Vittoria Belvedere) into a marriage she doesn't want. Roger Young (Jesus) directs this highly watchable costume drama, and O'Toole's golden presence makes the ancient intrigues tragically human. --Tom Keogh

The Warrior

An action-filled epic starring Ziyi Zhang (House of Flying Daggers Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon Hero upcoming Memoirs of a Geisha) The Warrior recounts the tale of a group of Korean envoys who entered China on a mission and were never heard from again. Captured and accused of espionage by Ming warriors the Korean delegation is exiled by their captors to a remote desert. On their journey back to Korea they rescue a kidnapped Ming princess (Zhang). In their effort to take the princess to safety the group encounters rival Mongol warriors whom they face in a breathtaking battle scene.System Requirements:Run Time: 154 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE Rating: R UPC: 043396134904 Manufacturer No: 13490

The Warrior combines gorgeous cinematography, complex historical politics, and joltingly bloody action sequences to create a sweeping historical spectacular. A squadron of Korean soldiers, sent to protect a diplomatic envoy to China, find themselves unmoored when the envoys are killed in clashes with Chinese and Mongol soldiers. Struggling to return home, they rescue a high-handed Chinese princess (Ziyi Zhang, House of Flying Daggers, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) and decide that protecting her is their best chance to survive, and possibly improve Korean-Chinese relations as well. Unfortunately, the Mongols want her back, and the squadron find their numbers slowly diminishing as they fight their way to an isolated military outpost. Though there's a more realistic context for the action--The Warrior is based on a historical event and the characters are well-developed--the battle scenes deliver some visceral thrills; the violence is graphic (beheadings, arrows plunging into necks, limbs sliced off) but grippingly choreographed. An above-average action movie; however, it is highly recommended that viewers watch it with subtitles, as the dubbing is typically wretched. --Bret Fetzer

In Old Chicago

In Old Chicago was 20th Century Fox's grandest production of 1938, and it's still worthy of classic status. Along with MGM's 1936 earthquake drama San Fracisco, it ranks among the finest of the early disaster films, and the climactic depiction of the great Chicago fire of 1871 is still impressive, with some shots that are just as amazing as the digitally rendered disaster effects of present-day Hollywood. It's a highly fictionalized account of the O'Leary family, whose legendary milk-cow kicked over the lamp that set Chicago ablaze, and the teaming of Tyrone Power, Don Ameche, and Alice Faye (as O'Leary brothers Dion and Jack, and Jack's showgirl wife Belle) proved so popular that they were reunited, along with director Henry King, in Darryl F. Zanuck's follow-up production of Alexander's Ragtime Band. They lead a lively cast (including Andy Devine and Brian Donlevy) that delivers all the entertainment value that Zanuck could muster, focusing on the rivalry between Jack and Dion as they clash over their political ambitions and future plans for "The Patch," the beloved Chicago slum district in which they were raised. Their mother (played by Alice Brady in an Oscar®-winning performance) struggles to hold her brood together, and the sibling rivalry reaches a fever pitch just as the city's about to go up in flames. Along the way we're treated to Faye's silky-smooth performances of vintage show tunes (like the title song), and movie buffs will appreciate the early appearance of Rondo Hatton, a bit player who suffered from acromegaly, a deforming pituitary condition (similar to gigantism) that caused him to have one of the most unique faces in the history of movies. --Jeff Shannon

In Old Chicago stars Don Ameche and Tyrone Power as two sons of the infamous Margaret O'Leary, whose ill-fated cow started the 1871 inferno that brought the entire city of Chicago to ruin. The brothers grow up on opposite sides od the law and their fraternal struggle reaches an incendiary crescendo mimicked by the flames that engulf the city.