New DVD releases include ‘The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift’

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This article was published 25/09/2006 (7021 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Selected home-video releases:

“The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift”

The original “The Fast and the Furious” made the careers of Vin Diesel and Paul Walker. The makers of the third instalment pretty much concede the cars are the real stars with this continuation that features an all-new and younger cast hitting the streets of Japan. Lucas Black stars as a trouble-making American hot rodder transplanted to Tokyo, where he pals up with a street-wise hustler (Bow Wow) and ends up in a reckless high-speed showdown against a mob-connected local. The DVD has deleted scenes, commentary from director Justin Lin and featurettes that include looks at the actors in driving school, the art of “drift” racing and how the cars were customized. (Universal)

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“The Lake House”

Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock raced the streets on a bus rigged to explode in “Speed.” For their reunion, Reeves and Bullock spin their wheels with a tear-jerker whose convolutions elicit more chuckles than tears. Bullock plays a doctor who moves out of her cosy lake house, and Reeves is an architect who moves in after her. Their perfunctory correspondence about forwarding mail turns them into romantic pen pals, but then they discover they’re caught in a time-bending mystery: She’s writing from 2006 and he’s answering back from 2004. The DVD has seven deleted scenes. It would have been nice to have commentary from the filmmakers so someone could explain the ridiculous lapses in logic. (Warner Bros.)

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“Curious George”

The mischievous monkey from Margret and H.A. Rey’s children’s books swings onto the big screen in a sweet adaptation whose surprising innocence makes it a real throwback in an age of hip cartoon characters. Will Ferrell leads the voice cast as a museum guide who treks to Africa and makes pals with the adorably meddlesome monkey, the two forming a primate partnership as they set out to save the museum. Drew Barrymore adds vocals for a teacher with a crush on Ferrell’s character. DVD extras are aimed at the movie’s main audience of young kids, with a sing-along feature, segments teaching new words and drawing, and a handful of games. The disc also has 15 deleted scenes. (Universal)

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“Dracula,” “Frankenstein”

Two great chillers from the crypts of old Hollywood are resurrected in new DVD versions to mark their 75th anniversaries. Bela Lugosi stars as Bram Stoker’s vampire, while Boris Karloff is Frankenstein’s monster in the adaptation of Mary Shelley’s classic. Each comes in a two-disc set with many of the same extras included on a previous release. The sets have featurettes paying tribute to Lugosi and Karloff, along with commentary from film scholars, making-of segments and trivia tidbits that can be accessed while watching the films. Both also come with a documentary narrated by Kenneth Branagh examining the horror gems that came out of Universal Studios, while the “Dracula” set is accompanied by the Spanish-language version shot on the same set with a different cast. (Universal)

Also on the monster front are “The Munsters Two-Movie Fright Fest,” with the feature-length tales “Munster, Go Home!” and “The Munsters’ Revenge” featuring Fred Gwynne and his sitcom co-stars; and “Frankenstein: The True Story,” a’70s TV miniseries with Michael Sarrazin, Leonard Whiting and Jane Seymour. (Universal)

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“A Nightmare on Elm Street,” “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre”

Two of modern horror’s pioneering slasher flicks return in new DVD incarnations. “A Nightmare on Elm Street,” with Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger, the creep with the claws who infiltrates victims’ dreams, comes with an alternate ending, three featurettes and commentary by director Wes Craven and co-stars John Saxon and Heather Langenkamp. “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” about a road trip that turns savage for a group of college kids who encounter chainsaw-wielding “Leatherface” and his family of cannibals, comes in a two-disc set with two behind-the-scenes documentaries, deleted scenes and commentary with director Tobe Hooper and much of the cast. “Nightmare on Elm Street” (New Line); “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” (Dark Sky)

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TV on DVD:

“Brotherhood: The Complete First Season” – An Irish neighbourhood in Providence, R.I., is the scene for a sibling saga starring Jason Clark as a politician and Jason Isaacs as his mobster brother. The first 11 episodes come in a three-disc set, with commentary from the executive producers on one episode. (Paramount)

“Mama’s Family: The Complete First Season” – The’80s spinoff of “The Carol Burnett Show” stars Vicki Lawrence as cranky Mama and Ken Berry as her dopey son, with guest appearances by Burnett and Harvey Korman as relations of the dysfunctional family. A two-disc set has the first- episodes. (Warner Bros.)

“Daniel Boone” – The first two years of Fess Parker’s’60s Western series come in a pair of eight-disc sets, with all 29 of season one’s episodes and all 30 of season two’s. Parker stars as pioneer Boone as he and his family carve out a life in frontier Kentucky. (Liberation)

“Riptide: The Complete First Season” – Perry King, Joe Penny and Thom Bray star in the’80s series about two tough private detectives and their nerdy science partner, who team up to solve crimes in Los Angeles. A three-disc set has the first- episodes. (Sony)

“One Tree Hill: The Complete Third Season” – Melodrama lives on for rival half-brothers (Chad Michael Murray and James Lafferty) and their circle of friends, family and foes. Year three’s 22 episodes come in a six-disc set, with deleted scenes, commentary and a featurette. (Warner Bros.)

“Ellen: The Complete Season Four” – A landmark year for Ellen DeGeneres”90s sitcom comes to DVD. Season four broke ground on television as DeGeneres’ zany bookstore owner came out as a lesbian. The season’s 25 episodes are packed in a three-disc set, with commentary from the writers on one episode. (A&E)

“Pride and Prejudice” – To mark its 10th anniversary, the lush BBC adaptation of Jane Austen’s classic, starring Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle, returns in a lavish boxed set. Along with the five-hour miniseries, the three-disc set has an A&E “Biography” instalment on Austen and a 120-page book about the making of the show. (A&E)

“Benny Hill: Set Five” – A three-disc set packs British comedian Hill’s sketch-comedy instalments from’82-85 in their uncut form, which were never broadcast in the United States. The set has nine episodes, plus interviews with cast members and a trivia game. (A&E)

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Other new releases:

“The Notorious Bettie Page” – Gretchen Mol stars as the’50s pinup queen, a woman from a Southern religious family whose provocative photos put her at the centre of a U.S. Senate porn investigation. Mol and director Mary Harron offer commentary. (HBO)

“Down in the Valley” – Edward Norton and Evan Rachel Wood star in a tale of forbidden romance between a cowboy and a spirited teenager. The DVD has deleted scenes and a question-and-answer session with Norton and director David Jacobson. (ThinkFilm)

“Beowulf & Grendel” – Gerard Butler stars as the hero of the epic Old English poem as he fights to take down monstrous Grendel, the terror of the Norse countryside. The DVD has deleted scenes and interviews with the cast, which includes Sarah Polley and Stellan Skarsgard. (Union Station)