15. Boogie Nights - New Line Platinum Edition
One of the weirdest combinations of extremes ever presented in a major American movie: a bittersweet mix of homespun family drama and X-rated pornography presented as a sprawling epic. The self-delusional quality of the characters and their dialogue is wickedly funny and gets better every time you see the movie. Director/writer PT Anderson is a DVD fan and proved it by personally overseeing this definitive Boogie Nights DVD release. It contains an additional hilarious commentary track (left over from the original Laserdisc release) with the cast recorded by Anderson. Here the director himself is probing the actors for salacious details and a no-holds-barred attitude towards the movie and their acting (only Burt Reynolds is missing in this commentary, although he's credited in the commentary by John C. Reilly as being 'high maintenance'). Off the beaten path, but well worth it.

review - coming soon

14. The Terminator - Special Edition
Released in a Special Edition double DVD in March 2001 for Region 2 and 4, this new Terminator version blows the previous one back through time. A superbly cleaned-up anamorphic widescreen transfer and a truly mind-blowing audio reworking in Dolby Digital 5.1 makes this a showcase of how to upgrade low budget action flicks from the 1980s. The extras are all worthwile although not as overwhelming as on the T2 Ultimate Edition DVD. But there's a little more Cameron/Schwarzenegger interaction here in the interviews and the packaging and design are once again awesome. This classic movie finally has the presentation it deserves for home theater and even though it's not one of my ultimate favorite movies it does highlight what dvd can do: watch something you'd half expect to be boring and end up watching the whole goddamn thing in stunned silence and awe.

review - coming soon

13. Taxi Driver - Collector's Edition
A great DVD that undoubtedly will get an even better release somewhere in the future. For now, the anamorphic enhancement and full-bodied surround track give this movie all the menace it needs for the small screen. And if you've seen the movie more than ten times it's actually neat to use the straight-to-script access feature: Paul Schrader was pretty detailed and it deepens your appreciation of De Niro's performance (if that's at all possible). The 80-minute documentary brings together all the major players and lifts this DVD release into the must-have category.

read the review

12. Psycho- Collector's Edition
A movie I ignored and forgot about until DVD came along: slightly edited from the 5-disc Laserdisc release from 1996 it contains the movie matted back to its original letterbox format (there's just nothing quite like seeing a Hitchcock in widescreen) along with the most comprehensive look at a Hitchcock movie so far. This could have been a Criterion edition: the extras are all engrossing and every Hitch fan will be extremely pleased in seeing the 90-minute documentary on offer here. Too bad the isolated Bernard Herrmann score from the laserdisc has been omitted from the DVD.

read the review

11. Out of Sight - Collector's Edition
Loved by critics but utterly overlooked by audiences upon its release, this movie shows why Soderbergh has scored it big with his subsequent movies in the 3 years since. His expertise is evident in the bold use of frequent flashbacks, an awesome soundtrack and extreme color schemes throughout all of the movie, but it's the performances he coaxes from the actors that show his maturity as a director. The DVD has a lively commentary track, great outtakes and a couple of small neat extras that show Soderbergh is a DVD fan.

read the review

10. The Exorcist - 25th Anniversary Edition
Don't be fooled by the recent 'Version You've Never Seen' theatrical re-release and DVD: this 25th Anniversary Edition is the only DVD version which contains the original 1973 theatrical cut and covers all aspects of this controversial film. The original BBC documentary is essential viewing, mainly because everyone who worked on the movie is interviewed. Friedkin and writer Blatty go mano a mano in an additional interview discussing some scenes that were changed and cut much to the chagrin of Blatty. Both Blatty and Friedkin have separate running commentaries, Blatty focusing on his writing in a calm and intelligent way, Friedkin going at high speed with plenty of great anecdotes. The DVD looks and sounds terrific and was authorized by Friedkin himself.

read the review

9. All the President's Men
An unlikely succes if there ever was one. Nobody was waiting for a Watergate story after the subject had nearly dragged the American government down in the preceding years. But Robert Redford was convinced that the story by Washington Post journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein was important and good enough to turn it into a Hollywood subject. He was right of course, and besides being helped by great performances from Jason Robards and Dustin Hoffman, a terrific screenplay by William Goldman (that manages to condense a convoluted reality into a presentable movie narrative), it ultimately became very much an Alan J. Pakula project who was of course no stranger to this type of story. Just two years earlier he had made the quintessential paranoia and conspiracy movie The Parallax View; but All The President's Men tops it by having an actual true story. The dialogues are verbatim as Woodward and Bernstein reported them and Pakalu creates the right mood by resorting to extreme close-ups when the reporters come close to the truth and dwarfing them by their surroundings when the story seems to elude them. Pakula keeps it simple and effective, and shows that you don't have to be Oliver Stone to do a political movie that stirs the hearts and minds. The current dvd version is not impressive but still miles ahead of any VHS version you've ever seen:anamorphic widescreen matted versions are available in both region 1 and region 2 (although the region 2 is falsely advertised as being pan & scan only).

review - coming soon

8. JFK - Special Edition Director's Cut
JFK is one of the greatest cinematic achievements ever in my opionion although I firmly believe Lee Harvey Oswald was solely responsible for the murder of JFK. So even if you don't buy Oliver Stone's political and moral agenda, this is a movie you really shouldn't pass on: technically, it simply doesn't get any better and it's incredible how Oliver Stone managed to get 25 years of mostly lame brain conspiracy stuff into a coherent package (Jim Garrison has a lot to answer for). The amount of images that are used, both stock footage and specifically shot images from 8mm, 16mm & 35mm all are adjusted to fit the thrust of the story. It makes an enormous impact and it puts you right inside the movie for the full 3 hours. And on this dvd edition everything just shines: the anamorphic enhancement, the fresh Dolby Digital 5.1 mix and the fascinating audio commentary by Stone himself. The second disc has no less than 50 minutes of outtakes, accompanied by more commentary from Stone. And don't forget to freeze frame the Zapruder film through the final headshot: what do you see?

read the review

7. L.A. Confidential
One of the best movies ever gets a great DVD treatment, especially considering this was an early DVD release. Image and audio are almost perfect and the extras are all very enlightening. Director Curtis Hanson put his heart and soul in this movie and his enthusiasm spills over in the DVD release. An intelligent story is boosted by his considerate approach in staging the movie, keeping clear of obvious signposting and period piece problems. A timeless quality and essential purchase, especially at Warners low pricing. And I didn't even mention Russell Crowe once.

read the review

6. Annie Hall
Woody Allen's arrival as a serious and quite brilliant filmmaker. I doubt anyone thought he had it in him at the time, but with Annie Hall he won critical and commercial favor. Many of the jokes are from his routines as a standup comdian during the early sixties but somehow it's all of a piece in the world Woody Allen inhabits. Diane Keaton effortlessly fills a role that was literally made for her. Serious stuff is evened out by jokes that are still funny after 20 viewings and even the look of the movie hasn't dated that much in 25 years: credit New York for always being slightly out of synch with the rest of the world. The DVD has an anamorphic transfer in region 2 and region 4, and no extras (of course). For now, it suffices.

read the review

5. Alien - 20th Anniversary Edition
Why so many people prefer Aliens to the original is hard to understand: all the elements that make Alien a classic have not been improved upon in any of its sequels. The design, the storyline, the suspense, the acting, the special effects: everything that makes the concept great is here in perfect form. That this was the fortuitous end product of an immensely diffcult process is detailed in the increasingly rare Alien Legacy bonus DVD disc. From top to bottom, this was a collaborative effort that succeeded in spite of its subject matter and financial strappings. This DVD version manages to cover all the bases, from the elaborate storyboards to the out of this world fantasies and set designs of HR Giger that shaped the final movie. Watch it again tonight and leave Mission To Mars rotting on the shelf if you please.

read the review

4. Chinatown
Too many movies have had LA as its location, but none match the mystery and history Chinatown heaps upon the city. Set in a time when things were supposed to be still sort of innocent, this story proves they definitely weren't. Credited by Roman Polanski as one of the easiest pictures he ever made, it's still Jack Nicholson who runs the show. Screenwriter Robert Towne created the character of JJ Gittes specifically for him, and Polanski was hired mostly because Nicholson wanted to. The DVD release offers brilliant picture and fantastic restored audio but sadly fails in the way of extras: I'm pretty sure that will be remedied come 30th anniversary time.

read the review

3. Badlands
Some movies captivate for reasons that are hard to explain. Sometimes it's a story or character you identify with or recognize, other times it's more a subtle feeling than something specific. Badlands falls into the latter category and if pushed to explain why, I'd say it's the film's view of American life on an emotional level. The movie understands how the American landscape influences the psyches of the people who live there and director Terrence Malick succeeds in getting the viewer to change his pace and thought process along with the film's captivating images. Another thread in the movie is the American obsession with pop culture and media celebrities both good and bad (the script was based upon the true story of the Charles Starkweather and Caril-Ann Fugate murders in 1958). These things are nowadays hardly confined to the USA but in Badlands you can see the origins and the true heart of the matter (more innocently dealt with in American Grafitti). The movie is wide open to interpreation, as Malick has never uttered a word about any of his movies. True to form, this DVD is as bare-bones as they come but I'm over the moon with the anamorphic enhancement: it brings out all the little details I missed on my crappy VHS.

read the review

2. Blade Runner - The Director's Cut
Science-fiction is a beloved but much-maligned movie genre: if only because it so easily falls into the trap of producing 'hey, let's blow up something big and see if it looks cool in outer space' movie scenes. Blade Runner is a sharp turn away from all that, concentrating on an utterly believable rainsoaked LA of the future (say hello, David Fincher) and a surprisingly philosophical storyline: what is a human being, and what exactly makes us human? Bladerunner offers a look at how we deal with private thoughts and memories: it's the replicant however who is searching for answers to the vital questions, and in doing so becoming more human than human.
The Ridley Scott director's cut (the one without the voiceover) is the only version currently available on DVD, and it's imminently rewatchable. Don't let anyone tell you this DVD looks bad by the way: it's a grainy but very decent anamorphic transfer with pleasing shadow detail and really brings out the amazing set designs and visual effects. Then again, this version will of course become totally obsolete next year when the full Special Edition DVD will hit the streets. Make sure you've seen it before then.

review - coming soon

1. Brazil - Criterion Edition
With Brazil, director Terry Gilliam has captured a non-existent moment in time: a place and a story that transforms and mangles history and future together with the logic of a deranged satirist. But don't take my word for it. Universal thought it was a love story and decided to convince director Terry Gilliam by recutting his movie. Gilliam wasn't impressed and in the end his version survived, but only just. This Criterion triple DVD set details all of this and much much more.
The visual style comes from Gilliam's background as an animator but Brazil not only delivers visually: it's a complete package, rife with social critique, post-modernism gone mad, rampant fascism, stifling bureaucracy and scenes littered with technofear. The visual violence on screen (ducts everywhere, buildings that seem to be reproductions of thirties fascist architecture) and some very black, and ultimately funny, scenes, (the arrest of Buttle, the torture chamber with the female typist noting every scream and gargle of the victims) give the sense that in the real world things get worse and centers can no longer hold. Gilliam shows you the door in Brazil, a way out of these depressing surroundings. And remember, even if you end up stark raving mad at the end, at least you're happy.

read the review