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New Price: $28.99Beauty and the Beast
Actors: Paige O'Hara, Robby Benson, Angela Lansbury, David Ogden Stiers, Jerry Orbach
ASIN : B00003CX8Y
Sales Rank : 94
Director : Gary Trousdale
Brand : Disney
Studio : Walt Disney Video
Model : N/A
Region Code : 1
Format : Animated, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Special Edition, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0786936171631
UPC : 786936171631
Release Date : December 08, 2002
Publisher : Walt Disney Video
Manufacturer : Walt Disney Video
Label : Walt Disney Video
Running Time : 90
Amazon.com essential videoThe film that officially signaled Disney's animation renaissance (following The Little Mermaid) and the only animated feature to receive a Best Picture Oscar nomination, Beauty and the Beast remains the yardstick by which all other animated films should be measured. It relates the story of Belle, a bookworm with a dotty inventor for a father; when he inadvertently offends the Beast (a prince whose heart is too hard to love anyone besides himself), Belle boldly takes her father's place, imprisoned in the Beast's gloomy mansion. Naturally, Belle teaches the Beast to love. What makes this such a dazzler, besides the amazingly accomplished animation and the winning coterie of supporting characters (the Beast's mansion is overrun by quipping, dancing household items) is the array of beautiful and hilarious songs by composer Alan Menken and the late, lamented lyricist Howard Ashman. (The title song won the 1991 Best Song Oscar, and Menken's score scored a trophy as well.) The downright funniest song is "Gaston," a lout's paean to himself (including the immortal line, "I use antlers in all of my de-co-ra-ting"). "Be Our Guest" is transformed into an inspired Busby Berkeley homage. Since Ashman's passing, animated musicals haven't quite reached the same exhilarating level of wit, sophistication, and pure joy. --David Kronke --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Reviews for the Beauty and the Beast
List Price: $26.98Price: $14.99You Save: $11.99 (44%)The Sound of Music (Two-Disc 40th Anniversary Special Edition)
Actors: Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer, Richard Haydn, Peggy Wood, Anna Lee
ASIN : B000AP04OM
Sales Rank : 101
Director : Robert Wise
Brand : TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT
Studio : 20th Century Fox
Region Code : 1
Format : Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0024543208389
UPC : 024543208389
Release Date : December 15, 2005
Publisher : 20th Century Fox
Manufacturer : 20th Century Fox
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : 20th Century Fox
Running Time : 174
DescriptionJulie Andrews in the heartwarming true story that has become a cinematic treasure. Rodgers and Hammerstein's "The Sound of Music." Julie Andrews is Maria, the spirited, young woman who leaves the convent and becomes a governess to the seven unruly charm and songs soon win the hearts of the children and their father but when Nazi, Germany unites with Austria, Maria is forced to attempt a daring escape with her new family. Amazon.com essential videoWhen Julie Andrews sang "The hills are alive with the sound of music" from an Austrian mountaintop in 1965, the most beloved movie musical was born. To be sure, the adaptation of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II's Broadway hit has never been as universally acclaimed as, say, Singin' in the Rain. Critics argue that the songs are saccharine (even the songwriters regretted the line "To sing through the night like a lark who is learning to pray") and that the characters and plot lack the complexity that could make them more interesting. It's not hard to know whom to root for when your choice is between cute kids and Nazis. 
Read our interview with
Charmian Carr, who played
Liesl von Trapp in The
Sound of Music. | It doesn't matter. Audiences fell in love with the struggling novice Maria (Andrews), the dashing Captain von Trapp (Christopher Plummer), and, yes, the cute kids, all based on a real-life World War II Austrian family. Such songs as "My Favorite Things," "Do Re Mi," "Climb Every Mountain," and the title tune became part of the 20th century Zeitgeist. In addition, The Sound of Music officially became a cult hit when audiences in London began giving it the Rocky Horror Picture Show treatment, attending showings dressed as their favorite characters and delivering choreographed comments and gestures along with the movie. So why resist, especially when the 40th Anniversary Edition is the best DVD yet. The DVDs
As if the direct involvement of Julie Andrews weren't enough, the 40th Anniversary Edition of The Sound of Music is a must-have for fans because of the fond sense of nostalgia that will touch all but the worst cynic's heart. Andrews introduces both discs and contributes a commentary track on the film. It's a joy to hear her speak about the film (for example, she explains how she solved her dislike for the lyrics of "I Have Confidence"), and also heard are remarks by Christopher Plummer (who at one point refers to his being 48, which if true would mean his comments were made in about 1975), Charmian Carr (Liesl), choreographer Dee Dee Wood, and Johannes Von Trapp (the real-life Maria Von Trapp's youngest son, who admits that his father did have a whistle but claims that he was not as stern as portrayed in the film). Even with all those people involved, there are still significant gaps of silence, however. Retained from the previous two-disc editions is the commentary track by director Robert Wise, which during the musical numbers becomes an isolated score with no vocals. Also new are sing-along subtitles in English, Spanish, and French, which allow you to have your own sing-along at home. In addition, the film's remastering shows off a truer and much warmer sense of color. On the second disc, Andrews participates in a new 63-minute documentary "My Favorite Things: Julie Andrews Remembers." But it's really a general making-of documentary with contributions from a number of principals, including director Robert Wise, who died in mid-2005 (not surprisingly, some stories are repeated from the commentary track and from the 87-minute documentary on the previous DVD). Andrews also shares a warm 19-minute sit-down with Christopher Plummer. Carr, who over the years has become the film's biggest advocate, narrates a new 22-minute documentary, "On Location with The Sound of Music," in which she revisits the places in Salzburg where the movie was filmed, and even joins one of the "Sound of Music tours" that have become a booming industry. And acknowledging another big industry, there's a 12-minute featurette on the sing-along phenomenon, focusing specifically on the audience, costumed and otherwise, that attended a sold-out Hollywood Bowl sing-along in 2005. Making special appearances at the event are four von Trapp great-grandchildren and all seven of the actors who played the children. Thankfully, those actors also appear in a 33-minute documentary "From Liesl to Gretl: A 40th Anniversary Reunion," in which they explain what they do now (many are still in show business) and share stories about the film, who was afraid of Christopher Plummer, and what they feel is their responsibility to the film's passionate fans. What's touching is how the group still considers themselves a family so many years later. Other material includes an A&E documentary on the von Trapps, Mia Farrow's screen test for the Liesl role, and a restoration comparison. What's Missing?
If you already own the previous two-disc editions, you'll want this 40th Anniversary Edition as well, but you might not want to toss those versions. Probably the most significant omission from this edition is the original 14-minute documentary Charmian Carr made in 1967, "Salzburg Sight and Sound." Carr's new documentary includes only a couple clips from the vintage piece. It's not a great work of art, but it's a notable loss and would have made a good contrast with the new documentary. In addition, the new making-of documentary is about 24 minutes shorter than the old one. Also missing are the audio-only features--the interviews, the radio programs, the Ernest Lehman spotlight--and the historical still gallery examining the history of Salzburg and the film. Granted, this material probably got the least play of any of the old features, but completists might want to hold onto their old discs for it. It would have also been nice to have screen tests other than Farrow's. Tests for all the children and for Christopher Plummer (including singing in his own voice before he was dubbed for the film) were included on Hollywood Screen Tests and Rodgers and Hammerstein: The Sound of Movies. Again, they're not critical but it would have been nice to have them all in one place. So maybe the 40th Anniversary Edition isn't the complete package on The Sound of Music, but it's the most satisfying edition yet, with enough new material to please even the veteran SoM DVD watcher. --David Horiuchi
Stills from The Sound of Music (Click for larger image)
Reviews for the The Sound of Music (Two-Disc 40th Anniversary Special Edition)
List Price: $28.96Price: $14.99You Save: $13.97 (48%)Made of Honor
Actors: Patrick Dempsey, Michelle Monaghan, Kevin McKidd, Kadeem Hardison, Chris Messina
ASIN : B001AKTZW8
Sales Rank : 199
Director : Paul Weiland
Brand : Sony
Studio : Sony Pictures
Region Code : 99
Format : AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0043396243644
UPC : 043396243644
Release Date : December 16, 2008
Publisher : Sony Pictures
Manufacturer : Sony Pictures
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Sony Pictures
Running Time : 101
Product DescriptionTom loves his life. Until he realizes he also loves his best friend hannah. But when hannah gets engaged to a dashing scotsman & asks him to be her maid of honor tom faces hostile bridesmaids bridal showers & bad hair days all in an effort to pull off the perfect wedding - and steal the bride! Studio: Sony Pictures Home Ent Release Date: 09/16/2008 Starring: Patrick Dempsey Michelle Monaghan Run time: 101 minutes Rating: Pg13 Amazon.comPatrick Dempsey makes his full transition to romantic-comedy stardom in Made of Honor, flashing those winning dimples and twinkly baby blues to full fetching effect. The camera truly loves him, and his considerable affable charm calls to mind early Hugh Grant, winsome even in utter confusion. Dempsey plays Tom, a nice guy but a serial dater with a girlfriend in every zip code of New York; Michelle Monaghan is Hannah, Tom's BFF since college, who's decided she wants marriage and family. When she becomes unexpectedly engaged to Colin (Journeyman's Kevin McKidd, rather McDreamy himself), Tom realizes what the viewer's known all along--that Hannah is in fact his dream woman. It's When Harry Met Sally... meets My Best Friend's Wedding--but thankfully, Dempsey's Tom is far more sympathetic than Julia Roberts' snide schemer. The plot isn't exactly full of surprises, but the cast--and their amazing chemistry--are so winning that the film makes for the perfect date movie. Not only are all three leads charming in their own way, but the rich cinematography manages to make both Manhattan and the Scottish countryside look like glorious edens, one urban, one windswept. Monaghan is a revelation, quietly lovely as a young Carla Bruni, but with a flinty gumption that makes her all the more appealing. The supporting cast is rich, too, especially Sydney Pollack as Tom's serially marrying dad. (At his dad's fifth--or is it sixth?--wedding, Tom's new arm-candy "stepmom" gets tipsy and overly affectionate with guests as her new husband looks on fondly: "Ah... drunk as the night I first met her.") But at the core of the film are its big heart, and the connection between Tom and Hannah, deep and wide whether they end up just best friends or more. And the delight for viewers is knowing they'll be just as glowy either way.-- A.T. Hurley
Stills from Made of Honor (click for larger image)
Reviews for the Made of Honor
List Price: $24.98Price: $18.99You Save: $5.99 (24%)Moonlighting - Seasons 1 & 2
Actors: Artie Mandelberg, Bruce Willis
ASIN : B0007XBMA2
Sales Rank : 350
Director : Paul Lynch, Sam Weisman, Artie Mandelberg, Allan Arkush, Christopher T. Welch
Brand : Lions Gate
Studio : Lions Gate
Region Code : 1
Format : Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Extra tracks, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0031398174738
UPC : 031398174738
Release Date : December 31, 2005
Publisher : Lions Gate
Manufacturer : Lions Gate
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Lions Gate
Running Time : 1200
DescriptionMaddie Hayes (Cybil Shepard), a wealthy former model, discovers one morning that her business manager has stolen all the money she has in the bank. However, it turns out that she still owns some non-liquid assets -- money-losing companies which were maintained as tax write-offs -- one of which is a detective agency run by David Addison (Bruce Willis). Maddie meets with him to inform him that the company is to be shut down, but he persuades her to keep it open by convincing her that the detective agency can make money. Maddie becomes David's new boss and accompanies him on adventure after adventure. While their personalities clash, a sexual tension arises in the time they spend together. But the question always remains... will they or won't they? Amazon.comGlamorous Maddie Hayes (Cybill Shepherd) is an ex-model with a problem--her accountant just ran off with her money. Granted, he did leave her with a few broken-down businesses. One happens to be a detective agency run by charming loudmouth David Addison (Bruce Willis). Her attempt to shutter the agency fails when they stumble across a crime and David convinces Maddie to help him solve it. And with that, one of television's most popular partnerships was born. Moonlighting made a star out of newcomer Willis and turned Shepherd (Taxi Driver), who had already found fame through fashion and film, into a bona fide TV star. Created for ABC by Glenn Gordon Caron (Remington Steele), the romantic comedy/detective drama was a mid-season replacement that quickly became a hit. There were only six episodes in the first season, including the two-part pilot, but 18 were produced for the second. Rhyming receptionist Agnes DiPesto (Allyce Beasley) was a regular from the start, while Herbert Viola (Ray’s Curtis Armstrong) wouldn’t hit the scene until the third season (as with Paul Sorvino and Mark Harmon). The first two seasons attracted an eclectic array of guest stars, including Tim Robbins ("Gunfight at the So-So Corral"), Beasley's husband Vincent Schiavelli ("Next Stop Murder"), Dana Delany ("Knowing Her"), Richard Belzer ("Twas the Episode Before Christmas"), and Whoopi Goldberg ("Camille"), who earned an Emmy nomination for her performance. The most notable guest was surely Orson Welles, who introduces the black and white noir spoof "The Dream Sequence Always Rings Twice." It would be his final TV appearance. Moonlighting ran for three more years. While the Emmy-winning Willis would abandon TV for the big screen, Shepherd found subsequent small screen success with Cybill. Caron, meanwhile, would launch another mid-season replacement series which became a surprise hit: NBC's Medium with Patricia Arquette. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
Reviews for the Moonlighting - Seasons 1 & 2
List Price: $28.98Price: $15.99You Save: $12.99 (45%)Speed Racer (Widescreen Edition)
Actors: Emile Hirsch, Christina Ricci, John Goodman, Susan Sarandon
ASIN : B001CD6FKI
Sales Rank : 300
Director : Andy Wachowski, Larry Wachowski
Brand : Warner Brothers
Studio : Warner Home Video
Region Code : 1
Format : Color, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0085391176398
UPC : 085391176398
Release Date : December 16, 2008
Publisher : Warner Home Video
Manufacturer : Warner Home Video
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Warner Home Video
Running Time : 135
Product DescriptionStudio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 09/16/2008 Rating: Pg Amazon.comAn over-the-top, sensory overload experience determined to replicate its frantic, television-anime origins, Speed Racer is wild enough to induce a headache or wow a viewer with one dazzling effect after another. Adapted for the big screen as a live-action feature, Speed Racer is written and directed by Larry and Andy Wachowski, the sibling team behind the intensely satisfying The Matrix and its busier, less interesting sequels. Where the rich mythmaking of The Matrix was entirely accessible, however, Speed Racer's overwhelming and gratuitously complicated story exposition is an enormous challenge to follow, let alone embrace. After a while, one simply surrenders to the unbroken din of dialogue concerning corporate chicanery, corruption in the sport of racing, and a value conflict between racing as a family business versus multinational cash cow. At the same time, the film's hyper-real equivalent of the old Speed Racer cartoon's great whoosh of color, motion, and edgy production design--such as inventive uses of scene-changing wipes, bold framing, shifting perspectives--are more overbearing than fun. Emile Hirsch plays Speed Racer, younger brother of a deceased racing legend, Rex, and son of car designer Pops (John Goodman). The latter invented Speed's Mach 5, and is singularly unimpressed by an offer from a giant conglomerate that would lock Speed into exclusive racing services. Speed opts instead for family loyalty, incurring the wrath of the conglomerate's unctuous head (Roger Allam). With family honor on the line and the affections of girlfriend Trixie (Christina Ricci) behind him, Speed hits the track in hopes of fulfilling his destiny as a master racer. The cast is largely enjoyable, including Susan Sarandon as Speed's mom, Matthew Fox as mysterious Racer X, and a pair of chimps as the irrepressible Chim-Chim. All well and good, but in a movie that lives or dies by the excitement level of races that look like computer-animated Hot Wheels action, Speed Racer is a dreary adventure. --Tom Keogh
Reviews for the Speed Racer (Widescreen Edition)
List Price: $14.98Price: $9.99You Save: $4.99 (33%)The Day the Earth Stood Still
Actors: Michael Rennie, Patricia Neal, Hugh Marlowe, Lock Martin, Frances Bavier
ASIN : B00005JKFR
Sales Rank : 502
Director : Robert Wise
Brand : RENNIE,MICHAEL
Studio : 20th Century Fox
Region Code : 1
Format : Black & White, Closed-captioned, DVD-Video, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0024543050056
UPC : 024543050056
Release Date : December 04, 2003
Publisher : 20th Century Fox
Manufacturer : 20th Century Fox
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : 20th Century Fox
Running Time : 92
DescriptionThe Day The Earth Stood Still depicts the arrival of an alien dignitary, Klaatu (Michael Rennie), who has come to earth with his deadly robot, Gort (Lock Martin), to deliver the message that earthlings must stop warring among themselves--or else. After being shot at by military guards, Klaatu is brought to a Washington, D.C. hospital, where he begs a sympathetic but frank Major White (Robert Osterloh) to gather all the world's leaders so he can tell them more specifically what he has come to warn them about. Losing patience, Klaatu slips into the human world, adapting a false identity and living at a boarding house where he meets a smart woman with a conscience and her inquisitive son. Both mother and son soon find themselves embroiled in the complex mystery of Klaatu, his message and the government's witch hunt for the alien. Amazon.com essential videoA hallmark of the science fiction genre as well as a wry commentary on the political climate of the 1950s, The Day the Earth Stood Still is a sci-fi movie less concerned with special effects than with a social parable. A spacecraft lands in Washington, D.C., carrying a humanoid messenger from another world (Michael Rennie) imparting a warning to the people of Earth to cease their violent behavior. But panic ensues as the messenger lands and is shot by a nervous soldier. His large robot companion destroys the Capitol as the messenger escapes the confines of the hospital. He moves in with a family as a boarder and blends into society to observe the full range of the human experience. Director Robert Wise (West Side Story) not only provides one of the most recognizable icons of the science fiction world in his depiction of the massive robot loyal to his master, but he avoids the obvious camp elements of the story to create a quiet and observant story highlighting both the good and the bad in human nature. --Robert Lane
Reviews for the The Day the Earth Stood Still
List Price: $26.98Price: $9.99You Save: $16.99 (63%)Citizen Kane (Two-Disc Special Edition)
Actors: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Agnes Moorehead, Ray Collins, Dorothy Comingore
ASIN : B00003CX9E
Sales Rank : 338
Director : Orson Welles
Brand : Warner Brothers
Studio : Turner Home Ent
Region Code : 1
Format : Black & White, Closed-captioned, Dolby, DVD-Video, Subtitled, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 9780780635203
ISBN : 0780635205
UPC : 053939656527
Release Date : December 25, 2001
Publisher : Turner Home Ent
Manufacturer : Turner Home Ent
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Turner Home Ent
Running Time : 119
Product DescriptionAbout an influential and ruthless publishing tycoon shines in a magnificient 60th-anniversary digital transfer with revitalized digital audio. Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 02/04/2003 Run time: 119 minutes Rating: Pg Amazon.com essential videoArguably the greatest of American films, Orson Welles's 1941 masterpiece, made when he was only 26, still unfurls like a dream and carries the viewer along the mysterious currents of time and memory to reach a mature (if ambiguous) conclusion: people are the sum of their contradictions, and can't be known easily. Welles plays newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane, taken from his mother as a boy and made the ward of a rich industrialist. The result is that every well-meaning or tyrannical or self-destructive move he makes for the rest of his life appears in some way to be a reaction to that deeply wounding event. Written by Welles and Herman J. Mankiewicz, and photographed by Gregg Toland, the film is the sum of Welles's awesome ambitions as an artist in Hollywood. He pushes the limits of then-available technology to create a true magic show, a visual and aural feast that almost seems to be rising up from a viewer's subconsciousness. As Kane, Welles even ushers in the influence of Bertolt Brecht on film acting. This is truly a one-of-a-kind work, and in many ways is still the most modern of modern films from the 20th century. --Tom Keogh
Reviews for the Citizen Kane (Two-Disc Special Edition)
List Price: $14.98Price: $8.99You Save: $5.99 (40%)The Christmas Shoes
Actors: Rob Lowe, Kimberly Williams-Paisley, Max Morrow, Maria del Mar, Hugh Thompson
ASIN : B000GYIPPW
Sales Rank : 243
Director : Andy Wolk
Brand : LOWE,ROB
Studio : Good Times Video
Region Code : 1
Format : Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0018713518064
UPC : 018713518064
Release Date : December 07, 2006
Publisher : Good Times Video
Manufacturer : Good Times Video
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Good Times Video
Running Time : 100
Product DescriptionA workaholoc attorney crosses paths with a young boy on christmas eve & rediscovers the true meaning of love life & the holiday season. Studio: Gaiam Americas Release Date: 11/07/2006 Starring: Rob Lowe Run time: 94 minutes Amazon.comThe Christmas Shoes bounces between two families--the Layton household, where father Robert (Rob Lowe, The West Wing) is so consumed with his work that he misses his daughter's recital; and the Andrews home, where mother Maggie (Kimberly Williams, According to Jim) has been diagnosed with a fatal heart ailment. Desperate to make his mother's last moments happy, Maggie's son Nathan struggles to buy a pair of red dancing shoes that seem like a pair Maggie remembers from her childhood. Naturally, the lives of these families become intertwined, particularly when Robert's wife takes over Maggie's choral program--which topples the already troubled balance between Kate and Robert. Perhaps because Rob Lowe is usually stereotyped as glib and insincere, The Christmas Shoes feels surprisingly heartfelt. The earnestness of The Christmas Shoes surprises because the story originated in the famously sappy country song of the same name, and movies based on songs rarely feel anything but plastic and contrived. There are certainly moments when The Christmas Shoes lays on the sentiment woefully thick, but you'd have to be an ogre not to be touched when Maggie and her husband have one last dance. Also featuring Dorian Harewood (Roots: The Next Generations). --Bret Fetzer
Reviews for the The Christmas Shoes
List Price: $26.98Price: $10.99You Save: $15.99 (59%)Forbidden Planet (Two-Disc Special Edition)
Actors: Walter Pidgeon, Anne Francis, Leslie Nielsen, Warren Stevens, Jack Kelly
ASIN : B000HEWEDK
Sales Rank : 707
Director : Fred M. Wilcox
Brand : Warner Brothers
Studio : Warner Home Video
Region Code : 1
Format : AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0012569691223
UPC : 012569691223
Release Date : December 14, 2006
Publisher : Warner Home Video
Manufacturer : Warner Home Video
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Warner Home Video
Running Time : 98
DescriptionA dutiful robot named Robby speaks 188 languages. An underground lair offers evidence of an advanced civilization. But among Altair-4's many wonders, none is greater or more deadly than the human mind. Forbidden Planet is the granddaddy of tomorrow, a pioneering work whose ideas and style would be reverse-engineered into many cinematic space voyages to come. Leslie Nielsen plays the commander who brings his spacecruiser crew to the green-skied world that's home to Dr. Morbius (Walter Pidgeon), his daughter (Anne Francis)...and to a mysterious terror. Featuring sets of extraordinary scale and the first all-electronic musical soundscape in film history, Forbidden Planet is in a movie orbit all its own. Amazon.comThis 1956 pop adaptation of Shakespeare's The Tempest is one of the best, most influential science fiction movies ever made. Its space explorers are the models for the crew of Star Trek's Enterprise, and the film's robot is clearly the prototype for Robby in Lost in Space. Walter Pidgeon is the Prospero figure, presiding over a paradisiacal world with his lovely young daughter and their servile droid. When the crew of a spaceship lands on the planet, they become aware of a sinister invisible force that threatens to destroy them. Great special effects and a bizarre electronic score help make this movie as fresh, imaginative, and fun as it was when first released. --Amazon.com On the DVDs
On disc 1 of the colorfully designed 2-disc 50th Anniversary Edition of Forbidden Planet (also available in a collector's box), the movie is presented with a new digital transfer from restored picture and audio elements, with soundtrack remastered in Dolby Digital 5.1, offering considerable improvement over the film's previous DVD release. A selection of deleted scenes were taken from a faded and scratchy 16-millimeter "work print" that had originally been viewed by composers Louis and Bebe Barron as they were creating the film's unique electronic score; they consist of full or partial scenes cut from the final film-- mostly for good reason, but collectors (and those who first saw this rare material on the original Criterion Collection laserdisc) will welcome their inclusion here. The "lost footage" is crude special-effects test footage, primarily of interest to sci-fi historians and aficionados. Given the fact that the original "Robby the Robot" cost over $100,000 to build in 1955, it's easy to see why MGM wanted to get their money's worth: An excerpt from the 1950s TV series "MGM Parade" shows Forbidden Planet star Walter Pigeon appearing briefly with Robby, and the popular robot gets even more attention as a guest star in "The Robot Client," an episode of the Thin Man TV series (starring Peter Lawford and Phyllis Kirk) that originally aired on Feb. 28, 1958. Disc 1 also includes a gallery of seven science-fiction movie trailers dating from 1953 (The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms) to 1960's The Time Machine. Disc 2 begins with 1957's The Invisible Boy, a still-enjoyable B-movie that served as Robby's post-Forbidden Planet showcase. Here, filmdom's favorite automaton plays sidekick to a young boy (Richard Eyer) who turns invisible when he gets caught up in a super-computer's scheme of global domination. Also included are three documentaries, ranging from very good to excellent: In addition to reuniting the surviving cast members of the '56 classic (including Leslie Nielsen, Anne Francis, Richard Anderson, Warren Stevens, and Earl Holliman), "Amazing! Exploring the Far Reaches of Forbidden Planet" is an appreciative tribute to Forbidden Planet with some of Hollywood's foremost sci-fi fans including special effects masters Dennis Muren and Phil Tippett, SF movie expert Bill Warren, and others. "Robby the Robot: Engineering a Sci-Fi Icon" is a featurette about the robot's design, creation and pop-cultural history, featuring original "Robby" designer Robert Kinoshita, Bill Malone (current owner of the original Robby), and Fred "The Robot Man" Barton, a lifelong robot fanatic who now sells fully authorized, full-scale replicas of Robby for sci-fi fans with deep pockets. Closing out disc 2 is "Watch the Skies!: Science Fiction, the 1950s and Us," a 2005 documentary from Turner Classic Movies, written and directed by Time magazine critic Richard Schickel. It's a thoroughly comprehensive survey of '50s sci-fi and its influence on the next generation of film directors, including engaging interviews with George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, John Carpenter, Ridley Scott and James Cameron. --Jeff Shannon
Reviews for the Forbidden Planet (Two-Disc Special Edition)
List Price: $14.98Price: $12.99You Save: $1.99 (13%)The 10th Kingdom
Actors: Kimberly Williams-Paisley, Scott Cohen, Camryn Manheim, Ann-Margret, Rutger Hauer
ASIN : B0000648XE
Sales Rank : 1143
Director : David Carson, Herbert Wise
Brand : Lions Gate
Studio : Lions Gate
Region Code : 1
Format : Full Screen, Color, Dolby, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0707729127185
UPC : 707729127185
Release Date : December 28, 2002
Publisher : Lions Gate
Manufacturer : Lions Gate
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Lions Gate
Running Time : 417
Product DescriptionThe story begins in new york city where birginia and her father tony encounter a stray dog who ends up being a prince under an evil spell. The group of them go to the land of nine kingdoms via a magic mirror wherein they encounter an evil queen who has escaped from the snow white memorial prison. Studio: Lions Gate Home Ent. Release Date: 04/22/2003 Starring: John Laroquette Ann Margret Run time: 348 minutes Rating: Nr Amazon.comThis epic 10-hour miniseries from the Emmy-winning writer of Gulliver's Travels was a ratings bust on television, but on video and DVD, where it can be enjoyed at one's leisure, it has a better chance to cast its magical spell. Kimberly Williams has never been more enchanting than as Virginia, a waitress who still lives with her janitor father (John Larroquette) and yearns for something exciting to happen to her. Her wish comes true when she and her father are transported from New York City into a dimension that, with apologies to Rod Serling, can only be called the Fairy Tale Zone; nine kingdoms populated by characters from fairy tales of yore. They team up with a dog who's really a prince--Wendell, grandson of Snow White--changed into canine form by the evil Queen (Dianne Wiest), who plots to usurp Wendell's throne. Father, daughter, and his royal dogness are relentlessly pursued through the nine kingdoms by the Troll King (Ed O'Neill) and his three bumbling and horrible children, and the conflicted Wolf (Scott Cohen), who is allied with the Queen but, with the aid of some Oprah-esque self-help books, tames his inner beast and falls in love with Virginia. The 10th Kingdom is a special effects extravaganza. There is indeed, as one character marvels, magic to behold here. But despite the Hallmark brand name and the presence of a grown-up Snow White (Camryn Manheim) and Cinderella (Ann-Margret), bewitched animals, magic mirrors, and trolls, this is not kid's stuff. It can get scary, surprisingly violent, and quite intense; you know, just like real fairy tales. --Donald Liebenson
Reviews for the The 10th Kingdom
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