POLICE STORY
© Weinstein

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Chan, Chan and Li

FREE DVDs, kids! In celebration of Hanukah, we have 3 copies of Jet Li’s martial arts epic Fearless in our Prize Closet to give away, courtesy of Universal. To enter, send an email to DVD Shopping List which includes your name and address, light a candle every time Jet kicks someone’s ass and make sure the subject line reads “WOOSHOO”. 

SPOTLIGHT OF THE WEEK 

The brilliance of Asian action filmmaking may never have attained a following past cult status if it hadn’t been for Jackie Chan, Though it took decades for his work to get much respect from US distributors. This one stunned me at festival screenings in the ‘80s, but first came to domestic video cropped, chopped and dubbed as Police Force. Here, we finally get a decent US disc: 

(O)   POLICE STORY (Dragon Dynasty/Weinstein) Hapless supercop Jackie Chan is assigned to protect a drug lord’s mistress (Brigitte Lin) until she can testify, much to the annoyance of his jealous girlfriend Maggie Cheung. When the villain escapes justice, he gets back at the young detective by framing him for murder. Special edition of Chan’s breakthrough 1985 cop flick, quite possibly the best action movie ever made, full of outrageous stunts, endlessly creative fight choreography and slapstick inspired by classic silent comedy. Includes commentrak with Chan fans Brett Ratner and Bey Logan, interview, stunt team retrospective, deleted footage and more. 

NEW RELEASES

 
(O)   ALTERED (Universal) Alien abduction horror from Eduardo Sanchez (The Blair Witch Project). 
(O)   AMERICAN PIE PRESENTS THE NAKED MILE (Universal) More Stifler brothers in college hijinks, as the franchise runs aground. “Fullscreen” rated edition includes deleted footage, outtakes and featurettes. Unrated “fullscreen” and widescreen editions add on an extra featurettes or two. 
(O)   CHARLIE CHAN COLLECTION Volume 2 (Fox) Includes Charlie Chan at the Opera (with Boris Karloff), Charlie Chan at the Olympics, Charlie Chan at the Race Track and Charlie Chan at the Circus (which I think is the only entry to feature Charlie’s wife and all of  his children). 
(O)  DARK REMAINS (Monarch) A grieving couple try to get over their daughter’s death with a trip to the mountains, but get in trouble with evil spirits and such. Includes commentrak, deleted footage, behind-the-scenes and more. 

FEARLESS

© Universal

(O)   FEARLESS (Universal) Jet Li is terrific in his “last” martial arts feature as legendary Master Huo Yuanjia. Unrated widescreen and “fullscreen” editions include the longer Chinese version, the US PG-13 theatrical cut, Making-Of featurettes and deleted scene.  
(O)   GUN CRAZY: Traitor’s Rhapsody (Media Blasters) Another entry in the Japanese Girls With Guns series. 
(O)   HIDESHI HINO’S THEATER OF HORROR (Genius) 6-disc setrof J-horror features adapting the works of the top horror mangaka: The Boy From Hell, Lizard Baby, Dead Girl Walking, Death Train, Ravaged House: Zoroku’s Disease and Occult  Detective Club: The Doll Cemetery.  
(O)   HOGAN’S HEROES Complete Fifth Season (Paramount) 26 episodes on four discs. Also available bundled with seasons 1-4. 
(O)   THE ILLUSTRATED MAN (Warner Bros.) 1969 feature based on Ray Bradbury’s anthology of stories. Includes vintage featurettes. 
(O)   LADY IN THE WATER (Warner Bros.) M. Night Shyalaman’s awkward fantasy feature is saved somewhat by an earnest performance by Paul Giamatti as an apartment complex manager who finds an inter-dimensional visitor in the swimming pool and must fulfill a complicated ritual in order to get her home. Widescreen and “standard” editions include 6-part Making-Of, deleted footage, auditions, gag reel and more. 
(O)   THE LIBRARIAN: RETURN TO KING SOLOMON’S MINES (Warner Bros.) Noah Wylie returns as adventuring bibliophile Flynn Carson in this TNT movie. With featurette.  
(O)   LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE (Fox) Sappy but winning comedy about an extended family with a lot of personal problems who reluctantly band together to get little Olive to a junior beauty pageant. Includes directors’ commentrak, alternate endings, music video and more. 
(O)   MARRIED WITH CHILDREN Complete Sixth Season (Sony) 26 episodes on three discs. 

MY SUPER EX-GIRLFRIEND

© Fox

(O)   MY SUPER EX-GIRLFRIEND (Fox) Another good genre comedy mix from Ivan Reitman (Ghostbusters), as Luke Wilson learns that superheroes like his new beau Uma Thurman can still be super-neurotic. Flipper contains both widescreen and “fullscreen” versions, plus deleted footage and music video.   
(O)   NATIONAL LAMPOON: PLEDGE THIS (Vivendi) Another raunchy college comedy, this one “boasting” an appearance by the talentless Paris Hilton. Yawn. Standard and “naughty” editions include Making-Of. 
(O)   NEZULLA THE RAT MONSTER (Media Blasters) J-horror with a bacteriological menace – plus a mutant rat monster! 
(O)   OPERATION CROSSBOW (Warner Bros.) 1965 WWII action film about commandoes sent to sabotage Hitler’s rocket program.  
(O)   THE PROMISE (Warner Bros.) Chen Kaige’s 2005 Golden Globe nominee swordplay epic. With Making-Of, additional footage and more. 
(O)   SPACEMEN & GO-GO GIRLS DOUBLE FEATURE (Tempe) Holiday sci-fi comedy twin bill of Spacemen & Go-Go Girls & the True Meaning of Christmas and Spacemen & Go-Go Girls & the Great Easter Egg Hunt. Includes commentraks and original 8mm versions of both films. 
(O)   SPIRIT TRAP (First Look) Four college students in a haunted mansion. With interviews. 
(O)   THERE WAS A CROOKED MAN (Warner Bros.) 1970 western comedy with Kirk Douglas, Warren Oates, Henry Fonda, Hume Cronyn and Burgess Meredith. 
(O)   UP PERISCOPE (Warner Bros.) James Garner and Edmond O’Brien in a 1959 submarine thriller.  
(O)   WALT DISNEY TREASURES: The Hardy Boys (Buena Vista) Two discs of the serialized adventures of the teenage amateur sleuths (Tim Considine & Tommy Kirk) broadcast in the mid-1950s on The Mickey Mouse Club.Includes featurettes, booklet and more in a tin case. 
(O)   WALT DISNEY TREASURES: Your Host, Walt Disney (Buena Vista) As the host of Disneyland and Wonderful World of Color, Walt Disney became a legitimate television star. This 2-disc tin case set collects some of the best behind-the-scenes featurettes from those programs hosted by Disney, plus interviews, booklet and more. 
(O)   THE WICKER MAN (Anchor Bay) 2-disc release of the original 1972 classic with Christopher Lee in which mainland police inspector Edward Woodward has his sanity tested by pagan inhabitants of Summerisle. Includes both the 88-minute theatrical version and the 99-minute extended cut, the latter accompanied by a brand new commentrak director Robin Hardy and stars Woodward and Lee, documentary and more. 
(O)   THE WICKER MAN (Warner Bros.) Inferior, awkwardly updated remake with Nicolas Cage. “Fullscreen” and widescreen editions include both rated and unrated versions, commentrak and more. 
(O)   ZOMBIE NATION (Lionsgate) A killer cop is haunted by his voodoo re-animated victims.  

HD-DVD CORNER 

(O)   CASINO (Universal) Includes Making-Of featurettes and deleted footage. 
(O)   DERAILED (Weinstein) With Making-Of featurette and deleted footage. 
(O)   FEARLESS (Universal) DVD combo. Both versions, with Making-Of featurette and deleted footage. 

LADY IN THE WATER

© Warner Bros.

(O)   THE SCORPION KING (Universal) DVD flipper with two commentraks, deleted footage, Making-Of featurettes, music video and more. 
(O)   THE SOPRANOS Season 6 Part 1 (HBO) Seven episodes plus commentraks. 
(O)   WOLF CREEK (Weinstein) Unrated version with commentrak, interview, Making-Of, deleted scenes and more. 
 

BLU-RAY DISC CORNER 

(O)   FLIGHTPLAN (Buena Vista)  
(O)   LADY IN THE WATER (Warner Bros.) Includes 6-part Making-Of, deleted footage, auditions, gag reel and more. 
(O)   THE SOPRANOS Season 6 Part 1 (HBO) Seven episodes plus commentraks. 
 
 

And be sure to check back next week—and every week—for Mania’s DVD Shopping List! And don’t forget Anime Avalanche every Monday!

DVD Shopping List (© 2007 Brian Thomas) is our weekly DVD column. Brian Thomas is the author of the massive book VideoHound’s Dragon: Asian Action & Cult Flicks, available now! 

Questions? Comments? Let us know what you think at DVD Shopping List.