'Pirates' and other DVDs land in stores

0 Comments | Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Dec 4, 2003 | by Chris Hicks Deseret Morning News

A variety of disparate DVDs has landed on local video-store shelves, including "Pirates of the Caribbean," which was last summer's second-biggest hit (after "Finding Nemo").

-- "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" (Disney, 2003, PG-13, $29.99, two discs). This pirate yarn/ghost story, developed from the Disneyland ride, is action-packed and loaded with thrills. But what brought audiences back to the movie again and again during the summer was the hysterical performance by Johnny Depp as seedy Capt. Jack Sparrow, an effete but resourceful scoundrel.

Sparrow is one of those classic good-guy/bad-guy characters that audiences can't help but love. And Depp is a hoot in the role, taking the movie hostage, and, thankfully, never letting go.

Everyone else in the film is also good, led by Geoffrey Rush as a ghostly sea captain who has a bone to pick with Sparrow; Keira Knightley as a kidnapped governor's daughter, and Orlando Bloom as a blacksmith secretly in love with her. But Depp makes the film his own, and the result is a wonderfully off-kilter ride. (It should be mentioned, however, that "Pirates" is also quite violent, and is not recommended for younger children.)

The bonus materials here are also fun, including some amusing outtakes and deleted scenes, and an episode of the old "Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color" TV program about the development and construction of the Disneyland "Pirates of the Caribbean" ride.

Extras: Widescreen, audio commentaries, making-of documentaries, deleted and alternate scenes, bloopers, etc.

-- "The Land Before Time: The Great Longneck Migration" (Universal, 2003, G, $24.98). This is the 10th . . . no, that's not a typo . . . the 10th in the "Land Before Time" series, a fairly routine entry, with Littlefoot and his grandparents heading out on yet another mysterious journey, while his friends follow, literally, in their footsteps.

The songs are unmemorable and the comedy is so-so, but kids who are fans of the series will enjoy it.

Meanwhile, parents can make it a game of figuring out which voices belong to Kiefer Sutherland, Bernadette Peters, James Garner and Olivia Newton-John.

Extras: Full frame, etc.

-- "The Land Before Time: Anniversary Edition" (Universal, 1988, G, $24.98). This is by far the best of the "Land Before Time" cartoon features, the first of the series, the most fully animated and the only one to play theatrically. It's also the only one directed by former Utahn Don Bluth, who, after leaving Disney, scored a solo artistic triumph with "The Secret of NIMH," and then had his first box-office hit by collaborating with Steven Spielberg for "An American Tail."

Spielberg and George Lucas were executive producers for "The Land Before Time," another hit, which introduces the prehistoric creatures Littlefoot, Cera, Spike, Ducky and Petrie as they make their first journey through the Great Valley. It's great fun -- and it makes the sequels pale in comparison.

Extras: Full frame, interactive games, sing-a-longs, trailers, DVD- Rom applications, etc.

-- "Michelangelo: Self Portrait" (HVE, 1989, not rated, $24.95). The 90-minute "Michelangelo: Self-Portrait" and a second feature documentary here, the hourlong, black-and-white "The Titan: Story of Michelangelo" (1950), are bookend explorations of the life and work of the famed Italian artist. Veteran documentarian Robert Snyder produced and directed the former, and he was the producer of the latter, his first film and his only Oscar-winner.

In a way, "Self-Portrait" is something of a remake of "Titan," except that "Self-Portrait" is in color and boasts new exploratory camera views of the works under discussion; Snyder managed to gain unprecedented access to film them. But the most significant difference is that "Self-Portrait" is narrated by Michelangelo himself, sort of, from letters and diaries that detail his most magnificent works.

Both are fascinating films, and although "Titan" is listed merely as a bonus feature, it deserves to be elevated. Also interesting are brief clips from other Snyder films on Pablo Casals, Willem de Kooning, Henry Miller, etc.

Extras: Full frame, interviews, excerpts from other Snyder documentaries, filmography, etc.

-- "The Silencers" (Columbia, 1966, not rated, $24.95). Dean Martin made four movies in which he starred as Matt Helm, the secret- agent hero of Donald Hamilton's novels -- played in the films as a campy spoof of James Bond. This first effort is by far the best of the four, but Martin never really stays in character -- and he sings voice-over song parodies throughout the film!

Like the Derek Flint movies that James Coburn made around the same time (along with dozens of other Bond spoofs), this one is sexist and silly, with Helm surrounded by beautiful women who find him irresistible, and is given to using goofy gadgets, such as a gun that shoots backward and exploding coat buttons. (Cyd Charisse also shows up to sing the title song, and then to perform in a nightclub scene before being shot to death onstage!)