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Find out as we examine the extras on this week's best movie DVDs...
“RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, SPECIAL COLLECTOR'S EDITION”
“INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM, SPECIAL COLLECTOR'S EDITION”
“INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE, SPECIAL COLLECTOR'S EDITION”
Stars: Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Kate Capshaw, Sean Connery
Director: Steven Spielberg (“Close Encounters of the Third Kind”)
Formats: DVD
What we say: In anticipation of “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” all three Indy classics are available individually on DVD for the first time (or together in “Indiana Jones: The Adventure Collection”).
Extras: All discs feature introductions by Spielberg and George Lucas, original trailers, storyboards, galleries and a playable demo of the video game “LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures.”
“Raiders”: “The Melting Face” featurette.
“Temple”: “Creepy Crawlies” featurette with Spielberg, Lucas and producer Frank Marshall talking about the movie's bugs, rats and snakes; “Location” featurette.
“Crusade”: “The Women: The American Film Institute Tribute,” in which Allen, Capshaw, and Alison Doody chat; “Friends and Enemies,” in which Spielberg and Lucas reflect on the entire franchise.
Worth watching: “The Women,” because hell hath no fury like a woman filming a macho action movie.
Worth skipping: The demo for “LEGO Indiana Jones.” If you've ever played “LEGO Star Wars” you already know how good this game is going to be.
Worth adding: Blu-ray editions of all three movies (maybe when "Crystal Skull" hits disc?); commentary by Spielberg, Ford and Lucas.
Buy, rent, or ignore: Buy if you don't already have the previous DVD set, “The Adventures of Indiana Jones: The Complete Movie Collection,” or if you're an Indy obsessive; Rent if you do have “Complete,” just to watch the new extras.
“UNTRACEABLE”
Stars: Diane Lane, Colin Hanks
Director: Gregory Hoblit (“Fracture”)
Formats: DVD, Blu-ray, UMD
What we said: "Assumes that the country is full of perverted, bloodthirsty sketchballs without actually wondering who these people are."
Extras: DVD: Commentary by Hoblit, producer Hawk Koch, and production designer Paul Eads; “Tracking Untraceable” featurette; “Untraceable, The Personal Files,” a featurette on the cast and filmmakers; “The Blueprint of Murder” featurette; “The Anatomy of Murder,” a special effects featurette.
Blu-ray: All of the above plus “Beyond the Cyber Bureau,” a picture-in-picture feature that allows you to view interviews, storyboards, production photos, and behind-the-scenes footage while you watch the movie.
UMD: None.
Worth watching: “Beyond the Cyber Bureau,” which not only shows how things were done, but will make you feel that you really did buy a PlayStation 3 to play Blu-ray discs...at least for the half hour you're not busy with "Grand Theft Auto IV."
Worth skipping: The commentary, since these things are always better (read: funnier) when the cast is involved.
Worth adding: An informative featurette on how to prevent your PC from being hacked.
Buy, rent, or ignore: Rent.
“THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE”
Stars: Tilda Swinton, Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes
Director: Andrew Adamson (“Shrek”)
Format: Blu-ray
What we say: The Blu-ray debut of the blockbuster fantasy, just in time for the sequel, "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian."
Extras: “The Battle For Narnia” game; bloopers; fun facts; six featurettes, including ones on the creatures, the actors, and the director; two commentaries; 3D map of Narnia.
Worth watching: The “Battle For Narnia” game, which is actually better than the $60 Xbox alternative.
Worth skipping: The second commentary. The one with Adamson and his actors does just fine, thank you.
Worth adding: The originals trailers, including one for “Prince Caspian.”
Buy, rent, or ignore: Buy.
Also released this week:
- A thriller so bad it's funny: "Cover"
- The French prove mutilation and torture isn't just for American horror flicks with "Frontier(s)"
- Denzel Washington and Forest Whitaker argue their way into history in “The Great Debaters”
- Diane Keaton, Katie Holmes, and Queen Latifah rip off the Federal Reserve in “Mad Money”
- Francis Ford Coppola goes crazy on you with "Youth Without Youth" (also Blu-ray)
- Primus' Les Claypool makes his directorial debut with the musical spoof “National Lampoon Presents, Electric Apricot: Quest For Festeroo”
- See Newman and Redford shine in “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” on Blu-ray
- Russell Crowe sails the high (def) seas in “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World” on Blu-ray
Other titles:
"The Big Trail" (2-disc special edition)
"The Day of the Outlaw"
"The Fire Within" (Criterion Collection)
"The Gunfight at Dodge City"
"John Wayne, The Fox Westerns Collection"
"The Lovers" (Criterion Collection)
"Man of the West"
"The Man with the Gun"
"Mrs. Doubtfire" (Blu-ray)
"National Lampoon's Cattle Call"
"Navajo Joe"
"The One That Got Away"
"The Secret of Santa Vittoria"
"Shinobi: Heart Under Blade: Special Edition" (Blu-ray)
"The Way West"
"The Westerner"
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