‘Red-Eye’ brings its thrills to DVD

REVIEWS

By David Germain

updated 3:29 p.m. ET Jan. 9, 2006

“Red Eye”
Air travel just keeps getting worse, what with the long lines, extra security precautions, fees for the onboard meals and of course, the nutty guy sitting next to you using threats of violence to coerce you into helping his assassination plot. Rachel McAdams stars as a woman on an overnight flight whose seatmate (Cillian Murphy) says her dad will be snuffed if she doesn’t cooperate in arrangements to kill a U.S. leader at the hotel where she works. Highlighting the DVD extras is a profile on director Wes Craven, the horror maestro making a shift to straightforward thrillers. Craven also offers commentary, and the DVD has a behind-the-scenes featurette focusing on the movie’s claustrophobic design to simulate airplane conditions. DVD, $29.99. (DreamWorks) Read the review

“Transporter 2”
Jason Statham returns as the stoic protagonist from the sleeper hit “The Transporter” in a laughable sequel that puts cheap effects and outlandish action into overdrive. This time out, Statham’s no-questions-asked driver-for-hire has given up the high-speed delivery game in favor of life in the slow lane as chauffeur for a rich family’s young son, whose abduction forces our hero back into action to save the boy and foil a plot aimed at the U.S. war on drugs. The DVD has a handful of deleted scenes and extended versions of the movie’s many fight sequences, along with a couple of featurettes. DVD, $29.98. (20th Century Fox) Read the review

“The Constant Gardener”
Director Fernando Meirelles does a masterly job capturing the world-weary nuances of John le Carre’s suspense fiction with this intelligent, gripping tale of international intrigue. Ralph Fiennes stars as a British diplomat peeling back the layers of his marriage as he uncovers startling government and corporate secrets while investigating the murder of his wife (Rachel Weisz). Besides deleted and extended footage, the DVD has featurettes on the rigors of shooting in Kenya and an intriguing conversation between le Carre and Meirelles on how the novel was adapted for film. DVD, $29.98. (Universal) Read the review

“Hustle & Flow”

Alan Spearman / Paramount Classics

Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson caught more attention with his mediocre gangster-to-rapper story “Get Rich or Die Tryin’.” But his co-star in that flick, Terrence Howard, stole the show with this far superior tale of a pimp and drug-dealer trying to turn his life around by entering the rap world, with excellent supporting turns from Anthony Anderson, Taryn Manning and Taraji Henson. Writer-director Craig Brewer offers commentary, while the DVD’s three behind-the-scenes featurettes include interviews with filmmaker John Singleton, a producer on the movie. DVD, $29.99. (Paramount) Read the review

“Dead Poets Society,” “Good Morning, Vietnam”
Two of Robin Williams’ best performances of the 1980s are showcased in new DVD editions. “Dead Poets Society” stars Williams as an inspirational prep-school teacher who runs afoul of the powers that be because of his unusual teaching style and encouragement of free thought. Director Peter Weir and co-stars Ethan Hawke and Robert Sean Leonard provide new interviews, while Weir offers commentary. “Good Morning, Vietnam” casts Williams as another iconoclast, an Army radio disc jockey who delivers belly laughs to the troops and ulcers to the military brass that does not take kindly to his irreverent style. Featurettes examine such topics as the film’s ’60s rock soundtrack and shooting in Thailand. DVDs, $19.99 each. (Disney)

“Sam Peckinpah’s the Legendary Westerns Collection”
Four of director Peckinpah’s Old West tales are gathered in a superb boxed set. “The Wild Bunch,” an outlaw tale starring William Holden and Ernest Borgnine, arrives in a new two-disc DVD edition, while three others make their DVD debuts. A two-disc release of “Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid” has 115-minute and 122-minute versions of the film starring James Coburn as the lawman tracking outlaw Billy (Kris Kristofferson), a film perhaps most famous for Bob Dylan’s theme song “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door.” Debuting in single-disc editions are “Ride the High Country,” with Randolph Scott and Joel McCrea as aging lawmen guarding a gold shipment, and “The Ballad of Cable Hogue,” a vengeance tale starring Jason Robards. A posse of Peckinpah experts provides commentary for each film. DVD set, $59.92; two-disc sets, $26.99 each; single DVDs, $19.97 each. (Warner Bros.)

“The Bad Sleep Well”
Comparatively obscure next to Akira Kurosawa’s feudal Japan adaptations of “MacBeth” with “Throne of Blood” and “King Lear” with “Ran,” the director’s loose take on “Hamlet” is a harsh portrait of corporate corruption and one man’s questionable means toward vengeance. Kurosawa regular Toshiro Mifune stars as a “Hamlet”-like character who insinuates his way into a circle of executives with plans to avenge the death of his father. The DVD has a making-of documentary and comes with an essay on the film by director Michael Almereyda, whose own “Hamlet” starred Ethan Hawke as a vengeful son in the modern corporate world. DVD, $29.95. (Criterion)

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