‘King Kong’ storms onto DVD

REVIEWS

By David Germain

updated 3:44 p.m. ET March 27, 2006

“King Kong”
Peter Jackson’s big, hairy ape proved a $200 million-plus draw at theaters, though not quite the lord of the box office that many expected. Naomi Watts is the new Fay Wray in “Lord of the Rings” creator Jackson’s epic retelling of the 1933 classic, It costars Jack Black and Adrien Brody in the tragic tale of a giant gorilla done in by his affection for a perky blonde who visits his lost-world island. With dazzling computer-generated imagery that earned it an Academy Award for visual effects, “King Kong” arrives on DVD in a single-disc edition with minimal extras or a two-disc set stuffed with background materials. (It also won Oscars for sound and sound editing.) DVD extras dissect in minute detail the effects, editing, sound design and other ingredients that went into the film. The set also has featurettes on the land that time forgot inhabited by Kong and the filmmakers’ re-creation of 1930s New York City. Running commentary from Jackson would have been nice, but maybe, like everyone else, he didn’t want to spend another three hours and change sitting through the overly long movie again. Single DVD, $29.98; two-disc set, $30.98. (Universal) Read the review

“Memoirs of a Geisha”

Columbia Pictures

One of last year’s most sumptuous films unfortunately turned out something of a yawner. Director Rob Marshall (“Chicago”) oversees Ziyi Zhang, Michelle Yeoh, Gong Li and Ken Watanabe in a historical romance adapted from Arthur Golden’s best-seller about a poor Japanese girl who becomes a top geisha in the years leading up to World War II. The two-disc set has a huge range of featurettes, including a segment with Golden on his novel’s long journey to the screen, John Williams’ Oscar-nominated score and the “geisha bootcamp” actresses underwent to learn their characters’ charms. Marshall and co-producer John DeLuca team for commentary, while the film’s costume and producer designers and editor provide separate commentary. DVD set, $28.96. (Sony) Read the review

“Get Rich or Die Tryin”’

Michael Gibson / AP

Hip-hop star Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson might never get rich if he’d had to fall back on movies instead of music. From director Jim Sheridan (“My Left Foot,” “In America”), 50 Cent’s semi-autobiographical tale of a street hood trying to make a new life as a rapper was a critical and commercial dud. Exacerbating the movie’s failure — and the notion that 50 Cent should not quit his day job — was the presence of formidable co-star Terrence Howard, who wound up earning a best-actor nomination at the Oscars for his own far superior tale of a crook-turned-rapper, “Hustle & Flow.” The studio seems to agree that the movie was not worth much follow-up, tossing only a making-of featurette on the DVD. DVD, $29.99. (Paramount) Read the review

“Planet of the Apes”
Kong may be king of the apes, but this simian franchise gets a comprehensive DVD makeover that includes some of the coolest home-video packaging ever. A 14-disc collection gathers the original five movies from 1968-73, Tim Burton’s 2001 big-screen update and the short-lived live-action and animated “Planet of the Apes” television shows from the mid-1970s, packaged in an ape-head figure modeled after Roddy McDowall’s chimpanzee character Caesar, complete with thick fur. The original five movies also come in a six-disc set or single-disc editions. Single DVDs, $14.98 each; six-disc set, $49.98; 14-disc set, $179.98. (20th Century Fox)

“3 Films by Louis Malle”
Borrowing from his experiences in France during and after World War II, director Louis Malle spins three remarkable tales that come to DVD in a tremendous four-disc set. “Murmur of the Heart,” from 1971, is Malle’s coming-of-age story centered on a precocious teen and his sensuous mother. “Lacombe, Lucien,” from 1974, follows the journey of a French Resistance fighter who turns into a Gestapo collaborator. “Au Revoir les Enfants,” from 1987, is based on events Malle witnessed in childhood when a classmate was revealed by the Nazis to be a Jew. Each film is accompanied by essays from Malle experts, and the set includes interviews with Malle and archival footage of the filmmaker at work. DVD set, $79.95. (Criterion)

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