‘Syriana’ plots its way onto DVD

REVIEWS

By David Germain

updated 3:09 p.m. ET June 19, 2006

“Syriana”
George Clooney won the supporting-actor Academy Award for this ensemble tale that examines the unseemly manner in which fuel gets into your car’s gas tank. Clooney, also an executive producer on the convoluted, deeply engrossing drama, plays a CIA agent who’s a cog in the global web of greed, corruption, shady politics and Muslim enmity toward the West over Middle Eastern oil. The DVD includes interviews with co-star Matt Damon, writer-director Stephen Gaghan and other collaborators, but the disc’s extras focus squarely on Clooney, including three deleted scenes that expand on his character and give a glimpse of his private life (Greta Scacchi, whose role was cut from the finished film, plays his wife). In interviews, Clooney discusses the value of issue-oriented filmmaking and makes a veiled reference to the U.S.-led war in Iraq as he discusses the deep religious conviction that prompts Muslim drivers to stop and pray at designated times during the day: “Anyone that thinks you can bomb that ideal out of them needs to travel more.” DVD, $28.98. (Warner Bros.) Read the review

“Eight Below”
Dogs upstage humans in this family hit about survival and inter-species camaraderie. Paul Walker leads the cast of bipeds as a guide forced by a killer storm to leave his team of eight sled dogs to fend for themselves during the severe winter in Antarctica, where the canines band together to find food and battle the elements. The DVD has deleted footage with commentary from director Frank Marshall, who also provides two commentaries for the full film, one with Walker and his cinematographer, the other with producer Pat Crowley. The disc also has a behind-the-scenes featurette. DVD, $29.99. (Disney) Read the review

“The Hills Have Eyes”

Lacey Terrell / AP file

Horror fans who want more gore will have their wish with an unrated version of the remake of Wes Craven’s road-trip tale about mutant predators with a taste for human flesh. The movie follows the bloody vacation of a family stranded in the New Mexico desert, where they are stalked by the offspring of miners grotesquely disfigured by atomic testing. The unrated edition adds a few minutes of footage, and the R-rated theatrical version is available in a separate DVD. The disc has two commentaries, one featuring director Alexandre Aja, the other with Wes Craven, who created the 1977 original and was a producer on the remake. Also on the ’70s horror front is a two-disc update of “The Omen,” the anti-Christ tale starring Gregory Peck that inspired the remake that opened this month. “The Hills Have Eyes” DVD, $29.98; “The Omen” DVD set, $26.98. (20th Century Fox) Read the review

“Clark Gable: The Signature Collection”
Six films from the 1930s, ’40s and ’50s starring Hollywood’s dashing legend debut on DVD in a six-disc boxed set and as individual titles. Gable co-stars with Spencer Tracy in the oil adventure “Boom Town” and “San Francisco,” a saga set against the city’s devastating earthquake. The musical “Dancing Lady” features Joan Crawford and Fred Astaire, Jean Harlow co-stars with Gable in the comedy “Wife Vs. Secretary” and the maritime tale “China Seas,” and Gable, Ava Gardner and Grace Kelly form a love triangle in director John Ford’s “Mogambo.” The “San Francisco” DVD includes a documentary on Gable featuring host Liam Neeson, while most other titles are accompanied by vintage cartoons and short films. DVD boxed set, $59.92; “Mogambo” DVD, $14.97; other individual DVD titles, $19.97 each. (Warner Bros.)

“Superman” titles
It’s rush hour for planet Krypton as a range of releases hit shelves in advance of “Superman Returns,” the new big-screen adventure featuring the king of comic-book superheroes:

“Look, Up in the Sky! The Amazing Adventures of Superman” — This documentary narrated by Kevin Spacey, who plays villain Lex Luthor in “Superman Returns,” is an engaging and comprehensive chronicle of the Man of Steel’s comic-book origins, his many TV incarnations and his big-screen highlights with the series of films starring Christopher Reeve. DVD, $14.99. (Warner Bros.)

Live-action TV: Three series capture Superman at different phases. A six-disc set packs all 22 episodes of season three of “Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman,” starring Dean Cain as Supe and Teri Hatcher as Lois Lane. George Reeves stars in the 1950s show “Adventures of Superman,” whose 26 episodes from years three and four come in a five-disc set. Clark Kent goes to college in “Superboy,” with John Haymes Newton as the young hero in the show that premiered in 1988, whose 26 first-season episodes debut in a four-disc set. “Lois & Clark” DVD set, $59.98; “Superman” and “Superboy” DVD sets, $39.98 each. (Warner Bros.)

Animated TV: Volume three of “Superman: The Animated Series” has the last 18 episodes of the cartoon adaptation in a two-disc set. A four-disc package has season two’s 26 episodes of “Justice League,” which teams Superman with Batman, Wonder Woman and other comic-book heroes. “Krypto the Superdog: Cosmic Canine” contains five episodes of the cartoon spinoff. “Superman” DVD set, $26.99; “Justice League” DVD set, $44.98; “Krypto” DVD, $14.98. (Warner Bros.)

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