‘Be Cool’ comes to DVD

REVIEWS

By David Germain

updated 10:32 a.m. ET June 7, 2005

“Be Cool”
John Travolta’s “Get Shorty” follow-up reunited him with “Pulp Fiction” co-star Uma Thurman, the two of them mixing it up on the dance floor again. This time, Travolta’s loan-shark-turned-filmmaker Chili Palmer, bored with Hollywood, decides to shift into music producing and finds himself at odds with a singer’s manager (Harvey Keitel) and a bigwig producer (Cedric the Entertainer). Along with 14 deleted scenes, the DVD has a making-of segment, a featurette on Travolta and Thurman’s dance number, and mini-profiles on Cedric and co-stars The Rock, Andre Benjamin and Christina Milian. DVD, $27.98. (MGM) Original theatrical review

“Sling Blade,” “Gone in 60 Seconds,” “Coyote Ugly”
Three flicks get the extended treatment. Billy Bob Thornton’s “Sling Blade,” in which the writer-director stars as a man-child with a violent past who becomes an unlikely protector for a boy and his mother, is reissued in a two-disc set. The director’s cut runs nearly two and a half hours and is accompanied by commentary from Thornton, along with interviews and conversations with the director and such co-stars as Robert Duvall and Dwight Yoakam. “Gone in 60 Seconds,” the car-heist remake starring Nicolas Cage, Angelina Jolie and Duvall, comes in a single-disc package with Dominic Sena’s director’s cut. “Coyote Ugly,” reissued in a single-disc extended version, features Piper Perabo as a newcomer at a club whose sexy barmaids do double duty with lusty dancing atop the bar. DVDs, $19.99 each. (Disney)

“Star Trek: Insurrection”
The latest reissue from Gene Roddenberry’s “Trek” universe arrives with the familiar extras of the previous two-disc editions. No. 9 of the 10 “Star Trek” films, “Insurrection” pits Capt. Picard (Patrick Stewart) and the Enterprise crew against their own government and a villain (F. Murray Abraham) with a terrible skin condition in an effort to save an idyllic planet whose inhabitants live in a literal fountain of youth. The movie is accompanied by making-of tidbits and trivia from “Trek” experts Michael and Denise Okuda, along with a dozen behind-the-scenes featurettes on stunts, visuals, alien makeup and other topics. DVD set, $19.99. (Paramount)

TV on DVD:

HBO / Reuters Edie Falco, who plays Carmela Soprano and James Gandolfini, who plays Tony Soprano, star in "The Sopranos."

“The Sopranos: The Complete Fifth Season” — James Gandolfini and his gang are back in this appetizer for next year’s final season. Year five had mobster Tony Soprano (Gandolfini) coping with separation from his wife (Edie Falco) and new dilemmas involving the feds and various crime associates. The four-disc set has 13 episodes, with five commentaries from directors Peter Bogdanovich, Steve Buscemi, Mike Figgis and Rodrigo Garcia, plus co-star Drea de Matteo. DVD set, $99.98. (HBO)

“Frasier: The Complete Fifth Season” — Year five of Kelsey Grammer’s “Cheers” spinoff brings sibling and romantic rivalry for radio shrink Frasier and brother Niles (David Hyde Pierce) and pregnancy for Roz (Peri Gilpin). The four-disc set packs 24 episodes. DVD set, $38.99. (Paramount)

“Home Improvement: The Complete Second Season” — Tim Allen makes with the power tools again in year two of his sitcom about an overzealous handyman who hosts a TV fix-it-yourself show. The three-disc set has 25 episodes, plus a gag reel. DVD set, $49.99. (Disney)

“Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica: Complete Seasons 2 & 3” — The honeymoon’s over in the second and third seasons of Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey’s reality show that follows the downs and ups and downs of their married life. Twenty episodes are gathered on three discs, with deleted scenes among the extras. DVD set, $38.99. (Paramount)

“The Dead Zone: The Complete Third Season” — Anthony Michael Hall continues his quest to build a better future in the series based on Stephen King’s novel about a man who emerges from a coma with the ability to peek ahead in time. The three-disc set has 12 episodes, with cast-and-crew commentary on each. DVD set, $34.98. (Lions Gate)

“Sanford and Son: The Sixth Season” — Redd Foxx stars as the blustery junkman and Demond Wilson is his son in the last season of the 1970s sitcom. The final year’s 24 episodes come in a three-disc set and feature such guest stars as B.B. King and Chuck Barris. DVD set, $29.95. (Sony)

“MacGyver: The Complete Second Season” — The action series about the wily spy (Richard Dean Anderson) who relies on brains and gadgets instead of guns continues its DVD afterlife with a six-disc set that has season two’s 22 episodes. DVD set, $38.99. (Paramount)

“Quincy, M.E.: Seasons 1 & 2,” “Dragnet 1967: Season 1” — Jack Klugman’s “Quincy,” about a coroner who hits the streets to crack cases, and Jack Webb’s late-1960s incarnation of his L.A. cop drama “Dragnet” debut on DVD. The three-disc “Quincy” set has 16 episodes, while the two-disc “Dragnet” set has 17 episodes plus a CD with a 1950s radio episode of “Dragnet.” DVD sets, $39.98 each. (Universal)

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