By Peter M. Bracke

JULY 6 - 8

Verhoeven times two

Just announced from Artisan are a number of highly-anticipated titles, including new special edition reissues of two Paul Verhoeven favorites. Hitting retail shelves on 9/18 are Total Recall and not one but two editions of Basic Instinct. Both feature new anamorphic widescreen transfers, as well as English 5.1 and 2.0 surround tracks. Extras on Total Recall include a "rare" audio commentary with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Director Paul Verhoeven, the new "Imagining Total Recall" documentary, a "Mars: Fact or Fiction" featurette, Rekall's Virtual Vacations" footage, a visual effects comparison chart, two still galleries including conceptual art and onset production photos, production notes, cast and crew filmographies and the trailer.

Artisan will also release separate R-rated and Unrated special editions of Basic Instinct. Aside from the different versions, each release includes"Blonde Poison" documentary, the "Cleaning Up Basic Instinct - A Montage" comparing the two versions (funny how they can show the steamy footage as a supplement on the R-version!), a new audio commentary with Feminist Critic Camille Paglia(!), two still galleries with production photos and storyboard comparisons, production notes, cast and crew filmographies and the trailer. Note that the unrated cut will also feature the same audio commentary with director Paul Verhoeven and director of photography Jan De Bont. This commentary will not appear on the R-rated version. Retail each of the above discs is $26.95.

Also coming on 9/18 are a few other notable releases. The thriller Poison (not the Todd Haynes film) features an anamorphic widescreen transfer, audio commentary with director and star Kari Wuhrer, a still gallery and trailers. The acclaimed documentary Startup.com also arrives on 9/18, presented in full frame and English 2.0 surround, with audio commentary with filmmakers Chris Hedegus and Jehane Noujam, production notes and trailers. Retail is $24.95 each.

Last but not least, Artisan has announced that they will be releasing a new 10th Anniversary edition of the cult classic Reservoir Dogs. Full specs are not yet available, but the disc will be out by the end of the year, and will be marketed along with a line of Reservoir dogs action figures! It's a strange world we live in...stay tuned for details.

It's called a Heart

Columbia has just announced the arrival of the Sally Field classic Places In The Heart, due on 10/9. The disc will be a straightforward release, with anamorphic widescreen and full screen transfers, English, French and Spanish 2.0 surround and subtitles tracks, trailers and production notes. Retail is $24.95.

JULY 5

New Fox fall announcements

Fox has just announced a quartet of new fall titles, kicking off with the recent box office sorta-hit, Someone Like You, starring Ashley Judd and Hugh Jackman. The disc streets 9/25 and includes a 1.85;1 anamorphic widescreen transfer, English 5.1 and English and French 2.0 surround tracks, an audio commentary with director Tony Goldwyn, making-of featurette, seven deleted scenes, alternate ending, theatrical trailer and five TV spots. Also due on 9/25 is the comedy Kingdom Come, in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen, with English 5.1 and English and French 2.0 surround tracks, an audio commentary with Doug McHenry, a Kirk Franklin music video, theatrical trailer and four TV spots. Retail is $29.95 each.

Fox is also digging into their vaults for a true classic on 9/25, William Friedkin's Oscar-winning The French Connection. Debuting under Fox's Five-Star collection banner, this two disc set includes a new 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer, English 5.1 and English and French mono tracks, English Closed captions and English and Spanish subtitles. Disc one also includes an audio commentary with William Friedkin, Gene Hackman and Roy Scheider and the theatrical trailer. Disc two includes the BBC documentary "Poughkeepsie Shuffle," "Making The Connection: The Untold Stories," seven deleted scenes with Friedkin discussion, a still gallery, international trailers and a trailer for The French Connection 2. Retail is $26.95, and there will be a two-pack available with The French Connection 2, though no details, specs or prices are yet available.

Finally, on 10/2 Fox will release two new titles as part of a Brendan Fraser repromote, The Scout and Airheads. Each disc includes anamorphic widescreen transfers, 5.1 surround tracks, and trailers. Retail is $22.95 each. Also, watch for that special edition of Robert Altman's M*A*S*H to finally street in October...

G'day, mate!

Paramount has just announced a batch of 9/18 releases, with their typical mix of new and old alike. Leading off the slate is the Crocodile Dundee trilogy. All three discs - Crocodile Dundee, Crocodile Dundee II and Crocodile Dundee In Los Angeles - are available separately and presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen, with English 5.1 and 2.0 surround tracks (the first Crocodile Dundee in 2.0 surround only) and trailers. The second and third installments also include making-of featurettes. Retail is $24.95 apiece for the first two discs, while the third is $29.95.

Also arriving on 9/18 is the little-seen Richard Dreyfuss gambling comedy Let It Ride, in 1.85;1 anamorphic widescreen and English 5.1 and English and French 2.0 surround tracks, a behind-the-scenes featurette and the trailer. Retail is $29.95. Survivor: The Australian Outback: Season Two - The Greatest And Most Outrageous Moments is presented in full frame and 2.0 surround, along with retrospective interviews with the sixteen Survivors and a Survivor: The Australian Outback Kit accessible to DVD-ROM users. Retail is $19.95.

Rounding out the 9/18 slate are two-packs of Mission Impossible and Mission Impossible 2, and Rugrats The Movie and Rugrats In Paris. Each is $44.95, and merely repackage the existing releases. Finally, Star Trek The Original Series Volume 34 (Episode #67 "Plato's Stepchildren" and #68 "Wink Of An Eye") and Volume 33 (Episode #65 "For The World Is Hollow And I Have Touched The Sky and #66 "Day Of The Dove") feature the usual full frame transfers and English 5.1 surround tracks, as well as TV spots. Retail is $19.95 each.

Universal goes to war

If Pearl Harbor whetted your appetite for more war movies (or simply a good movie, for that matter), Universal may have just what you're looking for. Arriving on 10/30 is a new special edition of Midway, featuring a 2.35:1 widescreen transfer, English mono track, an all-new making-of documentary featuring interviews with Charlton Heston, Cliff Robertson and other cast and crew, additional scenes shot for the network TV version (no word on whether these are actually reedited into the film or presented only as a supplement), a featurette on composer John Williams and the trailer. Retail is $26.95, and the previous Image Entertainment movie-only edition has been discontinued. Also arriving on 10/30 is MacArthur, presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen, English 2.0 mono and with the trailer. Retail is $24.95.

JULY 3 - JULY 4

With friends like this, who needs enemies?

Buena Vista has just announced specs for three new titles hitting shelves on 9/11. Most notable is the recent hit French thriller With A Friend Like Harry, along with the little-seen comedy Just Visiting, and the recent update of Robert Louis Stevenson's St. Ives. Harry features a 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer and French and English 5.1 surround tracks, while Just Visiting and St. Ives are presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen and English 2.0 surround. All include trailers, and retail is a bit pricey at $32.95 a pop.

JULY 2

Keeping up with the Joneses

A true sleeper hit at the box office this past spring (to the tune of over $50 million and counting) Buena Vista will release a DVD special edition of Bridget Jones's Diary on 10/9. Features include an anamorphic widescreen transfer, English 5.1 surround and English and French subtitle tracks, an audio commentary with director Sharon Maguire, a making-of featurette, deleted scenes with optional commentary, two music videos, the international end credit sequence, the original Bridget Jones's Diary columns, and trailers. A very nice package, and retail is $29.95.

DreamWorks preps Shrek special edition

Though still raking it in at theaters across the country, Video Store Magazine reports in their latest issue (not available online) that DreamWorks has big plans for a fully-loaded Shrek DVD special edition to hit stores this fall. The article includes quotes from lead animator Raman Hui and co-director Vicki Jenson on some of the unique extras currently being produced especially for the DVD. New "behind-the-scenes" interviews with the characters from the movie, outtakes of "computer rendering errors" and storyboards for scenes never completed (complete with audio pitch sessions.)

As is becoming somewhat of trend these days with DVD (such as on the upcoming Phantom Menace DVD) much of this footage was incomplete at the time of the film's production but is now either being finished especially for the DVD or created from scratch. Full specs for the Shrek DVD release are not yet known, though Video Store reports that the disc should hit stores this October. If DreamWorks past output on DVD is any indication, this should be another winner. Stay tuned!

Street Date Alert

Columbia has just announced dates for a couple of foreign martial arts cult favorites, Dragon Fist and Fearless Hyena II. Both discs will debut on 9/8, and watch for the full specs soon. Also just announced by Warner are the 70's animated versions of The Lord Of the Rings, The Hobbit and The Return Of The King (the first courtesy of Ralph Bakshi.) Each disc retails for $19.95 and streets on 9/11, though the full specs are still unknown. Watch this space!