DVD Report

''COOL HAND LUKE'': Paul Newman (left) in the title role and George Kennedy as Dragline in the chain-gang classic.

New Releases | Tom Russo

Remastered 'Luke' lands sophisticated knockout

It isn't just Paul Newman's sly charm and quiet dramatic presence that gives the chain-gang classic "Cool Hand Luke" (1967) its enduring quality. For all the cornpone banter tossed around between teddy-bear con Dragline (Oscar winner George Kennedy) and the other guys in lockup, the film never goes long without reasserting its sophistication, be it through its various Luke-as-Christ metaphors or its abundant visual style. (The film is superlatively remastered in this new reissue, making those shots of dusty sunsets and reflections off mirrored sunglasses look better than ever.) Even the scene with Newman's grieving Luke plucking at a banjo tosses off lyrics that are knowingly kitsch-hip, referencing that dashboard Jesus. It's surprising that late director Stuart Rosenberg ("The Amityville Horror") didn't ultimately have a more loaded resume, given the work that he and legendary cinematographer Conrad Hall produced here. Perhaps that's partly a function of the way the movie was overshadowed at awards time by a field that included "In the Heat of the Night," "Bonnie and Clyde," and "The Graduate." Following up on a no-frills DVD reissue from a decade ago, the new disc treats the film a bit like runner-up fare, offering only a half-hour retrospective and commentary by Newman biographer Eric Lax. Included are welcome catch-up interviews with Kennedy, several other supporting cast members, and even car wash girl Joy Harmon. (Sorry, no Newman or Dennis Hopper.) Nobody seems to know how many eggs Newman really downed in the movie's famed eating challenge - the group's estimates range from maybe one to more like eight to, well, who knows. And composer Lalo Schifrin laughs about having his joy-of-toil music co-opted, presumably lucratively, as ABC's "Eyewitness News" theme. The featurette is efficient, even if its slightness fails to fully communicate the film's stature. (Warner, $19.97; Blu-ray, $28.99)

"HOW THE WEST WAS WON" (1962)

This sprawling, star-studded event picture manages to squeeze in everyone from Jimmy Stewart and Gregory Peck to Henry Fonda and John Wayne in following four generations of a family swept up in 19th-century westward expansion. For our taste, the bigger draw is its technical novelty as one of only two narrative features produced in true Cinerama, the old triple-image process that made for some spectacular vistas, but gave co-director John Ford fits. The three-disc reissue includes the well-researched feature documentary "Cinerama Adventure," covering everything from the technology's origins as a WWII gunnery training system to the dicey globetrotting done by film crews shooting Cinerama travel documentaries. Behind-the-scenes footage of the jarring downhill wagon tumble in "West" is a must-see. Of course, none of this will deliver the intended sensory wallop of "West," but having a 60-inch TV might help a little. Blu-ray viewers also have the option of watching a version that simulates the curvature the imagery originally took on when it was projected onto three-panel Cinerama theater screens. (Warner, $59.92; two-disc edition, $20.97; Blu-ray, $34.99)

"BABY MAMA" (2008)

Tina Fey and old "SNL" pal Amy Poehler prove that with the right tone and timing, you can make a successful lowbrow comedy about anything - even infertility. High-powered career woman Fey hires trashy Poehler as a surrogate mother, making for some guilty-pleasure gutter talk - from both of them, actually - around birthing class and the maternity ward. Although written and directed by Michael McCullers ("Austin Powers"), somehow this one feels as if it's got at least that little hint of female perspective that "Knocked Up" didn't.

Extras: Production featurettes; alternate ending. (Universal, $29.98; Blu-ray, $39.98)

"THE FALL" (2008)

Commercial director Tarsem Singh ("The Cell") crafts a handsome, tonally free-form story about a depressive silent screen stuntman (Lee Pace, TV's "Pushing Daisies") struggling through a hospital stay by telling fantastical stories to a young fellow patient (Catinca Untaru, thoroughly charming). The dual narrative brings to mind "Pan's Labyrinth," while the lavish surreality recalls "Time Bandits." Intriguing, if not as memorable as either of those.

Extras: Commentaries with Singh and Pace. (Sony, $24.96; Blu-ray, $38.96)

Fashion DVD | Wesley Morris

All dressed up, and nothing to tell

Have you ever seen Karl Lagerfeld's face? I mean really seen it. For more than a decade, he's been a pair of sunglasses wearing a chic old man. His white hair is usually loosely swept behind his head. His signature colors are black and white; his shirt collars rise up high and swallow his neck. The look is disco aristocrat via the French Revolution. Now in his 70s (or depending on whom you ask, his late 60s), he resembles Lauren Bacall and Gena Rowlands's illegitimate daughter - glamorous, strange.

In "Lagerfeld Confidential," Rodolphe Marconi's admirable attempt to see the superstar behind the glasses, Karl goes so far as to explain that he'd rather be caught pretending to read than be seen reading without the shades. The film doesn't address the distinct possibility that Lagerfeld may well be Dracula - undead and loving it.

Otherwise, it's a serviceable docu-tease. Marconi spent two years following Lagerfeld around the world, asking him questions. We get the impression of intimacy and exclusive access - see Lagerfeld turn in for the night aboard a chartered jet to his Paris home, see him photograph a bashful Nicole Kidman. But we don't come much closer to understanding the man himself.

Out of brilliant philosophical habit, Lagerfeld resists biography. The closest he's come to memoir is "The Karl Lagerfeld Diet," most of which his Parisian doctor wrote and Lagerfeld endorsed after losing almost 100 pounds several years ago. The book is actually insightful where Marconi's movie offers only the illusion of insight. The bloated creature who used to turn up at his own fashion shows wagging a Chinese fan has been obliterated. What remains is an amusingly conceited conundrum. The director tosses his subject softballs, and the designer handles them as though he doesn't understand the sport.

The distance between us and the legendary designer might be understandable after all. Lagerfeld has been himself for seven decades. There's no longer a point of entry, no angle from which to see him anew, no way to tell him the rings that cover most of his fingers make him look like a retired cyborg. Lagerfeld is a star in the classic sense. "I want to be an apparition," he says. "I don't want to be real in other people's lives." And this movie sees him through. It's a ghost story.

Extras: Outtakes, trailer (Koch Lorber, $29.98, already available)

Drama DVD | Saul Austerlitz

A noir that's more gray than black

Of all the actors to emerge after World War II, Dana Andrews was perhaps the most symbolically resonant of that bleak cinematic era. Lacking a prewar film star's chiseled good looks, his face a Cubist jumble of mismatched forms, Andrews was the anti-matinee idol, ideally suited for noir's gallery of tormented veterans, anguished killers, and hopeless heroes. The role of John Waldron, the jobless veteran accused of murdering a saintly pastor in Elia Kazan's 1947 quasi-noir "Boomerang," should have been tailor-made for Andrews, very much of a piece with his celebrated performances in "The Best Years of Our Lives" and "Laura."

Unfortunately for Andrews, and for the fate of "Boomerang," he was cast instead as state's attorney Henry Harvey, whose job it is to prosecute Waldron (well-played by a very young, very lean Arthur Kennedy). So good when offered roles that exploit his limited range, Andrews drags "Boomerang" down with his wooden performance. Even with Marlon Brando replacing Andrews in the lead role (an impossibility, but one conjured up by the presence here of "On the Waterfront" director Kazan, and costars Lee J. Cobb and Karl Malden), "Boomerang" would have been unlikely to make much of a splash. Kazan's film attempts to conjoin noir existentialism with a cynical view of back-room political chicanery, but both halves of the film feel more studied than genuine. The recipe for noir in "Boomerang" is straight out of the cookbook, and Kazan, for one, served up far more scrumptious meals.

Extras: Theatrical trailer, photo gallery, commentary by film historians Alain Silver and James Ursini. (20th Century Fox, $14.98)

ALSO THIS WEEK

"THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM" (2008)

Jackie Chan and Jet Li are ancient Chinese warriors teaching a few moves to a modern-day kid (Michael Angarano) magically transported back to their era for an epic quest. Not as epic as all that, actually, but worth a look to see Chan and Li finally teaming up after all these years.

Extras: Commentary by director Rob Minkoff ("The Haunted Mansion"); production featurettes; digital copy. (Lionsgate, $34.98; single-disc version, $29.95; Blu-ray, $39.99)

REISSUES

"THE BIG LEBOWSKI" (1998) At the time the Coen brothers made their oddball bowling-alley noir, we snickered in most of the right places, but it was hard not to feel as though it was a bit of a comedown from "Fargo." And yet, on repeat viewings, you start to realize that The Dude (Jeff Bridges) really does abide, as this 10th anniversary re-release reminds us. Extras: New interviews and conversations with the cast; in-depth look at the annual Lebowski Fest; production featurette on the film's fantasy sequences; shutterbug Bridges's always worthwhile set photos. (Universal, $19.98)

"ESSENTIAL ART HOUSE, VOL. 1" (2008) The Criterion Collection caters to cinephiles - and those who'd like to be - with a box set film course that includes Jean Renoir's "Grand Illusion," Jean Cocteau's "Beauty and the Beast," Akira Kurosawa's "Rashomon," Ingmar Bergman's "Wild Strawberries," Roman Polanski's "Knife in the Water," and Peter Brook's adaptation of "Lord of the Flies." (Criterion, $99.95; individual titles also available separately, $19.95 each)

"CHILD'S PLAY" (1988) If you're an HBO viewer but not a big genre geek, here's a factoid that should blow your mind: "Deadwood" doc Brad Dourif furnished the voice of killer doll Chucky lo these many years ago. Extras: Chucky himself provides commentary snippets, while lead Catherine Hicks ("7th Heaven") sits in on a separate track. (MGM, $14.98)

"PUMPKINHEAD" (1988) Hollywood effects and makeup legend Stan Winston passed away at 62 earlier this year, leading to no end of tributes recalling his work on "Terminator," "Aliens," "Jurassic Park," and many more. This cult horror entry, about grieving Lance Henriksen's deal with a demon of vengeance, marked one of Winston's few directorial efforts. Extras: Crew commentary; extensive production featurettes. (MGM, $19.98) FOREIGN

"REPRISE" (2008) Scandinavian first-time filmmaker Joachim Trier strives for a French New Wave feel with his thoughtful film about two young novelists and the hard places their lives and aspirations lead them. Extras: Production featurettes; deleted scenes. (Miramax, $29.99; available now)

Capsules are written by Tom Russo and titles are in stores Tuesday unless otherwise specified.