Blu-ray really goes back to the future with the 25-year-old trilogy of the same name, a 53-year-old Stanley Kubrick war classic, the revisited “Alien” saga, and the triumphant Lakers’ NBA championshp:
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1.) “Back to the Future 25th Anniversary Trilogy” (Universal, $79.98) is a three-pack priced accordingly in which most of the value and appeal is in the far superior first movie, which is till great fun in every regard from the clever and funny story and dialogue to the acting and the songs. This time there is a DeLorean full of retrospective bonus features, many on Universal’s “U-Control” for in-movie options:
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— Fun trivia track in all three movies
— “Setups and payoffs” points out scene elements that will payoff later.
— Six-part documentary featuring interviews and anecdotes, including scenes with Eric Stolz who had the lead during much of the production before being replaced by Michael J. Fox.
— Q&A with Michael Fox reveals that not only did everyone have to start over when Fox was cast, they had to start shooting overnight to accommodate Fox’s work on the TV Series “Family Ties,” which was especially wearing on Fox.
— Rock star memories reveal Huey Lewis and ZZ Top were booked because director Robert Zemeckis was a fan of both.
— Original intended nuclear test site ending that had to be scrapped due its cost of $1 million showcased via storyboards.
— Deleted scenes showing extended “Darth Vader” scene in the bedroom.
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2.) “Paths of Glory” (Criterion, $39.95) is one of the great Stanley Kubrick’s first films, a 1957 powerful black-and-white 88-minute World War I antiwar story of the incompetence of politically-motivated and self-important military leaders of French soldiers in brutal trench warfare. Similar in its portrayal of vain military leaders to David Lean’s color epic of the same year, “The Bridge on the River Kwai.” Kubrick would marry the young actress, Susanne Christian, he cast in a brief but powerfully touching role and remain with Christiane Kubrick until he died 42 years later in 1999. There is so much more here that is lovingly presented by Criterion Collection:
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— Vivid restored black-and-white HiDef digital transfer.
— Riveting 1979 British TV interview with star Kirk Douglas.
— Insightful new video interviews with Christiane Kubrick, “Paths” producer James B. Harris, and longtime Kubrick executive producer Jan Harlan (says Kubrick “feared mediocrity” and would have similar silly characters driven by vanity in many of his later films).
— Audio commentary, 1966 audio interview with Kubrick, French TV piece about real-life WWI execution, and a 20-page black-and-white booklet with photos and film scholar essay.
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3.) “Alien Anthology” (Fox, $139.99) is yet another exhaustive revisiting of this series that, like “Back to the Future,” has 90% of its appeal in the first and second installments. Among the highlights in this new Blu-ray set:
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— “MU-TH-UR mode” is a nifty on-screen interactive component that allows you to easily find and access specific extras during the play of the movie, like making-of videos related to the scene.
— Enhancement Pods is about 80 minutes of random leftover tidbits from bonus features, with come wonderful nuggets such as footage of a tall skinny guy in underwear wearing the alien horizontal headgear for “movement tests.” Also, deleted interview bits with James Cameron noting the reason the alien is so scary — no eyes, all teeth; and the primal sexual fear built into the design of the movie.
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4.) “Los Angeles Lakers: 2010 NBA Finals Series Collector’s Edition” (Image, $89.98) is a very nice collectible keepsake set for diehard Lakers fans and NBA fans in general who enjoyed a very closel-matched revival of a rivarly between the Lakers and Boston Celtics:
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— Complete network broadcasts of all seven games (sans commercials)
— Scene menu of each game quarter-by-quarter
— Scene selection for final 2-minutes of Game 7 (12 minutes even without commercials!)
— complete post-championship press conferences by coach Phil Jackson and players
— Fun eight-minute “mini-movie” summary highlights of the 7-game series
— scores, statistics
— By Scott Hettrick