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New DVDs: 'X-Files: Revelations,' 'Xanadu' and more

Submitted by SHNS on Tue, 07/08/2008 - 18:51

"THE X-FILES: REVELATIONS." (1993-1999. NOT RATED. 20TH CENTURY FOX. $22.97. TWO DISCS.)By the time "The X-Files" premiered in 1993, almost nobody trusted the government anymore. That's one reason the sci-fi show quickly developed a cult following, as it focused on a pair of FBI agents -- one a skeptic about supernatural phenomena, the other a believer -- who investigated paranormal, UFO-related and just plain weird incidents. And lurking in the background was a mysterious government warehouse that held profound secrets.This DVD release isn't for "X-Files" diehards, who can plunk down serious money for a mega-box set with the complete series (1993 to 2002) on 61 discs. It's for casual fans and newbies, and its purpose is to prime the pump for "The X-Files: I Want to Believe," the second feature film based on the show. (The movie opens July 25, and the DVD package includes a coupon worth $8.50 toward a ticket.) This two-disc set features eight episodes considered "essential viewing" by series creator Chris Carter. Extras include short introductions to each episode by Carter and series producer Frank Spotnitz, and a 30-minute panel discussion from this year's WonderCon in San Francisco with series stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson, along with Carter and Spotnitz.-- Walter Addiego"POSTWAR KUROSAWA." (1946-55. NOT RATED. ECLIPSE (CRITERION). $69.95.)"Postwar Kurosawa," a box set of five lesser-known films by the master Akira Kurosawa, is for fans only. That is not to say they are bad films, but if you are a Kurosawa newbie, start with the masterpieces ("Rashomon," "Seven Samurai," etc.).Once that foundation is laid, those curious for more will be rewarded with "No Regrets for Our Youth" (1946), an anti-war film made right after World War II in which budding star Setsuko Hara (who would later become Yasujiro Ozu's main muse) moves from the city to the country to farm with her late boyfriend's family; and "Scandal" (1950), a flawed but fascinating movie about a painter (Toshiro Mifune) who is accused of a tryst with a famous singer (Yoshiko Yamaguchi, who as Shirley Yamaguchi starred in King Vidor's "Japanese War Bride" and Samuel Fuller's "House of Bamboo").The accusation is untrue, and the artist sues a magazine for libel -- an obvious attempt at revenge by Kurosawa, who started out as a painter himself, at the Japanese paparazzi.Also included are two more with Mifune, the nuclear-paranoia drama "I Live in Fear" (1955) and an adaptation of Dostoyevsky's "The Idiot" (1951); and "One Wonderful Sunday," a touching romantic drama between two poor people in postwar Tokyo.-- G. Allen Johnson"XANADU: MAGICAL MUSICAL EDITION." (1980. PG. UNIVERSAL HOME ENTERTAINMENT. $19.98.)"Xanadu" was an epic mess of a movie, and time hasn't done it many favors. But where the gaping plot holes and ridiculous special effects were once difficult to watch, the video is still worth checking out for the enormous amount of kitsch value. Olivia Newton-John was horrible as a roller-skating muse who inspires a Los Angeles painter played by Michael Beck from "The Warriors," and the dialogue is atrocious throughout the picture. ("Hey, Zeus! Zeus!" Beck screams in one fantasy sequence. "You hear me! I want to talk to you!")Once you get past the plot, though, there are some positives. Gene Kelly, in one of his last roles, is a complete pro, and the fun cameos include a performance by the Tubes and an animated segment by "The Secret of NIMH" director Don Bluth. This was "High School Musical" director-choreographer Kenny Ortega's first project as a choreographer, and he has a lot of fun with the mix of disco, older styles and even some circus influences in the dancing.The print looks pretty good and the bonus music CD is nice, but the extras are sparse after that. There's a making-of documentary with Ortega, Bluth, director Robert Greenwald and a few others interviewed, but Beck and Newton-John are nowhere to be found.-- Peter Hartlaub"HITLER: THE LAST TEN DAYS." (1973. PG. PARAMOUNT. $14.95.)Some classics are better off not being revisited. This 1973 film about Hitler in the bunker is remembered as an intense drama featuring one of Alec Guinness' best performances. But Guinness can't even get the mustache right. He's wrong for the role. In a sense, almost everybody's wrong for the roles here, in that everybody's English, not German, but Guinness is temperamentally unsuited as well. He doesn't tap into Hitler's consuming anger. Instead, he plays down to the character, portraying him as fussy, delusional and somewhat impervious to his own downfall.In scene after scene, Guinness all but puts on a sign that says, "Look how delusional and ridiculous this fellow is." He comments on rather than inhabits the character, and that commentary is not particularly sophisticated. The 2004 German film "Downfall," a masterpiece, told the same story, and as both films pull from the same sources, they contain similar scenes and dialogue. It's instructive to watch parallel scenes, just to see what the right direction and the right actors can do with almost identical material.Eva Braun, by the way, is played by a German actress, Doris Kunstmann, who was 28 at the time and one of the most beautiful women in Germany. This makes her too flashy looking for Braun, but she's one of the few players who seem emotionally authentic. Of course, the film's subject is inherently interesting, and that redeems much of the experience.-- Mick LaSalle(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)