Inflation, animation, imagination, & exploitation: a bloated Brando, outstanding computer-generated imagery, four decades of family favorites, and a shocking French film fill DVD shelves. . - Entertainment - movie review

QUITE OFTEN, Hollywood's miscalculations make more-interesting stories than successes do. Whether it's actors going power-hungry, directors getting the bit between their teeth and running out of control, or studios grievously turning a sure-fire idea into a terrible end result, these tales become legend, providing writers with a field day in chortling over them. Some of the recent crop of DVDs exemplify these cinematic occurrences; others are prime examples of what a pleasure it is when everything goes right; and still others create individualistic sidebars on their own.

INFLATION

Apocalypse Now Redux (Paramount Home Entertainment, 202 minutes, $29.99). When Francis Ford Coppola finally emerged from the Philippine jungle with miles of film that were eventually cobbled into the 1979 version of "Apocalypse Now," it was wildly over budget, bore with it myriad tales of drug and alcohol abuse, triggered a battle royal over editing the picture down to a manageable length, and, as a result of Coppola's excesses, was the begining of his Zoetrope film company's demise. The movie merited a split decision among critics as to whether it was a masterpiece or a disaster, yet the film captured eight Academy Award nominations (including best picture and best director), though it won just two (cinematography and sound).

Coppola--who directed, produced, co-authored, and even collaborated with his father on the score--was never fully satisfied with the finished product, and two decades later restored 49 minutes from the cutting room floor to his fever dream of a Vietnam War parable loosely adapted from Joseph Conrad's novel, Heart of Darkness. The restoration puts back a long episode with French settlers that is crammed with historical exposition concerning the roots of the war and a drug-and-booze-filled encounter with a pair of Playboy bunnies left over from previous scenes of a USO troupe entertaining American military personnel. Neither of these advances the story, and the latter is exploitational at best. Padding out the scenes with the mad Air Cavalry commander gives Robert Duvall added time to chew scenery in the role that won him a best supporting actor Oscar nomination, and it makes the expanded version worth seeing. All in all, the film remains both fascinating and infuriating, lacking the discipline and coherence Coppola brought to "The Godfather" and "The Godfather, Part 2."

"Apocalypse Now" also began a curious life change on the part of Marlon Brando. As he began to expand physically, his appearance time on screen--though not his salary--started to shrink correspondingly. He does not show up in "Apocalypse" until barely a half-hour remains in the film, requiring great audience patience, especially in the current version which runs almost three and a half hours long, leaving no room for any substantial special features on the DVD.

The Score (Paramount Home Entertainment, 124 minutes, $29.99) is the latest example of Brando's expanding girth and cameo appearances. As the money man behind the title heist, he is on screen for just a few minutes, and there is little in the role for an actor of his stature--virtually any character actor around could have handled it easily. Still, the idea of casting three generations of Oscar's favorites--Brando with his eight nominations and two wins, Robert De Niro (six nominations, two wins), and Edward Norton (two nominations)--evidently proved irresistible to the producers. They even threw in one-time nominee Angela Bassett as De Niro's mistress. Ignoring Brando, which is easy to do despite his deliberately fey performance, the picture plays beautifully. Nail-biting caper movies are a genre that Hollywood does really well, and this intricate Swiss watch of a film fits right in with the best, complemented by the conflict between the seasoned master thief (De Niro) and the egotistical young buck (Norton) looking to top (or topple) him. Special features are the standard "Making of ..." documentary and commentary by director Frank Oz and director of photography Rob Hahn.

Pearl Harbor (Touchstone Home Video, 183 minutes, $29.99), on the other hand, is a vivid example of what Hollywood consistently does wrong --taking a monumental event and trivializing it with a mawkish love story and gee-whiz, buddy-buddy acting that has audiences squirming for most of the three hours-plus running time. The Japanese sneak attack is reduced to barely 20 minutes on screen, most of it computer-generated imagery (CGI), the latest toy of directors. The picture, one of the most-expensive ever made, proved a critical and box-office disappointment, even though it seems destined to make a profit once video sales are added in. Still, the screenplay is cliche-ridden; the dialogue is banal; and the three leads--Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett, and Kate Beckinsale--lack the stature to get viewers engaged in their stories. The picture hearkens back to the gung ho, propagandistic movies of the World War II years in style, despite the technological wizardry poured into the battle scenes. Timed to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, it does a disservice to the importance of the occasion, as well as the national mood post-Sept. 11. For an example of Hollywood handling the event properly, rent "From Here to Eternity" instead. The special DVD features are easily more engrossing, with the "Making of ..." documentary a fascinating glimpse of movie-making and a History Channel documentary putting everything into perspective with its tribute to the "unsung heroes" of the attack. There's even a Faith Hill music video of the below-the-titles song that is as treacly as the picture itself.