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You loved the movie, what about the DVD?
Find out as we examine the extras on this week's best movie DVDs...
“I LOVE THE ’80s: 48 HRS,” “I LOVE THE ’80s: BEVERLY HILLS COP,” and “I LOVE THE ’80s: BEVERLY HILLS COP II”
Stars: Eddie Murphy
Directors: "48 Hrs.": Walter Hill (“The Warriors”); "Beverly Hills Cop": Martin Brest (“Midnight Run”); "Beverly Hills Cop II": Tony Scott (“True Romance”)
Formats: DVD
What we say: These are all perfectly good Murphy movies, but what's with the unnecessary rerelease? These—and multiple other titles in the "I Love the '80s" series (see "Other DVDs out this week" below)—are basically just the same DVDs already available, now available with ugly new wave packaging befitting the respective VH1 series.
Extras: 48 Hrs: the original trailer.
Beverly Hills Cop: Commentary by Brest; cast and crew interviews; “Casting ‘Beverly Hills Cop’” featurette; “Music Of ‘Beverly Hills Cop’” featurette; location map; photo gallery; trailer.
Beverly Hills Cop II: Cast and crew interviews; behind-the-scenes featurette; a deleted scene with an intro by Scott; “Shakedown” music video; original trailer.
Worth watching: At least the original trailers perfectly showcase the ’80s vibe—back when Murphy was at the top of his game.
Worth skipping: The “Music of ‘Beverly Hills Cop’” featurette and the “Shakedown” music video because while these movies hold up, the music really doesn’t. Not even as kitsch.
Worth adding: New commentaries by Murphy, all the movies on Blu-ray, or anything to disguise the blatant corporate cross-marketing.
Buy, rent or ignore: Ignore.
“STARSHIP TROOPERS” and “STARSHIP TROOPERS 3: MARAUDER”
Stars: "Troopers": Casper Van Dien, Dina Meyer, Neil Patrick Harris; "Marauder": Van Dien, Jolene Blalock
Directors: "Troopers": Paul Verhoeven (“Showgirls”); "Marauder": Edward Neumeier
Formats: DVD, Blu-ray
What we say: While this first in this bug-battling sci-fi saga was fun in a campy, so-bad-it’s-OK, “Melrose Space” kind of way, the third is only for those who really love the first direct-to-DVD sequel ("Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation")…or Casper Van Dien.
Extras: "Troopers" DVD: Commentary by Verhoeven, Harris, Meyer, and Van Dien; digital Copy.
"Troopers" Blu-ray: Commentary; “FedNet Mode,” a picture-in-picture mode with interviews, trivia, and info on the film; an interactive “Recruitment Test”; “Death From Above” making-of featurette; “Know Your Foe” featurette on the bugs; deleted scenes; storyboards
"Marauder" DVD: Two commentaries: one with Neumeier, Van Dien, and Blalock, the second with Neumeier, visual effects supervisor Robert Skotek, and producer David Lancaster; “It’s a Good Day to Die” music video; “Evolution: The Bugs of ‘Starship Troopers 3: Marauder'” featurette on the bad guys bugs; “Enlist: Marauder’s Mobile Infantry” featurette on the good guys.
"Marauder" Blu-ray: All DVD features plus “Marauder Mode,” a picture-in-picture option with interviews, trivia and info.
Worth watching: The interactive “Recruitment Test” on the "Troopers" Blu-ray, which will show you, once and for all, that playing “Halo 3” every day does not mean you’ll make a good space marine.
Worth skipping: The “Enlist” featurette on “Marauder." They spend too much time with Van Dien and not enough with the far more interesting (and interesting-looking) Blalock.
Worth adding: A profile of the casting director or directors who were smart enough to cast the female leads in the "Troopers" trilogy.
Buy, rent or ignore: Rent the original; if you survive that, try “Marauder.”
Other DVDs out this week:
— This year's Oscar winner for Best Foreign Language Film: "The Counterfeiters" (also on Blu-ray)
— Heather Graham wants a baby but can't find the right man in "Miss Conception"
— The mom from “Panic Room,” that little girl from “Little Miss Sunshine” and the dude from “300” get trapped on a desert island in “Nim’s Island” (also on Blu-ray)
— More titles from that “I Love The ’80s” collection include: “Airplane,” “Airplane II: The Sequel,” “American Gigolo,” “Better Off Dead,” “Big Top Pee Wee,” “Crocodile Dundee,” “Crocodile Dundee II,” “D.A.R.Y.L.,” “Explorers,” “Fatal Attraction,” “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” “Footloose,” “Friday the 13th,” “Friday the 13th Part 2,” “Grease 2,” “Planes, Trains and Automobiles,” “Popeye,” “Pretty in Pink,” “She’s Having a Baby,” “Some Kind of Wonderful,” “Summer School,” “Terms of Endearment,” “Top Gun,” “Urban Cowboy” and “Witness”
— More re-packaged '80s nostalgia with “The High School Flashback Collection (The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, Weird Science)”
Also released:
"Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers (20th Anniversary Edition)"
"The Killing of John Lennon"
“Marco Ferreri Collection”
"My Brother is an Only Child"
"Pete Seeger: The Power of Song"
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