DVD Corner

“Constantine: HD DVD”: Hell in high definition. On HD DVD, “Constantine” looks good, particularly in its robust images of hell, which boil anew. The disc also touts the new In-Movie Experience feature specific to HD DVDs, which in this case allows the viewer to hear director Francis Lawrence’s running commentary without ever having to leave the film itself for the menu screen. The problem, of course, is the movie itself. Based on the popular “Hellblazer” comic books, the film is a convoluted mess. Elements are admirable, particularly the special effects sequences that dramatize hell, and Rachel Weitz, Tilda Swinton and Djimon Hounsou all are fine in supporting roles. But story and characters are key to any movie and here, “Constantine” loses sight of both. This isn’t a movie, per se; it’s a stunt with eye-catching effects, the type that works well to lure audiences, who, after seeing this beauty, will be the real lost souls. Rated R. Grade: C-

“Firewall: HD DVD”: Firebomb it. Harrison Ford is Jack Stanfield, a wealthy, Seattle-based network security chief for a national chain of banks who is posed with a rather troubling conundrum when into his life comes Bill Cox (Paul Bettany), a smooth criminal who wants Jack to rob his own bank and deposit $100 million into offshore accounts. If he do so, his life and the lives of his recently kidnapped family (Virginia Madsen among them) will be spared. If he refuses, first his family will be murdered (messy), and then him (messier). So, should Jack say to hell with the law and pilfer the money to protect his family? Or should he repeatedly put them in harm’s way, risking their lives time and again because he’d rather protect the bank’s money instead? If you’re thinking this is a no brainer, that’s because for sane people, it is. But not for Jack. Jack continues to make decisions that literally almost costs his family their lives. Watching the movie, you sit there thinking that either this guy is dumb-struck stupid or he has a death wish for himself and his family. And it gets worse. The ending is a huffer and a puffer, with poor Harrison Ford looking oddly pale as he’s kicked, bludgeoned, slapped, scratched, punched and tossed out windows. Ford has been here before, but never in a movie that made him look so frail – and never, ever in a movie that actually allowed the sun to set so symbolically behind him in the climactic scene. Rated PG-13. Grade: D

“M*A*S*H: Season Ten”: More drama than comedy. There are laughs, for sure, but more than ever at this point in the series, you can feel the weight of the responsibility resting hard on the shoulders of the 4077th. In the absence of so much of the original cast – only Alan Alda, Loretta Swit and Jamie Farr remain – the show works hard to appeal and it succeeds. If this disc set disappoints, it’s because it offers no special features, no commentary from the cast or crew. It just is. The good news is that what it is is well-done television, perhaps timelier now than it has been since its original run. Grade: B

“The Perfect Storm: HD DVD”: On HD DVD, Wolfgang Peterson’s “The Perfect Storm” is a fine example of how special effects, when backed by a strong script and an even stronger cast, can create terrific, rousing entertainment – the sort that creates a sustained, meteoric high even in the face of the low pressure it depicts. Based on Sebastian Junger’s true account of events that occurred off New Gloucester, Mass., in the fall of 1991, the film isn’t just about the category 5 hurricane that gives the movie its title, but also about the working class characters (George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, John C. Reilly, Allen Payne, William Fichtner) who are caught in that storm and must ride it out. Just as in the director’s best movie, “Das Boot,” “Storm” gets the small details right – the cramped living quarters aboard the Andrea Gail, the stink of dead fish, the longing for love and family, the weight of what it means to be a fisherman. For the crew, everything in the end comes down to timing and luck; nothing can be lost to chance. “The Perfect Storm” knows this, respects it – and it gets it right. Rated PG-13. Grade: A

“Running Scared”: More like “Running with Scissors.” Paul Walker is Joey Gazelle – yes, Joey Gazelle – a bargain-basement thug charged by a mid-level mobster to get rid of the gun that was used to mow down several dirty cops in a drug bust gone wrong. If he screws up and that gun somehow gets on the street, people Joey don’t want to tangle with could get in the sort of trouble that will leave Joey wishing he’d done the job right. Knowing this, Joey drives home, roughly tries to have sex with his wife Teresa (Vera Farmiga), and then, rejected, scrambles into the basement. There, his son, Nicky (Alex Neuberger), and Nicky’s friend, Oleg (Cameron Bright), watch him from behind a stack of boxes as he hides the gun. Since there wouldn’t be a movie if the gun didn’t go missing, it naturally goes missing right into Oleg’s hands. What spins from this should leave everyone running scared, a movie peppered with “Mac Daddies,” kind-hearted prostitutes who do the right thing when properly locked and loaded, a creepy New Jersey couple who kidnap and kill children in a sleazy child-porn ring, and a hockey game that closes the show as if it were “Holiday on Ice – Gangsta Style.” This terrible, vile little movie is a new camp classic. Rated R. Grade: BOMB

“The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada”: A stiff shows up with gruesome repetition in this solid directorial debut from Tommy Lee Jones movie. Said stiff is Melquiades Estrada (Julio Cesar Cedillo), an illegal Mexican immigrant who is mysteriously shot and killed while working as a cowboy tending to sheep in Texas. Who did him in? Initially, that’s the question around which you believe the film will build. But no. The movie quickly dispenses with its mystery and exposes the murderer, which is fine since its success doesn’t hinge on the revelation. What “Burials” has on its mind is something deeper, a character study with Jones creating a movie that reflects his own persona – unpretentious, interesting, laid back, slightly askew. Performances by Jones, Cedillo, Barry Pepper, January Jones, Melissa Leo and Dwight Yoakum – are consistently strong. A fine first effort. Rated R. Grade: B+