DVD Corner

“Enter the Dragon: HD DVD”: Bruce Lee, on a high-definition tear. Shot in Hong Kong, this classic, 1973 smash was Lee’s final film. It presents a powerful, kinetic ballet by a martial arts master at the peak of his form. Just try looking away from him. Drugs and prostitution darken the film’s periphery, but they are no match for Lee’s kicking, punching, whirling. (He did his own choreography, the chief reason to see the film.) John Saxon, then a draw with American audiences, co-stars. Blink and you’ll miss a young Jackie Chan as a stunt double who no doubt was taking notes. Grade: A

“Good Neighbors: Complete Series Four”: The classic 1970s Britcom, in its fourth season, finds Tom and Barbara Good (Richard Briers, Felicity Kendal) still firmly committed to their pigs and produce, all raised in and around their suburban farm. The keyword here is suburban, not rural, as the Goods, in their quest for a more simple, self-sufficient life, decided not to move to the country but to quit their jobs and start their farming life amid the upper-middle class. None of this goes over for their neighbors and good friends, Jerry and Margo (Paul Eddington, Penelope Keith), though they try to understand-even if sometimes that’s difficult to do. And difficult to contain. Grade: B+

“Lara Croft: Tomb Raider-HD DVD”: Based on the popular video game series and now available on HD DVD, there is no question that the film’s controversial star, Angelina Jolie, is perfect for the role. Both she and Lara Croft are talented, beautiful exaggerations, which gets to the film’s one stroke of genius: its casting. Too bad the rest of the film is an uninspired mess. In spite of Jolie giving her all as Croft-the actress has a terrific sense of irony and does most of her own stuntwork, which is impressive considering the complexity of the stunts-the script consistently lets her down, as does Simon West’s hackneyed direction. Beyond the cut-and-paste cliches and the plodding story, the main problem is that Lara Croft is too invincible for her own good. Since she’s never given a vulnerable moment, it’s difficult to believe that she’s ever really in peril. All the world can blow up around Lara Croft-and it does here-but who cares when there’s no reason to fear for her life? Grade: D+

“Martha Stewart’s Guests: Master Chefs”: The food is the payoff, sure, but so is Martha, whose appeal comes down to her controlled sense of looseness. Ever wanted to stuff a flank steak with olives? Martha shows you how with chef Tom Douglas. Curious about Coq au Vin? Pay attention to Riad Nasr-he knows his way around a fermented grape. Asian techniques are covered by Eileen Yin-Fei Lo (pork buns), Nobu Matshushita (hand rolls), and Su-Mei Yu, whose pad thai comes together with alarming briskness. Martha flirts with Bobby Flay while roasting ribs; after the meal, you sense they might share a cigarette, likely one Martha rolled herself. Helpful tip of the day: Wasabi kills bacteria. Grade: B+

“Sahara: HD DVD”: Sunbaked, blistered-and in high definition. Sometimes, this take on Clive Cussler’s potboiler is so over the top, it appears as if its writers’ imaginations, warped by the heat, were taxed into hallucinations. The problem is that we have the Indiana Jones movies to compare it to-not to mention a few others, such as “King Solomon’s Mines”-and I’m afraid there’s no comparison. As good natured and as occasionally fun as “Sahara” is, the movie is little more than a likable poseur. Matthew McConaughey and Steve Zahn have chemistry, but forget Penelope Cruz; she showed up for the wrong movie-apparently one to be taken seriously. As for the action, too much of it audiences have seen before, with several scenes pulled straight out of the Jones’ movies. Some might argue that those scenes are the director tipping his hat to Spielberg, but if that’s the case, others will argue that he never should have tossed that hat into the ring. Grade: C+

“Shakespeare Behind Bars”: A fascinating documentary, with the convicted felons at Kentucky’s Luther Luckett Prison performing Shakespeare’s “The Tempest.” Some are murderers, others rapists, another a child molester, and so on. It isn’t the actual performance of the play that hooks you, but the getting there that’s so unexpectedly moving. For these men to immerse themselves in “The Tempest,” with its undercurrent of forgiveness, and to face their demons by performing in a play that draws out those demons, makes for a movie like no other. Grade: A-

“Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow: HD DVD”: Forget tomorrow. Kerry Conran’s “Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow,” now on HD DVD, is the movie to see today. Shot entirely against a blue screen with sets, locations and several robotic and monstrous characters digitally added after principal shooting ended, this great-looking film seems made for high-def. It’s a fun, dashing adventure set in 1939, with Gwyneth Paltrow and Jude Law saving the world from certain doom by the mad scientist, Dr. Totenkopf (played by Laurence Olivier, who died in 1989 but who has been digitally brought back to life). Angelina Jolie and Giovanni Ribisi round out the movie, which essentially is glamorous, high-end noir shot through with art deco elements heightened by the future. Closes with a smashing final shot. Grade: A-

“Waiting for God-Season 1”: Tom (Graham Growden) and Diana (Stephanie Cole) might be waiting for God, but they aren’t doing so quietly. At the Bayview Retirement Village, where death is everyone’s final guest and the food is notoriously bad, these two refuse to go out gracefully, particularly prickly Diana, whose last breath, one senses, will be spent sticking it to somebody with a complaint. Tom exists more in the ether, but he’s far from out of it. Together, they’re a team, occasionally taking breaks from their long conversations to steal away in a helicopter or a Porsche, all while igniting panic within the difficult staff. From the BBC. Grade: A-