DVD Corner

“Die Hard Ultimate Collection”: Most actors are forgotten, a fraction endures, others are lucky enough to be remembered for portraying one character. Bruce Willis will be remembered for portraying two: David Addison Jr. in the television series “Moonlighting,” and John McClane in the popular “Die Hard” series, the “Ultimate Collection” of which is just out from Fox. Viewers will find that 1988’s “Die Hard,” 1990’s “Die Hard 2,” 1995’s “Die Hard: With a Vengeance” and last year’s “Live Free or Die Hard” have received the grand treatment in two-disc collector’s editions. A plethora of extras, commentaries and more help to bolster what’s easily one of pop-culture’s more entertaining action franchises. Grade: B+

“Maggie Smith at the BBC”: A necessary collection of the actress’s lesser-known works: 1972’s “The Merchant of Venice” and “The Millionairess”; 1988’s “A Bed Among the Lentils”; and 1993’s “Suddenly Last Summer.” All are good, but Richard Eyre’s version of Tennessee Williams’ “Summer” is the standout. It finds Smith taking on Katharine Hepburn’s iconic role as Mrs. Venable and, in the process, smacking down poor Natasha Richardson’s Catharine with a lobotomy – her scenes opposite Richardson are alive with underhanded cruelty. What’s so impressive about the set is that regardless of how the actress challenged herself – and her willingness to do so is what makes this collection so satisfying – her ability to tap into a host of different characters is never short of impressive. She makes it all look easy – a little too easy – which, of course, it isn’t. Grade: B+

“National Treasure”: Blu-ray: This ripe B-movie, now out on high-definition Blu-ray disc, stars Nicolas Cage as Benjamin Franklin Gates (insert groan), whose family has been trying for generations to find the buried treasure of the Knights Templar. Allegedly, on the back of the Declaration of Independence is an invisible map that offers a series of clues that will lead Cage and his assistants to a colossal bounty. Complications and machinations abound, only a few of which – remarkably – deal with the actual theft of the historic document itself. The action in “Treasure” is passably entertaining and the movie doesn’t take itself too seriously, but maybe it should have. Nothing here is extraordinary and nothing matches what Spielberg created in the “Indiana Jones” movies, which “Treasure” tries to emulate in its own third-rate way. Rated PG-13. Grade: C-

“National Treasure: Book of Secrets” DVD, Blu-ray: A modest improvement over the original. This time, Cage’s Gates is trying to track down a diary entry from John Wilkes Booth, the contents of which could damage his family’s reputation. In no time, the sleuthing is on, with the movie moving from the Oval Office to Buckingham Palace to Mount Rushmore and beyond with such ease, you’d swear all were under one roof. A game Harvey Keitel, Justin Bartha, Ed Harris, Jon Voight and Helen Mirren tag along for the paycheck, which they earn by managing to play it straight in the wake of plot holes and ludicrous twists. Rated PG-13. Grade: C+

“Next” Blu-ray: Yet another movie with Cage, and now the question must be asked: When did his hair become a halfway house for bad weaves? Those who come to this high-definition version of “Next” might be prone to wonder – you can see his plugs with embarrassing clarity – but at least they offer a necessary distraction from a movie that amounts to stupid served with a side of stupid. Cage is Cris Johnson, a bum Las Vegas magician whose ability to see two minutes into the future attracts the attention of grim FBI agent Callie Ferris (Julianne Moore, rigid), a woman determined to enlist his help to keep a group of Russians from blowing up Los Angeles with a stolen nuclear bomb. We never know the reason they want to blow up L.A., but the movie wobbles forward anyway, with Jessica Biel showing up as Johnson’s love interest. Detonates with one of the worst, most incomplete endings in recent movie history. Rated PG-13. Grade: D

“Ocean’s Eleven” Blu-ray: Steven Soderbergh’s remake of Lewis Milestone’s 1960 Rat Pack caper downsizes the heist to three casinos: the MGM Grand, the Bellagio and the Mirage. For Danny Ocean (George Clooney) and his slick team of thieves, the job at hand is monumental, a heist that will net each a piece of a $160 million pot. Ocean’s motivation isn’t just the money; he wants to win back his ex-wife, Tess (Julia Roberts), a pretty grumpy woman now fondling the tie and cufflinks of the casinos’ sleazy owner, Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia). A good deal of what ensues is lively and fun – particularly in the interplay between Clooney and Brad Pitt, who are nicely paired. But with such an enormous cast, few are given the opportunity to leave a lasting impression, especially (and surprisingly) Roberts, who doesn’t appear until the film’s second hour and who barely registers even then. Rated PG-13. Grade: B

“Ocean’s Twelve” Blu-ray: A self-conscious, self-indulgent sequel you watch from the sidelines, looking in at all the A-list celebrities having a grand time being A-list celebrities while you yourself are stuck having a C-minus time. Its plot has the distinction of being tertiary to everything else onscreen. It’s weak and convoluted, with a numbing effect that’s isolating. This is fraternity filmmaking that features mainstream actors snubbing their noses at mainstream moviemaking in a film ironically targeted for the mainstream. Go figure. It’s a big slumber party in Europe for them, a colossal bore in the States for us. Rated PG-13. Grade: C-

“V for Vendetta” Blu-ray: Dips freely and liberally into a scattershot of influences to compose its whole. Noir factors into almost every corner of the story and its production, but then so do elements of science fiction and the Western. It’s a cautionary thriller that envisions some rather difficult times ahead for the year 2020, with a mass murderer in a Guy Fawkes mask (Hugo Weaving) determined to bring down the vicious dictator, Chancellor Sutler (John Hurt), whose fascist government has done unspeakable things to its citizens. With Natalie Portman and Stephen Rea, this dense, beautifully shot movie of so many ideas is among the best-looking yet in the Blu-ray format. Rated R. Grade: B+

WeekinRewind.com is the site for Bangor Daily News film critic Christopher Smith’s blog, video podcasts, iTunes portal and archive of hundreds of movie reviews. Smith’s reviews appear Mondays, Fridays and weekends in Lifestyle, as well as on bangordailynews.com. He may be reached at Christopher@weekinrewind.com.