DVD Pick of the week: Starcrash (Shout! Factory)
This Italian-made 1978 science-fiction farrago from writer/ director Lewis Coates (nee Luigi Cozzi) is one of the goofiest space operas made in the wake of Star Wars’ success. It’s frequently laughable and often silly, but it’s also lovably cartoonish and clearly made with affection.
Bikini-clad space warrior Stella Star (Caroline Munro) and her co-pilot Akton (Marjoe Gortner) are tapped to wage war against the maniacal Count Zarth Arn (Joe Spinell, at his eyerolling nuttiest), who is hell-bent on conquering the universe.
The special effects, including stop-motion robots, laser swords (hmmm… where’d they get that idea?) and lots of blinking lights, are a hoot… and occasionally pretty good! This interstellar mania is made even more entertaining by its admirably straight-faced cast, which also includes Christopher Plummer (dignity intact) as the Emperor and a young David Hasselhoff as his son, Simon. Adding another (misplaced?) touch of class is the score by John Barry.
High art it’s not, but Starcrash is not without its loony charms, as its cult following will happily attest. Both the special-edition DVD ($19.93 retail) and Blu-ray ($26.97 retail) include a bevy of special features that are sure to please the Starcrash faithful. Rated PG.
ALSO ON DVD
“BROTHERS & SISTERS”: THE COMPLETE FOURTH SEASON (Walt Disney studios Home entertainment): The day-to-day lives of the members of the Walker family are the focus in all 24 episodes from the 2009-’10 season of the award-winning, prime-time ABC-TV series. The star-studded ensemble cast includes sally Field, Calista Flockhart, Rachel Griffiths, Ron Rifkin, Patricia Wettig and Rob lowe (who makes his exit). This six-DVD boxed set retails for $45.99. CA$H (lionsGate Home entertainment): sean Bean has fun playing twisted twins in this overlong thriller featuring Chris Hemsworth and Victoria Profeta as a couple whose unexpected cash windfall turns out to be loot from a recent bank robbery. Basically a three-hander, although kathleen Wilhoite, Mike starr and Glenn Plummer (playing “Glenn the Plumber”) drop by briefly. Not bad, but best suited to the small screen. Rated R.
“COUGAR TOWN”: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON (Walt Disney studios Home entertainment): Courteney Cox plays a divorcee newly testing the waters of dating and romance, in all 24 episodes from the 2009-’10 season of the prime-time ABC-TV situation comedy. Cox and her real-life husband David Arquette are among the executive producers. This boxed set retails for $39.99.
“GHOSTWRITER”: SEASON ONE (sesame Workshop/shout! Factory): A five-DVD boxed set ($39.97 retail) containing all 34 original episodes from the 1992-’93 debut season of the award-winning BBC series (broadcast in the Us on PBs) following the adventures of an inquisitive young boy (sheldon Turnipseed) who begins receiving strange messages on his computer. samuel l Jackson appeared in the first season periodically as Turnipseed’s father. Other series regulars included Marcella lowery, David lopez and Tram-Anh Tran.
“GREY’S ANATOMY”: THE COMPLETE SIXTH SEASON (Walt Disney studios Home entertainment): ellen Pompeo’s back in the title role of Dr. ellen Grey, in all 24 episodes from the 2009-’10 season of the award-winning, primetime ABC-TV medical drama set at seattle Grace Hospital. Other regular cast members include Patrick Dempsey, sandra Oh, Chyler leigh, eric Dane and katherine Heigl (who bids farewell). Two emmy nominations with a win for Outstanding Makeup (Non-Prosthetic) for a single-Camera series (for the episode “suicide is Painless”). The DVD boxed set retails for $59.99.
HENSON’S PLACE: THE MAN BEHIND THE MUPPETS (lionsGate Home entertainment): An excellent, thoroughly entertaining 1984 TV documentary, originally broadcast on “The Jim Henson Hour,” tracing the career of Jim Henson, the talented (and much-missed) creator of the Muppets, who built a remarkable show-biz empire around them.
“LOST”: THE COMPLETE SIXTH AND FINAL SEASON (Walt Disney studios Home entertainment): It’s the end of the line on the “lost” island, in all 16 episodes from the 2010 season of the award-winning, prime-time ABCTV fantasy series. The ensemble cast includes Terry O’Quinn, Naveen Andrews, Matthew Fox, evangeline lilly, Michael emerson and emile de Ravin. An emmy winner for Outstanding single Camera Picture editing for a Drama series (for the episode “The end”), with 11 additional nominations including Outstanding Drama series, Outstanding lead Actor in a Drama series (Fox), Outstanding supporting Actor in a Drama series (both O’Quinn and emerson) and Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama series (former regular elizabeth Mitchell). The DVD boxed set retails for $59.99 and the Bluray boxed set for $79.99. Walt Disney studios Home entertainment is also releasing the selfexplanatory “lost: The Complete Collection,” which retails for $229.99 on DVD and $279.99 on Blu-ray.
“MADELINE’S HALLOWEEN & OTHER SPOOKY TALES” (shout! Factory): Getting the jump on the season, this special-edition DVD ($12.99 retail) includes five Halloween-themed episodes from the emmy Award-winning, animated children’s series, based on ludwig Bemelman’s best-selling novels, which originally aired on the Family Channel from 1993-’95. SHRINK (lionsGate Home entertainment): kevin spacey produced and stars in this satire of psychoanalysis, as a beleagured, burnedout Hollywood psychiatrist trying to put his life back on track after his wife’s death. Also on hand: the always welcome Robert loggia (as spacey’s father), Pell James (also a co-producer), Mark Webber, saffron Burrows, keke Palmer, Ashley Greene, Gore Vidal, Clayton Rohner, Dallas Roberts, Jesse Plemons and an unbilled Robin Williams as a movie star convinced he’s a sex addict. There are too many characters to keep track of; this works best when spacey’s working it. Rated R. SIX GUN (lionsGate Home entertainment): low-budget, knobby-kneed Western with Tommy Hill as a bounty hunter-turned-rancher who embarks on one last, fateful job. Rated PG-13.
“STARSTRUCK” (Walt Disney studios Home entertainment): An extended special edition of the top-rated Disney Channel teen romantic comedy with music. The cast includes Danielle Campbell, sterling knight, Brandon Mychal smith, Chelsea staub and Maggie Castle. The single-disc DVD retails for $26.99, the two-disc DVD and CD for $29.99.
SUBURBIA (shout! Factory): A “Collector’s edition” re-release of writer/director Penelope spheeris’ 1984 saga of disaffected youth, capturing a time, a place and an attitude, with the lA punk scene of the early 1980s as a backdrop. executed with punch and verve and nerve, with a mostly-unknown cast (including Chris Pederson, Bill Coyne, Jennifer Clay and Andre Pece) adding a raw authenticity. Remember: “I hate buses.” Rated R.
TAMARA (lionsGate Home entertainment): This unsurprising but tolerable shocker, which preceded the similarly-themed Jennifer’s Body, stars Jenna Dewan (in an effective performance) as a high-school outcast who dies in a practical joke engineered by her classmates, then returns from the dead to exact revenge. Rated R.
