The best of this week's new DVD offerings is a golden-oldie with Burt Lancaster, but most of the others aren't bad.
— "The Swimmer" (Columbia, 1968, PG, $19.95). This is one of those films that went unrecognized when it was initially released, but it went on to gain a cult following and is now generally considered an unsung late-'60s classic.
Based on a short story by John Cheever, the plot has Burt Lancaster as a man going through a mid-life crisis, which he projects by spending a day swimming from pool to pool in a posh Connecticut neighborhood. Lancaster has never been better, and as the story unfolds, we see how the character's life has unraveled, though he's clearly in denial as he confronts his neighbors, and former friends and lovers.
The supporting cast includes Janice Rule, Kim Hunter, Marge Champion and a very young Joan Rivers.
Extras: Widescreen, trailers, etc.
— "The Emperor's Club" (Universal, 2002, PG-13, $26.98). Although this umpteenth variation on "Goodbye, Mr. Chips" (crossed with "Dead Poets Society") is a pretty routine film on the whole, it gets a tremendous boost from Kevin Kline in the lead role as a highly principled teacher at a private boys school in the 1970s. Kline is pitch-perfect.
The central story has his character pressured to go easy on a senator's surly son — especially during the school's annual Mr. Julius Caesar contest, which tests the top students' knowledge of ancient Rome. The film then leaps 25 years forward, as the boys, now men, attempt to re-create that competition, with Kline as the moderator — putting his integrity on the line once more.
The film is slowly paced, but there are many nice vignettes, and it's good to see Kline in a starring role that takes advantage of his considerable talent. (The supporting cast is also strong.)
Extras: Separate widescreen and full-frame editions, audio commentary, making-of documentary, deleted scenes, DVD-Rom applications, etc.
— "Project A, Part 2" (Dimension, 1987, PG-13, $29.99). This sequel to "Project A" has Chan repeating his role as a Coast Guard cop in Hong Kong during the early 1900s, this time with the pirates from the first film seeking revenge while Chan is attemping to trip up a corrupt police lieutenant.
Considered one of his best films, this one is loaded with hilarious physical gags and breathtaking stunt work. If you've never seen Chan in his prime, this isn't a bad place to start. And the English-dubbing was done with a bit more care than usual, matching lip movement pretty well — though some of the voices are silly exaggerations for comic effect. There is no Chinese-language option.
Extras: Widescreen, etc.
— "Star Trek: Nemesis" (Paramount, 2002, PG-13, $29.99). Though trekkies — or trekkers, or trekettes, or trekolytes, or whatever die-hard "Star Trek" fans are calling themselves these days — hold this latest (and perhaps last) in the series in contempt, I found it to be on par with most of the big-screen "Star Treks." Actually, I'd rank "Nemesis" a bit higher than, say, "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" or "The FInal Frontier," though it doesn't come close to "Wrath of Khan," "Undiscovered Country" or "First Contact."
The story here has the usual brooding philosophical underpinnings, as Capt. Picard (Patrick Stewart) faces off against a clone that is his "son" . . . sort of. There's also a goodly amount of action — and some of the deleted scenes on the disc give the regular supporting characters some nice moments.
Extras: Separate widescreen and full-frame editions, audio commentary, deleted scenes, making-of documentaries, photo gallery, trailers, etc.
— "Analyze That" (Warner, 2002; rated R for violence, language, sex; $27.98.). The ridiculous plot of this unecessary sequel has mob boss Paul Vitti (Robert De Niro) being released from prison and placed into the custody of his former shrink, Ben Sobol (Billy Crystal). So their bickering and bantering begins again, but this time with weaker gags than the first time around.
In a bid to be hip, the film also parodies HBO's series "The Sopranos," by having Vitti hired as a consultant on a similar TV show, supposedly to help the star (unbilled Anthony LaPaglia) act more realistically mobster-like.
It does beg the question however, who's worse when comically singing "I Feel Pretty" from "West Side Story" — De Niro here or Jack Nicholson in "Anger Management"?
Extras: Separate widescreen and full-frame editions, audio commentary, interactive game, making-of documentary.
E-MAIL: hicks@desnews.com