5 more reviews from DVD Savant this week including: Two more volumes Fatima's fearsome Educational Archive - Driver's Ed. & On the Job , 1776 from Columbia with 25 additional minutes, Criterion's The Importance of Being Earnest (the kind of movie Savant avoids, and then can't get enough of), and finally Columbia's Old Gringo a a superior historical drama about revolutionary Mexico from the great Carlos Fuentes novel. All this and more in this week's DVD Savant

Anchor Bay has officially announced details for the much anticipated DVD release for Near Dark. Set for release on September 24, Near Dark will be presented in a 2 DVD special edition and feature both DTS and Dolby Digital Audio, 16x9 Widescreen, Director's Commentary, and new 47 minute making of documentary, deleted scenes with Director's Commentary, storyboards, and much more. Pre-Order Near Dark now

A Beautiful Mind: Awards Edition DVD hits the streets this week, and we were able to catch up with Director Ron Howard to talk to him about this amazing DVD. Ron Howard talks about how he sees DVD, what other movies of his will be coming to DVD, what you will and won't see on the Beautiful Mind DVD and much more. Both read the interview and listen to audio of Ron Howard from the interview. It's a fascinating look at a great Director, and a super DVD!

The 33rd Nashville Independent Film Festival just wrapped up in Nashville, TN a few weeks ago and DVDTalk writer Phillip Duncan cover the 6-day long event. Read the full coverage to find out about the best that Nashville has to offer Hollywood, like local director Darrin Dickerson and short film The Key, which won the Tennessee Independent Spirit Award, guaranteeing it an eventual DVD release. Also, find out about the best documentary and independent films out or soon to be released.

For those of you who 'just can't wait' for the third installment in the 'Mummy Series' to come to DVD, Universal has some good news for you as The Scorpion King has been officially announced for release on October 1st. The Scorpion King will be released as a CD+DVD combo pack (including a CD soundtrack with 3 new songs by Godsmack). The DVD itself will feature: audio commentary with Director Chuck Russell, making-of documentary, a discussion with the film's visual effects team, alternate and extended scenes, 'Live Footage from The Rock's Feature Commentary' and more. Pre-Order The Scorpion King now

Just when you thought it was safe to go into the woods ... erupts the unbridled terror of Trees!!! This hilariously deadpan fromage to Steven Spielberg's toothy classic has bark AND bites. Also, a double-helping of Asian horror with Audition and Tell Me Something. CineSchlocker fave Misty Mundae returns as Roxanna. Plus, responses to reader emails and Jaws 3-D joins CineSchlock-O-Rama's Most Wanted.

Buena Vista Home Video has announced an extremely cool DVD for Project Greenlight: Stolen Summer . Set for release on September 24th, Project Greenlight will be a 4-disc collector's series that features: the complete 12-part HBO series, The Stolen Summer Feature with Audio Commentary, videos from Pete Jones, and a ton of special features surrounding the Project Greenlight experience (6 total hours of bonus content). Pre-Order Project Greenlight now.

This week we've got a great giveaway from New Line Cinema for I Am Sam - Platinum Edition. New Line has put together a fantastic DVD for this touching movie including: Commentary by director / Co-screenwriter Jessie Nelson, Deleted and Alternate Scenes with optional director commentary, and an excellent 40 minute making of documentary entitled Becoming Sam. I Am Sam was one of the more overlooked gems when it came to the theaters, we're hoping more people will discover it on DVD! Enter Now for your chance to win.

This week The Aisle View takes a look at Spielberg's latest film Minority Report. See how this film stacks up against A.I. and how much influence working with the late great Stanley Kubrick may have had on both Spielberg and cruise. Also, in case you missed them be sure to read The Aisle View's take on Windtalkers, Scooby-Doo, The Bourne Identity and The Sum of All Fears

This week The DVD Savant goes 20 Million Miles to Earth to bring you the latest review of Ray Harryhausen's monster show from Columbia Tri-Star. DVD Savant also takes a look at Lost Command, Will Penny, The Great Race and Bad Company (not the dreadful one in the theaters with Chris Rock) - a seldom-seen gem from with Jeff Bridges and Barry Brown about draft evaders from the Civil War, who find out that living by one's wits out West isn't as easy as they thought it would be. All this and More in This Week's DVD Savant

You've got to LOVE shipping & price wars! First DVDEmpire started the shipping wars by offering Free Shipping on 4 or more items, next Amazon.com lowered the minimum for their free shipping to $49, then Buy.com threw down the gauntlet and offered Free Shipping with No Minimum, and of course DeepDiscountDVD.com has always offers free shipping. The end result of all these shipping wars- better deals for you!

New Line Cinema has announced a super 2 disc Platinum Edition DVD for Blade II! Set for release on Aug 30 Blade II will be presented in 1.85:1 Widescreen enhanced for 16x9 TVs with both Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1 and feature: 2 commentary tracks - one with the Writer and Director and the other with one of the Producers and Wesley Snipes, an Isolated Music Score, Deleted Scenes, Interactive Director's Notebook, Original making of Documentaries, music videos and more. Pre-Order Blade II from DVDEmpire at 33% off for $19.99

Universal has finally announced the highly anticipated DVD release for Brotherhood of The Wolf. Set for release on October 1st Brotherhood of The Wolf will be presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen with both English and French 5.1 audio. The only real features which Brotherhood of The Wolf will sport are some production notes and deleted scenes, but Brotherhood of The Wolf is such an amazing movie, it's still worth picking up! Pre-OrderBrotherhood of The Wolf at 30% off!

If you had any doubt about the explosive growth in Music on DVD, Warner Bros, has announced that they're partnering with Eagle Rock Entertainment to release a number of live concert performance DVD. The first one out of the gate is Janet Jackson-Live In Hawaii. Due out on September 3rd Janet Jackson-Live In Hawaii will be presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 and feature never before seen bonus footage of Ms. Jackson providing viewers an exclusive backstage pass to her world tour. Pre-Order Janet Jackson-Live In Hawaii and look for more Music DVDs to be announced from this partnership soon!

DVD-Audio is getting what it needs most - a series price drop. This week Amazon has lowered it's prices across the board on almost all of it's DVD-Audio DVDs from the $25 range down to around $14.99. Most DVD-Audio DVDs have 5.1 audio mixes which can play in standard DVD Players and with DVD-Audio DVDs being as inexpensive as CDs it's a great time to check them out. If you need help finding the best DVD-Audio DVDs check out DVD Talk's Review Section dedicated to DVD-Audio.

Lord of the Rings fans rejoice! You can now pre-order The Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring (Platinum Series Special Extended DVD Edition)! Featuring a 208 minute cut (over 30 mins more than the theatrical cut) The Lord of the Rings - Extended Edition will be released on November 12 as a 4 DVD Special Platinum Series Edition. In addition to the new cut of the film the The Lord of the Rings - Extended Edition will feature 4 audio commentary tracks with over 30 participants, featurettes on everything from adapting the book, special effects, and costumes. Footage from early production meetings, 'A Day in the Life of a Hobbit, Visual effects features with multi-angle progressions and much much more! Pre-Order The Lord of the Rings - Extended Edition

Exciting news for Ken Burns fans: PBS Home Video has announced the DVD release for The Civil War - A Film by Ken Burns . Considered by many to be one of his masterpieces The Civil War (all 9 episodes) will be released as a 5 DVD special edition on September 17th and feature: Five fill hours of audio commentary by Ken Burns, Behind the Scenes The Civil War Reconstruction, interviews with the Director, Writers and Musicians, 2 featurettes on Ken Burns and how he works, interactive battlefield maps and more! If The Civil War - A Film by Ken Burns is anywhere near as good a DVD set as Ken Burns' Baseball then it's destine to become a DVD Talk Collector's Series DVD.

Warner Bros has announced the DVD Release for Queen of the Damned (Based on an amalgam of Anne Rice's book's The Vampire Lestat and Queen of The Damned). Queen of the Damned is set for release on August 27 and will feature: Audio Commentary with the filmakers, Deleted Scenes, 3 'Lestat' music Videos, Extended Concert Sequences, a gag reel, and several featurettes including - 'Aaliyah Remembered'. 'The Music of Lestat'. and 'Creating the Vampires'. Pre-Order Queen of the Damned now.

Paramount has announced the DVD release for the Samuel Jackson/Ben Affleck thriller Changing Lanes. Set for release on September 10th Changing Lanes will feature: A Director's Commentary, The Making Of Changing Lanes, A Writer's Perspective Featurette, Deleted Scenes, Extended Scenes, and some Alternate Endings. If you're looking for a good thriller and overlooked Changing Lanes in the theater you'll want to make sure you catch it on DVD!

We've gotten a lot of requests to review Manufacturing Consent - Noam Chomsky and the Media (which is ranked in the top 5 documentaries on IMDb), so this week The DVD Savant took up the task of taking on a movie about 'important intellectual alive today'. Savant also takes a look at Blake Edwards' Victor/Victoria, Paramount's Sorry, Wrong Number, Criterion's The Horse's Mouth and two Ultraman DVDs from Image Ultraman Tiga and Ultraman Dyna and Ultraman Dyna: The Battle in Hyperspace. All this and more in this week's DVD Savant.

We're excited to announce the addition of another column to DVD Talk: The Aisle View penned by DVD Talk Reviewer DK Holm will bring you a run down of movies coming to your local movie theater. Check out DK's Take on this weeks new films: Windtalkers, Scooby Doo, and The Bourne Identity . Also be sure to catch up with his take on last week's the latest installment in the Jack Ryan series (sans Harrison Ford). Coming up later this week Don't miss it!

Our friends over at IndieDVD have announced the DVD release for Plymptoons Special Edition. Set for release on July 23 Plymptoons Special Edition will feature 22 Animated Shorts from Twisted Animator - Bill Plympton including the very funny: 'Your Face', 'How To Kiss', '25 Ways to Quit Smoking' and more. Plymptoons Special Edition will also feature: an introduction by Bill Plympton and Lloyd Kaufman, early rare footage of and by Plympton, Audio Commentary by Bill Plympton and 2 Bill Plympton featurettes - 90 mins of total stuff. Pre-Order Plymptoons Special Edition for $14.99

Amazon.com has launched a new, interesting bargain tool called 'The Gold Box'. Located at the top right hand corner of their nav bar, The Gold Box presents you with 6 offers which you have 1 hour to either take advantage of or to pass on after which they're gone. DVD Talk Members report finding several amazing DVD Deals including: Vanilla Sky for $5.40 , Harry Potter for $12.79 and many other great deals on a wide variety of items, and the selection seems to be different for each person.

This week we've got a giveaway for the new Lauryn Hill Unplugged 2.0 DVD. Presented in its Original Aspect Ration (full-frame) with Dolby Digital 5.1 audio Lauryn Hill Unplugged 2.0 features Lauryn Hill performing 13 songs including "I Remember" and "I Gotta Find Peace of Mind". Check out the video clip of 'Water' from the DVD! Enter Now for your chance to win one of 5 Lauryn Hill Unplugged 2.0 DVDs

Good and Bad News about the upcoming DVD Release for E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. First the good news: Universal has officially announced that E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial WILL be released on DVD October 22nd (for only '10 weeks', after which it will go on 'moratorium indefinitely') E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial 2 DVD Limited Edition will be presented in Widescreen Anamorphic with both DTS & Dolby 5.1 Surround and include: The 20th Anniversary Theatrical Release, Isolated John Williams Score with additional footage of him conducting at this years premiere, original featurettes: '20 Years Later with Steven Spielberg', 'The Evolution of E.T', 'Reunion Featurette', and a number of DVD-Rom features like An E.T. Read Along, E.T. Game and E.T. Facts. Now here's the bad news. If you want the ORIGINAL cut of ET, you'll be forced to shell out quite a bit of money as it is ONLY Available as part of the E.T. Ultimate Collector’s Gift Set which includes the original theatrical version, the 2002 theatrical version (plus all the features of the Limited Edition), a CD soundtrack, a script from the original feature and a collectible senitype and will set you back $50-$70!

Warner Bros. has announced the DVD release for the classic Barfly. Set for release on September 3rd Barfly Special Edition will feature commentary by Director Barbet Schroeder and Making-Of Featurette. If you've never seen Barfly you're going to want to check it out, it's painfully wonderful and was penned by the excentric and enigmatic Charles Bukowski. Barfly Special Edition can be Pre-Ordered online for $13.99.

When it comes to picking up Artisans' upcoming DVD Release for Reservoir Dogs: 10th Anniversary Special Edition (set for Aug 27) you'll have 5 different packages to pick from Mr. Blonde, Mr. Orange, Mr. Pink, Mr. White and the 'limited' Mr. Brown. All 5 Reservoir Dogs: 10th Anniversary Special Editions have exactly the same disc inside featuring: Interviews with Quentin Tarantino Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth and more, Deleted Scenes and a few new Documentaries and Featurettes. If you can't figure out which one to buy we recommend Mr. Pink we always thought he was the coolest, despite the fact he got saddled with being Mr. Pink.

An enthusiastic salute to Paul Verhoven with a look at his fiendishly-subversive killer bug epic Starship Troopers -- now available as a 2-disc special edition. Also, cryptozoological weirdness in The Mothman Prophecies. Something stinks in Tromaville and it's Toxic Avenger 3: The Last Temptation of Toxie. Two-and-a-half hours of booze-addled cockfighting in Inbred Rednecks. Plus, responses to reader emails and Sssssss joins CineSchlock-O-Rama's Most Wanted.

Lions Gate has announced the DVD release based on the US remake of the Japanese TV series Iron Chef. Set for release on Aug 27, Iron Chef: Showdown USA features 2 one hour specials shot in Las Vegas and presided by 'Chairman' William Shatner. The four Iron Chefs in on this DVD are, Iron Chef American Todd English, Iron Chef French Jean Francois Meteigner, Iron Chef Italian Alessandro Stratta and Iron Chef Asian Roy Yamaguchi. You can pre-order Iron Chef: Showdown USA for only $11.24

This week The DVD Savant takes a look at 2 from Warner Bros: S.O.B. a fall-down funny satire on the venal ratrace of Hollywood, circa 1980, and McCabe & Mrs. Miller one of Robert Altman's best, a dreamy, murderous Western set in the beautiful Northwest. Savant also takes a look at Image's The Haunted World of Edward D. Wood, Jr, Ecstasy and MGM's The Pride and the Passion all this and more discussion on the upcoming METROPOLIS DVD in this week's DVD Savant .