April 26, 2003
April 26, 2003

A hefty lineup of reviews today ... including a preview of a certain talked-about Russian epic:

Ruscico and Image's War and Peace will make you reassess just how Big an epic film can be - this is seven straight hours of amazement. Beautifully directed, and with a Natasha who draws comparisons with the innocent heroines of fairy tales, Tolstoy's national treasure has a number of powerful intimate scenes as well. As they say, when it's over, you've really seen something.

Not quite on the Leo Tolstoy level of achievement, Harold Robbins' The Carpetbaggers is an entertaining soap opera of ambition, big business, the movie biz, sex and scandal. See George Peppard torture Carroll Baker by refusing to have sex with her! See the censors keep the action off the beds, while everybody talks in arch double-entendres! A good cast and a clever screenplay cheat the MPAA while at least delivering the sleazy spirit of Robbins' potboiler.

Paramount's Nevada Smith is a straight 'n sober, old-fashioned revenge Western, with 30ish Steve McQueen once again playing a green teenager whose parents are slaughtered by evil claim-jumpers. The story's thin but Lucien Ballard's Big-Sky vistas are not.

Warners' Les Girls is a bright & sassy romantic farce, that just happens to have 5 or 6 Cole Porter songs in it. Kay Kendall, Mitzi Gaynor and Taina Elg are showgirls buzzing around their boss, cabaret performer Gene Kelly. The DVD restores the dazzling decor and costumes in George Cukor's comedy, and there's a handsome remix as well.

Gene Kelly also plays a giant turtle in Gamera: Guardian of the Universe ... That's a lie, but the tortoise with the rockets up his rear end did make a splashy 1995 comeback in this retooled Kaiju romp. Thanks to CGI, the ridiculous man-in-a-suit is now beautifully combined with the urban landscapes he trashes. Savant guest reviewer Gary Teetzel explains how they souped-up the turtle in this detailed essay.

The reviews they are a flowin', is what Bob Dylan should've sung. Besides some top Criterion titles coming up, I've amended the review of Kiss Me Kate with some pretty-definitive research from an astute reader, which I think clears up that DVD's framing controversy. Thanks for reading, Glenn Erickson

Posted by DVD Savant at April 26, 2003 11:03 AM