Film: DVD Reviews
The triumphant, tragic story of Harvey Milk
By Michael BarnesJuly 15, 2004
'The Times of Harvey Milk'
(New Yorker Video, $29.95)
(movie) (DVD features and extras)
As Americans debate the constitutional status of gay marriage, it's instructive to remember that, just 25 years ago, there were virtually no openly gay public figures, few anti-discrimination statutes, much less hate-crime protection, domestic partner benefits or civil unions. One man who helped change all that was Harvey Milk, the San Francisco city supervisor assassinated in 1978 along with gay-friendly Mayor George Moscone.
In 1984, documentarians Rob Epstein and Richard Schmiechen made visible what most Americans had read only in newspapers or glimpsed on the evening news in the 1970s: a gay community overjoyed by the election of one of its own, deeply saddened by his death just a few months later, then outraged when his killer, fellow supervisor Dan White, was given a reduced sentence. "The Times of Harvey Milk" won an Academy Award and riveted audiences as few films about the gay community, other than "Before Stonewall," had done.
Released in a 25-year anniversary (of the assassination) edition, the movie employs generous news footage of Milk, White, Moscone and others, especially those involved in California's Proposition 6 battle over whether to ban gay teachers. The makers rely heavily on interviews with a handful of San Franciscans closely associated with Milk. Though fairly even-handed, they fail to record what supported White's "Twinkie defense," the backstory of an erratic, disturbed man who committed suicide before the movie's release (not mentioned in the film).
The DVD's bounteous extras make up for some of these flaws, giving voice to White's defense lawyers, widening the scope of the interviews and recording the subsequent status of the documentary (it is widely used in schools to illuminate that period in civil rights history). The movie still packs an emotional wallop, especially the footage of the candlelight memorial parade for Milk and Moscone.
'The Bourne Identity: Explosive Extended Edition'
(Universal, $29.98) (movie) (DVD features and extras)
It has become common these days for the theatrical release of a sequel or remake to be accompanied by a glitzed-up DVD of the original film, even if it was released on disc barely a year ago. So the upcoming "The Bourne Supremacy" begets "The Bourne Identity: Explosive Extended Edition," which is a case of advertising that almost couldn't be more false.
The content of the new release is indeed "extended," if you don't mind futzing around with a little crosshair icon that pops up twice during playback, inviting viewers to jump abruptly to an alternate version of the opening and closing. (The video quality of this footage is horribly shoddy.) But "explosive," even assuming the overhyped mentality of a marketing executive, is a baffling misstatement: The scenes add nothing but a couple of minutes of conversation between the hero and his former employer, a meeting facilitated by the world's most casual kidnapping.
The material isn't even entirely new. A fragment of it was included in the movie's original DVD release, along with the four deleted scenes that this time around are buried among some trivial supplementary stuff (such as a silly snippet from a UCLA psychology professor who explains what amnesia is). One bonus that isn't here, inexplicably, is the audio commentary with director Doug Liman that was on the first disc.
The studio would have done better to nix the new micro-docs and use the cash to do a proper video transfer of the deleted scenes, then put out a two-sided disc with the theatrical release on one side and the "extended, nonexplosive" cut on the other. Even then, it would be hard to advise movie lovers to rush down to the video store; for once, the first edition remains perfectly satisfying.
-- John DeFore
'South Park -- The Complete Fourth Season'
(Paramount Home Video, $49.99) to (TV show) (DVD features and extras)
While the controversy has cooled considerably over eight seasons of Comedy Central's potty-mouthed cartoon comedy, "South Park," a look at the midpoint of the series' run, "South Park -- The Complete Fourth Season," on DVD shows there's never been a point in its history where it wasn't funny; it merely has had the same peaks and valleys that long-running comedies always go through.
What hasn't changed is the energy of creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone. Parker and Stone, who still write most episodes and voice the main characters, are still agile satirists and the low-fi nature of the animation allows them to do episodes that play off current events. As the brief commentaries reveal (Parker and Stone wisely speak only for a few early minutes of each episode, never overstaying their welcome), sometimes a "South Park" episode is animated in only two or three days of feverish last-minute work. A Season 4 gem playing off the 2000 Elián González controversy, for instance, aired just a few days after it was front-page news.
In this season, handicapped character Timmy (notable quote: "Tiiimmaaaaahhh!") is introduced and the show takes a bizarre left turn with a re-creation of "Great Expectations" starring none of the main characters.
As always, Parker and Stone go out on a limb consistently; their show, which stands in the shadow of "The Simpsons," has been mostly inspired and always clever for its entire run.
-- Omar L. Gallaga
New this week: "Farscape -- Season 4, Collection 5," "Justice League -- Star Crossed," "Agent Cody Banks 2 -- Destination London," "Double Indemnity," "Never Die Alone."
