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One of the very first prison escape movies, Grand Illusion is hailed as one of the greatest films ever made. Jean Renoir’s antiwar masterpiece stars Jean Gabin and Pierre Fresnay, as French soldiers held in a World War I German prison camp, and Erich von Stroheim as the unforgettable Captain von Rauffenstein. Following a smash theatrical re-release, Criterion is proud to present Grand Illusion in a new special edition, with a beautifully restored digital transfer. It’s long been one of the revered classics of international cinema, but there is no fine layer of dust over La Grande Illusion. Jean Renoir’s film is just as vibrant, exciting, and wise as it has ever been. The story is set during World War I, mostly in a couple of German POW camps, where two very different French prisoners plot to escape: the working-class officer Maréchal (Jean Gabin, the French Spencer Tracy) and the upper-class de Boieldieu (Pierre Fresnay). The suspenseful backbone of the story is formed by these escape attempts, but Renoir is primarily concerned with the way people treat each other, and especially with how class and nationality inform human relations. Most compelling of all the film’s characters is the aristocratic German officer von Rauffenstein, unforgettably incarnated by stiff-backed Erich von Stroheim; although he runs a prison camp, von Rauffenstein cannot help but strike up a friendship with de Boieldieu, a kindred spirit from the doomed nobility. There is nothing dewy or naive about Renoir’s vision (and two years after the release of this antiwar film, Europe was plunged into another world war), yet Grand Illusion is one of those movies that makes you feel good about such long-outmoded ideas as sacrifice and brotherhood. After it won a prize at the Venice Film Festival in 1937, the Nazis declared the film “Cinematographic Enemy Number One.” There can be no higher praise. –Robert Horton

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Three Disc Collector’s Edition Includes Exclusive New Bonus Features And Never-Before-Released Soundtrack CD

“Whatever THE DIRTY DOZEN did,” screamed the ads, “they do it dirtier!” INGLORIOUS BASTARDS is more than just the inspiration for Quentin Tarantino’s long-rumored next movie; this 1978 international smash remains perhaps the biggest and most badass war movie in EuroCult history! Exploitation legends Fred ‘The Hammer’ Williamson and Bo (WALKING TALL, KILL BILL) Svenson star as the leaders of a gang of condemned criminals who escape from an Allied prison camp with a plan to blast their way to the Swiss border, only to find themselves ‘volunteering’ for a suicide mission deep inside Nazi occupied France. Academy Award(r) nominee Ian Bannen (FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX, BRAVEHEART) co-stars in this explosive action epic from director Enzo Castellari (STREET LAW, THE BIG RACKET), now fully restored from original vault elements for the first time ever in America!

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In the summer of 1942, America was still reeling from the attack on Pearl Harbor and the humiliating victories of the Japanese throughout the Far East. Then came the battles of the Coral Sea and the pivotal Battle for Midway. Japan had been effectively countered and it was time to launch an attack. The first landing of American forces on a Japanese held island would occur on Guadalcanal, August 7, 1942. This was the opening of a six month campaign to wrest control of the lower Solomon Islands from the Japanese Empire. From this story of mistakes and heroism would rise the genesis of American strategy for the rest of the war in the Pacific. Contains footage from the National Archives.

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The World War II Philippines are the setting for these battle-filled films that temper their heroics with the hard reality of history. Robert Taylor leads valorous U.S. and Filipino combatants facing hopeless odds in a holding action at a bridge in Bataan. John Wayne portrays Col. Joseph Madden and organizes resistance fighters in Back to Bataan, a morale booster whose true-life incidents include the rescue of prisoners from Cabanatuan. An on-screen roll call of real-life soldiers freed by the mission underscores the event. Seeing those haunted but happy faces was a touching moment for audiences then. It remains so today.

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No Description Available.
Genre: Feature Film-Action/Adventure
Rating: R
Release Date: 13-DEC-2005
Media Type: DVDChuck Norris himself cowrote Invasion U.S.A., a movie that’s partly a right-wing paranoid fantasy and partly a prescient vision of contemporary terrorism. A Soviet superagent named Rostov leads an invasion of guerrilla squads who, after landing in Florida, spread throughout the U.S. and start shooting bazookas into suburban homes, inciting race riots by impersonating the police and attacking ethnic events, and planting bombs in churches and on school buses. Soon martial law descends as the country sinks into chaos. Only American superagent Matt Hunter (Norris) can take Rostov on, and eventually the two men face off, Rostov in full-body black leather, Hunter in black gloves and painfully tight blue jeans. For anyone who yearns for the simplicity of the cold war and enjoys a vengeance-laden action flick with lots of guns and exploding cars (but little martial arts), Invasion U.S.A. will provide some cinematic comfort food. –Bret Fetzer

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Epic Action Drama. Set in Japan during the 1870s, The Last Samurai tells the story of Capt. Nathan Algren (Tom Cruise), a respected American military officer hired by the Emperor of Japan to train the country’s first army in the art of modern warfare. As the Emperor attempts to eradicate the ancient Imperial Samurai warriors in preparation for more Westernized and trade-friendly government policies, Algren finds himself unexpectedly impressed and influenced by his encounters with the Samurai, which places him at the center of a struggle between two eras and two worlds, with only his own sense of honor to guide him.

DVD Features:
Audio Commentary:Commentary by Edward Zwick
DVD ROM Features
Deleted Scenes:The Beheading (Behind the Beheading) Algren and Katsumoto
Documentaries:History vs. Hollywood: The Last Samurai {History Channel Documentary)
Featurette:Tom Cruise: A Warrior’s Journey Edward Zwick: Director’s Video Journal {Behind-the-scenes production journal – narrated by Ed Zwick and Tom Cruise A World of Detail: Production Design with Lilly Kilvert Silk and Armor: Costume Design with Ngila Dickson Imperial Army Basic Training: From Soldier to Samurai: The Weapons
Interviews:Making an Epic: A Conversation with Edward Zwick
Other:Japan Premieres {Tokyo & Kyoto red carpet)

While Japan undergoes tumultuous transition to a more Westernized society in 1876-77, The Last Samurai gives epic sweep to an intimate story of cultures at a crossroads. In America, tormented Civil War veteran Capt. Nathan Algren (Tom Cruise) is coerced by a mercenary officer (Tony Goldwyn) to train the Japanese Emperor’s troops in the use of modern weaponry. Opposing this “progress” is a rebellion of samurai warriors, holding fast to their traditions of honor despite strategic disadvantage. As a captive of the samurai leader (Ken Watanabe), Algren learns, appreciates, and adopts the samurai code, switching sides for a climactic battle that will put everyone’s honor to the ultimate test. All of which makes director Edward Zwick’s noble epic eminently worthwhile, even if its Hollywood trappings (including an all-too-conventional ending) prevent it from being the masterpiece that Zwick and screenwriter John Logan clearly wanted it to be. Instead, The Last Samurai is an elegant mainstream adventure, impressive in all aspects of its production. It may not engage the emotions as effectively as Logan’s script for Gladiator, but like Cruise’s character, it finds its own quality of honor. –Jeff Shannon

Rating: (out of 718 reviews)

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MAX – DVD MovieThe dark connections between art, desire, and evil fuel Max, an alternate-history fantasy that imagines what might have happened if a Jewish art dealer named Max Rothman (John Cusack, High Fidelity) had befriended Adolf Hitler (Noah Taylor, Shine) when he was a frustrated artist, before he turned to politics to vent his hatred. Some critics have expressed fear that even to attempt to make Hitler understandable is to diffuse or dismiss his malignancy; but watching Hitler vacillate between Rothman’s attempts at mentorship and the encouragement of an ambitious military officer demonstrates the pettiness, desperation, and craven need that can bring horror into the world. Cusack portrays a generous man with simple decency and not a trace of grandstanding, but Taylor–with glittering eyes and lips twisted with bile–is both fascinating and repellent in an impressive performance. An intelligent and complex film, Max deserves to find an audience. –Bret Fetzer

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