All Revved Up on Two Continents

Vroom! Vroom!

The new year begins with the release of two high-octane thrillers on DVD: the 1979 Australian classic “Mad Max,” featuring Mel Gibson in his first starring role, and last year’s box-office hit “The Fast and the Furious.”

The digital edition of “Mad Max” (MGM, $20) is a pedal-to-the-metal ride. In this post-apocalyptic thriller, vicious motorcycle gangs rule the countryside and it’s up to a group of devoted police officers to stop them. But when one particularly nasty gang, led by the ruthless Toecutter, murders the wife and child of officer Max Rockatansky (Gibson), the policeman goes into a mad frenzy and seeks to avenge their deaths. The fast-paced film is filled with exciting action stunts--all done way before digital effects.

When American International Pictures released “Mad Max” in the U.S. in 1980, the studio scrubbed the original Australian soundtrack and replaced it with one that was completely dubbed in by American actors. Thankfully, the digital edition restores the original Australian soundtrack. But viewers who have trouble understanding the Aussies have the option of listening to the American version.

The DVD also features the original trailer and a documentary, “Mel Gibson: The Birth of the Star,” which examines his early career at acting school in Australia and features interviews with his friends and even his acting teacher. The narration, though, is so florid it’s laughable. “Max Max: The Film Phenomenon” focuses on the film’s production and how all the dangerous car and motorcycle stunts were created. However, a lot of the impact of the documentary is negated by the overdramatic narration.

Though director George Miller isn’t involved in the DVD, special effects coordinator Chris Murray, cinematographer David Eggby and production designer Jon Dowding supply the interesting commentary. Rounding out the disc is an animated “Road Rants Facts” trivia feature.

Unlike “Mad Max,” Rob Cohen’s street race thriller “The Fast and the Furious” (Universal, $27) is chock full of special effects. In fact, one of the early street-race sequences was all done digitally. Loosely based on a Vibe magazine article about street racing clubs, “The Fast and the Furious” stars Paul Walker, Vin Diesel, Jordana Brewster and Michelle Rodriguez.

The exciting digital edition includes a crisp wide-screen transfer of the film; talent files; production notes; a fun behind-the-scenes look at a stunt shot from eight camera angles; an interactive special effects feature that looks at how different footage was combined to create a stunt sequence; a visual effects montage of the first race; the article “Racer X,” on which the film is based; a featurette on why a violent scene was toned down for the film to get a PG-13 rating; deleted scenes with commentary from director Cohen; music videos; storyboard-to-final-feature comparison; and inspired commentary from Cohen.

Cohen admits that when he was first approached to do the film, he read the Vibe magazine article and didn’t think it would work as a movie. But a few nights later, he went to watch illegal street racing in San Fernando and was hooked. He saw the film as sort of a street opera, a la “West Side Story,” and used a lot of the real racers as extras in the film. He also envisions “The Fast and the Furious” as sort of a western--especially the sequence in which the masked street racers carjack a truck filled with electronic goodies. That scene, Cohen says, is his tribute to John Ford’s 1939 classic “Stagecoach.”

*

The delightful 1965 CBS telecast “Cinderella,” the only TV musical penned by the great Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, is making its DVD debut (Columbia TriStar, $25) this week. Rodgers & Hammerstein originally wrote the musical for the live 1957 CBS broadcast starring Julie Andrews as Cinderella. This version stars then-18-year-old Lesley Ann Warren, Ginger Rogers, Walter Pidgeon, Celeste Holm and Stuart Damon as Prince Charming. The lovely DVD includes filmographies, bonus trailers, digitally mastered audio and video and a short but sweet retrospective look at the production, including new interviews with Warren, Damon (who replaced the originally cast Jack Jones) and Holm.

*

Though audiences didn’t flock to the offbeat comedy “The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension” back in 1984, it has developed a cult following over the past 17 years. Cult status notwithstanding, it’s still an acquired taste that’s too hip and precious for its own good. Peter Weller plays Buckaroo Banzai, a brilliant brain surgeon and rock star who has made scientific history by using his Oscillation Overthruster to become the first man to travel the eighth dimension. However, his mortal enemy, Dr. Lizardo (John Lithgow), wants to steal the Overthruster and bring an evil army of aliens back to take over the universe. Jeff Goldblum, Ellen Barkin and Christopher Lloyd are among the co-stars.

The digital edition (MGM, $20) includes a rare prologue sequence featuring Jamie Lee Curtis as Banzai’s mother, numerous deleted scenes, a “making of” documentary that includes both new and old footage and enjoyable audio commentary from director W.D. Richter.

*

For the past 40 years, French New Wave director Jean-Luc Godard has enthralled, angered and confounded critics and audiences alike with his uncompromising, demanding and distinctly uncommercial films. Fox Lorber has just released three of his earliest films on DVD ($25): “Breathless,” “Le Petit Soldat” and “Les Carabiniers.”

“Breathless” (1960) was Godard’s first feature and set the cinema world on its ear with its use of the hand-held camera, jump-cutting and pacing.

His most accessible and best-loved work, “Breathless” stars Jean-Paul Belmondo as a hood who is on the lam in Paris after he kills a cop. Jean Seberg is the American girlfriend who ultimately betrays him. The great Raoul Coutard supplied the gorgeous black-and-white, often hand-held cinematography.

The DVD features the transfer of a beautifully restored print and audio track and often overly enthusiastic commentary from David Sterritt, a film professor who has written two books on Godard.

Sterritt offers about 15 minutes of commentary on the disc of 1963’s “Le Petit Soldat,” Godard’s spy thriller that, even at just under 90 minutes, is a long sit.

Set during the Algerian War, “Le Petit Soldat” deals with a young French deserter who becomes involved in the French nationalist movement. Anna Karina, who was married to Godard, plays the young man’s girlfriend who he doesn’t know is working for the other side. The film was banned in France for several years because it notes that France and Algeria used torture during the conflict.

“Les Carabiniers” (1963) is even more confounding and difficult to watch--an antiwar movie that also has dark comedic elements and banal, insipid characters.

Sterritt provides the mini-commentary.