TURN-ONS AND TURN-OFFS IN CURRENT HOME ENTERTAINMENT RELEASES : Excellent Good Fair Poor : VIDEOCASSETTES

“Napoleon.” MCA. $79.95. Abel Gance’s 1927 film biography of Bonaparte’s early career (two sequels were planned, but never filmed) is overly grandiose, sentimental, chauvinistic, historically questionable and done in a florid style that recalls Carlyle’s prose. But it’s also one of the glories of the cinema--packed with emotion and spectacular filmic invention. Seeing it on a small screen diminishes it, especially the celebrated wide-screen “Polyvision” triptychs at the end, but it’s an essential item for any serious film collector. (This is Kevin Brownlow’s painstaking reconstruction, as released by Francis Coppola and rescored by his father, Carmine.) Information: (818) 508-4315.