‘Eagles’ May Yet Get Off the Ground; ‘Vagabond’ for Foreign Film Buffs

“Legal Eagles,” which failed to soar at the box office, will swoop into video stores on April 9, weighed down by an $89.95 price tag.

This new price, $10 above the norm, just might be the industry standard for major titles by the end of the year and may translate into slightly higher rental fees. CBS-Fox’s “Aliens,” due Feb. 26, and RCA/Columbia’s “Stand By Me,” a March 19 release, will be the same price.

Star vehicles like “Legal Eagles,” which featured Robert Redford, Debra Winger and Daryl Hannah, generally fare well in the home-video rental market. MCA President Gene Giaquinto estimated that an impressive 200,000 copies will be sold to retailers and distributors.

For film buffs and foreign film fans, the big home video event of the winter will be the Feb. 27 release of “Vagabond,” on Pacific Arts. Though this movie--in French with English subtitles--was lauded by critics, it may be too much of a downer to attract a large video following. Sandrine Bonnaire, recently named best actress of 1986 by the L.A. film critics, stars as an amoral young woman drifting around the South of France, destined for doom. Agnes Varda directed.

Black film makers are rare. But even rarer is one who’s the darling of the critics--like Spike Lee, who wrote, directed, edited and co-stars in “She’s Gotta Have it,” which Key Video is putting out March 12. Critics raved about his potential after seeing this low-budget romantic comedy, about a woman juggling three boyfriends.

“Soul Man,” a New World release on March 31, has rubbed some people, particularly blacks, the wrong way. C. Thomas Howell stars as a white student who, through tanning pills, turns black to secure a Harvard Law School scholarship restricted to blacks. Some reviewers called it a fun-filled romp--others called it a racist romp.

CHARTS (Compiled by Billboard magazine) TOP VIDEOCASSETTES RENTALS 1--”Short Circuit” (CBS-Fox).

2--”Cobra” (Warner Video).

3--”Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” (Paramount).

4--”Poltergeist: The Other Side” (MGM/UA).

5--”Maximum Overdrive” (Karl-Lorimar).

TOP VIDEOCASSETTES, SALES 1--”Jane Fonda’s Low Impact Aerobic Workout” (Karl-Lorimar).

2--”Jane Fonda’s New Workout” (Karl-Lorimar).

3--”Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” (Paramount).

4--”Sleeping Beauty” (Disney).

5--”Secrets of the Titanic” (Vestron).