VIDEO NEWS : Vestron Drops the Price Tags on More Titles

Patience is a video virtue.

For people who love any of the following movies--”Hoosiers,” “Mad Max,” “Mr. Mom,” “Meatballs,” “Fort Apache, the Bronx,” “The Flamingo Kid”--but held off buying the videocassettes, there’s great news. Following the lead of Paramount and HBO in reducing some big-movie titles to $15, Vestron Video has announced that the above tapes and others will retail for $14.98 beginning Aug. 1.

At the same time, Vestron will also lower the price on “Dirty Dancing,” “The Running Man” and “Hamburger Hill” to $19.98.

So movies are getting cheaper to own--but only after a long wait. You can expect a lot more $15 titles before Christmas--but only for tapes that have 1) been available for the rental-oriented price of $80 or $90, 2) gone on to cable, and perhaps also 3) received an initial price reduction to a level between $20 and $30.

However, for the patient VCR owner, the wait may be worth it: Since Vestron, like Paramount and HBO, has decided that the $15 movies will be duplicated at standard speed (and not a slower one, as some companies have done in putting out cheaper tapes), “Hoosiers” and the rest will be just as high-quality as the versions that cost many dollars more before the reduction.

A Minnesota video company called Simitar Entertainment will have an even better deal on 10 movies beginning July 31--only $6.95 each! Of course, the movies aren’t exactly A titles. There’s a Jayne Mansfield picture (“Promises! Promises!”) and one with Mamie Van Doren (“Three Nuts in Search of a Bolt”) and something called “Polish Vampire in Burbank”--then it’s downhill from there. But Simitar will also offer 32 other non-movie tapes--sports, exercise, etc.--for the same price.

MOVIES

You know it’s a slow week for first-time-on-tape movies when the standout is a TV movie. However, critics and “Andy Griffith Show” fans alike found “Return to Mayberry” (Forum, $29.98) one of the pleasures of the 1986 season. Reuniting Griffith, Ron Howard, Don Knotts, Jim Nabors and a dozen other members of the original cast, the low-key comedy was far better than most similar attempts at nostalgia.

Speaking of which: Forum is simultaneously releasing “Perry Mason Returns” at the same price. Raymond Burr returned to his most famous role for this 1984 made-for-TV mystery.

Just about all that’s left: “The Gunrunner” (New World, $89.95, no MPAA rating), a pretty obscure recent drama considering its lead actor, Kevin Costner, this violent film is set in 1920s Montreal; and “Picasso Trigger” (Warner, $79.95, R), a 1988 action-comedy starring Steve Bond (from “General Hospital”) and several Playboy Playmates.

Remember--patience! Next week (Wednesday to be exact) brings “A Cry in the Dark,” and coming attractions include “Twins” (June 15), “Pelle the Conqueror” (June 21), “Bird” (June 21), “Talk Radio” (July 13), “Mississippi Burning” (July 19) and “Wings of Desire” (Aug. 31).

OTHER VIDEOS

ESPN, the all-sports cable channel, just dived into the tape business with seven titles. At $19.95 each are “Teaching Kids Tennis,” “Teaching Kids Golf,” “Teaching Kids Soccer” and “Slo Pitch Softball.” At $29.95: “Catching More Bass” and “Basic Fly Fishing.”

Speaking of sports, there’s also “Mickey Mantle: The American Dream Comes to Life” (Media, $19.95), a biography of the Yankee slugger. And speaking of instruction there’s “Play the Piano Overnight” (Xebec, $59.95), hosted by self-taught pianist-composer Patty Carlson. Information: (800) 622-0067.

Or, if you want to hear and watch musicians, not be one, MPI offers “Queen: The Magic Years,” a three-volume biography of the British band that gave sports arenas “We Are the Champions” and “We Will Rock You” ($19.95 for each of the 55-minute tapes), and “Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: A Bunch of Videos and Some Other Stuff”--$24.95 for the clip compilation.