Never Underestimate ‘Woman’ Power

“Pretty Woman” refuses to be pushed around. Some industry observers figured that the macho movies “The Hunt for Red October” (No. 2) and “Total Recall” (No. 3) would blast “Pretty Woman” out of the No. 1 postion on the Billboard magazine rental chart. But the romantic comedy, starring Richard Gere and Julia Roberts, continues to ward off challengers. “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” long a favorite of the cult crowd that hangs out at Saturday-midnight movies, debuted at No. 9. The lurid “Wild Orchid,” starring Mickey Rourke--available in both edited and unedited versions--steamed up to No. 10 in two weeks. The unedited version, of course, is the popular one. “I Love You to Death,” the Tracey Ullman farce, shot up to No. 7 immediately but has no staying power. This week, it slipped to No. 11.

* The third in the series of sci-fi comedy/adventures, all starring Michael J. Fox, is generally rated by critics not as good as the original but superior to the confusing “Future II.” Though “III” did not, as expected, crack the coveted $100-million barrier at the box office, it did a respectable $82.2 million. Look for “III,” which debuted at mighty No. 6, to be a top rental this holiday weekend.

VIDEO RENTALS

Ranking Weeks Ranking 2 Weeks On Rental Top Rentals Last Week Ago Chart 1.”Pretty Woman”(Touchstone) 1 1 5 2.”The Hunt for Red October” 2 5 3 (Paramount) 3.”Total Recall”(Carolco) 3 ... 2 4.”Q&A;”(HBO) 4 4 5 5.”Glory”(RCA/Columbia) 5 2 8 *”Back to the Future, III” ... ... 1 (MCA/Universal)