Big Stars In Little Movies : Films That Don’t Pass Muster Find a New Life On The Rental Shelves

You’re a Kevin Costner fan and you’ve seen all of his films? Guess again.

Early in his career, Costner didn’t dance with wolves--he trotted in several forgettable turkeys, including “Sizzle Beach,” “Chasing Dreams” and “The Gunrunner.” Those films never received national release, but thanks to video have come back to haunt Costner.

And he’s not the only bankable star whose films have gone straight to video. Daniel Day-Lewis, Nicolas Cage, Michael Caine, Rob Lowe and Jennifer Grey are all members of this ever-expanding club.

Video companies tend to shy away from discussing why some films skip movie theaters. In most cases the films in question were seen as disappointments by their studios or producers, who hope to reap at least some of their expenses from the video rental market. Others were produced and released in Europe and never acquired a U.S. distributor.

Here are some above-the-title actors in movies you probably never heard of. (Films without release dates noted are already available on video.)

Before Daniel Day-Lewis gave his Oscar-winning performance as writer-artist Christy Brown in 1989’s “My Left Foot,” he made Everysmile New Jersey (Media Home Entertainment), which is set for video release Aug. 29. “Everysmile” finds Day-Lewis playing Fergus O’Connell, an Irish dentist working for the Everysmile New Jersey Co., which is dedicated to promoting dental health everywhere in the world.

Michael Caine, who won the 1986 best supporting Oscar for “Hannah and her Sisters,” has made his fair share of turkeys--remember “Jaws 4” and “Surrender”? His latest film, Bullseye! (RCA/Columbia), is making its debut in video stores Aug. 28.

“Bullseye!” stars Caine and ex-James Bond Roger Moore in dual roles: as criminals and as a pair of corrupt government scientists who sell a productive energy formula for a cache of diamonds. Oscar nominee Sally Kirkland co-stars.

Louis Gossett Jr. has been working constantly since winning the best supporting actor Oscar for 1982’s “An Officer and a Gentleman.” Two of his most recent films, in which he appears with he-man Dolph Lundgren, are going the video route: The Punisher (Live Home Video), based on the Marvel Comics hero, already out on video, and the action-thriller Cover-Up (Live), set for release Sept. 11.

Ben Kingsley won an Oscar for his memorable performance in “Gandhi,” but critics didn’t go ape for The Fifth Monkey (RCA/Columbia). This drama finds Kingsley as a Brazilian peasant who befriends four chimps and a beautiful native woman who, in turn, help him confront a nasty mercenary, an evil mining camp boss and an angry policeman.

What’s Rob Lowe been up to lately? He went to Paris to star with Jennifer Grey of “Dirty Dancing” fame in the romantic comedy Stroke of Midnight (Media Home Entertainment).

Lowe plays a famous dress designer named Savitore who has lost his creativity and needs someone to inspire him. Enter Grey as mousy Kelly Carter, a struggling shoe designer desperate to work for him who mysteriously transforms into “Prudence,” a glamorous, beautiful sophisticate.

Nicolas Cage caused a lot of stir last year in David Lynch’s off-the-wall “Wild at Heart,” but no one seems to have gone wild over Cage’s two most recent films. In the Italian-made A Time to Kill (Republic Pictures Home Video), he plays a soldier who falls in love with a young woman during World War II. Their encounter not only leads to her death, but his possible infection with leprosy. Oscar-nominee Giancarlo Giannini (“Seven Beauties”) co-stars.

Cage and Judge Reinhold (“Beverly Hills Cop”) star in Zandalee (Live Home Video), an erotic drama about a romantic triangle that develops between a troubled poet, his upwardly mobile wife and a self-serving childhood buddy.

Dying to see for whom Julia Roberts left Kiefer Sutherland? Check out new beau Jason Patric’s flicks --”The Lost Boys,” “The Beast” and “After Dark, My Sweet”--on video. His newest, Denial (Republic Pictures Home Video), will make its premiere not in theaters, but on video on Sept. 19. Robin Wright (“The Princess Bride,” “State of Grace”) and Rae Dawn Chong also star in this drama about three friends whose lives are “forever interwined by desire, anger and obsession.”