Documenting Rock’s Mission to Moscow : ‘For Those About to Rock’--featuring AC/DC and Metallica--has never been in theaters or on TV.

“We didn’t want this to be just another concert film--showing a performance and then rock stars backstage tuning their guitars,” said Wayne Isham, who directed “For Those About to Rock,” a documentary about Moscow’s first festival-style rock concert.

A noted music-video director, Isham certainly accomplished his goal, assembling something far superior to the usual concert video fare. Warner’s 84-minute “For Those About to Rock,” priced at $20 and never seen in theaters or on television, came out Wednesday. It stars the heavy-metal bands AC/DC, Metallica, the Black Crowes and Pantera.

The concert was staged Sept. 28, 1991, about a month after the aborted right-wing coup in the Soviet Union. Many of the kids in the audience had been part of the resistance.

The editing and the sound in the performance sequences are terrific--about as good as you can get in a concert film. But the power of the documentary extends beyond the music, capturing the anger and frustration of the young audience and weaving in, with footage outside the concert, the sense of anxiety and melancholy gripping Moscow at the time.

“This was a great day for these kids, being able to experience their favorite music in a communal setting--like kids in the West--a way they never had before,” Isham said.

As you’d expect in a big, outdoor, heavy-metal event, some kids got out of hand, and the documentary depicts the violence. Isham said that it’s not as graphic as it could have been.

“In the context of the piece, some things didn’t fit in,” he explained. “It would have seemed like we were adding violence gratuitously. There’s a fine line. We didn’t try to make it light-hearted, but we didn’t want your stomach turned when you were watching it. By editing a frame or two, you could avoid showing a club hitting somebody’s head.”

Retail Flaps: Video store owners are unhappy with Orion’s plan to offer “Dances With Wolves” exclusively for sale at McDonald’s, reportedly for $10 or less with a food purchase. The movie is still carrying the premium $100 price tag in video outlets and they aren’t expected to be allowed to lower it until early next year.

Orion, suffering through severe financial problems, obviously needs the millions it could make on the McDonald’s deal, but video retailers don’t like playing second fiddle to a fast-food chain on a title that would do brisk sales business.

Meanwhile, some retailers are reporting that “Wayne’s World,” which has been a popular rental, is a stiff in the sales market. Many stores are selling it in the $10-$15 range (full retail is $25) and still aren’t doing good business. Some retailers speculate that “Wayne’s World” isn’t a title that teen-agers--the target audience--want to own to watch repeatedly. For most of them, in these recessionary times, renting it one night for a few dollars apparently is enough.

What’s New on Video: Here are some new releases:

“Basic Instinct” (LIVE, $100). If you like sleazy, B-picture-style, sex-and-violence thrillers, this slick, expensive film is the best ever in its titillating genre. It’s about an investigating officer (Michael Douglas) being seduced by a suspected killer--an amoral, bisexual novelist (Sharon Stone). This is the same R-rated version shown in theaters. The director’s cut, featuring X-rated footage, is due next year.

“Newsies” (Disney, $95). Critics liked some of the exuberant production numbers but not much else in this plodding, turn-of-the-century musical--a big box-office bomb--about newsboys striking against a villainous publisher (Robert Duvall). Ann-Margret co-stars.

“Thunderheart” (Columbia TriStar, no set price). In director Michael Apted’s unusual, often absorbing movie, the murder mystery, set on a Sioux reservation, is secondary. The real meat of this tale is the consciousness-raising of the part-Sioux FBI agent (Val Kilmer) who’s investigating the crime with his partner (Sam Shepard).

On Laser Disc: “Leaving Normal,” “Beethoven,” “The Great Mouse Detective,” “Medicine Man,” “The Hand That Rocks the Cradle,” “Jaws 2” (letterboxed) and “Hard Promises.”

“The Sugarland Express” (MCA/Universal, $35). Director Steven Spielberg’s first movie is an enjoyable adventure, about a wild car chase through Texas, with the cops tracking down a woman (Goldie Hawn) who breaks her husband (William Atherton) out of jail. The chases are well-suited to the wide-screen format.

“The Alamo” (MGM/UA, 1960, $30). Thirty minutes have been restored to star John Wayne’s directorial debut, swelling it--unnecessarily--to two hours and 42 minutes. This account of the famed valiant stand by a band of outnumbered Texans, featuring Richard Widmark and Lawrence Harvey, is part amateurish Western and part thrilling spectacle. It includes an informative documentary, “The Making of the Alamo.”