Home Entertainment : ‘List’ Video Looking to Beat the Fall Rush

MCA/Universal has surprised the industry by announcing that “Schindler’s List,” Steven Spielberg’s Oscar-winning Holocaust drama, is coming to video on Aug. 17 and as a rental rather than to the sales market.

The industry speculation had been that the movie, which won seven Oscars--including best picture and best director--would come out late in the year and possibly at a price geared to the sales market, probably around $30.

Andrew Kairey, MCA/Universal’s senior vice president of sales and marketing, said the decision was largely based on the film’s current high awareness among consumers.

“With the Academy Award exposure and the movie doing so well in theaters, it seemed best to put it out this summer, when it’s more in people’s minds,” he said of the movie, which has grossed more than $95 million.

There’s also less competition in mid-August--generally a rather slow period for video releases--than late in the year, when many of the big summer movies make their debuts. “The market is a lot more crowded in the fall, so the movie wouldn’t get as much attention,” Kairey said. “It makes more sense to market it in the summer.”

“Schindler’s List,” which runs three hours and 17 minutes, will be on two cassettes, in both standard and letter-boxed versions. There will also be a limited edition (about 100,000 copies) of a collector’s set, including the cassettes, a paperback novel, a soundtrack CD and a book of stills, priced at $140.

“Schindler’s List” will be released on laser Sept. 21, at $45 for the basic version and $140 for the collector’s edition.

Videobits

Disney’s smartest marketing move with the four Johnny Carson videos was releasing them several weeks before Father’s Day. Last Sunday, quite a few fathers undoubtedly were gifted with one or more of the tapes that highlight Carson’s “Tonight Show” years.

A Disney spokesperson reported that by the end of this week 1.5 million cassettes will have been sold--a hefty figure for this kind of non-theatrical collection. The spokesperson also said no one tape was significantly outselling the others and that the four-video set was selling as well as any single tape.

A director’s cut of “A Streetcar Named Desire,” with about three extra minutes sprinkled into the 1951 drama, comes out July 6 (Warner, $40). Though it doesn’t sound like much, this footage does illuminate the action and add voltage to what was already an electrifying drama, starring Marlon Brando as Stanley Kowalski and Vivien Leigh in her Oscar-winning performance as Blanche DuBois.

Some video retailers are taking advantage of the focus on O.J. Simpson during the past two weeks by showcasing his best-known movies--the first two “Naked Gun” comedies. You’d think that with his arrest on two murder counts so fresh in everyone’s mind, it would be hard to watch him in something so frivolous, but fans are still renting them.

Last week there was a misprint of the title of a 1977 Gerard Depardieu drama just out on World Artists. The correct title is “This Sweet Sickness.”

Special Interest

New York Ranger fans are giddy about their hockey team winning its first NHL championship in 54 years last week. Those who are still in a celebrating mood on July 6 will welcome ABC’s rush-released video, “1994 Stanley Cup Champions: New York Rangers,” for $20. The tape’s most appealing feature: interviews with players from that last championship team.

Elvis Presley fans tired of all the muckraking about their idol might like “Elvis: His Life and Times,” a 90-minute BBC documentary from the late ‘80s. There are no revelations, just an old-fashioned, totally upbeat tribute, including footage from movies, shows and interviews. For $30 from Raycom, (704) 378-4488.

What’s New on Video

“Tombstone” (Hollywood). The umpteenth retelling--and arguably the best--of the O.K. Corral gunfight, with Wyatt Earp (Kurt Russell), Doc Holliday (Val Kilmer) and the Earp Brothers (Sam Elliott and Bill Paxton) taking on the bad guys. Kilmer’s witty, charismatic Holliday steals the show, contrasting nicely with Russell’s dour Earp. Despite some occasionally sloppy plotting, basically a gritty, very good--and very violent--Western.

“Geronimo: An American Legend” (Columbia TriStar). Army officers on the trail of the Apache renegade. Wes Studi is first-rate as Geronimo, but you don’t get enough of him since the focus is more on the Army officers (Jason Patric, Gene Hackman and Matt Damon). Directed by Walter Hill, this even-handed tale niftily steers clear of old Western stereotypes.

“Six Degrees of Separation” (MGM/UA). A glib, gay con man (Will Smith, TV’s “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”) targets a snooty Manhattan couple (Donald Sutherland and Stockard Channing) pretending to be Sidney Poitier’s son. Based on John Guare’s play, this sophisticated comedy/drama is a sharply satirical jab at the pretentious upper class. At times, though, it’s annoying listening to these unsavory phonies. Still, the acting is excellent, particularly Channing, who got a best actress Oscar nomination.

“Gunmen” (LIVE). Covers familiar territory, with good guys (Mario Van Peebles and Christopher Lambert) battling drug barons in South America. This one, though, has an added kick because of the imaginative casting--Patrick Stewart and Denis Leary as the bad guys. An expensive-looking B-movie adventure boasting some action sequences expertly staged by director Deran Sarafian.

FILMS ON VIDEO

Recent films coming out on video: PolyGram’s “Four Weddings and a Funeral,” starring Hugh Grant and Andie MacDowell, on Aug. 25; Disney’s “D2: The Mighty Ducks” on Aug. 26. Also: “Philadelphia,” “In the Name of the Father” and “Naked” (Wednesday); “Grumpy Old Men,” “Sugar Hill,” “House Party 3” and “Romeo Is Bleeding” (July 6); “Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit,” “Shadowlands,” “Reality Bites,” “Searching for Bobby Fischer,” “Blink,” “Heaven and Earth” and “Body Snatchers” (July 13); “On Deadly Ground,” “Car 54, Where Are You?” and “My Father the Hero” (July 20); “Thumbelina” (July 26); “Wrestling Ernest Hemingway,” “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?,” “Cabin Boy” and “Blank Check” (July 27); “Major League II,” “Angie” and “The Chase” (Aug. 3); “Beethoven’s 2nd” (Aug. 9); “Intersection,” “My Girl 2,” “The Ref” and “Chasers” (Aug. 10); “Schindler’s List” and “I’ll Do Anything” (Aug. 17); “Blue Chips” (Aug. 24); “Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas” (Sept. 30); “Jurassic Park” (Oct. 4); “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” (Oct. 28).