Warm Up That VCR for Winter Releases : ‘Batman,’ ‘Apollo 13’ and family favorites like ‘The Santa Clause’ top the list of big films coming to video-- just in time for the holidays.

And now begins the winter of the video industry’s great content. Distributors and retailers are anticipating the best of times this fourth quarter with an unprecedented array of blasts from the summer past, repriced rental titles and made-for-video exclusives.

Last year’s holiday selling season, powered by the promotional juggernauts behind the releases of “Jurassic Park” and Disney’s “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” will be a tough act to follow. Consumers spent nearly $3.8 billion on sell-through videos, up from $3.1 billion the year before, the Video Software Dealers Assn. reports.

But the quantity and quality of this year’s crowded fourth-quarter sell-through slate have retailers optimistic.

“There are so many great titles coming out,” said Mitch Lowe, owner of Video Droid, a Northern California chain. “The customer will be very happy.”

Retailers too: “The fourth quarter pretty much makes our year,” said William Garcia, owner of Music Revolution in Whittier. “Our December business is three times the normal month.”

Family films continue to drive the direct-to-sell-through market. For less than $20 each, consumers will be able to pick up Disney’s “Cinderella” and “Casper” as well as “The Santa Clause” (due Wednesday), “Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home” (Nov. 14) and “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie” (Nov. 21).

One title with certified event status is “Batman Forever,” the past summer’s top box-office hit. Warner Home Video is mounting its biggest marketing campaign yet on behalf of the Oct. 31 release, which will carry a suggested retail price of $19.96.

Retailers said they expect sales to really rocket with MCA/Universal Home Video’s Nov. 28 launch of “Apollo 13” for $22.98. Though it is a more adult-oriented title, retailers predict that, like “Forrest Gump,” it will attract those who have never before bought a video.

“When you look at how it appeals to different ages and the long-term meaning behind the film, I think it should be owned by every household in the country,” Lowe said.

The sales success of such adult-oriented titles as “Gump” and “Speed” has further opened a window of opportunity to reach beyond the traditional family base that has made sell-through the industry’s biggest growth area. Such is the evolution of the market that as little as three years ago, “Apollo 13” would most likely have been released as a rental title.

The decision to release it to sell-through was made during the summer in the midst of the film’s theatrical run, said Craig Relyea, vice president of marketing for MCA/Universal Home Video.

“After last year, retailers were hoping for a mega-event title,” he said. “ ‘Apollo 13’ certainly has a cachet to it that is very special. Our key retailers were telling us there was room for a title like this. It appeals to such a vast range of demographics, and that is what has been missing from this year’s lineup.”

Paramount Home Video is not exactly hitching a ride on “Apollo 13,” but the success of the film has fueled Tom Hanks’ immense popularity, and that can only help the studio’s efforts to re-promote “Forrest Gump,” which was released in April.

Backed by Paramount’s most extensive (and expensive) marketing campaign, the Oscar-winning pop culture phenomenon became the studio’s best-selling video and, says Video Business, the third-best-selling live-action video of all time.

“The original campaign was very successful,” said Jack Kanne, executive vice president of sales and marketing, “but we still feel it is such an impactful movie and would make the perfect Christmas gift. There are many more who missed the first opportunity to buy it.”

T he fourth quarter is the culmination of yearlong efforts to turn renters into collectors. Impact titles were released direct to sell-through all year long: “The Mask” in January, “The Lion King” in March, “The Swan Princess” in August and “The Little Princess” last month.

“If the studios tried to release them all in the fourth quarter, it would be pretty fierce,” said Garcia of Music Revolution. “They have planned things well. They want people to get in the habit of buying the next popular video.”

Said Video Droid’s Lowe: “People who only own a couple of videocassettes see how lonely they look on their shelves. They want to buy other videos to keep them company.”

To encourage this, studios are aggressively introducing to the sell-through market more adult-oriented titles that only months earlier topped the rental charts. “Stargate” and “Legends of the Fall” are currently on sale for less than $20 retail. The coming weeks will bring price reductions on “Little Women” (Oct. 31), “The Shawshank Redemption,” “Hoop Dreams,” “Dumb and Dumber” and “The Adventures of Priscilla: Queen of the Desert” (Nov. 7) and “Interview With the Vampire” and “Disclosure” (Nov. 21).

At no other time of year is the battle for shelf space so fierce. Pricing is one way studios are hoping to distinguish their titles from the competition. Fox Video is premiering the John Hughes-scripted remake of “Miracle on 34th Street” on Nov. 7 for the impulse-purchase price of $14.98 retail, instead of the traditional $24.98 or $19.98. Miramax Home Entertainment has similarly priced “Gordy,” the non-”Babe” talking-pig movie, which will be released the same day. The following week will bring Columbia TriStar Home Video’s “Annie: A Royal Adventure,” a non-theatrical sequel starring George Hearn and Joan Collins.

Video franchises provide another competitive edge. MCA/Universal will throw last-minute shoppers a (dinosaur) bone on Dec. 12 with the produced-for-video premiere of “The Land Before Time III: The Time of the Great Giving,” for $19.98 suggested retail. MGM/UA Home Video is bringing back eight James Bond classics from moratorium--six starring Sean Connery--on Nov. 7 to coincide with the theatrical release of “GoldenEye,” starring Pierce Brosnan. Fox Video’s remastered and letterboxed “Star Wars” trilogy is already a bestseller.

But while the fourth quarter is primarily a selling season, November and December are also prime rental months, as vacations, inclement weather and family reunions inspire nights spent around the VCR. Three of the summer’s 10 top-grossing films are scheduled for release in time for the holidays: “Crimson Tide” (Nov. 14), “Congo” (Nov. 21) and “Die Hard With a Vengeance” (Dec. 19).

Other anticipated titles in the rental market include “Mi Familia” (Nov. 7), “Dolores Claiborne” (Nov. 14), “Forget Paris” (Nov. 28), “Species” and “The Secret of Roan Inish” (Dec. 5) and “Judge Dredd” (Dec. 19).