Vets Tell of D-Day on ‘Ryan’ DVD

Just in time for Veterans Day is the “special limited edition” of Steven Spielberg’s Oscar-winning D-Day drama, “Saving Private Ryan” (DreamWorks, $35).

The disc features two theatrical trailers, cast and crew biographies and production notes. Presented in wide screen, the film, which stars Tom Hanks, was transferred from film to DVD utilizing C-Reality, a state-of-the-art digital transferring process. The end result: The picture looks clean and crisp.

“Saving Private Ryan” screams out for an audio commentary track from Spielberg. Unfortunately, this DVD provides no such feature. What is included is a brief message from Spielberg in which he discusses the significance of D-Day in the winning of World War II and the efforts to raise awareness and funds for the National D-Day Museum in New Orleans.

The DVD does boast a better-than-average featurette entitled “Into the Breach,” which offers interviews with Spielberg, historian Stephen Ambrose and the cast, as well as clips from the film. But what sets it apart are the interviews with real D-Day veterans who talk about the carnage, confusion and calamity of June 6, 1944. Interspersed with their comments are newsreel footage and photos of the real battle.

Arnold Spielberg, the director’s father, talks about being stationed in Burma during World War II and offers home movies taken while he was enlisted. Also included are two film efforts Spielberg made as a youngster that deal with World War II.

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Though it wasn’t a summer blockbuster, the thriller “Arlington Road” (Columbia TriStar, $25) received good reviews for its chilling plot twists and performances. Jeff Bridges plays a college history professor; Tim Robbins is the neighbor whom he suspects may be involved with a deadly right-wing organization; Joan Cusack portrays Robbins’ perky wife, and Hope Davis is Bridges’ girlfriend.

The DVD offers the wide-screen version of the film plus talent files, the trailer and an alternate ending that director Mark Pellington dropped after test audiences found it too confusing. (They were right.) A decent featurette, “Hidden Vulnerability,” includes the typical interviews with the cast, the director and screenwriter Ehren Kruger.

Among the tidbits offered in the documentary is the fact that Pellington filmed improvisations of several pivotal scenes with the actors. Kruger would then watch the improvs, write down what the actors said and then rework the script. An important dining-room discussion between the two couples came out of an improvisation, as well as a scary confrontation scene between Robbins and Bridges in the latter’s backyard.

The audio commentary features Pellington and Bridges, who both vent their frustration over the fact that the movie trailer gave away too much of the plot. In preparation, Bridges jokes that he gave up ice cream and began to exercise. On a more serious note, he also sat in on history classes to observe the professors in action.

Pellington also is quite open in discussing the fact that he didn’t think certain scenes turned out visually and dramatically the way he originally intended. It’s rare to hear a director so honestly critique his or her work.

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Though there are no real insights offered on the “Muppets From Space” disc (Columbia TriStar, $25), it gets two thumbs up for sheer cuteness. “Muppets From Space” stars Gonzo, Rizzo, Kermit, Miss Piggy and a scene-stealing turn by Pepe the Prawn. The disc offers the film in both pan-and-scan and wide screen and includes trailers, talent files, outtakes--even Muppets make mistakes--and the “Shining Star” music video by the Dust Brothers featuring Jeymes.

But what makes this disc so adorable and perfect for families is the audio commentary, which features, a la “Mystery Science Theatre 3000,” Kermit, Gonzo, Rizzo and director Tim Hill watching the movie on a screen as they offer their thoughts about the proceedings.