Webs of Intrigue

Kino on Video pays tribute to landmark German director Fritz Lang (“Metropolis,” “M”) with two rarely seen, delectable tales of mystery and imagination: “The Spiders” and “1,000 Eyes of Dr. Mabuse” (both $25 on video).

“The Spiders,” released in 1919, was Lang’s third film. Once believed to have been lost, it was restored 22 years ago by David and Kimberly Shepard. The Kino version has been digitally restored, with title cards taken from original German censorship records. The frames were tinted according to Lang’s own instructions, and Gaylord Carter has supplied a near-perfect original organ score.

A two-part serial, “The Spiders” deals with an American crime syndicate headed by a femme fatale with the outrageous name of Lio Sha (Ressel Orla). After a dashing adventurer named Kay Hoog (Carl De Vogt) finds a message in a bottle that unlocks the secrets of an Incan city of gold, Lio Sha and her henchmen try to beat Hoog to the island to get the treasures.

Lang’s last film, “1,000 Eyes of Dr. Mabuse,” which was released in 1960, is a return to the thrillers he made early in his career, such as “The Spiders,” “Spies” and “The Crimes of Dr. Mabuse.”

Disturbing and completely enthralling, “Mabuse” is filled with bizarre characters such as a blind psychic, a suicidal woman, a wealthy American, a pushy insurance salesman, a man with an enormous clubfoot and a psychiatrist with dubious medical practices.

After a man is mysteriously murdered during rush-hour traffic, the police discover there’s an international conspiracy afoot, and all clues lead to the diabolical criminal mastermind Dr. Mabuse, who supposedly had died 30 years earlier.

Gert Frobe (“Goldfinger”), Peter Van Eyck and Dawn Addams star. “Mabuse” was originally released in America in a poorly dubbed version. Kino’s edition is the original German version with clear, readable English subtitles.

*

Will Smith gets jiggy with it on DVD as two of his biggest hits--”Bad Boys” and “Independence Day”--make their digital debut with special editions.

Released in 1995, “Bad Boys” (Columbia TriStar, $25) marked the first starring role for Smith and Martin Lawrence, and it was the feature film directorial debut of Michael Bay (“Armageddon”).

The action-comedy finds Smith and Lawrence as vastly different Miami detectives who must pretend to be the other one in order to get the help of the sole witness to some drug-related murders.

The DVD is definitely aimed at the male audience. Let’s face it, there probably aren’t too many women dying to see the documentary “Making the Boom & Bang in Bad Boys,” which examines the pyrotechnics and weapons used in the film. Equally macho is “Damage Control,” a featurette using the angle button on the remote to illustrate effects explosions.

Also featured is a nice wide-screen transfer of the film, three music videos, an isolated music score, bios and production notes. In the audio commentary, director Bay confesses that the film’s script wasn’t too hot, but the chemistry between the two stars is what makes the film work.

The director relates one great story dealing with the Al Capone suite at Miami’s Biltmore Hotel, which is used for the big murder sequence near the beginning. People were actually murdered in the suite during the 1930s, and odd things happened during the filming. In fact, Bay says, he was given the suite to use while filming at the hotel and was so freaked out by the strange vibes in the room that he couldn’t sleep.

Four years ago, the sci-fi thriller “Independence Day” was the top box-office champ of the summer and did gangbusters on video later that year. The film’s fans will probably eat up Fox’s two-disc digital version ($35) containing more than 5 1/2 hours of special programming.

The DVD, which features nifty animated menus based on scenes from the movie, contains two versions of the film: the original release and a special edition with nine extra minutes of footage.

The second disc includes the “HBO First Look” documentary on the making of the film, hosted by “ID4” star Jeff Goldblum, and a mockumentary of a real-life alien invasion.

The best extra on this disc is “Creating Reality,” a 30-minute documentary on how the special effects were created for the film, including how the White House was destroyed. The effects supervisors admit that some of the effects were simply miniature airplanes suspended from wires.

There are also tons of storyboards and artworks used in pre-production, production stills, theatrical trailers and TV spots and cast and crew bios.

Oscar-winning special effects supervisors Volker Engel and Doug Smith supply one audio commentary, and producer/co-writer Dean Devlin and director/co-writer Roland Emmerich provide the other.

*

Criterion recently released its special edition of Kevin Smith’s 1997 comedy “Chasing Amy” ($33) with material previously released on the laserdisc--a fact Smith points out in a new introduction. Smith thanks everyone for buying the DVD, explaining that he now has a baby and needs to earn money for the child’s college tuition. He also, with tongue firmly in cheek, apologizes for any derogatory remarks he makes in the commentary about the DVD format.

The whole disc is a kick, thanks to the quirky intros to 10 deleted scenes and funny outtakes that feature Smith and actors Ben Affleck and Jason Mewes. An added plus is the freewheeling, R-rated commentary from Smith, producer Scott Mosier, Affleck, Mewes, associate producer Robert Hawk, Miramax executive Jon Gordon and Vincent Pereira, the historian for Smith’s production company, View Askew. It’s one of the few commentaries where one hears the participants actually open bags of chips and junk food and munch away between comments.