Extras Galore on Tarantino Triple Bill

Quentin Tarantino has this annoying habit on the collector’s edition DVDs of his films “Pulp Fiction” and “Jackie Brown” (Miramax, $30 each) not to look into the camera when he is addressing the audience. The filmmaker tends to glance over to screen right as he introduces various features on the discs. It really gets on one’s nerves. You feel like telling him, “Quentin, please look at me when you talk to me.”

Despite his problems with eye contact, the discs of the Oscar-winning 1994 film noir “Pulp Fiction” and “Jackie Brown,” his 1997 adaptation of Elmore Leonard’s crime novel “Rum Punch,” are enjoyable. However, both digital editions suffer from the fact that there is no commentary track from Tarantino.

The “Pulp Fiction” disc includes five deleted scenes with Tarantino’s introductions--this feature was produced for the laserdisc--including a rather lengthy extension of the “Jack Rabbit Slim” scene between John Travolta and Uma Thurman.

Also on the DVD: featurettes on the film’s sets, production designs and props; filmmaker interviews; an episode of Siskel & Ebert’s “At the Movies” titled “The Tarantino Generation”; Michael Moore interviewing Tarantino, producer Lawrence Bender and star Samuel L. Jackson at the Independent Spirit Awards in 1995; the Palme d’Or Award ceremony at the Cannes Film Festival; an original documentary titled “Tarantino Fiction”; and an installment of PBS’ “Charlie Rose” show with Tarantino.

The DVD-ROM features are fun. They include an expansive trivia game, reviews and articles, a nifty enhanced trivia track and the option to read the screenplay as you watch the film.

The two-disc set of “Jackie Brown,” which stars Pam Grier, Oscar-nominated Robert Forster, Robert De Niro, Bridget Fonda, Michael Keaton and Samuel L. Jackson, features the same DVD-ROM features. There’s a compelling documentary that looks at how Tarantino went from a video store clerk to a moviemaker; an interview with Tarantino about the origins of the “Jackie Brown” project; the full-length version of the “Chicks With Guns” video that Jackson’s gun-runner character shows to clients in the film; a review of the film by Siskel & Ebert; and clips from the “Jackie Brown” promotional contest from MTV.

Rounding out the collector’s edition are six deleted and alternate scenes, all introduced by Tarantino, including a sequence in which Jackson discusses the Cockatoo Lounge with De Niro.

But the Tarantino fun doesn’t stop. On Tuesday, Artisan releases the delicious two-disc 10th anniversary DVD set of the director’s first film, the audacious “Reservoir Dogs” ($27). Though the set isn’t as slickly produced as the Miramax collection, it’s scrappy, clever and has a good sense of humor about itself.

The set features the wide-screen and full-screen versions of the violent film noir about a group of seasoned criminals who come together to pull a diamond heist and know each other only by color-coded aliases--Mr. Orange, Mr. Pink, Mr. Brown. In fact, the collector’s edition is offered in five limited collectible covers based on each color-coded character.

The disc features all-new and rather wacky interviews with Tarantino (who again doesn’t look at the camera but at least focuses on the person interviewing him), producer Lawrence Bender and actors Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Eddie Bunker and Eric Baltz; a “Film Noir Web,” which examines the writers and directors of the genre with an introduction by Tarantino; a look at nine filmmakers who influenced Tarantino (he admits that he doesn’t admire some of them now); “Reservoir Dolls,” a spoof of the infamous ear slashing scene enacted by the action figures; a hysterically funny tribute to the late actor Lawrence Tierney, who plays the mastermind in the movie; and terrific audio commentary with Tarantino, several members of the cast, crew and even critics.

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The Mel Gibson Vietnam War drama “We Were Soldiers” (Paramount, $30) isn’t for the faint of heart or weak of stomach. There is plenty of searing, graphic war violence in the story of the first engagement of American soldiers with the North Vietnamese in November 1965. U.S. troops, which numbered about 400, spent three days in a horrific encounter with more than 4,000 Viet Cong. Written and directed by Randall Wallace, the film is based on the book by retired Lt. Col. Harold Moore and journalist Joseph Galloway.

The DVD features 10 deleted scenes, with commentary from Wallace; a better-than-average documentary (which features interviews with the real Moore, Gibson and Wallace); and heartfelt commentary from Wallace.

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After a long absence from the big screen, director Peter Bogdanovich returned to feature films this year with “The Cat’s Meow” (Lions Gate, $25), an uneven but generally entertaining whodunit that offers one theory behind the death of famed silent-film pioneer Thomas Ince during a weekend excursion in 1924 aboard William Randolph Hearst’s private yacht. Kirsten Dunst steals the movie as Hearst’s mistress, Marion Davies; Eddie Izzard is a bit too roly-poly as Charlie Chaplin; Edward Herrmann plays Hearst as a lovesick puppy; and Cary Elwes is slimy perfection as Ince .

The DVD has a nice batch of extra goodies including interviews with the cast, Bogdanovich and screenwriter Steven Peros; a Chaplin short; a newsreel from the 1920s; and commentary from the director.

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“Joe Somebody” is a limp noodle of a comedy-drama that wastes Tim Allen as a nebbish divorced father who decides to become a “somebody” after a brutish co-worker beats him up in the office parking lot. The DVD (Fox, $27) has far more extras than it needs: a commentary track with director John Pasquin and producer Brian Reilly; a gag reel; a “making of” featurette; the trailer; a look at the martial arts choreography used in the film; and five deleted scenes with director commentary.

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“Return to Neverland” (Disney, $24 for VHS; $30 for DVD) is a disappointing sequel to “Peter Pan.” In this charmless adventure, Peter brings out the inner child in Wendy’s daughter Jane, a young girl who doesn’t believe in “faith, trust and pixie dust.” The DVD features a music video, a game for the kids, two deleted scenes and a storybook read-along.

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The great screenwriter Ben Hecht (“The Front Page”) wrote and directed “Angels Over Broadway” (Columbia TriStar, $30), an offbeat but charming 1940 comedy-drama about three losers who redeem themselves while preventing a man from committing suicide. Douglas Fairbanks Jr. gives one of his best performances as a bellboy-turned-hustler; Rita Hayworth is sweet as a dancer desperate for her big break; and Thomas Mitchell is wonderful as a boozy playwright on the skids. Beautifully photographed by Lee Garmes, who is also listed as a co-director.