‘Knights’ sent on a misguided mission

Shanghai Knights

Jackie Chan, Owen Wilson

Touchstone, $25 for VHS;

$30 for DVD

Chan and Wilson have chemistry to spare as mismatched western heroes Chon Wang and Roy O’Bannon, so it’s too bad the sequel to their 2000 hit, “Shanghai Noon,” seems labored and over the top. Set in 1887, “Knights” finds the two traveling to London to retrieve the Imperial Seal of China, stolen by an English lord (Aidan Gillen), who killed Wang’s father. Also hot on the trail of the missing seal is Wang’s sister (Fann Wong), every bit the kung fu master her older brother is. Along the way they encounter Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and a young Charlie Chaplin -- the only problem is, Chaplin wasn’t born until two years later.

The DVD features numerous deleted scenes, a music-video-style look at the film’s action, a discussion on staging the fight scenes with Chan and director David Dobkin, decent commentary from Dobkin and another commentary track with writers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar.

*

Laurel Canyon

Frances McDormand,

Christian Bale

Columbia TriStar, $25

McDormand gives an image-changing performance in writer-director Lisa Cholodenko’s uneven but watchable comedy about a free-spirited record producer, her strait-laced psychiatrist son (Bale), his conservative girlfriend (Kate Beckinsale) and a charismatic British rocker (Alessandro Nivola) who is McDormand’s lover. McDormand seems to have fun playing a pot-smoking, hard-living record producer who is not above flashing her breasts or swimming in her pool naked. The digital edition features an interview with Cholodenko (“High Art”) about the genesis of the project, as well as her literate commentary.

*

Gods and Generals

Jeff Daniels, Stephen Lang

Warner, $23 for VHS; $28

This 220-minute adaptation of Jeff Shaara’s 1996 Civil War novel certainly has its heart in the right place. But something is wrong with a movie when you pay more attention to the bad wigs, mustaches and beards than the characters themselves. Writer-director Ronald F. Maxwell, who also did the acclaimed “Gettysburg,” doesn’t seem to have found the dramatic focus for this film, though at least “Gods” comes alive during the meticulously staged battle sequences. The cast features Oscar winners Robert Duvall and Mira Sorvino and producer Ted Turner in a cameo. The two-sided DVD features an intro by Turner, three serviceable making-of documentaries and fact-filled commentary from Maxwell and technical advisors Col. Keith Gibson and James L. Robertson Jr.

*

Pinocchio

Roberto Benigni, Nicoletta Braschi

Miramax, $30

If the sight of the then 50-year-old Italian comic actor running amok in polka-dot jammies and a pointy yellow hat as the wooden puppet who becomes a real boy sounds appealing, then by all means check out this totally misguided adaptation of Carlo Collodi’s 1885 fairy tale.

It’s hard to believe that Benigni -- who won the best actor Oscar for 1998’s “Life Is Beautiful,” which he also directed -- made this vanity project. At $45 million, it was the most expensive production in Italian history, and though the late production designer Danilo Donati’s costumes and sets are gorgeous and fanciful, they can’t save the film from turkey status.

The DVD features the original Italian version, the woefully dubbed American version and a short documentary on the dubbing of the American version.

*

Top VHS rentals

1. How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days

2. Gangs of New York

3. Just Married

4. Kangaroo Jack

5. Tears of the Sun

Top DVD rentals

1. How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days

2. Gangs of New York

3. Just Married

4. Old School

5. Tears of the Sun

What’s coming

Tuesday: “Nicholas Nickleby,” “Final Destination 2,” “The Life of David Gale,” “Spun,” “Ararat”

July 29: “Daredevil,” “The Quiet American,” “Piglet’s Big Movie,” “Solaris,” “Spider,” “XX/XY”

Aug. 5: “Bringing Down the House,” “Agent Cody Banks,” “What a Girl Wants,” “Irreversible”

Aug. 12: “The Hunted,” “Head of State” “Cradle 2 the Grave,” “House of 1000 Corpses,” “He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not,” “P.S. Your Cat Is Dead”

-- Susan King