Scene Selection — Geoff Carter: DVD day has finally arrived

Friday, Jan. 3, 2003 | 8:36 a.m.

Geoff Carter is a Seattle based free-lance film critic and entertainment writer. Reach him at carter@pre2k.com.

It's no longer a matter of why you should get a DVD player; it's a matter of when. The format exploded in 2002, with DVD players now in some 40 million American homes, according to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

The paper goes on to note that one in four homes boasts two or more DVD players, which means that if you don't have a player, chances are good you can borrow one from your neighbor.

Needless to say, the discs themselves sold like hotcakes in 2002. Consumers wanted to own "Spider-Man" and "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" and the like -- to demonstrate a surround-sound system, to baby-sit the kids, whatever.

DVD is easy to store and easy to handle, which partially explains why the format is pushing VHS off the market.

Fortunately, there's another kind of DVD consumer -- the enthusiast who relishes owning archive-quality copies of their favorite films, who listens to director's commentary tracks and generally wants to know everything there is to know about a film.

To you and only you, fellow traveler, I address my top 10 DVDs of 2002 (from No. 10 to No. 1, to heighten suspense):

10. "E.T. -- The Extra Terrestrial, Collector's Edition": This limited-edition two-disc set boasts two versions of Steven Spielberg's 1982 classic -- the original version and last year's digitally-enhanced redux -- plus a wealth of extras. Universal discontinued this title on Dec. 31 -- last year, folks! If you see a copy at Blockbuster, grab it.

9. "A Hard Day's Night": The Beatles' first and best movie didn't look or sound as good in 1964. Interviews with the filmmakers, most notably director Richard Lester and musical director Sir George Martin, summon the spirit of the times.

8. "Amelie": Jean-Pierre Jeunet's film was made for movie screens. Watching it on anything less than widescreen DVD smacks of blasphemy.

7. "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" (Director's Edition): Merely having a quality transfer of "Khan" is a good thing: Like so many movies, it's been butchered on broadcast TV for too many years. Nicholas Meyer's director's cut makes the film exciting again.

6. "Metropolis": An anime based on a story by Japanese comic artist Osamu Tezuka, "Metropolis" is very nearly a masterpiece. The DVD boasts a terrific sound and video of the film, and a biography of the endlessly talented Tezuka.

5. "Beauty and the Beast: Platinum Edition": An optimal version of Disney's modern animated masterpiece. Switch back and forth between the original video release and DVD and marvel, as I did. I still haven't reached the bottom of the extras included with this set.

4. "Insomnia": Christopher Nolan, the celebrated director of "Memento," delivers the director's commentary on "Insomnia" with the insight and patience of a college professor. The best of the DVD's extras, "180 Degrees: Christopher Nolan Interviews Al Pacino," is what "Inside the Actor's Studio" should be.

3. "Monsters, Inc.": Between the documentaries and director's commentary on this DVD, you'll gain a textbook understanding of computer animation. Plus, you can watch footage of Pixar's paper-airplane tournament.

2. "Singin' in the Rain": "Moulin Rouge" director Baz Luhrmann joins Debbie Reynolds, Donald O'Connor, Cyd Charisse, Stanley Donen and others in celebrating the greatest film musical of all time. Enough said.

1. "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" (Special Extended DVD Edition): "The Two Towers" borrows heavily against the extra half-hour Jackson added to this "alternate" version. This four-disc set explains why many households have doubled up on DVD players: There's so much to watch, and life is so short.