Period romance 'Anna and the King' tops video releases

'007' DVD tips

June 20, 2000
Web posted at: 11:20 a.m. EDT (1520 GMT)

By Scott Hettrick

Anna and the King

(Fox, priced for rental, rated PG-13)
1999.
Directed by Andy Tennant; starring Jodie Foster, Chow Yun-Fat, Bai Ling and Tom Felton.

Jodie Foster and Chow Yun-Fat are terrific in this throwback to the lavish, epic, period romance drama.

Foster pulls off the role of a British schoolteacher from the 1850s with only a bit of difficulty, with her accent. And Yun-Fat is so charming and convincing as the king of Siam that he nearly makes you forget Yul Brynner.

The two-hour, 20-minute feature focuses more on the political turmoil between Siam and its neighboring countries and Siam's British ally than the famous musical version of this true story. This makes viewers take this version more seriously and enjoy the added substance. It speaks to the power of the original story itself that it continues to be such a compelling and charming tale, whether told in musical, animation or live-action form.

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'007' DVD tips

Packaged with MGM's special-edition DVD of the latest James Bond movie, "The World Is Not Enough" starring Pierce Brosnan, are new widescreen special editions of five more 007 movies starring Sean Connery, Roger Moore and George Lazenby. Each is priced at $34.98 and contains a printed booklet on the making of the movie.

"The World Is Not Enough" offers a fun feature first created for the DVD version of "The Matrix" that allows viewers to break away from the movie in progress to watch video footage of the production of that specific stunt. This optional feature presents a 007 logo on the screen during many key sequences that alerts the viewer to behind-the-scenes film that can be viewed by pressing a button on the remote control. When the fascinating footage -- for example, showing stunts such as the boat chase and the helicopter snowmobiles being filmed -- is complete, the viewer is supposed to be returned to the spot he left the movie, but sometimes it will send you back to the beginning.

Other more standard inclusions are an audio commentary by director Michael Apted and another with technical crew members; a rather uninvolving documentary on the making of the picture; the film's music video by Garbage; and a printed booklet on the making of the movie.

"On Her Majesty's Secret Service," the 1969 movie that many consider the best installment in the series, includes a nice 22-minute featurette on the 007 gadgets and a profile of the late Desmond Llewelyn, who played Q in nearly every Bond film. John Cork once again has put together a thorough and entertaining 42-minute documentary on the making of the movie itself, with interviews with nearly all significant cast and crew members discussing the production, the stunts and, most significantly, the risky hiring of unknown Australian model George Lazenby. At the time he was hired to take over for legendary Sean Connery in the starring role, he had no prior acting experience. Also part of this Bond package is a fascinating archival featurette on the spectacular aerial cinematography of the Swiss Alps by a man hanging underneath a helicopter.

"The Spy Who Loved Me," the 1977 installment that is generally remembered most for its spectacular opening sequence of a ski jump off a cliff, is the only DVD of the older titles in the new batch to offer full 5.1 channel surround sound. It also presents a 22-minute documentary on production designer Ken Adam, and including new interviews singing the praises of the man responsible for the distinctive massive villain laboratories built into volcanoes and those Bondian underwater cities (that appeared in seven of the early James Bond movies, as well as Ian Fleming's "Chitty Chitty, Bang Bang").

A 42-minute documentary on the making of "The Spy" features fascinating background on the business of the 007 franchise at that point, plus interviews with Roger Moore and dozens of others. The audio commentary by director Lewis Gilbert and unique TV spots of Moore talking to the audience fill out the DVD.

This DVD "Dr. No," the first movie in the series (1962), includes 22-minute documentary on Terrence Young, who directed three of the first four 007 pictures and, by all accounts, including a couple of brief comments from Sean Connery, is the person most responsible for creating the personality and sophistication of the cinematic version of the suave British secret service agent.

John Cork has once again put together an engrossing 42-minute program, detailing the evolution of the movie franchise, the selection process in finding the first actors to bring the literary characters to life (Cary Grant, who had been the best man at the producer's wedding, was originally considered, but he would not commit to more than one film), sultry Ursula Andress' spellbinding effect on the crew, and the making of the movie itself. Cork also has masterfully interwoven dozens of interviews on an audio-commentary track that runs during the movie so that comments relate specifically to scenes playing at that moment.

"Moonraker" contains an engaging 42-minute documentary on the making of the 1979 space-oriented Bond flick that includes interviews with crew and cast members; for example, we hear Lois Chiles, who played Holly Goodhead, saying how proud she is to have had a character with such a suggestive name. There also are lengthy recollections, photos and footage of death-defying stunts that nearly went bad atop aerial cable cars; others that had to be scrubbed, such as a speedboat that would not be dislodged from the precipice of a giant waterfall; and humorous bloopers of Roger Moore tipping over in the water in a motorized gondola in Venice. A deserving tribute is paid to John Stears and Derek Meddings in a 22-minute documentary on their incredible work on the series' most memorable special effects and miniatures, including the multiple versions of the Lotus auto that had to be devised to drive underwater. An audio commentary during the film provides comments from director Lewis Gilbert and other cast and crew.

"The Man With the Golden Gun" may be one of the worst movies of the series, along with "A View to A Kill," but the documentary on the making of the movie, with its detailed discussion about the incredible car aerial revolution stunt, and the creation of a working flying car, is quite interesting. As are little trivia tidbits, such as an interview with Christopher Lee in which he discusses being a cousin to James Bond creator and author Ian Fleming and playing golf with him.

A 22-minute documentary on the men behind the stunts in the James Bond movies, including Connery stunt double Bob Simmons (who is the man dressed as 007 in the very first pre-title gun-barrel sequence) moves so quickly through some spectacular stunts that it winds up feeling superficial. However, it does slow down long enough to allow the stunt men to describe a couple of stunts, such as the one that many feel is the series' best: Two men fighting each other while hanging onto a net flopping out the back of an airplane in "The Living Daylights." "The Man With the Golden Gun" director Guy Hamilton and other crew and cast members also discuss the movie on an audio commentary.

(c) 2000, Scott Hettrick. Distributed by Los Angeles Times Syndicate.

Official 'Anna and the King' site
Twentieth Century Fox

Interview with 'Anna and the King' director Andy Tennant
Review: 'Anna and the King' still touches hearts

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