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DVDs for 'Hawaii Five-O' and 'Peter Pan'
by Scott Holleran
March 9, 2007
Burbank, California—An outstanding TV police drama, Hawaii Five-O, premiered on DVD this week. This marks the return of top cop Steve McGarrett, played by Jack Lord, a chiseled, serious actor—when such actors were desired and sought—who had a memorable role in the first (and best) James Bond picture, Dr. No. The late Mr. Lord also portrayed the young American in The Story of a Patriot, the popular short that welcomed generations of visitors to Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia (for all I know it still does).
Jack Lord made Hawaii Five-O a huge success, effectively launching Hawaii's tourist industry less than ten years after the South Pacific islands became America's 50th state—hence the name of the fictitious Governor's police supersquad—and he insisted on using local actors in the series, filmed entirely in the Aloha State. The long-running program aired on the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) from 1968 through 1980.
The rarely seen September 20, 1968, pilot movie, Cocoon, included on the DVD, features an enemy from communist China named Wo Fat (Khigh Dhiegh), a Bond-type villain who uses water to torture an American agent. The series would end with McGarrett's capture of the diabolical Wo Fat, whose name was taken from a Honolulu Chop Suey restaurant, according to the 1996 bonus documentary (included). McGarrett's defining characteristic is that he is a man of ability.
He's the type of policeman you don't see on screen anymore—strong and decisive and idealistic. Each one-hour episode is well written. Action is smooth and swift, with character-based, outdoor plots that often relate to the young state's developing civilization, an amalgamation of native rites and different cultures—Japanese, Chinese, Polynesian—with the bright futurism and capitalism suggested by the show's opening montage of aqua waves, hula dancers, jet airplanes—and one remarkably long, sped-up shot of McGarrett on a hotel balcony.
Diamond Head, Danno (James MacArthur) and plot points of the looming Vietnam War, racial tension and vacant hippies, Hawaii Five-O, created by Leonard Freeman, offers an immersion in exotic locales, strong characters—besides uncompromising McGarrett, Chin Ho Kelly (Kam Fong) was my favorite—and morality-driven stories. Crank up the Ventures' theme song and enjoy seven first season discs of Japanese assassins, car bombs, bubonic plague, and mythical Hawaiian goddesses. As Jack Lord used to say: Be there. Aloha.
Walt Disney's animated version of J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan is also out on DVD, this time in a new, two-disc Platinum Edition. Aside from the cover art overemphasizing Disney's cash character Tinker Bell, who's everywhere on this DVD, the latest Platinum release is great for fans, enthusiasts and kids. The 1953 movie is the familiar light, charming tale of Peter Pan's visit to the Darling children's bedroom and the daring adventurism with Captain Hook that follows.
Discs include scene selections, songs, and commentary with the usual extras—shorter on archival material than other Platinum Editions—including the set's 20-minute highlight, The Peter Pan That Almost Was, the longest feature. A short piece on Walt's thoughts on this story of youthfulness is also worth a look.
Screen Notes
 | | Ulrich Muhe in The Lives of Others |
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If you haven't ventured to see the tense German thriller The Lives of Others, don't miss it in theaters. Given the resurgence of government control of people's lives, it's powerfully relevant. When one character says: "I can't believe people like you once ruled a country…" one wonders whether anyone in the press, which has rightly lavished this anti-communist picture with praise, realizes they still do—in Cuba and China. Coca-Cola logos and stacks of U.S. dollars from Miami do not change that no one has rights in communist dictatorships.
The movie's press notes include a biographical sketch of Ulrich Muhe, the actor who portrays the Stasi spy. Muhe was apparently a star in the East German theater, where he was reported to the Stasi by fellow artists for exhibiting rebellious behavior, which led to Muhe being targeted for internment in a concentration camp. He also discovered that his wife of six years was a registered informer to the Stasi during their entire marriage. As writer and director Henckel von Donnersmarck says in the notes: "When people ask him how he prepared for the role, Ulrich Muhe answers: 'I remembered.'"
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RELATED LINKS
• Scott Holleran Column Index
• DVD: Hawaii Five-O - Season 1
• DVD: Peter Pan Platinum Edition |
