To address concerns over violence, sex, and profanity in popular films, a number of companies have emerged that create "sanitized" versions of VHS tapes or DVDs for a fee.
<I>Tommy Lee Jones, Will Smith, Lara Flynn Boyle, Johnny Knoxville, Rosario Dawson, Tony Shaloub, Patrick Warburton, Jack Kehler, Rip Torn. Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld. Aspect ratio: 1.85:1. Dolby Digital 5.1 (English, French). Two discs. 88 minutes. 2002. Columbia TriStar Home Video 39940. PG-13. $28.96.</I>
<I>Mike Meyers, Beyoncé Knowles, Michael Caine. Directed by Mike Meyers. Aspect ratio: 2.35:1 (anamorphic). DTS ES 6.1, Dolby Digital EX 5.1, Dolby Surround 2.0. 95 minutes. 2002. New Line N6078. PG-13. $29.99.</I>
<I>Richard Gere, Diane Lane, Olivier Martinez, Erik Per Sullivan, Chad Lowe. Directed by Adrian Lyne. Aspect ratio: 1.85: 1 (anamorphic). Dolby Digital 5.1 (English), Dolby Surround 2.0 (French, Spanish). 124 minutes. 2002. 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment 2005899. R. $27.98.</I>
<I>Tom Cruise, Colin Farrell, Samantha Morton, Max von Sydow, Lois Smith, Peter Stormare, Tim Blake Nelson. Directed by Steven Spielberg. Aspect ratio: 2.35:1 (anamorphic). Dolby Digital 5.1 (English, French), DTS 5.1, Dolby Surround 2.0. Two discs. 146 minutes. 2002. DreamWorks Home Entertainment 89989. PG-13. $29.99.</I>
<I>Mel Gibson, Joaquin Phoenix, Cherry Jones, Rory Culkin, Abigail Breslin. Directed by M. Night Shyamalan. Aspect ratio: 1.85:1 (anamorphic). Dolby Digital 5.1, THX. 107 minutes. 2002. Buena Vista Home Entertainment 2789903. PG-13. $29.99.</I>
<I>Henry Thomas, Dee Wallace, Peter Coyote, Robert MacNaughton, Drew Barrymore. Directed by Steven Spielberg. Aspect ratio: 1.85:1 (anamorphic). Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround EX (English, French), DTS 5.1 Surround ES. Two discs. 121 minutes. 1982. Universal 22257. PG. $29.98.</I>
<I>Voices of Daveigh Chase, Tia Carrere, Ving Rhames, David Ogden Stiers, Jason Scott Lee, Zoe Caldwell, Kevin McDonald, Kevin Michael Richardson. Directed by Chris Sanders, Dean DeBlois. Aspect ratio: 1.66:1. Dolby Digital 5.1 (English), Dolby Surround 2.0 (French, Spanish). 85 minutes. 2002. Walt Disney Home Video 00596. PG. $29.99.</I>
<I>F. Murray Abraham, Tom Hulce, Elizabeth Berridge, Simon Callow, Roy Dotrice, Christine Ebersole, Jeffrey Jones, Charles Kay, Kenneth McMillan. Directed by Milos Forman. Aspect ratio: 2.35:1 (anamorphic). Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Surround 2.0. Two discs. 180 minutes. 1984. Warner Home Video 37464. R. $26.99.</I>
"This, like any story worth telling, is all about a girl," Peter Parker tells us at the beginning of Spider-Man-not what you'd expect to hear from a superhero. But, as delighted audiences soon discovered, Spider-Man doesn't play by the rules.
The Ratings: Movie: 4.5 stars out of 5 DVD: 4.5 stars out of 5
Accept it. If you buy this set, containing a film that is three hours long and a whole separate disc of extras, you will be compelled to get one of the four-disc extended editions.
What do pastel-colored eggs have to do with Easter? And what exactly do Easter eggs have to do with DVDs? To answer the first question: I have no idea. Maybe it's just another greeting-card industry conspiracy.
Given that Spider-Man has been spinning his webs in comic books for almost 40 years, it's about time the wall-crawler made the leap to the big screen. Besides starring in his own flick this spring, Spidey has his sticky fingers into - appropriately enough - the World Wide Web.
No wonder people have fallen in love with DVD extras. Increasingly, releases have a little something for everybody, going beyond the usual deleted scenes, commentary tracks, and "behind the scenes" documentaries to include games, Web links, and elaborate featurettes on things like costume design and special effects.