Thomas J. Norton

Most high-end speaker companies arrived late to the home-theater party. Dedicated to 2-channel music playback, they eventually split into three groups. One group would banish you to the Mines of Moria if you even uttered the words "home theater" in their presence. Another recognized the bottom-line impact of multichannel and reluctantly designed a few home theater pieces—perhaps a simple center and a subwoofer—for their dealers to sell along with their 2-channel models. A third developed a little more enthusiasm for home theater and built serious centers, subs, and surrounds to match the sophistication of their traditional designs.

<I>Tobey Maguire, Jeff Bridges, Chris Cooper. Directed by Gary Ross. Aspect ratio: 2.35:1 (anamorphic). Dolby Digital 5.1. 141 minutes. 2003. Universal Studios Home Video 23287. PG-13. $26.98.</I>

<I>Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Cate Blanchett, John Rhys-Davies, Andy Serkis, Bernard Hill, Christopher Lee, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Orlando Bloom, Hugo Weaving, Miranda Otto, David Wenham, Brad Dourif, Karl Urban, Sean Bean. Directed by Peter Jackson. Aspect ratio: 2.35:1 (anamorphic). 4 discs. Dolby Digital EX 5.1 Surround, DTS ES 6.1 Surround, Stereo Surround (English). 223 minutes. 2002. New Line Home Entertainment N6504. PG-13. $39.99.</I>

<I><B>Alien: Director's Cut</B></I>
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<I>Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hurt, Ian Holm, Yaphet Kotto. Directed by Ridley Scott. Aspect ratio: 2.35:1 (anamorphic). 5.1 Dolby Digital, DTS (English), Mono (Spanish). 116 minutes. 1979.</I>
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Picture ***1/2
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Sound **1/2
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Film ****