DVD reviews

Last update: February 25, 2008 - 7:49 PM

CLASSIC FILM

"Joan Crawford Collection: Vol. 2, 1934-1953" (Warner, $50)

The second collection of Joan Crawford films is even better than the first, covering a wider range of her career and unearthing more than the usual suspects. The earliest of the films is the pre-Code "Sadie McKee" (1934), with Crawford climbing up the social ranks and having romances along the way. The latest film in the five-disc collection is "Torch Song" (1953), with Crawford as a bitter Broadway star who comes under the spell of a blind piano player. It's total, crazy camp and irresistible. In between, there are good entries that cover Crawford's prime, such as "A Woman's Face" (1941), about a scarred woman whose life is transformed by plastic surgery, and "Strange Cargo" (1940), a religious allegory co-starring Clark Gable. Finally, there's "Flamingo Road" (1949), with Crawford as a city woman who finds herself stuck in a small Southern town. The set comes with three new featurettes about her career and vintage shorts, cartoons and radio shows.

MICK LASALLE, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

TV

"Comanche Moon" (Sony, $30)

Larry McMurtry's prequel to "Lonesome Dove" stars Val Kilmer and features Steve Zahn and Karl Urban as the Texas Rangers originated by Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones in the tale of Old West lawmen pursuing rebel Indians and Mexican bandits. The two-disc set contains an extended version of the miniseries, plus three making-of featurettes.

DAVID GERMAIN, ASSOCIATED PRESS

Documentary

"Darkon" (PorchLight, $27)

You don't often get a chance to see someone dress up in a costume and take part in a sword fight. This documentary explores the world of fantasy war-gaming -- shields, plumed helmets, foam swords and other assorted regalia. Directed by Andrew Neel and Luke Meyer, the film won the Best Documentary Audience Award at the 2006 South By Southwest Film Festival. It takes its subjects seriously, and you get a sense of how the varied participants find in this fantasy world the sense of control often lacking in their real lives. The DVD includes deleted scenes and commentary by the directors and some of the people in the film.

CURT FIELDS, WASHINGTON POST