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CNN Sunday Morning

Interview With David Sterritt

Aired December 01, 2002 - 09:51   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


KRIS OSBORN, CNN ANCHOR: More and more Americans are making DVD players the hub of their home entertainment. Sharper images, crisper sound, lower prices have made them more popular than ever. But the transition also means movie lovers will have to replace their videotape libraries. So we're asking an expert for his advice on the must-have DVDs. We say hello to David Sterritt. He is an associate professor of film at Long Island University, and a film critic for the "Christian Science Monitor." Good morning to you.
DAVID STERRITT, CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR: Hi there.

OSBORN: Hi. Well, first, let's start with the big picture issue, which is are DVDs going to make the VCR eventually obsolete and how are they different? They've got all kinds of extra goodies packed in, don't they?

STERRITT: Oh, yeah. They are already starting to make VCRs sort of fade out of fashion. And while VCRs are still going to be around for a long time, DVDs have a lot of advantages. They really give you a much better picture, and it's easier to get to stuff. You don't have to be fast forwarding through the tape all the time to find what you want. And you can pull put all of these extras on there. You can put all kinds of commentaries and -- well, just the advantages are just so many, that it really is worthwhile to make this transition, I think.

OSBORN: Mr. Sterritt, what about "Lord of the Rings?" Now, you were less inspired by this than many others?

STERRITT: Yeah, I'm the only person on the planet who thinks that the "Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" was not that great a movie. Almost everybody thinks it's just one of the most wonderful pictures ever.

But I must say, if you are a fan of this movie, they're certainly giving you a lot of it. The new DVD edition that's come out has four disks, and the movie itself is about 30 minutes longer than it was in the movie theaters. In addition to that, you get four commentary tracks and just all kinds of extras. So if you're a fan of that movie, there's just more and more of it all the time. Probably next year, there will be another edition of it, with maybe six disks and eight commentary tracks or something.

OSBORN: And Mr. Sterritt, as we switch from "Lord of the Rings," I want to ask you about "Attack of the Clones, Star Wars II." I guess Anakin Skywalker has evolved into a more powerful jedi? STERRITT: Well, yeah. This is a movie that, I think, a lot of people had mixed feelings about it. A lot of people feel that the "Star Wars" series is kind of going downhill a little bit, and this is not one of the most inspired episodes. But again, if you're a fan or it, and even if you're not and you just want to really get more and more into kind of the mythology of the saga, you now get two disks, again, all kinds of extras, and you can look at those favorite action sequences over and over and slow them down and really look at them in detail and try to figure out how these things were done.

So, again, if you enjoyed the movie on the big screen in the theater, it's probably going to have less impact on the small screen for you, but you get all of those extra things, and people who are into this can really get into it now.

OSBORN: Absolutely. With different alternative endings, longer versions, uncut versions. But I have to ask you, this is your expertise. Many would love to probably hear, what are your favorites? What should parents go out and buy for the kids? What should the family watch?

STERRITT: Oh, there's so many things out now, and everybody has individual tastes. And of course, that's another great thing about video and DVD in particular is that you don't have to worry about whether something is playing right now. You can have a look at it anytime that you want. Some people are probably going to be running out and buying the recent set of seven DVDs with different James Bond movies on them.

A movie that I think was underrated this past year was "Men in Black II," which was not as good as the original "Men in Black," but it was a pretty good picture. A lot of people went to see it, but a lot of people felt it doesn't really hold up. But this is another case where now you can have another look at it, decide if maybe it was maybe a little better than you thought it was at first.

It's got the commentary now, the DVD, by the director, Barry Sonnenfeld. There's an alternative ending, there is a bloopers reel, there is a music video by Will Smith. So all kinds of stuff you can get into regardless of what you thought of the movie itself.

Another picture, by the way, that a lot of people are going to want to pick up on DVD is "Ice Age," which was a hugely popular cartoon, and it's now coming out on DVD with two disks and, again, all kinds of extras. So those are a couple of movies, especially "Ice Age," a really family kind of a picture, but I think is going to find a really big audience now that it's coming out on DVD.

OSBORN: Well, Mr. Sterritt, we're out of time, but I understand we cannot let you go before asking you what your personal favorite is.

STERRITT: Oh, my personal favorite mist be like something from back in the past, "The Last Waltz" has just come out on DVD, which was a movie that came out in the middle '70s, the great documentary about The Band's last concert, with all kinds of great rock artists. And that's the kind of thing you can plug it now into your home stereo through your DVD machine, and again, the picture will be a little smaller and less dazzling than it was on the big screen, but you can get surround sound and the kind of real rock concert experience right there in your own living room. Maybe that's the one that I'm most looking forward to spending some time with.

OSBORN: David Sterritt from the "Christian Science Monitor." Thank you very much for your input and expertise about DVDs.

STERRITT: Thanks for having me.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired December 1, 2002 - 09:51   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KRIS OSBORN, CNN ANCHOR: More and more Americans are making DVD players the hub of their home entertainment. Sharper images, crisper sound, lower prices have made them more popular than ever. But the transition also means movie lovers will have to replace their videotape libraries. So we're asking an expert for his advice on the must-have DVDs. We say hello to David Sterritt. He is an associate professor of film at Long Island University, and a film critic for the "Christian Science Monitor." Good morning to you.
DAVID STERRITT, CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR: Hi there.

OSBORN: Hi. Well, first, let's start with the big picture issue, which is are DVDs going to make the VCR eventually obsolete and how are they different? They've got all kinds of extra goodies packed in, don't they?

STERRITT: Oh, yeah. They are already starting to make VCRs sort of fade out of fashion. And while VCRs are still going to be around for a long time, DVDs have a lot of advantages. They really give you a much better picture, and it's easier to get to stuff. You don't have to be fast forwarding through the tape all the time to find what you want. And you can pull put all of these extras on there. You can put all kinds of commentaries and -- well, just the advantages are just so many, that it really is worthwhile to make this transition, I think.

OSBORN: Mr. Sterritt, what about "Lord of the Rings?" Now, you were less inspired by this than many others?

STERRITT: Yeah, I'm the only person on the planet who thinks that the "Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" was not that great a movie. Almost everybody thinks it's just one of the most wonderful pictures ever.

But I must say, if you are a fan of this movie, they're certainly giving you a lot of it. The new DVD edition that's come out has four disks, and the movie itself is about 30 minutes longer than it was in the movie theaters. In addition to that, you get four commentary tracks and just all kinds of extras. So if you're a fan of that movie, there's just more and more of it all the time. Probably next year, there will be another edition of it, with maybe six disks and eight commentary tracks or something.

OSBORN: And Mr. Sterritt, as we switch from "Lord of the Rings," I want to ask you about "Attack of the Clones, Star Wars II." I guess Anakin Skywalker has evolved into a more powerful jedi? STERRITT: Well, yeah. This is a movie that, I think, a lot of people had mixed feelings about it. A lot of people feel that the "Star Wars" series is kind of going downhill a little bit, and this is not one of the most inspired episodes. But again, if you're a fan or it, and even if you're not and you just want to really get more and more into kind of the mythology of the saga, you now get two disks, again, all kinds of extras, and you can look at those favorite action sequences over and over and slow them down and really look at them in detail and try to figure out how these things were done.

So, again, if you enjoyed the movie on the big screen in the theater, it's probably going to have less impact on the small screen for you, but you get all of those extra things, and people who are into this can really get into it now.

OSBORN: Absolutely. With different alternative endings, longer versions, uncut versions. But I have to ask you, this is your expertise. Many would love to probably hear, what are your favorites? What should parents go out and buy for the kids? What should the family watch?

STERRITT: Oh, there's so many things out now, and everybody has individual tastes. And of course, that's another great thing about video and DVD in particular is that you don't have to worry about whether something is playing right now. You can have a look at it anytime that you want. Some people are probably going to be running out and buying the recent set of seven DVDs with different James Bond movies on them.

A movie that I think was underrated this past year was "Men in Black II," which was not as good as the original "Men in Black," but it was a pretty good picture. A lot of people went to see it, but a lot of people felt it doesn't really hold up. But this is another case where now you can have another look at it, decide if maybe it was maybe a little better than you thought it was at first.

It's got the commentary now, the DVD, by the director, Barry Sonnenfeld. There's an alternative ending, there is a bloopers reel, there is a music video by Will Smith. So all kinds of stuff you can get into regardless of what you thought of the movie itself.

Another picture, by the way, that a lot of people are going to want to pick up on DVD is "Ice Age," which was a hugely popular cartoon, and it's now coming out on DVD with two disks and, again, all kinds of extras. So those are a couple of movies, especially "Ice Age," a really family kind of a picture, but I think is going to find a really big audience now that it's coming out on DVD.

OSBORN: Well, Mr. Sterritt, we're out of time, but I understand we cannot let you go before asking you what your personal favorite is.

STERRITT: Oh, my personal favorite mist be like something from back in the past, "The Last Waltz" has just come out on DVD, which was a movie that came out in the middle '70s, the great documentary about The Band's last concert, with all kinds of great rock artists. And that's the kind of thing you can plug it now into your home stereo through your DVD machine, and again, the picture will be a little smaller and less dazzling than it was on the big screen, but you can get surround sound and the kind of real rock concert experience right there in your own living room. Maybe that's the one that I'm most looking forward to spending some time with.

OSBORN: David Sterritt from the "Christian Science Monitor." Thank you very much for your input and expertise about DVDs.

STERRITT: Thanks for having me.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com