‘Memento’ DVD Requires an Extras Effort

If you are puzzle-challenged, you may find the new two-disc DVD of Christopher Nolan’s innovative film noir, “Memento” (Columbia TriStar, $28), a frustrating experience. To access any of the extra features, including Nolan’s erudite commentary, the viewer must solve a series of mindbenders and challenges designed by Nolan himself.

Just remember: Don’t throw the remote at the TV set because you will, eventually, be able to figure out the puzzles. One hint: The second disc is a lot easier to solve than the first.

Nolan, whose new film, “Insomnia,” opens Friday, received an Oscar nomination for his screenplay for this clever film about a man (Guy Pearce) without any recollection of his recent past who attempts to solve the murder of his wife. The British writer-director turns the mystery genre on its head by telling the story in reverse.

Once you do solve the puzzles, which include multiple-choice and word memory games, you’ll find the wide-screen edition of the film and Nolan’s commentary on the first disc. The second disc includes some of the same features that were on the single-disc DVD of “Memento” that was released last September, such as an episode of the Sundance Channel’s “Anatomy of a Scene” series and the original short story on which the film was based, written by Nolan’s brother, Jonathan. Also included is Nolan’s script for the film, and viewers can switch back and forth between a scene and the annotated film script.

The digital edition of the Cameron Crowe-Tom Cruise mystery thriller “Vanilla Sky” (Paramount, $30) features audio commentary that comes with its own musical accompaniment.

Crowe recorded the commentary for this enigmatic remake of the Spanish film, “Open Your Eyes,” with his wife, the film’s composer, Nancy Wilson. As Crowe talks about making the film, Wilson occasionally offers her insights into the production but spends most of the time playing the guitar. Also popping up in the commentary are their two young sons, Curtis and Billy, who are just as incomprehensible as the plot of the film.

Also featured on the DVD are the featurette “Prelude to a Dream,” in which Crowe discusses why he made the film, and “Hitting It Hard,” a lighthearted look at the project’s international press tour. There’s also an “Entertainment Tonight” interview with Paul McCartney, who penned the Oscar-nominated title tune; a music video; a comprehensive photo gallery; and two trailers.

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A then-21-year-old Tom Cruise starred in Ridley Scott’s lavish but unsatisfying fairy tale, “Legend.” Universal is offering a two-disc “Ultimate Edition” ($25) that features Scott’s own cut of the 1985 film, as well as the U.S. theatrical version.

Scott’s version is nearly a half-hour longer but just as lame. It does, however, restore Jerry Goldsmith’s original score for the film, which is far superior to the one composed by Tangerine Dream for the U.S. theatrical release.

The edition also features Scott’s sturdy commentary; a new documentary on the making of the film, which features interviews with Scott and co-stars Mia Sara and Tim Curry; storyboards; a music video; the isolated Tangerine Dream music score; and “The Fairy Dance,” a lost scene that has been reconstructed through audio, still pictures and storyboards.

Save for Dennis Farina’s riotous turn as an unabashed womanizer, Edward Burns’ romantic roundelay “Sidewalks of New York” (Paramount, $30) is a wet noodle of a comedy. Burns, who wrote and directed the indie hit “The Brothers McMullen,” stars in this film with Rosario Dawson, Heather Graham, David Krumholtz, Stanley Tucci and Brittany Murphy. The DVD includes an “Anatomy of a Scene” documentary that aired on the Sundance Channel and Burns’ commentary, which is far more interesting than his film.

The less said about the witless comedy “How High” (Universal, $20), the better. Rappers Method Man and Redman headline this farce about two street-smart drug dealers who manage to get into Harvard. The digital edition features a “making-of” documentary, deleted scenes, music videos and raunchy commentary from Method Man and Redman that is very offensive.

Fox Video is releasing the digital editions of several vintage war films ($15 each) just in time for Memorial Day.

John Payne, Randolph Scott and Maureen O’Hara headline the Technicolor drama “To the Shores of Tripoli.” Payne plays a playboy who becomes a Marine. Scott plays his drill instructor and O’Hara is his lady love. (Fox has sent out what it describes as a “limited” number of discs with a black-and-white print of the film. If you get one of these, call the 800 number on the back of the box and Fox will replace it with the color version.)

Tyrone Power and Betty Grable make a beautiful couple in the high-flying 1941 drama “A Yank in the RAF.” Power plays a brash, fast-talking American who joins the RAF; Grable is an American showgirl.

Though it’s called “D-Day the Sixth of June,” this 1956 war drama has very little D-day footage. It’s really a pedestrian romantic drama about a British woman (Dana Wynter) and the two men in her life: a married American soldier (Robert Taylor) and her longtime British beau (Richard Todd).

Richard Burton and Robert Newton headline the scrappy 1953 action-drama “The Desert Rats.” Robert Wise directed this film about a group of Australian soldiers--led by a Scottish commando--who hold off the Nazis at Tobruk in Africa. James Mason plays Nazi Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, a role he played the year before in “The Desert Fox.”

“It Came From Outer Space” (1953) was one of Universal’s best ‘50s sci-fi thrillers. The Jack Arnold-directed classic, which was originally released in 3-D, landed this week on DVD ($20) with extra goodies, including fact-filled commentary from film historian Tom Weaver and a lighthearted documentary on the making of the film, which stars Richard Carlson, Barbara Rush and some ugly aliens.

Also new from Universal is a lovely digital edition of the 1972 cult sci-fi drama “Silent Running” ($20). Special-effects wizard Douglas Trumbull (“Close Encounters of the Third Kind”) directed this inspiring fable, starring Bruce Dern as a nature-loving crew member of a space station that carries the last surviving forests of Earth.

The DVD features thoughtful commentary from Trumbull and Dern, a nice retrospective documentary, another documentary on the production that was produced in 1972, an interview with Trumbull and a photo gallery.

Shot in less than a week, the 1951 sci-fi thriller “Flight to Mars” (Image, $25) is a real hoot. Cameron Mitchell headlines this cheesy Monogram production about the first manned space ship to Mars. .