``A Star Is Born,'' the classic musical starring Judy Garland and James Mason, will be released for the first time ever on DVD on September 19. The Warner Home Video DVD, featuring a number of extras, will sell for $24.98 SRP.

Directed by George Cukor, ``A Star is Born'' was nominated for six Academy-Awards® including Best Actress and Best Actor. The film tells the story of Norman Maine (Mason), an alcoholic film star who meets and marries Esther Blodgett (Garland), an unknown aspiring singer/actress. As Blodgett rises to fame and fortune, she is transformed into a major star, 'Vicki Lester.' Simultaneously, Maine's career spirals downward ending in tragedy. Inconsolable at first, Lester finds the determination to go on with her career.

The DVD extras in ``A Star Is Born,'' include: the 1954 theatrical trailer as well as the original theatrical trailers of the 1937 and 1976 versions, network telecast of the 1954 premiere, documentary coverage of the post-premiere party, three alternative filmings of the song The Man That Got Away and the deleted song When My Sugar Walks Down the Street.

Also included is: audio of two still-missing scenes from the 1954 premiere version, ``A Report by Jack L. Warner'' featuring footage not seen in the movie, filmographies of Garland, Mason and director Cukor, widescreen format, surround audio and subtitles in English and French.

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This thrilling, real-life adventure will take audiences by storm on Nov. 14 when Warner Home Video releases ``The Perfect Storm'' day- and-date for sell-through on VHS and DVD. A cinematic experience at its most exhilarating and terrifying, ``The Perfect Storm'' offers a breathless sense of being gripped by a force of nature beyond human control.

Based on the dramatic events that took place in the waters of the North Atlantic nearly nine years ago, Sebastian Junger's nonfiction account, ``The Perfect Storm,'' has been on the best-seller list for more than 100 weeks, boosted by the popularity of the theatrical release.

An astonishing, effects-packed disc, ``The Perfect Storm'' DVD is dual-layered with Dolby Digital 5.1 EX audio in wide-screen and full-screen formats and includes the following features:

• Three feature-length audio commentaries, including director Petersen, author Junger and visual-effects supervisor Stefen Fangmeier;
• Behind-the-scenes documentaries ``HBO First Look: Making The Perfect Storm,'' ``Witnesses to the Storm'' and ``Creating an Emotion'' with composer James Horner;
• A conceptual art gallery with commentary by Petersen;
• Production stills set to John Mellencamp's ``Yours Forever,'' the ``Perfect Storm'' theme; and
• Storyboard galleries.

Additional enhanced features for DVD-ROM provide a more in-depth look at the production of this real-life thriller:

• The original theatrical Web site with Web links to chat rooms;
• A gallery of downloadable mini-documentaries on the film's special effects;
• A theatrical trailer sampler;
• Exclusive game for multiple players on the Internet;
• Future virtual theater event with live filmmaker and cast chat.

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Ricoh's Disc Media and Systems Center division (DMS-C) will begin shipping the fastest new CD-R/RW/DVD-ROM combination drive on the market at the beginning of the fourth quarter, the company announced today. Priced at $349 (MAP) the MP9120A (atapi) has 12X CD-R and 10X CD-RW recording speed, 32X CD-ROM and 8X DVD-ROM read speeds. Ricoh is one of only three companies manufacturing combination drives; the remainder of units on the market are from OEMs. The MP9120A will be available through the Ricoh CD online store at http://www.buyricohcd.com , other major retailers, e-tailers, distributors, and through OEM channels.

Targeted toward mid-to high end audio, multimedia and other users with drive speed concerns, the MP9120A has other characteristics, such as error prevention, that will make it popular among ``pro-sumers.''

As the first manufacturer to deliver a drive with newly developed error prevention technology, called JustLink, Ricoh will provide other drive makers with the new technology and include it in future Ricoh-brand CD-R/RW drives. JustLink automatically prevents buffer under-run errors by predicting them before they occur. Stable writing is especially difficult with high-speed writing, recording simultaneously while performing other computer operations, writing files to a CD-R/RW drive from a CD-ROM drive, and recording directly from a network.

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It's another homerun for your team when the world-class series, When It Was A Game rounds the bases for a third glorious time, featuring baseball legends Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Sandy Koufax, Roberto Clemente and more. When It Was A Game 3 steals its way into stores nationwide on November 21. Available on VHS for $14.95 SRP and DVD for $19.98 SRP, When It Was A Game 3 has a running time of 60 minutes and is not rated. Also available on VHS starting November 21, the When It Was A Game ``Triple Play'' Collector's Set features all three installments of the When It Was A Game series for $26.92 SRP. Order due date is October 24.

When It Was A Game 3 features never-before-seen home movies and vintage photographs with memorable storytelling that bring to life an incredible period in America's history. The third installment in the critically-acclaimed series from HBO Sports presents classic interviews with sluggers Hank Aaron, Frank Robinson, Tim McCarver, Bob Gibson and Juan Marachal. The storytelling also carries into the stands with commentary from fans and sports writers including Billy Crystal, Geraldo Rivera, Bob Costas and others.

Described as ``The best of the series,''(New York Daily News) ``Worth waiting for,''(Detroit News) and ``An astonishing marriage of anecdote to film,''(Chicago Tribune) When It Was A Game 3 is a triumph in the documentation of baseball history.

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Released This Week: Any Given Sunday: Special Edition Director's Cut

Life is a contact sport and football is life when three-time Academy Award–winning filmmaker Oliver Stone and a dynamic acting ensemble explore the fortunes of the Miami Sharks in Any Given Sunday.

At the 50-yard line of this gridiron cosmos is Al Pacino as Tony D’Amato, the embattled Sharks coach facing a full-on blitz of team strife plus a new, marketing-savvy Sharks owner (Cameron Diaz) who’s sure Tony is way too old-school. An injured quarterback (Dennis Quaid), a flashy, bull-headed backup QB (Jamie Foxx), a slithery team doctor (James Woods) and a running back with an incentive-laden contract (LL Cool J) also provide some of the stories that zigzag like diagrams in a playbook. And throughout, there’s the awesome spectacle of motion, sound and action orchestrated into “Oliver Stone’s most electrifying film in years. A dazzling spectacle.” –-Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

Special Features: DVD-ROM Features, Scene Access, Interactive Menus, Documentaries, Cast/Crew Bios, Filmographies, Story Boards, Music Videos, Theatrical Trailer, Web Access

"Any Given Sunday: Special Edition Director's Cut" is rated "R" and has a running time of 157 minutes.

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