Patrick Swayze Lives!

Ghost # Actors: Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore, Whoopi Goldberg, Tony Goldwyn, Stanley Lawrence # Directors: Jerry Zucker # Writers: Bruce Joel Rubin # Producers: Steven-Charles Jaffe # Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, NTSC # Language: English # Rating: PG-13 # Number of tapes: 1 # Studio: Paramount Pictures # VHS Release Date: February 6, 2001 # Run Time: 127 minutes Point Break # Actors: Patrick Swayze, Keanu Reeves, Gary Busey, Lori Petty, John C. McGinley # Directors: Kathryn Bigelow # Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC # Language: English # Rating: R # Number of tapes: 1 # Studio: 20th Century Fox # VHS Release Date: January 9, 1996 # Run Time: 117 minutes Dirty Dancing # Actors: Kelly Bishop, Jane Brucker, Thomas Cannold, Max Cantor, Charles 'Honi' Coles # Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered, NTSC # Language: English # Rating: PG-13 # Number of tapes: 1 # Studio: Vestron Video # VHS Release Date: October 13, 1998 # Run Time: 105 minutes

Truly ridiculous but somehow moving, this right-wing paranoid fantasy by John Milius (The Wind and the Lion) from 1984 concerns a Soviet takeover of the United States and a band of ragtag adolescents who metamorphose into freedom fighters. One can laugh at the notion of Nicaraguans, Cubans, and Russians having worked out a master plan to invade America, but Milius's account of how such a grim day affects a small Western town really does get under one's skin. The cast--most of whom were not yet stars (Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey had probably never heard of a script called Dirty Dancing at the time)--are quite persuasive as nice kids who come to recognize the tragedy of their lost innocence through fierce, uncompromising struggle. Powers Boothe is very good as a pilot who briefly comes to their aid, and Harry Dean Stanton is stirring as a solid working man and father who represents the virtues his sons are fighting for. The DVD release includes production notes, the original theatrical trailer, trivia, scene access, and an optional widescreen presentation. --Tom Keogh

Truly ridiculous but somehow moving, this right-wing paranoid fantasy by John Milius (The Wind and the Lion) from 1984 concerns a Soviet takeover of the United States and a band of ragtag adolescents who metamorphose into freedom fighters. One can laugh at the notion of Nicaraguans, Cubans, and Russians having worked out a master plan to invade America, but Milius's account of how such a grim day affects a small Western town really does get under one's skin. The cast--most of whom were not yet stars (Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey had probably never heard of a script called Dirty Dancing at the time)--are quite persuasive as nice kids who come to recognize the tragedy of their lost innocence through fierce, uncompromising struggle. Powers Boothe is very good as a pilot who briefly comes to their aid, and Harry Dean Stanton is stirring as a solid working man and father who represents the virtues his sons are fighting for. The DVD release includes production notes, the original theatrical trailer, trivia, scene access, and an optional widescreen presentation. --Tom Keogh