Like most of Michael Mann's films, The Insider is an extremely stylish character study, and the excellent 2.35:1 widescreen presentation of the movie on this DVD allows it to make maximum emotional impact. It's hard to say which is better: the excellent, moody Dolby Digital 5.1 Audio or the colorful, beautiful way the visuals have translated to DVD. The music of Lisa Gerrard and Pieter Bourke is quite magical up against the pretty visuals, whether the score is indulging in evocative, bombastic form or simply flowing in ambient layers. Supplemental features include a short, glossy production featurette, the widescreen theatrical trailer, and a feature called "Inside a Scene," which dissects one scene from the movie, allowing a viewer to look at pre-production, shooting, and finished material. A director's commentary with Mann would have been fascinating but is nowhere to be found. Still, the movie stands on its own merits. The Insider is full of subtle power in this DVD edition.

Inspired by the popular Disneyland ride, The Haunted Mansion stars Eddie Murphy as the head of a family that finds itself vying against a group of 999 ghosts in the titular abode. Also starring Jennifer Tilly and Terence Stamp, the film comes to DVD in widescreen with Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. A dubbed French audio track in Dolby Digital Stereo and Spanish are also included. Along with the feature presentation, the disc is packed with supplemental extras. Among the bells and whistles are a blooper reel, a collection of deleted scenes, a virtual tour of the mansion, and two behind-the-scenes featurettes. For viewers with DVD-ROM capabilities, there is additional bonus material, including a history of the theme-park-attraction behind the movie, a ghost maker, photo galleries, and desktop themes. A full-screen version with the same features is also available.

To commemorate the 20th anniversary of its release, National Lampoon's Vacation has been fitted out with plenty of bells and whistles for its re-release on DVD. The movie has been given a letterboxed transfer at its original widescreen aspect ratio of 1.85:1, which has been enhanced for anamorphic playback on 16 x 9 monitors. The original English-language soundtrack has been mastered in Dolby Digital Mono, as are alternate audio tracks in French, Portuguese, and Spanish; the disc also includes optional subtitles in English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese. Bonus material includes an introduction from cast members Chevy Chase and Randy Quaid, a "Family Truckster and Roof Rack" featurette, the original theatrical trailer, and a commentary track in which the "Griswold Family" discussing their onscreen adventures with director Harold Ramis.

Loaded with original supplements (if not that elusive director's commentary track), the DVD of L.A. Confidential makes its mark as one of the better DVDs in the early development of the format, but leaves something to be desired in the age of the two-disc special edition. Warner DVD made a valiant attempt at a feature-loaded DVD and presented the film in anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen and Dolby Digital. Present are three documentaries (all which fall under the half-hour mark), trailers, TV spots, and a music-only track for Jerry Goldsmith's score. The first documentary, Off the Record, focuses primarily on the task of translating James Ellroy's novel to the screen, but also includes some rare screen tests. Second is a video version of the original photo pitch that Curtis Hanson gave the producers, conveying through pictures of L.A. in the '50s the movie he wanted to make. Lastly, there is a feature that allows the viewer to take a virtual tour -- narrated by the director -- of the Los Angeles of the film by selecting a location from a map menu. While not an authoritative edition of the film, the L.A. Confidential DVD remains one of the best early special edition discs.