`SABRINA' COULD MAKE A FATHER SQUIRM.

Byline: Robert Bianco Special to the Daily News

Why would Paramount push ``Sabrina'' as a Father's Day release?

Well, let's see. A ravishing young woman passes up a flighty young playboy in favor of a stern, stable authority figure old enough to be her father - who near the end gives his blessing to the two lovers.

Happy holiday, Dr. Freud.

Or maybe it has nothing to do with Freud at all. Maybe Paramount just figured a lot of dads would enjoy seeing Harrison Ford beat out the younger Greg Kinnear for the hand of Julia Ormond, just as their dads took vicarious pleasure in Humphrey Bogart's victory over William Holden for Audrey Hepburn. It's not nice to think of love as a competitive sport, but dads will be dads.

So the question becomes, which ``Sabrina'' does dad want: the 1954 original, out again in a special collector's edition for $14.95; or the 1995 remake, out this week for rental? In part, that may depend on how old your dad is.

Young or old, there's no doubt the original is the better movie, though it's not quite the inviolable classic you might have been led to expect by some of the purist screams that greeted the remake. (We are never more attached to our past than when someone else is about to make a buck from it.) The first ``Sabrina'' is a wonderful film, but there are moments in it when Bogart seems downright uncomfortable. Maybe it was those silly bow ties he had to wear - the same ones that inexplicably found their way onto Ford.

Actually, more than stars, the big advantage the original has over the remake is speed. The new version may only have 15 extra minutes, but it sure feels longer, particularly during Sabrina's near-interminable stint in Paris.

Luckily, this new ``Sabrina'' also has Ford, who turns in yet another solid star performance in yet another bad haircut. (Only an actor of his caliber could overcome so many bad coiffures.) His relaxed comic style is a perfect counterpoint to Kinnear, who makes a charming film debut. He acquits himself well - so well, you can see why he may someday be a movie star.

He isn't one yet, however, and that throws the movie off balance. I remember seeing ``Sabrina'' as a child and wondering which man Hepburn would choose. Not even a kid could make that mistake this time around: Put a movie star up against a TV star, and the movie star always wins.

To be honest, Ormond is harder to judge. If we had never seen Hepburn in the role, Ormond would be perfectly adequate. But we have, and Hepburn was more than adequate - she was magical. Why remake the movie if you can't remake the magic?

Still, there are worse things a movie can be than superfluous. You may not love ``Sabrina,'' but you're likely to enjoy watching Ford, Ormond and Kinnear, just as you enjoyed watching the original trio. And after all, nobody's saying you can't watch both movies.

Not even dad.

Elsewhere on the Father's Day front:

``Father of the Bride, Part II'' (1995, Buena Vista; priced for rental) is a remake of the sequel to Spencer Tracy's 1950 classic ``Father of the Bride,'' which was itself remade as ``FOTB Part I.'' Confused? Don't worry about it. While ``Part II'' may be further proof that Hollywood is desperately in need of a new idea, it's also a fairly sturdy old one, brought amusingly back to life by Steve Martin and Diane Keaton. Again, it won't make you forget the original, but why would you want to?

Does Dad like boxing? HBO Home Video, through its new label, HBO Sports, is releasing two new boxing titles: ``The Kings of the Ring'' and ``Sonny Liston: The Mysterious Life and Death of a Champion,'' each for $19.98. It's also re-releasing eight repackaged titles: ``Jack Dempsey'' ($13.95), ``Rocky Marciano'' ($13.95), ``Joe Louis'' ($13.95), ``Muhammad Ali'' ($12.95), ``Middle Weights'' ($14.95), ``Heavy Weights: The Big Punchers'' ($14.95), ``Heavy Weights: The Stylists'' ($14.95), and ``Boxing's Greatest Champions'' ($14.95). The first four tapes are also available in a boxed ``Champions Collection'' for $54.98.

Jean-Claude Van Damme's ``Sudden Death'' (1995, MCA/Universal; priced for rental) takes the ``Die Hard'' formula and moves it to a Stanley Cup final game being played by the Pittsburgh Penguins - which makes it a fantasy, and a cruel one, at that.

Finally, if Jean-Claude isn't Dad's idea of action fun, re-introduce him to Hollywood's first action star, Douglas Fairbanks, who's getting a 10-tape video retrospective courtesy of Kino. The films, available individually for $24.95, are ``The Black Pirate'' (1926), ``Robin Hood'' (1922), ``The Iron Mask'' (1929), ``The Thief of Bagdad'' (1924), ``The Three Musketeers'' (1921), ``The Gaucho'' (1927), ``The Mark of Zorro'' (1920), ``Don Q, Son of Zorro'' (1925), and two double features, ``The Mollycoddle'' (1920) and ``Flirting With Fate'' (1916), and ``The Nut'' (1921) and ``The Matrimaniac'' (1916).

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Photo: Harrison Ford overcomes bow ties and a bad haircut t o turn in yet another solid star performance in ``Sabrina.''