VIDEO\Bullock blooming, but she's not growing.

Byline: Robert Bianco Special to the Daily News

How long can a star keep playing the girl no one notices?

In "Speed," Sandra Bullock was an unassuming, overlooked, wallflower bus passenger who blossomed in the face of a life-threatening crisis. In "While You Were Sleeping," she was an unassuming, overlooked, wallflower token-taker who blossomed in the face of a life-threatening crisis.

And in "The Net" (1995, Columbia TriStar, priced for rental), she's an unassuming, overlooked, wallflower computer analyst who blossoms in the face of a life-threatening crisis.

She's blooming; she's just not growing.

The crisis in "The Net" is triggered by a mysterious computer disk that allows unauthorized Internet access to sensitive government databases. When it falls into the hands of master hacker Angela Bennett (Bullock), the international terrorists who encoded the disk decide to erase the disk's owner, canceling her credit cards, driver's license, bank accounts and all official records of her existence. To fight them, she has to recreate herself.

Bullock's talent, charm and magnetism turned "The Net" into an unexpected hit, but they also gave the movie a sizable credibility gap. To buy the setup for "The Net," you have to believe a woman as likable and beautiful as Sandra Bullock would have no friends, no social life, and no one to vouch for her identity except one ex-boyfriend (Dennis Miller). Sure, it could happen - but how many more times can it happen to Ms. Bullock?

Audiences, of course, have always loved watching extraordinary stars play ordinary people. Joan Crawford built a career out of playing simple shopgirls - an image, by the way, that "Mommie Dearest" destroyed forever. With what we know now, can you imagine asking Joan Crawford to wait on you?

As with Crawford's ever-resourceful shopgirls, we take comfort in our knowledge that Bullock's schlumps will eventually find themselves. Inevitably and enjoyably, the Cinderella moment will come when both handsome prince and evil stepmother realize they've underestimated our heroine.

Still, as enjoyable as the transformation has been, there's something a little off-putting about its continual recycling. If someone as lovely and personable as Bullock can still go dateless and ignored, what hope is there for the rest of us?

You're famous now, Sandra. That doesn't mean you have to play someone famous. But it may mean you have to stop playing someone anonymous.

Elsewhere on video:

TBS must be ecstatic. Despite the current evidence to the contrary, reason says there must be some limit to the number of times TBS and the other Turner stations can play the two "Beastmaster" movies. Imagine the station's joy, then, at the release of "Beastmaster III: The Eye of Braxus" (MCA/Universal, priced for rental), a straight-to-video sequel that returns Marc Singer to the land of wizards and beefcake. It isn't very good, but then neither were the first two, and look how well they've done.

This time around, Dar (Singer) and his team of beasts (a lion, an eagle and two ferrets) are trying to stop a sorcerer (David Warner) from turning himself into a reincarnated version of Braxus, an evil god who looks like one of the characters from the TV series "Dinosaurs." Well, no wonder Dar is so upset; "Dinosaurs" was terrible.

Produced by MCA Television, "Braxus" has the oddly destitute air of a failed pilot, one designed to copy the popularity of the syndicated hit "Hercules." Unhappily for Dar, "Hercules" has set new standards for doing a lot with a little, leaving people less willing to accept a movie that does nothing with less. We don't expect production values to rival "Cleopatra" - or even the original "Beastmaster" - but couldn't someone have sprung for a decent wig?

Still, we're talking about a movie series that co-stars two rats in fur coats; fans are not particularly demanding. Looking on the plus side, Lesley-Anne Down has some fun as a sexy sorceress, and Singer continues to boast a body most men would envy, even if he is getting a little long in the loincloth for this beast-boy routine.

If nothing else, it's less familiar than "Beastmaster I" and "II." Or at least it will be, until around the 10,000th time TBS repeats it.

MGM/UA is bringing its Showtime "Outer Limits" series to video, starting with the series premiere, "Sandkings" (priced for rental). This good old-fashioned sci-fi thriller stars three generations of Bridges: Lloyd, Beau and Dylan.

One of the year's more controversial movies, "Priest" (1995, Buena Vista, priced for rental) comes to video this week. Critics were kinder than ticket buyers; we'll see whom the home audience sides with.

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Photo In "The Net," Sandra Bullock plays yet another painfully ordinary woman who transforms into a human dynamo when a life-threatening crisis arises.