VIDEO : `ZORRO' SLASHINGLY GOOD FUN.

Byline: Rob Lowman Daily News Entertainment Editor

While ``Saving Private Ryan'' and ``The Truman Show'' grabbed the critical acclaim, ``There's Something About Mary'' packed in the comedy lovers, and ``Deep Impact'' and ``Armageddon'' cranked up the decibel level, the best pure popcorn movie of the summer was ``The Mask of Zorro'' (Sony), which hit video stores this week.

Call it retro fun, which is no surprise because Steven Spielberg, who loves adventure films, had a hand in making it. Starring Oscar winner Anthony Hopkins as the aging swordmaster Don Diego de la Vega and Antonio Banderas as his rash young pupil who eventually dons the mask to fight for the rights of the oppressed peasants, ``Zorro'' combines an old-fashioned swashbuckling quality with a modern, hip sensibility. And what helps give it the latter is the stunning addition of Catherine Zeta-Jones as Elena, de la Vega's long-lost daughter. The scenes in which she dances and duels with Banderas smolder - in a PG-13 sort of way, of course.

With her fiery beauty and strong screen presence, Zeta-Jones is likely destined for stardom. She was literally cast for the film when Spielberg saw her in a television movie about the Titanic. Next up for her is the thriller ``Entrapment,'' with Sean Connery, that is set for next summer.

While ``Zorro'' pits good vs. evil in an easily definable way, ``The Negotiator'' (Warner) blurs the edges. The thriller pits one hostage negotiator (Samuel L. Jackson) who has been framed for stealing from the police disability fund and takes a room full of people hostage to prove his innocence against another high-profile negotiator (Kevin Spacey). The film becomes a cat-and-mouse game between two wily opponents set against the intrigue of who the real villains are. (This is complicated by those cops who are angry at Jackson's character because they think he's guilty.)

Some of the action scenes are a bit overblown, and the end is a bit too tightly wrapped, but where the script falters, the acting fills in. And it's a treat to watch Jackson and Spacey, who are both at the top of their game, command the screen.

``Sliding Doors'' (Paramount) offers its take on a question that most of us us ask every day: ``What if?'' In this case, it shows us how Helen's life would be different if she had caught a London subway train instead of just missing it. In one of the two alternating futures intercut throughout the film, Helen (Gwyneth Paltrow) makes the train and meets a handsome fellow (John Hannah), who offers the possibility of a new job and fresh love. In the other future, Helen misses the train and returns home to her dull job and a live-in boyfriend (John Lynch) who is cheating on her.

Paltrow, like the film, is charming in either parallel future.

DVD watch

Twentieth Century Fox recently joined the DVD revolution with the release of its first eight titles. Considering Fox's great catalog of film, there are some curious choices here for film bluffs, though perhaps not for marketing people.

You'll get no argument here with the selections of Jan De Bont's ``Speed,'' ``Predator,'' starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, and ``Young Frankenstein.'' The first two are terrific action pictures with spectacular special effects that look great, especially in the wide-screen format option.

Mel Brooks' black-and-white ``Young Frankenstein,'' starring Gene Wilder as the doctor and Peter Boyle as the monster may not the have the special effects of the other two - except the ever-changing hump of the hunchback Igor (the late Marty Feldman) and whatever weird stuff he does with his eyes - but the bonus features of Brooks' commentary and a feature of outtakes/bloopers makes this a fun DVD choice.

The other five titles - ``Marked for Death,'' ``Home Alone 3,'' ``Porky's'' ``Hope Floats'' and ``Jingle All the Way'' - are dubious picks to lead off Fox's foray into DVDs.

CAPTION(S):

Photo

Photo: ``The Mask of Zorro,'' with Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones, was the best pure popcorn movie of the summer.