VIDEO : DOESN'T GET BETTER THAN THIS `GOOD'.

Byline: Rob Lowman Daily News Entertainment Editor

In one scene in ``As Good as It Gets,'' waitress Carol Connelly (Helen Hunt) asks writer Melvin Udall (Jack Nicholson), ``Do you have any control over how creepy you can get?'' When he replies, ``Yes, as a matter of fact, I do,'' we know that the film legend is saying that line from the heart.

After all, you don't get any creepier than his character in ``The Shining'' (1980). Remember the maniacal grin he had on his face in the ``Heeeeere's Johnny!'' scene as he tries to dismember his wife? There are a lot of great actors in Hollywood, but few, if any, could have have gotten away with being so over the top without seeming campy. Nicholson is the perfect movie star - always bigger than life.

And in ``As Good as It Gets,'' for which he notched his third Oscar, Nicholson does a star turn as the misanthropic Melvin. As a thoroughly objectionable human being who also happens to be a best-selling novelist, Nicholson can pull out the stops, delivering his lines with a gleeful venom.

``How do you write women so well?'' he is asked by an admiring woman fan. ``I think of men, and I take away reason and accountability,'' he nearly hisses. After he says it, you can skip the reaction shot.

Melvin eventually softens, though, as he falls for his favorite waitress and befriends his gay neighbor (Greg Kinnear). Nicholson makes Melvin's insecurities as real as his insensitivity, and when he says, ``You make me want to be a better man,'' it becomes a line that sticks with the audience.

Directed and written by James L. Brooks, ``As Good as It Gets'' is a comedy that relies on characters and acting over story. Luckily, Nicholson, Helen Hunt (who also took home an Oscar), Kinnear, Cuba Gooding Jr., Skeet Ulrich and Shirley Knight make it nearly as good as it gets in entertainment. (PG-13. Columbia; $19.95)

There are also two older Nicholson films being released. The better of the two is the Paramount wide-screen reissue of the 1974 classic ``Chinatown'' ($12.95), directed by Roman Polanski. Nicholson plays private detective Jake Gittes in this tale of corruption in 1930s Los Angeles. Written by Robert Townes, it is a story loosely based on how the city of L.A. incorporated the Valley by holding its water supply for ransom.

``If you can't bring the water to Los Angeles, you bring Los Angeles to the water,'' Noah Cross (the late, great John Huston at his evil best) tells Jake. You may want to watch it before you make up your mind on Valley secession. The sequel, ``Two Jakes,'' dealt with how the Valley was carved up into suburban housing developments.

A less successful Nicholson film is ``The Fortune'' (1975). Directed by Mike Nichols, it features Warren Beatty and Nicholson as a pair of bumbling con men who plan to murder a dizzy heiress for her money but can't seem to pull it off. The film never gels, but with Jack and Warren, it has its moments. (PG. Columbia Tristar; $19.95)

A real horse whisperer

Californian cowboy Monty Roberts has been called crazy for his method of taming horses, which he does in a gentle and humane way, by simply talking to the horse in its own language.

Last year, Roberts - who owns Flag Is Up Farms, a world-class thoroughbred racehorse facility in Solvang - published his fascinating memoirs, ``The Man Who Listens to Horses'' (Random House). Now you can see him in action in ``Monty Roberts: A Real Horse Whisperer'' (BBC Video; $14.98).

Horses have traditionally been tamed or ``broken'' by using brute force, but Roberts' method can tame a horse in about 30 minutes without a hint of cruelty. ``Any time human beings say, `You must or I'll hurt you' to any animal, I find it offensive,'' says Roberts.

Some doubt Roberts' unusual techniques, convinced that the horses he deals with are already tame. To dispel this belief, the documentarians follow the self-described ``horse psychologist'' to the high desert, where he tames a wild mustang stallion.

Roberts' work has not gone unnoticed. England's Queen Elizabeth invited him to Windsor Castle to demonstrate his skills, and he has toured worldwide, giving clinics and demonstrations of his techniques. But the video hardly scratches the surface of his amazing life. For more information, check out his book (or its audio version) or his Web site (www.montyroberts.com).

Don't bug me

The sci-fi bug extravaganza ``Starship Troopers'' (Columbia TriStar) is a mix of media satire; fascist ideas; sex; and kinetic, violent action sequences - everything you come to expect from director Paul Verhoeven. If you're a fan of the eccentric filmmaker, who's given us ``Robocop,'' ``Total Recall,'' ``Basic Instinct'' and ``Showgirls,'' and wonder about the kinky recurring themes in his films, then look for his 1983 Dutch film ``The Fourth Man.'' The chiller about a gay alcoholic writer who meets a mysterious woman at a lecture and becomes convinced that she is out to kill him is dripping with sex, violence and blood. Creepy, huh? ``The Fourth Man'' may not explain Verhoeven's weird fascinations, but it is his best-realized film. There's one thing you can never accuse him of, and that's being boring, perhaps because he seems to take such gleeful pleasure in his obsessions.

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Photo

Photo: Ponder the obsessive-compulsive behavior of novelist Melvin Udall (Jack Nicholson, left, with Greg Kinnear) in ``As Good as It Gets.''