VIDEO SPIELBERG MAKES VERY GOOD 'CATCH'.

Byline: Rob Lowman Entertainment Editor

Major directors don't usually put out two films in a year, let alone two very good ones. Last summer, Steven Spielberg released the sci-fi adventure think piece ``Minority Report'' and followed it up in December with the true-life caper ``Catch Me If You Can,'' out today on DVD.

While ``Minority Report'' was definitely a top-10 film of last year, ``CMIYC'' isn't far behind. Certainly, the story of Frank W. Abagnale Jr. (played with panache by Leonardo DiCaprio), who as a teenager in the '60s successfully impersonated an airline pilot (no, he didn't fly), a doctor (no, he didn't operate) and a lawyer, is more fun. In a way the film is a breezy reflection of the era, when anything seemed possible.

Abagnale's life of crime, which also included check fraud, was propelled by the breakup of his parents' marriage. His father (much-deserved Oscar nominee Christopher Walken) is going bankrupt and has the IRS after him. His mother (French actress Nathalie Baye) is having an affair. What Abagnale thought was a wonderful life quickly has become grim reality.

Abagnale's indiscretions soon draw the attention of FBI investigator Carl Hanratty (Tom Hanks). It doesn't take long for him to figure out who is behind the crimes, but it takes years before he finally nails him in France. (At the beginning of the film, Abagnale is shown appearing in the early '70s on the TV game show ``To Tell the Truth,'' where his misdeeds are rattled off, so you have an idea where the story is going.) Much of the film then revolves around the cat-and-mouse game played by Abagnale and Hanratty, and also their eventual somewhat symbiotic relationship.

Even if you don't take time to appreciate all the marvelous subtleties of Spielberg's direction or Janusz Kaminski's beautiful gauzy cinematography or John Williams' rather cool score, it's easy to see that ``CMIYC'' is sophisticated entertainment. On the second disc of the DVD, there are five featurettes about the film, including one that explains the differences between the facts and the fiction of the film.

``Catch Me If You Can'' (DreamWorks) lists for $29.99 on DVD.

The many faces of Jack Ryan

Three actors have played Tom Clancy's CIA analyst-turned-superhero Jack Ryan in the movies - Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford and Ben Affleck. Baldwin walked away after the first of the films, ``The Hunt for Red October,'' directed by John McTiernan. Too bad, because I always thought he was the best Ryan, and I always thought that 1990's ``Red October'' was the best of the lot, which includes Ford's ``Patriot Games'' and ``Clear and Present Danger'' and last year's ``Sum of All Fears,'' with Affleck. The four of them have been put together in the ``The Jack Ryan Special Edition Collection'' DVD set, so you can make your own comparisons.

A special edition of ``Red October'' has been released separately, including commentary by McTiernan (``Die Hard''), who, as an accomplished action director, mostly sticks to talking about the technical aspects of making the film. It also has a making-of featurette that has interviews with Baldwin and Sean Connery, who plays the defecting Soviet sub commander. Even today, with the Cold War behind us and special effects light-years beyond what they were then, ``Red October'' holds up well, and a lot of that is because of its cast - Baldwin and Connery as well as Scott Glenn, Sam Neill, James Earl Jones, Richard Jordan and Courtney Vance.

``The Jack Ryan Special Edition Collection'' (Paramount) lists for $69.99 for four DVDs.

``The Hunt for Red October (Special Edition)'' (Paramount) lists for $19.99 on DVD.

All not quiet on Western front

What made Jimmy Stewart such a terrific actor was that, as lovable as he could be in ``Harvey'' or ``It's a Wonderful Life,'' he could also be tough as nails in other roles - particularly in an Anthony Mann Western like ``Winchester 73,'' which is out on DVD along with two of their other collaborations - ``The Far Country'' and ``Bend in the River.'' The pair made six films together (not all Westerns), with many considering the 1950 ``Winchester 73'' the best. The reason that Mann's Westerns continue to draw admiration today was that the director added a psychological layer that most oaters of the time avoided. In ``Winchester,'' Stewart plays a man tracking his father's killer, and his inner demons are played out against majestic Western landscapes.

If you want to see Stewart in a likable role, also out today on DVD is George Marshall's 1939 ``Destry Rides Again.'' As non-gun-toting deputy sheriff Tom Destry, Stewart is at his most laconic. While everyone in Bottleneck thinks he's crazy for not carrying a sidearm, Destry in amusing fashion wins the day over the bad guys led by Brian Donlevy and a few hearts, including good bad girl Frenchy, the classic barroom gal played by glamorous Marlene Dietrich. Frenchy sings, too - the rousing ``See What the Boys in the Back Room Will Have.'' (It's a role that Madeline Kahn parodied in Mel Brooks' ``Blazing Saddles.'') Marshall didn't aim very high with ``Destry.'' He just tried to be fun and entertaining, and that he did well.

A different sort of Western came out on DVD last week: Arthur Penn's 1970 ``Little Big Man,'' based on Thomas Berger's novel and starring Dustin Hoffman. It's a rollicking black-humor reworking of American history told by 121-year-old Jack Crabb (Hoffman), who claims to be the only Army survivor of Custer's Last Stand.

The story is told in flashbacks as Crabb recounts to a journalist how his family had been wiped out by Indians on their trek West and that he was adopted by a different tribe and raised to be one of them. Throughout his life, Crabb moves between the two cultures (giving Hoffman a lot of range in his role), never totally accepted by either. Along the way, he gives a revisionist account of the West, much of which is more accepted these days, including the systematic genocide of the American Indian.

(Before anyone writes or calls disputing this, they'd better have reputable historic information to cite and have done some reading. And no, I didn't learn history from Hollywood. By the way, the film includes brutality by the Indians, which is accurate, but that has nothing to do with the continuous policy of driving them off their lands.)

``Little Big Man'' occasionally drifts into the mystic but remains a telling and moving film.

``Winchester 73,'' ``The Far Country,'' ``Bend in the River'' and ``Destry Rides Again'' (Universal) list for $14.98 each on DVD.

``Little Big Man'' (Paramount) lists for $19.99 on DVD.

CAPTION(S):

3 photos

Photo:

(1) LEONARDO DiCAPRIO in ``Catch Me If You Can''

(2) SEAN CONNERY in ``The Hunt for Red October''

(3) JAMES STEWART and MARLENE DIETRICH IN ``Destry Rides Again''