Video Rentals

1 Rules of engagement

$7.76 million 1 week in release $7.76 million to date

PLOT A Marine colonel faces a court-martial when a mission to save an ambassador results in civilian deaths.

MESSAGE A big gray area exists between combat and murder.

CAUTION Rated R for bad language and war violence.

$5.96 million 2 weeks in release $14.05 million to date

PLOT WWII submarine drama about an American crew trying to grab a top-secret coding device from a German U-boat.

MESSAGE War makes ordinary men do amazing things.

CAUTION Rated PG-13 for violence and some bad language.

$5.31 million 1 week in release $5.31 million to date

PLOT The survivors of a crashed spaceship fight nasty aliens on a desolate planet.

MESSAGE If you don't work together, nasty space monsters will kill you.

CAUTION Rated R for violence, gore, bad language.

$5.22 million 1 week in release $5.22 million to date

PLOT A Chinese imperial guard is sent to America to rescue a kidnapped princess.

MESSAGE Heroes hold on to their honor in strange situations.

CAUTION Rated PG-13 for violence and bad language.

$4.44 million 3 weeks in release $19.89 million to date

PLOT Teenager has vision of a plane crash, so he tells his friend not to board a flight. They are saved from disaster, but get wiped out in typical horror- movie fashion.

MESSAGE Fatalism: Even if you miss one tragedy, the next one will get you.

CAUTION Rated R for violence, gore, and bad language.

Can one kid change the world? Warner Brothers' Oscar contender Pay it Forward (rated PG-13 for bad language, drug use, some sexual situations, and brief violence) presents a boy (Haley Joel Osment of Sixth Sense fame) who cooks up a plan as a school project: Do a big favor for someone else, and ask them to help three other people in return. This continues on like a pyramid of goodwill. The kid lives in a disadvantaged part of Las Vegas with a troubled family: an alcoholic mother (Helen Hunt), an abusive, deadbeat father (Jon Bon Jovi), and a homeless grandmother (Angie Dickinson). Kevin Spacey gives a great performance as the teacher with a mysterious past. His campaign results in triumph and tragedy. The often-unpleasant story of his family is more interesting than the pay-it-forward movement, which includes some questionable favors: At one point Grandma helps a thief escape the police. The trouble with Pay It Forward is that it is too intense for children and maybe too melodramatic for adults. It has too many subplots and an unnecessary tearjerker ending. Frank Capra's movies (It's a Wonderful Life, Meet John Doe, Pocketful of Miracles, etc.) did better with the theme of good-hearted people in bad circumstances.