The Holocaust drama The Counterfeiters won this year's Oscar for Best Foreign Language film and grossed a healthy $5.3 million during its theatrical run (a great number for a subtitled movie), which explains why it has received such thoughtful treatment for its release on home video (Sony, $29 DVD, $39 Blu-ray).

At the crux of the film, which works as much as a thriller as it does as a historical drama, is the moral quandary faced by Muthausen concentration camp prisoners who enjoyed unusual perks, like comfortable beds and good food, for helping their Nazi captors crank out forged American dollars and British pounds in Germany's attempt to destabilize those countries' respective economies.

The plan failed, in part due to the efforts of people such as Adolf Burger (played in the film by August Diehl), who intentionally fudged the printing process of the bogus money -- and risked the lives of his fellow prisoners in doing so. Burger's memoirs The Devil's Workshop were the inspiration for The Counterfeiters, and the 91-year-old survivor appears on the supplements included in both the DVD and Blu-ray versions of the film.

''We were dead men on a holiday,'' Burger states in one of the interviews on the disc, sharing fascinating details and anecdotes about his experience that make the film's story even more amazing. Other extras include an audio commentary by director Stefan Ruzowitsky, interviews with other cast members and a handful of brief deleted scenes. The Blu-ray disc keeps the film's grainy, gritty look intact, which may disappoint those who enjoy a pristine image, but it mirrors the theatrical presentation.

`WAR GAMES'

As fondly remembered by the '80s generation as Sixteen Candles or The Breakfast Club, the techno-thriller War Games, in which Matthew Broderick and Ally Sheedy nearly launch World War III by playing games on their then-cutting edge home computer, is celebrating its 25th anniversary. Yes, you really are that old.

Distributor MGM has commemorated the event by releasing a straight-to-video sequel, War Games: The Dead Code, that is not worth discussing. But they have also re-released the original film in a special edition (MGM, $15) featuring some outstanding extras. Chief among them is a 45-minute retrospective featurette with all the movie's principal cast and crew in which the film's fascinating history is recounted. Among the anecdotes are the firing of original director Martin Brest a third into the shooting (he went on to make Beverly Hills Cop instead); the decision to rewrite the script to include Sheedy's character in the third act (she originally disappeared halfway through); and how director John Badham tried to lighten the film's tone, which was originally shaping up to be a gloomy, downbeat tale.

Other extras include an unusually informative look at the history of computer hackers (the first is credited to be an 8-year old boy), a featurette on the real-life NORAD facility (the underground military bunker where the nation's nuclear missiles are controlled) and, to counterbalance the seriousness of most of the supplements, a playful exploration of the history of Tic-Tac-Toe. The fresh video transfer makes the film look as good as it did on opening day.

`STAR TREK'

Why do you need yet another pricey reissue of Star Trek's '60s series on DVD after the 2004 restoration -- especially given the cramped packaging of these new sets? The episode guides are on flash cards and the supplemental material is the same.

The selling point of the new Star Trek: The Original Series -- Season Two Remastered Edition (CBS/Paramount; $84.98) is that these episodes have had special effects created for them -- though subtle so as to keep the spirit of the original work intact.

A direct A-B comparison, however, validates the update. The opening credits are much sharper and the 5.1 audio panning effect is comparable to the movies. The starship Enterprise's engines also have detail now. In the episode Catspaw, the Kirk, Spock and McCoy characters are chained in a dungeon, and the setting has a tactile quality when compared with the softer 2004 restoration. You can almost feel the dank rock walls scraping at their backs.

-- HOWARD COHEN

hcohen@MiamiHerald.com

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