Indiana Jones>

If you're old enough to have seen "Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark" back in 1981, don't tell me you didn't think it was cool when the face of the Nazi villain melted.

It's still pretty cool today, but special effects back then weren't so easy. So, in order to entice you into checking out "Indiana Jones - The Adventure Collection" - the latest collection of the three Indy films - there is an extra called "The Melting Face." The featurette includes a re-creation of the melting effect plus director Steven Spielberg and producer-creator George Lucas talking about the evolution of visual effects and CGI.

Of course, this is all to help get you excited for "Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull," in theaters May 22.

"The Adventure Collection" is hardly the first set of the films. There was one five years ago, and while that one had a good documentary, this new box set has a number of new and interesting extras, including one called "The Women: The American Film Institute Tribute." In it, the three Indy women (Karen Allen, Kate Capshaw and Alison Doody) discuss their roles and compare dealing with vermin.

Some of the extras, though, are just for the fanatics.

Youth Without Youth>

Francis Ford Coppola has shunned filmmaking for a decade, and "Youth Without Youth" is probably not the film that fans of "The Godfather" or "Apocalypse Now" were waiting for.

A personal, almost private film, "Youth" is about an old man (Tim Roth) in 1938 Bucharest who, after being struck by lightning, is hospitalized and appears to be dying. Then he suddenly, inexplicably, grows younger. Time passes, he travels, remembers old loves, finds new ones.

It's hard to encapsule this dreamlike plot, as Coppola meditates about life, consciousness and what is reality. The film reaches beyond its abilities, but Coppola remains a talented filmmaker, and "Youth" does take off in some fascinating directions.

The Great Debaters>

Denzel Washington has made his second (inspirational) film, "The Great Debaters." Like his first, "Antwone Fisher," this one is based on a true story and, like "Fisher" manages to add grit to its subject even if it also adds some Hollywood.

It's the story of the rise of a debate team at an all-black Texas college in 1935, and true to the template seen in other inspirational films, perseverance pays off in the end. Washington plays Melvin B. Tolson, a poet and social activist who coaches the team and drives them with his ferocity.

So, while "The Great Debaters" does smooth some historic edges, it doesn't gloss over the horrid conditions in the Jim Crow South of that era, including a lynching. In fact, the film is a good reminder that no matter how far we think we've come in race relations, it isn't far enough. Give Washington credit not only for bringing this story to the screen, but making it compelling.

Also out>

French director Louis Malle's 1959 "The Lovers" helped spring a young, sensuous Jean Moreau onto the world stage and shocked audiences with its lovemaking scene. (Now we see more skin on some TV shows.) Criterion is releasing a remastered version of the classic film, which includes archival interviews with Malle and Moreau. Also coming out is Malle's 1966 "The Fire Within," a dark portrait of a writer.

Koch Lorber is bringing out two from another French New Wave director, Jean-Luc Godard - cinema's ultimate iconoclast, bomb thrower and mad man. "La Chinoise" and "Le Gai Savoir" are both from 1968 and star Jean-Pierre Léaud. In the first, Léaud plays a student who, after studying Mao, forms a terrorist cell. In the second, he's a militant trying to deconstruct culture and the media. Both films are intensely talky and not the most accessible of Godard films (and that's saying something).

On the other end of the spectrum, I have a soft spot for John Wayne - even in silly stuff like the 1959 "North to Alaska." It's part of the "John Wayne: The Fox Westerns Collection," but the more interesting film of the collection is the 1930 "The Big Trail," directed by Raoul Walsh, who cast The Duke in the starring role based on a recommendation from John Ford. The film was spectacular for its time, but Wayne didn't become a star, doing a lot of B Westerns, until Ford cast him in the 1939 "Stagecoach," creating a legend.

On to another legend: The Frank Sinatra collections from Warner (noted last week) are out on Tuesday. Also coming out is "Sinatra," the TV miniseries, and "Sergeants 3," the first time on DVD for the silly Rat Pack Western.

A killer streaming video of his murders on a Web site is at the heart of "Untraceable," an icky thriller from Gregory Hoblit. Diane Lane plays an FBI agent on the killer's trail, and while she may be worth watching, watching the film with its sick voyeuristic premise makes you feel a bit depraved.

Callie Khouri, who wrote "Thelma & Louise" and wrote and directed "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood," has a sisterhood-in-crime story in "Mad Money." It stars Diane Keaton, Queen Latifah and Katie Holmes as a cash-strapped trio who smuggle disposable money - old bills, actually - out of a Federal Reserve Bank. Don't bank on "Mad Money" for many laughs, but it's amusing to a point, with a likable cast.

If you enjoyed Ian McShane in "Deadwood," check him out out in his more dashing younger days in "Lovejoy - The Complete Season 3." In the British series, which ran 1986-94 and mixed humor with mystery, McShane played a crime-solving antiques dealer with an appetite for women.

Rob Lowman (818) 713-3687; robert.lowman@dailynews.com

out tuesday>

NEW FILMS

"Untraceable" $28.95 and $38.96 for Blu-ray

"The Great Debaters" $29.95 and $32.95 for two-disc set

"Youth Without Youth" $29.95 and $38.96 for Blu-ray

"Mad Money" $29.97

TELEVISION

"Lovejoy - The Complete Season 3" $69.98

"Autism - The Musical" $26.95

"A Raisin in the Sun" $24.94

"Two and a Half Men - The Complete Third Season" $44.98

"Mission Impossible - The Fourth TV Season" $49.99

"Saturday Night Live: The Complete Third Season - Limited Edition Boxed Set" $69.98

"Drawn Together - Uncensored!: Season Three" $26.98

"Stargate Infinity: The Complete Series $34.99

INDY

"Indiana Jones - The Adventure Collection" (Special Editions of "Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark" / "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom"/ "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade") $59.98 (also available individually)

OLDER FILMS

"Fox Western Classics" ("Rawhide"/ "The Gunfighter"/ "Garden of Evil") $19.98

Classic Sci-Fi Ultimate Collection 1 & 2" ("Tarantula"/ "Mole People"/ "Incredible Shrinking Man"/ "Monolith Monsters"/ "Monster on the Campus"/ "Dr. Cyclops"/ "Cult of the Cobra"/ "Land Unknown"/ "Deadly Mantis"/ "Leech Woman") $59.98

"The Westerner" $14.98

"The Day of the Outlaw" $14.98

"Man of the West" $14.98

"The Secret of Santa Vittoria" $14.98

THE DUKE

"John Wayne: The Fox Westerns Collection" ("The Big Trail"/ "North to Alaska"/ "The

Comancheros"/ "The Undefeated") $29.98

"The Big Trail" $19.98

FRENCH DIRECTORS

"La Chinoise" $29.98

"Le Gai Savoir" $26.98

"The Lovers - Criterion Collection" $29.95

"The Fire Within - Criterion Collection" $29.95

OL' BLUE EYES

"Frank Sinatra - The Early Years Collection" ("It Happened in Brooklyn"/ "Step Lively"/ "The Kissing Bandit"/ "Double Dynamite"/ "Higher and Higher") $39.98

"Frank Sinatra - The Golden Years Collection" ("Some Came Running"/ "The Man With the Golden Arm"/ "The Tender Trap"/ "None but the Brave"/ "Marriage on the Rocks") $39.98

"The Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly Collection" ("On the Town"/ "Anchors Aweigh"/ "Take Me Out to the Ball Game") $24.98

"Sergeants 3" $14.98

"Sinatra" $19.98

ON BLU-RAY

"The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" $34.99

"Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" $39.98

"Shinobi - Heart Under Blade" $29.98

FOR KIDS

"Backyardigans: High Flying Adventures" $16.99

"Curious George Takes a Vacation & Discovers New Things" $16.98

OF SPECIAL INTEREST

"Mission to America: Pope Benedict XVI" $19.95