Interview by Peter M. Bracke
July 10, 2001

So, what do you do when your first three pictures gross nearly half a billion dollars at the box office? How about delivering one of the most anticipated sequels of the summer and snagging the plum job of helming the latest installment in one of Hollywood's most successful franchises? Sounds simple, eh?

You could say director Brett Ratner has led a charmed life. One of the many "film school brats" to emerge from NYU film school, Ratner parlayed the acclaim for his short film "Whatever Happened To Mason Reese?" into a string of box office hits rare for such a young filmmaker. Ratner's directorial debut Money Talks was a mere warm-up to his cross-cultural smash Rush Hour, and with this past winter's The Family Man, Ratner proved he was as adroit at drama as action. And with Rush Hour 2 primed to be one of the big hits of the summer, what do you do for a follow-up? How about taking on Hannibal the Cannibal? (Ratner just snagged the coveted assignment of helming Red Dragon, the prequel to The Silence Of Lambs.) A charmed life indeed...

Taking time out from preparations for Red Dragon, Ratner chatted with DVDFILE about The Family Man DVD now out from Universal Studios Home Video, and his love for the DVD format. Ratner was passionate and articulate about everything from deleted scenes to lousy airplane edits to his hatred of pan and scan...

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