A prep course for the month-long World Cup soccer tournament, a worldwide pheno

olland : Ole ole . RICHARD CROMELIN Collective Soul , `` Hints , Allegations and

 Things Left Unsaid '' ( Atlantic ) ( 3 stars ) . Melding retro-leaning tunefuln

ess with an alternative , Southern-fried edge , this Georgia quintet has forged 

an uplifting , infectious amalgamation . The hit single is `` Shine , '' a warm 

, bluesy romp with an irresistible chorus . This diverse debut may be too predic

table for musical pundits , but it 's still an ardent effort . KATHERINE TURMAN

 WASHINGTON Most of the 50,000 federal workers who take buyouts this fall will b

e 50 and 60 year olds with 20 to 40 years service that will make them eligible f

or regular or early retirement plus the $ 25,000 payment . Regular retirees ( an

yone age 55 with 30 years ' service , age 60 with 20 years ' or age 62 with 5 ye

ars ) will get immediate , unreduced pensions based on salary and service time .

 Someone retiring with 30 years service gets a pension equal to about 56 percent

 of final pay . A retiree with 41 years gets a pension equal to 80 percent of sa

lary . Benefits are indexed to inflation . Early retirees ( anyone 50 years old 

with 20 years service or an employee at any age with 25 years ' service ) take a

 2 percent pension reduction for each year they are under age 55 . Many , if not

 most , of the workers taking buyouts also will have money in the tax-deferred t

hrift savings plan . A lot of these workers are under the impression they must g

et out of the federal 401 ( k ) plan when they leave government , but retirees c

an leave money in the TSP for many years in some instances . Once retired , they

 cannot contribute . Some workers will need their TSP money immediately to suppo

rt themselves . Others may wish to purchase an annuity with it , or roll it over

 into an individual retirement account to continue sheltering it from taxes . Mi

chael J. Sullivan , author of the new `` Your Thrift Savings Plan '' ( 703-648-9

551 ) says those offered buyouts are in the same situation as workers being laid

 off ( those who lose jobs as part of the Reductions In Force ) when it comes to

 deciding the fate of their federal 401 ( k ) plan . `` If your going to take th

e buyout and actually retire , look at how your TSP account fits into your retir

ement income needs now and in the future .. . take stock of other income you rec

eive when you leave the buyout payment or severance payment , and the lump-sum p

ayment for annual leave . '' People who take the buyout or get RIFfed who move i

nto other jobs will `` probably want to leave the money in the TSP , or transfer

 it to an IRA , '' Sullivan says . Workers also should be aware that `` under no

 circumstances can the buyout payment .. . be rolled over into your TSP account 

or into an IRA . ''

 The script for the film version of `` Mission : Impossible '' may be turning ou

t to be just that . The Paramount Pictures remake of the '60s and early '70s sec

ret-agent series is finally under way , and will be directed by Brian De Palma a

nd produced by Paula Wagner , partner of the film 's star , Tom Cruise . Willard

 Huyck ( `` American Graffiti , '' `` Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom '' ) 

and his wife , Gloria , are in the midst of a rewrite on their original script ,

 but sources close to the project say there 's a chance that another writer perh

aps Jay Cocks ( who co-wrote `` The Age of Innocence '' ) may be brought in to s

mooth away the current draft 's clumsiness . The problem is not the story line ,

 which , sources say , Wagner and crew are happy with . Rather , it 's the `` ba

d dialogue and scenes that aren't being flushed out . In other words : a bad TV 

script , '' said one project source . The beginning of the movie , which is slat

ed to begin production later this year , supposedly has members of the old `` Mi

ssion : Impossible '' team , including Peter Graves , embarked on a secret gover

nmental assignment , toting Cruise , the team 's youngest operative , along . Al

l are killed except for Cruise . His mission becomes forming a new team to find 

out why his colleagues were assassinated . And there is a love interest for the 

young agent . For those whose memories are rusty : There were several teams on t

he TV series , but the most memorable included Peter Graves as the team leader ,

 James Phelps ; Martin Landau as the disguise expert , Rollin Hand ; Barbara Bai

n as the beautiful seductress and fashion model , Cinnamon Carter ; Greg Morris 

as the electronics expert , Barney Collier , and Peter Lupus as the strongman , 

Willie Armitage . The opening of each episode had Phelps hearing a tape-recorded

 message outlining his next assignment . The tape would self-destruct and Phelps

 would scan his dossiers for the best operatives to handle the assignment . But 

they always ended up being the same agents , except for a few guest operatives .

 Their mission was always thwarting some corrupt power in an obscure country . E

ventually , the show ran out of little countries , so its writers turned the foc

us on cleaning up organized crime back home . The team 's success always hinged 

on split-second timing , sophisticated gadgetry and elaborate plans . While the 

familiar staccato theme written by Lalo Schifrin and Bob Johnson 's voice on the

 tape survived the entire series run from 1966 to 1973 , the cast underwent many

 changes ; Landau and Bain , married in real life , left the show at the end of 

the 1968-69 season . A Paramount spokesman confirmed that the studio had receive

d the Huycks ' first draft , describing it as having a `` lot of theatrical elem

ents '' that advance the TV show 's premise . He said that the filmmakers consid

ered the potential for the script `` excellent , '' and are convinced the outcom

e will be a `` high-octane film . '' As for a reputed meeting between Wagner , C

ocks and De Palma ( his friend of 25 years ) , the Paramount spokesman said that

 the writer is working on another script for Cruise , a love story called `` Nig

ht Magic . '' Any discussion of Cocks ' input on `` Mission : Impossible , '' he

 said , could have been brought up in discussions on the other project . JUDY BR

ENNAN It 's pretty unusual to see even one movie ad that uses a picture of a man

 strategically covering his private parts with a hat an informal poll of film bu

ffs would suggest it 's never happened but this summer there are two . The print

 ad for Universal 's `` The Cowboy Way '' features a picture of Woody Harrelson 

's character in only cowboy boots and a Stetson ( not on his head ) , while an a

d for Goldwyn 's rap music parody `` Fear of a Black Hat '' shows the three memb

ers of a fictitious rap group wearing two hats each , one on their heads and one

 on .. . well , you get the idea . And what 's behind the cover-up ? Pure coinci

dence , apparently . The Harrelson shot is taken from a key scene in the movie ,

 while the `` Fear of a Black Hat '' ad spoofs a Red Hot Chili Peppers album cov

er that shows the Peppers wearing only well-placed socks . A spokesman for Unive

rsal said he didn't know about the similarity until he saw both ads in print jus

t before Memorial Day . `` Initially we were concerned , ( but ) we 're not at a

ll upset , '' he said . `` We looked at it and said , ` This is amusing . '' ' `

` My reaction was I thought it was an interesting coincidence , '' said Richard 

Bornstein , Goldwyn 's vice president of worldwide marketing . `` I actually did

n't notice it until it ran . '' Spokespeople for both companies are quick to poi

nt out that neither company knew about the other 's ad , and there seems to be l

ittle worry that the two movies , both of which opened Friday , will be confused

 by the public . `` I can't believe anybody seeing our ad would think it 's ( an

 ad ) for ` The Cowboy Way , ' ' ' said Bornstein . `` Unless there 's a movie a

bout a cowboy rap group , I think we 're OK . '' ROBERT LEVINE Film producers te

nd to hit pay dirt when transforming classic TV shows into feature films . `` Ma

verick '' and `` The Flintstones '' are now burning up at the box office . And p

roducers are already pinning their hopes on the big-screen `` Mission : Impossib

le '' and `` Green Acres . '' But mining the small screen for features is nothin

g new . The first was `` Dragnet . '' No , not the 1987 Tom Hanks-Dan Aykroyd co

medy . The cop series was actually a 1954 feature film , starring and directed b

y Jack Webb , who played deadpan Sgt. Joe Friday in the original 1952-59 cop ser

ies . Other series similarly spun off movies while the shows were still on the a

ir , among them : `` Our Miss Brooks , '' which went to the big screen in 1956 ,

 its final year on CBS , with series regulars Eve Arden , Gale Gordon and Richar

d Crenna starring . Also in 1956 , Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheels starred in 

a feature version of their long-running ABC series , `` The Lone Ranger . '' Not

 until 1983 did we first see the practice of taking a television series and redo

ing it from scratch , with big budgets , big directors and big stars . That 's w

hen four names of filmdom Joe Dante , George Miller , Steven Spielberg and John 

Landis lent their talents to the 1983 `` Twilight Zone the Movie . '' It feature

d new versions of three classic vignettes from Rod Serling 's 1959-65 CBS anthol

ogy series . Vic Morrow , Scatman Crothers and John Lithgow starred .

 BUFFALO Even before New York Gov. Mario M. Cuomo , D , took the stage here Thur

sday to launch his campaign for a fourth term , one of his top strategists was g

iving party activists a description of the problems ahead for the incumbent . ``

 I didn't know ( until recently ) literally one-tenth of what he had done in New

 York , '' said David Garth , the veteran consultant hired to do Cuomo 's advert

ising this year . `` Nobody really knows his record ... . We really have to find

 out how to get the story across . '' That is a common lament of unpopular incum

bents across the country and one reason Cuomo faces what campaign manager John M

arino predicted would be `` the toughest campaign we 've ever had tougher than '

82 , '' when Cuomo narrowly won the governorship for the first time . Since then

 , Cuomo has dominated the politics of this state , and at times his star shone 

so brightly that he was considered a favorite to become his party 's presidentia

l nominee . But in 1994 , with incumbency often more a burden than a benefit , h

e begins his campaign on the defensive , trying to fight off charges that he has

 overstayed his welcome in the governor 's mansion and has no stronger rationale

 for another four years than , as he said Thursday , `` I 'm ready to finish wha

t I started . '' Cuomo was defensive and defiant in accepting his party 's nomin

ation at a Democratic state convention that concluded Thursday . He claimed he c

ut state income tax rates that had been raised by his Republican predecessors , 

saying , `` We 're the tax cutters , not the Republicans . '' And he taunted the

 GOP by claiming he would fight crime and violent criminals with more intensity 

, despite his long-stated opposition to the death penalty . `` Republicans talk 

tough on crime , but they cannot put their record where their rhetoric is , '' C

uomo said . He called for a ban on assault weapons , a three-strikes-and-you're-

out bill to imprison repeat violent offenders , and called on Republicans to pas

s legislation requiring life without parole for those Cuomo described as `` cold

-blooded killers . '' The governor took credit for much of New York 's growth du

ring his first two terms because of policies he put in place , but he blamed the

 most recent recession , which battered the state 's economy and his political s

tanding , on national trends and Republican policies . `` We were hit from behin

d , '' Cuomo said . `` Not by a New York-bred disaster , but by the heavy weathe

r of a national recession . '' Eight years ago , Cuomo coasted to re-election . 

Four years ago he defeated a weak Republican candidate . This March , in a poll 

taken by the Marist Institute , 36 percent of those surveyed rated his performan

ce favorably , even though 60 percent said he had been a good governor . Last we

ek , New York Republicans endorsed state Sen. George Pataki as their candidate f

or governor and the GOP 's endorsed ticket ( Republicans still must hold a prima

ry in September ) has made some Democrats even more nervous about Cuomo 's chanc

es . The Democrats used their convention to attack the Republican ticket as inse

nsitive , inexperienced and the creation of GOP bosses and spin meisters . Cuomo

 sought to discredit Pataki as the handpicked candidate of U.S. Sen. Alfonse M. 

D' Amato , R , who himself toyed with challenging Cuomo but ducked a direct figh

t . `` I may hit a sour note from time to time , but understand this , '' Cuomo 

said derisively . `` The words and ideas that come out of my mouth are mine , no

 one else 's . I have no boss , and will have no boss , but the people of the st

ate of New York . '' But the campaign here largely will be about Mario Cuomo , n

ot his opponent , and Cuomo 's advisers know it . `` There 's a climate out ther

e that has anti-incumbent overtones , '' said Bill Lynch , who was former New Yo

rk mayor David N . Dinkins ' top political adviser and now advises Cuomo . `` Th

e voters are impatient . We 've got to give them assurances and hope . '' `` Whi

le he has stabilized , we still have a long way to go , '' Marino said of Cuomo 

's standing in the state . `` I have a candidate ( who can ) articulate a clear 

message . We 're going to work damn hard to get that message out . ''

 The boot camp comedy `` Renaissance Man , '' written by a former English teache

r and directed by gush maestro Penny Marshall , is built entirely around one dub

ious notion , that if you can overcome the language problem , you can make Shake

speare exciting , even to people too stupid to get through basic military traini

ng . I don't know who should feel more insulted by the idea , the Army , Shakesp

eare or the audience . You decide . `` Renaissance Man '' stars Danny DeVito as 

an out-of-work Madison Avenue ad executive who takes a temp job teaching languag

e skills to a group of Army recruits so thick-headed they can't understand simpl

e orders screamed into their faces by drill sergeants . On the brink of being wa

shed out of the service , the eight `` Double-D '' ( dog-dumb ) recruits , seven

 men and one woman , are given an opportunity to rescue themselves with a six-we

ek course in remedial thinking , to be taught by reluctant unemployment-line dra

ftee Bill Rago ( DeVito ) . Though Rago has no more interest in teaching the dum

mies than they have in learning , they are stuck with each other , so while they

 're together , Rago tries to pass along some of his love for Shakespeare by hav

ing them act out and analyze `` Hamlet . '' To paraphrase Polonius , there prove

s to be a method to his madness . The students love the story sex ! violence ! i

ncest ! and not only get past the Bard 's Elizabethan English , but begin to ove

rcome some of the fears of education that got them in trouble in the first place

 . It 's `` Dead Poets Society '' for underachievers . First-time screenwriter J

im Burnstein was reportedly inspired to write this story by his own experiences 

teaching Shakespeare to soldiers at an Air National Guard base in Michigan , and

 his obvious passion for the subject is the best thing about his script . The mo

vie lights up every time the students begin dissecting `` Hamlet . '' Even DeVit

o , whose screen persona has been evolving into something resembling a snapping 

turtle , seems moved by the connection Rago is able to make through Shakespeare 

. He is his old self when dealing with the military nonsense outside the classro

om , but when Rago is with his students , DeVito becomes remarkably warm and sym

pathetic . Every other element of the story Rago 's anti-authoritarian run-ins w

ith the gung-ho drill sergeant ( Gregory Hines ) , his insensitivity to his teen

-age daughter at home , his attempts to solve each of the student 's life crises

 is so contrived , the movie just creaks through all the exposition . Burnstein 

lays on secondary issues about the failure of America 's public school system , 

the shifting values of the new co-ed military and the regenerative powers of kno

wledge , but the only genuine question can you make Shakespeare fun ? is pretty 

much answered when the guys in class stop complaining about having to play Gertr

ude and Ophelia . Marshall , whose most recent movies ( `` Awakenings '' and `` 

A League of Their Own '' ) have each given us two acts of story and one of shame

less sentimentality , is given nine golden opportunities to ring us out again , 

and she doesn't waste any of them . If you 're a sucker for her lingering closeu

ps of people bulging with restrained emotions , don't forget the Kleenex . Howev

er , when they hear Rago 's class perform `` Hamlet Rap , '' co-written by Marky

 Mark ( who plays one of the soldiers ) , Shakespeare scholars may be crying for

 a completely different reason . 2 stars .

 The princess , along with the rest of the Sun People , acts as though she hasn'

t been using enough sunscreen . She 's been fried stiff . Her joints have atroph

ied . Her dollish face has hardened into a one-expression-fits-all countenance .

 And when she speaks , her lip-syncing will remind you of a bad kung-fu import .

 The subterranean goblins , on the other hand , appear to have thrived in darkne

ss . They 're witty , colorful , acrobatic and , except for a mean streak and an

 intolerance for music , more fun than the boring Sun People who rule the above-

ground kingdom . This is hardly the first animated feature in which the bad guys

 have upstaged the good . But here , the animators seem to have been working on 

two different films . In fact , separate teams one in Wales and another in Hunga

ry produced the animation for `` The Princess and the Goblin . '' The film is ba

sed on a 19th century Scottish children 's fable . The goblins , banished long a

go to the underground by the Sun People , are plotting a revolt . And since they

 live inside the very mountain on which the royal castle is perched , Princess I

rene makes a convenient kidnap target . Her life in danger , the spirit of her g

reat-great-grandmother appears to Irene , granting her the gift of an inexhausti

ble spool of magic thread . All she has to do is follow the thread in and out of

 danger with her new-found friend , Curdie , a miner 's son . Curdie is the only

 Sun Person who knows how to fight the goblins stomp on their sensitive , mono-t

oed feet , or sing to them . For the most part , `` The Princess and the Goblin 

'' is charmingly innocent and old-fashioned , though a few scattered attempts ha

ve been made to de-sentimentalize it . A preschool- and grade-school-age audienc

e attending a recent screening gave an in-unison endorsement `` G-R-R-R-R-OSS ! 

'' when one goblin picked his nose and another wolfed down a fistful of insects 

. Especially appealing , in their comically repulsive way , are Prince Froglip ,

 who intends to marry the kidnapped Princess Irene so he can rule the kingdom , 

and his mother , the Queen , who 's the only goblin smart enough to protect her 

feet by wearing shoes . The watercolor-style scenery , with its subtle use of mi

sts and cobwebs , works handsomely with goblins in the foreground . But the life

lessly drawn Sun People look out of place against an alive , moving background .

 While kids who watch made-for-TV cartoons may excuse such technical lapses , th

ey may not forgive the relative innocence . `` The Princess and the Goblin '' wi

ll appeal to younger children . Two stars .

 Woody Harrelson is standing on a bed , naked except for the Stetson on his head

 , the warpaint on his face , and the purple bandana diaper-tied around his loin

s . He is also wearing a grin as dumb as a cork and speaking the broken English 

of movie Indians , as he directs a giggly playmate to turn `` Big Chief '' into 

`` Happy Chief '' by beating on his tom-tom . If this isn't one of the most emba

rrassing scenes a major star has been asked to do in a movie , it 's only becaus

e Harrelson is not a major star . Or apt to become one , after answering the cal

l for Gregg Champion 's `` The Cowboy Way . '' Harrelson has other opportunities

 to embarrass himself in this witless action-comedy about a New Mexico rodeo-rid

ing team trying to break up a gang of slave traders in modern New York City , an

d he doesn't let a single one slip by . Reverting to the persona of the affable 

idiot he played on TV 's `` Cheers , '' Harrelson 's Pepper Lewis clops through 

the New York scenes like the Encino Man dressed by Levi Strauss . Co-star Kiefer

 Sutherland comes off marginally better , but only because the contemplative per

sonality of his character , Sonny Gilstrap , was written to contrast with Pepper

 's ill-bred impetuousness . They are the odd couple on the range , a loner and 

a loser united by their passion for and skills at ridin ' , ropin ' and calf-wre

stlin ' . When we meet them , Sonny and Pepper are estranged . The unreliable Pe

pper had failed to show up for a national event whose prize money Sonny was coun

ting on using to buy a ranch . But when their mutual friend Nacho ( Joaquin Mart

inez ) heads east to meet a daughter he paid to have smuggled in from Cuba , Son

ny and Pepper reteam and follow his trail right into a nest of human rattlers in

 midtown Manhattan . Led by a sadist named Stark ( Dylan McDermott ) , the gang 

uses relatives ' money to bring immigrants into the city , then turns them over 

to sweat shop bosses . Using the `` cowboy way , '' which proves to be the same 

as the bull-in-the-china-shop way , Sonny and Pepper set out to rescue Nacho 's 

daughter . But first , the hayseeds have to learn the big city ropes , and go th

rough an array of painfully contrived culture clash scenes . They rankle a snoot