This week’s home entertainment offerings include a trio disappointing sequels that debuted during the crowded summer movie season of 2016, Independence Day: Resurgence, Alice Through the Looking Glass, and God Is Not Dead 2, plus a slight, but entertaining period comedy from Woody Allen, and a Doctor Who compilation that features one of the most popular monster creations from the revived series.

Theatrical Movies

Independence Day: Resurgence (Fox, “PG-13,” 120 min., $29.98, BD $39.98), one of the many disappointing sequels of the summer of 2016,  earned $103 million, just about one third of what the original Independence Day earned in 1996 ($306 million).   This noisy sequel could manage just a 39% positive rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, and is pretty much for “alien invasion” completists only.

But Disney’s Alice Through the Looking Glass (Disney, "PG," 113 min., $29.98, BD $39.98) disappointed even more at the box office, earning $77 million domestic versus the $334 million earned by Tim Burton’s 2010 Alice in Wonderland.  Burton didn’t direct Through the Looking Glass, and while the film does have visual flair, it doesn’t have much narrative coherence and steers pretty far astray from Lewis Carroll’s stories.  Even though Alice Through the Looking Glass earned nearly $300 million worldwide, its $165 million price tag meant that Disney lost something in the neighborhood of $65 million on the film.

For art film fans there is Woody Allen’s Café Society (Lionsgate, “PG-13,” 96 min., $29.98, BD $39.99), a slight, but charming 1930s story that toggles between New York and Hollywood and features an excellent cast that includes Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Blake Lively, & Parker Posey.  Those who enjoy sophisticated comedy should check this one out—Woody Allen’s films have gotten a lot more watchable since he decided to move behind the camera full time.

One of the trends of the past few years in Hollywood has been the production of modestly-budgeted, religiously-themed films.  God is Dead 2 (Universal, “PG,” 242 min., $19.98, BD $22.98) is the latest, but this sequel, which is about a public high school history teacher who gets in trouble consoling a student in class, is not one of the best, and earned less than a third of what its predecessor did.

TV on DVD

There are a number of offerings of interest to geek viewers this week including Doctor Who: The Weeping Angels (BBC, 255 min., $24.98), which collects six episodes that feature the statue-like, predatory winged humanoids that just might be the best “monsters” created so far in the revived Doctor Who series (your mileage may vary, but that’s this writer’s opinion).

Also of great interest is the Psycho-based Bates Motel: Season 4 (Universal, 439 min., $44.98, BD $49.98); the excellent HBO crime series The Night Of Limited Series (HBO, 350 min., $49.98, BD $59.98), which features a superior cast and rising tide of tension that makes for compelling viewing; the MTV horror series Teen Wolf: Season 5, Part 2 (Fox, $29.98); and the single-episode seasonal release Back to the Future: A Dickens of Christmas (Universal, 24 min., $9.99), which contains the holiday episode from the animated spin-off.

Limited Edition
The parade of “complete series” releases intended for holiday giving continues with what should be one of the most popular releases of the season, Downton Abbey: The Complete Collection (PBS, 3045 min. $129.98, BD $149.98—there’s also a limited edition for $199.99 that comes with a working Downton Abbey pull bell, six coasters, and a costume booklet), plus the BBC’s Nordic detective series starring Kenneth Branagh, Wallander: The Complete Collection (BBC, 1080 min., $99.99), the Jeremy Piven-starring Mr. Selfridge: The Complete Series (PBS, $89.98), and for the kids, Power Rangers Dino Thunder: The Complete Series (Shout Factory, 1140 min., $19.97).

Anime

This week Funimation is releasing the classic late 1990s Sunrise mecha fantasy The Vision of Escaflowne in a new high-def Blu-ray edition.  Although it was never as popular as Gundam in Japan, Escaflowne was a hit here in the U.S. and in other countries around the world.  This week’s releases include The Vision of Escaflowne, Part 1 (Funimation, 325 min., BD/DVD Combo, $54.98), which contains the first 13 episodes of the 26-episode 1996-97 anime series, while The Vision of Escaflowne, Part 2 (Funimation, 325 min., BD/DVD Combo, $54.98) includes episodes 14-26.  The series was such a hit that Sunrise produced Escaflowne: The Movie (Funimation, 99 min., BD/DVD Combo, $34.98) in 2000.  Also available is The Vision of Escaflowne: Complete Series & Movie (Funimation, 749 min, BD/DVD Combo $179.98).

There are several “subtitles only” offerings this week including Cobra: The Animation OVAs & TV (Sentai Filmworks, 505 min., Subtitles Only, $69.98, BD $79.98), which includes the six-episode OVAS produced by Magic Bus in 2008-2009 as well as the 13-episode 2010 series based on Buichi Terasawa’s old school manga space opera that debuted in the mid-1970s.  Also without an English track are the Hello!! Kinmoza: Complete Collection (Sentai Filmworks, 300 min., Subtitles Only, $49.98, BD $59.98), which collects the 12-episode 2013 series from Studio Gokumi that is based on the 4-panel yuri comedy manga by Yui Hara, and My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU Too: Complete Collection (Sentai Filmworks, 325 min., Subtitles Only, $49.98, BD $59.98), which collects the 13-episode 2015 series from Studio Feel that is based on the slice of life romantic comedy light novels by Wataru Watari.