This week’s column takes a look at some excellent Blu-ray versions of films that might be of interest to those currently flocking to see The Hunger Games or the 3-D re-release of James Cameron’s Titanic, plus the latest season of the increasingly interesting Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood, the long forgotten Starman TV series, Adult Swim’s zany Walker, Texas Ranger parody Eagleheart,  a short-lived series that featured Bob Newhart as a comic book creator, and the latest Pokemon movie.

 

 

Several of this week’s releases are of great interest to science fiction fans including Torchwood: Miracle Days (BBC, $49.98, BD $59.99), which contains the fourth season of the Doctor Who spin-off that aired last summer on Starz.  Miracle Day’s clever premise is the sudden advent of immortality on earth—no humans can die--a situation that presents its own set of problems. While the series raises some very interesting questions, it falters a bit at how to develop and extend its basic premise through ten episodes. Still this is TV science fiction with the ability to provide the interesting intellectual perspectives that literary speculative fiction at its best manages to make compelling and relevant.

 

Another series of interest to science fiction fans is Starman: The Complete Series (Sony, 940 min., DVD-R $35.99), which stars Robert Hayes in show based on John Carpenter’s 1984 science fiction classic. The 22-episode Starman TV series aired on ABC in 1986-1987. The TV series supposedly takes place 15 years after the movie and allows the friendly alien to spend time with his teenage son (who was conceived during the Starman movie). 

 

Staying with the science fiction theme—budget-priced editions of two seasons of the 3rd Rock From the Sun sitcom are also due this week. 3rd Rock From the Sun: Season 3 (Mill Creek, 999 min., $9.98) and 3rd Rock From the Sun: Season 4 (Mill Creek, 999 min., $9.98) provide lots of extras as well as 24 episodes each, which makes them a solid bargain for those who enjoy the series.

 

Looking for something different? How about Bob Newhart’s only unsuccessful sitcom? Bob: The Complete Series (Paramount, 781 min., $39.98) lasted for just 33 episodes, but this saga of artist whose 1950s comic book series Mad Dog was a victim of that decade’s anti-comic book hysteria, might just have been ahead of its time. Bob is forced to abandon comics and draw greeting cards, but in the 1990s when a giant media conglomerate decides to make Mad Dog movies, he returns to try to shepherd his creation to the big screen.

 

Those who enjoy Adult Swim will be interested in Eagleheart: Season 1 (Warner Bros., $19.97), the live-action series that stars funnyman Chris Elliott in a bloody and often devastating parody of “take-no-prisoners” cop shows like Walker, Texas Ranger. Warning to the squeamish—this show features lots of over-the-top violence.

 

Also due this week is the new BBC adaptation of Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations (BBC, 180 min., $24.99, BD $29.99), a typically solid adaptation of the timeless Victorian classic that has just started airing on American PBS stations on April 1st.

 

Animated TV on DVD releases include Danny Phantom: Season 2, Part 1 (Shout Factory, 240 min., $19.93), the series created by Butch Hartman for Nickelodeon about a half-human, half-ghost teenager that aired from 2004-2007, and a single-disc collection of the Regular Show: Slack Pack (Warner Bros., 143 min., $14.97), the Cartoon Network series created by J.G. Quintel about a pair of slackers, a 23-year-old Blue Jay and a similarly aged raccoon, who are employed as groundskeepers at a park.

 

Vintage TV series include Benson: The Complete Second Season (Sony, 580 min., DVD-R, $35.99), Designing Women: The Complete 6th Season (Shout Factory, 540 min., $44.99), Roseanne: Season 3 (Mill Creek, 525 min., $9.99), Roseanne: Season 4 (Mill Creek, 525, $9.99), That 70s Show: Season 3 (Mill Creek, 525 min., $9.99), and That 70s Show: Season 4 (Mill Creek, 525 min., $9.99).

 

Mention should be made of The Commander Set 2 (Acorn Media, 411 min., $49.99), the ITV series created by Lynda La Plante (Prime Suspect) that stars Amanda Burton as Commander Clare Blake of the Metropolitan police. This series created more than a little controversy with an episode in which Blake slept with a murder suspect played by Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey) in order to get the goods on him.  Controversy aside, these four feature-length mysteries should appeal to those who enjoy La Plante’s gritty police procedurals.

 

 

With all the current furor over The Hunger Games, it appears that now is the perfect time to check out Battle Royale: The Complete Collection (Anchor Bay, “Not Rated, 368 min., $49.99), the final film of Japanese genre-master Kinji Fukasaku. A far more violent film than The Hunger Games, Battle Royale shares a dystopian view of a bleak future in which a malevolent government sponsors a deadly tournament in which teams of high school students fight to the death on a remote island. The Complete Collection includes a director’s cut as well as the theatrical cut plus the 2003 sequel, Battle Royale II, which was directed by Fukusaku’s son Kenta, who wrote the screenplay for the first film.

 

Another new Blu-ray release of a classic film that is timed to coincide with a major theatrical release is A Night to Remember (Criterion, “Not Rated,” $39.95), a new hi-def version of Roy Ward Baker’s 1958 film about the sinking of the Titanic. Considering its budget, the 1958 film, which uses some of the footage from a wartime German film about the disaster, is amazingly good, and it does an excellent job of detailing the lives of all the people on the giant liner, the crowds in steerage as well as the swells in First Class. This meticulously-produced disc is a huge upgrade over pervious home entertainment versions of this classic film.

 

Chinatown (Paramount, “R,” $26.98) is arguably Roman Polanski’s best film and certainly one of the finest neo-noir films from the second half of the 20th Century. The new hi-def transfer is excellent and shows off John A. Alonzo’s photography to great effect. The period costumes, cars, and the meticulous lawns of the movie’s 1930s one-percenters are visible with a richness and sense of texture never available before on home video.

 

Those who enjoy deadpan British comedy should check out Agent 8 & 3/4 (VCI, “Unrated” BD $24.99), which was released in the U.K. as Hot Enough For June in 1964. This droll tale, which gets much of its humor from the bumbling spymaster Colonel Cunliffe played with great aplomb by Robert Morley, is perhaps not for everyone’s taste, but Dirk Bogarde’s flair for light comedy was rarely displayed to greater effect, and Sylva Koscina made a charming Garbo-like foil. The Blu-ray transfer is excellent throughout, which more than makes up for a lack of extras.

 

Also released at the same time on Blu-ray was another Dirk Bogarde film, Campbell’s Kingdom (VCI, “Not Rated” BD $24.99), a 1957 British film that is sort of a Canadian “western.” Bogarde plays a sickly Brit who inherits some land that is about to be flooded by a hydroelectric project unless he can prove that his grandfather’s contention that there was oil on the land can be proven before the dam is finished. Less violent than American “westerns,” Campbell’s Kingdom nevertheless has its own quiet charms. Unfortunately the film was shot in the inferior Eastmancolor process, though it must be said that the transfer actually looks pretty good, even though purists will notice some pretty heavy-handed use of “digital noise reduction.”

 

Steven Spielberg’s War Horse (Disney, “PG-13,” $29.99, BD $39.99) never lived up to its Oscar expectations, but this beautifully photographed old school epic overcomes its episodic structure and delivers some visuals worthy of John Ford at his best. Those who are interested in this film should definitely opt for the Blu-ray in order to get the most out the film’s visuals. 

 

Just as the War Horse failed to connect with the Oscar crowd, the family saga We Bought a Zoo (Fox, “PG,” $29.98, BD/DVD Combo $39.99) directed by Cameron Crowe also failed to lure its target audience in spite of strong work from Matt Damon, Scarlett Johansson. The screenplay is too calculating by half in its use of cute critters (both two-legged and four-legged), but a lot of kids will like this movie if they get a chance to see it. 

 

April starts off with a bang in this genre with a number of solid releases led by Black Butler II: Complete Collection (Funimation, “17+,” 450 min., BD/DVD Combo $69.98), which includes episodes 1-12 of the second season of the popular anime based on the bestselling manga by Yana Toboso (published here by Yen Press) plus six OVAs. This action-packed dark fantasy is loaded with black humor, and this series, which was produced by A-1 Pictures and aired in 2011 looks and sounds spectacular in the high def format. Also out on Tuesday is Black Butler Season One (Funimation, “14+,” 600 min., BD/DVD Combo $69.98), which had been released on conventional DVD (in two parts for $59.98 each) in 2011. Are Funimation’s BD/DVD Combo packs the wave of the future? Well they do provide solid value.

 

The Pokemon franchise has been performing so well for so long that if often gets overlooked in spite of the fact that it remains one of the very top kids’ game and entertainment franchises. The title of the latest Pokemon movie to be released here on DVD, Pokemon Movie 14: Black-Victini & Reshiram/ White-Victini & Zekrom (Viz Media, “All-Ages,” $19.97) speaks volumes about the complexity of the franchise with its thousands of “Pokemonsters” and impenetrable complexity of regions and plotlines that few people older than 14 can master. Also out this week is Pokemon Diamond and Pearl: Sinnoh League Victors Set 2 (Viz Media, “All-Ages,” $19.97), a single-disc collection of the long-running Pokemon TV anime that remains a key part of the Cartoon Network lineup.

 

Other releases of new material include Okami-san and Her Seven Companions (Funimation, “13+,” 300 min., BD/DVD Combo $69.98), which includes all 12 episodes of the 2010 romantic comedy series that has an inordinate amount of fun parodying fairy tales such as Little Red Riding Hood and The Ant and the Grasshopper. 

 

Also due this week is the second season of the To Love-Ru anime series from Xebec. Motto To Love-Ru (Sentai Filmworks, “14+,” 300 min., $49.98). This sci-fi harem comedy series is based on a manga series illustrated by Kentaro Yabuki, creator of Black Cat, and should appeal to those many North American fans who enjoy the titillating delights of anime harem comedies.

--Tom Flinn

The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.