The fall DVD season gets off to a quick start this weekend with the release of the #1 movie of the year, Joss Whedon’s The Avengers, the highly-anticipated first part of the 2-film animated adaptation of Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns, and a boatload of "TV on DVD" releases, with quality offerings from both the U.S. and the U.K.

 

 

There appears to be little doubt that Joss Whedon’s The Avengers will be the #1 film of 2012.  Marvel’s The Avengers (Disney, "PG-13," 143 min., $29.99, BD $39.99, 3D BD $49.99) was so dominant in May that it accounted for 52% of all the box office dollars earned in North America during the month.  There has been something of a mini-backlash against Whedon’s movie, which perfectly captured the interpersonal dynamics that were always at the core of the success of this Marvel superhero team from its earliest days in the era of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.  It is easy to forget that Whedon’s film earned a 92% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an "A" CinemaScore from fans who responded to a movie that managed to capture that most elusive of cinematic qualities--it was pretty much fun to watch from beginning to the end.  There is nothing much new in The Avengers basic plot of an alien invasion, but you get the feeling that Whedon and his cast could make the simplest of narratives a joy to watch.  The dark and the dramatic usually win at Oscar time, but The Avengers proved that audiences really respond to buoyant, well-crafted entertainment, which The Avengers most certainly is.  The question is will The Avengers be the number one home entertainment release of 2012?  It certainly has a good chance and Marvel has had success by releasing its movies on disc early in the fall season.

 

 

Frank Miller’s 1980s classic The Dark Knight returns was the bestselling graphic novel in bookstores during the month of August, which testifies to the graphic novel sales-driving power of Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises, but also to the power of Miller’s narrative, which is so respected that it is currently being adapted in a two animated direct-to-DVD features, the first of which, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 1 (Warner Bros., "PG-13," 76 min., $19.98, BD $24.98) is due out on Tuesday.  Adapting the graphic novel in two parts allows the filmmakers to include far more of the original narrative, and the PG-13 rating permits the filmmakers to maintain the "adult" tone that helped make The Dark Knight Returns so distinctive when it debuted in the mid-1980s.  

 

Part 1 works pretty well on its own as it covers the first part of Miller’s saga in which an aging Batman is gradually forced out of retirement after a gang known as The Mutants attempts to gain control of Gotham.  Not all the elements of Miller’s graphic novel work in this animated version, the news bulletins, which lent both a design element and a layer of verisimilitude to the graphic novel, are less successful in the cartoon.  Still the action scenes are strong and very fluidly animated (at least by the standards of this series of DC animated features).  Anyone who has been collecting these DC animated features will certainly have to have this one, and fans of Miller’s graphic novel should check out what appears to be (from the first half), a very solid adaptation.  With the small price differential, it definitely makes sense to get the Blu-ray for the better visual and audio quality.  The extras are all standard stuff, but they aren’t the reason to buy this disc, it’s the film itself that should please both fans of the series of PG-13 DC animated features, those who admire Miller’s graphic novel, and Batman fans in general.

 

 

September is the big month for "TV on DVD" releases and this week is no exception.  Among the major modern TV series due out are C.S.I.: The Complete 12th Season (Paramount, $64.99), C.S.I.: Miami-The Complete 10th Season (Paramount, $64.99), C.S.I.: The Complete C.S.I.: The Complete 8th Season (Paramount, $64.99), Desperate Housewives: The Complete 8th and Final Season (Disney, $45.99), Desperate Housewives: The Complete Collection (Disney, 7700 min., $149.99), Gossip Girl: The Complete 5th Season (Warner Bros., $59.98), Law and Order: Special Victims Unit--The 13th Year (Universal, $32.99), the cutting edge Comedy Central series, Key and Peele: Season 1 (Comedy Central, 176 min., DVD $19.99, BD $29.99) and the hit animated series The Family Guy: Vol.10 (Fox, $39.98).

 

Other animated releases include the first Blu-ray release of the solid new G.I. Joe: Renegades Season 1 (Shout Factory, 570 min., BD $49.97).  This 26-episode 2011 series about a group of young "Joes" who are forced to go underground when a mission goes terribly wrong aired on Hasbro’s The Hub network.  The series inspired comics from IDW and a line of toys from Hasbro. 

 

Also due this week is The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes Vol. 5 (Disney, 286 min., $26.99), a two-disc set that collects 13 episodes of the series that debuted on Disney XD.  The 52-episode series started with a team based on the original Avengers and really reflects the narratives and tone of the Lee and Kirby era at Marvel, though it has utilized story lines from more recent Avengers comics.  It certainly no coincidence that this disc is due out on the same day that Joss Whedon’s The Avenger hits DVD.

 

Other key animated releases include CatDog: Season 2, Part 2 (Shout! Factory, 240 min., $19.93), the bizarre and humorous series created by Peter Hannan for Nickelodeon. 

 

Geekcentric releases include the hilarious hipster satire Portlandia: Season 2 (VSC, 220 min, DVD $19.98, BD $24.95), not for everyone, but anyone who lives in a college town or a "progressive" city will get the humor offered here by SNL’s Fred Armisen and Wild Flag’s Carrie Brownstein.  And then there’s Elvira’s Movie Madness: Bloody Madness (eOne, 335 min., $19.98), a collection of four blood-soaked B movies interspersed by Elvira’s snarky commentary.  Even better is Rescue Me: The Complete Series (Sony, $95.99), which includes all 93 episodes of the series that starred Dennis Leary and followed the lives of a group of New York Firefighters.

 

Vintage TV series include the mammoth 27-disc Charlie’s Angels: The Complete Series (Sony, 5000 min., $65.99), the Prohibition-era crime series from 1959 that actually predated The Untouchables, the unjustly forgotten, The Lawless Years (Timeless Media, 1410 min., $49.97), the inspirational series Touched By An Angel: The Complete 6th Season (Paramount, $54.99), and Van Dyke & Company: The Complete Series (MPI, 630 min., $29.98), which collects the short-lived 1970s variety show hosted by Dick Van Dyke.

 

There are a number of excellent releases from the U.K. due on Tuesday led by New Tricks: Season 8 (Acorn Media, 514 min., $39.99).  New Tricks is Britain’s highest rated TV drama and it is easy to see why.  This series, which airs on select PBS stations in the U.S., features a trio of retired detectives who solve cold case mysteries under the tutelage of a tough, no-nonsense female detective played with considerable verve by Amanda Redman.  All the principal actors rise well above stereotypes, creating believable, often moving portrayals and unlike many dreary police procedurals, New Tricks includes plenty of humor and character-driven scenes to balance the deftly plotted mysteries.  In Season 8 the UCOS team worries about being eliminated in budget cuts that have been ordered for the Metropolitan police.

 

The long-running Midsomer Murders that stars John Nettles as DCI Tom Barnaby is perhaps even more successful  than New Tricks at mixing humor and homicide.  Midsomer Murders: Mayhem & Mystery Files (Acorn Media, 1500 min., $149.99) contains 15 feature-length murder mysteries set in the picturesque English countryside in the fictional county of Midsomer.  These mysteries have all been released in previous Midsomer releases, but they are available here in a convenient box set.

 

Another series of interest is Special Branch: Set 1-Season 3 (Acorn Media, 662 min, $59.99).  This groundbreaking British spy-drama was produced in 1973 and starred George Sewell as Chief Inspector Alan Carven of the anti-espionage and anti-terrorist Special Branch department of the London Metropolitan Police. Surprisingly for a show from the 70s, Special Branch contains some strong language, and the location work that was originally shot on 16mm film doesn’t provide the kind of resolution that we are used to in this high-def age, but this was a key series in the development of police procedurals in the U.K and well worth checking out.

 

 

It’s a pretty big week for anime releases including a number of Blu-ray releases including Steins;Gate Part 1 (Funimation, "14+," 300 min.,BD/Combo $69.98), which contains the first 12 episodes of the 2011 series produced by White Fox and based on the visual novel developed by 5pb and Nitroplus that explores the narrative potential of the science adventure game. 

 

Also out this week are Blu-ray editions of Shakugan no Shana Season 2 Part 1 (Funimation, "14+," 300 min. BD Combo $69.98) and Shakugan no Shana Season 2 Part 2 (Funimation, "14+," 300 min., BD Combo $69.98), which together collect the 24-episode second season of the 2005-2006 anime series from J.C. Staff that was previously released on conventional DVD by Geneon.

 

New on disc this week is Croisee in a Foreign Labyrinth (Sentai Filmworks, "13+," 300 min., DVD $49.98), which contains episodes 1-12 plus a CD soundtrack (from ko-ko-ya) of the 2011 anime series produced by Satelight and based on the manga series by Hinata Taneda about a Japanese girl who finds herself in late 19th Century Paris.  Another new series is Hakuoki Season 1 (Sentai Filmworks, "14+," DVD $59.98), a 12-episode 2010 anime produced by Studio Deen and based on historical samurai video game created by Idea Factory for the PlayStation 2.

 

Mention should be made of the One Piece Collection 8 Uncut (Funimation, "14+," 650 min., $34.98), which includes episodes 183-205 of what is one of the most popular anime series ever.  This rollicking pirate saga is loads of fun and these "Uncut Collections" are the most economical way to acquire it, though it does involve a bit of a wait.

--Tom Flinn

The opinions expressed in this column do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.