This week’s top home entertainment offerings include the excellent science documentary Cosmos, the brilliant pulpy crime drama True Detective, and the wall-to-wall action of the Liam Neeson airplane thriller Non-Stop.
 
TV on DVD
 
It is rare that a documentary series gets top billing from me in this category, but Cosmos: A Space Time Odyssey (Fox, 572 min., $49.98, BD $59.98), Neil Degrasse Tyson’s survey of the current state of astronomical knowledge, is clearly one of the most important TV documentaries of the past 20 years.  A worthy successor to Carl Sagan’s original series, Tyson’s Cosmos, which was financed in part by Family Guy’s Seth MacFarlane, has a specific purpose that its predecessor lacked.  It is a relentless and irrefutable call to action to moderate as much as possible the climate change that humans are bringing about through the massive release of carbon dioxide, largely from the burning fossil fuels.  The levels of carbon dioxide, which allows sunlight to pass through, but traps infrared radiation, can be measured and Earth’s twin planet Venus provides the perfect example of what can happen when heat-trapping gases take over a planet’s atmosphere.  Above all, this series is a hymn to science, that showcases the vast array of knowledge and methods we use to constantly increase the accuracy of our view of a vast and dark universe.  As Tyson puts it “science is a way to keep from fooling ourselves and others,” and never is that discipline more crucial to our survival than right now, when well financed campaigns of disinformation have deluded a large portion of this country’s population into denying the existence of climate change and man’s role in creating it.
 
This week will see the release of several very interesting detective series including True Detective: The Complete First Season (HBO, $69.98, BD $79.98), a gritty police procedural that covers the hunt for a Louisiana serial killer across seventeen years during which the protagonists, two Louisiana State Police detectives played by Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey, age and change both physically and morally.  While this gritty police procedural is not for everyone, it is exceedingly well done.  Director Cary Fukunaga makes great use of the Louisiana locations, and helms some brilliant scenes including a six-minute shot at the end of episode 4 that is must see viewing for anyone who wants to see how to maintain breathless tension without any flashy editing tricks.
 
Not nearly as highbrow, but very entertaining in its own way is Major Crimes: The Complete Second Season (Warner Bros., $59.98).  This TNT series, which is set in L.A., is a spin-off of The Closer.  Major Crimes features a fine ensemble cast in well-written procedurals that also contain a good deal of humor along with the blood and carnage that is de rigueur in contemporary cop shows.   TNT actually does a great job of providing new programming during the time periods when the major networks are stuck in reruns—and Major Crimes is the best of TNT’s increasingly attractive alternatives to over-the-air reruns. If you haven’t seen this series before, take the time to check it out.
 
Another TNT series is due on Tuesday—Rizzoli & Isles: The Complete Fourth Season (Warner Bros., $39.98), which stars Angie Harmon as a Boston police detective and Sasha Alexander as her friend, the medical examiner Dr. Maura Isles.  Like Major Crimes, Rizzoli & Isles, which is based on a series of novels by Teri Gerritsen, features a strong ensemble cast and intriguing cases, many of which are ripped from the headlines.
 
Another cable series of interest due out this week is Ray Donovan: Season 1 (Showtime, 633 min., $55.98, BD $76.99), an intriguing 12-episode serial drama, which stars Liev Schreiber as a “fixer” for a big Los Angeles law firm, who has to deal with his ex-con father as well as an FBI agent who is determined to bring down his firm.
 
For fans of the new Doctor Who series, the BBC is re-releasing the show in cheaper 2-parts-per season sets.  Doctor Who: The Third Series, Part 1 (BBC, 320 min., $19.98) features Matt Smith, the Eleventh Doctor.
 
Animated offerings due this week include Aaahh!!! Real Monsters: Season 4 (Shout Factory, $19.93), which includes the final 13 episodes of the 1990s Nickelodeon series about monsters in training, Transformers: Animated—Season 3 (Shout Factory, $14.97), the Tom & Jerry Spotlight Collection (Warner Bros., 560 min., $26.99), which features lots of classic Tom & Jerry cartoons, and the very similar Bugs Bunny/Looney Tunes Comedy Hour: Double Feature (Warner Bros., 409 min., $26.99).
 
Vintage TV releases include some “Best of” anthologies like The Twilight Zone: Classic TV Beginnings (Image Entertainment, 250 min., $14.98), which includes ten classic episodes, The Dick Van Dyke Show: Classic TV Beginnings (Image Entertainment, 250 min., $14.98), which also features ten popular episodes, and Combat: Classic TV Beginnings (Image Entertainment, 500 min., $14.98).
 
Theatrical Movies
 
This week’s highest-grossing theatrical release is Non-Stop (Universal, “PG-13,” 214 min., $29.98, BD $34.98), a white knuckle thriller starring the unlikely middle-aged action hero Liam Neeson in another strong performance as a U.S. Air Marshall on a transatlantic flight.  Since the success of Taken, Neeson has found a new niche as a middle-aged, everyman action hero, a role he tackles with aplomb once again in Non-Stop.  Though the premise of a threat to kill a passenger on the plane every 20 minutes until $150 million is transferred to an offshore account, stretches credulity, the fine cast that includes Julianne Moore, and Michelle Dockery keeps things believable enough to satisfy action movie fans.
 
Another film that is likely to please at least some genre movie fans is Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (Paramount, “PG-13,” 105 min., $29.98, BD $39.99), which stars Chris Pine (Star Trek) as Tom Clancy’s CIA hero.  The problem here is that this film is a pretty generic spy thriller, though director Kenneth Brannagh, who also acts in the film, does a good job of keeping everything moving—though sometimes things are just a bit too frenetic.
 
This week’s best offering is Alan Partridge (Magnolia, “R” 90 min. $24.98, BD $29.98), a feature-length satirical comedy starring Steve Coogan as Alan Partridge, a radio DJ and one time talk show host, a character originally created by Coogan and Armando Iannucci for the BBC Radio 4 program On the Hour.  Fans of British humor will love this film, though others might find it a bit rarefied.  Coogan knows this character inside and out, and he does an absolutely perfect job of skewering every pompous TV interviewer from Geraldo to Lou Dobbs and Piers Morgan.
 
Anime
 
This week’s top release is the Date A Live Complete Series (Funimation, “14+,” 325 min., BD/DVD Combo $64.98, Ltd. Ed. $69.98), which collects all 12 episodes of the 2013 anime series from AIC Plus that is based on the light novel series by Koshi Tachibana.  In addition the set, which includes an English dub as well as the original Japanese soundtrack with subtitles, includes the OVA “Date to Date.” 
 
Date A Live is a very enjoyable harem comedy with a sort of science fantasy twist.  The hero is teenager Shido Itsuka who discovers that he has the ability to “seal the powers” of Spirit with a kiss.  The “Spirits” are girls, who are the cause of devastating “spacequakes” that occur whenever they manifest themselves.  The comedy in Date A Live comes from the hero’s attempts to gain the trust and affection of the Spirits, who he must make fall in love with him, while at the same time he has to deal with his aggressive Spirit-hating human girlfriend Origami.  A second Date A Live series has been airing in Japan since April and is not included in this collection.
 
Also of great interest is Karneval: The Complete Series (Funimation, “14+,” 325 min., BD/DVD Combo $64.98, Ltd. Ed. $69.98), which includes all 13 episodes of the 2013 anime series from Manglobe based on the josei (“ladies comics”) manga series created by Toya Mikanagi.  This action comedy adventure series is set in a world where a super-powered security forces of entertainers known as “Circus” serve up justice with a side of entertainment as they battle an evil organization known as “Kafka.”
 
Another new release this week is Leviathan: The Last Defense (Sentai Filmworks, “14+,” 325 min., $49.98, BD $59.98), which includes all 13 episodes of the 2013 anime from Gonzo that is based on a Japanese mobile phone game that features anthropomorphized dragons.
 
The Maoyu Complete Collection (Sentai Filmworks, “14+,” 300 min., $49.98, BD $59.98) collects the 2013 anime series produced by Arms that is based on a light novel series by Mamare Touno.  This action romance is set in a world plagued by a war between humans and demons, and involves a secret alliance/romance between the human king and the demon queen who conspire to end the conflict and promote peace and prosperity.
 
Also due this week is the Beyblade: Season 1 Complete Collection (New Video, “10+,” $69.98), which collects the first season of the Saturday morning anime series.
 
Tom Flinn
 
The opinions expressed in this column do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.