This week’s home entertainment offerings include the long-awaited release of the 1960s live-action Batman TV series on DVD and BD, along with a new edition of the classic Sailor Moon anime, the final seasons geek favorites, True Blood and Star Wars: The Clone Wars, as well as the superior animated sequel How to Train Your Dragon 2, and two very interesting anime movies.
 
TV on DVD
 
The parade of pricy, holiday-targeting gift sets continues unabated led by the DVD and Blu-ray review of the campy 1960s Batman: The Complete Television Series (Warner Bros., 3019 min., $199.70, Ltd. Ed BD $269.97).  For full details on the collector’s limited edition set that comes with a Hot Wheels Batmobile, vintage trading cards and more than 3 hours of extras see “Classic Batman TV Series Gets a Batmobile & Day-Glo Packaging”).  This series was an enormous hit in the 1960s and it still retains much of its charm thanks to the efforts of its cohort of colorful Bat-villains who were portrayed by some of Hollywood’s best actors, who appear to be enjoying themselves way too much.  The first season of the Batman series is also available on its own, Batman: The Television Series—The Complete First Season (Warner Bros., 856 min., $39.98), which includes the first 34 of the series’ 120 episodes.
 
Other “complete sets” with geek appeal include True Blood: The Complete Series (HBO, 3300 min., $249.98, BD $299.98), which collects all 80 episodes of the wonderful dark fantasy series produced and created by Alan Ball and based on The Southern Vampire Mysteries novels by Charlaine Harris.  The series, which features a wonderful performance by Anna Paquin as the telepathic waitress Sookie Stackhouse, ended in August after racking up a number of award including an Emmy, a rarity for a show from the horror/dark fantasy genre.  The great thing about True Blood was the series’ plentiful, offbeat humor, which greatly enlivened its often relevant social and allegorical themes.  The final season of the series is also available on Tuesday for those who have been collecting right along—True Blood: The Complete 7th Season (HBO, $59.99, BD $79.98).
 
Also of interest is the original Linda Hamilton/Ron Perlman Beauty and the Beast: The Complete Series (Paramount, 2654 min., $39.98), now available a lower price along with Charmed: The Complete Series (Paramount, 7664 min., $99.98), the Dick Van Dyke medical mystery series Diagnosis Murder: The Complete Collection (VEI, 8100 min., $154.99), the Michael J. Fox sitcom Family Ties: The Complete Series (Paramount, 4329 min., $89.98), and the classic comedy series Taxi: The Complete Series (Paramount, 2771 min., $79.99)
 
Other complete series due on Tuesday include Highway to Heaven: The Complete Series (Mill Creek, 5250 min., $69.98), the mod detective series Starsky and Hutch: The Complete Series (Mill Creek, 3888 min., $69.98), The Tudors: The Complete Series (Paramount, 2038 min., $55.98), and the sitcom Wings: The Complete Series (Mill Creek, 3888 min., $69.98).
 
Geek viewers will also be very interested in Star Wars: The Clone Wars—The Complete Season Six, The Lost Missions (Disney, 390 min., $39.98, BD $49.98), which includes the final 13 episodes of the popular Star Wars TV series that was abruptly cancelled after Disney bought Lucasfilm and decided to set its new Star Wars productions in another era (see “New Directions for Star Wars Animation”).  It took some time for these episodes to air on TV, so fans may have missed them, which is too bad since Season Six contains some of the best of all the Clone Wars cartoons.
 
Other animated releases of interest include another “Star Wars” offering, Phineas and Ferb: Star Wars (Disney, 150 min., $19.99), along with Robot and Monster: The Complete Series (Nickelodeon, 598 min., $19.98), which should be of interest to humor-inclined “organics,” and Hey Arnold: The Complete Series (Shout Factory, $39.99).
 
Lovers of classic pop culture might also be interested in the latest high definition Blu-ray release of the classic British adventure series The Avengers: Season 5 (A&E, 1327 min., $29.99), which features Diana Rigg (in her last season on the show) and Patrick Macnee.
 
Anime
 
This week’s biggest release is a classic, Sailor Moon: Season 1, Part 1 (Viz Media, 510 min., $44.82, BD $79.98), which includes the first 23 episodes of the 46-episode Pretty Solider Sailor Moon anime created by Toei that aired in Japan in 1992 and 1993.  This series suffered from heavy censorship when it was “localized” by DIC for broadcast in the U.S.  The original Japanese version, which is available once again in the new Viz Media edition that has been streaming on Hulu and Neon Alley since September.  Videophiles have raised objections to the new Viz high-def transfer, saying that detail is lost in favor of creating a sharp glossy HD-looking image, but most folks will like the bright look of the new edition.  The original Japanese versions were previously released here by ADV, but those sets are long out of print, so it’s great to see this classic “magical girl” series available once again.
 
The top contemporary anime TV release is High School DxD New: Complete Collection (Funimation, 321 min., BD/DVD Combo $64.98, Limited Edition $69.98), which collects the 12-episode second season of the anime produced in 2013 by TNK and based on the fantasy/action harem comedy light novel series by Ichiei Ishibumi.  Season Two, which will appeal to fans of this sexy, action-packed comedy with a pervert-turned-devil protagonist, adapts volumes 3 & 4 of the light novel series.
 
It’s a good week for harem comedies thanks to the North American debut of a second entry in the genre, My Mental Choices Are Completely Interfering With My School Romantic Comedy: Complete Collection (Sentai Filmworks, 220 min., $49.98, BD $59.98), which collects the 10-episode 2013 anime produced by Diomedea and based on a series of light novels by Takeru Kasukabe with such a long title that they are referred to in Japan by the acronym “Noucome.”
 
Sentai is also releasing a Blu-ray edition of Stella Women’s Academy: Complete Collection (Sentai Filmworks, 325 min.,BD $59.98), which was released on DVD in September (see “DVD Round-Up: Draft Day, Night Moves, 14 Blades”). 
 
Also due this week is Patema Inverted (Cinedigm, 99 min., $29.95, BD $34.95), a delightful 2013 anime fantasy film by Yasuhiro Yoshiura, about a princess from an underground realm, who finds everything upside down when she lands in the surface world.  This is very much a Ghibli-type production, and should appeal to those who are experiencing “Miyazaki withdrawal.”
 
Another interesting anime film is making its U.S. DVD and BD debut this week, Welcome to the Space Show (Cinedigm, 136 min., $19.97, BD $29.95), 2010 anime film directed by Koji Masunari and produced by A-1 Pictures that follows the adventures of five school kids who rescue a “dog,” and then follow their new “pet” across the galaxy to his homeworld.
 
Theatrical Movies
 
This week’s highest-grossing release is How to Train Your Dragon 2 (Fox, 102 min., $29.98, BD $38.98), a superior sequel, which unfortunately did not do quite as well as expected at the summer box office.  Once again the aerial scenes are breathtaking, but this sequel earned a sterling 92% positive rating, thanks to the inclusion of plenty of humorous and emotional elements that expand the original saga rather than just reprising it.
 
Two “comedies” due on Tuesday both earned around $80 million domestically, but they could hardly be more different.  Let’s Be Cops (Fox, “R,” 105 min., $29.98, $39.98), which stars Damon Wayans, Jr. and Jake Johnson as friends, who go to a costume party dressed as cops and get much more than they bargained for when they take their masquerade public.  Let’s Be Cops is a “concept” comedy brought to life by its stars, who manage to make the ridiculous silly plot occasionally hilarious, which is not all that easy a thing to do—whether it was really worth doing in this case depends on your perspective—if you don’t take life too seriously, there’s some raunchy humor here.
 
While Let’s Be Cops is very much in the tradition of “R” rated summer cop movie parodies, Tammy (Warner Bros., “R,” $28.98, BD $35.99), a low-budget “dramedy” that has some “raunch,” but not necessarily the non-stop jokes and double entendre lines that are staples of the summer “R” rated genre.  Melissa McCarthy had a hand in writing and producing Tammy, so this is very much a personal project, but viewers beware, if you don’t respond favorably to Melissa McCarthy’s full-bore style of performance, you probably shouldn’t bother with this one.
 
The main option for art movie lovers this week is Michel Gondry’s Mood Indigo (Cinedigm, “Not Rated,” 131 min., $24.98, BD $29.98), an adaptation of Boris Vian’s 1947 novel Froth on the Daydream.  Mood Indigo, which was titled L’Ecume des Jours in France, was released here in the States in a 94-minute version, which still managed to score a 60% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but the DVD includes the original 131-minute version that was shown in Europe.  The actual look of the film transitions from brightly colored in its carefree opening scenes to a monochromatic tonality as the mood of the film shifts from whimsical to tragic.
 
--Tom Flinn
 
The opinions expressed in this column do not necessarily reflect those of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.