This week’s home entertainment releases include one of Disney’s 2019 billion dollar megahits, plus the most successful action film of the summer here in North America, a zombie comedy from Jim Jarmusch starring Bill Murray, and the latest season of the CW dark fantasy series Supernatural.

Theatrical Releases

This week’s release of most interest to genre movie fans is John Wick 3: Parabellum (Lionsgate, “R,” 131 min., $29.95 BD $35.99, 4K $39.98).  So far John Wick 3 is the #1 crime/action film of the summer, but old timers, who might expect a tense realistic crime drama/character study like The Asphalt Jungle, will be disappointed.   Directed by ex-stuntman Chuck Strehlski, John Wick 3 is typical of the modern action film with an emphasis on action set pieces that defy logic, but are so kinetic and fast-moving that no one seems to care about plausibility.  With more action and gore than character development John Wick 3 delivers the wall-to-wall action that modern audiences crave, and Keanu Reeves is arguably the perfect cipher-like hero for the John Wick franchise, which has grown steadily in popularity to the point where it has only a few peers (the Mission Impossible films, Fast & Furious) among action film franchises.

Also due on Tuesday is Guy Ritchie’s “live-action” adaptation of Disney’s Aladdin (Disney, “PG,” 128 min., $29.98, BD $35.99, 4K $44.98), which earned $354 million here and over a billion dollars worldwide.  Will Smith gets the unenviable task of replacing Robin Williams, who voiced the genie in the 1992 animated version, and some fans of the cartoon dislike the live-action version, but Ritchie keeps things moving—and, for the most part, the mid-cult Disney version of the classic Arabic folk tale survives the transition to live action.

For those who enjoy indie movies there is The Dead Don’t Die (Universal, “R,” 105 min., $19.98, BD $24.98), a zombie comedy directed by indie legend Jim Jarmusch (Down By Law, Mystery Train) with a first rate cast led by Bill Murray, Adam Driver, Steve Buscemi, Chloe Sevigny, Tilda Swinton, Danny Glover, Rosie Perez, and Selena Gomez.  While there are some laughs here, The Dead Don’t Die isn’t the breakout film that its producers had hoped for—Jarmusch fans will find lots to like, but the (un) deadpan humor of Murray and Driver might be a little too much for most folks.

TV on DVD

This week’s TV releases include the CW Network’s Supernatural: Season 14 (Warner Bros., $28.98, BD $34.98), along with the revived Hawaii Five-O: The Ninth Season (Paramount, 1073 min., $55.98), the David Boreanaz-starring Seal Team: Season 2 (Paramount, 941 min., $55.98), the police procedural , Chicago PD: Season Six (Universal, 1046 min., $44.98), and the contemporary soaper This Is Us: The Complete Third Season (Fox, $44.98).

Now available on Blu-ray is the first 24-episode season of The JetsonsThe Jetsons: The Complete Original Series (Warner Archives, 621 min., BD $29.99), collects the entire original Hanna-Barbera animated series that aired from September of 1962 to March of 1963.

Anime

This week’s new anime releases include the Lord of Vermillion Complete Collection (Funimation, 300 min., DVD/Blu-ray $64.98), which collects the 12-episode 2018 adventure fantasy anime based on the Lord Vermillion video game from Square Enix.

{IMAGE_7}Also due on Tuesday is Infin-T Force Complete Collection (Viz Media, 300 min., BD $44.98), which collect the 12-episode 2017 anime that is essentially a crossover featuring characters from a variety of 1970s Tatsunoko Productions series including Science Ninja Team Gatchaman, Casshan, Hurricane Polymar, and Tekkaman: The Space Knight—and as such is of interest to those who enjoy classic anime.