While there are no major theatrical films coming out on DVD this week, there are a number of interesting genre titles including The Mechanic, Red White & Blue, a Blu-ray of Dario Argento’s masterpiece, another season of TV’s top science fiction series ever, three classic Sophia Loren/Marcelo Mastroianni films debuting on Blu-ray along with a couple of eye-popping IMAX documentaries and a classic from Thor director Kenneth Branagh.

 

 

With no big releases this week it’s the “B” films and the indies that provide the interest. The Mechanic (Sony, “R,” $28.95, BD $34.95) is a remake of an underrated 1972 Charles Bronson genre classic. Jason Statham stars in the remake and handles the role with aplomb, but the new film, which features Ben Foster as Statham’s apprentice, actually manages to have less character development than the original, which is totally surprising given that Jan Michael (Splinters) Vincent played the Foster role in the 1972 film. Still the 2011 film has more action sequences and should please fans of “balls-to-the-walls” action flicks.

 

More compelling, but also much more grueling to watch, is the indie thriller Red White & Blue (MPI, Unrated, $24.98), a strictly adults-only film that starts out as a well-observed contemporary character study that devolves into a grisly revenge thriller with horror movie overtones. Shot by a British director in Austin, Texas, Red White & Blue is the kind of cutting-edge indie film that can be as hard to watch as it is challenging.

 

A better, though equally grisly movie is Dario Argento’s Deep Red (Blue Underground, Not Rated, BD $29.98), which stars David Hemmings (Blow-Up) and is presented here in the cut prepared by Argento himself for its  1970s American release. Argento is the horror film’s master of excess, and in no film does his swirling, tour-de-force camerawork produce more of an effect than in this definitive psycho-killer saga.

 

Speaking of horror, there is The Rite (Warner Bros., “PG-13,” $28.98, BD $35.99) one film that only exorcism junkies should bother to watch. Anthony Hopkins hams it up aplenty, but it’s not enough to make this plodding mess of a movie interesting to any but the satanically-obsessed.

 

The Rite’s only function this week is to make The Roommate (Sony, “PG-13,” $28.95, BD $34.95) look like a semi-decent movie. The Roommate treads familiar ground—Barbet Schroeder’s 1992 film Single White Female did it all much better—but if you can get past the absurdly luxurious dorm rooms at the unnamed Los Angeles college, the trendy “Gap commercial” costuming, and the 30-something actors all playing 19, there are some effective, though predictable shocks to be had here.

 

 

Once again the best offering this week is the new Blu-ray edition of a season of the original Twilight Zone series. This week it’s The Twilight Zone: Season 4 (Image Entertainment, 935 min., $99.98). Even though Season 4 was one of the series’ weakest, because the show, which had been cancelled, was brought back as a mid-season replacement and expanded to an hour for its 18 episodes, it still has some wonderful offerings including “On Thursday We Leave for Home.” Even when it wasn’t at its best, The Twilight Zone was light years ahead of other science fiction TV shows.

 

New U.S. releases include Covert Affairs Season 1 (Universal, 494 min., $59.98), the first 11-episode season of the stylish spy drama starring the gorgeous Piper Perabo and Christopher Gorham that airs on the USA network. Also out this week are The Wild Thornberry’s Season 1 (Shout Factory, 440 min., $29.93), which collects the first 20 episodes of the animated kids’ series that aired on Nickelodeon from 1998-2004, and Challenge of the GoBots: The Original Mini-Series (Warner Bros., 120 min., $14.93), which collects the five-part animated miniseries produced by Hanna-Barbera in 1984 and based on the Gobots toyline from Tonka.

 

The best (non-Twilight Zone) continuing release due this week is The Bionic Woman: Season 2 (Universal, 800 min., $39.98), which includes 24 episodes of the classic series starring Lindsay Wagner including two crossover episodes with The Six Million Dollar Man. Other continuing releases include the politically-tinged sitcom All in the Family: The Complete 9th Season (Shout Factory, 675 min., $29.93), the high-tension Canadian-produced police series Flashpoint: The Third Season (Paramount, 673 min., $42.99) that airs on CBS, the clever doctor show Royal Pains: Season 2 (Universal, 726 min., $39.98) that airs on USA, the classic 90-minute western The Virginian: The Complete 4th Season (Timeless, 2250 min., $79.98), and Wagon Train: The Complete Third Season (Timeless, 1900 min., $79.98), which stars Ward Bond in a series inspired by John Ford’s Wagonmaster.

 

As usual the U.K. offerings are quite interesting. The Feathered Serpent: The Complete Series (Acorn Media, 300 min., $39.99), should be of considerable interest to Doctor Who fans since it stars Patrick Troughton, the second incarnation of the Gallifreyan good guy, in the juicy role of Nasca, a scheming fanatical Aztec priest. The cheese factor in this 12-episode 1976 series is high—check out the overweight decidedly non-Aztec-looking guards or the flimsy costumes (my personal favorite is Tozo’s little halter top)—and John Kane’s saga has little or no relation to what we actually know about the history of the Aztecs and Toltecs, but The Feathered Serpent is oddly compelling in spite of the all the aforementioned flaws, the chintzy sets, and the flat videotape lighting that is all too typical of mid-70s TV productions on both sides of the Atlantic.

 

South Riding (BBC, 240 min., $24.98) is 3-part miniseries that aired on the BBC in 2011. Based on the 1936 novel by Winifred Holtby, this adaptation by Andrew Davies is a brilliant period drama set in the aftermath of World War I in a rural area of England that is on the cusp of serious change.

 

 

 

In a very light week the only new (to the U.S.) release is Allison & Lillia Generation 1 (Sentai Filmworks, “13+,” 325 min., $49.98), which includes the first 13 episodes of the 26-episode anime produced by Madhouse and based on the light novel series Allison and Lillia and Treize by Keiichi Sigsawa. Set in a world with one continent that is split right down the middle by a towering mountain range, Allison & Lillia blends adventure and romance. Two warring cultures develop on either side of the mountain. The first 13 episodes of the anime are basically the story of Allison, a young blonde pilot who flies biplanes for Roxche Air Force. The second half of the series takes place 15 years later and focuses on Lillia, the daughter of Allison and Will, the protagonists of the first 13 episodes.

 

Also out this week is a Blu-ray version of Baccano! (Aniplex USA, “16+,” 405 min., $69.98), a complex and fascinating 16-episode series that was previously released on conventional DVD by Funimation. Set largely in a fictional U.S. during Prohibition, Baccano! looks fantastic on Blu-ray and is the kind of innovative anime series that rewards sophisticated viewers.

 

 

Kino/Lorber has made a trio of 1960s films by director Vittorio De Sica that star Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni available on Blu-ray. Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow (Kino, Not Rated, $39.95) and Marriage Italian-Style are superior films from the 1960s, which must be seen as a golden age of Italian cinema. Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow is one of the few anthology style films that really works. It gives Sophia and Marcello a chance to display their acting chop as they take on a range of characters in these highly satisfying humorous cinematic vignettes. The Blu-ray transfers are nice and sharp, but the grain has not been processed out, which is a good thing—these are movies that look like movies. Don’t miss the special documentary feature on the career of Vittorio De Sica, one of the great filmmakers of the 20th Century.

 

While not quite as funny, Marriage Italian-Style (Kino, Not Rated, $39.95) is the kind of humanistic comic film that De Sica does really well. Loren and Mastrioanni really shine in tailor-made roles that show off their screen charisma to great effect.

 

Sunflower (Kino, Not Rated, BD $29.95) is based on screenplay by Cesare Zavattini, who wrote de Sica’s neo-realist masterpiece The Bicycle Thief. Loren and Mastroianni play a couple who get married during World War II largely to get an extended leave from the Italian army. Their courtship and honeymoon are by far the best part of the movie. After a clumsy attempt to get Mastroianni declared insane, he is sent to the Russian front and doesn’t return after the war is over. Loren doesn’t give up hope and eventually travels to Russia, but the war triumphs over human emotions in this bittersweet film that includes some of the worst battle scenes in movie history. In spite of a soaring Henry Mancini score, Sunflower is certainly the least of these three films, though it is worth seeing for its early scenes.

 

Lars and the Real Girl (MGM, “PG-13,” $19.98) is a surprisingly effective film about a lonely misfit played by Ryan Gosling who lives in his brother’s garage and develops a romantic relationship with a sex doll. Written by Nancy Oliver and directed by Craig Gillespie (Mr. Woodcock), Lars and the Real Girl earned an Academy Award nomination for both Ryan Gosling and screenwriter Nancy Oliver. While the Blu-ray transfer isn’t stellar, the film does look good and it does come with some interesting extras including a deleted scene and a 10-minute interview with director Gillespie and screenwriter Oliver.

 

With director Kenneth Branagh scoring a major hit with Thor, it’s a good time to check out the Blu-ray edition of his 1993 adaptation of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing (MGM, “PG-13,” $19.98). Branagh’s mix of stage-trained British Shakespearean veterans with American movie stars like Michael Keaton (Dogberry) and Denzel Washington (Don Pedro) is not without its problems (Keanu Reeves), but this is ultimately a very satisfying Shakespearean adaptation done with a light and knowing touch.

 

 

Of all the formats that show off the capabilities of Blu-ray discs, films made for IMAX presentations could be the best. This is especially true of nature documentaries shot in high definition like The Greatest Places (Inception Media, Not Rated, $19.98), a spectacular survey of some of the most interesting places on the planet. Narrated by Avery Brooks, The Greatest Places takes the viewer to Madagascar, Greenland, the Amazon, the Namibian desert. Iguazu Falls, the Okavango Delta, and the Tibetan plateau. This spectacular 40-minute documentary is a great film to share with kids or friends and the perfect way to show off the capabilities of Blu-ray and hi-def TVs.

 

Given that “Shark Week” is one of the highest rated events on cable, the other new IMAX film Search for the Great Sharks (Inception Media, Not Rated, 46 min., $19.98) should do extremely well. Once again the photography, both above and under the water is simply superb as a team of experts examines some of the 30 varieties of sharks that actually pose a threat to humans along with some others like the massive whale shark that do not.