A newly re-mastered collection of the classic 1980s ThunderCats cartoons, a stop-motion Star Wars parody, and some very interesting theatrical releases including the quirky animated feature Rango, and two excellent genre films, the legal thriller The Lincoln Lawyer and the very scary haunted house horror film Insidious all headline this week’s home entertainment releases.

 

 

There are some very interesting “TV on DVD” releases this week including ThunderCats Season 1, Part 1, 300 min., $19.98), a moderately-priced two-disc, 12-episode collection of the original1980s Saturday morning cartoon about a group of heroic feline warriors, who survived the destruction of their peace-loving world of Thundera and who do battle against all sorts of evil mutants intent on destroying them. This cartoon series, which was animated in Japan for Rankin/Bass, was very popular here. It spawned a series of comics from Marvel, and numerous toys. A new ThunderCats series produced by anime powerhouse Studio 4C debuts on the Cartoon Network later this month (see “New ThunderCats Cartoon Bows on July 29th”), which should stir up more interest in this release. It’s been six years since the ThunderCats have been released on DVD, so there should be renewed interest in the product especially since these original episodes have been re-mastered for DVD, and represent a significant upgrade over the previous 2005 release, which was closer to videotape in quality than DVD.

 

Also of interest is Robot Chicken: Star Wars III (Cartoon Network, 60 min., $14.98, BD $19.98), an hour-long, stop-motion animated send-up of the Star Wars universe, which concentrates on four very different characters, Emperor Palpatine, Darth Vader, Boba Fett, and Gary the Stormtrooper. Extras on the Blu-ray disc include an interview with George Lucas and mini-features on the show’s voice recording, a making-of documentary, and a look at the show’s Skywalker Ranch Premiere Trip.

 

The only other animated releases are Ghostbusters: So Much Fun Its Spooky (Vivendi, 90 min., $6.95), a single-disc, collection of four-episodes of the 1986 Ghostbusters cartoon series, Sabrina and the Groove Goolies (Vivendi, 112 min., $6.95), a collection of five episodes of the 1970s Archie Comics-based animated series, and The Saturday Superstar Movie: The Mad, Mad, Mad Monsters (Vivendi, 86 min., $6.95), from the short-lived ABC Saturday morning animated series from 1972, which featured the same cast of animated movie monsters as the Rankin/Bass animated Mad Monster Party movie from 1967.

 

Ongoing series out this week include Damages: The Complete 3rd Season (Sony, 550 min., $39.95), which collects the 13 third season episodes of the FX legal drama starring Glen Close, Entourage: The Complete 7th Season (HBO, 450 min., $39.98, BD $49.99), the popular behind-the-scenes Hollywood drama, and ER: The Complete 15th and Final Season (Warner Bros. 950 min., $49.98), which includes all 22 final season episodes of the popular NBC medical drama.

 

There are a lot of U.K. releases this week including two vintage Doctor Who releases, Doctor Who—Story #025: The Gunfighters (BBC, 95 min., $24.98), a four-episode B&W saga featuring the first Doctor (William Hartnell) that is set in the American West in the days leading up to the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1881), and Doctor Who—Story #132: The Awakening (BBC, 50 min., $14.98), a two-parter that was broadcast in 1984 and featured the Fifth Doctor (Peter Davison) in a saga that takes him back to the English Civil War and the village of Little Hodcombe, where the villagers have been influenced by a demonic entity known as “The Malus.”

 

Other U.K. releases include the excellent spy series MI-5: Volume 9 (BBC, 400 min., $39.98) and the long-running, slice-of-life sitcom Last of the Summer Wine: Vintage 1990 (BBC, 330, min., $34.98), which includes 11 episodes of the charming series.

 

But the best of this week’s releases from across the pond is the Poirot Movie Collection 6 (Acorn Media, 267 minutes, $49.99, BD $59.99), which includes three recently-made feature-length films starring David Suchet as Agatha Christie’s endearingly fastidious sleuth Hercule Poirot in superbly-produced adaptations that are clearly the best Poirot adventures ever produced in any medium (outside of Dame Agatha’s books). The photography and the peerless production values in this series make spending the extra ten bucks for the Blu-ray a no-brainer for anyone with hi-def equipment, especially since all three films were made in the past two years and originally shot in high definition. In this set Three Act Tragedy in which Poirot teams up with the retired actor Sir Charles Cartwright (played brilliantly by Martin Shaw) and The Clocks which is set on the eve of World War II and stars Anna Massey are particularly good, but then so is Halloween Party, which was broadcast in England in 2010.

 

 

The bestselling DVD release of the week will undoubtedly be Rango (Paramount, “PG,” $29.99, BD/Combo $44.99), an animated western starring a chameleon with identity issues voiced by Johnny Depp that earned $242.6 million worldwide and managed an 88% positive rating from review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. Rango was directed by Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Caribbean) and represents Paramount’s attempt to find a new source of animated material to replace the Dreamworks Animation titles that Paramount was distributing but won’t be in the future. Rango was the first animated feature produced by Industrial Light and Magic and the result is a technically advanced film with a plot that is far more complex and bizarre than the usual animated feature (it’s a virtually an animated Chinatown), and is clearly aimed at adults as well as kids with a weird and occasionally wonderful hipster vibe.

 

Another film that did well with the critics (83% positive on Rotten Tomatoes in spite of the starring presence of Matthew McConaughey) is The Lincoln Lawyer (Lionsgate, “R,”    $29.95, BD $39.99), a legal thriller with a conscience that exposes more than a few of the flaws in the American justice system as it is actually practiced.

 

Horror movie fans should definitely check out Insidious (Film District, “PG-13,” $30.99, BD $35.99), a haunted house movie that delivers the chills and packs a punch especially in its very scary, old school 1970s horror film first half. Insidious got a 67% positive rating from Rotten Tomatoes, which isn’t an easy thing for a horror film to do. It’s not the most original film—it definitely incorporates elements from Poltergeist, Paranormal Activity, and The Exorcist—but Insidious is one scary movie.

 

The one genre film release that doesn’t make the grade this week is Arthur (Warner Bros., “PG-13,” $28.98), a remake of the Dudley Moore comedy from 1981, which got by strictly on its star’s waifish charm and the consummate skills of John Gielgud as his butler. Russell Brand is in many ways a more humorous performer than Moore, and Helen Mirren is as accomplished as any actor, but they don’t fit the roles in Arthur as well as Moore and Gielgud. Still the Arthur remake is better than its lowly 27% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes would lead you to believe.

 

Those who enjoy art house cinema should check out Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past (Strand Releasing, Not Rated, $27.99, BD $34.99), a film that is saturated in Buddhist mysticism and the animist beliefs of the tribesmen of Northern Thailand. Writer/director Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s film won the Palme D’or at Cannes and it’s easy to understand how many westerners would be entranced by this strange and supernaturally vibrant film. The eponymous protagonist of this movie can recall not only his present life, but also his past lives.

 

 

It’s another very light week for anime releases, which are led by Naruto Shippuden DVD Box Set #7 (Viz Media, “13+,” 275 min., $49.98), which collects episodes 78-to-88 of the popular series that appears on the Disney XD channel. Fans might be a little disturbed by the fact that the number of episodes included in these uncut box sets continues to drop from 13 originally, to 12, and now is down to 11. Chalk that up to the hidden costs of the combination of piracy (if everyone who owned this material had purchased it legally, Viz Media would be able to provide more bang for the consumer buck) and a shrinking anime market.

 

The other new release is Allison & Lillia Generation 2 (Sentai Filmworks, 13+ 325 min., $49.98), the second half of a 2008 series from Madhouse based on a series of light novels by Keiichi Sigsaw. Set in a world with just one continent that is split down the middle by a huge mountain range, Allison & Lillia blends adventure and romance. The second half of the series (Generation 2) is set 15 years after the first portion and focuses on Lillia the daughter of Allison and Will, the protagonists of the first 13 episodes.

 

 

Kino is continuing its excellent series of hi-def Blu-ray editions of Buster Keaton movies with The Buster Keaton: Short Films Collection: 1920-1923 (Kino,   BD $49.95). The Blu-rays are indeed sharper than any previous released DVD versions, but the shorts have not been completely restored, in the sense that scratches, specks of dust, and other imperfections of the prints from which they were made have been left uncorrected. Still the detail is much sharper in the Blu-ray edition, the blacks are darker, and the contrast is also much improved. The quality does vary from scene to scene and short to short, but that is a function of the original source material. Overall this set is a marked improvement over previously released versions. The films themselves are superb examples of two-reel silent comedy at its very best. From the delightfully sardonic despair of One Week in 1920 to the frenetic brilliance of Cops (1922), which is essentially the ultimate silent comedy chase film, to the surrealistic brilliance of The Play House (1921) in which Keaton plays every role, both on stage and in the audience, these are comedic movies made with precision of a Swiss watch. With 19 shorts on 3 Blu-ray discs and some excellent bonus features, this is a set that all fans of silent comedy will want to own.

 

It’s no Star Wars, but Roger Corman’s Battle Beyond the Stars (Shout Factory, “PG,”  $19.93, BD $26.97) from 1980 is an interesting attempt to adapt Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai to outer space (something that the anime studio Gonzo did with Samurai 7). Corman is famous as a developer of talent and Battle Beyond the Stars was no exception. James Cameron (Titanic, Avatar) was the Art Director on the film, and John Sayles (Lone Star) wrote the screenplay, James Horner (Titanic, Avatar) composed the score, and Gale Ann Hurd (a key producer on Aliens, The Incredible Hulk) was an assistant production manager. Richard Thomas (John Boy himself) stars along with Robert Vaughn, George Peppard (The A-Team) and the well-endowed B-Movie Queen Sybil Danning. Battle Beyond the Stars is a micro-budgeted marvel that real science fiction fans will want to own.