TV on DVD
The top release in this category is The Legend of Korra, Book 4: Balance (Nickelodeon, 293 min., $19.99, BD $35.98), which includes the final 13 episodes of one of the best American animated series of recent years. Heavily influenced by anime, The Legend of Korra manages to deal with substantive issues like terrorism, gender identity, racism, and social unrest while still presenting a compelling and highly entertaining narrative.
Another series of interest to geek viewers is Fireball XL5, The Complete Series: The Gerry Anderson Collection (Timeless Media, 950 min., $29.83), a prime example of Anderson’s Supermarionation wizardry. Captain Steve Zodiac pilots the eponymous space ship for the World Space Patrol and explores the deepest corners of Galactic Sector 25 in this 39 episode series that is now available in a very reasonably priced 5-disc collection.
One of the lesser known, but still interesting cable series is available in The Red Road: The Complete 1st Season (Starz, 264 min., $29.98), a six-episode Sundance Channel series about a small town police officer played by Martin Henderson who is dealing with family problems (a recovering alcoholic wife) and trying to keep the peace between the citizens of his small town and the Native Americans who live in the nearby hills. Also due this week is the Bible-based miniseries The Red Tent (Sony, 90 min., $26.99) which tells the story of Dinah, the only daughter of Leah and Jacob, whose decision to marry an Egyptian Prince has disastrous consequences.
Kid-targeting series with releases on Tuesday include single-disc animated offerings The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Season 3, Vol. 1 (Nickelodeon, 157 min., $14.98), and The Alvin Show (Boldassarian, 74 min., $14.99, BD $24.99), as well as the season set, Power Rangers Lost Galaxy: The Complete Series (Shout Factory, 900 min., $24.95).
Vintage TV series due on Tuesday include the 1960s sitcom Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.: The Complete Series (Paramount, 3785 min., $59.98), the 60s western Shane: The Complete Series (Shout Factory, 867 min., $19.93), plus the last season of the Jack Klugman-starring forensic mystery series Quincy, M.E.: Season 8 (Shout Factory, 1140 min., $39.97), plus sampler volumes of the 1980s Andy Griffith series Matlock, Matlock’s Greatest Cases (Paramount, 559 min., $24.99), and Petticoat Junction: Family Favorite Episodes (Paramount, $12.98).
Theatrical Movies
There are just a few releases this week led by Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (Fox, “PG,” 98 min., $29.98, BD $39.99), the third and final Night at the Museum movie. The final installment of this big budget comedy/fantasy series directed by Shawn Levy has taken some brickbats from critics (it has just a 49% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes), but it is a worthy successor and will entertain those who enjoyed the first two films in the series—plus it leaves viewers with a bittersweet aftertaste since it represents the final screen efforts of both Robin Williams and Mickey Rooney.
Lady Gaga reportedly worked with a vocal coach for a year in order to nail the medley of songs from The Sound of Music that she warbled at the Oscars, but Julie Andrew’s effortless renditions of the same Lerner and Lowe tunes in the original Von Trapp family saga are now available in The Sound of Music 50th Anniversary Ultimate Collector’s Edition (Fox, “G,” 174 min., $49.98), which presents the classic musical in a new hi-def transfer that will hopefully correct some of the color anomalies in the 45th Anniversary BD release.
Anime
Also new this week is The Familiar of Zero: Knight of the Twin Moons Complete Collection (Sentai Filmworks, 300 min., $49.98, BD $59.98), the second season (of four) produced from 2006-2012 by J.C. Staff based on the light novels by Noboru Yamaguchi about a hapless teen magician at the Tristain Academy of Magic. Only the first season of The Familiar of Zero has been released on disc here in North America (by Geneon and Funimation), so it is good to see that rest of this anime will be available here, though Season 2 is subtitles only, whereas the Funimation release included an English dub track as well.
Sentai’s other new release, The World God Only Knows: Goddesses Complete Collection (Sentai Filmworks, 300 min., $59.98, BD $69.98) does include an English dub track as well as the original Japanese track (with English subtitles). The World God Only Knows: Goddesses was the third season produced by Manglobe and based on the harem comedy manga by Tamiki Wakaki. This season aired in late 2013 and was simulcast on Crunchyroll.
This week’s other anime release, the Yu-Gi-Oh! Collection, Vol. 1 (Cinedigm, 226 min., $16.95) is a sampler with episodes from the original YGO series, plus some from Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s, and Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal.
--Tom Flinn
The opinions expressed in this column do not necessarily reflect those of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.
