Last weekend G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra was still showing in 205 theaters, but it will be out on DVD this week, much to the chagrin of a number of theater owners (see “NATO Objects to G.I. Joe”).   That G.I. Joe can make it to DVD in less than 3 months testifies to the apparently ironclad Hollywood rule that summer blockbusters must be available on DVD for the holiday season.

 

Theatrical Releases

 

In spite of brutal reviews G.I. Joe has earned over $150 million at the domestic box office, making it the 12th most popular film of 2009.  Director Stephen Sommers kept the action flowing non-stop and in spite of its execrable dialogue this movie should easily top the DVD sales and rental charts this week.  In addition to action movie fans, this disc has a built-in audience of G.I. Joe collectors.  The film’s effect on sales of the numerous volumes of G.I. Joe comics has not been well documented, but there is evidence that the movie did move the sales needle, especially among young readers in the bookstore market, and the G.I. Joe DVDs (Paramount, $29.99, 2-Disc Special Edition $34.99, BD $39.99) should prolong the effect somewhat.

 

Despite the best efforts of Denzel Washington The Taking of Pelham 123 (Sony, $29.96, BD $39.99) was just a shadow of the original 1974 film that starred Walter Matthau and Robert Shaw and is one of the best urban thrillers of all time.  Still the story remains powerful and Denzel fans will want to see this one, but if you really want to see a classic rent or buy the original, which is also available on DVD (MGM, $14.98).

 

Also out this week are two theatrical flops, the family science fiction adventure film Aliens in the Attic (Fox, $29.99, BD $39.99), a disappointing film that earned just $25 million domestically, and I Love You Beth Cooper (Fox, $27.98, BD $39.99), which is based on the book by Simpsons writer Larry Doyle and stars Hayden Panettiere (Heroes).

 

The best theatrical release out this week is the one that made the least amount of money.  Robert Kenner’s Food, Inc. earned a paltry $4 million, but this documentary performs a public service by taking a critical look at America’s industrial food production and demonstrates the hidden costs of “inexpensive” food in terms of its effects on human health and the environment.

 

Blu-ray Only Releases

 

One benefit of the growing popularity of the hi-def Blu-ray format is the fact that studios have to carefully re-master their films if they want to take advantage of the visual and aural capabilities of the new format. No film has benefited more from this hi-tech reworking than North By Northwest, the first Alfred Hitchcock film to be released on Blu-ray and easily the best film debuting on DVD in any format on November 3rd.  Previous DVD editions of North By Northwest (like many of the other 1950s Hitchcock films on disc) looked washed out and not nearly as vivid as they did when they were originally released.  While not perfect, the Blu-ray transfer of North By Northwest is a huge improvement over previous DVD editions, and it provides a fitting 50th Anniversary tribute to one of the best American films of all time.  North By Northwest is also one of Hitchcock’s most entertaining films with a definitive performance from Cary Grant as one of those martini-sipping Mad Men, and loads of witty (and sexy) dialogue from writer Ernest Lehman.  The extras are all very watchable and include four superb mini-documentaries about the film. The disc is packages in a perfect bound format that includes a 48-page booklet chock full of behind-the-scenes photos.

 

Also out on Blu-ray this week is Forrest Gump (Paramount $39.99), Robert Zemeckis’ Academy Award winning film from 1994, which features one of Tom Hank’s best performances (he doesn’t go “full retard”), and a Limited Edition March of the Penguins DVD Giftset (Warner Bros. $39.98), which not only includes the Academy Award-winning 2007 documentary, but also an all new film, On the Wings of Penguins, about warm-weather African penguins, as well as a cute baby penguin plush figure.

 

TV on DVD

 

There are two potent TV on DVD releases out this week, Star Wars The Clone Wars: The Complete Season One (Warner Bros., $44.98, BD $59.99) and Walt Disney Presents Zorro Season 1 (Disney $59.99).  The four-disc Clone Wars set, which is sure to appeal to the current generation of youngsters, includes all 22 episodes f the computer-animated series, plus 22 behind-the-scenes featurettes, a 64-page production journal with original sketches and artist’s notes and a sneak peak at Season 2.  Baby boomers will love the six-disc Disney Zorro set, which contains all 39 episodes of the action-packed series plus the rarely seen one hour specials from the Walt Disney Presents show and a featurette on the history of Zorro from his literary creation through the Disney series.

 

There were a couple of excellent October TV on DVD releases that didn’t get covered last week including Red Dwarf: Back to Earth (Warner Bros. $24.98, BD $29.98) and Black Adder Remastered (Warner Bros. $79.98).  Red Dwarf: Back to Earth is a 3-part miniseries that aired in the U.K. last April.  The first new Red Dwarf shows in over a decade, the three Back to Earth episodes have been edited together into a seamless whole in the Director’s Cut version that is available on DVD.  This science fiction sitcom is not for everyone, but fans of the original series and English humor in general will have to have this latest genre-busting effort written and directed by Doug Naylor who created the series with Rob Grant. The Blu-ray edition features a host of extras including a “making-of” documentary, “Smeg Up” outtakes, deleted scenes, as well as commentaries from cast and crew.

 

Fans of British humor will also love Black Adder Remastered.  This period-hopping situation comedy follows the adventures of anti-hero Edmund Blackadder and his dogsbody, Baldrick through numerous generations that span different periods of English history.  It really benefits from the enhanced visual quality created by the digital restoration employed in the production of the Black Adder Remastered DVD.  The six-disc set includes every episode of Black Adder.  Hugh (House) Laurie’s buffoonish turn as the Prince Regent is worth the price of the entire set, and Miranda Richardson’s crazed Queen Elizabeth is almost as much fun.

 

Animation

 

The 13-episode Ruby-Spears Superman Saturday morning cartoon series, which aired in 1988, was the third Superman animated series.  Its release coincided with The Man of Steel’s 50th Anniversary and it reflected some of the changes wrought by John Byrne’s Post-Crisis re-launch of the property such as portraying Lex Luthor as a corrupt billionaire industrialist, whose avarice reflected the greed-infused 1980s.  Veteran comic book scribe Marv Wolfman was the story editor for the series, while the great Gil Kane provided character designs, and the show used John Williams’ stirring themes from the live action Superman movies.  The two-disc Ruby-Spears Superman (Warner Bros. $26.98) contains the entire short-lived series.  Each 18-minute episode was followed by a 4-minute flashback “Superman Family Album” segment chronicling his life.  This two-disc set is a must for Superman collectors.

 

Plastic Man was another DC-based animated series produced by Ruby-Spears (with Hanna-Barbera) that is now available on DVD in a 4-disc Plastic Man: The Complete Collection (Warner Bros. $44.98).  It includes all 35 episodes from the The Plastic Man/Comedy Adventure Show that was broadcast from 1979-1981 on Saturday mornings on ABC when it aired right after Super Friends.  In addition to the original cartoons, the new Plastic Man set includes an unaired Plastic Man animated pilot episode and an excellent feature on the history of the stretchable hero created by Jack Cole.

 

Anime

 

New anime releases out this week include Dragonaut: The Resonance Complete Series Part 1 (Funimation, $49.98), which includes the first 13 episodes of the 25-episode series that aired in Japan in 2007-2008.  Produced by Gonzo, Dragonaut: The Resonance is a science fiction/fantasy series that features an entertaining blend of bio-mechanical dragons, mecha, and girls in tight uniforms.  The series is rated “TV-14” and features lots of mild fan service including some mild nudity and a whole lot of jiggling.

 

Also new this week is The Tower of Druaga: Part One—The Aegis of Uruk (Funimation $59.98).  Directed by Koichi Chigira, who also helmed the excellent Last Exile anime, The Tower of Druaga is a 12-episode series based on a Namco arcade game that was originally released in 1984. In the game players had to climb the Tower of Druaga and defeat the godlike monster Druaga, who continued to wreak havoc on mankind, and the anime is a fantasy adventure romance that follows the themes of the game.  This was one of the first series that Gonzo made available in subtitled form on the Net at the same time that it was broadcast in Japan.  In addition to the subtitled version, Funimation’s DVD release also includes a well-dubbed English language track.  Its “TV 14” rating is due to violence rather than fan service, and the two-disc set contains some nice extras including “A Tale Told Twice,” which provides an alternate look at the first episode.