Once again there’s not many great home entertainment releases this week, though one of the smartest sports movies of recent years debuts on disc along with one of 2011’s best new cable TV series, the 1990 G.I. Joe animated series that has never been on DVD before, and a couple of vintage Doctor Who sagas.

 

 

The top animated TV on DVD release is G.I. Joe Season 1 (Shout Factory, 540 min., $29.93), which includes all 24 episodes of the second 1980s G.I. Joe animated series that was produced by DIC and debuted in 1990.  This classic series is appearing on DVD for the first time this week and fans should be happy since Season One includes the 5-episode fan-favorite “Operation Dragonfire” miniseries.

 

Even better in some ways at least are the 25 classic Looney Tunes cartoons that are making their Blu-ray debut in The Bugs Bunny/Looney Tunes Comedy Hour Showcase #1 (Warner Bros., 225 min., BD $24.98), which also includes some great extras like a feature on the making of “What’s Opera Doc?,” one of the 25 cartoon classics included in the set.

 
The other animated releases are both single disc affairs, The Garfield Show: Vol.5-Dinosaur & Animal Adventures (Vivendi Entertainment, 72 min., $14.93) and The Penguins of Madagascar: Operation Blowhole (Dreamworks, 73 min., $14.98), which features the vocal talents of Neal Patrick Harris as Dr. Blowhole.

This week's top American live-action release is HBO's Boardwalk Empire: Season One (HBO, 600 min., $69.98, BD $79.98), a gangster epic set in Prohibition-era Atlantic City that appears to deserve the many comparisons with The Sopranos that critics have made.
 

Vintage TV releases include the highly underrated sitcom Dennis the Menace: Season 4 (Shout Factory, 915 min. $29.83), which contains all 38 episodes from the final season of the comedy series based on the cartoons of Hank Ketcham, Cheyenne: The Complete Third Season (Warner Bros, 984 min., $49.95), which includes 20 episodes of the classic 1950s western series, the popular detective Columbo: The Mystery Movie Collection 1994-2003 (Universal, 645 min., $26.98), the 1980s drama thirtysomething: Season 1, Vol. 2 (Mill Creek, 523 min., $9.98), Hawaii Five-O: The 12th and Final Season (Paramount, 996 min., $49.99), and the long-running “Baywatch on bikes” USA Network show, Pacific Blue: The Complete Series (Mill Creek, 18 discs, $69.98).

 

A number of excellent U.K. offerings are on tap this week including Primeval Volume 3: The Complete Series 4&5 (BBC, 500 min., $49.98, BD $59.99), a surprisingly compelling science fiction series about a group of scientists who investigate temporal anomalies that allow prehistoric and futuristic creatures to enter (and menace) the present.

 

Fans of the vintage Doctor Who series will have two classic series to enjoy on DVD, Doctor Who—Story 071: Invasion of the Dinosaurs (BBC, 148 min., $34.98), the second serial from the eleventh season of the long running science fiction series, which features Jon Pertwee (the 3rd Doctor) in a six-part saga about a mad scientist with a time machine who transports dinosaurs to 1970s London, and Doctor Who—Story 083: The Android Invasion (BBC, 98 min., $24.98), the fourth serial saga from the 13th season of the series, which features the fan favorite fourth Doctor (Tom Baker) and also marks the final appearance in the series of Sergeant Benton.

 

Also highly recommended (at least for Ricky Gervais fans) is An Idiot Abroad: Season 1 (BBC, 350 min., $34.98), the outrageous travel documentary created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant (the creators of The Office and Extras) in which they send their friend Karl Pilkington (“I could eat a knob at night”) around the world against his will.

 

 

Sports movies haven’t exactly set the box office on fire lately, but Moneyball (Sony, “PG-13,” $30.99, BD/Combo $40.99, BD only $35.98), which stars Brad Pitt as Oakland Athletics’ general manager Billy Beane, who shook up Major League Baseball by adopting the advanced statistical analysis of the game that the baseball powers-that-be largely ignored, is that rare “sports” movie that non-sports fans can enjoy thanks largely to a smart script by Aaron Sorkin (The Social Network).

 

Unfortunately there’s not much else of interest due from Hollywood on DVD this week. The ill-advised remake of Sam Peckinpah’s Killer Elite (Universal, “R,” $29.98, BD/Combo $34.98) wastes a strong cast (Robert DeNiro, Clive Owen, and Jason Statham) in a film that pales in comparison to the original, which wasn’t even one of Peckinpah’s better films anyway.

 

But perhaps the worst release of the week is What’s Your Number? (Fox, “R,” $29.99, BD/Combo $39.99), in which Anna Faris revisits 20 of her ex-boyfriends to see if any of them might just be “Mr. Right,” in one of the least successful examples of 2011’s main contribution to the romantic comedy, a subgenre devoted to “smutty chick flicks.”

 

There are only three releases this week. The Akikan! Complete Collection (Sentai Filmworks, “14+,” 350 min., $49.98), which includes all 12 episodes (and the OVA) from the Brains Base romantic action comedy series produced in 2009 and based on a series of light novels by Riku Ranjo about a group of anthropomorphic drink cans that engage in a struggle to determine whether aluminum or steel cans are superior.

 

The other releases include Kimi no Todoke (NIS America, “7+,” 273 min., BD/Combo $69.99), which includes the first 12 episodes of the 2009 Production I.G. series based on the popular shojo manga seris by Karuho Shiina, and the re-priced and re-released Tweeny Witches Complete Collection (Media Blasters, “13+,” 598 min., $49.99).

 

 

With its elite prep school setting Peter Weir’s Dead Poets Society (MGM may not be for all tastes, but it does feature an excellent dramatic performance from Robin Williams and mostly avoids slipping into sentimentality. While it might not have the best hi-def transfer ever seen for a 1980s film, the Blu-ray of Dead Poet Society is really quite good and John Seale’s superb location photography hasn’t looked this good since the film’s initial theatrical release. 

 

--Tom Flinn