300: Rise of an Empire tops this week’s list of home entertainment releases that also includes an overlooked caper movie (Rob the Mob), the first Blu-ray release of Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 6, along with the fourth season of the supernatural mystery series Lost Girl and the fantasy movie bomb that Neil Gaiman loves.
 
Theatrical Movies
 
This week’s top release is 300: Rise of an Empire (Warner Bros., “R,” 102 min., $28.98, BD/Combo $35.99), a bloody, over-the-top exercise in stylized green screen filmmaking directed by Noam Murro that could muster only 41% positive rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.  Yet those who enjoyed 300 back in 2008 will likely find this companion film enjoyable as well.  Those who can’t abide “war porn” would be well advised to stay away from this historical drama, which is based on a yet-to-be published Dark Horse graphic novel by Frank Miller.  This operatic film reflects the green screen/stylized look of 300, but lacks the earlier film’s compact narrative focus, which was provided by the single mountain pass battle of Thermopylae.  But Rise of an Empire does contain a wonderfully energetic (bordering on campy at first and then sloshing way over the line) performance by Eva Green as the Persian naval commander Artemisia.  The real Artemisia actually argued against sailing the Persian fleet into the straits and she survived the battle, but historical accuracy is not what attracts crowds to these testosterone-fueled sword and sandal military epics—it’s the slow-motion battle scenes and Rise of an Empire has plenty of them.
 
Those who enjoy a good caper film should check out Rob the Mob (Millennium, “R,” 104 min., $28.98, BD $29.98), which is directed by indie helmer Raymond De Felitta and based on a true story.  De Felitta does a great job of conjuring up the early 1990s period and quite expertly switching between comedy and drama.  Rob the Mob managed a sterling 83% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but never got a decent theatrical release (it made only $100,000). 
 
The bomb of the week is Winter’s Tale (Warner Bros., “PG-13,” 118 min., $28.98), which Akiva Goldsman adapted and directed from Mark Helprin’s 1983 supernatural fantasy novel.  The $60 million film opened to terrible reviews (only 13% positive on RT) on Valentine’s Day, and earned just $12.6 million during its entire domestic run.  Though the critics hated this movie and audiences stayed away in droves, it does have its champions, notably fantasy author Neil Gaiman, so at least some fantasy film fans might want to check it out.
 
Those who enjoy documentaries should check out Elaine Strich: Shoot Me (MPI, “Not Rated,” 81 min., $24.98).  Director Chiemi Karasawa provides an unforgettable, warts and all, look at a Broadway legend, who at 87 puts on a one-woman show singing Steven Sondheim songs.
 
TV on DVD
 
This week’s top geek release is Star Trek: The Next Generation—Season 6 (Paramount, 1175 min., BD $129.99).  The only problem I have with this set is the price.  Paramount has done an excellent job in transferring and upgrading the look of the series for high-def, and there are plenty of great extra features include.  Given the amount of work Paramount put into the Star Trek releases the studio does deserve a premium price, but twice the cost of ordinary Blu-rays?  Paramount is also releasing a single-disc Star Trek: The Next Generation—Chain of Command (Paramount, 86 min., $24.99), which contains the two-part STTNG saga that encompasses the tenth and eleventh episodes of Season Six and is notable for the intense performance by Patrick Stewart as Captain Jean-Luc Picard who undergoes a variety of tortures (that eerily predict many of the “enhanced interrogation techniques" used during the Bush administration foray in Iraq such as forced nakedness, stress positions, sensory bombardment, cultural humiliation, and sensory deprivation) at the hands of the Cardassians.
 
Also of great interest is the Canadian-produced supernatural crime drama Lost Girl: Season 4 (Funimation, 572 min., $44.98, BD $49.98), which follows the adventures of a succubus named Bo (Anna Silk), who bonds with her friends to create the first Fae/human detective agency.  Season 4 involves major conflicts between the two worlds and (SLIGHT SPOILER ALERT) a major character does not make it through the 13-episode campaign alive.
 
Aaron McGruder’s The Boondocks was the edgiest, most controversial cartoon on television—until McGruder was forced out in Season 4.  The Boondocks: Season 4 (Sony, 225 min., $40.99) is relatively toothless compared with the first three seasons, but fortunately Boondocks: The Complete Series (Sony, 1198 min., $95.99) is also due out on Tuesday, and is a much better deal.
 
Another new series of interest to fans of Nordic Noir is the American version of the Danish/Swedish series Broen (which was released here in May see “Nordic Noir, Doctor Who, & Early Miyazaki”).  The American version, The Bridge: The Complete First Season (Fox, $49.98, BD $59.95), which appears on FX, deftly transfer the two-country murder mystery drama from the border between Sweden and Denmark to the troubled Mexican/American border.
 
Those who enjoy a titillating black comedy might want to check out the Showtime series Masters of Sex: Season 1 (Sony, $55.99, BD $65.99), which collects all 12 first season episodes of the series that stars Martin Sheen and Lizzy Caplan as sex researchers Dr. William Masters and Dr. Virginia Johnson.
 
Other contemporary series that are out this week include the Lifetime series Witches of East End: The Complete First Season (Fox, 417 min., $29.98), which is based on the novel by Melissa de la Cruz, and the CBS police procedural starring Poppy Montgomery as a police detective with a near eidetic memory, Unforgettable: Season Two (Paramount, $59.98).
 
There are lots of vintage TV releases this week led by My Favorite Martian: Season 1 Collector’s Edition (MPI, 1050 min., $39.98), the classic 1960s sitcom starring Ray Walston and Bill Bixby, and the powerful 1990s police ensemble drama NYPD Blue: The Complete Sixth Season (Shout Factory, 990 min., $34.99).
 
Other classic TV releases include Bewitched Season 3 (Mill Creek, 700 min., $9.98), The Larry Sanders Show: Seasons 1 & 2 (Mill Creek, $14.98), Mama’s Family: The Complete 4th Season (StarVista, 590 min., $29.98), The Partridge Family: Season 1 (Mill Creek, 625 min., $9.98), and Party of Five: Season 1 (Mill Creek, 600 min., $14.98).
 
Anime
 
This week’s top offering is Code: Breaker Complete Series (Funimation, “14+,” 325 min., BD/DVD Combo $64.98, Ltd. Ed. $69.98), a supernatural action/adventure saga about a mysterious assassin with strange powers who works for a secret government organization.  This 13-episode 2012 series produced by Kinema Citrus is based on the manga by Akimine Kamiyo that is published by Kodansha.
 
This week’s other new release is the Samurai Bride Complete Collection (Sentai Filmworks, “17+,” 300 min., $59.98, BD $69.98), which includes all 12 episodes of the 2010 alternate history action/comedy anime series based on the light novels of Akira Suzuki.
 
Also due this week is Dragon Ball Z Season 5 Uncut Blu-Ray (Funimation, “13+,” 625 min., $44.98) contains episodes 140-165 of the popular martial arts comedy that has been restored for high definition (with a somewhat controversial change of aspect ratio).   This version includes all the “filler episodes” created when the animators were waiting for Akira Toriyama to turn out more manga pages and is similar to the version that was a big hit here in the States in the 1990s.
 
Another vintage series of interest that is coming out in hi-def is the anime adaptation of Rumiko Takahashi’s delightful gender-bending martial arts comedy Ranma 1/2.   Ranma 1/2 Blu-Ray Set 2 (Viz Media, “13+,” 550 min. BD $54.97) contains episodes 24-46 of the 143-episode series.
 
Vintage anime releases include Ringing Bell (Eastern Star, 47 min., $19.97), the 1978 anime film adaptation of a book by Takashi Yanase that is a G-rated kids movie about a cute little lamb, but soon morphs into a dark film about revenge and the laws of nature—in other words this movie, which makes the opening of Bambi look like My Little Pony, is the kind of kids’ program you will never see made by an American studio.
 
Also due on Tuesday is the School Days Complete Collection (Eastern Star, “14+,” 325 min., $44.95), which collects all 12 episodes of the 2007 anime series from TNK based on the visual novel developed by Overflow, and the DNA Squared Complete Collection (Eastern Star, 375 min., $39.95), which includes 12 episodes of 1994 anime series from NTV plus 3 OVAs, all of which are based on Masakazu Katsura’s sexy science fiction harem comedy manga.

Tom Flinn

The opinions expressed in this column do not necessarily reflect those of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.