After an unexpected hiatus of two weeks we resume our quick survey of home entertainment releases.  This week’s offerings include a new Batman animated film, Steven Spielberg’s carefully crafted Cold War saga, Bridge of Spies, Vin Diesel’s action-packed The Last Witch Hunter, plus the final season of the post-apocalyptic TNT series Falling Skies, the grindhouse-themed second season of From Dusk Till Dawn, and the third film in the 4-part anime feature film remake of Evangelion.

Theatrical Films

Some of the January titles we missed over the past two weeks include Straight Outta Compton (Universal, “R,” 167 min., $29.98, BD $34.98), the groundbreaking rap music film that was one of the major omissions on what should have been this list of “Best Picture” Oscar nominees, Nancy Meyer’s clever adult comedy The Intern (Warner Bros., “PG-13,” $28.98, BD $35.98), which stars Anne Hathaway and Robert DeNiro, the mountaineering epic Everest (Universal, “PG-13,” 244 min., $29.98, BD $34.98), Spike Lee’s Windy City take on Lysistrata, Chi-Raq (Lionsgate, “R,” 93 min., $19.98, BD $24.98), and the Jack Black kiddie horror film Goosebumps (Sony, “PG,” 103 min., $30.99, BD $38.98).

This week’s offerings include the latest DC Comics animated feature Batman: Bad Blood (Warner Bros., “PG-13,” $19.98, BD $24.98), a loose adaptation of Grant Morrison’s Batman Incorporated that introduces Batwoman and Batwing to the DC animated world.  Batman: Bad Blood functions as a sort of sequel to the previous two Batman animated releases, Son of Batman and Batman vs. Robin, both of which it eclipses in many ways including the very clever casting of the chief villain.  Fans who enjoyed Son of Batman and Batman vs. Robin will definitely want to add Batman: Bad Blood to their collections.

This week’s “major” release is Steven Spielberg’s Bridge of Spies (Disney, “PG-13,” 141 min., $29.99, BD $39.99), which stars Tom Hanks in an earnest, well-crafted recreation of the exchange of Soviet spy Rudolph Abel for Francis Gary Powers, a U2 pilot, who was shot down over Russian air space.

Vin Diesel fans will want to check out The Last Witch Hunter (Lionsgate, “PG-13,” 112 min., $29.99, BD $39.99), a dark fantasy set in world that main strain credulity to new heights, but which also has some internal consistency and more than a few thrills for those who enjoy their fantasies with a double dose of action.

The Last Witch Hunter might have underperformed at the box office, but not to the extent of outright bombs like Rock the Kasbah (Universal, “R,” 214 min., $22.98, BD 29.98), a meandering “comedy” about a music producer (Bill Murray) stranded in Afghanistan, who grooms a local girl for the Afghan version of “American Idol,” or Our Brand Is Crisis (Warner Bros., “R,” 107 min., $26.98, BD $29.98) in which Sandra Bullock plays a political operative helping a right wing Bolivian presidential candidate in movie that generated only $6.8 million at the box office, the lowest total by far in Bullock’s career.

This week’s best bet for art film lovers is Suffragette (Universal, “PG-13,” 107 min., $29.98, BD $34.98), which stars Carrie Milligan and Helena Bonham Carter in an uncompromising look at the incredible obstacles that women had to overcome in order to get the right to vote, and the very real suffering that the original suffragettes experienced in the decades long struggle for this most basic human right.

TV on DVD

January titles of interest that we missed include the time-traveling Syfy series 12 Monkeys: Season 1 (Universal, 450 min., $39.98, BD $49.98), the single-disc Adventure Time, Vol. 11: Stakes! (Warner Bros., 88 min., $14.97), the new Doctor Who: The 9th Series, Part 2 (BBC, 270 min., $24.98, BD $29.98), which collects the final 6 episodes of the current season, and Howard Chaykin’s favorite Downton Abbey: Season 6 (PBS, 510 min., $49.99, BD $59.99), which collects the final season of the lavishly produced upstairs/downstairs saga.

This week’s top release is Falling Skies: The Complete Fifth Season (Warner Bros., 440 min., $39.98, BD $49.98), which collects the fifth and final season of the post-apocalyptic science fiction series created by Robert Rodat and produced by Steven Spielberg.  The entire 5-season saga of the battle between the 2nd Massachusetts Militia Regiment and the alien invaders that aired on TNT is also available in Falling Skies: The Complete Series (Warner Bros., 2200 min., $129.98, BD $139.99).

For lovers of Grindhouse Cinema there is Robert Rodriguez’s From Dusk till Dawn: The Series The Complete Season 2 (Eone Entertainment, 442 min., $39.98, BD $49.98), which is chock full of demonic creatures from Mesoamerican folklore.

Those who enjoy period drama should check out Mercy Street (PBS, 360 min., $39.98, BD $44.98), a six part saga about a Union Army hospital (in a luxury hotel in Alexandria, Virginia) that is based on letters and memoirs from the era, and which examines the complex motivations that drove people during those turbulent times.

Fans of costume epics also have the choice this week of a period drama that has been filmed numerous times, Baroness Orczy’s anti-revolutionary adventure The Scarlet Pimpernal.  The BBC has released a new version of the six-episode 1999 adaptation that adds some interesting elements to the creaky plot of the original 1905 stage play.

Anime

Among the January titles we missed were the excellent 11-episode Shinichiro Watanabe terrorist detective thriller Terror in Resonance (Funimation, 300 min. BD/DVD Combo $64.98), which has a great score by Yoko Kanno, who famously collaborated with Watanabe on Cowboy Bebop; One Piece: Season Seven—Voyage 5 (Funimation, 300 min., $39.98), which contains episodes 434 to 445 of the long running pirate anime; and the 2014 slice-of-life comedy series from Madhouse, the Hanayamata Complete Collection (Sentai Filmworks, 300 min., $59.98, BD $69.98).

But this week’s top release is Evangelion: 3.33 You Can (Not) Redo (Funimation, 96 min., $29.98, BD $34.98), the third feature film in the Rebuild of Evangelion tetralogy.  Written and directed by Hideki Anno, Evangelion: 3.3, this re-forging of the most fascinating of all the teenager save the Earth by piloting giant robot sagas does not disappoint.  Released in theaters in Japan in late 2013, Evangelion: 3.33 earned $60 million at the Japanese box office.

Also due on Tuesday is the action-packed harem comedy Blade Dance of the Elementalers: Complete Collection (Sentai Filmworks, 300 min., Subtitles Only, $49.98/ BD $59.98), which collects the 12-episode TNK series from 2014 that is based on the light novel series by Yu Shimizu, and the much more intriguing From the New World: Complete Collection (Sentai Filmworks, 625 min., $79.98, BD $99.98), which collects the 25-episode 2012-2013 series from A-1 Pictures that is based on the fantasy/science fiction/horror novel by Yusuke Kishi.

Another release of interest is the Pita-Ten Complete Collection (Right Stuf, 650 min., Subtitles Only, $49.98), which collects the 26-episode Madhouse series from 2002 that adapted the popular manga series by Koge-Donbo (publisher here by Tokyopop).