This Week on DVD and Blu-ray - October 14, 2008

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Why is it our cinematic heroes like Superman, Batman, Indiana Jones and Wall E can save entire civilizations without breaking a sweat, but an entire gaggle of supposedly smart people around the world are having trouble stabilizing the global economy right now? I guess that's one of the reasons we stick our collective head in the proverbial sand and worry about lossless audio on these little round discs as opposed to...oh, I don't know...the United States buying stakes in several banks. Ah well, at least there's something to look forward to every week, right?

At any rate, the parade of summer blockbusters triumphantly continues this week with the release of "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull." (DVD review here.) Call it what you want, the fourth outing for the archeologist grossed nearly $317 million in the United States alone, proving once and for all moviegoers will give just about anything their hard earned money. (To be fair, I liked the movie even if something was lacking.) On the DVD side of the equation, there are single and double disc editions ready to roll, along with "Indiana Jones: The Complete Adventures Collection" which includes-shocking, I know-all four of the films in the series. High def only gets a 2-Disc affair.

"Mongol: The Rise of Genghis Khan" slashes its way onto both formats, despite garnering roughly $312 million less than Harrison Ford's movie domestically. No matter: 88% of critics like it, compared to Indy's 77%. Both the DVD and Blu-ray editions come with bonus Digital Copy. Yet another in a long line of Iraq/Afghanistan/terror themed films streets on both formats, "Standard Operating Procedure." Have any of these films-from the Angelina Jolie starrer "A Mighty Heart" to "The Kingdom" or "In the Valley of Elah"-really lived up to the hype? Nope. Only last week's release of "Taxi to the Dark Side" garnered any serious attention. "War, Inc."-a spoof of the current conflicts-also streets. It flopped, despite delivering John and Joan Cusack, Hilary Duff, Dan Akroyd, Marisa Tomei, Montel Williams and Ben Kingsley to the screen.

Now then. The slate of BD-only titles is rather impressive this week, starting off with the blue debut of "The Ultimate Matrix Collection." Yep, the six disc set includes all three live action films, "The Animatrix" in high def and reportedly 30-plus hours of extras. It's a monster of a set and most likely on course to win some kind of award at the end of the year for Best Presentation of an Overrated Franchise. Warner is also bringing Keanu Reeves in "Constantine" to the format; the film was released way back as an HD DVD title. Also from WB is "Poltergeist" in a digi-book configuration. Universal drops some more catch up titles with the introduction of "Casino," "American Gangster" and "Eastern Promises" (not to mention the "Gangster Giftset" featuring all three titles). You'd think these would have been out a week or two ago to coincide with "The Godfather"...

Fox does something they don't normally do: put extras on their high def product. (Alright, maybe I'm exaggerating...but not by much...) "Romancing the Stone" and "The Jewel of the Nile" both debut in 1080p as a tie in with I don't know what. It's not an anniversary, Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner aren't in any new releases. Eh, whatever. Last up, the first season of "The Universe" from The History Channel debuts. Keep that in mind; we'll come back to the title in a bit.

Romania's "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days" makes its debut a year after its first major American screening. It has a bevy of awards and nominations to its name from Cannes, the Hollywood Foreign Press, the LA Film Critics Association, Independent Spirit Awards and many more. Everything I've heard about it suggests this isn't family viewing. Be warned. Eight Alfred Hitchcock films are collected in the "Alfred Hitchcock Premiere Collection." The titles include "Lifeboat," "Rebecca," "Spellbound," "Notorious," "The Paradine Case," "Sabotage," "Young and Innocent" and "The Lodger." (Premiere Collection releases of "Notorious," "Rebecca" and "Spellbound" are also on the release schedule.)

The 15th anniversary of "Chaplin" is being celebrated with a new DVD, which I'm sure has nothing to do with the recent release of "Iron Man" nor the upcoming director's cut of "Tropic Thunder" or Robert Downey, Jr.'s next cinematic outing in November ("The Soloist"). I'm awful cynical about things like this. Last week's postponed release of the 30th anniversary box set of "Halloween" finally hits. It includes the restored 1978 version of the film, not to mention the extended cut, and both the fourth and fifth installments in the series. The "Halloween: 25 Years of Terror" special finds its way into the box along with a Michael Myers mask. Allegedly, the existing BD version of the original is included, too. And rounding out the DVD movie releases this week are the extended cut of "The New World" and the controversial "YPF."

The TV gods are good to us again this week with a nice diverse lineup of product. "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation-The Eighth Season" continues to do whatever a CSI does (season nine debuted this past week). Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton's failed FOX sitcom "Back to You" comes out in what is being labeled the first season; this is the complete series. "How I Met Your Mother: The Legendary Season Three" missed the season premiere tie-in by about three weeks. Comedy Central's "Lil' Bush: Resident of the United States-Season Two" may hit the shelf a bit early, considering election day is three weeks away. The fourth season of "The Unit" ramped up two weeks ago; the third season hits disc now, too. Remember when I said to keep "The Universe" in mind before? Well, the second season drops on DVD.

A couple cancelled shows vie for attention: the complete series set of "That 70s Show," "Nash Bridges: The First Season," Season One Volume One of 80's cartoon "Silverhawks" and the third season of "The Partridge Family."

Blu-ray recap: "American Gangster," "Casino," "Constantine," "Eastern Promises," "Gangster Giftset," "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," "The Jewel of the Nile," "Mongol: The Rise of Genghis Khan," "Poltergeist," "Romancing the Stone," "Standard Operating Procedure," "The Ultimate Matrix Collection," "The Universe: The Complete Season One," "War, Inc."

DVD recap: "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days," "Alfred Hitchcock Premiere Collection," "Back to You: Season One," "Chaplin," "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation-The Eighth Season," "Halloween: 30th Anniversary Box Set," "How I Met Your Mother: The Legendary Season Three," "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," "Indiana Jones: The Complete Adventures Collection," "Lil' Bush: Resident of the United States-Season Two," "Mongol: The Rise of Genghis Khan," "Nash Bridges: The First Season," "The New World: Extended Cut," "Notorious," "The Partridge Family: The Complete Third Season," "Rebecca," "Silverhawks: Season One Volume One," "Spellbound," "Standard Operating Procedure," "That 70s Show: Complete Giftset," "The Unit: The Complete Third Season," "The Universe: The Complete Season Two," "War, Inc.," "YPF."

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