Astro Boy - Buy from Amazon: Volume One, Volume Two, Volume Three, Volume Four, and Volume Five
A Japanese Anime series based on the Manga by Osamu Tezuka, who is known to some as, "The God of Manga." The graphic novels were first adapted for TV in 1963 and again in 1980. However, this version was made in 2003 to coincide with the fictitious birth date of the titular character. It was re-dubbed and re-cut for American audiences, but many felt the changes hurt the overall feel of the show, as it was not as overly optimistic as before. I prefer these changes, but perhaps that's because I'm old enough to remember the 1980s version, which also had a darker tone. I also like the overall storyline of the series, which is a battle between men and robots. Or at least the battle for robot rights, which Astro helps by being an ambassador of sorts between the two groups, while others like Dr. Tenma, The Blue Knight, etc. want to turn the conflict into a outright war. This is a classic Sci-fi storyline, and I think it works well here.

On the other hand, the show really had no chance to find an audience here, because it switched between two networks. Dealing with a scheduling change is one thing, switching between networks is asking for cancellation.

As for the DVD releases, skip 'em. The show has already been released in a Full Series Box Set, and that version is still available and at a much better price. In fact, the 5-disc set costs less than 50% more than a single volume of this five-volume set. And because there is an overall story arc, you can't just buy one volume and skip the rest; it's all or nothing. And "All" is the better option.

Bodyguard - A New Beginning - Buy from Amazon
A Hong Kong gangster flick in which an aging crime boss, Wong (played by Richard Ng) realizes it's getting near the time to retire, but is hesitant to leave his undisciplined and inexperienced son, Yeun (played by Carl Ng), in charge of the empire he built. Because of this, his son turns to a new rival, Kai (played by Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa), in a bid to overthrow his father and take over. In the meantime, Wong sends his trusted bodyguard, Leung (played by Vincent Sze), to the U.K. to protect a young woman, Chloe (played by Stephanie Langton), who has some connection to Wong, a connection that could bring him down. Knowing this, but little else about her, Kai sends goons to follow Leung to find this woman, hoping he will gain the leverage he needs to take over his rival's criminal empire.

I've seen a lot of martial arts action movies, and sadly there's little in this movie that makes it stand out. There are some solid performances by some of the veteran actors, but the lead is rather wooden, which makes the romantic subplot less believable, and certainly less compelling. Some of the fight scenes are entertaining, but not very memorable. It's like a light snack. A martial arts action movie that you can watch once and forget by the next day.

Extras include an 8-minute behind-the-scenes featurette, and that's it. It's the usual mix of talking heads, behind-the-scenes footage, and clips from the movie and it is worth checking out, but has limited replay value.

There's nothing about Bodyguard - A New Beginning that stands out as new, while the DVD has just one featurette as an extra. If you are a fan of the genre, it might be worth checking out, but even then, a rental will be enough for most people.

Bonanza - The Official First Season - Buy from Amazon: Volume One and Volume Two or Volume One and Two
The term, "official" might confuse some people, but as has been the case with a few recent releases, there are some episodes of Bonanza that are public domain and have been released on DVD already. However, this is the first time the show has been released in a Full Season Set using the original elements, and the original theme song.

For those who have never seen the show, Bonanza starred Lorne Greene as Ben Cartwright, a thrice widowed man with three sons, one each from his three wives. His eldest is Adam, the smart and responsible one. The middle child is Eric, better known as Hoss, the gentle giant. The youngest is Little Joe (played by Michael Landon) who has a bit of a temper, but in a "acts before he thinks" kind of way, and not with any malice. They are rather xenophobic in the first season; in fact, in the pilot they draw their weapons and fire on someone, merely for being on their ranch. It's clear that the writers hadn't quite found the right tone for the show just yet. Those who are used to seeing the peak of the show in syndication might be a little bemused by the early episodes, but while the show started somewhat slowly, it's equally clear that it has all the right parts to become the classic it is know as today.

Extras on the two DVDs are impressive, especially given the age of the show. Volume One has featurettes with the show's creator, David Dortort, who talks about the famous map, some of the actors, etc. There is also a rare alternate ending to the pilot, which is great to see, but it's in rough shape. There is also an episode of Fireside Theater called Man of the Comtock, which was written by David Dortort. There are also some archival promos from the series, as well as plenty of images. Volume Two has more featurettes with David Dortort talking about how the Ponderosa got its name, as well as the rest of the cast, including Victor Sen Yung, who played Hop Sing. Volume One and Two is just the two single volumes sold as one at about 10% less cost. It's obviously the way to go for fans of the show.

I am a little annoyed that the first season of Bonanza is split into two volumes, but at least they are being released on the same day, along with a slightly cheaper box set. If you have collected any of the previous DVDs, you will want to buy these, as the show has never looked better. Plus, the original theme song is here, unlike the public domain releases.

CSI - Miami - Season Seven - Buy from Amazon
Now I'm in a foul mood. First of all, this and several other DVDs arrived late, which threw my schedule off. Given the number of DVDs I had to review this week, I wouldn't be entirely out of line to push it back till next week; however, I already have a dozen DVDs waiting to reviewed for next Monday, and half a dozen in the late pile that all arrived late, not to mention more than two dozen that are late and could show up at any time. Secondly, at least the other two shows that were part of the same late delivery I'm excited to review, but I am not a fan of this show to begin with. And finally, it's very apparent that this show has jumped the shark.

The season does start on a high note with the assassination of Horatio Caine. Sadly, death is even less of a fan of his squat and squint acting, so he's granted another go on planet Earth. Then again, death doesn't seem to have much say on this show given the events at the end of the season opener. Death does get its act together at the beginning of the second episode of the season and we get back the usual murder mystery elements of the series. (On a side note... Dude. Drop and roll.) There are some interesting cases this season (like the child kidnapping) but even the best episodes are overshadowed by the oppressive style. A relatively simply task like dusting for fingerprints is loaded with cuts & pans, freeze-frames, speeding up the video, dropping to black & white, and other obvious directorial flares that are just distractions. If they cut those out, and all of the shots of Miami, each episode would only be 15 minutes long. I'm not a big fan of Dogme 95, but I think the creative forces on this show would really benefit from using a strict set of rules like that to get back to the basics of filmmaking. If you can create a story within those rules, then, and only then can you start adding in the visual flair. If you use visual flair as a crutch, you never develop the basics of simple storytelling.

Extras on the seven disc set include audio commentary tracks on two episodes, pop-up trivia track on another, a featurette on the sounds effects in the series (which is not a selling point, as it is as overdone as the rest of the show), there's a featurette on the new AV lab (which is just as overdone as the sound), and finally an overview of season seven. On a side note, here's the new AV lab as seen from the perspective of a computer nerd... Every visual flair you see takes CPU runtime, CPU runtime that would be better used comparing fingerprints, for instance. This is why no matter how powerful a computer gets, a well made program still relies on little more than a progress bar and a rotating hourglass to show it's working on something. This is clearly something designed by artists and not computer engineers.

I think what the creators of this show need to understand that sometimes less is more. Focus more on the crimes being solved, and less on the style of the show. Until they do, CSI - Miami will always be the weakest in the franchise. Season Seven doesn't correct these problems; in fact, they get worse. Stick with the original and New York and give this one a pass.

Fear Itself - Season One - Buy from Amazon
A horror anthology series that started last summer and was created by Mick Garris, who previously created Masters of Horror. That series was also a horror anthology series that had episodes directed by prominent members of the genre, and both shows never found an audience. But at least fans of the show will be able to pick up the entire series this week, but will fans of the genre in general find something to like?

Like all similar shows, it is hit and miss. Community, Eater, and Spooked were misses for me, which is a shame since they are all on the first disc and such a slow start hurts. Disc two does present solid hits in Family Man and New Year's Day, but there's a miss with In Sickness and in Health. Disc three has Chance, which is an evil twin story, which is a miss. Echoes was a stronger story, as was The Spirit Box. The series ends with The Circle, which is the only episode on disc four and is neither a hit nor a miss. Some of the misses did have their strong parts, like Elisabeth Moss's performance in Eater, but you can't just tilt the camera and expect me to be scared. That's the key to a show like this, scares. Scares and a good twist. Neither of which were found in a lot of the episodes. Overall the hit to miss ratio is not high enough to justify a blind buy, but it is worth checking out.

As for extras, some of the episodes are 'director's cuts' while every episode has an interview with the director. A side note about the packaging. On the positive side, the case looks really cool. On the negative side, they used flipper discs. They used flipper discs and a spindle, which is just asking for scratches. Also, there are no play all buttons, nor are there subtitles. Finally, the menus are not user friendly and you can't skip the overly long intros. It seems that every opportunity they had to mess up something, they did.

Fear Itself is one of many horror anthology shows that have appeared on TV over the years. Sadly, while there are some that lasted years and years, most are short lived like this one. Season One has enough episodes that worth that it is worth checking out, but there are enough that don't that for most a rental will be enough.

Four Dragons - Buy from Amazon
Apparently, this is the first Malaysian martial arts movie. I have no way to confirm or disprove that, but it's an interesting factoid. Set in the Kinta province in Malaysia, which became famous for its tin reserves and in the late 18th century many people immigrated there from southern China in hopes of striking it rich... with tin. Anyone else find it hard to believe that people once got excited about the prospects of discovering tin? Regardless, instead of striking it rich, these immigrants were treated as slaves by the mine owners, and this injustice four warriors rise to defend their people: Dragon, Tiger, Ace, and Blaze. I think. The details of the plot are a little... unnecessary. This is a simple martial arts action flick that care little about explaining the plot. (Although when they do it's with an exposition laden voiceover.) All that matters here are the fight scenes, and I have some good news and some bad news.

Good news: the fight scenes are loaded with style. Bad news: style is the only thing going for the movie. Worse news: the style can be oppressive at times. I don't have an issue with CG blood on principle. When done well, like in Zodiac, it's a very useful tool to add realism to the film, without having to do practical effects, which take a long time to set up, and even longer to reset when you need a second take. However, if they are just there to add more blood for the sake of gore, like in several films I've reviewed, then it looks goofy. If its used to add a comic book esthetic, like I think it is being used here, it has the potential to be cool, but the overused kills its effectiveness. I've seen so many martial arts movies that they really need a hook to stand out, and when they hook backfires, like it does here, there's nothing to fall back on.

The DVD does have a 16-minute making of featurette, which is better than expected in terms of extras, but not enough to really change the overall value.

For fans of the genre, Four Dragons might be worth a rental, but the movie doesn't have enough replay value, nor are there enough extras on the DVD to lift it to a purchase.

Go, Diego, Go! - Diego's Arctic Rescue - Buy from Amazon
The latest DVD release from the Go, Diego, Go! TV series, which is a popular spin-off to the insanely popular Dora the Explorer show. Both are interactive TV shows in the 'Ask and Pause' sub-genre, which allows kids to feel like they are part of the adventure helping their favorite characters solve problems. It also allows jaded critics such as myself to say inappropriate things, which I won't repeat here.

The latest DVD, Diego's Arctic Rescue, has three episodes, starting with...

• The Great Polar Bear Rescue! - A double-length episode has Diego and Baby Jaguar traveling to the arctic to visit the polar bears. His sister, Alicia, and his cousin, Dora, make appearances helping him rescue some polar bears affected by Global Warming.
• Puffin Fishing Adventure - Diego has to help feed the baby puffins, who don't have enough fish to eat at their normal habitat because of all of the over fishing.
• Where is Okapi's Brother? - Diego travels to Africa to help the Okapi, which are like Zebra, only with fewer stripes. He plays hide-and-seek with a herd of Okapi, but due to deforestation, one pair of brothers has to travel very far to find a good place to hide. They have to travel so far, that they get lost.

There are three short animal rescues featuring walruses, snowy owls, and a musk ox & caribou. Each are just over 2 minutes long, so there's not much in the way of special features on this DVD. However, that's pretty common for pre-school releases.

Go, Diego, Go! - Diego's Arctic Rescue combines the usual animal rescues with an environmental theme, which is an added bonus. The price per minute is on par with the previous releases, and it is worth picking up if your kids are fans of the show.

Grey's Anatomy - Season Five - Buy from Amazon
Early in this season, Dr. Cristina Yang freaks out at Dr. Meredith Grey over her obsession with Dr. Derek Shepherd. I believe the exact quote is "Shut up!" She repeats that phrase several more times, and every time she did, it was the high point of the season.

Okay, perhaps that's not 100% accurate, but it's close. I also like the medical aspect of the show, which sadly has never been the focus of Grey's Anatomy. There are some interesting stories this year, including Dr. Yang being enthralled by a military doctor. Of course, there's also the return of Jeffrey Dean Morgan playing Denny Duquette, who died in the series a long time ago. He comes back and can only be seen by Dr. Izzie. At first she thinks she's being haunted, but it is revealed that he's not a ghost, but she's very ill. When she figures it out, she has an impassioned confrontation with him over the fact that he knew she was sick and didn't tell her. She could have gotten treatment earlier, but he didn't tell her why he was there. I'm sure this was supposed to be a highly emotional moment, but I was yelling at the TV, "He didn't lie to you. He's a hallucination brought on by your brain tumor. On the one hand, this is further proof that I'm a little demented. This is supposed to be emotionally gut wrenching, and I'm freaking out whether what she's saying is technically accurate or not. That's my fault, cause I'm a big nerd. On the other hand, if the scene was really effective, I don't think it would have bothered me as much. That's the show's fault.

And clearly the show has a lot of quality issues compared to seasons past. On just needs to look at its Emmy count this time around to see that. Granted, earning three Emmy nominations is nothing to sneeze at, but the previous year it earned five and the year before that it earned ten winning one, and eleven the year before that. This is the worst year for the series since the first, which only ran for only nine episodes.

Extras on the seven-disc set includes a few extended episodes, as well as deleted scenes for other. There's also a featurette on the show's 100th episode and interviews with several of the cast. That's not a lot, especially for a concurrent release.

I think it's clear that Grey's Anatomy has jumped the shark by Season Five. I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of fans stopped watching the show at some point during the season, but if you are a hardcore fan enough to buy the previous seasons, I don't think you will give up at this point.

One Step Beyond - Season One - Buy from Amazon
The second of three DVDs that arrived late. This is an anthology mystery series that debuted in 1959, the same year as The Twilight Zone. That's probably why a lot of people reading this had never heard of the show before. I certainly hadn't before I was offered a chance to review the show. In the 1980s, the show's copyright lapsed and it entered into public domain and it has been released on DVD many, many times before, but this is the first time it has been released using the original masters, so it hasn't looked or sounded this good. But how about the episodes themselves?

The similarities between One Step Beyond and The Twilight Zone are amazing. Not only are they both anthology mystery shows that have a supernatural edge. Both featured plenty of guest shots from pre-fame actors. Both even started with introductions and epilogues by the host who was a creative force on the show (writer Rod Sterling for The Twilight Zone and director John Newland for One Step Beyond). The Twilight Zone focused on the truly bizarre (the last man on Earth, a young boy with supernatural powers, a monster attacking an airplane at 20,000 feet altitude, etc.) while One Step Beyond deals with supernatural occurrences that could be real. In fact, they play upon that fact. People having premonitions, hauntings, possessions, etc. I think because they try to be more grounded in reality that there are not as many very memorable episodes on season one. The hit to miss ratio is excellent compared to a lot of more recent shows like this one (Fear Itself, for instance) and for fans of the genre it is definitely worth checking out, but I would be amazed if most people even remember this show 50 years after it first aired.

Extras on the 3-disc set include the extended version of the pilot episode the promos from the original series and the 1990 revival, as well as an audio interview with Don M. Mankiewicz, one of the writers on the show. That's not a lot in terms of extras, but for a show that's 50 years old, that's to be expected. I'm a little more disappointed that there are no subtitles or play all buttons.

One Step Beyond might not be as well known as The Twilight Zone, but if you are a fan of that show, it is likely that you will also enjoy this one. There are not a lot of extras on the Season One DVD release, but it is still worth checking out for most, picking up for many.