DVD and Blu-ray Releases for May 12th, 2015

May 11, 2015

Welcome to Me

It is a typical summer week on the home market with little to no prime releases. The biggest release of the week is Still Alice, which earned $18 million in theaters. That's not bad for a limited release. It is better than some of the wide releases that came out earlier this year. Fortunately, the Blu-ray is also the best new release of the week and it is the Pick of the Week. In fact, it isn't even close as there are no other contenders for that title.

Batman Unlimited: Animal Instincts - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
The latest animated movie from D.C. They've been making a lot of these, perhaps too many, because the buzz on this one is really quiet compared to some of their other releases. It does come with a toy bat, so perhaps it is just aimed at a younger audience than some of their other direct-to-DVD movies.

Battlestar Galactica - Buy from Amazon: Remastered Collection or Definitive Collection
There are two massive box sets about the original Battlestar Galactica. The first includes the entire original series, plus the 1980s series, in remastered widescreen format. The more expensive option has this, plus the edited movie, but it also includes the two TV shows in the original aspect ratio. If you want the original show as it was originally shown on TV, you have to buy the more expensive of the two options. Since the "remastering" involved cropping the image in many cases, this is probably what the majority of fans will want. It is a shame they have to spend more and get a bunch of discs they will never use.

Blackhat - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
Hacking in real life has got to be one of the least cinematic activities around. Hacking in films is therefore either really boring or really unrealistic. In this movie, it was more on the unrealistic side, but was also kind of boring. As a result, the film bombed hard. There are a trio of featurettes on the DVD and the Blu-ray, which is better than expected, but not enough to make it worth a rental. Maybe wait till it is on Netflix and watch it then.

Blu-ray Releases - Buy from Amazon: Beloved Sisters, The Drownsman, Extraterrestrial, The Familiar of Zero: Rondo of Princesses, Jamaica Inn, Just Before I Go, The Organization, Orgazmo, Make Way for Tomorrow, Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse 2, The Premature Burial, Retaliation, She Killed in Ecstasy, Space Raiders, Stay as You Are, The Strange Case Of Dr Jekyll And Miss Osbourne, These Final Hours, They Call Me Mister Tibbs, Tracers, Two Men in Town, Vampyros Lesbos, Wet Hot American Summer, and X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes
There's a large selection of second-tier Blu-ray releases. This includes Jamaica Inn, an early Hitchcock film, but it is far from his best.

Bob's Burgers: Season 4 - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Sadly, this show is being released on DVD-R, so clearly it is not selling well enough to justify full DVD releases. That's a shame, as it is one of my favorite animated shows currently on TV. A fully loaded DVD release would have been a contender for Pick of the Week.

The Cobbler - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
An Adam Sandler movie that was released Video on Demand. I don't know if that means his career is in the toilet or if that means Video on Demand is becoming so lucrative that films can skip wide releases and still make a profit. Either way, the implications are more interesting than the movie itself is. Skip it.

Jurassic Park - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Why by a box set for a franchise when it is not complete? I'm sure when Jurassic World hits the home market, there will be yet another box set to buy. And if that film is a hit, I'm sure there will be more films in the franchise.

Mortdecai - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
This is one of the worst wide releases of the year, both in terms of reviews and in terms of box office performance. There are a couple of featurettes on the DVD and Blu-ray, but no amount of extras would be enough to overcome those reviews.

Nash Bridges: Complete Season 5 - Buy from Amazon: DVD
This was a good police procedural show. Not a great one, but it did have enough fans to last six seasons.

Power: Season One - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Is "From Executive Producer Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson" really a selling point? Maybe it is a better selling point than its reviews.

Strawberry Shortcake: Berry Best in Show - Buy from Amazon: DVD
I've reviewed a number of these releases in the past, but the screener for this one is running a little late. Hopefully it will arrive before the weekend. In the meantime, we will have a contest featuring this as a prize, starting on Friday.

Rawhide: The Complete Collection - Buy from Amazon: DVD
The TV show that made Clint Eastwood a star. It is also one of the top five TV Westerns of all time. The question is, is the Megaset worth the upgrade? If not, is it at least worth picking up for fans who passed on the original DVD releases? Read our review to find out.

Science Fiction Theatre: The Complete Series - Buy from Amazon: DVD
A Sci-fi anthology series. Think The Twilight Zone, but it came out before that show did. If you like the genre, then this is a piece of history that is worth picking up. Just remember that the show is nearly 60 years old, so don't expect high definition quality audio and video.

Still Alice - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Julianne Moore stars as the titular Alice, a linguistics professor who learns she has Alzheimer’s Disease. The reviews are excellent and Julianne Moore even won an Oscar for her performance. As for the extras, the DVD is a little light with just a nine-minute making of featurette. The Blu-ray has that, as well as an additional featurette, interview, and deleted scenes. I would have loved an audio commentary track, but this is still enough to be the Pick of the Week.


TV on DVD Full Series Megasets - Buy from Amazon: The Colbys, Rawhide, Walker Texas Ranger: Complete Collection, and The Wild Wild West
Four TV on DVD Megasets this week, including two classic Westerns. Of the four releases, Rawhide is the best.

Unforgettable: Season 3 - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
This show has been canceled twice by CBS, but it will live on at least for one more season, this time on A&E. The reason it has been struggling in the ratings is simple. It is a police procedural, which is a crowded genre, and it hasn't done enough to stand out.


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Filed under: DVD and Blu-ray Releases, Home Market Releases, Blackhat, Mortdecai, The Cobbler, Still Alice, Batman Unlimited: Animal Instincts, Jurassic Park, Clint Eastwood, Alfred Hitchcock, Julianne Moore, Adam Sandler, Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson