DVDs Reviews

Comic book fans will be glued to their TV screens with this collection of live-action movies bringing classic Marvel Comics crime fighters to cinematic life. Ben Affleck is the blind martial-arts superhero Daredevil (2003), Jennifer Garner wipes up bad guys as Elektra (2005) and an all-star young-Hollywood cast—including Hugh Jackman, Anna Paquin, James Marsden, Jessica Alba and Halle Berry—rocks as the multi-powered X-Men and Fantastic Four in five different big-screen adaptations. Bonus materials include a reproduction of two X-Men comic books from yesteryear, an extra disc of animated Fantastic Four adventures, another disc of digital comics, and hours of commentary and featurettes.
—Neil Pond, American Profile

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Experience the sights and sounds and go behind the scenes with these four DVDs—The Explosion: NASCAR’s Rise; 100 Defining Moments; Greatest Drivers, Biggest Races, Hottest Rivalries; and The Dirt, The Cars, Speed & Danger—from ESPN’s home entertainment division. Interviews with top drivers, never-before-seen race footage and colorful, first-hand accounts of life in the fast lane make each one a memorable, high-octane ride.
—Neil Pond, American Profile

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Do the Loch Ness Monster, Bigfoot, werewolves and other monsters of lore really exist? This enlightening History Channel TV series, now with all 13 episodes of its debut 2007 season compiled in a “steel-trap” box set, sifts through science, history, eyewitness accounts and mythology in a serious attempt to get to the bottom of these and other creatures at the intersection of fact and fiction. Whether you believe or not, Monster Quest is a compelling reminder of the enduring beastie mysteries that lurk in the dark corners of even our modern-day lives.
—Neil Pond, American Profile

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When it launched in 2001, 24 had one heck of a tick-tock gimmick. Unfolding in “real time,” each minute of every episode’s airtime corresponded exactly to a minute of plot development as federal agent Jack Bauer (Keifer Sutherland) raced to put together the pieces of a deadly puzzle. Newly repackaged in a silver metal case, this collector’s edition includes all 24 original episodes, an alternate season-finale ender, more than 25 deleted and extended scenes, a trailer for the upcoming seventh season and even a re-settable digital 24-hour stopwatch.
—Neil Pond, American Profile

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Dirty Harry Ultimate Collector’s Edition
7-DVD box set ($74.92)

Die Hard Ultimate Collection
4-DVD box set ($69.98)

Stallone: Rambo—The Complete Collector’s Set
6-DVD box set ($54.98)

Do macho men travel in packs? It sure looks that way—at least with the near-simultaneous release of these three mega-doses of iconic, alpha-male machismo.

Clint Eastwood is the cool-cat-cop daddy who launched a new era of action heroes with his portrayal of renegade detective Harry Callahan, who bent—or broke—whatever rules necessary to bring down the hammer of justice in 1971’s Dirty Harry and its sequels Magnum Force, Sudden Impact, The Enforcer and The Dead Pool. Bonus features in the high-caliber Dirty Harry Ultimate Collector’s Edition include hours of featurettes, a commemorative hardcover book, a replica of Detective Callahan’s badge and ID card, and a poster-size foldout map of San Francisco that highlights points of Dirty Harry interest.

Bruce Willis stars as wisecracking, always-in-a-pickle, dang-near-indestructible police detective John McCain in the Die Hard Ultimate Collection, a round-up of all four of his big-screen Die Hard excursions—the original movie that started it all back in 1988, plus the sequels Die Hard 2, …With a Vengeace and last year’s Live Free or Die Hard. Dodging bad guys, bullets and big blow-ups, McCain is an all-seasons action hero with macho mojo to spare—and spread over a span of nearly 20 years. DVD extras include numerous featurettes, interviews and commentary.

Sylvester Stallone is one-man-army John Rambo, the haunted Viet Nam vet who can’t break free of the ultimate combat machine he’s become, in Stallone: Rambo—The Complete Collector’s Set, which features three survivalist slugfests from the ’80s—First Blood, First Blood Part II and Rambo III—plus the new Rambo from earlier this year. Booby-trapped with an arsenal of bonus features, including more than a dozen documentaries, this Rambo combo is just the ticket for movie fans in the mood for immersion in a savage world of sharp blades, big ka-booms and sweaty bandanas.
—Neil Pond, American Profile

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By 1978, NBC’s “experiment” in late-night weekend comedy was hot enough to catch the lab on fire. With the inclusion of newcomer Bill Murray and the recurrence of guest-host comedian Steve Martin, Saturday Night Live was blazing new trails with the Coneheads, John Belushi’s Samurai warrior, the Nerds, Belushi and Dan Aykroyd’s Blues Brothers, Father Guido Sarducci and a string of other characters soon to enter hilarity’s hall of fame. Re-live all the laughs with these 20 episodes, which also feature musical performances by Jackson Browne, Elvis Costello, Eddie Money, Stephen Bishop and other superstars of the era.
—Neil Pond, American Profile

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Hitch up with The Duke in four classic westerns from the archives of 20th Century Fox. In addition to The Big Trail, the 1930 adventure-romance epic that marked his first starring role, three big-screen roundups from the ’60s—Comancheros, The Undefeated and North To Alaska—find Wayne in full midlife-cowboy swagger. Bonus content includes a widescreen version of The Big Trail and several featurettes, including a classic MovieTone theatrical short from 1960 about pop singer Fabian lighting up the Broadway premiere of North to Alaska, in which he had a role as a gold-prospecting paramour. (Not rated)
—Neil Pond, American Profile

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This summer will see the return to the big screen of Indiana Jones, the intrepid archeologist portrayed by Harrison Ford in three previous blockbuster spectacles. Here’s you chance to re-live the new-age pulp of Raiders of the Lost Ark, the original 1981 adventure that started it all, plus its sequels, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. It’s a popcorn-fueled, triple-feature thrill ride with a sidecar of DVD extras, including several documentaries and new interviews with Ford, his co-stars, and creators Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. (Rated PG-13)
¬—Neil Pond, American Profile

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Romantic tension mixes with blow-you-away special effects in this 1996 hit about a couple of thrill-seeking meteorologists (Helen Hunt and Bill Paxman) supercharged by the prospect of finding out what goes on inside a monster tornado. Newly re-released in an expanded DVD package, it comes with a full second disc of extras, including a making-of documentary and a look at real-life storm-chasing scientists who try to get a handle on one of Mother Nature’s most destructive forces.
—Neil Pond, American Profile

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At the midpoint of its seven-season run, this ABC sitcom from the ’70s was at the top of its ratings slot with continuing comedic tales of two Milwaukee brewery co-workers (Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams) and their predicaments on and off the job. No DVD extras here, but 23 episodes will keep you laughing for more than 10 hours with these blue-collar belles and their often-misfiring efforts, as the theme song reminds us, to “make all their dreams come true.”
—Neil Pond, American Profile

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