Has it really been that long since the last DVD Tuesday? I’ve tried to be a bit more selective in what DVDs I have recommended, but perhaps I’ve been a bit too selective. What gems have I missed telling you about? The Brak Show: Volume 1, Sealab 2021: Season 2, new transfers of Rocky II and III, Angel: Season 5, Donnie Darko: The Director’s Cut, South Park Season 5, Heat, Bambi…oh, what have I done?? Can you ever forgive me? I will try to be more diligent in the future. With that in mind, here are this week’s essential DVD purchases:
Remember back when I told you to buy The Iron Giant? You didn’t listen, did you? Well, Pixar’s latest animated film, The Incredibles (by the same director) just won the Academy Award for Best Animated Picture*. Are you listening now? Good.
(* Okay, okay, I know that “Best Animated Picture” is kind of an insulting prize, kind of like “Smartest Kid Who Eats Paste” or “Greatest Star Trek Film.” What, Beauty and the Beast got nominated for Best Picture, but other animated pictures require some kind of special qualification? It’s almost as if they came up with this category to get the people off their backs who said, “Hey, an animated picture can be a great movie too!” And now the animation fans are placated, and as a result, you get The Incredibles up for the same award as Shark Tale. Come on. That would be like making a category called “Best Director of a Film About Howard Hughes,” just so that Martin Scorcese could finally win an Oscar. It’s demeaning, and I won’t stand for it.)
So, the DVD opens with an introduction by Brad Bird, explaining how it was transferred directly from the digital source. And oh, does it look like it! To say the image quality is pristine would be an insult to the word. If this image looks this good, I can hardly imagine what an HD transfer will look like! The DVD is THX-certified, Dolby Digital 5.1 EX audio, commentary with the filmmakers, blah blah blah…old hat for owners of previous Pixar special editions. Also included are the new short, “Jack-Jack Attack,” and the Academy Award—nominated short film Boundin’. Buy and enjoy at Best Buy for only $15.99.
Have I talked about Red Dwarf before? Probably not. It’s just your typical British sci-fi comedy TV series. I’d say that it’s similar to Star Trek: Voyager, except that it came out about seven years before Voyager. Remember how Voyager was so cutting-edge with a holographic crewmember? Red Dwarf did it first. And when Voyager got sent to the far reaches of space, and it would take them 80 years to get back to Earth? Red Dwarf ends up three million years away from Earth, where the human race has almost certainly become extinct. And how does Dave Lister, the last human being alive, respond? “Turn the ship around! We’re going home!” Oh, and the love of Lister’s life, Kristine Kochanski, was also killed in the accident that wiped out the rest of the ship’s crew. In short, it’s a love story across time, space, death and reality. It’s ingenious, hilarious, smart, actually has some good science fiction, but never takes itself too seriously.
Of course, all of that is a lead-in to the announcement that Red Dwarf V, the fifth series of Red Dwarf, is available today on DVD. (Remember, in Britain, it’s called a series, not a season. A season implies that the show is ongoing, and will continue to have new episodes, while a series implies that each particular group of episodes stands alone, and there may be a long wait between one series and the next.) As with most British series, Red Dwarf V consists of six episodes, which keeps each episode packed full of comic genius, and assures that the show remains memorable and doesn’t wear out its welcome. As with every other Red Dwarf DVD, Season V features a commentary on each episode by the cast. Additionally, there is a fan commentary on one of my favorite episodes, “Back to Reality.” The set also includes deleted scenes, Smeg-Ups, featurettes and documentaries, easter eggs, and much more.
And of course, if you’re picking up Red Dwarf V, you might as well pick up Red Dwarf VI too. This set also includes the episode “Gunmen of the Apocalypse,” which won an International Emmy (whatever that is). Special features are about the same as the previous DVD. You can get Series V and VI at Best Buy for $29.99 each, or if you order online, you will save $10 on any two Red Dwarf series, or $40 if you order all six. So if you would like to start your collection now, you can get Series I-VI for only $140. This show gets my highest recommendation; there is really nothing like it on American television.
And rounding out this week’s picks is the Star Trek: First Contact Collector’s Edition. As with previous films in the series, the earlier single-disc DVD has been replaced with a deluxe two-disc set, featuring a new video and audio transfer, commentary track with Jonathan frakes, text commentary track, and numerous behind-the-scenes features. Only $14.99 at Best Buy, for what could be the greatest Star Trek film of all time.
