New to View: Effects of ‘San Andreas’ will shake you up
By Bob Bloom
The following Blu-rays and DVDs are being released on Tuesday, Oct. 13:
San Andreas (Blu-ray + DVD + Ultraviolet)
Details: 2015, Warner Home Video
Rated: PG-13, intense disaster action and violence, language
The lowdown: This early summer disaster blockbuster looks and sounds great.
The Dolby Atmos audio track will assuredly rock your living room. It’s the movie’s plotline that may mar the experience for you.
Dwayne Johnson stars as the most heroic helicopter rescue pilot in the history of Los Angeles. He goes AWOL with a county chopper to rescue his estranged wife and daughter when disaster strikes and he is needed the most.
“San Andreas” is entertaining and dumb fun, especially if you enjoy seeing buildings collapse, inundated cities crumble and people being crushed, drowned and hurtled from great heights.
A 3D Blu-ray also is available if you have the proper components to utilize it.
Technical aspects: Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 2.40:1 (16×9 enhanced) widescreen picture; English Dolby Atmos, English 5.1 Dolby Digital audio descriptive track and French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles; DVD: 2.40:1 (16×9 enhanced) widescreen picture; English, French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital; English SDH, Spanish and French subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include an examination of the real San Andreas fault, a featurette on Johnson, a commentary with director Brad Peyton, a featurette on the movie’s score, deleted scenes and deleted scenes with commentary by Peyton, a gag reel and a stunt reel.
Tomorrowland (Blu-ray + DVD + digital HD)
Details: 2015, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment
Rated: PG, science fiction action and violence, language, mature themes
The lowdown: At the Disneyland amusement park, Tomorrowland is a place of hope, where a brighter future is predicted and portrayed.
Not so with this movie starring George Clooney and Britt Robertson.
You’d think that with such a promising title the movie would be bouncy, bright and overflowing with hope, especially since Brad Bird, who has given us such delightful offerings as Pixar’s “Ratatouille” and “The Incredibles,” directed it.
Instead, we get what amounts to a 130-minute strident and repetitious public-service announcement about how mankind is destroying the planet and itself and refusing to take action to fix what is wrong.
What is even more disturbing is that for a film entitled “Tomorrowland,” we get only a few minutes of footage about this futuristic utopia — and even that is deceiving.
Technical aspects: Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 2.20:1 widescreen picture; English 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and 2.0 audio descriptive track and French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles; DVD: 2.20:1 widescreen picture; English, French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital and English 2.0 audio descriptive track. English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: A featurette with Bird through Tomorrowland, an animated short on “The Origins of Plus Ultra,” a featurette on the casting, a behind-the-scenes look at scoring the film, deleted scenes and “The World of Tomorrow Science Hour,” which consists of outtakes from a lost Disney series pilot.
Dope (Blu-ray + DVD + Ultraviolet)
Details: 2015, Universal Studios Home Entertainment
Rated: R, language, drug content, nudity, sexual content, violence
The lowdown: An engaging teen-age feature about a high school geek who is into old-school rap, and who finds himself in the middle of a dire predicament involving drug dealers, offbeat characters and an important backpack that has a bearing on whether or not he gets into Harvard.
The film, which received an 87 percent fresh rating at Rottentomatoes, is cheerful and smart.
Technical aspects: Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 2.40:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles; DVD: 2.40:1 anamorphic widescreen picture; English 5.1 Dolby Digital; English SDH, Spanish and French subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include a discussion about the film with cast members and filmmakers and a featurette on the movie’s music.
The Gallows (Blu-ray + DVD + Ultraviolet)
Details: 2015, Warner Home Video
Rated: R, disturbing and violent content, terror
The lowdown: Another in a long line of “found footage” horror films.
This one centers on a high school where, 20 years earlier, an accident resulted in the death of an actor during a school play.
Now, a new school theater group is resurrecting the play to commemorate the tragedy.
Three students, who want to sabotage the production, sneak into the school late one night only to find — as is the usual in such productions — that not everything that is supposed to be dead stays dead.
Their video camera captures some inexplicable and scary incidents that lead to a surprising, not really, climax.
The film did not impress many people as it earned a 16 percent fresh rating at Rottentomatoes.
Technical aspects: Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 (16×9 enhanced) widescreen picture; English Dolby Atmos, English Dolby Digital 5.1 audio descriptive track and French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles; DVD: 1.85:1 (16×9 enhanced) widescreen picture; English, French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include “The Gallows: The Original Version,” which was shot guerilla-style and led to the theatrical production, deleted scenes, a gag reel, a featurette about the supposedly dead Charlie and a “The Gallows: Surviving the Noose” featurette.
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (Blu-ray + Ultraviolet)
Release date: Oct. 6
Details: 2015, Fox Home Entertainment
Rated: PG-13, language, sexual content, drug use and mature themes
The lowdown: This indie feature, a hit at the Sundance Film Festival, is a charmer — earning an 81 percent fresh rating at Rottentomatoes.
The movie centers on three high-school students — Greg (Thomas Mann), who spends most of his time making movie parodies; Earl (RJ Cyler) his movie-making business partner, whom Greg refuses to refer to as his friend; and Rachel (Olivia Cooke), the dying girl, diagnosed with a form of leukemia.
Greg’s mother forces Greg to visit Rachel in order to prop up her spirits. He does so reluctantly and, slowly, a friendship and relationship forms that changes the teen’s life.
To help Rachel, he sets out to make a film for her, and, in the process, begins to connect with the people around him.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.40:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, English 5.1 Dolby Digital descriptive audio track and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital; English SDH and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus offerings include deleted scenes, a look at the movie made for Rachel, a featurette on how the movie was made, a commentary track, a conversation with director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon and Martin Scorsese, Greg’s trailer and Greg and Earl’s movies.
Mad Men: The Final Season, Part 2 (Blu-ray + Ultraviolet)
Details: 2015, Lionsgate Home Entertainment
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Don Draper (Jon Hamm) finally drives off into the sunset as this acclaimed AMC series comes to a close.
The two-disc set contains the show’s final seven episodes as the series wraps up its adventures in advertising on Madison Avenue.
Hamm went out with a bang, finally winning an Emmy Award for his performance after numerous nominations.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.78:1 (16×9 enhanced) widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include a featurette on unmarried professional women with comparisons to “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and an examination of feminism in 1970; a look at the generation boom, a featurette on the first Earth Day, April 22, 1970; a featurette on the artistic enclave of California’s Laurel Canyon; an interactive featurette that looks at various start-ups, mergers, acquisitions and players during the Golden Age of Advertising; and cast and crew commentaries.
Aladdin: Diamond Edition (Blu-ray + DVD + digital HD)
Details: 1992, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment
Rated: G
The lowdown: The death last year of Robin Williams gives this release a poignancy that makes you wistful for the comic actor.
Williams’ vocal performance was one of the most memorable of his long and brilliant career.
The movie features the Academy Award-winning song, “A Whole New World,” as it tells the story of a poor young boy, a princess, an evil wizard and a lovable genie.
This is a timeless adventure the entire family can enjoy over and over, enhanced by a superb Blu-ray upgrade.
Technical aspects: Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture, English 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles; DVD: 1.85:1 (16×9 enhanced) widescreen picture; English, French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: The biggest bonus feature is the hours of outtakes of Williams’ riffing as the Genie. Other extras include a featurette on the various transformations and celebrity references of the Genie, directors John Musker and Ron Clements discuss their longtime partnership at Disney, a featurette on bringing “Aladdin” to Broadway, a look at the Easter eggs hidden in the set and the bonus features from the film’s original DVD release.
The Brood: Special Edition (Blu-ray)
Details: 1979, The Criterion Collection
Rated: R, disturbing images, violence
The lowdown: David Cronenberg directed this horror-thriller about a disturbed woman (Samantha Eggar) who is receiving a radical form of psychotherapy at a remote and rather strange institute.
At the same time, her 5-year-old daughter, who is living with her estranged husband, is being terrorized by a group of demonic beings.
The shocker lies in the connection between the two storylines, which, if you’ve never seen the film, will blow you away.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.78:1 widescreen picture; English LPCM monaural; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Among the supplemental materials are a new documentary about the making of the movie and Cronenberg’s early works; a restored 4K digital transfer of the director’s 1970 feature “Crimes of the Future,” a 2011 interview with Cronenberg about “Crimes of the Future,” a 2013 interview with “Brood” actors Art Hindle and Cindy Hinds, a 1980 appearance by “Brood” co-star Oliver Reed on “The Merv Griffin Show” and a very insightful essay by film critic Carrie Rickey.
Vikings: The Complete Third Season (Blu-ray)
Release date: Oct. 6
Details: 2015, MGM-Fox Home Entertainment
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A three-disc set featuring all 10 third-season episodes of this series that follows a family of Vikings as they raid, wage war and conquer.
Blood flows, loyalties are questioned and bonds are tested as the action ranges from Essex to Paris.
Of course, betrayals and secrets also are revealed in this exciting saga.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, French 5.1 DTS and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include a look an interactive look at the various Norse gods, extended versions of all episodes, a look at the politics of King Ragnar’s rule, a behind-the-scenes look at the creation and attack on Paris, deleted scenes and commentaries on a few episodes.
Dexter: The Complete Series
Details: 2006-13, Showtime Entertainment-Paramount Home Entertainment
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: This 32-disc set features all 96 episodes of this highly popular Showtime series starring Michael C. Hall as Dexter Morgan, a police blood splatter analyst, who serves up vigilante justice while at the same time solving crime.
The set features all eight delectable seasons as we watch our homicidal antihero battle within himself while also staying one step ahead of those investigating his killings.
Technical aspects: 16×9 widescreen picture; English, Spanish and French 5.1 and 2.0 Dolby Digital; English closed-captioned.
Don’t miss: Extras include “Dexter’s tool kit,” an “Exploring Dexter: An Inside Look” featurette, a peek inside the writers’ room, interviews with Hall and John Lithgow, a “Code of Harry” featurette and more.
Ascension
Details: 2015, Lionsgate Home Entertainment
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: The premise of this miniseries is that a select group of people were sent into space on a century-long secret mission.
However, when a young woman is killed on the spaceship, festering conflicts erupt and the inhabitants begin to question the purposes of their mission as saviors of mankind.
The series is based on the actual Project Orion that was created under President Kennedy.
Technical aspects: 1.78:1 (16×9 enhanced) widescreen picture; English 5.1 Dolby Digital; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: A behind-the-scenes featurette is the main bonus offering.
Dark Places (Blu-ray + Ultraviolet)
Release date: Oct. 6
Details: 2014, Lionsgate Home Entertainment
Rated: R, violence, language, sexual content, drug use
The lowdown: Oscar-winner Charlize Theron stars in thriller about a young woman whose mother and two sisters were murdered when she was a child.
Her brother was convicted and put in prison for the crime.
Now, she has discovered evidence that her brother may be innocent and the true killer is still at large.
The movie is adapted from a novel by Gillian Flynn, author of “Gone Girl.” Co-starring with Theron is Tye Sheridan, Nicholas Hoult, Chloe Grace-Moretz, Christina Hendricks and Corey Stoll.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.40:1 (16×9 enhanced) widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH, English and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus materials include a making of featurette and a profile of Flynn.
Mission Impossible: The Complete TV Series
Release date: Oct. 6
Details: 1966-73, CBS DVD-Paramount Home Entertainment
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: For seven seasons, all 171 episodes, the Impossible Mission Force thwarted enemies of our nation both foreign and domestic.
This 46-disc set spotlights the exploits of team leader Dan Briggs (Stephen Hill) in season one, then Jim Phelps (Peter Graves) for the rest of the series.
Over the years, Martin Landau, Barbara Bain, Greg Morris, Peter Lupus, Lesley Anne Down, Leonard Nimoy and Lynda Day George, among others, aided them.
The first few seasons concentrated on stopping communist takeovers and revolutions overseas. In the later years, the I.M.F. battled organized crime in the United States.
The series may seem a bit dated today, but it still offers loads of intrigue, suspense and excitement.
Technical aspects: 4×3 full-screen picture; English and Spanish Dolby Digital monaural.
The Return of Count Yorga (Blu-ray)
Details: 1971, Scream Factory
Rated: R, horror violence
The lowdown: Robert Quarry made a name for himself as a horror star portraying the evil vampire, Count Yorga, in a couple of low-budget quickies.
In this sequel, the count is revived by the supernatural properties of the Santa Ana winds and heads back to quench his thirst for blood.
The count moves next door to an orphanage where he meets a beautiful young woman, which stirs something beside bloodlust in the vampire. The cast includes Mariette Hartley and, in his debut, Craig T. Nelson.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English DTS-HD Master Audio monaural.
Don’t miss: A commentary track is the major bonus offering.
Lynyrd Skynyrd — Gone With the Wind
Details: 2015, MVD Visual
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A musical documentary that looks at one of the most famous bands in the Southern Rock movement, even though its music was much more diversified.
After struggling for years, the band hit it big in 1973 and with its lead singer, Ronnie Van Zant, surged in popularity with its gritty lyrics and energy.
That all came to an end in 1977 after a fatal plane crash, but the band’s music is its legacy.
Technical aspects: 16:9 picture; English Dolby Digital stereo.
Baseball Legends
Details: 2014-15, Lionsgate Home Entertainment
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A four-disc set that profiles four of the National Pastime’s greatest players: Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Hank Aaron and Ted Williams.
The set traces their lives from boyhood to the Hall of Fame and looks at the records they set and their impact on the game.
It’s a lineup that any baseball fan can cherish.
Technical aspects: 1.78:1 (16×9 enhanced) widescreen picture; English 5.1 Dolby Digital; English closed-captioned.
Don’t miss: Extras include a making of featurette on the Babe Ruth segment, player interviews, historic game footage, Williams’ Hall of Fame induction, extended interview with scholars of the game and archival footage from Major League Baseball.
Danny Kaye — Legends
Details: 2015, MVD Visual
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Danny Kaye was a versatile comic actor who could sing, dance, mimic dialects and use his rubbery face to make people laugh.
In the 1960s, he hosted a TV variety show where he shared the stage with such performers as Louis Armstrong, George Burns, Liberace, Shirley Jones and Lucille Ball.
The DVD features six of those shows as Kaye and his guests cavort to the delight of TV audiences.
Technical aspects: 4×3 full-screen picture.
The Avenging Fist
Details: 2001, Well Go USA Entertainment
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A futuristic police thriller in which all weapons have been outlawed, and the police department has used a new secret weapon, the Power Glove, to unlock the potential of the brain.
The use of the Glove is restricted, but one of the remaining survivors of the experiments to harness its power instigates a scheme to capture the world’s best fighters and steal their psychic energy for himself and his army of evildoers.
Sammo Hung plays the hero, who must convince a cadre of friends to help him thwart this plan as he encourages them to embrace their destinies as well.
The movie features a lot of action, enough to satisfy any genre fan.
Technical aspects: 16:9 widescreen picture; Cantonese 5.1 Dolby Digital; English subtitles.
The Raid
Details: 1991, Well Go USA Entertainment
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: This is not the Thai action thriller of a couple of years ago.
Instead, the story is an adaptation of “Uncle Choi,” one of China’s most famous comic books.
The story centers on Dr. Choi, who was once a soldier and is now an elderly doctor who has been captured and forced by tribesmen to treat soldiers suffering from poison gas attacks.
Choi assembles a group of misfits to raid and destroy a chemical weapons plant and help overthrow the evil Manchu dynasty.
Technical aspects: 16:9 widescreen picture; Cantonese 5.1 Dolby Digital; English subtitles.
Other Blu-rays and DVDs being released on Tuesday, unless otherwise indicated:
The Little Death (Blu-ray)
Hotel Colonial (MGM-Fox Home Entertainment, Oct. 6) (MGM Limited Edition Collection DVD-R)
Last Man Standing: The Complete Fourth Season (Fox Home Entertainment, Oct. 6)
Living on Tokyo Time (MGM-Fox Home Entertainment, Oct. 6) (MGM Limited Edition Collection DVD-R)
Mr. Billion (Fox Home Entertainment, Oct. 6) (Fox Cinema Archivs DVD-R)
FOR KIDS
Chugginton: The Big Freeze (Anchor Bay Entertainment)
My Little Pony: Friendship Games (Blu-ray + DVD + digital) (Shout Kids!)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Cowabunga Christmas (Nickelodeon-Paramount Home Entertainment)
Coming next week: Testament of Youth
Bob Bloom is a member of the Indiana Film Journalists Association. He reviews movies, Blu-rays and DVDs for ReelBob (ReelBob.com), The Film Yap and other print and online publications. He can be reached by email at bobbloomjc@gmail.com. You also can follow Bloom on Twitter @ReelBobBloom and on Facebook. Movie reviews by Bloom also can be found at Rottentomatoes: www.rottentomatoes.com.