New to View: Sept. 2

By Bob Bloom
The following titles are being released on Tuesday, Sept. 2, unless otherwise noted:
The Two Jakes (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray)
Details: 1990, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: R, violence, language, sexual situations
The lowdown: Jack Nicholson returns as private eye Jake Gittes and directs this sequel to “Chinatown,” set in postwar Los Angeles.
It’s 1948 and the city is booming, teeming with optimism and easy money.
But Gittes knows from bitter experience that it is all an illusion.
Gittes involvement begins with businessman Jake Berman (Harvey Keitel) hiring the private eye to catch his wife committing adultery. During the operation, Berman kills his wife’s lover, Martin Bodine, who also is his partner in a real estate development company.
Gittes now finds himself under scrutiny for his role in what appears to be a premeditated murder. The key piece of evidence is a wire recording made by Gittes.
The story is rather convoluted with case involving Katherine Mulwray, the daughter of Faye Dunaway’s Evelyn Mulwray from “Chinatown.”
The cast of the movie, which had a troubled production history, also includes Meg Tilly, Madeleine Stowe, Elli Wallach, Richard Farnsworth, Rubén Blades, Frederic Forrest, David Keith and, from “Chinatown, Joe Mantel, Perry Lopez and James Hong.
“Jakes” received a 63 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 4K: 2160p ultra-high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 and 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles; Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 and 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus offerings include a commentary track by mystery writer-filmmaker Max Allan Collins with film historian and host of “Cereal at Midnight” podcast Heath Holland on both discs and, on the Blu-ray disc, interviews with Keith, Nicholson and editor Anne Goursaud.

“Errol Flynn Collection” (Blu-ray)
Details: 1938-48, Warner Archive Collection
Rated: PG, Not rated
The lowdown: Errol Flynn was the major swashbuckling-action star from the mid-1930s to the postwar 1940s. He was the successor to silent film star Douglas Fairbanks and though many — including Tyrone Power, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Cornel Wilde and Jon Hall, to name a few — tried — and failed — to topple him.
This six-disc set features a half dozen of Flynn’s action-adventure features, starting with the movie that is considered his finest — 1938’s “The Adventures of Robin Hood,” a Technicolor epic that displays Flynn’s athleticism, bravado and humor.
The set also includes “The Sea Hawk” (1940), a seafaring saga set during the time of Queen Elizabeth I, that also served as a quiet warning about preparedness with World War II beginning to envelop Europe.
In “Robin Hood,” Flynn woos Olivia De Havilland’s Maid Marian and battles Basil Rathbone’s evil Sir Guy of Gisbourne and Claude Rains’ sly Prince John, all aided by his band of followers including Alan Hale as Little John, Patric Knowles as Will Scarlett, Eugene Pallette as Friar Tuck and Herbert Mundin as Much.
Flynn’s Geoffrey Thorpe fights Spanish aggression in the persons of Rains’ Spanish ambassador Don José Alvarez de Cordoba and traitorous English Lord Wolfingham (Henry Daniell), an advisor to the queen. Brenda Marshall plays the love interest, while Hale, J.M. Kerrigan and William Lundigan are among those aiding Thorpe.
“Santa Fe Trail” (1940) was more fiction than fact as it tells of Flynn’s Jeb Stuart and Ronald Reagan’s George Armstrong Custer vying for the affections of De Havilland’s “Kit Carson” Holliday while also trying to stop the activities of fanatical abolitionist John Brown (Raymond Massey) with the aid, again, of Hale as well as Guinn “Big Boy” Williams and other historical personages such as Phil Sheridan and James Longstreet.
“Edge of Darkness” (1943) is a World War II drama with Flynn as Norwegian freedom fighter Gunnar Brogge battling the Nazi occupation of his homeland. He is assisted by Ann Sheridan and Walter Huston in cruel German Capt. Koenig (Helmut Dantine). The cast also includes Judith Anderson, John Beal, Nancy Coleman, Ruth Gordon, Morris Carnovsky and Charles Dingle.
Flynn next fights the Japanese in 1945’s “Objective, Burma!,” in which he and his paratroopers are tasked with destroying an enemy radar station. Included in the cast is Henry Hull, James Brown, William Prince, Richard Erdman and Warner Anderson.
“Adventures of Don Juan” (1948) was Flynn’s last great hurrah as a costumed swashbuckler. Here, viewers see how the actor’s hard-drinking lifestyle was beginning to catch up with him.
Heavy makeup can’t conceal the bags under his eyes or his heavier demeanor. Again, aided by Hale, Don Juan fights court intrigue — in the persona of the villainous Duke de Lorca (Robert Douglas) — to protect King Phillip III (Romney Brent) and the beautiful Queen Margaret (Viveca Lindfors) from de Lorca’s scheme to rule the country and shatter the peace of Europe.
These movies are among the fondest and best remembered features starring Flynn and, with very sharp audio and visual transfers, can be viewed over and over.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.37:1 (16×9) with side mattes; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio monaural; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Classic shorts and trailers comprise the extras.

Undisputed (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray)
Details: 2002, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: R, language, violence
The lowdown: Director Walter Hill co-wrote and directed this prison drama about a George “Iceman” Chambers (Ving Rhames), a heavyweight champion convicted of rape and sent to prison.
Once behind prison walls, Chambers begins hearing about fellow inmate Monroe Hutchen (Wesley Snipes), the prison’s boxing champ for 10 years running.
This, of course, leads to bad blood between the two inmates and a ignites a lunch-room fight between the pair.
Fellow convict and former mob boss Emmanuel “Mendy” Ripstein (Peter Falk) sees a way to make some money and sets up a prison boxing match between the two macho men.
This glorified B-movie, which costars Michael Rooker, Jon Seda, Fisher Stevens, Wes Studi and Amy Aquino, received mixed reviews, earning a 50 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 4K: 2160p ultra-high definition, 2.35:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 and 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles; Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 2.35:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 and 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus materials include a commentary track with action film historian Mike Leeder and filmmaker Matt Routledge on both discs and, on the Blu-ray disc, an interview with Hill and conversations with Snipes and Rhames.

The Hard Way (Blu-ray)
Release date: Aug. 26
Details: 1943, Warner Archive Collection-Allied Vaughn
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Ida Lupino is dynamic, ambitious and ruthless as Helen Chernen who wants to get her and her talented younger sister, Katie (Joan Leslie), out of the dirty steel town in which they live.
Helen is constantly scheming to improve their lot. She pushes Katie into a marriage with song-and-dance man Albert Runkel (Jack Carson), even though Katie does not love him. Runkel’s partner, Paul Collins (Dennis Morgan), is not fooled by Helen’s machinations and does what he can to stop her from breaking his partner’s heart.
As Katie’s career flourishes — and Helen rises into wealthier surroundings — she connives to get her sister into a Broadway production.
Katie soon becomes a successful singer and actress while Runkel and Collins’ act begins a downslide. Runkel is despondent about being away from the wife he truly loves. He refuses to live off her earnings and refuses to use her name to promote the act.
Runkel eventually commits suicide.
Unfortunately, Katie’s popularity goes to her head; she becomes a party girl, causing her to lose an important opportunity. Collins, meanwhile, has become a successful band leader.
The two reconnect, fall in love and begin a relationship. But ambition intervenes when Katie is forced to choose between Collins and a role in an important stage production by a famous playwright. Katie chooses the play, and Collins leaves.
The night the play opens, Collins stops by to wish Katie luck but is run off by Helen. This leads to a fight between the sisters over why Helen pushed her so hard to be successful.
During the play, Katie forgets lines and has to be prompted several times before collapsing on stage. Later that evening backstage, Katie tells Helen that she never wants to see her again. Collins reappears and he and Katie renew their relationship.
Helen later dies in what is implied as a suicide.
For her performance, Lupino won the 1943 New York Film Critics Circle Award for best actress.
“The Hard Way” can be found at www.moviezyng.com or other online sellers.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.37:1 full-screen with side mattes and 16:9 enhanced; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio monaural; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include a “Lux Radio Theater adaptation of the movie with Miriam Hopkins, two short subjects and two Warner Bros. cartoons.

Invasion, U.S.A. & Rocket Attack, U.S.A. (Blu-ray)
Release date: Aug. 26
Details: 1952, 1960, Film Masters
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: In 1952, the Cold War was raging — U.S. troops were fighting North Korean and Chinese communist forces in Korea and, on the home front, politicians such as Rep. J. Parnell Thomas, chairman of the House Unamerican Activities Committee, and Sen. Joseph McCarthy were scaring everyday Americans with claims of communists creeping — and controlling — nearly every facet of life and feverishly working to undermine American society.
Hollywood was not immune, and the result was such movies as “Invasion U.S.A.,” an independent cheapie that imagined an invasion of the country by an unnamed communist enemy — even though every viewer knew that the invaders were from the Soviet Union.
“Invasion, U.S.A.” opens in a typical New York City bar where the mysterious Mr. Ohman (Dan O’Herlihy) gets into a discussion with a cross-section of people — including a newscaster, a society woman, a rancher, a congressman and a businessman.
A television is relaying the news of the bad international situation, but the customers don’t want to hear it. Instead, while enjoying their affluence and freedom, they also complain about their taxes and the government’s urging for industry to step up and help.
Suddenly, news reporters are broadcast about air attacks over Alaska. As the reports worsen, the people leave the bar to return to work or their homes.
The situation continues to worsen, culminating in an atomic bomb dropped on New York City.
The cast includes Gerald Mohr, Peggy Castle, Robert Bice and Wade Crosby.
“Rocket Attack, U.S.A.” was released in 1960 and is another warning film about preparedness as government officials learn too late that the Soviet Union is readying a surprise attack on the nation via intercontinental ballistic missiles for which the U.S. does not have adequate defenses.
Both movies lean on the anti-communist feelings of the era as well as the Red Scare paranoia that gripped much of the country.
The Blu-ray can be found at www.moviezyng.com or other online retailers.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.37:1 full-screen picture; English DTS-HD Master Audio monaural; English closed-captioned subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include a collection of eight atomic-era propaganda shorts; “Better Dead Than Red: Hollywood vs. Communism in the 1950s,” written by film historian C. Courtney Joyner and narrated by Larry Blamire; a remembrance and look at the career of Mohr by his son, Anthony J. Mohr; a short, “And a Voice Shall Be Heard,” that was shown in some theaters with “Invasion U.S.A.”; a commentary track by author-professor Jason A. Ney; a commentary on “Rocket Attack, U.S.A.” by Joyner and film historian Mark Jordan Legan; a booklet; and a stills gallery.

Huckleberry Finn (Blu-ray)
Details: 1931, Kino Lorber
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Jackie Coogan, Mitzie Green and Junior Durkin star in this adaptation of Mark Twain’s “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.”
The movie is a follow-up to Paramount Pictures’ 1930’s release of “Tom Sawyer,” and uses many young performers from the earlier production.
“Huckleberry Finn” is set a year after the exploits Huck (Junior Durkin) and Tom (Jackie Coogan) shared in the earlier movie. The situation for the once-homeless Huck and Tom has changed since they found $12,000 in treasure.
Huck has been taken in by the kindly Widow Douglas (Jane Darwell) and her severe and disapproving spinster sister. But Huck is having trouble adapting to “respectable” life.
Complications arise because of Tom’s wooing of Becky Thatcher (Green), who is jealous of the boys’ friendship and tries to create a rift between them.
Huck, who now goes to school, is embarrassed because his classmates tease him about his lack of education.
Huck has a bigger problem, the return of his no-account, drunken father, who wants his share of Huck’s money.
Pap Finn (Warner Richmond) kidnaps his son and holds him in a remote shack. But Huck escapes and decides to head down river to hide out.
Tom and the Widow Douglas’ slave, Jim (Clarence Muse), accompany Huck. The trio soon run into a couple of con men, played by Eugene Pallette and Oscar Apfel, posing as a duke and a king.
When Huck and Tom beg for food in a river town, they meet kindly, recently-orphaned Mary Jane (Charlotte Henry), who has $14,000 in gold hidden in her cellar.
When the con men learn of this, they cook up a scheme to pretend to be relatives of Mary Jane so they can steal her gold.
Tom and Huck, after a misunderstanding, decide to protect Mary Jane and expose the con men in front of the local sheriff.
The movie has seldom been seen because of a 1939 MGM adaptation of Twain’s book starring Mickey Rooney.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.37:1 full-screen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio monaural; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: The main extra is a commentary track by film historian-writer Julie Kirgo and writer-filmmaker Peter Hankoff.

The Lords of Discipline (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray)
Details: 1983, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: R, language, violence
The lowdown: A thriller that is based on a novel by Pat Conroy (“The Prince of Tides,” “The Great Santini”), inspired by his time spent at The Citadel, a military college in Charleston, South Carolina, in the 1960s.
David Keith (“An Officer and a Gentleman”) stars as upperclassman Will McLean, a cadet whose uncompromising integrity leads him to defy the rules of conduct that helped shape him.
The movie, set in 1964 at the Carolina Military Institute, centers on the admittance of the school’s first black student in its freshman class.
McLean is asked to protect the student, Tom Pearce (Mark Breland), from The Ten — a secret society of cadets intent on eliminating from the school those it deems as “unfit.”
To defy them, McLean is willing to risk his career, his friends and his life.
The cast also includes Robert Prosky, G.D. Spradlin, Michael Biehn, Barbara Babcock, Rick Rossovich, Judge Reinhold and Bill Paxton.
Technical aspects: 4K: 2160p ultra-high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 and 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles; Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 and 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Supplemental materials include a commentary track with film historians Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson, with Conroy historian Lynn Smith on both discs and, on the Blu-ray, interviews with Keith and director Franc Roddam.

Lost in Space (4K Ultra HD)
Details: 1998, Arrow Films
Rated: PG-13, violence, intense sci-fi action
The lowdown: I was never a big fan of the “Lost in Space” television series, I found it childish and silly.
But, when compared to this big-screen remake, the TV series is definitely appealing.
The movie adaptation is cluttered and clunky and takes itself much too seriously.
The basic premise remains the same — the Robinson family, father John (William Hurt), mother Maureen (Mimi Rogers), daughters Judy (Heather Graham) and Penny (Lacey Chabert) and son Will (Jack Johnson), along with family physician Dr. Zachary Smith (Gary Oldman) — blast off to colonize a new planet for a dying Earth.
Smith, of course, is still the traitor working to sabotage the mission.
The plot is convoluted involving time travel, Will’s mysterious science project and deadly spider-like creatures.
The film is nonsense, lacking focus and consistency.
Technical aspects: 2160p ultra-high definition, 2.39:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus options include an archival commentary track with director Stephen Hopkins and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman; a second commentary with visual effects supervisors Angus Bickerton and Lauren Ritchie, director of photography Peter Levy, editor Ray Lovejoy and producer Carla Fry; interviews with Hopkins, Levy, Goldsman, supervising art director Keith Pain, Kenny Wilson, former mould shop supervisor at Jim Henson’s Creature Shop and sound mixer Simon Kaye and re-recording mixer Robin O’Dononhue; a visual essay by film critic Mat Donato; deleted scenes; bloopers; a question-and-answer session with the original cast of the TV series; an archival featurette with Bickerton and animatics supervisor Mac Wilson; and a booklet.

Other titles being released on Tuesday, unless otherwise indicated:
DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, STREAMING or VOD
A Line of Fire (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)
Alien: Earth: Episode 5 (Hulu)
Kill the Jockey (Music Box Films)
Name of the Game (Kino Film Collection)
Shari and Lambchop (Kino Film Collection)

SEPT. 3
Acapulco: Season 4, Episode 8 (Apple TV+)
Lilo & Stitch (Disney+)
Platonic: Season 2, Episode 6 (Apple TV+)
The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox: Episode 4 (Hulu)

SEPT. 4
Blood & Myth (Hulu)
Live Life: Season 2, Episodes 5-8 (Viaplay)
Northern Lights (Kino Film Collection)
Oh, Canada (Kino Film Collection)

SEPT. 5
Angelheaded Hipster: The Songs of Marc Bolan & T. Rex (Greenwich Entertainment)
Chief of War: Episode 7 (Apple TV+)
Foundation: Season 3, Episode 9 (Apple TV+)
Highest to Lowest (Apple TV+)
Shoshana (Greenwich Entertainment)

SEPT. 6
Somnium (Yellow Veil Pictures)

SEPT. 8
In the Name of Love: Episodes 1 & 2 (Viaplay)

I am a founding member of the Indiana Film Journalists Association. I review movies, 4K UHD, Blu-rays and DVDs for ReelBob (ReelBob.com), The Film Yap and other print and online publications. I can be reached by email at bobbloomjc@gmail.com. You also can follow me on X @ReelBobBloom and on Facebook at ReelBob or the Indiana Film Journalists Association. My movie reviews also can be found at Rotten Tomatoes: www.rottentomatoes.com.