Here’s yer DVD goodness…
TV DVD of the Week: Hercules: The Legendary Journeys: Season 6. These Anchor Bay boxed sets freaking drown you in extras. The final episodes of the series total eight, but there’s five discs here just to hold all the bonus bits that they want to assail you with. You get audio commentaries with star Kevin Sorbo (among others), a monster/effects featurette, photo gallery, wrap party footage, alternate titles, interviews, and an entire slew of CD-ROM features (which takes up the entire fifth disc). Huge. The fan will go nuts, as well they should. (Buy it)
DVD of the Week: Coach Carter. Can you imagine having Sam Jackson as a teacher in high school? I don’t think I have the third ball necessary to talk back to that man. Anyway, he’s here and he’s the reason this Paramount release rises above its been-there, done-that teacher-who-saves-the-children foundation. A decent sports movie which is meant to be inspiring, it’s Sam that makes the thing worth renting. Comes with two featurettes and six deleted scenes, along with a music video, which the less we talk about the better. (Buy it)
Docu DVD of the Week: Julius Caesar’s Rome. We’ve talked before about how cool it must be to be the History Channel. Want to release a two-disc centered around Rome…okay! Done! They just trawl through their archives and here you go. There’s a Biography episode on Julius himself, a docu on Antony and Cleopatra, and then ones that cover various stages of the empire: the Republic, the Emperors, the rise of the Empire itself and then its legacy once it kind of fell over on its side and wouldn’t stop twitching for a few decades. Also comes with a timeline of Emperors. (Buy it)
Anime DVD of the Week: Patlabor: The Mobile Police: The New Files, Vol. 1. The TV series ended and this OAV series picked up from there, hitting DVD with four episodes from Central Park Media. Noa is finally realizing her dream of becoming a robot pilot for the police. Now that she’s coming face to face with a slew of crimes and the killer robot known as the Griffin, she might be rethinking things. Comes with a sketch gallery. (Buy it)
Adverse Video of the Week: Cleopatra 2525: The Complete Series. Let’s see, take the idea of Buck Rogers and combine it with a stripper. Yes, it looks good on paper, doesn’t it: sci-fi meets skimpily clad women? Fighting off a world dominated by machines? Sounds like geek heaven, the best of both worlds, right? And yet, somehow, this series collapsed after two seasons, drowning in Velveeta. If you want to watch it for yourself, be warned: it’s so bad it just might draw you in. (Buy it)
Animation DVD of the Week: Vintage Mickey. I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating: you need to buy Walt Disney Treasures. But while you’re waiting for your Amazon order for those to process (or you’re scanning online to find the ones you missed and shell out coin), you can tide yourself over with the nine black and white animated Mickey shorts on this disc. “Steamboat Willie” is here, of course, plus other classics like “Plane Crazy” and “Mickey’s Revue.” (Buy it)
Brit DVD of the Week: Little Britain: The Complete First Series. Ah, how we love those sick and twisted Brits. The two guys behind the series are here throwing sketch comedy at your head that’s been smoothed down to a blunt instrument. And we like it bunches. All eight episodes from the first series are here, spread across two discs. The creators provide commentary for all eight episodes (joined by either a producer or director), a behind-the-scenes docu, some deleted scenes with commentary, some bits from Rock Profiles, some live sketches, and a crapload more stuff. All of this from the glorious BBC. (Buy it)
