We’ve got a couple of explosive action films headlining the column this week, along with another retelling of the greatest story ever told, a new box set for an iconic TV series, a few indie films, and a handful of TV season sets. Read on for details:
Joel Kinnaman stars as Alex Murphy, a police officer in a near-future Detroit who barely survives a car bomb explosion, only to be reborn as the titular cyborg as part of an experimental program. José Padilha’s RoboCop split critics down the middle at 49% on the Tomatometer; though most felt it did little to distinguish itself from Paul Verhoeven’s subversive 1987 film, quite a few thought the remake was a lot better than it had any right to be. The DVD/Blu-ray/digital copy/UltraViolet pack includes a handful of deleted scenes, three featurettes, ten Omnicorp-branded spotlights on the various machines and weapons from the film, and a couple of trailers.
This based-on-true-events story stars Mark Wahlberg, Taylor Kitsch, Emile Hirsch, and Ben Foster as a team of Navy SEALs tasked with the covert elimination of an important Taliban leader; when they are unexpectedly discovered by local shepherds, things quickly take a turn for the worse. Though some critics found what they considered a jingoistic angle to be a bit hard to swallow, most were taken by Lone Survivor‘s propulsive action and sheer visceral power, leading to a Certified Fresh 75% Tomatometer score. Disc bonuses are limited to one lengthy featurette profiling Marcus Luttrell (Mark Wahlberg’s character) and a number of shorter ones ranging in content from typical behind-the-scenes pieces to a collection of tributes to the real life soldiers involved in the failed operation.
Pieced together from the History Channel’s 10-hour miniseries covering The Bible, Son of God focuses solely on the rise and fall (and rise again) of Christianity’s central figure, played by Portugese actor Diogo Morgado. Most critics agreed that this presentation of the oft-told tale was hokey and heavy-handed, not to mention a bit choppy and inelegantly constructed, and it earned a mere 21% on the Tomatometer. The faithful ones who will be picking this up can expect a couple of mini-docs on modern-day Christianity and a making-of video, among other extras.
Widely considered one of the greatest American television series ever produced, Breaking Bad came to a close in late September last year, ending the meth-cooking misadventures of Walter “Heisenberg” White (Bryan Cranston) and Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul). Critics rated the show Certified Fresh in each of its seasons, all of which sit at an impressive 100% with the exception of the first (78%). The new box set being released this week contains essentially the same content as the previously available collectible set that came in the replica money barrel, except that it’s packaged more traditionally and doesn’t include all the nifty extras like the commemorative coin or the Los Pollos Hermanos apron. Otherwise, you’ll still get the 55 hours of bonus features, so this is ideal for anyone who was waiting for a more compact set.
