There is one big release on home video this week that sort of outshines the others, so even though there are some new films that are coming out on DVD and Blu-ray, we thought it best to lead with the rather impressive Harry Potter set. With that said, we’ve also got a new set for a different blockbuster juggernaut, a new Buster Keaton movie in hi-def, and a few new releases, so let’s start with those:
Alexandre Aja’s cheeky 2010 remake (reboot?) of Piranha surprised everyone with its Certified Fresh 73% Tomatometer score, so it wasn’t as surprising when we got a sequel, Piranha 3DD (Get it? You know, because, boobs.) earlier this year. Unfortunately, 3DD, which shifts locales to a popular water park, employs a more traditional teenagers-in-peril storyline, and attempts to take proceedings even further over the top, failed to impress critics, who awarded the movie a dismal 14% Tomatometer. Despite some amusing celebrity cameos and a gleeful willingness to offend delicate sensibilities, 3DD feels too forced and derivative to repeat the success of its predecessor.
Jason Statham has certainly done enough to earn his place in the Expendables lineup, and critics say when it comes to dropping baddies, he certainly lives up to his reputation in Safe; it’s just that the rest of the movie around him isn’t as exciting. Safe finds Statham as small time MMA fighter Luke Wright, who crosses the Russian mafia and, as a result, suffers the mass murder of his family. Left to wander the steets of New York, Luke takes a page from Statham’s Transporter playbook when he decides to protect a young Chinese girl targeted by the same mob. Most critics liked the action enough to recommend the film at 57% on the Tomatometer, though they also conceded that its story is too formulaic to set it apart from similar but better movies.
Jason Segel reunited with his Forgetting Sarah Marshall director Nick Stoller for The Five-Year Engagement, which they wrote together, and while the results weren’t as memorable, most critics found the relationship comedy pleasant enough. Segel and Emily Blunt play a young San Francisco couple who, engaged after a year of dating, continually find reasons (legitimate ones, to be fair) to postpone their wedding. As their careers take off and new opportunities threaten to pry them apart, they try to roll with the punches. While some found The Five-Year Engagement a bit long for a comedy of its kind, most still felt the script was funny and surprisingly deep and intelligent, so it sports a decent 63% Tomatometer.
There isn’t much we could print in this column about James Cameron’s Titanic that hasn’t already been said, so we’ll skip the formalities and simply tell you it’ll be available on Blu-ray for the first time next Monday, September 10th. If you’ll recall, the 1997 epic was re-released in 3D earlier this year, and so you likewise have the option of getting the four-disc combo set in 3D as well, and this release also features a ton of never-before-seen footage, including 30 deleted scenes, 60 (yes, 60) behind-the-scenes featurettes, and two brand new docs about the film. If you’re a hardcore fan, you can even pick up the Amazon exclusive Collector’s Edition, which includes an art book, passenger dossier, postcards, and nifty packaging.
Considering the other big gift sets coming out this week, this might seem like a relatively minor release, but let’s not shortchange one of cinema’s most gifted comedic entertainers. Buster Keaton’s 1924 comedy about a privileged couple floating adrift on a deserted ocean liner who learn to fend for themselves featured some of his most famous gags and was his most commercially successful film. This week, The Navigator arrives on Blu-ray for the first time, and it includes a few extras: an audio commentary hosted by silent film historians Robert Arkus and Yair Solan, a short featurette about the making of the film, a “music video” of sorts of the Wilfred Glenn song referenced in the movie, and a photo gallery. It’s not the most robust release, but it’s worth a look for any Buster Keaton fan.
This, folks, is the Harry Potter box set many of you have been waiting for. The Wizard’s Collection, hitting shelves on Friday, September 7th, is such an impressive package that it’s even got a fancy website dedicated entirely to its promotion. This 31-disc set includes every installment of the franchise in both DVD and Blu-ray, of course, but also comes with great extras for the fans, like a 32-page bound collection of prop labels from the movies, an exclusive 48-page book of favorite props chosen by the series’ designers, and a really nice case for everything. Oh, and let’s not forget about the 37 hours’ worth of bonus features, 10 hours of which is brand new content and 5 hours of which is never-before-seen material. There’s a lot being offered here, so our suggestion would simply be to check out the site or watch the trailer below for details.
