John Carter
The (somewhat unfair) poster child for blockbuster bloat, Andrew Stanton's ambitious attempt to bring the classic pulp hero John Carter of Mars to the big screen doesn't lack for visual razzle-dazzle, an epic scope or enormous action set-pieces. Stanton -- making his live action debut after years in the animation realm -- literally reaches for the stars, creating a space opera that's halfway between Lawrence of Arabia and Star Wars. Unfortunately, what's missing amidst the spectacle are strong characters and a great story. Aside from Lynn Collins's kick-ass princess of Mars, few of the onscreen personalities register in compelling ways (including the titular hero, played by Tim Riggins a.k.a. Taylor Kitsch) and the movie's flabby, overpopulated narrative is desperately in need of some streamlining. At the same time, there's a goofy charm to John Carter that makes it a diverting, if not particularly memorable, bit of entertainment. (An arena encounter between Carter and two enormous beasts is a particular highlight.) Here's hoping it meets a kinder reception on DVD than it did in theaters because while it ain't Star Wars, it also ain't Ishtar.
Extras: A commentary track with Stanton, a documentary about John Carter's pulp fiction origins, deleted scenes, a gag reel, a featurette filmed on the day of one of the shoot's biggest action sequences and a second-screen option that allows for plenty more behind-the-scenes material.
Click here to read our original review

Act of Valor
Here's one way to put a spin on the traditional military-themed action movie: use actual members of the military as your stars. That's the main (and, really, the only) innovation behind Act of Valor, in which real-life Navy SEALs play big-screen version of themselves in a plot that finds them chasing an international terrorist to various hot spots around the globe. The action sequences boast the use of actual military tactics not to mention live fire, which does lend them a sense of immediacy that more traditionally produced Hollywood fare can lack. But the movie's attempts at generating drama in between all the gunfire are often laughable at best and the villains are the worst kinds of '80s action movie stereotypes. At least DVD allows you to chapter-skip directly to the firefights, which is all much of the target audience for this movie cares about anyway.
Extras: A commentary track with the directors, deleted scenes, a tactics-centric featurette plus additional behind-the-scenes material and interviews with the actual Navy SEALs.
Click here to read our original review

Safe House
Based on the trailers, one would have thought that Safe House was Tony Scott and Denzel Washington's attempt to do a Bourne flick, with Washington playing an ex-CIA agent that went rogue and Ryan Reynolds as the novice operative tasked with keeping an eye on him when he's brought into his safe house late one night. You would have been right about the Bourne parallels, but Ridley Scott's younger, flashier brother didn't have anything to do with this particular movie; instead, it marks the American debut of Swedish filmmaker, Daniel Espinosa, who does his best Tony-Scott-by-way-of-Paul-Greengrass impersonation. A modest hit during its theatrical run in the dead of winter, Safe House is, sadly, an entirely generic and impersonal piece of studio product. Skip this one and watch Greengrass's Bourne sequels again.
Extras: A number of featurettes, from a standard making-of, to a behind-the-scenes look at the CIA, to a tour of Cape Town, South Africa where much of the movie was filmed.
Click here to read our original review

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island
This rollicking PG-rated adventure movie isn't exactly sophisticated, but it is certainly action-packed. After receiving a coded message from his grandfather, a young explorer (Hunger Games star Josh Hutcherson) and his stepfather (Dwayne Johnson) head off to a remote island filled with fantastical creatures, including giant lizards, tiny elephants and massive bees. Best appreciated as a warm-up for better cinematic adventures like Raiders of the Lost Ark and Jurassic Park, Journey 2 is enjoyable without being particularly memorable.
Extras: An interactive map of the island, a gag reel and deleted scenes.

Yellow Submarine
Although the Beatles had next to nothing to do with this 1968 animated feature outside of lending their likenesses (the voices were provided by other actors), songs and a brief cameo appearance at the very end, Yellow Submarine captures the spirit of the group as effectively as their debut feature, A Hard Day's Night. When the Blue Meanies invade Pepperland, one lone resident -- Old Fred -- escapes in the titular banana-colored submarine and sails off to Liverpool where he encounters the Fab Four and convinces them to help him save his home. That journey -- scored to such vintage tunes as "Only a Northern Song," "Nowhere Man" and "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" -- takes them through a number of psychedelic worlds where the encounter strange creatures. While certainly a product of the late '60s, Yellow Submarine is still an entertaining cartoon fantasy for both nostalgic adults and their 21st century kids. If nothing else, it's guaranteed to get your Carly Rae Jepsen-crazy young'uns hooked on the Beatles.
Extras: A commentary track with the movie's producer and art director, a making-of featurette, storyboards, original pencil drawings and a 16-page booklet with an essay by Pixar guru John Lasseter.

Also on DVD:
Universal continues to celebrate its 100th anniversary by re-releasing select titles of its back catalogue in spiffy new DVD packages. Hands down, the best of the new crop of releases is The Sting, the Paul Newman and Robert Redford con-man crime caper that won Best Picture in 1973. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid generally gets more love, but this is really the duo's best outing -- a wholly enjoyable yarn with a killer third-act twist. And right after you see this classic, get your hands on the great Marlon Brando/Matthew Broderick 1990 comedy The Freshman (which has yet to earn a Blu-ray release; get on that somebody), which sends up both The Sting and The Godfather. Other Universal titles hitting shelves this week include the Burt Reynolds classic Smokey and the Bandit, the movie that final won Julia Roberts an Oscar Erin Brokovich and Martin Scorsese's divisive Casino, which some consider an inferior Goodfellas while others call it one of his stronger late-career achievements. Speaking of Scorsese, his 1986 feature The Color of Money won star Paul Newman an overdue Oscar for reprising his role from the 1961 pool hall drama The Hustler. It also includes a meaty role for a certain star-on-the-rise named Tom Cruise. If you want another vintage '80s Cruise flick, Cocktail arrives on Blu-ray at last, which will no doubt inspire another wave of bartenders to act like show-offs by flipping and twirling bottles instead of just pouring the damn drinks. Sports movies rarely come any finer than Hoosiers, the based-on-a-true-story film about a high school basketball team in Indiana that overcomes great odds to win the state championship under the guidance of their new coach, played by Gene Hackman in one of his defining screen roles. Turning to new releases for a moment, the hard-working Danny Trejo kills time before the next Machete movie by headlining the vigilante action flick Bad Ass, in which he plays a Vietnam vet that decides to take the law into his own hands. Gerarg Butle does a similar thing in Machine Gun Preacher, playing a drug-dealer-turned-man-of-God who travels to Africa and tangles with some guerillas who are fighting their battles with child soldiers.

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