Weekly DVD Picks – Tuesday, October 18, 2005

There are 44 notable releases coming up next week.
Time to start Christmas shopping.

First, the genre releases:

  • Adventures
    of
    Superman – Season One
    : The first season of the
    George Reeves
    series hits DVD this week. The second season was just
    announced for a
    January 17 release.
  • Batman
    – The
    Complete 1943 Movie Serial Collection
    : This is now
    the only
    theatrically released Batman that I haven’t
    seen. It’s
    tempting for that reason alone. This is the first
    time this has been
    available on DVD.
  • Batman:
    This is the Tim Burton film in a two DVD special
    edition, and it’s the
    only one of the new special editions that really
    tempts me.
  • Batman
    Returns
    : This was the first step down the path to
    character
    saturation. They did a decent enough job this time,
    but the series
    took a hit for it from here on.
  • Batman
    Forever
    : This 2 DVD special edition is the first
    without Tim
    Burton directing, which is obvious a few seconds into
    the movie.
  • Batman
    and
    Robin
    : This is a new 2 DVD special edition.
  • Batman
    – The
    Motion Picture Anthology 1989-1997
    : That extra
    long title means
    it’s a box set of the 2 DVD editions of the movies Tim
    Burton was
    involved with, either as director or producer.
  • Batman
    Begins
    : This is the 2 DVD special edition of this
    release too,
    though fans will be happy to know that the 2 DVD
    edition is out on the
    same day as the regular edition. I’ve had this
    preordered since it
    was announced several months ago.
  • Batman
    vs. Dracula
    : This direct to video release is in
    the continuity of
    the new The Batman animated series on the
    WB.
  • Dark
    Shadows –
    The Revival – The Complete Series
    : This is the
    attempt to bring a
    vampire soap opera back to the air. 21 volumes of the
    original series
    have been released and/or announced.
  • Day
    of the
    Dead 2 – Contagium
    : Did this even get a theatrical
    release?
  • Elektra
    (Unrated Director’s Cut)
    : This lists all of the
    special features,
    but doesn’t mention specifically which changes were
    made. I don’t own
    the theatrical version, so I’ve ordered this
    instead.
  • The
    Emperor’s
    New Groove – The New Groove Edition
    : David Spade
    made a movie I
    enjoyed. Disturbing, that.
  • Fern
    Gully –
    The Last Rainforest (Family Fun Edition)
    : This was
    a very
    enjoyable movie. Strongly recommended to those with
    little ones.
  • Galacticon:
    The 25th Anniversary “Battlestar Galactica”
    Celebration
    :
    Technically not genre itself, this behind the scenes
    look at the
    original Battlestar Galactica and its star was listed
    here as most of
    the people interested in it are genre fans.
  • Gatchaman
    Vol. 5 and 6
    : The gorgeous Alex Ross box art
    continues.
  • He-Man
    and the
    Masters of the Universe – Season One, Volume 1
    :
    This includes its
    own art cards by Alex Ross and Bill Sienkiewicz.
    Also, massive
    nostalgia may be had.
  • Hilarious
    House of Frightenstein
    : Speaking of nostalgia,
    those of us who
    just celebrated Thanksgiving will probably remember
    this Vincent Price
    educational children’s series. Great series set in a
    castle populated
    by various monsters.
  • Land
    of the
    Dead (Unrated Edition)
    : George A. Romero doing
    what he does
    best.
  • Legend
    of
    Zelda: Complete Animated Series
    : This includes all
    Zelda segments
    from The Super Mario Bros. Super Show.
  • Metropolis
    and
    Things to Come
    : The recently reviewed
    Metropolis combined
    with H.G. Wells’ Things to Come in a single,
    dirt cheap
    package. I have concerns about the quality of the
    reproduction, but
    not about the quality of the films. If you want to
    give
    Metropolis a shot but you’re not thrilled
    with shelling out
    for the Kino edition I recommended, consider this
    one.
  • The (New) Outer Limits – Season Four:
    This Canada-only
    release of the fourth season from Koch Canada is of
    the Canadian
    (ie. edited) versions of the episodes. Not all online
    retailers list
    it, and many stores may not carry it right away,
    because it was
    announced on rather short notice. It’s a 7 DVD set, so
    we’ll probably
    see four episodes on each disk to cover all 26
    episodes from the
    season. MGM has thus far only released
    theme packages, but the first complete season
    collection from them
    (which will not be edited) will hit DVD on November 1,
    2005.
  • Tarzan
    (Special Edition)
    : I seem to recall a 2 DVD
    edition when this
    first came out, so I don’t know what would make this
    more special.
  • The
    Twilight
    Zone – Season 4 (The Definitive Edition)
    : This is
    the original Rod
    Serling version of the show.
  • Ultimate
    Cartoon Collection
    : This has Mighty Mouse, Woody
    Woodpecker, and
    the Three Stooges, all of which I’ve been looking to
    add to my
    collection. It’s quite tempting…

Now, the non-genre releases:

Finally, the pick of the week. There are many, many
to choose from.
This is the first of several populace weeks to come.
I have to choose
Batman Begins, which edges out
Serenity as the best
movie I’ve seen this year. Definitely my pick.