The latest Mission: Impossible movie is on Blu-ray and DVD, highlighting an otherwise lean week for movies and TV on video.
Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation (Paramount, 2015, PG-13, audio commentary, featurettes). At age 53, action star Tom Cruise shows no signs of slowing down (hey, Bruce Willis is 60 and still beating up bad guys). And somehow Cruises Mission: Impossible movies just keep getting better.
After Ghost Protocol, the fourth in the series, it seemed that besting that franchise entry would indeed be an impossible mission, but Cruise and crew have managed to pull it off with yet another totally engrossing, adrenaline-pumping, globetrotting adventure pitting the team (Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Jeremy Renner) against a network of rogue operatives. And which side is double agent Rebecca Ferguson on?
Lots of heart-stopping action, Cruises never-failing charisma and a good deal of comic interplay, much of it provided by Pegg, help this one rise to the top of the series and for this year at least, the top of the genre.
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation: The Finale (CBS/Paramount, 2015, deleted/extended scenes, audio commentary, featurettes). The original CSI was finally canceled last spring after a surprising 15 seasons, but in an unusual step the CBS network allowed the show to wrap things up by going out with this TV-movie finale titled Immortality. Long-gone cast members William Petersen and Marg Helgenberger return to join Ted Danson, Jorja Fox, Eric Szmanda, Elisabeth Harnois, etc., as they investigate multiple bombings in Las Vegas. Only George Eads took a pass.
Wolf Totem (Sony, 2015, PG-13, in Mandarin with English subtitles, featurettes). Directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud (The Bear, Quest for Fire), this adaptation of Jiang Rongs best-selling novel follows a young Beijing student sent to teach among nomadic herdsmen of Inner Mongolia. But, of course, he discovers that they have plenty to teach him about shepherding and bonding with wolves. Gorgeous cinematography is the main attraction. (Blu-ray includes 3-D version.)
Extant: The Second Season (CBS/Paramount, 2015, four discs, 13 episodes, deleted scenes, featurettes, bloopers). Steven Spielberg is an executive producer on this convoluted but entertaining sci-fi series, which stars Halle Berry as an astronaut. This season she is trying to warn the world of an alien/robot invasion but is discredited as delusional until she enlists the help of a cop (Jeffrey Dean Morgan). Grace Gummer (daughter of Meryl Streep) co-stars.
The Pilgrims (PBS, 2015, deleted scenes). This two-hour Ric Burns documentary that aired over Thanksgiving attempts in rather stark terms to separate myth from fact as it tells the story of 102 men, women and children led by a band of radical Protestant extremists who came to the New World seeking heaven on Earth. Instead they found they were unprepared and ill-equipped for their difficult journey, much less in staking a claim to a territory already occupied by Native Americans.
NOVA: Secrets of Noahs Ark (PBS, 2014). This hourlong NOVA episode follows historians and boat builders as they attempt to replicate an ancient forerunner of the biblical ark. This one stems from a 3,700 year-old inscription on a clay tablet that relates a similar story.
History Bible Collection (Lionsgate, 1994-2013, 16 discs, 12 programs). Previously issued as individual DVDs, the History Channel documentaries collected in this gift set include Bible Stories From the Old Testament, Christianity: The First Two Thousand Years, Mary of Nazareth, Jesus: His Life, Banned From the Bible, Bible Secrets Revealed and Mysteries of the Bible. Narrators include Edward Herrmann, Avery Brooks and Richard Kiley.
History War (Lionsgate, 2009-14, 17 discs, 20 programs). These History Channel documentaries have also been released on individual DVDs over the years and are narrated by Edward Herrmann, Oscar de la Hoya and Sam Rockwell, among others. The American Revolution, the Mexican-American War, the War of 1812, the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, Korea and Vietnam are all explored.
Best of History Gift Set (2009-14, 17 discs, six programs). The six popular History Channel multi-episode documentary miniseries included here are The Men Who Built America, America: The Story of Us, Mankind: The Story of All of Us, The World Wars, WWII in HD: Collectors Edition and Vietnam in HD. Narrators include Campbell Scott, Live Schreiber, Edward Burns, Gary Sinise, Michael C. Hall and Josh Brolin.
2015 World Series (A&E/Lionsgate, 2015, featurettes). The Kansas City Royals won their second championship ever, and their first in 30 years, in this years World Series, and this Major League Baseball documentary captures all the highlights. Narrated by Paul Rudd.
Dora and Friends: Season 1 (Nickelodeon/Paramount, 2015, four discs, 18 episodes). Dora moves on from little girl to tween for this animated-series spinoff of Dora the Explorer. Dora and her pals save a pirate ship, find a magic ring, go to a royal ball, experience a puppet theater, meet a bevy of mermaids, find some magic horses and go trick-or-treating.
Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation (Paramount, 2015, PG-13, audio commentary, featurettes). At age 53, action star Tom Cruise shows no signs of slowing down (hey, Bruce Willis is 60 and still beating up bad guys). And somehow Cruises Mission: Impossible movies just keep getting better.
After Ghost Protocol, the fourth in the series, it seemed that besting that franchise entry would indeed be an impossible mission, but Cruise and crew have managed to pull it off with yet another totally engrossing, adrenaline-pumping, globetrotting adventure pitting the team (Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Jeremy Renner) against a network of rogue operatives. And which side is double agent Rebecca Ferguson on?
Lots of heart-stopping action, Cruises never-failing charisma and a good deal of comic interplay, much of it provided by Pegg, help this one rise to the top of the series and for this year at least, the top of the genre.
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation: The Finale (CBS/Paramount, 2015, deleted/extended scenes, audio commentary, featurettes). The original CSI was finally canceled last spring after a surprising 15 seasons, but in an unusual step the CBS network allowed the show to wrap things up by going out with this TV-movie finale titled Immortality. Long-gone cast members William Petersen and Marg Helgenberger return to join Ted Danson, Jorja Fox, Eric Szmanda, Elisabeth Harnois, etc., as they investigate multiple bombings in Las Vegas. Only George Eads took a pass.
Wolf Totem (Sony, 2015, PG-13, in Mandarin with English subtitles, featurettes). Directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud (The Bear, Quest for Fire), this adaptation of Jiang Rongs best-selling novel follows a young Beijing student sent to teach among nomadic herdsmen of Inner Mongolia. But, of course, he discovers that they have plenty to teach him about shepherding and bonding with wolves. Gorgeous cinematography is the main attraction. (Blu-ray includes 3-D version.)
Extant: The Second Season (CBS/Paramount, 2015, four discs, 13 episodes, deleted scenes, featurettes, bloopers). Steven Spielberg is an executive producer on this convoluted but entertaining sci-fi series, which stars Halle Berry as an astronaut. This season she is trying to warn the world of an alien/robot invasion but is discredited as delusional until she enlists the help of a cop (Jeffrey Dean Morgan). Grace Gummer (daughter of Meryl Streep) co-stars.
The Pilgrims (PBS, 2015, deleted scenes). This two-hour Ric Burns documentary that aired over Thanksgiving attempts in rather stark terms to separate myth from fact as it tells the story of 102 men, women and children led by a band of radical Protestant extremists who came to the New World seeking heaven on Earth. Instead they found they were unprepared and ill-equipped for their difficult journey, much less in staking a claim to a territory already occupied by Native Americans.
NOVA: Secrets of Noahs Ark (PBS, 2014). This hourlong NOVA episode follows historians and boat builders as they attempt to replicate an ancient forerunner of the biblical ark. This one stems from a 3,700 year-old inscription on a clay tablet that relates a similar story.
History Bible Collection (Lionsgate, 1994-2013, 16 discs, 12 programs). Previously issued as individual DVDs, the History Channel documentaries collected in this gift set include Bible Stories From the Old Testament, Christianity: The First Two Thousand Years, Mary of Nazareth, Jesus: His Life, Banned From the Bible, Bible Secrets Revealed and Mysteries of the Bible. Narrators include Edward Herrmann, Avery Brooks and Richard Kiley.
History War (Lionsgate, 2009-14, 17 discs, 20 programs). These History Channel documentaries have also been released on individual DVDs over the years and are narrated by Edward Herrmann, Oscar de la Hoya and Sam Rockwell, among others. The American Revolution, the Mexican-American War, the War of 1812, the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, Korea and Vietnam are all explored.
Best of History Gift Set (2009-14, 17 discs, six programs). The six popular History Channel multi-episode documentary miniseries included here are The Men Who Built America, America: The Story of Us, Mankind: The Story of All of Us, The World Wars, WWII in HD: Collectors Edition and Vietnam in HD. Narrators include Campbell Scott, Live Schreiber, Edward Burns, Gary Sinise, Michael C. Hall and Josh Brolin.
2015 World Series (A&E/Lionsgate, 2015, featurettes). The Kansas City Royals won their second championship ever, and their first in 30 years, in this years World Series, and this Major League Baseball documentary captures all the highlights. Narrated by Paul Rudd.
Dora and Friends: Season 1 (Nickelodeon/Paramount, 2015, four discs, 18 episodes). Dora moves on from little girl to tween for this animated-series spinoff of Dora the Explorer. Dora and her pals save a pirate ship, find a magic ring, go to a royal ball, experience a puppet theater, meet a bevy of mermaids, find some magic horses and go trick-or-treating.
