It’s Fourth of July week! As such, there are some explosive new releases now available. Grab yourself a hot dog or burger, and relax with a new DVD or Blu-ray. Here are some suggestions:
Fast-paced comedy stars Steve McQueen and Jack Mullaney as two naval officers stationed off the Italian coast who team up with civilian computer whiz Jim Hutton to figure out a way to win at roulette at the Lido casino. With Brigid Bazlen, Paula Prentiss, Dean Jagger.
Sesame Street: Best of Sesame Street Spoofs!
Kids love it because it makes learning fun, adults love it for the winning in-jokes-and in this two-disc compilation of classic and new “Sesame Street” material, there’s plenty of learning and laughs to be had while your favorite characters send up classic television shows. Learn the alphabet with “A’s Anatomy”; deal with emotions in “Mad Men”; study counting with “Hill Street Two’s”; pal around with the “Miami Mice”; and more.
Framed for the police chief’s murder by a sociopathic businessman/crime boss known as Chess (James Frain) and presumed killed in an explosion, honest Palm City cop Vince Faraday (David Lyons) hides his identity behind a high-tech cloak and, as the masked hero called The Cape, battles Chess and his minions in this short-lived NBC action series.
Director Takashi Miike‘s remake of the 1963 Japanese film takes place towards the end of feudal Japan. A maniacal and bloodthirsty lord poised to take power will completely disrupt the shogunate if he’s allowed to do so. A samurai (Koji Yakusho) is then tasked to assemble an elite team of killers to assassinate the tyrannical madman, culminating in an epic and brutal battle to the death. Goro Inagaki co-stars. 126 min.
Mike Connors reigned as one of TV’s toughest detectives on this CBS series that ran from 1967-1975. Known for its tough style, the show starred Connors as a L.A.-based private dick Joe Mannix, who worked for the high-tech Intertect agency during the first year, then opened his own agency. Among the regulars were Gail Fisher as secretary Peggy and Joseph Campanella as Connors’ first-season boss. All 24 episodes from season five-including “Dark So Early, Dark So Long,” “Days Beyond Recall,” “Catspaw,” “Moving Target,” and “Death Is the Fifth Gear”-are featured in a six-disc set.
Damages: The Complete Third Season
FX’s slick legal drama follows recent law school grad Ellen Parsons (Rose Byrne) as she becomes the protege of feared, high-profile attorney Patty Hewes (Glenn Close). As Parsons and her mentor take on corrupt CEO Arthur Frobisher (Ted Danson), she gets more than she bargained for, learning harsh lessons about the nation’s legal landscape. Tate Donovan, Zeljko Ivanek, Noah Bean also star. All 13 episodes from season three-including “Your Secrets Are Safe,” “Don’t’ Throw That at the Chicken,” “I Look Like Frankenstein,” “You Were His Little Monkey,” and “The Next One’s Gonna Go in Your Throat”-are featured in a three-disc set.
Doing for big oil and Denver what “Dallas” did for big oil and its title city, ABC’s hit 1981-89 prime time soap chronicled the shady dealings, bedroom shenanigans, and bitter rivalries of the wealthy Carrington clan. John Forsythe starred as family patriarch Blake Carrington, with Linda Evans as devoted second wife Krystle and second-season arrival Joan Collins as Alexis, Blake’s scheming first wife. Other cast members over the years included Diahann Carroll, Jack Coleman, John James, Heather Locklear, Pamela Sue Martin, and Emma Samms. All 29 episodes from the series’s fifth season-including “Disappearance,” “Fallon,” “The Trial,” “The Collapse,” and “Royal Wedding”-are featured in an eight-disc set
After being made police commissioner of San Francisco, former attorney Stewart McMillan (Rock Hudson) is aided in his fight against crime by his looney, mystery-loving wife Sally (Susan Saint James), their boozy housekeeper Mildred (Nancy Walker), and his bumbling, but well-meaning, right-hand man Sgt. Enright (John Schuck). The series, which was shown as part of “The NBC Mystery Movie,” ran from 1971-1977 (its last season airing as “McMillan”). All six fourth-season episodes-”Downshift to Danger,” “The Game of Survival,” “Buried Alive,” “Guilt by Association,” “Night Train to L.A.,” and “Love, Honor, And Swindle”-are featured in a three-disc set.
All seven fifth-season episodes-”Deadly Inheritance,” “Requiem for a Bride,” “Aftershock,” “Secrets for Sale,” “The Deadly Cure,” “Greed,” and “Point of Law”-are featured in a four-disc set.
Set against the backdrop of the Civil War, this hilarious comedy concerns an ornery Union colonel who is tasked with leading a command of misfits into the West so that their bumbling doesn’t interfere with the fighting. Along the way, the men encounter Southern spies desperately trying to figure out what they are up to, happy harlots, a shipment of gold, and some Johnny Rebs. Glenn Ford, Melvyn Douglas, Jim Backus, Joan Blondell star.
Military farce meets mirthful romance as klutzy Army officer Jim Hutton searches for a pesky Japanese soldier who’s stealing supplies on a Pacific island during World War II. While trying to capture his nemesis, Hutton creates sparks with sexy Army nurse Paula Prentiss. First-rate comic support is offered by Jack Carter, Marty Ingels, and Jim Backus.
William Holden stars as Major Lincoln Bond, an Air Force pilot who suffers terrible disgrace after he succumbs to torture while being held as a POW in Korea. Now serving as a test pilot, Bond becomes determined to rebuild his career and restore his good name by getting himself assigned to try out a dangerous experimental plane. Lloyd Nolan, Virginia Leith, Murray Hamilton, and James Garner (in his feature film debut) star in director Mervyn LeRoy‘s engrossing drama.
Fresh out of flight school, Ensign Alan Drake (Robert Taylor) is on his way to join the Navy’s prestigious Hellcats fighter squadron when he’s forced to ditch his aircraft in the dense fog. After this disastrous first impression, Drake’s reputation takes an even bigger hit when he’s rumored to be having an affair with his commanding officer’s wife. Is it too late to prove his mettle to his fellow pilots? Ruth Hussey, Walter Pidgeon, Red Skelton also star in this gripping drama.
Rip-roaring military farce about Navy press officers on a remote South Seas island during World War II who don’t get anywhere near combat action, but are expected to snag new recruits for the service. With Glenn Ford, Anne Francis, Earl Holliman, Fred Clark, and Mickey Shaughnessy as a textbook sailor with a foul mouth.
Journalist Marion Hargrove’s book detailing his real-life experiences in the U.S. Army served as the backdrop for this wartime comedy. Robert Walker stars as Hargrove, who enlists in the military in the early days of World War II and immediately finds himself wrapped up in some unexpectedly hilarious predicaments during basic training. With Donna Reed, Keenan Wynn, Chill Wills.
For details and availability of more of this week’s new releases, click here.
Here’s a look at last week’s new releases.