New on Disc: Trolls Tower Above the Competition

July 7, 2020

Trolls World Tour is coming out on physical media this week, on all four major formats: DVD, Blu-ray, 3D, and 4K Ultra HD. However, while it is easily the biggest release of the week, it isn’t the best. There are two contenders for Pick of the Week, Murdoch Mysteries: Season 13 and The War of the Worlds: Criterion Collection. The War of the Worlds is the Pick of the Week, but Murdoch Mysteries does get the rarely-awarded Puck of the Week, for Best Canadian Release.

Highlights

The Day the Earth Caught Fire - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
This film isn’t quite a sci-fi classic, but it is worth checking out for fans of the genre. In the movie, the United States and the Soviet Union set off nuclear tests simultaneously and this causes the Earth’s orbit around the sun to decay. If they can’t right things, the Earth is doomed. There are not a lot of extras, just two audio commentary tracks, one of which is new to this version and the other is from an older release. It is worth picking up, but not a Pick of the Week contender.

The Flesh and the Fiends - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
This film is one of several based on the infamous Burke and Hare murders. The pair killed 16 people to be used as medical cadavers, so you can see why these grisly crimes would attract filmmakers looking to make horror films. Most of the resulting films are terrible; this one wasn’t well-regarded when it first came out, but it has since developed a cult following. I’m not surprised, given the quality of the cast. Peter Cushing and Donald Pleasance push it into cult potential by themselves. Extras include an audio commentary track and one of the alternate cuts. (There were a few cuts of the film, not all are worth preserving.) It is certainly worth picking up for fans of the genre, but it isn’t a Pick of the Week contender.

Murdoch Mysteries: Season 13 - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
A police procedural show from Canada. There are way too many police procedurals out there, but this one stands out by also being a period piece, set in the late 19th century during the early years of forensic science. Unfortunately, there are no extras, but it is still worth picking up.

Trolls World Tour - Buy from Amazon: DVD, Blu-ray Combo Pack, 3D Combo Pack, or 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack
This is easily the biggest release in the pandemic era. In fact, it’s practically the only major release, with Scoob! being its only real competition. It isn’t the best movie released this year, but it is good enough for a kids movie. Parents won’t mind watching the movie with their kids, but it isn’t good enough for adult fans of animation to pick up. There are plenty of extras on the DVD / Blu-ray, including an audio commentary track, dance mode, deleted scenes, making-of featurettes, etc. It is worth picking up if you have kids the right age. Also coming out this week is a franchise box set on DVD and Blu-ray, but not 3D or 4K.

The War of the Worlds: Criterion Collection - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
One of countless adaptations of the famous H.G. Wells novel. My personal favorite adaptation is the video game based on the Jeff Wayne concept album, the album itself is number three, with this 1953 movie sitting between them. I am not alone in loving this movie and it is widely considered a sci-fi classic, although I am annoyed at some of the changes to the novel that were made in the movie and I think a more accurate adaptation would have been better. It might have run afoul of Hays code, which was in its last days when this movie was released. (H.G. Wells was not a fan of organized religion and I think mocking a member of the clergy was still forbidden.) There are no new extras on this Criterion Collection release, but it does have a new remaster, which will be enough for many. Also, there are plenty of old extras ported over, including an audio commentary track and the infamous 1938 radio drama by Orson Welles (which never actually caused a panic, by the way—that was propaganda by newspapers to paint radio as unreliable).

On a side note, I really want a remastered edition of Jeff Wayne’s The War of the Worlds RTS. It is over 20 years old so it is nearly impossible to get it to run on a modern computer. While this is fiercely unlikely, it isn’t impossible, as Command and Conquer got a remastered edition, so there could be an uptick in interest in this genre.

Mr. Jones - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
A biopic about investigative journalist, Gareth Jones, who travels to Moscow in the 1930s to interview Stalin, only to discover the mass starvation in Ukraine. This real-life story served as the inspiration for Animal Farm, which should be enough to get lots of people interested. The film was previously released on Video on Demand and it was one of the best releases of that week. However, the reviews have softened a bit; they are still overwhelmingly positive, but they are not as enthusiastically positive as they once were. Also, it is only getting a DVD release, which further hurts its overall value. It is still worth picking up, but it is not a Pick of the Week contender.

Other Movie Releases

Alone Wolf - Buy from Amazon: DVD
American Tragedy - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Belzebuth - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Between Shadow and Soul - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Black Rainbow - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
Blood and Money - Buy from Amazon: DVD
The Complete Lenzi/Baker Giallo Collection - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Cop Craft: The Complete Series - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Disclosure - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Go Go Mania - Buy from Amazon: DVD, Blu-ray
Grunt! The Wrestling Movie - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Hope Gap - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
How Heavy Are the Dumbells You Lift?: The Complete Series - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
I, Pastafari: A Flying Spaghetti Monster Story - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Inferno of Torture - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Set One: Phantom Blood and Battle Tendency - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Judy & Punch - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Jungle Holocaust - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
The Lost Husband - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Love on Iceland - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Money Plane - Rent from Redbox: DVD
Neurosis (Revenge in the House of Usher) - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
The Other Lamb - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
The Prince - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Proximity - Buy from Amazon: DVD, Blu-ray
Seahorse: The Dad Who Gave Birth - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Shakugan no Shana: The Movie - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Shakugan no Shana: S: OVA Series - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Shakugan no Shana: Season I - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Shakugan no Shana: Season II - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Shakugan no Shana: Season III - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Slay the Dragon - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Skyman - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Sorry We Missed You - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Spaced Invaders - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Sweetness in the Belly - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
That’ll Be the Day - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
The Wild Goose Lake - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Zombie For Sale - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray

There are a couple of smaller releases from Arrow, Black Rainbow and Zombie For Sale, and that company has a good track record for horror fans. Slay the Dragon is an important political documentary that is hitting DVD this week. Finally, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Phantom Blood and Battle Tendency should please Anime fans, so should the five releases from Shakugan no Shana.