DVD Releases October 14, 2008 : New DVD Releases

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (Two-Disc Special Edition)
Directed by Steven Spielberg
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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Nearly 20 years after riding his last Crusade, Harrison Ford makes a welcome return as archaeologist/relic hunter Indiana Jones in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, an action-packed fourth installment that's, in a nutshell, less memorable than the first three but great nostalgia for fans of the series. Producer George Lucas and screenwriter David Koepp (War of the Worlds) set the film during the cold war, as the Soviets--replacing Nazis as Indy's villains of choice and led by a sword-wielding Cate Blanchett with black bob and sunglasses--are in pursuit of a crystal skull, which has mystical powers related to a city of gold. After escaping from them in a spectacular opening action sequence, Indy is coerced to head to Peru at the behest of a young greaser (Shia LaBeouf) whose friend--and Indy's colleague--Professor Oxley (John Hurt) has been captured for his knowledge of the skull's whereabouts. Whatever secrets the skull holds are tertiary; its reveal is the weakest part of the movie, as the CGI effects that inevitably accompany it feel jarring next to the boulder-rolling world of Indy audiences knew and loved. There's plenty of comedy, delightful stunts--ants play a deadly role here--and the return of Raiders love interest Karen Allen as Marion Ravenwood, once shrill but now softened, giving her ex-love bemused glances and eye-rolls as he huffs his way to save the day. Which brings us to Ford: bullwhip still in hand, he's a little creakier, a lot grayer, but still twice the action hero of anyone in film today. With all the anticipation and hype leading up to the film's release, perhaps no reunion is sweeter than that of Ford with the role that fits him as snugly as that fedora hat. --Ellen A. Kim

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (Two-Disc Special Edition)

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull [Blu-ray]
Directed by Steven Spielberg

Product Details

Amazon Sales Rank: #6 in DVD
Released on: 2008-10-14
Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Formats: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen
Original language: English, French, Spanish
Subtitled in: English, French, Spanish
Dubbed in: French, Spanish
Number of discs: 2
Running time: 122 minutes

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull [Blu-ray]

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (Single Disc)
Directed by Steven Spielberg
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Product Details

Amazon Sales Rank: #9 in DVD
Released on: 2008-10-14
Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Formats: NTSC, Widescreen
Original language: English, German, Russian
Number of discs: 1
Running time: 122 minutes

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (Single Disc)Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (Single Disc)

The Unit - The Complete Third Season
From Fox / MGM
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Product Details

Amazon Sales Rank: #34 in DVD
Released on: 2008-10-14
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Formats: AC-3, Box set, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Original language: English
Number of discs: 3
Running time: 484 minutes

The Unit - The Complete Third Season

The Ultimate Matrix Collection [Blu-ray]
Directed by Andy Wachowski, Larry Wachowski
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Product Details

Amazon Sales Rank: #13 in DVD
Released on: 2008-10-14
Rating: R (Restricted)
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Format: Color
Original language: English
Number of discs: 10
Running time: 505 minutes

The Ultimate Matrix Collection [Blu-ray]

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation - The Eighth Season
From Paramount
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Product Details

Amazon Sales Rank: #64 in DVD
Released on: 2008-10-14
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Formats: AC-3, Box set, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
Original language: English, Spanish
Number of discs: 5
Running time: 720 minutes

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation - The Eighth Season

Indiana Jones - The Complete Adventures Collection (Raiders of the Lost Ark/ Temple of Doom/ Last Crusade/ Kingdom of the Crystal Skull)
From Paramount
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Product Details

Amazon Sales Rank: #68 in DVD
Released on: 2008-10-14
Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Formats: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
Original language: Arabic, English, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Nepali, Russian, Spanish
Number of discs: 5

Indiana Jones - The Complete Adventures Collection (Raiders of the Lost Ark/ Temple of Doom/ Last Crusade/ Kingdom of the Crystal Skull)

Icons of Horror: Hammer Films (2-disc) (The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb / The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll / Scream of Fear / The Gorgon)
Directed by The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll
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Product Description

The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb
When European Egyptologists Dubois, Giles and Bray discover the tomb of the Egyptian prince Ra, American entrepreneur and investor Alexander King insists on shipping the treasures and sarcophagus back to England for tour and display. Once there, someone with murderous intent has discovered the means of waking the centuries dead prince...

Scream of Fear
After narrowly surviving an accident in which she nearly drowned, the wheelchair bound Penny Appleby returns home to live with her widowed step-mother Jane on the French Riviera. She begins to question her sanity after several times seeing her father's corpse around the house and its grounds, and enlists the help of the friendly chauffeur Bob while attending Doctor Gerrard acts in a suitably sinister manner. No one is who they seem in this tale of intrigue and suspense.

The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll
Dr. Henry Jekyll experiments with scientific means of revealing the hidden, dark side of man and releases a murderer from within himself.

The Gorgon
In early-twentieth-century middle-Europe, villagers are literally becoming petrified. Although the authorities try to hush the matter up it is apparent that at the full moon, Medusa leaves her castle lair and anyone looking on her face is turned to stone. When this fate befalls a visitor, experts from the University of Leipzig arrive to try and get to the bottom of it all.

Icons of Horror: Hammer Films (2-disc) (The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb / The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll / Scream of Fear / The Gorgon)

American Gangster [Blu-ray]
Directed by Ridley Scott
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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Ridley Scott puts on his "sweeping saga" gameface again, this time not for the sci-fi vistas of Blade Runner or the ancient world of Gladiator but for an urban epic. American Gangster gives the story of Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington), a real-life Harlem crime lord who built an empire on Southeast Asian heroin in the 1970s. Running parallel to Lucas's somewhat standard story is the investigation led by a persistent New Jersey cop, Richie Roberts (Russell Crowe). Roberts is a more interesting character than Lucas--too honest for his own good, unlucky in his personal life--and this kind of character, easily patronized by others, fits Crowe like a polyester shirt. Scott's tendency to hit his points square on the noggin is much in evidence here, including the typecasting of the supporting roles and the predictable Serpico atmosphere of the whole thing. (And speaking of supporting actors, the film needs more Chiwetel Ejiofor, whose role as a Lucas sidekick feels cut down.) It succeeds as a kind of chewy entertainment, fueled by the presence of two big stars working their muscles. Both Washington and Crowe look pretty brawny here. --Robert Horton