Among the extras in Criterion’s special edition of the story of a French colonel who goes head-to-head with the army’s ruthless top brass when his men are accused of cowardice after being unable to carry out an impossible mission in treench warfare:

• New, restored high-definition digital transfer, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
• New audio commentary by critic Gary Giddins
• Television interview from 1979 with Douglas
• New video interviews with Kubrick’s longtime executive producer Jan Harlan, Paths of Glory producer James B. Harris, and actress Christiane Kubrick
• Excerpt from a French television program about real-life World War I executions
• Theatrical trailer

• PLUS: An essay by Kubrick scholar James Naremore

Criterion is also releasing another black-and-white classic on Blu-ray in October (19th), a two-disc special edition of the 1954 Japanese 3 1/2-hour “Seven Samurai,” which inspired the 1960s American adaptation “The Magnificent Seven.”

Special features with the Akira Kurosawa film starring Toshiro Mifune and Takashi Shimura in Japanese with English subtitles include:

• Restored, high-definition digital transfer, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
• Two audio commentaries: one by film scholars David Desser, Joan Mellen, Stephen Prince, Tony Rayns, and Donald Richie and the other by Japanese film expert Michael Jeck
• Fifty-minute documentary on the making of Seven Samurai
• My Life in Cinema, a two-hour video conversation between directors Akira Kurosawa and Nagisa Oshima
• “Seven Samurai”: Origins and Influences, a documentary that looks at the samurai traditions and films that helped shape Kurosawa’s masterpiece
• Theatrical trailers and teaser
• Gallery of rare posters and behind-the-scenes and production stills
• PLUS: A booklet featuring essays by Kenneth Turan, Peter Cowie, Philip Kemp, Peggy Chiao, Alain Silver, Stuart Galbraith, Arthur Penn, and Sidney Lumet, and an interview with Toshiro Mifune from 1993

– By Scott Hettrick

The bonus material will also be accessible in a new “MU-TH-UR Mode” interactive access feature to connect material from every previous home video release of the “Alien” saga, including the 1991/1992 laserdisc releases, the 1999 “Legacy” release and 2003’s “Alien Quadrilogy.”

The set also includes two versions of each film and more than four hours of previously unreleased exclusive material such as original screen-tests of Sigourney Weaver prior to filming the original “Alien,” unseen deleted scenes, thousands of still photographs from the Fox archives, and the previously unseen original cut of “Wreckage and Rage: The Making of Alien3.”

• 1.) Chloe (Sony, $34.95) is a kind of “Fatal Attraction” with a few extra twists typical of director Atom Egoyan — a suspicious wife hires a prostitute to see if her husband will go for the bait, but winds up with emotions she didn’t expect and still unable to confirm if her husband is cheating on her.
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  – Very strong performances by Julianne Moore, Amanda Seyfried, and Liam Neeson.
  – Surprising nudity involving Moore and Seyfried.
  – Audio commentary by Egoyan, Seyfried, and writer Erin Cressida Wilson.
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• 2.) “The Bounty Hunter” (Sony, $28.95) will suffice when there are no new Sandra Bullock romantic comedies to watch. Jennifer Aniston is a hard-nosed investigative reporter whose former husband (Gerard Butler) has become a bounty hunter assigned to bring her in to keep her off the trail of a dirty cop. It’s a road movie with ex-spouses trying to outwit each other while exposing a police scam and cover-up.
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  – Limited bonus features include a trio of typical making-of featurettes.
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• 3.) “Greenberg” (Universal, $39.98) is a curiosity and has a few moments where it appears it might redeem itself or when the loser lead characters may finally become sympathetic, but ultimately that doesn’t happen.
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  – Greta Gerwig demonstrates she is a talented actress stuck with a self-destructive character who is written to allow the despicable character played by Ben Stiller to perform fairly explicit oral sex on her on a first date in a very uncomfortable scene for all involved, including the viewer.
  – Rhys Ifans is the lone character of mild interest as a former bandmate.
  – Limited bonus features include short vignettes about how and why specific locations in L.A. were chosen.

– By Scott Hettrick

The three-disc sets of “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” and “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” ($49.99 each) from Warner Home Video each offer never-before-seen footage and hours of special features..

As with last December’s releases of the first two ultimate editions of “The Sorcerer’s Stone” and “The Chamber of Secrets,” the new editions each include a book featuring more than 40 pages of movie stills, production sketches, concept paintings, collectible character cards, and a bonus digital copy of the film.

The releases are timed to precede the Nov. 19 theatrical release of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part I.”

– By Scott Hettrick

The three-disc “Complete First Season” of the series featuring an ensemble cast reflecting the cultural and sexual diversity of many families will include all 24 episodes, cast interviews, behind-the-scenes featurettes, deleted, extended and alternate scenes, a gag reel, and more for $59.99. Among the extras are featurettes on Fizbo the Clown and “Modern Family Hawaii.”

Two other notable Blu-ray releases this week:
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• 2.) Brooklyn’s Finest (Anchor Bay, $39.98 with digital copy) is loaded with top-notch actors/stars, beginning with Richard Gere and Don Cheadle and including Ethan Hawke, Wesley Snipes, and Ellen Barkin. I can’t think of a poor performance by any of them in their careers. This is another cop character study from Antoine Fuqua, the director of “Training Day,” which will likely appeal to the same audience that enjoyed that tough, fairly violent, and mostly grim movie. This time there are three cops dealing with ethical, personal, and professional challenges in this 2-hour, 15-min. feature.
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  – Typical but still compelling collection of behind-the-scenes extras and filmmaker audio commentary, including learning about first-time writer Michael C. Martin.

• 3.) “A Single Man” (Sony, $34.95) is one of those movies that may not appeal to the masses but features strong characters and performances by Colin Firth as a college professor in Los Angeles in the early 1960s who is depressed and near suicidal after the death of his young male partner of 16 years, and one of Julianne Moore’s many recent TV and movie roles as his longtime friend who is equally lonely.
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  – Limited bonus features include a typical making-of featurette and an audio commentary by first-time director Tom Ford who mostly describes what is visually obvious but does provide a few anecdotes, such as redressing the same single room to look like multiple rooms in the professor’s beach house.

– By Scott Hettrick

The same band that popularized quadraphonic sound, The Who, will have the soundtrack from their 1975 rock opera “Tommy” presented in the original theatrical “Quintaphonic” five-channel soundtrack on the movie’s first HiDef Blu-ray release Sept. 7.

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment’s newly digtially restored and remastered version of “Tommy” ($24.95), directed by Ken Russell, also includes a re-mastered 5.1 soundtrack to allow viewers to choose how they want to hear iconic songs such as Elton John’s rendition of “Pinball Wizard.”

“Tommy” was first and only film with a Quintaphonic soundtrack, using five discrete channels of sound in a “Sound in the Round” manner that enveloped the audience from all directions.

– By Scott Hettrick

Here are the top new Blu-ray releases this week:

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• 1.) Percy Jackson & Olympians: The Lightning Thief (Fox, $39.99 with digital copy) is Fox’s effort to do Harry Potter by way of Greek mythology (even the same director Chris Columbus) aand they do it pretty well with a fairly engaging story involving a modern-day teenaged boy stuck with a series of his mother’s loser boyfriends until he realizes he is a demi-God and stuck in the middle of an epic battle with Potter-like boy and girl buddies.
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  – Fun and convincing supporting performance by Pierce Brosnan as a sage centaur
  – Interesting and easy game to match your personality to a god.
  – Hours of bonus features to appease the most dedicated fan, including enlightening interview with book author Rick (I’m not J.K. Rowling) Riordan who says he created the characters when he ran out of mythology to tell his son at bedtime.

• 2.) “Hot Tub Time Machine” (Fox, $39.99 with digital copy) is yet another raunchy male buddies road trip/adventure comedy only this time the trip is back to the 1980s where they try to deal with younger versions of themselves, and one of the actors is an otherwise distinguished thespian, John Cusack, who plays the most level-headed of this quartet of loser goofs:
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  – Unrated version includes only 90-seconds of added footage, but with all the nudity and raunch in the movie and deleted scenes it’s not like anything new really stands out.

• 3.) The White Ribbon (Sony, $38.96) is the most recent Oscar winner for Best Foreign Language Film, a mystery thriller involving abused, suppressed and perhaps vengeful children and teenagers of a choir in a small Protestant village in Northern Germany on the eve of World War I.
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  – Stunningly vivid black-and-white photography used to great effect.
  – Lengthy interviews with director Michael Haneke and Cannes Film Festival event footage with lots of dead spaces, all in French that cannot be substituted for English, but efficient English subtitles.
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• 4.) Predator Ultimate Hunter Edition (Fox, $29.99) is a nice-looking digitally restored presentation of the movie featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger leading commandos against a killing alien machine-like creature in the jungle.
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  – 1 1/2-minute sneak peek at the upcoming “Predators” theatrical film from producer Robert Rodriguez
  – Collection of numerous previously released DVD bonus features.

– By Scott Hettrick

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• 1.) Green Zone (Universal, $30.95 2-disc set with digital copy), is probably one of the most entertaining films about contemporary warfare, with Matt Damon starring (under Bourne movies director Paul Greengrass) as a rogue U.S. Army officer who is sympathetic but wary of his indigenous Middle Eastern associates while trying to uncover a duplicitous plot potentially involving his commanders.
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  – Damon on top of his game again, fully convincing in his intensity
  – U-control (top Blu-ray feature along with Warner’s Maximum Movie Mode) offers fun sporadic bonus materials in pop-up video commentary (Damon oddly wearing a rapper stocking cap) and picture-in-picture behind-the-scenes footage.
  – Fascinating training featurette with soldiers enamored with Damon only slight less than he is in awe of them and his experience working with and ordering real soldiers around.

• 2.) “A Star is Born” (Warner, $34.99 2-disc set) is another lovingly and elegantly packaged classic from Warner. I never understood the appeal of this 1954 Judy Garland/James Mason version of the timeless story of fragile egos. low self-esteem, and entertainment industry jealousy (here revolving around a movie star couple like the 1937 original — one fading and one on the rise, instead of singers like the 1976 Barbra Streisand/Kris Kristofferson iteration), which seems even more dated now, and with less than memorable musical numbers that feel forced and out of place in this story. Nonetheless, there is much to recommend, especially for fans:
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  – The nearly three-hour movie never looked better than this HiDef presentation of the 1983 reconstruction.
  – Amazing vintage extras on second standard-def disc (DVD), including first-of-its-kind hourlong black-and-white TV special live from the Hollywood premiere red carpet loaded with every major star of the day– little has changed compared to red carpet broadcasts now.
  – Plethora of alternate takes, outtakes, and deleted scenes, and recording studio audio recordings, etc.
  – 40-page booklet offers great story of movie, Garland, and Mason, with many photos, though mostly in black-and-white.

• 3.) The Last Station (Sony, $38.96) is a terrific actor’s movie and showcase for Christopher Plummer and Helen Mirren and a compelling story about the last year of the life of Russian writer and people’s hero Leo Tolstoy as he and his followers struggle to keep alive his dreams of an idealistic socialist society while his wife battles to maintain his assets before he gives them all away to the people.
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  – Audio commentary by Mirren and Plummer is nearly equally as compelling as the movie itself as they banter and reveal their good-natured competitiveness and ego-centric personalities, as well as their expansive experience as they describe nuances of mannerisms in many shots and the annoying things that went on during the production.
  – Deleted scene lamented by Mirren and Plummer as having beeen wrongly excised establishing early on the love of the common people for Tolstoy when they force his train to stop just to see him say hello.
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• 4.) Scenic Parks: The Best of the National Parks (Questar, $34.99 for combo Blu-ray/DVD/digital copy) capitalizes well on the Ken Burns PBS documentary “National Parks” with equally visually spellbinding footage in this 100-minute program highlighting the most spectacular national parks that also includes a program specifically focused on Mount Rushmore and the Black Hills, with time for more historical elements.
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  – Perhaps even more dynamic images than the Burns’ PBS series since these are all current HiDef color shots from the most impactful angles instead of historical footage shots.
  – Filled with interesting facts, trivia, and helpful travel info.

– By Scott Hettrick

Scott Hettrick

The picture on both the Samsung LED 3D TV fed by a Samsung Blu-ray 3D player and the Panasonic plasma 3DTV sourced by a Blu-ray 3D player was perfectly bright, just as crisp and vivid as any 2D HiDef image, and the 3D was very obvious from the first moment and consistently apparent throughout.

The depth and space between objects in the foreground and background in every scene was very obvious, unlike some movies in theaters, and many times the fingers of a character and other objects projected slightly in front of the screen towards the viewer.

And this was in a brightly-lit Best Buy store in Duarte, Ca. where a clerk called Austin was eager to sit with me for quite awhile and test the 3D disc that he had not seen. He had just sold a Samsung 3D home theater system to a customer moments earlier.

His immediate reaction to “Cloudy” was, “This is way better than “Monsters vs. Aliens.” So impressed was Austin that he even called over a couple co-workers to check it out with us.

The 3D in the teaser for “Open Season” jumped out of the screen in the first moments — the blades of grass — and was consistently strong, moreso than the 3D impact in the teaser for “Monster House.”

Austin says the relatively low entry level pricing ($2,500 for 3DTVs) has many customers coming in to shop and buy, and he says today’s customer chose the Samsung because the LED screen is much thinner and the system offered more Internet services.

One area of early concern should be the durability (flimsiness) of those 3D glasses at $150 a pop. Austin said at this relatively small shop alone they have already gone through four pairs of broken Samsung glasses — just from regular in-store usage by customers, particularly kids. And the lone pair of Panasonic 3D glasses on hand had a broken right-side ear-piece. As a result, Austin was initially hesitant to show me the Panasonic system until I told him I didn’t mind holding the glasses to my face for awhile.

There are number of semi-intuitive extra steps to get the 3D version of the movie on the TV, and initial start-up took a bit longer and froze a couple times on the Samsung during loading and while trying to access different program features. But overall, both systems and the disc played fairly smoothly and quickly.

Best of all, the brightness of the image felt even more vivid, and the 3D felt even a little more dynamic than the 3D in some movie theaters.

Perhaps even more telling, the 3D on “Cloudy” instantly sold Austin, who said he was going to try to get a copy of this disc to use as a demo in the store.

– By Scott Hettrick