DVDs include 'Heroes: Season 2,' 'What Happens in Vegas' and 'The Secret'

"HEROES: SEASON 2"

Blu-ray and enhanced widescreen, 2007, not rated

Best extra: A 17-minute alternate ending for the season finale and the accompanying featurette about the ending presents fans with a look at how the season would have continued if the writer's strike hadn't ended the season early.

Because of the writer’s strike, the second season of “Heroes" was abbreviated to only 11 episodes, keeping the creative team from delivering a truly satisfying experience as they did in season one.  That they talk so openly in the extra features about how the strike impacted the show and how things may have been had there not been a strike, gives the special features more depth than other titles.  Although only 11 episodes were completed, episodes twelve and thirteen were written and being shot when the strike shut production down.   Producers had to scrap an entire upcoming arc about a deadly virus and had to find a satisfactory way to end the show for the season.

The Blu-ray edition of "Heroes: Season 2" is spread over four discs.  The show looks good with vibrant colors and lots of detail.  The DTS-HD Master 5.1 track is strong as well, showcasing all the sound effects used in this action-packed sci-fi show.

Exclusive to the Blu-ray edition are video commentaries for all 11 episodes, which can be accessed via the U-Control feature that is only available to viewers with Profile 1.1. players (like a PS3).  The commentaries are amusing but not particularly illuminating (commentators often get lost watching what's happening on screen) although cast member Greg Grunberg, who appears on two of the commentaries, does his best to keep the conversation rolling.  A handful of short featurettes, deleted scenes and a selection of artist Tim Sale's work are also included.

— Josh Boone

 

 

“WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS”

Blu-ray and enhanced widescreen, 2008, rated PG-13 for some sexual and crude content, and language, including a drug reference

Best Extra: A hi-def split-screen talk with stars Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher.

Debauchery, the piercing ding of slot machines and the off the cuff marriages — it’s the classic Sin City formula.  Diaz and Kutcher star as rejected singles who find too much to drink and each other In “What Happens In Vegas.” After heading to the altar in a drunken stupor, they hit the jackpot and try to tough it out together to keep the money. 

The Vegas thrill is a bit diluted in the movie, the Blu-ray DVD extras aren’t half bad. The co-stars go toe-to-toe in a random yet entertaining battle of the sexes dialog in “Sitting Down with Cameron and Ashton.”

The disc includes a informative commentary with first-time director Tom Vaughn and editor Matt Friedman. They mention the short 46-day shooting schedule which was extremely tight for a production filmed in New York City and Vegas.

Additional extras includes a four-minute comical relief infomercial for a fictional law firm, specializing in divorces for gay couples, “From the Law Firm of Stephen J. Hader, Esq.” Also, a crazy interactive drinking game, “Bottoms Up!” with an pop-up icon throughout the flick, if you answer yes, take another drink. Don’t worry there’s a warning for responsible drinking. And, an R-rated gag reel in hi-def with plenty of F-bombs dropped by Diaz.

Finally, you get a digital copy of the movie for your iPod or portable unit.

 

— DeAnne M. Bradley

 

 

“WHERE IN THE WORLD IS OSAMA BIN LADEN?”

Enhanced widescreen, 2008, PG-13 for strong language

Best extra: A discussion with Saudi women effectively hints at how circumscribed their lives -- and their expectations -- are.

All of the extras on “Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden” are deleted or alternate scenes that didn’t make it into this new documentary by Morgan Spurlock, of “Super Size Me” fame.

They underline the film’s strength: its willingness to ask dumb questions, and its powerful sense of humanity. They also highlight its failings: kitschy video-game antics, silly movie stunts (Playing the theme from “Shaft” during a camel ride? Really?) and a tendency to oversimplify complex problems. 

No surprises here. Spurlock doesn’t find Bin Laden. Nor does he point out anything particularly new. It’s hard to argue with the premises that it’s unfair and self-defeating to demonize Muslims; that economic misery and political repression fuel terrorism; or that an American foreign policy that doesn’t practice what it preaches adds to the problem.

Sometimes charming, sometimes annoying, the movie is a mixed bag. But despite its flaws, the DVD does perhaps accomplish its most basic aim: putting a human face on a veritable buffet of stereotypes, talking points and platitudes.

 

— Caroline Luzzatto

 

 

“THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS: COLLECTOR’S EDITION”

Blu-ray and enhanced widescreen, 1993, PG, a few scary images

Best extra: A reading of Tim Burton’s original poem by the great Christopher Lee

Disney could have just formatted Tim Burton’s fairy tale for Blu-ray (and – finally – enhanced widescreen) and no one would grumble.

That’s because the hi-def picture is an eye-popper, showing, as Burton says in his intro, every shade and nuance in his crew’s vision. The disc delivers sonically, too; with the opening strains of “This Is Halloween,” you know the subwoofer is in for a workout.

So give the studio credit for adding a few new extras to the making-of feature, deleted scenes, galleries, storyboard-film comparisons and early Burton shorts (“Frankenweenie,” “Vincent”) that were on the ’03 special edition.

Too bad the bulk of them are mostly filler. A new commentary with Burton, director Henry Selick and composer Danny Elfman is the marquee addition, but Burton has never been the chatty type, and he isn’t here, either. Selick did the commentary for the special edition, so his contribution has a familiar ring. And while Elfman steps up, his insights sound rehashed, too. Maybe that’s because he’s done commentaries for most of his collaborations with Burton. (To tell the truth, the whole thing plays like it’s been patched together.)

“What’s This?” another newbie, is just a plug for the “Nightmare” makeover that Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion attraction gets for the holidays.

But Burton’s intro for “Frankenweenie” offers a nugget: He’s in the early stages of a full-length, stop-animation version of his 1984 short. And the Blu-ray version comes with a second disc that lets you download a digital copy of the film to your PC, laptop or iPod.

The best extra, though, is a reading of Burton’s original poem (with animations based on his drawings) by Christopher Lee. If you loved him as Hammer’s Dracula or Saruman from “The Lord of the Rings,” by all means give this a listen.

 

— Craig Shapiro

 

 

“THE LITTLE MERMAID: ARIEL’S BEGINNING”

Enhanced widescreen, 2008, G

Best extra: "Splashdance," a behind-the-scenes look at animation director/dancer Peggy Holmes

Ever wonder why Ariel was the sea’s little rebel? Ever want to know more about her life, her sisters and her father?

Here's your chance with Disney’s latest prequel of sorts with "Ariel’s Beginning."

Find out what happened to Ariel’s mother, and what makes King Triton so protective of his youngest daughter in all its colorful brilliance.

Although the story is predictable, it stays true to the original Disney hit from 1989. Plus, you can’t go wrong bringing back the voices of Ariel (Jodi Benson) and Sebastian (Samuel E. Wright). The latest villainess, Marina Del Rey, though, doesn’t have quite the evil control over her aquatic minions as Ursula from the original. That’ll make it less scary for the little ones.

As for the extras, Holmes talks about two deleted scenes. The former dancer is quite animated in her explanations, as she is in the featurette "Splashdance." The perky director has a point when she says in animation everything has to be choreographed, from the everyday movements of the characters to the song and dance sequences.

As usual, Disney has a DVD option to watch/listen to songs piecemeal, or with the words on the screen as the movie plays, plus a game that introduces viewers to Ariel’s six sisters. In addition during this game, players get to find out which character they’re most alike, whether it’s King Triton, Ariel, Sebastian or one of her sisters.

A fun bonus takes viewers behind the scenes in New York, New York, in Broadway’s version of "The Little Mermaid." Although it’s short and sped-up at times, this bonus makes you want to travel to the Big Apple to see the show. Break a leg.

— Toni Guagenti

 

 

“REDBELT”

Blu-ray widescreen, 2008, R for strong language

Best extra: The half hour “Q&A with David Mamet” is a fascinating discussion with the man about his first time shooting in anamorphic super widescreen and how he became interested in mixed martial arts.

Dialogue-whiz David Mamet is back and this time he’s taking audiences into the world of mixed martial arts with a story of a jiu-jitsu teacher (newcomer Chiwetel Ejiofer) with the heart of a samurai who has fallen on hard times financially.  Life seemingly throws him a bone when he rescues a movie star (Tim Allen) from a beat-down in a bar and gets an invite to teach combat on the set of his new movie.  Of course, this being a Mamet film, nothing is what it seems.

The hi-def transfer looks fantastic, as one should expect from a new film.  Colors, detail and contrast are exceptionally rendered. 

Extras include a commentary by Mamet and actor and Ultimate Fighting Champion Randy Couture and while it isn’t rife with technical details, it does have enough interesting tidbits about the film’s writing and production.  Mamet talks about the similarity between fight promotion and the movie business and spends a great deal of time discussing mixed martial arts with Couture.  Those interested in the sport will find more detail in the short featurette “Inside Mixed Martial Arts.”  A making of featurette, the Q&A with Mamet and an interview with a real-life magician featured in the film round out the extras.

 

— Josh Boone

 

 

“RECOUNT”

Widescreen, 2008, TV-MA

Best Extra: The conversations between Bob Balaban, who played Ben Ginsberg, and Kevin Spacey, who played Ron Klain, and their real-life namesakes was very interesting. It was entertaining to hear how the actors, who, quoting Balaban, were able to play someone who was still alive for a change, undertook that task.

“We must never forget that every vote counts,” so says one of the key characters in the HBO Films presentation of  “Recount,” the story of the 2000 presidential election.

This is the true story of what happened in Bush vs. Gore eight years ago, and the most interesting part of this story is that HBO presents it as a suspense tale. Very intriguing. The future of the nation was hanging by a chad, and a cast of characters played by Kevin Spacey, Bob Balaban, Ed Begley Jr., Laura Dern, John Hurt, Denis Leary, Bruce McGill and Tom Wilkinson help tell the story.

And it’s a doozy of a story, too…

Stranger-than-fiction events that inspired the film are laid out in such a way that the film takes on the air of a documentary … to a point, but still gives a fresh look at the 2000 presidential election and the 36-day struggle to determine which candidate won Florida, and the presidency.

There is also a commentary with director Jay Roach and writer Danny Strong; and a featurette, “The True Inside Story of the 2000 Presidential Election.”

And just in time for the Democratic and Republican conventions, “Recount” will make you think about our process of electing a president of the United States.

 

— Cliff Redding

 

 

“THE SECRET”

Blu-ray widescreen, 2007, R for language including sexual references, and drug and alcohol use involving teens

Best extra:  There's not a lot here.  Three light-weight interviews with actors David Duchovny, Lili Taylor, and "Juno's" Olivia Thirlby (who steals the film) and 8-minutes of behind-the-scenes footage are all we get.

”The Secret” is a solid, if strange, supernatural drama about a man whose wife dies in a car crash and awakens from the accident in her teenage daughter's body.  It bears many similarities to the Nicole Kidman film "Birth."  This was Thirlby's first role and she is incredible here, deftly handling the roles of both the mother and the daughter.  Duchovny is also strong, having to deal with the incestuous conundrum of having his wife existing inside his daughter's body.

For a hi-def release, the image quality is quite poor with a very soft image.  One of the least impressive transfers I've seen on Blu-ray.  The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is much better and does a very nice job with this dialogue-driven film..

— Josh Boone

 

 

“MIAMI VICE: UNRATED DIRECTOR’S EDITION”

Blu-ray widescreen, 2006, unrated but contains strong violence, language and some sexual content

Best extra: An exclusive Picture-in-Picture U-Control track is the best way to experience the film’s special features.

Jamie Foxx and Colin Farrell star in Michael Mann’s intense undercover action flick.

Already released on HD DVD with the same special features in 2006, the only thing not carried over to the Blu-ray is a standard def version of the theatrical cut of the film (which was available on the HD on the reverse side of the disc).

As with “Collateral,” Mann shot “Miami Vice” in HD, and it looks as good as it’s ever going to look in hi-def.  Although there is video noise throughout (much of the film takes place at night), the source is clean and detail is excellent.  The previous HD DVD is trumped by a DTS-HD Lossless Master Audio 5.1 Surround track (the HD included only a compressed 5.1 track) that handles the dialogue (this is a very talky film punctuated by only occasional bursts of action) as well as the shootouts.

Extras carried over from the standard and HD DVD include an excellent audio commentary by Mann, who spends a great deal of time discussing the differences between the theatrical cut and unrated director’s edition, an hour of behind-the-scenes featurettes focusing on Foxx and Farrell’s preparation for their roles (which included real undercover work), the film’s shoot in Miami, and lots of examples of Mann’s detail-oriented style of filmmaking.

Exclusive to the Blu-ray is the before-mentioned PIP track, which uses a lot of footage from the special features as well as some footage not available elsewhere on the disc.

Highly recommended.

— Josh Boone

 

 

 

“U-571”

Blu-ray widescreen, 2000, PG-13 for war violence and language

Best extra: The pop-up video commentary with dozens of behind the scene footage and interviews with the cast and crew including Matthew McConaughey, Bill Paxton and Jon Bon Jovi.

For eight years, this old-fashion war adventure in the tradition of “The Guns of the Navarone,” has been heralded by critics and home theater enthusiasts as one of the top two DVDs with the best sound ever. And it should be. An Oscar winner for Sound Editing, the track literally rocks your house.

Two years ago, praise was even more enthusiastic as the flick premiered on the now obsolete HD DVD format. The sound bit rate per second was double that of the DVD, producing a more dynamic blast.

This week “U-571” enters a whole new stratosphere with its arrival on Blu-ray. The disc reproduces the original mastered soundtrack bit-for-bit, with no compression using the DTS Master HD track. It’s hard to believe it surpasses the HD DVD, but it surely does. A HDMI cable connected to supercharged audio/video receivers is the only way to make this baby sing!

The hi-def picture still suffers from some edge enhancement, an affect of using an old HD master. But viewers can enjoy vivid color and strong contrast.

In one of the pop-up video clips, writer/director Jonathon Mostow mentions how his fictional story, which is based on historical facts, was initiated by James Bond author Ian Fleming. While serving as a British Intelligence Officer during World War II, Fleming worked up a plot to infiltrate a German patrol boat in the English Channel to steal the famous Enigma machine, the backbone of the German coding system. The plan was complex: the Brits were to use a salvaged German bomber and fake a crash landing in the Channel with the hope of being picked up by the Germans.

Fleming’s mission was never deployed. But Mostow changed the story line to an American submarine converted to look like a German U-Boat, with crewmembers who spoke German. Their mission is to take over a damaged German sub and capture the Enigma.

The disc also includes an informative commentary with the director, highlighting the historical and fictional points, while detailing the production that spent five months in Italy.

 

— Bill Kelley III

 

 

“SALÒ: OR THE 120 DAYS OF SODOM”

Enhanced widescreen, 1976, unrated, graphic nudity and violence, scenes of sadomasochism, sodomy and coprophagia

Best extra: “Salò: Yesterday and Today,” a documentary featuring an interview with writer/director Pier Paolo Pasolini and footage of him directing the film’s brutal final scene

Four fascist libertines round up nine teenage boys and nine teenage girls and subject them to sexual atrocities and mental and physical torture.

This much is beyond debate: “Salò” is not for viewers younger than 21. Some older adults may want to avoid it, too.

But Pier Paolo Pasolini touched off an argument when he reset “The 120 Days of Sodom,” the novel by the Marquis de Sade (written when he was imprisoned at the Bastille), in 1944 Italy:

Is it an indictment of a regime, and the people’s willingness to be exploited, or just dressed-up pornography?

There is little question that the debate is still relevant.

In the documentary “Salò: Yesterday and Today,” Pasolini, who was beaten to death two months before the film was finally released, says  all he did to the script was give it “a kind of Dante-esque verticality and order.” His “flash of inspiration” was in transposing the setting. 

“That’s when I saw the choreography of fascism.”

Sadomasochism, he adds, “is an eternal characteristic of man,” but sex is used metaphorically in the film to show the relationship between power and its subjects: The human body is reduced to a commodity.

“The anarchy of power,” he concludes, will always be valid.

Give Criterion points for filling out this two-disc set with thoughtful extras designed to shed light in dark corners. They include a 40-minute documentary on the film’s production and interviews with filmmakers Bernardo Bertolucci, Catherine Breillat and John Maybury. An accompanying booklet features essays by writers, scholars and filmmakers.

Author Naomi Greene offers this quote from Pasolini:

“The real Marxist must not be a good Marxist. His function is to put orthodoxy and codified certainties into crisis. His duty is to break the rules.”

Play at your own risk.

 

— Craig Shapiro

 

 

“ENTOURAGE: THE COMPLETE FOURTH SEASON”

Enhanced widescreen, 2007, not rated

Best extra:  There’s not a lot here but the trailer for movie within the series, “Medellin,” and the tongue-in-cheek featurette about the making of the film make for a good laugh.

In the fourth season of HBO’s engaging Tinseltown comedy, the boys travel to Colombia to make the independently financed “Medellin,” about Pablo Escobar, lock horns with Hollywood heavyweight Harvey Weingard (based on Harvey Weinstein), smoke a lot of pot, sleep with a lot of women and travel to Cannes for the film festival.  The season’s highlight is the continuing character of director Billy Walsh (Rhys Coiro), a psychotic, egomaniacal director who steals every scene he’s in.

Extras include three lightweight commentaries with creator Doug Ellin, actors Kevin Connolly, Kevin Dillon, Jerry Ferrara and Adrien Grenier, a brief U.S. Comedy Arts Festival panel with the creators and cast discussing the show, and the before-mentioned trailer and featurette for “Medellin.”

Recommended for fans of the series.

— Josh Boone

 

 

“DUDE, WHERE’S MY CAR”

Blu-ray widescreen, 2001, PG-13 for language, some sex and drug related humor

Best extra: For some reason, Fox has decided not to include any of the special features from the standard DVD aside from the theatrical trailer.  The audio commentary with director Danny Leiner, Ashton Kutcher and Seann William Scott is nowhere to be found.  Nor are the extended scenes or featurette.  What gives, Fox?

Kutcher and Scott join the ranks of Bill and Ted and Harold and Kumar as two potheads who try to find their car as they are chased by aliens and wild animals.  Yep, it’s as weird as it sounds.  Look for Jennifer Garner in one of her earliest roles

The Blu-ray includes an okay hi-def image that seems to have been the victim of some heavy use of DNR. 

As far as dumb movies go, this is one of the dumbest.  Stick with your DVDs, gang.  Fox will surely release another edition on Blu-ray down the road with all the extras they left off of this release.

— Josh Boone

 

 

“EVERYBODY HATES CHRIS: THE THIRD SEASON”

Enhanced widescreen, 2007, unrated

Best extra: More Ms. Morello-isms

You never know what you’ll get with comedian Chris Rock. His standup routine has been a favorite for years. Now we’re getting a kick of out his Brooklyn upbringing on “Everybody Hates Chris.” Rock narrates the show that stars Tyler James Williams as a young Chris.

The show’s third DVD release gets us caught up with the cast on “Off The Cuff” cast interviews. In the segment, the cast members describe each other. According to Terry Crews, who stars as Chris’ father, actress Tichina Arnold has one armpit that sweats more than the other when she gets nervous. Too much information? Maybe. Crews is described as a big man who has a lot of children in real life.

“More Ms. Morello-isms” features more of the tasteless comments made by Chris’ naively racist middle school teacher. Those comments are popular on the show and a definite plus on the DVD. The DVD release also includes cast and crew commentaries, a voiceover session with Rock, deleted scenes and a gag reel.

 

— DeAnne M. Bradley

 

 

“PBS AMERICAN EXPERIENCE: THE PRESIDENTS COLLECTION”

Full-screen, 1991-2000, not rated; contains documentary footage of war and other adult content.

Best extra:  "A Scholar's Forum on Wilson's Legacy" asks what forces helped shape 20th century America and the world. Arguably, the first 20 years of the 20th century set the bedrock for the next 80.

He was going to be a concert pianist. Harry S. Truman got up every morning at 5 a.m. and practiced for two hours before doing his chores and going to school. A series of bad breaks put an end to his formal education after he graduated from high school. He lost his shirt in mining, oil, farming, and even in the business of selling shirts. His presence was the kiss of death for almost every venture he tried. After a decades’ long campaign for the only woman he ever loved, (the only woman he ever dated), he ended up having to move in with her and his mother-in-law because his family farm was bankrupt.

Years later, as the compromise choice for vice president, (he was the lesser of three evils, the choices being a conservative racist and a progressive slightly to the left of Marx), he spent his days banging a gavel in the Senate, and writing letters to his beloved wife and daughter. His wife could not abide Washington and refused to live there. He was lonely as hell. 

Although the United States was engaged in the greatest conflict the world had ever known, though one of its allies in that conflict was poised to become and intractable adversary, though the War Department had been secretly working a weapon that could only be imagined by science fiction writers (and could potentially destroy civilization, to boot), in the almost three months Truman had been vice president, no one in the administration had briefed him.

So, when Franklin D. Roosevelt died and Truman became president of the United States, who could blame him for feeling a bit unprepared?

Truman is one of ten 20th century American leaders profiled in the PBS series "The Presidents Collection," now out on DVD. The stories of Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, F.D.R., the Kennedys, L.B.J., Nixon, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and George H.W. Bush, are gathered together in a massive amount of programming.

Archival footage, vintage photography, input from historians and biographers, surviving contemporaries, relatives, friends, (and enemies) are strung together with able narration from the likes of Jason Robards, Linda Hunt, Stacy Keach, Michael Bacon, and David Ogden Stiers. All of the episodes have a teacher's guide in PDF format.  Wilson, the Kennedys and George H. W. Bush all have bonus videos, mini-documentaries and extra interviews with historians. 

 

— Mike Reynolds

 

 

“BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF: DIRECTOR’S CUT”

Enhanced widescreen, 2001, in French with English subtitles; not rated; contains graphic violence, gore, Satanism, incest, rape, nudity, and adult themes. Not child-friendly.

Best extra: “Legend” explores the history of France’s “Beast of the Gevaudan.”

Who knew martial arts were so popular in 18^th century France? Or that visiting Native Americans were such experts in the art?

Director/co-writer Christophe Gans (“Silent Hill,” 2006) would have it so in this fist-and-foot flying adventure fantasy, loosely based on the legend of the beast of the Gevaudan. Michel Louis, naturalist and author of “La Bête du Gévaudan,” founder and director of a zoo at Amneville, is on hand to present his facts from Gans’ fiction.

Louis believes a sadistic French noble terrorized the countryside with a trained half-dog, half-wolf, along with an equally murderous peasant, Antoine Chastel. The beast, described as a huge wolf, killed more than 120, mostly women and children in four years. Louis XV sent armies to capture and kill it without result. Many suppose that the beast’s masters might have been part of a political statement. Very rough on the common people, yes, and followed by a particularly bloody revolution.

Well, OK. Viewers will get all that and much, much more in the new director’s cut. The story flows more easily and the color is superb. Color is so translucent, from complexion to costume to background, it looks backlit. It glows; it might even take your breath away. Costumes and scenery are an artistic delight, even while imagination struggles to keep up with some of the more farfetched plot points.

This two disc set also includes heaps more features than earlier releases, including Louis’ fascinating “Legend.” Find 40 minutes of deleted scenes, an extensive documentary featuring interviews with the cast and crew, storyboards and a breakdown on the unfortunate beast.

 

— Kay Reynolds

 

 

“THE DUCHESS OF DUKE STREET: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION”

Full-screen, 1976 and 1977, not rated

Best extra: Rosa Lewis’ biography

In the opening episode of this 1970s BBC series, Louisa (the wonderful Gemma Jackson from “Sense and Sensibility”) leaves her selfish mum to pursue an unlikely career as chef to royals and aristocrats. This woman means business. She bulldozes her way into fancy households, learns quickly and skyrockets to the top.

She’s a daring beauty with a brash, lowbrow way of talking, and a feminist who doesn’t cotton to suffragettes seeking the vote.

If you’re not into cooking, don’t worry. Sure, some time is spent in the kitchen, mostly early on. And it’s interesting traipsing around London’s Edwardian-era outdoor food markets. But once she starts managing her own upper-class hotel, stories representing the full range of society become the focus of the scripts.

The 31 episodes, around 50 minutes each, feature such characters as a philandering politician, a foolhardy American tycoon, a bitter butler, a ruthless journalist and a thieving woman. If you liked the BBC miniseries “Upstairs, Downstairs,” you’ll probably enjoy this series, too.

The tales, it turns out, were plucked and retooled from biographies on Rosa Lewis (1867-1952), a very similar woman from the same era. A scroll-down bio, the best of a meager menu of special features, reveals some of the differences from the series’ stories, too.

 

— Teresa Annas

 

“NCIS: THE FIFTH SEASON”

Enhanced widescreen, 2007-08, not rated, some violence

Best Extra: The commentary and feature with "Requiem"

Actor Mark Harmon has plenty of credits on his resume. Now, he can add one more: Star of a television show that passed the 100-episode mark.

When "NCIS" hit that milestone, he told co-star Cote de Pablo (Ziva David) that this was not something guaranteed in American television.

"Requiem" was supposed to be the 100th episode, but because the 100th episode was slated to air the week of Halloween, the creators switched the order of things (the one they used, "Chimera," had an "eerier" feel) and showed "Requiem" during sweeps week.

A good choice. "Requiem" was one of the most-watched episodes, according to the commentary and the accompanying feature. What sets this one apart from other "NCIS" shows is that Agent Jethro Gibbs gets caught up in an emotional journey to his past. A friend of his deceased daughter shows up at NCIS headquarters and tells Gibbs she is being stalked by a Marine. Later, she is kidnapped, but the suspect is dead, and has been since before she was taken.

Gibbs, throughout the series, has typically been an emotionally detached character. This episode so deviates from the norm that Harmon joins Executive Producer Shane Brennan on the commentary. That's the first time Harmon has been on a commentary, though he has appeared on shorter features on DVDs for previous seasons. And he's not afraid to discuss the challenges for Gibbs. The commentators also discuss filming the underwater scenes. Good stuff,

Other features include an overview of the fifth season in which they refer to this season as the season of answers, as opposed to season four's season of secrets. The season reveals answers to teases that have arisen in past years, things that aren't so vital that newcomers (and the producers claim "NCIS" has picked up plenty each season) will wonder what is going on.

A feature on "NCIS on Location," a look at getting Pauley Perrette dressed as Abby and a couple of other commentaries round out the extras.