New Blu-rays and DVDs: 'The Crystal Skull' and 'Matrix' finally on Blu-ray

Blu-ray and enhanced widescreen, 2008, PG-13 for adventure violence and scary images

Best extra: An 80-minute hi-def video diary with producer Frank Marshall

IT HAD BEEN THREE YEARS since I’d ventured from my home theater to see a movie. So, expectations were high when Indy returned to action in May. They were so high, in fact, that they couldn’t be met. The sci-fi subplot was laughable and Harrison Ford looked tired as Dr. Jones, although that might have been intentional.

“Crystal Skull” needed a second chance in my own theater.

And?

The Blu-ray imagery is top notch – with excellent contrast and detail – spread across my 102-inch screen. That alone clearly topped the multiplex experience. Then, with its aggressive Dolby TrueHD uncompressed track; Indy began to shine.

Figure in hours of hi-def documentaries, featurettes, art galleries and the amazing video diary; the two-disc set was worth every penny.

The diary spills everything, including how the production was code named “Genre” to keep it under raps from internet buzz. Santa Fe, N.M., is where it all started. Steven Spielberg began filming after a toast to cast and crew, “Break a leg, have a good shoot, do your best work and here’s looking at you kids.” Next stop – Yale Yale University for the exciting motorcycle chase scene with Shia LaBeouf (Mutt) at the wheel. Spielberg had two units filming simultaneous in New Haven, Conn. – one with the stars and the other with the stunt boys. Then off to Hawaii, subbing for the Amazon. The production finished on four Hollywood soundstages for the extensive caves sequences, interiors and, surprisingly, the night scenes.  

The Blu-ray includes an exclusive interactive timeline with nearly 60 history, production and story tidbits, movie clips and factoids with cross references. Another documentary details the back-story on getting the fourth installment to the silver screen. Spielberg was the holdout, totally ditching Lucas’ original alien storyline. A short featurette highlights the pre-visualization storyboard process, using a computer to develop action sequences.

 “The Crystal Skull” clearly isn’t “Raiders of the Lost Ark” or even the “Last Crusade,” but still it’s a fun ride with some old friends – especially the second time round at the Kelley Theater.

— Bill Kelley III

Enhanced widescreen, 2008, rated G for everyone

Best extra: The VeggieTales creators threw in everything but the kitchen sink, but if you must pick one, try the commentary by the characters themselves. It’s perfect for the kids and parents. The characters are undaunted by the fact that they are vegetables and immediately launch into a series of jokes about Jerry Bruckheimer and Michael Bay.

“SET SAIL FOR ADVENTURE,” says the tagline on the box, and that’s exactly what the VeggieTales founders seem to have done the past few years. The company – which makes popular computer-animated tales with Christian themes – has weathered the stormy seas of expansion, lawsuit, bankruptcy and buyout where its tomatoes, cucumbers and peas have somehow managed to stay afloat.

In “Pirates,” the story is a parable and the religious content a bit more subtle, but witty storytelling and clever music carry the tale of lazy, cowardly restaurant employees-turned-pirates who finally find a mission. Pleasant and sweet, with a healthy dose of early B-52s party music, it provides an entertaining story, then follows up with hours' worth of extras.

Just as the movie is intended to be fun for kids and adults, the extras aim to deliver something for everyone. For the kids, there are simple games, easy enough even for the younger set, singalongs, a storybook and a few things that are even a bit silly for the littlest ones, such as a talk-like-a-pirate featurette. And, of course, there’s a commentary by the characters themselves, for youngsters who can’t get enough vegetable jokes.

For parents and kids together, there is a video about everyday heroes, a discussion guide, and even instructions for creating a pirate-themed “treasure hunt.”

But the best of the extras are the behind-the-scenes features, which show that, despite the years and tribulations, the crew at Big Idea Productions still seems passionate about their work. A “making of” feature follows the movie’s creation and themes, and the commentary by the writer, director and producer delves into both the minutiae of character design and the larger questions of how they built the story.

— Caroline Luzzatto 

“THE NEW WORLD: THE EXTENDED CUT”

Enhanced widescreen, 2005, not rated

Best extra: The sole extra, a digital copy of the film which is incompatible with iTunes and iPods, make it essentially worthless.

TERRENCE MALICK IS one of cinema's true geniuses. From "Badlands" to "Days of Heaven" to "The Thin Red Line," this director has created his own genre – a mix stream of consciousness voiceover and ravishing cinematography capturing man and his relationship with the natural world. 

His latest adaptation which premiered on DVD in 2006, tackled the romance between Captain John Smith and Pocahontas and the settlement of Jamestown.

Now “The New World” has been re-cut with nearly 40 additional minutes. But it’s doubtful Malick was involved or necessarily approved the cut since he is currently knee deep in post-production on his next film, "Tree of Life," starring Brad Pitt and Sean Penn.

The new footage, for the most part extensions of existing scenes, includes more voiceovers, more of James Horner's original score (Malick rejected it for the most part in favor of Wagner's "Rheingold" and Mozart’s "Piano Concerto No. 23"), and new applied chapter marks breaking up the film's action. New Line Studios has been mum, since there are some redundancies, continuity errors and messiness to the edit. It leads me to believe this is a meshing of Malick's original cut for critics running 20 minutes shorter plus an earlier rough cut. 

Still it’s a beautiful and important piece of cinema, and a great gift to Malick fans. Just remember that his theatrical release is still considered the director's cut. 

— Josh Boone

“THE ULTIMATE MATRIX COLLECTION”

Blu-ray widescreen, 1999, 2003, R for sci-fi violence, brief language and some sexuality

Best extra: A picture-in-picture commentary during the original “Matrix,” with behind the scenes footage matching the action on screen.

GET OUT YOUR wallets, “Matrix” disciples: The Wachowski Brothers are passing the collection plate around. Again.

The highly anticipated “Matrix” Blu-ray version has just arrived – 18 months after its premiere on the defunct HD DVD format. To say the wait has been worth it is an understatement. The picture and sound are stunning, with rich blacks and corrected colors for the greenish world of the Matrix, matching the theatrical experience.

Also, Warner Bros. has finally released “The Animatrix” disc in hi-def. Previous versions were only available in standard-def, showing the nine amazing Amine shorts. My personal favorites: “Final Flight of the Osiris” and “A Detective Story” are breathtaking – well worth the upgrade.

With 35 hours of extras over five discs – the same as the 10-disc DVD collection from 2004 – the highlight has to be the picture-in-picture commentary available on the three kinetic thrillers. Each includes video clips of interviews with stars Keanu Reeves (Neo), Laurence Fishburne (Morpheus), Carrie-Anne Moss (Trinity) and crew members and production footage synchronized with the action on screen. It’s a fabulous educational experience.

You’ll discover Trinity’s first jump between buildings was originally a jump onto a moving train. What was the roadblock? They couldn’t find a usable train in Sydney, Australia, and desperately wanted to avoid another million dollar-plus FX sequence, says producer Joel Silver.

That’s just the beginning. The Wachowkis from Chicago wanted numerous commentaries that argued the philosophical and critical points of view. Both tracks are not only informative, they’re a blast. Two additional tracks are featured on the “The Matrix” with the cast, crew and composer Don Davis.

There’s also nearly three hours of music, tons of documentaries (in standard-def), TV spots, trailers, storyboards and concept art. And that’s only for starters.

How to sum it up? How about a quote from Morpheus? “Unfortunately no one can be told what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself.”

— Bill Kelley III

Blu-ray widescreen, 2007, R for strong violence, disturbing content, sexuality/nudity, language and drug use

Best extra:  The DVD has no features except the trailer, but the Blu-ray gets a commentary, three short featurettes and interviews from the AFI Dallas International Film Festival (all in standard def).

INSPIRED BY THE real-life incident that happened in Fort Worth, Texas, in 2001, "Stuck" tells the horrific tale of a nursing aide/party girl who hits a homeless man one night. The impact leaves him "stuck" in her windshield. Yet, instead of taking him to the hospital and notifying the authorities, she drives home and leaves him in the windshield in her garage. There is no happy ending here. The film's real life counterpart is now serving 50 years behind bars. Actors Stephen Rea and Mena Suvari provide excellent performances in an otherwise nasty film from director Stuart Gordon (cult classic "Re-Animator").

The Blu-ray features a solid transfer with vibrant colors (check out all that blood) and deep black (sure is dark in that garage). The uncompressed audio track is rather tame and adds very little, aside from a scene early in the film in a nightclub.

Extras take you through the real-life incident, the makeup and special effects, and finds Rea discussing the film at a festival.  Commentary with Gordon, Suvari, and the screenwriter is steeped in the real-life incident as well.

Worth a look if you don't mind unhappy endings.

Blu-ray and enhanced widescreen, 2007, R for sequences of bloody violence

IF A MOVIE was made for Blu-ray, it’s this Oscar nominee (foreign film) from Kazakhstan. Russian director Sergei Bodrov uses his camera with breathtaking results, whisking viewers back to the 12th century to tell the story of Temudgin, a young boy traveling from tribe to tribe to select his future bride. Returning home, he and his father are attacked by a rival clan – his father is killed and a vow is made that the boy will die when he becomes a man. The sweeping epic follows Temudgin into adulthood. He returns for his bride and, later, the battle that seals his destiny as Genghis Khan.

Filmed mostly in the grasslands of Central Asia (Kazakhstan, China and Mongolia) the Blu-ray imagery is simply spectacular. The open spaces seemingly roll on forever, similar to the Great Plains of the United States. It has the look, and feel, of “Dances With Wolves” and “Lawrence of Arabia.” This shouldn’t be missed.

Blu-ray widescreen, 1984, PG, language, mild action violence

Best extra: It’s not officially an extra, but the hi-def picture is the big draw.

WHEN ALL YOU’RE doing for extras is picking up a handful of paint-by-numbers features that were on an earlier disc, the hi-def picture better deliver. “Romancing the Stone” does, from the opening frames.

Remember that scene in the Old West, the setting of the finale for the bodice-ripper romance by novelist Joan Wilder (Kathleen Turner)? The color and detail are first-rate. Ditto when she ventures into the lush South American jungle and crosses paths with fortune hunter Jack T. Colton (Michael Douglas).

The sound is no great shakes, but that’s probably because the flick’s 24 years old. That’s not to say the audio is bad, it just doesn’t fill the room like you’d hope. Still, there’s a trade-off: The chemistry between Douglas, Turner and co-star Danny DeVito is as palpable as it was in 1984.

The extras – a retrospective, a sit-down with Douglas, the three stars’ fave scenes – don’t add much. The best is a short tribute to screenwriter Diane Thomas, who was a waitress in Malibu when Douglas brought her screenplay and who died in a car crash the year after the movie premiered.

"GANGSTER 3-MOVIE BLU-RAY COLLECTION: AMERICAN GANGSTER, CASINO, EASTERN PROMISES"

Blu-ray widescreen, 2007, 1995, 2007, R for strong brutal violence, pervasive drug content and language, nudity and sexuality

Best extra:  "American Gangster's" extended cut, presented in hi-def alongside the theatrical cut, runs just a few minutes shy of three hours.

UNIVERSAL BRINGS three of their most popular organized crime titles to Blu-ray and they can be purchased individually or together in a new "Gangster" gift set.  Since all three films are excellent, star-studded crime dramas, it’s certainly not a bad idea to pick up the gift set and save a few bucks.

Ridley Scott directs and Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe star in "American Gangster," which comes to hi-def with the same special features as the standard def edition including both the 156 minute theatrical version and the 176 minute extended cut are presented in hi-def, an audio commentary with Scott and screenwriter Steven Zaillian, the excellent 80 minute doc "Fallen Empire," which chronicles the making of the film, two TV specials, deleted scenes, and more.

"Gangster" looks good in hi-def.  Scott and cinematographer Harris Savides (who lensed David Fincher's "Zodiac" and nearly all of Gus Van Sant's films) went for an overcast 70s look that is drained of a lot of color and sharpness. Keeping this in mind, this seems to be an accurate representation of their intent. The uncompressed 5.1 track is a welcome addition as well.

Martin Scorsese directs and Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, and Sharon Stone star in "Casino" which boasts a commentary with Scorsese, Stone, and author Nicholas Pileggi but is actually just a cut and paste job utilizing interviews from the disc's featurettes, a TV special focusing on Pileggi's (who also wrote "Goodfellas") research into the history of organized crime in Las Vegas, and five minutes of deleted scenes.

"Casino's" hi-def transfer is excellent with vivid colors and deep blacks.  The uncompressed audio track is terrific as well, highlighting Scorsese's excellent music choices (lots of Rolling Stones) and the soundscape of the Vegas casino.

Both "Gangster" and "Casino" have Blu-ray exclusive picture-in-picture tracks and both are disappointing.  "Gangster" suffers from having far too slim of a track (which, in the end, is no big deal considering the excellent extras carried over from the standard DVD edition) but "Casino" is a slap in the face to consumers. Universal has taken the four retrospective featurettes from their 10th Anniversary Edition and removed the option to view them on their own. Instead, they have been sliced and diced and turned into a PIP track. Shame on you, Universal.

David Cronenberg directs Viggo Mortensen and Naomi Watts in "Eastern Promises." Here the action is set in London and deals with the Russian mob. An excellent twist and a harrowing knife fight between a nude Viggo and two Russian thugs make this easy to recommend. Sadly, the special features, though presented in HD, are somewhat lacking. Two featurettes, running less than twenty minutes in total, don't shed much light on the film nor do the three minutes of new Blu-ray exclusive featurettes (that's right a two minute and one minute segment).

Of all three films, "Eastern Promises" has the best transfer and may very well be one of the best transfers on the market.  Three-D pop is evident throughout and there's lots of fine detail and colors to marvel at. The uncompressed audio track is no slouch either.

Highly recommended.

— Josh Boone

Blu-ray widescreen, 2005, R for violence and demonic images

Best extra: Director Francis Lawrence leads an interactive exploration of the story, characters, stunts and more during an “In-Movie Experience.” It’s complete, entertaining and Lawrence is refreshingly frank.

“CONSTANTINE” HAS ALREADY appeared in the now defunct HD DVD format, a terrific presentation of the film based on DC’s Vertigo graphic novel series. Blu-ray viewers won’t miss anything on this format change. Visuals and audio are outstanding. This demon hunter action flick should be a hit at any Halloween party.

Warner has also transferred all the spiffy extras, including deleted scenes, two commentaries and about a dozen featurettes (some in high-def and many not). The package also comes with a digital copy of the film to play on computer.

Keanu Reeves as Constantine labors through a convoluted plot, chasing demons and saving souls – possibly including his own. The storyline was obviously put together by a Hollywood committee and, yes, suffers from it. But viewers may still lose themselves in the exceptional effects. The best fun comes from watching an even younger Shia LaBeouf as Constantine’s cab driving apprentice. Sincerity and attitude makes LaBeouf the most empathetic and interesting character in the film. Fast-forward through the credits for a great end scene.

— Mike Reynolds

"POLTERGEIST"

Blu-ray widescreen, 1982, PG for horror and language

Best extra:  Just two lame featurettes about the occult featuring interviews with "experts" on the paranormal.  Did the years of speculation that Steven Spielberg actually directed much of the film keep him and "Texas Chain Saw" director Tobe Hooper from sitting down to discuss the production?  We may never know.

BECAUSE OF A clause in his contract with Universal, Spielberg wasn't able to direct another film while prepping "E.T." That’s why he recruited "Texas Chain Saw Massacre" director Hooper to helm this classic paranormal romp about a typical American family being terrorized by spirits when they move into a house built on an Indian burial ground. Over the years, rumors have swirled that Spielberg was the driving force behind every aspect of the project. After all. he's credited as a writer on the script, was on set for the entire shoot, supervised the visual effects, editing, sound mixing, looping, and picked the composer. Cast and crew members over the years have stated that Spielberg was the "de facto" director of the film and designed every storyboard.

Now we get "Poltergeist" on Blu-ray and because of this controversy about who did what we don't get a single meaningful special feature about the making of the film. Luckily, we do get a marvelous hi-def transfer (so marvelous it shows the limitations of the special effects) with greatly improved colors and detail. The TrueHD track highligts Jerry Goldsmith's Oscar nominated score and all the effects work. As with "Bonnie and Clyde" and "Natural Born Killers," Warner has given "Poltergeist" the book packaging, which includes photographs and production notes. 

— Josh Boone

“CHAPLIN: 15TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION”

Enhanced widescreen, 1992, PG-13 for nudity and language

Best extra: "The Most Famous Man in the World" featurette about Chaplin’s meteoric rise to fame and the love he experienced from fans the world over.

CHARLIE CHAPLIN WAS a genius. This we know. He also grappled with reconciling his immense fame as a movie star and his past as a poor kid from England, who, with his brother, committed his insane mother. Richard Attenborough ("Gandhi") does a decent job directing "Chaplin," but Robert Downey Jr. will blow you away as the short-ish, bold entertainer, made during a time when the "Ironman" actor was coping with drug addiction and a life spiraling out of control.

Unfortunately this 15th anniversary edition is a dud. Three short featurettes only skim the surface of the movie’s making or the personality and genius of Chaplin and Downey’s portrayal of him.

Attenborough, Time magazine film critic Richard Schickel and Chaplin’s son, Michael, help explain the man, the myth, the legend, but Downey should have been included, as should have a feature-length commentary with Attenborough and Downey.

I guess we can wait for the 20th anniversary edition and see what the creators decide to do.

— Toni Guagenti

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

Best extra: The commentary on "Cockroaches"

"COCKROACHES" WAS an episode that was key to the eighth season of "CSI." The team had to deal with the mob. It was where Warrick Brown (Gary Dourdan) would dramatically begin his downfall, a fall that would culminate at the start of this season. And it was where the creators would bring in a guest director, William Friedkin, of "The Exorcist" and “The French Connection” fame among other big-screen hits.

To have Friedkin as a guest director is no big surprise given that he and William Petersen (Gil Grissom) have a history ("To Live and Die in L.A." and "12 Angry Men" TV version). But to have both of them participate in a commentary is rather unusual.

In it, viewers will learn that Friedkin basically stuck to the plan of "CSI," with the exception of bringing in a little more color. He did, however, employ some characteristics that he used in "The Exorcist" for his episode.

Viewers will also learn from writer/producer Dustin Abraham that “Cockroaches” pushed the envelope in terms of how blatantly Warrick's drug addiction was introduced (it was only hinted at previously), and how much drama was packed into one episode. There were reasons for taking this tack.

This commentary was a technically informative one when compared with the other, the one that accompanies "You Kill Me," which is also known as the lab rat episode because it focuses on the lab workers as opposed to the crime scene investigators. That commentary was pretty much fluff-filled chatter – good for entertainment purposes, but that's about it.

The same disc includes separate features about both episodes. One discusses the fun of making the lab rats story, and the rationale for doing a comedic script for the Thanksgiving day show. The other gives an abbreviated review of what some cast members, including Dourdan and Petersen, thought of working for Friedkin.

Other extras include a farewell to Sara Sidle (Jorja Fox), who left the show in midseason. This looks at how the writers arrived at her subdued exit and includes scenes from past years. Fox also chats on the feature about her character and herself. Fox and the writers said the objective was to create a dignified farewell. Still, it was one that left open the possibility of her return.

There are also shorts called "What Happened in Vegas" (which takes the Sara Sidle story and the Warrick Brown discussion even further), "Shot in the Dark" (which explores trying to convey the night scene in Vegas) and "TOD: A Bug's Life" (which focuses on how Grissom uses a bug infestation in a corpse to find out information).  

“LE DEUXIÈME SOUFFLE”

Best extra: Archival interviews with director/screenwriter Jean-Pierre Melville and star Lino Ventura

Enhanced widescreen, 1962, unrated, violence, brief nudity

Best extra: Archival interviews with Melville and stars Jean-Paul Belmondo and Serge Reggiani

THE EXTRAS COMPILED by Criterion for these Jean-Pierre Melville film noirs are like the director’s M.O.: precise and economical.

That’s a good thing.

In “Le Deuxième souffle (Second Wind),” an escaped convict (Lino Ventura) takes on one last job before he gets away for good.

In “Le Doulous” (slang for “Informant”), an enigmatic gangster (Jean-Paul Belmondo) may – or may not – be ratting out his associates.

A less-accomplished director would take those familiar story lines and make less-accomplished movies. But Melville, who anticipated the French New Wave with 1956’s “Bob le Flambeur (Bob the Gambler),” invests his characters with such pathos and desperation that his films resonate.

The extras share something else with the films. They’re rich in detail.

Melville, a big influence on John Woo and Quentin Tarantino, could mount a heist sequence like nobody’s business, but, says historian Geoff Andrew in the commentary for “Souffle,” he was more interested in those moments between, moments of solitude and reflection.

He also was a stickler for authenticity, biographer Ginette Vincendeau says in the same commentary. When he insisted that Ventura do his own stunt – hop a moving freight train after escaping from prison – Melville tried to assuage his middle-aged star by doing it himself first. Then, when the camera rolled, the director had the train speed up.

Just as the films move to their grim final curtains, the extras have an endpoint, too. If the commentaries (Vincendeau does a selected-scene track for “Doulos”) provide an introduction – think Melville 101 – the recollections of director Bertrand Tavernier (“’Round Midnight”), who was a publicity agent for both movies, show those theories at work.

And the real-life application? It comes in a series of probing, thoughtful interviews with Melville and his stars, in particular those for “Souffle,” conducted in 1966 for French TV.

Melville says he shrugged off talk about being the father of the New Wave. “I was a reference point. I was all they had.” That changed when he read an article that made him realize he’d fathered “192 illegitimate children” – the directors and actors who imitated him.

What did he do?

“I disowned them all. I like being on my own.”

Full-screen, 1997, unrated

Best extra: None

OVER 500 MINUTES of Martin Lawrence – oh goodness. That’s some serious laughter. The 90s sitcom is still a favorite in syndication, so this DVD set is a must-have. With more than 130 episodes during its run, this final season finds Martin and Gina (Tisha Campbell) at odds on and off the screen. There were even rumors of sexual harassment. Campbell left the show during this season and returns with a special appearance on the series’ finale.

Of course, even without Campbell, this set is filled with Lawrence’s sassy and, at times, crass humor both at home and on his radio show. Lawrence holds it down with plenty of jokes from his on-screen sidekicks Cole (Carl Anthony Payne II) and Pam (Tichina Arnold).

Sure, you’re guaranteed to see some of these same episodes aired on cable during any primetime lineup, but there’s just something about laughing at this crew in high quality footage and without commercials. At around $25, it’s well worth it.

— DeAnne M. Bradley

“CAPRICORN ONE”

Enhanced widescreen, 1978, PG for language

Best extra: Feeling out of touch because you haven’t seen this conspiracy-theory classic since its release in the 70s? Neither has writer/director Peter Hyams, but he still turns in a smart, introspective commentary as he returns to the movie he last watched three decades ago.

THERE MUST BE something about “Capricorn One” that lodges in the folds of viewers’ brains. After seeing it once – at age 9 – I remembered tiny details of a desert chase scene. A friend who saw it in the theater 30 years ago recalled exactly how an unfortunate NASA technician caught an error that threatened to uncover the whole scheme.

Hyams, who covered the space program as a reporter for years before writing and directing this story of a conspiracy to fake three astronauts’ trip to Mars, admits in his stellar commentary that the hoax is pretty unbelievable. But he carefully clothed it in so many accurate, memorable details – right down to the design of the control panel in the launch vehicle –  that it somehow hangs together.

There are elements that don’t age well – especially the casting of O.J. Simpson as an astronaut – and Hyams doesn’t shy away from discussing them. But he also spends time on the parts that do still work, including the sinister way he shot the helicopters pursuing the runaway astronauts.

Also included in the package is a brief featurette that discusses the creation of the movie, the tenor of the times – Hyams says the film owed its success to Nixon-era cynicism – and the conspiracy theories that still swirl around the moon landing. 

It’s a good effort, but Hyams’ commentary outclasses it. Those intervening 30 years gave him enough perspective on moviemaking to see this early effort with a little detachment, a little humor and a great deal of fondness. Listening to him talk about those oddly familiar scenes in “Capricorn One” is like flipping through a yearbook with a comfortable, old friend.

— Caroline Luzzatto

Full- screen, 2002, unrated

Best extra: ‘A Look Back at ‘Liberty’s Kids’ with the Creators"

YOU KNOW WHEN the introductory song to "Liberty’s Kids" mixes a patriotic song featuring traditional singing and rap that this historical cartoon series will be different than others.

The Wonderful World of Dic put together 40 terrific episodes that not only entertain but educate young and old about aspects of the American Revolution not always discussed in the classroom: Women in the Revolution, slaves and free blacks during the Revolution and the concept of good and evil and their ambiguities during a time of war.

The stories are told through the eyes of two teenage reporters working for Benjamin Franklin (Walter Cronkite). One is a young British girl, Sarah, looking at it from the perspective of the English, the other, James, an American youth.

The series runs the gamut from the Boston Tea Party to "We the People," the signing of the Constitution of the United States.

Stars galore do voices for the episodes, including Cronkite, Dustin Hoffman (Benedict Arnold), Annette Bening (Abigail Adams) and Martin Luther King Jr.’s daughter, Yolanda King (Elizabeth Freeman/Mum Bett).

Bonus features are plenty, but are basically repackaged from the series’ run on PBS. They include "Benjamin Franklin’s Newsbytes," "Now and Then," "Mystery Guest Game" and "Continental Cartoons," all presented on the made-up Liberty News Network. Each is short, but wonderfully entertaining and factual.

Two new features for the six discs include an original pencil test for episode "Midnight Ride" and a detailed look back with the creators about how the show got its start and how it came to fruition.

Creator and co-producer Kevin O’Donnell explains his passion behind creating the series, and, several years later you can tell he is proud of how it turned out.

You’ll also get a 40-page collector’s booklet, which basically is a recap of the episodes, a map/poster of Colonial American in 1776, and a list of the episodes.

If you want to be educated and enjoy history in a cartoon format, sit down with your children and watch "Liberty’s Kids." Let’s hope, like O’Donnell says in the bonus, that the creators will come back with a similar show about the Civil War.

“THE ORIGINAL FACES OF DEATH: 30TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION”

Blu-ray widescreen, 1978, not rated

Best extra:  The commentary by director "Conan Le Cilaire" is illuminating to say the least.

THROUGHOUT THE 1980s, American teenagers and horror film fanatics rented various volumes of the "Faces of Death" series on VHS from their local video stores.  For them, this was the closest they could get to real death.  For years, viewers believed that what they were watching was unflinching real footage of death.  Dan Rather condemned these "incredibly horrible videos" on CBS. A crocodile attack, a man being cooked alive in an electric chair, a live monkey getting its skull cracked open in a restaurant by patrons who then eat its brain. On VHS, it was always difficult to tell if what you were watching was the real thing or just makeup and special effects. 

Well, with the release of "Faces of Death" on Blu-ray, its now easy to discern in hi-def that the majority of the footage was faked. Sure, there's some stock footage of Vietnam napalm victims, livestock getting slaughtered, baby seals getting clubbed, but for the most part, it's all fake.

Shot for $450,000 and grossing over $30 million, "Faces of Death" gained its audience through its urban legend allure. In this new Blu-ray edition, you'll hear commentary from director John Alan Schwartz, who credited himself as Conan Le Cilaire, admit that he portrayed both the leader of the cannibal cult and the rapist in the film (his girlfriend at the time was the "rape victim"). Special effects artists Allan A. Apone and Douglas J. White provide an interview as well as the film's editor Glenn Turner. Also included are deleted scenes, outtakes, and the theatrical trailer.

— Josh Boone