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‘Underworld Evolution’ bares fangs on DVD

Also new: ‘Firewall,’ ‘Glory Road,’ season two of ‘Entourage’
/ Source: The Associated Press

“Underworld Evolution”Kate Beckinsale returns as a vampire foot soldier in this follow-up about a centuries-old feud between bloodsuckers and werewolves. The silly sequel reunites her with Scott Speedman as a werewolf-vampire hybrid as they take on a forefather of the vampire race determined to free his imprisoned brother, an ancient werewolf with a particularly rabid temperament. Director Len Wiseman and his crew team for audio commentary, while the DVD offers a music video and half a dozen featurettes covering the visual imagery, creature makeup, production design, stunts and overbearing music and sound design that went into the movie. DVD, $28.95. (Sony) Read the review

“Firewall”

Publicity handout of Harrison Ford, Carly Schroeder, Jimmy Bennett and Virginia Madsen in the Warner Brothers film \"Firewall\"
Actors (L-R) Harrison Ford, Carly Schroeder, Jimmy Bennett and Virginia Madsen are shown captive at their home by bank robbers in this undated publicity photo for the film \"Firewall\" released by Warner Brothers on February 3, 2006. Ford plays Jack Stanfield, an electronic security specialist, who is forced to rob the bank he works for in order to pay off his family's ransom. The movie opens in the U.S. on February 10. NO SALES NO ARCHIVES. REUTERS/Diyah Pera/Warner Brothers/HandoutDiyah Pera / Warner Brothers / X80001

Harrison Ford dukes it out with “The Da Vinci Code” albino assassin, Paul Bettany, in this tepid thriller that feels like a rehash of Ford’s catalog of action tales. Ford plays a high-tech bank security guru whose wife (Virginia Madsen) and kids are taken hostage by a vicious thug (Bettany) and used as leverage to force our hero into a $100 million cyber-heist. The skimpy DVD extras include a conversation with Ford and director Richard Loncraine, plus a featurette. The movie also is available in a separate release containing both the DVD version and the new high-definition DVD format. DVD, $28.98; DVD and HD DVD disc, $39.99. (Warner Bros.) Read the review

“Glory Road”

Josh Lucas in Glory Road.
Josh Lucas in Glory Road.

Blockbuster producer Jerry Bruckheimer (“Remember the Titans”) revisits the sports genre with this true-life 1960s drama starring Josh Lucas as Texas Western coach Don Haskins, who builds an NCAA championship basketball team with the first all-black starting lineup, including Derek Luke as a flamboyant star player. The DVD has nice featurettes centered on Haskins’ career and training methods, highlighted by interviews with his players and associates. The disc also has deleted scenes, while Bruckheimer and director James Gartner provide one commentary track and the screenwriters contribute a second. DVD, $29.99. (Disney) Read the review

“Mr. and Mrs. Smith: Unrated”

Now that they’ve welcomed their baby girl into the world, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie deliver a new version of the action romp on which they began their real-life romance. The “unrated” edition adds about five minutes of footage, though nothing terribly steamy or explicit. As with an earlier single DVD, the new two-disc set steers clear of the off-screen love affair that put Pitt and Jolie in a race with Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes for the title of tabloid king and queen. The set features commentary from director Doug Liman, who also contributes a featurette on his filmmaking process. DVD set, $26.98. (20th Century Fox) Read the review

“John Wayne-John Ford Film Collection,” “John Ford Film Collection”Hollywood’s biggest Western star and arguably the greatest American director get a loving retrospective in two boxed sets. The Wayne-Ford collection features eight of their 14 collaborations, led by a new collectors set of “The Searchers,” their 1956 Western masterpiece, which is accompanied by a 36-page publicity booklet, a 36-page reproduction of a vintage comic-book tie-in and a batch of photos and studio correspondence on the film. “The Searchers” and 1939’s “Stagecoach,” the Western that began Ford and Wayne’s partnership, also come separately in two-disc sets, while single-disc titles are the Westerns “Fort Apache,” “She Wore a Yellow Ribbon” and “3 Godfathers” and the war stories “They Were Expendable,” “The Long Voyage Home” and “The Wings of Eagles.” The Ford collection has five of the director’s films without Wayne: “The Informer,” “The Lost Patrol,” “Cheyenne Autumn,” “Mary of Scotland” and “Sergeant Rutledge.” Titles in the Wayne-Ford package all are available separately, while the films in the Ford collection come only in the boxed set. Wayne-Ford DVD set, $79.92; Ford DVD set, $59.92; “Searchers” collectors set, $39.92; “Searchers” and “Stagecoach” two-disc sets, $26.99; individual Wayne-Ford titles range from $12.97 to $19.97. (Warner Bros.)

“Dumbo: Big Top Edition”
Walt Disney’s animated classic returns to DVD with many of the same extras included on a previous release five years ago. The 1941 charmer follows the exploits of a baby elephant who feels like an outcast because of his oversized ears — until he discovers they allow him to fly. DVD materials include a new circus game and a music video with Jim Brickman and Kassie DePaiva performing the film’s sweet lullaby, “Baby Mine.” Among other extras are a previously released making-of featurette, Walt Disney’s television introduction for the film and two vintage Disney short cartoons. DVD, $29.99. (Disney)

TV on DVD:

“NCIS: The Complete First Season” — Mark Harmon stars as the leader of a crackerjack team investigating crimes connected to the military. The first 23 episodes come in a six-disc set. DVD set, $68.99. (Paramount)

“The Wild Wild West,” “F Troop,” “Cheyenne” — The first seasons of three 1950s and ’60s Westerns debut on DVD. “Wild Wild West,” starring Robert Conrad as a federal agent battling criminal masterminds, has 28 episodes in a seven-disc set. The Western spoof “F Troop,” with Ken Berry, Forrest Tucker and Larry Storch, comes in a six-disc set with 34 episodes. “Cheyenne,” featuring Clint Walker as a heroic gunman fighting outlaws, debuts in a five-disc set with 15 episodes. “Wild Wild West” set, $54.99. (Paramount). “F-Troop” and “Cheyenne” sets, $39.98 each. (Warner Bros.)

“Entourage: The Complete Second Season” — The tale of a rising young actor (Adrian Grenier) and his circle of friends and associates continues with a three-disc packing year two’s 14 episodes. DVD set, $39.98. (HBO)

“Home Improvement: The Complete Fourth Season” — Tim Allen returns as the TV handyman bungling his way through work and family life. The three-disc set has 26 episodes. DVD set, $39.99. (Disney)

“Charmed: The Complete Fifth Season” — The three witch sisters (Alyssa Milano, Holly Marie Combs and Rose McGowan) cast new spells in a six-disc set with 21 episodes. DVD set, $54.99. (Paramount)

“The Time Tunnel: Volume Two” — Two scientists (Robert Colbert and James Darren) resume their time-traveling ways in a four-disc set packing the final 15 episodes of the 1960s sci-fi show, plus the 1976 TV movie “Time Travelers.” DVD set, $39.98. (20th Century Fox)

Other new releases:

“The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada” — Tommy Lee Jones makes an impressive directing debut and stars as a modern ranch foreman who forces his best friend’s killer (Barry Pepper) to dig up the body and haul it for reburial in Mexico. Jones teams with co-stars Dwight Yoakam and January Jones for commentary. DVD, $26.96. (Sony) Read the review

“Sarah Silverman: Jesus Is Magic” — Standup comic Silverman presents an often hilarious combination of performance film and strange musical and behind-the-scenes segments, tackling AIDS, the Holocaust and racism with a delightfully foul mouth and wicked irreverence. Silverman offers commentary. DVD, $26.99. (Visual Entertainment) Read the review

“Running Scared” — Paul Walker stars in this crime dud about a low-level mob member on a frantic all-nighter to recover a gun whose existence jeopardizes him and his family. Director Wayne Kramer contributes commentary. DVD, $27.95. (New Line) Read the review