CSB is back this week with our weekly roundup of important DVD releases from around the world.

David Fincher’s latest film, Zodiac, is out this week in an extended “Director’s Cut”. The theatrical cut was released on DVD last July (but NOT in high definition). I don’t know if the decision not to release the initial cut in HD was simply a practical consideration or not, but certainly many of Fincher’s fans held off on purchasing the theatrical cut with the expectation that an HD release was inevitable, and we appreciate that (at least on HD) there was no double-dip. In any case, the director’s cut, an improvement over the already-impressive theatrical cut, clocks in at 162 minutes, only 5 minutes longer than the 157 minute cut released last summer. Nevertheless, the changes are significant and clearly this week’s release will be remembered as the definitive cut of the film. (Check back soon for a full review of the HD-DVD).

Speaking of delayed HD releases, Death Sentence is out this week on DVD but, conspicuously, not in either HD format. Adding to the confusion, the film is slated for a Blu-ray release in Europe on January 21st. So why no sign of an HD release in the USA? Very odd. The film, directed by Saw director James Wan, stars Kevin Bacon and John Goodman in a “take the law into your own hands” tale in the vein of Death Wish. The similarities are no coincidence — the film is based on a novel by Brian Garfield, who also wrote the novel on which Death Wish is based.

Equally exciting, this week features the release (both on regular DVD and Blu-ray) of 3:10 to Yuma, an excellent remake of the 1957 western directed by Delmer Daves and starring Glenn Ford. While the original is rightly heralded as a classic, in the new version of the film by director James Mangold the motivations for the main characters are altered slightly, making for a more believeable ending. Thus, the remake marks the rare film that is actually an improvement on the original. And for fans of the long-neglected western genre, the success of 3:10 to Yuma is very welcome indeed. That said, the release of Yuma begs the question why the longer-gestating The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford has yet to be released on DVD. Fingers crossed these two titles pave the way for more Hollywood westerns on the horizon.

Animeigo has taken the brave step of releasing Japanese maestro Takashi Miike’s recent 2006 film Big Bang Love: Juvenile A, which played at the 2005 Sitges Film Festival, among many others. Regular readers know we have long been champions of Miike’s work, and we previously reviewed Big Bang Love: Juvenile A when it played at the New York Asian Film Festival last year (click here to read that review). Always a prolific director, Miike directed a whopping five projects in 2006. Miike is best known for his gravity-defying run of films in 2001, in which he directed such cult favorites as Ichi the Killer, Happiness of the Katakuris, Agitator and (my favorite), the demented Visitor Q (all in one year!). It’s unlikely any director would ever be able to top such a banner year, and while Miike has since made several films that were celebrated (especially the remake of Graveyard of Honor), many more have slipped through the cracks (even impressive ones like Man in White and Shangri-La, the latter of which — to my knowledge — has never been released on DVD outside of Japan). As an interesting aside, Miike directed the original One Missed Call in 2003, which was remade and released in the USA this past weekend. In the last couple years, Miike appears to be grasping for something new. Having previously excelled in numerous genres (gangster, horror, comedy, fantasy, drama), Miike seemed determined to expand his boundaries further, directing a popular children’s film (Great Yokai War) and recently a western (Sukiyaki Western Django, which will be released in Japan with an English dub on February 6th, FYI). But this has clearly not been enough, and to satisfy his creative urges, Miike continues to drift in David Lynch-esque territory, first with the inscrutable Izo (click here to read our full review), and recently with this week’s release, Big Bang Love: Juvenile A. The bottom line is that it’s more enjoyable than the tedious Izo, and while it’s still more or less incomprehensible, Big Bang Love: Juvenile A is far more enjoyable and fascinating. In any case, we highly recommend checking it out for those of you who are more adventurous.

Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, 28 Days Later) is back this week with his recent sci-fi film Sunshine. Although it has been available on Region 2 (PAL) DVD in the UK for sometime, this week marks its first release in the USA, both on DVD and on Blu Ray disc. Like many films that take place entirely in space, much of the time the characters are confined to a space ship on which not much is happening. While the second half of the film keeps things moving, the first half fills the time with characters getting in successive bitter arguments, which are resolved only to give way to yet other conflicts. It’s not much of a criticism, after all many celebrated films (arguably including Solaris) suffer from the same dynamic, but still you do get the sense that the drama is somewhat forced. Admittedly, they are on a mission to save the world, so you’d expect tensions would be running high, but still for the same reason you’d think they wouldn’t jeopardize their ultra-important common mission over personal conflicts. In any case, these problems disappear in the second half of the film, as the story winds its way to a fast-paced conclusion with particularly mesmerizing visuals. Definitely a thumbs up overall.

We also note that Film Movement is releasing the excellent comedy Adam’s Apples, by director Anders Thomas Jensen this week. FilmMovement is a DVD of the month club which appears to have made the switch recently towards releasing their films to the public a few months after they are distributed to their subscribers (this is the same company that we are running the giveaway with this month — we’re giving away 25 free DVDs to five readers, so if you haven’t already entered the free contest, click here and get your email into us by January 9th).

On the high definition front, in addition to the titles mentioned above, there are some fascinating releases this week on Blu-ray, including a double feature of Japanese martial arts legend Shinichi “Sonny” Chiba (Killing Machine and Shogun’s Ninja) (!) and a horror double feature of Night of the Werewolf and Vengeance of the Zombies, plus several other catalog titles. This is a welcome expansion for HD releases away from releasing only the biggest of blockbuster titles. Keep ‘em coming! Hong Kong has also become more active recently with Blu-ray releases of the crime film Invisible Target and the Donnie Yen actioner Flash Point.

As you would expect in the weeks following the holidays, there’s not a lot of depth to this week’s slate of new DVD releases (in particular, there’s nothing to write home about on Region 2 or 3 that I know of). The last few weeks were similar, each featuring a couple big titles, but little else. And since we didn’t regularly publish THIS WEEK IN DVD in December, here’s a quick recap of what we missed:

January 1st saw the release of check-your-brain-at-the-door Shoot Em Up, starring Clive Owen, plus the Jet Li/Jason Statham actioner War and the first season of the big-budget Showtime series The Tudors.

On December 25th, we were treated to the release of Guillermo Del Toro’s hit fantasy film Pan’s Labyrinth (including on HD), the excellent Cronenberg gangster film Eastern Promises (also HD) and the not-so-believeable but fun anyway action movie The Kingdom, starring Jamie Foxx.

December 18th was overshadowed by the long-awaited Blade Runner DVD 5-disc set, featuring every known version of the film ever conceived of, including a work print. The somewhat disappointing Simpsons film and Rob Zombie’s attempt to rejuvenate the Halloween franchise also came out that week, along with Balls of Fury, Hatchet, T3 and the overdue 1980 version of the Battlestar Galactica series.

Finally. December 11th featured several big-ticket releases, including the awesome The Bourne Ultimatum, the latest Harry Potter film, 3 new entries in the Walt Disney Treasures line of special collector’s sets (including Oswald the Rabbit, an early contemporary of Mickey Mouse), a Criterion Collection release of Monte Hellman’s classic (albeit previously available on DVD) Two Lane Blacktop.

Alright, enough of my babbling. A complete list of this week’s highlights follows below. Enjoy!

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Released This Week On DVD in the USA (January 8, Region 1, NTSC):

3:10 to Yuma (Lionsgate) (available on DVD and Blu-ray disc)
2007, USA, Director: James Mangold

Adam’s Apples (Film Movement)
2005, Denmark, Director: Anders Thomas Jensen

Big Bang Love - Juvenile A (AnimEigo)
2006, Japan, Director: Takashi Miike, see Charlie’s review here

The Bravos (TMC)
1972, USA, Director: Ted Post

Cary Grant 4 Disc Collector’s Edition (includes Indiscreet, Operation Petticoat, The Grass is Greener, That Touch of Mink) (Republic Pictures)
~1962, USA, Directors: various

Dark Blue Almost Black (Strand)
2006, Spain, Director: Daniel Sanchez Arevalo

Days of Darkness (Lionsgate)
2007, USA, Director: Jake Kennedy

Death Sentence (20th Century Fox)
2007, USA, Director: James Wan

Dragon Wars - D-War (Sony) (Also available on Blu-ray)
2007, South Korea, Director: Hyung-Rae Shim

Dreams of Dust (Film Movement)
2006, Burkina Faso, Director: Laurent Salgues

Eagle vs. Shark (Miramax)
2007, New Zealand, Director: Taiki Waititi (elsewhere credited as Taika Cohen)

Frankenhooker (Unearthed)
1990, USA, Director: Frank Henenlotter

Golden Door (Miramax/Disney)
2006, Italy, Director: Emanuele Ciralese

Gunsmoke: Second Season, Vol. 1 (Paramount)
1955, USA, Director: Clyde Ware

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (Warner)
1968, USA, Director: Robert Ellis Miller

The Killing Floor (Velocity/Thinkfilm)
2006, USA, Director: Gideon Raff

Klimt (Koch Lorber)
2006, Pan-Europe, Director: Raoul Ruiz

The Invasion of Johnson County (TMC)
1976, USA, Director: Jerry Jameson (a western)

Lock, Stock and Barrel (TMC)
1970, USA, Director: Jerry Thorpe (a western)

MI-5, Volume 5 (aka Spooks) (BBC)
2002- , UK, Creator: David Wolstencroft

The Proud and the Damned (TMC)
1969, USA, Director: Ferde Grofé Jr.

Shiloh Falls (Radio London Films)
2007, USA, Director: Adrian Fulle (it’s a western!)

Sitting Bull (TMC)
1954, USA, Director: Sidney Salkow (a western)

Smiley Face (First Look Pictures)
2007, USA, Director: Gregg Araki

Two and a Half Men: Complete 2nd Season (Warner)
2007, USA, Directors: various

The Waltons: Complete 6th Season (Warner)
2007, USA, Director: Gabrielle Beaumont

Winchester ‘73 (TMC)
1967, USA, Director: Herschel Daugherty (a western)

Zodiac: Director’s Cut (Paramount) (Also available on HD-DVD)
2007, USA, Director: David Fincher

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Available This Week on Blu-ray:

3:10 to Yuma (Lionsgate) (Also available on DVD)
2007, USA, Director: James Mangold

Dragon Wars - D-War (Sony) (Also available on DVD)
2007, South Korea, Director: Hyung-Rae Shim

Also available: Con-Air, Killing Machine/Shogun’s Ninja, Sister Street Fighter/Sister Street Fighter II, Man on Fire, The Rock, Night of the Werewolf, Vengeance of the Zombies

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Available This Week on HD-DVD:

Zodiac: Director’s Cut (Paramount) (Also available on HD-DVD)
2007, USA, Director: David Fincher

Also available this week: The Pianist, The Road to Rio/Road to Bali Double Feature, White Noise, White Noise 2, Mobsters

Highlights of December DVD Releases Since the Last THIS WEEK IN DVD Column:

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Dec 11 - Region 1

The Bourne Ultimatum (Universal) (Available on DVD and HD-DVD)
2007, USA, Director: Paul Greengrass

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Warner) (Available on DVD, Blu-ray and HD-DVD)
2007, USA, Director: David Yates

Latitude Zero (Media Blasters/Tokyo Shock)
1969, Japan, Director: Ishiro Honda, submarine battles and Cesar Romero

Two Lane Blacktop (Criterion Collection)
1971, USA, Director: Monte Hellman

Walt Disney Treasures: The Adventures of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (Disney)
1927, USA, Directors: various

Walt Disney Treasures: The Chronological Donald, Volume 3 (Disney)
1947, USA, Directors: various

Walt Disney Treasures: Disneyland Secrets, Stories and Magic (Disney)
~1950s, USA, Director: various

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Dec 18 - Region 1

Balls of Fury (Universal) (Available on DVD and HD-DVD)
2007, USA, Director: Robert Ben Garant

Battlestar Galactica 1980: The Complete Epic Series (Universal)
1980, USA, Director: Vince Edwards

Blade Runner (Five-Disc Ultimate Collector’s Edition)
1982, USA, Director: Ridley Scott, includes every known cut of the film!!!

Halloween (Weinstein)
2007, USA, Director: Rob Zombie

Hatchet (Video Treasures)
2006, USA, Director: Adam Green, see Pete’s review here

Legend of Dinosaurs and Monster Birds (Media Blasters/Tokyo Shock)
1977, Japan, Director: Junji Kurata, notoriously cheesy kaiju film from Toei

Rica 3: Juvenile’s Lullaby (Media Blasters/Exploitation Digital)
1973, Japan, Director: Ko Nakahiri, Rica vs. corrupt reform schools in the last part of the trilogy

The Simpsons Movie (20th Century Fox) (Available on DVD and Blu-ray)
2007, USA, Director: David Silverman

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (Warner) (Available on DVD, Blu-ray and HD-DVD)
2007, USA, Director: Jonathan Mostow

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Dec 21 - Region 2, NSTC (Japan)

Tennen Kokkeko (aka, A Gentle Breeze in the Village)
2007, Japan, Director: Nobuhiro Yamashita (director of the excellent Linda Linda Linda)

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Dec 25 - Region 1

Eastern Promises (Universal)
2007, USA, Director: David Cronenberg

The Kingdom (Universal) (Available on DVD and HD-DVD)
2007, USA, Director: Peter Berg

Pan’s Labyrinth (New Line) (Available on DVD, Blu-ray and HD-DVD)
2006, Spain, Director: Guillermo Del Toro

Shattered (Lionsgate)
2007, USA, Director: Mike Barker

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Dec 26 - Region 2, NSTC (UK)

Accion Mutante (Metrodome)
1993, Spain, Director: Alex de la Iglesias, finally a potentially non-awful release of this trashy “classic.” It is all a little downhill after the gonzo beginning, but still very entertaining.

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Jan 1 - Region 1

Shoot Em Up (New Line) (Available on DVD and Blu-ray)
2007, USA, Director: Michael Davis

The Tudors: Season 1 (Showtime)
2007, USA, Directors: various

War (Lionsgate) (Available on DVD and Blu-ray)
2007, USA, Director: Philip G. Atwell

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Additional Links:
::: DVD Calendar — a Look at What’s Coming Up
::: Discuss This Week in DVD with Others in the Movie Forum Lounge
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“Where’s my Tae Bo exercise video!!!!”

Here at Cinema Strikes Back our goal is to sift through the masses of dvd information so you don’t have to — to cut straight to the good stuff, or at least what us handful of film geeks think is the good stuff. That means that many dvd releases are left off the list, either because they suck or more likely because we don’t know better. Although I can’t promise we’ll include everything sent to us (”ARRGH, How could you not include Postnatal Rescue or Topless Fight Club in this week’s lineup!”), we always welcome feedback, and I invite you to email me here if I’ve forgotten any important releases this week.