DVD Corner

“Criss Angel: Mindfreak – Complete Season Three” – Criss Angel: high roller. In this third season of the magician’s show, Angel’s big stunt is his attempt to levitate 500 feet above the Luxor Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Who wants to bet that he pulls it off? Later, he escapes from prison in the nude. Who wants to bet that he isn’t cited for indecency? In other tricks, he makes his Lamborghini disappear and later survives being cut in half in front of a live audience, all while heavy metal music bangs its head on the soundtrack. This is appropriate because in one trick gone awry, Angel leaps from a van only to land on his head, which shut down production for weeks. So, the danger is real even if Angel himself carries with him a whiff of the surreal. Includes all 20 episodes, including an appearance by everyone’s favorite repenting racist, Dog the Bounty Hunter. Grade: B

“Drumline: Special Edition” – This surprise hit finds a cocky kid from Brooklyn winning a drumming scholarship to Atlanta’s fictional A&T University, and quickly learning that he’ll have to grow up and work hard to keep it. The film stars Nick Cannon, Zoe Saldana and Orlando Jones, and it’s just as exhilarating as it is formulaic, a movie about rival intercollegiate marching bands that cranks up the heat and sustains it. This special edition includes new featurettes, one of which is worth watching, “Anatomy of a Drumline,” as well as commentary by director Charles Stone III. Rated PG-13. Grade B+

“Emergency! Season Four” – Set in Los Angeles, this ’70s staple follows the efforts of paramedics Roy DeSoto (Kevin Tighe) and John Gage (Randolph Mantooth) as they aid the stricken. A scrambling ambulance ride pulls the rest of the story into the ER, where the smoldering Dr. Kelly Brackett (Robert Fuller) and no-nonsense nurse Dixie McCall (Julie London) tend to the wounded. Now, more than 30 years later, the show is pure corn for the hungry, just dated enough to be satisfyingly retro. But only just. Grade: C+

“Gunsmoke: Second Season, Vol. 1” – In Dodge City, Kan., where smoking guns and shootouts are the order of the day, U.S. Marshal Matt Dillon (James Arness, superb) is up to his arms in the chaos brimming along the new frontier. This second season of the show, which appeared during the 1956 television season, isn’t as dark as what came before it, but watching it, you nevertheless see its influence on all the other similar television shows that came after it, from “The Big Valley” straight through to “Deadwood.” The series is an appealing throwback, with Dennis Weaver as Dillon’s sidekick, Chester, and Amanda Blake as the formidable Miss Kitty, owner of the Longbranch Saloon, where so much can go wrong over drinks served neat. Blake is very good here – she’s tough and she’s pretty – but once you’ve seen Joan Crawford’s saloonkeeper in the classic “Johnny Guitar” (add it to your Netflix queue), all others come second. Grade: B+

“Hawaii Five-O: Third Season” -The challenge is obvious – how to make each episode as energetic as Morton Stevens’ iconic theme song? For this third season of the long-running series, the good news is that most episodes are. Set in Hawaii (obviously), the show finds Jack Lord bringing back the steamy cool as Steve McGarrett, the pompadoured leader of an elite four-man police team that included Kono Kalakaua (Zulu), Chin Ho Kelly (Kam Fong) and Danny “Danno” Williams (James McArthur). All are working to bring down the evil Chinese agent Wo Fat, among a host of other creeps, with Lord’s signature “Book ’em, Danno” becoming the show’s enduring catchphrase. Look for guest appearances by Joan Van Ark, Martin Sheen and even Nancy Wilson as a jazzy, heroin-hooked chanteuse. Grade: B+

“The Invasion” DVD, HD DVD, Blu-ray – Based on Jack Finney’s sci-fi novel “The Body Snatchers,” this latest telling stars Nicole Kidman as Dr. Carol Bennell, a pill-pushing and -popping psychiatrist whose creepy ex-husband, Tucker (Jeremy Northam), is overcome by aliens and who, in turn, turns those close to him into disconnected, dehumanized shells of their former selves, just as he himself has become. Alien spores are the problem and those curious enough to touch them become infected, which leads to a mass outbreak of sameness. Personalities are eradicated, though violence thrives even as world peace is achieved. These people, all reborn from the film’s updated version of a pod, are willing to attack if it means spreading the spores. The idea is that once we’re all infected, we’ll essentially be a large nest of worker ants drained of our souls and the need to kill. But at what cost? Our individuality, of course, which Carol and others are willing to fight to protect. An underused Daniel Craig joins Carol in her effort to save her son, Oliver (Jackson Bond), and, by extension, the rest of the world. From David Kajganich’s script, “The Invasion” is tightly paced and involving, a movie that underscores the timeless appeal of Finney’s tale. Rated PG-13. Grade: B-

“MI-5: Fifth Season” – Think of the MI-5 as Britain’s cross between the FBI and CIA, with this excellent series following through with the sort of harrowing drama you’d expect from an organization organized to police the world while also keeping Britain safe. Meanwhile, at least when it comes to the agents of Section B, personal relationships also must be handled, usually with delicacy and deceit. Rupert Penry-Jones is the standout as Adam Carter, the recently widowed agent who leads his staff into and out of danger, though not always with success. In the end, a smart, beautifully written and acted series that shows no signs of fatigue in the 10 episodes collected for its fifth season. Grade: A

“Thunderbirds 40th Anniversary Collector’s Edition Megaset” – Long before the puppet satire “Team America: World Police” taught us marionettes could be tender, crude and aggressive in the bedroom, there was “Thunderbirds,” the ’60s television series that inspired “World Police,” and which now enjoys a resurgence in its new, comprehensive 40th anniversary collector’s edition. Here, we get puppets – dozens and dozens of grim-looking puppets – all members of the organization International Rescue who are fighting the world’s problems with such expressionless faces, you’d swear they just returned from a Botox party. Beyond the episodes themselves, which are almost hypnotically entertaining, of particular note are the interview with Thunderbirds’ creator Gerry Anderson and the documentary “The Brains Behind the Thunderbirds,” with the character Brains narrating. Includes 32 remastered episodes on 12 discs. Grade: A-

“Torchwood: Complete First Series” – From the BBC, a sci-fi spinoff of the network’s “Doctor Who” franchise, with a solid dose of sex meant to spice up the proceedings and, you sense, also the ratings. Thematically, the two shows are so closely interlinked that the very name “Torchwood” is an anagram of “Doctor Who.” However, in terms of quality, this first season of the series suggests it has some ways to go before it matches the sheer inventiveness of its inspiration. Set in Cardiff, Wales, the show stars John Barrowman as Capt. Jack Harkness, who leads a small task force of geeks gleaning alien technology to undo a bevy of aliens, including one who comes to Earth seeking an overload of orgasmic energy. That alien has a hell of a time doing so – and in the process, proves why this promising series absolutely is not for children. Grade: B-

Visit www.weekinrewind.com, the archive of Bangor Daily News film critic Christopher Smith’s reviews, which appear Mondays, Fridays and weekends in Lifestyle, as well as on bangordailynews.com. He may be reached at Christopher@weekinrewind.com.