New in Home Entertainment – May 27, 2014

New in Home Entertainment

May 27, 2014

Red River: The Criterion Collection

Available on DVD and Blu-ray

Long hailed as one of the best westerns ever made, 1948’s Red River starring John Wayne and Montgomery Clift as two opposing forces leading a cattle drive along the Chisholm Trail from Texas to Missouri has gotten a beautiful 2K restoration from the folks at Criterion.  While its awkward seeing John Wayne as kind of a bad guy in this western recreation of Mutiny on the Bounty, the film feels more authentic than many of Wayne’s other pictures and you just can’t beat the pristine look and sound in this new edition.  The set includes both the rarely presented original theatrical version, which was the preferred cut of director Howard Hawks, and the prerelease version that most folks are used to.  Trust me when I tell you this is a great Father’s Day present for any western-loving dads in your family.  A-

The Bob Newhart Show: The Complete Collection
Available on DVD

People always tell me I have a very dry sense of humor and I wonder if some of that came from growing up watching reruns of The Bob Newhart Show which stars Bob Newhart as Dr. Robert Hartley, a psychiatrist who seems to specialize in the nuttiest of the nutty.  This long-awaited volume containing 53 hours of material is a daunting but rewarding set for anyone needing a little (or a lot) of binge watching.  A-

How to Train Your Dragon
Rated PG for sequences of intense action and some scary images and brief mild language
Available on Blu-ray/DVD/Digital Copy Combo

I realize that this is the umpteenth time this film has been released on blu-ray or dvd but I still run into folks who never checked out this masterful animated film.  With number two about to hit theaters, here is your chance to watch the beautiful and well-told story of a young teen viking who decides to train dragons instead of killing them like everyone else in his village.  In addition to the movie, you get a ticket to see the sequel being released in a a couple of weeks.  If you or your kids haven’t seen this fantastic film yet, you really need to.  A+