This Week in Blu-ray / DVD Releases: Ghostbusters, Legend of Tarzan

By John Law

October 11th 2016, 10:15am

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

This Week: The ladies rise up in Ghostbusters, Tarzan swings again, and a bunch of horror classics get special editions.

► GHOSTBUSTERS got the worst raw deal of 2016 – a movie shamefully pre-judged for the most idiotic reasons imaginable. Can we finally enjoy it without the baggage? No, it isn’t in the same league as the original, but that was always too much to ask for. Instead, it was a fun, faithful re-jig with plenty of laughs and a decent makeover of the beloved characters. Give it this much – it trounces the hell out of ‘Ghostbusters II.’ Blu-ray dishes two hours of bonus goodies including 11 alternate scenes, commentaries, five making-of featurettes and a closer look at Chris Hemsworth’s Kevin, who was by far the funniest thing in the movie. In a year when plenty of bad movies earned their lousy box office, this one got unfairly slimed.

► One of the dark horse hits of summer, David Yates’ THE LEGEND OF TARZAN has the former jungle king (Alexander Skarsgard) living a posh life in London at his family’s estate. When he’s invited back to the Congo as an emissary, an attack by mercenaries forces him back into his old life. Margot Robbie, Samuel L. Jackson and Christoph Waltz co-star. Extras include the featurette ‘Tarzan Reborn’ and a look at the virtual jungle.

► Mel Gibson gets some of his mojo back in the thriller BLOOD FATHER, but his box office comeback will have to wait. Despite some of his best reviews in awhile, this was gone in a blip. Gibson plays the ex-con father of a junkie daughter (Erin Moriarty) who is trying to protect her after she kills the family member of a drug cartel. William H. Macy co-star.

► In North America, at least, we’ve finally hit Ice Age burn-out. ICE AGE: COLLISION COURSE, the fifth of the franchise, was by far the least successful, grossing nearly $100 million less than the fourth film. But overseas is where these movies have always made a killing and this was no different, giving it $403 million in worldwide box office. Denis Leary, Simon Pegg, Jennifer Lopez and the rest of the main cast are all back as the series goes sci-fi. While burying an acorn, Scrat unearths an alien ship which takes him into space. While there, he accidentally sends a bunch of asteroids towards Earth.

► John Carpenter’s THE THING has been served pretty well on blu-ray and DVD already, but here’s a Collector’s Edition from Shout! Factory to warm you up even further. In addition to commentary from Carpenter and Kurt Russell there are features on the sound and visual effects (among the best in horror history), vintage stuff from the 1982 electronic press kit, the broadcast TV version and the 80-minute documentary ‘Terror Takes Shape.’

► Shout! Factory’s other big release of the week is a spiffed up new version of CARRIE, giving the Brian DePalma classic a new 4K scan. The second disc is loaded with new stuff, including interviews with screenwriter Lawrence Cohen, composer Pino Donoggio and stars Nancy Allen, Piper Laurie and P.J. Soles. Sissy Spacek is included in the older featurette ‘Acting Carrie,’ along with DePalma for ‘Visualizing Carrie.’ You also get a look at the ‘Carrie’ musical and the text gallery ‘Stephen King and the Evolution of Carrie.’

► If you know DARK WATER only from that shitty U.S. remake, you’re missing one of the great Japanese ghost stories ever. Hideo Nakata’s classic gets a two-disc special edition from Arrow Video, which includes a new interview with Nakata, the original making of documentary and – first pressing only – an illustrated booklet. Scary, but also one of the most emotionally satisfying flicks to ever come from J-horror.

► In the true story THE INFILTRATOR, Bryan Cranston is a U.S. Customs’ agent who goes undercover as a shady businessman to help bust Pablo Escobar’s money laundering operation during the ‘80s. Benjamin Bratt, Diane Kruger and John Leguizamo co-star.

Also out this week: