The return of Vin Diesel’s cult-favorite sci-fi hero in Riddick leads a strong and diverse week of animated and visual-effects home video releases.
Riddick (Universal, $29.98 DVD; $34.98 Blu-ray, DVD and digital copy) is the third live-action movie in the series and the fourth counting an animated feature. One of the more durable franchises, Riddick also stars Karl Urban and is written and directed by Tim Twohy. Released in September, the film grossed just under $100 million in ticket sales worldwide. The film featured effects work by Method Studios, Entity FX, Mokko Studio, Tinsley Studio, Modus FX, Comen FX, Oblique FX, Behold 3D and XYZ-RGB.
The most recent entry in Marvel’s direct-to-video motion comics arrives in the form of Marvel Knights: Wolverine vs. Sabretooth (Shout! Factory, $14.97). This disc adapts a popular comic-book storyline written by Jeph Loeb and drawn by Simone Bianchi, animating the original comic book art to good effect.
For the kids, there’s plenty to hold their attention during the mid-winter lull. This week’s releases include: Scooby-Doo and the Vampires (Warner Bros., $9.97), Spongebob & Friends: Patrick Squarepants (Paramount, $14.99) and Tom & Jerry: Global Games (Warner Bros., $9.97).
That’s just the start of it. Also out this week: The Berenstain Bears: Family Values and The Berenstain Bears: Count Their Blessings (Phase 4 Films, $9.99 each), The Cat in the Hat: Let’s Celebrate (NCircle Entertainment, $10.99), Dinosaur Train: I Love Dinosaurs (PBS, $7.99), Henry Hugglemonster: Meet The Hugglemonsters (Disney, $19.99), Jakers the Adventures of Piggley Winks: Legends Of Raloo and Jakers the Adventures of Piggley Winks: Rock Around The Barn (Cinedigm Entertainment, $12.95 each), Totally Spies: Season 3 Mission Mania and Totally Spies: Season 3 Rank Super Spies (Cinedigm Entertainment, $19.95) and The New Three Stooges: Cartoon Classics (RLJ Entertainment, $9.98).
There’s also five editions of Enchanted Tales (Cinedigm Entertainment, $9.95 each): Anastasia & The Legend of Su-Ling, Tarzan of the Apes & Treasure Island, The Hunchback of Notre Dame & Gulliver’s Travels, The New Adventures of Peter Rabbit and Tom Thumb Meets Thumbelina & Princess Castle.
Anime fans also will have to clear some room on the shelf for Bleach: Box Set 19 (VIZ Media, $44.82), Naruto Shippuden: Box Set 17 (VIZ Media, $44.82), Digimon Adventure Set: Volume 5 (Cinedigm Entertainment, $19.95), One Piece Season 5: Voyage Three (FUNimation, $39.98), Yu-Gi-Oh Classic: Season 3 (Cinedigm Entertainment, $44.95) and Yu-Gi-Oh Classic: Season 3, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 (Cinedigm Entertainment, $24.95 each).
