DVD / Blu-ray New Releases: August 27, 2013: PAIN & GAIN, GATSBY

Paramount Home Media Entertainment is releasing director Michael Bay’s latest film Pain & Gain on DVD and Blu-ray today. The project stars Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson, and Anthony Mackie as personal trainers who attempt to pull off a murder-extortion caper in 1990’s Miami. The film is based upon a true story, but true to form, Bay ratchets up the action with shootouts and car chases as a simple kidnapping-with-intent-to-extort quickly spirals out of control. The bodybuilders exercise a combination of huge ego and bad luck to dig themselves in deeper and deeper, often with darkly comedic consequences. Pain & Gain also stars Tony Shalhoub and Rob Corddry and is available on DVD ($29.99) and Blu-ray combo pack (Blu-ray+DVD+Digital Copy, $39.99).

Fans of AMC’s acclaimed series The Walking Dead will be standing in line today to purchase The Walking Dead: The Complete Third Season. The third season finds the group fleeing the farm in favor of a fortified prison compound and a seemingly-idyllic town ruled over by the charismatic-but-dangerous persona known as The Governor. The survivors must forge a precarious existence in these new settings and learn to co-exist with other groups of survivors who may have ulterior motives. Some well-known characters perish while others debut, all to the frenetic pace of their hardscrabble life on the run. The five-disc set is chock full of extras including commentary from fan favorite actors Danai Gurira and IronE Singleton and producers Greg Nicotero and Gale Anne Hurd as well as others, deleted scenes, and various character examinations. Season Three is available on DVD for $69.98 and Blu-ray for $79.99. Starz/Anchor Bay is also offering a limited edition Blu-ray with aquarium cover for a SRP of $149.99.

Warner Home Entertainment releases director Baz Luhrmann’s reimagining of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby today. Brash, bold, with a hip-hop/pop-rock soundtrack, the remake stars Leonardio DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire in one of the most hyperkinetic musical romps since Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge. The film debuted to mixed reviews, but fans of Luhrmann’s style—colorful, moving camera, in-your-face—will find something here. Gatsby is available on two-disc special edition DVD (DVD+UV, $28.98), Blu-ray (BD+DVD+UV, $35.99), and 3D Blu-ray (three discs, 3D BD+BD+DVD+UV+DC, $44.95).

The Academy Award-nominated film Kon-Tiki (2012) hits the shelves today. The film is a remake of scientist Thor Heyerdahl’s Academy Award-winning documentary from 1950. It is a reimagining of Heyerdahl’s epic 4000 mile journey across the Pacific. Heyerdahl successfully replicated a hypothetical ocean crossing by Polynesian sailors in the face of incredible odds and to the utter astonishment of his detractors. This version is decidedly fancier giving us a villain, shark attacks, and a lush score which nicely compliments the on-screen action. Starz/Anchor Bay is offering  Kon-Tiki as a Blu-ray combo pack (BD+DVD, $29.99) and a single disc DVD ($24.98).

Other Notable New Releases Include:

Super Buddies

Dark Angel

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh

Pawn Shop Chronicles

A Company Man

To Be or Not To Be

Stranded

The Reluctant Fundamentalist

And Then There Were None

Pink Floyd: Classic Albums-The Making of The Dark Side of the Moon (Blu-ray)

The Rolling Stones: Stones in Exile

Verdi: Un Ballo in Maschera

Rossini: Ciro in Babilonia

Mozart: Don Giovanni (Skovhus, Opolais, Petersen/Freiburger Barockorchester/Louis Langrée)              

Hayden: Portrait

Mozart: Requiem in D Minor Lucerne Festival Orchestra (2013)

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