New on DVD: May 14

Cloud Atlas

The creative minds behind the Matrix films and Run, Lola, Run (Andy and Lana Wachowski, and Tom Tykwer) collaborate on this epic and complicated sci-fi tale (the most expensive independent film ever made) that spans multiple time periods in the past, present and future with its stars Tom Hanks and Halle Berry playing multiple roles. (Warner)

Texas Chainsaw

When a young woman (Alexandra Daddario) discovers that her she is adopted and stands to inherit something from her long-lost grandmother, she gathers together a group of friends and heads to Texas to retrieve it. Little does she know that one of her estranged cousins – the famous Leatherface – has a welcoming party planned for them in this latest incarnation of the gory franchise.

Frankie Go Boom

Poor Frankie (Charlie Hunnam of Sons of Anarchy) has been the brunt of his older brother Frankie’s (Chris O’Dowd) filmed pranks for his entire life – saved only when Frankie was in prison. But now he’s out and the humiliation has returned.

7 Days in Havana

Seven directors (including actor Benicio Del Toro) made this seven-chapter film about the Cuban city tied together by the character of the city itself.

CLASSIC RE-ISSUES

Crimewave

Between Evil Dead movies and after Blood Simple, college buddies Sam Raimi and Joel & Ethan Coen wrote this slapstick film noir farce about a pair of hit man exterminators (Brion James of Blade Runner and Paul L. Smith of Popeye) who are hired to kill the owner of a burglar alarm company and then try to frame it on a innocent dope. This comedy also features appearances by Bruce Campbell and Frances McDormand. (Shout Factory)

TV ON DVD

Bearcats!: The Complete Series

During the 1960s Australian Rod Taylor was a certified Hollywood movie star with leads in films like The Birds, The Time Machine and The V.I.P.’s (alongside Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton). By the end of that decade, he was getting offered less interesting roles in films and turned to TV for the lead role in the 1971 highly-entertaining action-packed series Bearcats!.

Set in 1914, this series followed the adventures of Hank Brackett (Taylor) and Johnny Reach (Dennis Cole), two fearless adventurers who travelled the country in a rare Stutz Bearcat car. They would take on any job and their method of payment was always a blank cheque, which they would fill out as they saw fit depending on the difficulty of each job. Any week they could find themselves facing down a First World War tank (which was being used to rob banks by a deadly gang led by evil villain John Vernon) or trying to stop mercenaries from stealing much-needed medical supplies destined to go overseas to the Allied troops. Many well-know faces populated this series throughout its short run (only 13 episodes were made) including Keenan Wynn, Leslie Nielsen and Kevin McCarthy. Now for the very first time, Timeless Media and Shout Factory have restored this entire series (minus the pilot film Powderkeg) for release on this three-disc DVD set. (Shout Factory/Timeless Media)

Mythbusters: Collection 9

In this collection of episodes from the ninth season of the popular urban-legend-debunking series, the boys attempt to find out if you really can “know it like the back of your hand”, if that chemical in turkey really makes you sleepy, if you could survive an explosion by jumping away from it (like in the movies) and many others on this 2-disc set.

VR Troopers: Season 2: Vol. 1

Combining stock footage from several different Japanese TV shows and adding cutting-edge (for the time) CGI effects, this show set out to become the next Power Rangers. The main plot concerned three teenagers who discover that a evil billionaire is planning to use virtual reality (hence the VR in the title) to bring monsters from another dimension and take over the world. It’s now up to the teens to battle him and his creatures in both worlds and save the planet. Now, in the series second (and final) season, the team has new powers and armor – which they will need since their nemesis has moved his lair to a space station. This 2-disc set features the first 20 episodes of the second season. (Shout Factory)