Two excellent but little known action films, one American and one Korean, lead this week’s home entertainment releases that also include the latest iteration of the cult hit anime Hetalia, the Appleseed prequel Appleseed Alpha, and a new Blu-ray edition of one of the best American TV miniseries of all time Shogun.
 
Theatrical Movies
 
During this time of year with the studios saving their best releases for the fourth quarter, the best bets are often foreign films or indie productions and this week is no exception.  This week’s highest-grossing release Heaven Is for Real (Sony, “PG-13,” 99 min., $30.99, BD $40.99), which is based on the account of a 4-year-old boy’s near death experience.  So far in 2014 there have been more Christian-themed releases like Heaven Is for Real than superhero films, and Heaven Is for Real was one of the most successful of all of the Biblically-inspired films.
 
Heaven Is for Real didn’t fare too well with the critics (46% positive on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes), but cinematographer Wally Phister’s attempt to produce a Christopher Nolan-like science fiction epic in Transcendence (Warner Bros., “PG-13,” $28.98, BD $35.99) could only manage a meager 19% positive rating in spite of the presence of a cast that includes Johnny Depp, Morgan Freeman, and Paul Bettany.
 
The prolific Tyler Perry occasionally produces a misfire, and The Single Mom’s Club (Lionsgate, “PG-13,” 111 min., $29.98, BD $39.99) certainly qualifies.  It earned only $15 million, a very low figure for Perry’s films and earned just a 16% positive rating from Rotten Tomatoes.
 
Equally disappointing is the Arnold Schwarzenegger action film Sabotage (Universal, “R,” 220 min., 29.98, BD $34.98), an overly long, excessively violent saga about a DEA team that takes down a major cartel, but then sees its members eliminated one-by-one in what looks like an inside job.  Sabotage earned just $10.4 million in theaters and posted just a 20% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
 
Among the best bets for action movie fans this week is Blue Ruin (Anchor Bay, “R,” 90 min., $24.98, BD $29.98), a classic American revenge drama that is filled with suspense.  As sharp and quick-witted as it is bloody, Blue Ruin may not be for everyone, but writer/director Jeremy Saulnier knows how to use silence and slow camera moves to ramp up the tension.  Although Blue Ruin got no promotion or distribution, it did earn a lofty 95% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and is well worth checking out.
 
Equally interesting for action movie fans is The Suspect (Well Go USA, “Not Rated,” 137 min., $24.98, BD $29.98), a thriller set in Korea that hinges on secret arms deals and the internecine relationship between the two Koreas.  Director Shin-yeon Won stages two car chases in The Suspect that have to be seen to be believed.
 
Anime
 
This is a very good week for anime releases thanks in part to Hetalia Season 5: The Beautiful World (Funimation, “17+,” 125 min., $34.98, Ltd. Ed. $39.98), the latest (2013) iteration of the cult hit Hetalia: Axis Powers franchise.  Produced by Studio Deen, the twenty 5-minute episodes in this collection contain more of the outrageous national stereotypes that makes this series so popular (and somewhat controversial). 
 
Also of great interest is Appleseed Alpha (Sony, “PG-13,” 93 min., $26.99, BD $30.99), a 2014 CGI anime movie directed by Shinji Aramaki (Gasaraki, Appleseed) that functions as a prequel to Masamune Shirow’s mecha sci-fi police series Appleseed.  With a gratifying level of detail that has been missing in previous Appleseed CGI movies, Aramaki delivers a fascinating chronicle of the early adventures of Deunan and her cyborg partner Briareos.
 
My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU Complete Collection (Sentai Filmworks, “14+,” 325 min., $49.98) collects all 13 episodes of the 2013 anime series from Brains Base that is based on the light novel series by Wataru Watari, a slice-of-life teen romance saga that has been adapted into no fewer than four different manga series as well as the 2013 anime.  Those who enjoy relationship-heavy anime series might want to check this series out.
 
Also new this week is the Severing Crime Edge Complete Collection (Sentai Filmworks, “17+,” 325 min., $59.98, BD $69.98), which collects all 13 episodes of a 2013 anime series produced by Studio Gokumi and based on the seinen manga series by Tatsuhiko HIkagi about a boy who is obsessed with cutting hair who meets a girl whose hair can’t be cut.  When the boy produces a special pair of scissors that can cut the girl’s hair, he sets a fast-moving action/romance plot in action.
 
TV on DVD
 
The most interesting release in a very down week in this category is Hercules: The Legendary Journey, Season 5 (Universal, 963 min., $22.98), which collects the final season of the syndicated series starring Kevin Sorbo.  This set is due out just in time to take advantage of the debut of a new Hercules movie starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
 
Hercules: The Legendary Journey was soon surpassed by its own spin-off series, Xena: Warrior Princess, which was produced by the same New Zealand/American team and syndicated throughout the world.  Xena: Warrior Princess Season 5 (Universal, 979 min., $22.98) is now available at a very reasonable price.
 
This week’s top release for mainstream viewers is a sharp new Blu-ray edition of the classic 1980 Shogun miniseries starring Richard Chamberlain, Toshiro Mifune, and Yoko Shimada that was based on the novel by James Clavell.  Shogun was the only U.S. miniseries ever produced entirely in Japan, and it holds up surprisingly well, especially in this new Blu-ray edition.
 
This week’s only other TV on DVD release is Dalziel and Pascoe: Season 10 (BBC, 502 min., $34.98), which collects ten episodes from the police procedural about two very different coppers, the blunt, and abrasive Andy Dalziel and his young college-trained partner Peter Pascoe.
 
--Tom Flinn
 
The opinions expressed in this column do not necessarily reflect those of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.