New on DVD and Blu-ray: 'The Artist' and More

By Robert DeSalvo

June 25, 2012 / 3:00 PM

This week: "The Artist" -- the French silent movie that won five Oscars this year, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Costume Design and Best Original Score -- arrives on DVD and Blu-ray at last.

Also new this week are Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill in the hilarious action comedy "21 Jump Street," Sam Worthington going Greek again in "Wrath of the Titans," the Snow White interpretation "Mirror Mirror," and an anniversary Blu-ray edition of "Deliverance."

'The Artist'

Box Office: $45 million

Rotten Tomatoes: 98% Fresh

Storyline: Set 1920s Hollywood, this silent romantic dramedy by director Michel Hazanavicius stars Jean Dujardin as George Valentin, a silent-movie star whose career is threatened by the arrival of sound. He sparks with an extra, Peppy Miller (Bérénice Bejo), who is on the verge of getting her big break while George clings to his hope that "talkies" are just a passing fad.

Extras! Lovers of Old Hollywood will want to watch "Hollywood as a Character: The Locations of 'The Artist,'" which highlights the places used in the film that have a personality all their own.

We Say: "The Artist" won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and will appeal to those susceptible to charms like a whimsical love story, a cute dog sidekick and nostalgia for romanticized bygone eras.

'21 Jump Street'

Box Office: $138 million

Rotten Tomatoes: 85% Fresh

Storyline: Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum star as two former classmates who meet again at police academy and go undercover as high school students to bust a drug ring. Based on the '80s TV series starring Johnny Depp.

Extras! There are 20 deleted scenes (about 30 minutes worth of footage) on the DVD and Blu-ray that are actually pretty funny.

We Say: Even if you scoffed at the possibility that this latest adaptation of a TV show could be any good, believe us when we say that the unlikely bromance between Hill and Tatum provides some surprisingly hilarious moments -- especially when the once-popular Tatum returns to school and is confused by new social cliques like hipsters.

'Wrath of the Titans'

Box Office: $84 million

Rotten Tomatoes: 25% Rotten

Storyline: A decade after the events in "Clash of the Titans," Perseus (Sam Worthington), the demigod son of Zeus (Liam Neeson) who defeated the Kraken, lives a quieter life as a fisherman with his young son -- until he learns that Hades (Ralph Fiennes) and Ares (Edgar Ramirez) have captured Zeus and intend to use his godly powers to release Kronos, the ferocious leader of the Titans, from his underworld prison.

Extras! The Blu-ray has two Maximum Movie Modes ("The Path of Men" and "The Path of Gods") that are unique picture-in-picture interactive features with storyboard comparisons and film focus points.

We Say: This chaotic and fiery adventure is a marked improvement over the original and features much better effects on the Blu-ray 3D version than the notoriously problematic "Clash of the Titans."

'Mirror Mirror'

Box Office: $64 million

Rotten Tomatoes: 50% Rotten

Storyline: Director Tarsem Singh's interpretation of the Snow White fairy tale stars Julia Roberts as Queen Gertrude, Lily Collins as Snow White and Armie Hammer as the prince who only has eyes for the fairest of them all, even as the queen schemes to marry him.

Extras! The Blu-ray edition contains an interactive storybook as well as the "I Believe I Can Dance" dance-along.

We Say: This sepia-hued set piece offers some magical eye candy, and Roberts can be fun to watch as a scenery-chewing, insecure woman of power. But the story adds nothing remarkable to the original Grimm fairy tale that has been retold countless times already.

'Deliverance' 40th Anniversary Blu-ray

Box Office: $46 million

Rotten Tomatoes: 94% Fresh

Storyline: In this classic 1972 thriller directed by John Boorman, a peaceful weekend canoe trip turns into a nightmarish fight for survival when four friends (Jon Voight, Burt Reynolds, Ned Beatty and Ronny Cox) encounter some violent rednecks.

Extras! This Blu-ray double dip comes packaged in a Digibook with color photos and a new retrospective with the four leads.

We Say: This harrowing man-vs.-nature tale still resonates because of the incredible performances by its leading men, whose characters confront what they are really made of when all of society's comforts are stripped away. The city boys-vs.-hillbillies aspect of it has been copied in countless lesser movies, but nothing compares to the raw intensity of this story based on James Dickey's novel.