Here are some of this week's hottest releases on home video:
Kong: Skull Island
The giant ape with a soft heart roars back onto the silver screen in this prequel, set on King Kong's prehistoric home island. TomHiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson, Brie Larson, John Goodman and John C. Reilly make up a group of researchers and explorers who ill-advisedly seek out the lost world and its myriad dangers. Excellent effects lift the movie up above B-flick quality. The 4K/Blu-ray digital copy includes filmmaker commentary, several looks at the making of the effects, deleted scenes and a short about the film's Vietnam shooting locations.
Resident Evil: Vendetta
While the live-action "Resident Evil" films tend to be duds, the animated films do a better job of telling the saga's ridiculous side stories. That's the case here, with series stalwarts Chris Redfield (Kevin Dorman) and Leon Kennedy (Matthew Mercer) teaming up to stop a nefarious agent from releasing a death-dealing virus in New York. Extras include making-of featurettes that focus on motion capture tech, as well as a bonus disc with a mission briefing, a featurette on the scenery's design and footage from last year's Tokyo Game Show.
Roberto Rossellini's War Trilogy (Criterion)
Rossellini, the famed Italian director, was an icon of mid-20th century world cinema. Three of his best efforts: "Paisan" (1946) "Rome Open City" (1945) and Germany Year Zero" (1948) tell World War II stories from various sides of the struggle. New transfers, film historian commentary tracks, vintage interviews, making-of documentaries and a tribute booklet fill out the set.
T.J. Hooker: The Complete Series
In one of William Shatner's many former acting lives, he was a wise-cracking, silk-smooth cop who took down L.A.'s toughest thugs. Heather Locklear, Jim Corrigan and Adrian Zmed co-star in the 1982-1986 show, and Jerry Lee Lewis, Leonard Nimoy, Dennis Franz, Tori Spelling, Sharon Stone and Delta Burke popped up in guest roles. The cheesy yet relentlessly entertaining procedural is a borderline classic.
Studios provided review screeners.
