DVD Releases: August 19

[Sonnie]

Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers -- The Collection: Volume 2 Four-disc set with the final 33 episodes, $39.98. Extras: On-camera interviews with series creator Robert Mandell and writers Dan Fiorella and John Rawlins; select commentary; original music backing tracks; memories of Jerry Orbach and "show and tell" segments; slideshow of Galaxy Rangers character art by Justin Norman; 28-page collectible booklet with original illustrations. (Koch Vision).

Chronicle of an Escape (2006 -- Argentina) Rodrigo De la Serna, Pablo Echarri, Nazareno Casero. Suspenseful thriller based on the horrifying true story of one man's dangerous journey to escape imprisonment after the military coup in Argentina in the late 1970s. Extras: "The Making of Chronicle of an Escape," "A Trip to Stockholm: Visiting Exiled Former Captives Claudio Tamburrini & Guillermo Fernandez," deleted scenes, cast and crew biographies. (Genius Products).

Deal (2008) Burt Reynolds, Bret Harrison, Shannon Elizabeth. A retired gambler (Reynolds) itching to get back in the game teams up with a hotshot college senior (Harrison) to take the poker world by storm. But a beautiful Vegas call girl (Elizabeth) complicates the plan, and soon the teacher and student find themselves in a heads-up battle for the championship. Features an all-star lineup of Texas hold-em players. Extras: "Pokerstars Presents: Winning Big at Texas
Hold-Em With Isabelle Mercier and Greg Raymer." (MGM).

Dexter: The Complete Second Season (2007) Four-disc set with 12 episodes, $42.99. (Paramount).

George of the Jungle Swingin' 1st Season Three-disc set with 19 episodes from the Cartoon Network series, $23.98. (Classic Media/Genius Products).

Gossip Girl: The Complete First Season Five-disc set with 18 episodes, $59.98. Extras: Unaired scenes, three featurettes, music videos, gag reel, free download of the original best-selling book read by Christina Ricci.(Warner).

Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds 3-D Concert (2008) Sold-out concert event captured live and in 3-D. (Disney)

Her Best Move (2007) Leah Pipes, Scott Patterson, Lisa Darr, Drew Tyler Bell. Soccer prodigy Sara Davis is on her way to becoming the youngest player ever selected to join the U.S. National Team, but her biggest challenge is balancing the demands of high school, a new boyfriend, a part-time job and her overbearing, sports obsessed father. (MGM).

Jane and the Dragon: A Dragon's Tale First five episodes from the animated series adapted from Martin Baynton's popular children's books, as seen on NBC, ION, Telemundo and qubo. Translates the wonderful stories and whimsical illustrations of Baynton's books into an astonishing world of 3-D computer-generated animation, using the latest in motion-capture technology, follows the adventures of Jane and Dragon as they search the world for other elusive dragons, play bandyball and rock, parchment and sword, and get into trouble throughout the kingdom. $14.99. (Shout! Factory).

Keepin' the Faith: Lookin' for Mr. Right (2008) Angell Conwell, Marcello Thedford. A young woman patiently waiting for the Lord to send he the right man struggles with her friends, who want to hook her up with the main of their dreams. First in a new series of urban faith-based romantic comedies. (Warner).

Love and Mary (2007) Lauren German, Gabriel Mann, Whitney Able. A sophisticated pastry chef who's struggling to keep the doors of her bakery open decides to return back home with her fiance to collect a sizeable engagement gift from her eccentric Texan family. But when he's befalled by allergies and unable to travel, she bails his idential twin brother out of jail and travels back home passing him off as her fiance. (MTI Home Video).

Maneater Series Collection: Volume 2 Three titles from the Sci Fi Channel "Maneater" series: "Croc," "Eye of the Beast" and "Grizzly Rage"; $26.95. (Genius Products).

Marco Ferreri Collection For 40 years, Italian filmmaker Marco Ferreri has stunned and shocked filmgoers with his confrontational and daring works. Politics, impossible relationships, alienation, madness and sexual frankness mark the eight films in this boxed set: "El Cochecito" (The Wheelchair) (1960) in which a man wants a motorized wheelchair so he can join in the races for the handicapped; "The Seed of Man (1969) in which a global plague wipes out most of Earth's population and a young couple argue about having a child; "La Grande Bouffe" (The Big Feast) (1973), Ferreri's greatest international success about four friends who hire prostitutes and hole up in a Parisian villa for group sex and to eat themselves to death, starring screen giants Marcello Mastroianni, Philippe Noiret, Michel Piccoli and Ugo Tognazzi; "Don't Touch the White Woman (1974) stars Catherine Deneuve and Marcello Mastroianni in this re-creation of General Custer's last stand, filmed in the midst of modern Paris; "Bye Bye Monkey" (1978) , in which Gerard Depardieu and Marcello Mastroianni star as two foreign eccentrics decaying in a rat-infested NYC apartment; "Seeking Asylum" (1979) , a rare "family film" focusing on unorthodox schoolteacher Roberto Benigni as he takes over a fortress-like pre-school; "Tales of Ordinary Madness" (1981), in which Ben Gazzara plays a drunken poet dealing with the elusive possibility of love, based on the writings of Charles Bukowski; "The House of Smiles" (1988), in which Ingrid Thulin stars as an elderly woman struggling to survive inside an asylum. $39.98. (Koch Lorber Films).

Married ... With Children: The Complete Ninth Season Three-disc set with 28 episodes, $39.95. (Sony).

Perry Mason: Season Three, Volume One (1959-60) Three-disc set, $54.99. (Paramount).

Primo Levi's Journey (2007 -- Italy) In the winter of 1945, Primo Levi, one of the century's great writers, was liberated from the Auschwitz concentration camp. With the war still underway, he embarked on a thousand-mile journey to his home in Turin, Italy -- a strange, beguiling odyssey memorialized in his book, "The Reawakening." Sixty years later, director Davide Ferrario set out to follow in Levi's footsteps. Retracing his historic trip, the film weaves a path through a modern Europe that has both changed and remained eerily the same -- from democratic rallies in the East to neo-Nazi demonstrations in the West. Narrated by Academy Award- winning actor Chris Cooper. Extras: "Making of Primo Levi's Journey." (New Yorker Video).
Prom Night (2008) Brittany Snow, Dana Davis, Jessica Troup, Scott Porter, Collins Pennie, Kelly Blatz, Idris Elba, Jonathan Schaech, Jessalyn Gilsig, Kellan Lutz, Craig Susser. Available in rated and unrated DVD versions and unrated Blu-ray Disc. Extras:Deleted scenes, alternate ending, gag reel, "A Night to Remember: The Making of Prom Night" featurette, "Profile of a Killer" featurette, "Gothic Spaces: Creating the Pacific Grand Hotel" featurette, "Prom Night Photo Album: Real Prom Stories From the Cast," commentary. (Sony).

Recount (2008) Kevin Spacey, Bob Balaban, Ed Begley Jr., Laura Dern, John Hurt, Denis Leary, Tom Wilkinson. Recent HBO telefilm that chronicles the turbulent weeks in Florida after the 2000 presidential election. Extras: Commentary by director Jay Roach and writer Danny Strong, "The True Inside Story of the 2000 Presidential Election," conversation between Kevin Spacey and Ron Klain, conversation between Bob Balaban and Ben Ginsberg. (HBO).

The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior (2008) Randy Couture. Direct-to-DVD sequel. Available on Blu-ray Disc. (Universal).

The Small Back Room (1949) Dir.: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger; Cyril Cusack, Jack Hawkins, Michael Gough. Post-World War II gem about a troubled, alcoholic research scientist and military bomb-disposal expert who, while struggling with a complex relationship with his secretary-girlfriend Susan, is hired by the government to advise on a dangerous new German weapon. New, restored high-definition digital transfer. Extras: Commentary featuring film scholar Charles Barr, new video interview with cinematographer Chris Challis, excerpts from Michael Powell's audio dictations for his autobiography, new essay by film scholar Nick James. (The Criterion Collection).

Street Kings (2008) Keanu Reeves, Forest Whitaker, Jay Mohr, John Corbett, Hugh Laurie, Chris Evans, Cedric the Entertainer, Naomi Harris, Amaury Nolasco, Common and The Game. Available in single and two-disc DVD versions and on Blu-ray Disc. Extras: Commentary by director David Ayer, deleted scenes, alternate scenes, 10 vignettes, "Street Rules: Rolling With David Ayer and Jaime FitzSimons" featurette, "HBO First Look -- City of Fallen Angels: Making Street Kings." (Fox).

Television Under the Swastika (1999) Nazi leaders, determined to beat Great Britain and the U.S. to be the world's first television broadcaster, began Greater German Television in March 1935. Making use of 285 reels of film discovered in the catacombs of the Berlin Federal Film Archive, filmmaker Michael Kloft creates a fascinating look at the world's first television broadcast network. It explores both the technology behind this new medium, and the programming the Nazis chose to put on it. $24.95. Extras: WWII film gallery, filmmaker biography . (First Run Features).

Terminator -- The Sarah Connor Chronicles: The Complete First Season Three-disc set with nine episodes, $29.98. Extras: "Creating the Chronicles" featurette; commentaries by executive producers Josh Freidman and John Wirth, cast members Summer Glau and Thomas Dekker, and more; "Terminated Scenes" (i.e. deleted scenes); gag reel; cast audition tapes; storyboard animatic; Summer Glau dance rehearsal; extended director's cut of "The Demon Hand" episode. Also available on Blu-ray Disc. (Warner).

Twenty-Four Eyes (1954 -- Japan) Dir.: Keisuke Kinoshita; Hideko Takamine, Chishu Ryu. Elegant, emotional chronicle of a teacher's unwavering commitment to her students, her profession, and her sense of morality, set in a remote, rural island community and spanning decades of Japanese history, from 1928 through World War II and beyond. New, restored high-definition digital transfer. Extras: Television interview with director Keisuke Kinoshita, new video interview with Japanese cinema historian and critic Tadao Sato about the film and its director, booklet featuring a new essay be renowned film scholar Audie Bock and excerpts from an interview with Kinoshita. (The Criterion Collection).

The Widowing of Mrs. Holroyd (1976) Zoe Wanamaker, Colin Firth. BBC adaptation of D.H. Lawrence story about Lizzie Holroyd and her boorish husband Charles who scream their lives away until Lizzie falls in love with another man and wishes her husband dead -- a wish that comes horribly true. Extras: Includes bonus program "The Rainbow," also by D.H. Lawrence, starring Imogene Stubbs. (BBC Video/Warner).