Selected home-video releases:
"National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets"
Nicolas Cage takes the current president hostage in his quest to clear an ancestor in the assassination of another. Cage scored his latest blockbuster hit with this "National Treasure" follow-up, reprising his role as a historian and treasure-hunter who traipses around the world sorting out clues that will help exonerate one of his forebears of conspiracy in the death of Abraham Lincoln. And of course, along the way, he stumbles on another hidden trove of vast riches, accompanied by his mom and dad (Helen Mirren and Jon Voight), his estranged girlfriend (Diane Kruger) and an adversary (Ed Harris) with his own dark family history. A two-disc DVD set and the Blu-ray high-definition release pile on the extras, including deleted and extended scenes featuring introductions from director Jon Turteltaub, who is joined by Voight for commentary on the full movie. Behind-the-scenes segments feature cast and crew including producer Jerry Bruckheimer on visual effects, stunts and the history behind artifacts and legends in the story. The Blu-ray release has two extra deleted scenes plus a quiz on the fact and fiction in the movie. Also debuting on Blu-ray is the first "National Treasure," with commentary from Turteltaub and a new featurette. DVD set, $29.99; "National Treasure" and "National Treasure 2" Blu-ray releases, $34.99 each. (Disney)
"George A. Romero's Diary of the Dead"
King of the zombies Romero goes back to his indie-film roots with a "Blair Witch Project" documentary style to his fifth movie about reanimated corpses with a hankering for live human flesh. This chapter follows a group of film students whose low-budget horror flick turns into an impromptu documentary as their camera chronicles the rise of zombies that feed on the living. The DVD has a feature-length making-of documentary and a couple of behind-the-scenes segments, plus commentary with Romero and his cinematographer and editor. Also out is a 40th anniversary edition of Romero's "Night of the Living Dead," the low-budget horror classic that turned zombie tales into their own subgenre. The film is accompanied by a feature-length documentary and commentary with Romero and cast and crew members. "Diary of the Dead" DVD, $24.95; "Night of the Living Dead" DVD, $19.97. (Genius)
"The Delirious Fictions of William Klein"
American photographer, documentary filmmaker and satirist Klein offers up three wild tales he created in the 1960s and '70s, set in his adopted country, France. "Who Are You, Polly Maggoo?" tears apart the haughtiness and artificiality of the fashion world as it follows the adventures of a Brooklyn model in snooty Paris. "Mr. Freedom" features an arrogantly uncompromising U.S. superhero who comes to Paris to fight the Communist menace. "The Model Couple" is centered on a man and woman chosen for their dreary commonness as subjects who are put under surveillance for a series of strange, intrusive tests to better society. DVD set, $44.95. (Eclipse)
TV on DVD:
"24: Season One" " Jack Bauer's first bad day on the job returns in a new seven-disc, 24-episode set packaged in an embossed metal case and featuring a batch of new extras along with bonus materials from an earlier release. Kiefer Sutherland, who stars as Counter Terrorist Unit hotshot Bauer, provides an introduction for the first season of the hit show. The set also has commentary, deleted scenes and a new documentary segment on the creation of the series. DVD set, $59.98. (20th Century Fox)
"Cranford" " Adapted from three novels by Elizabeth Gaskell, this miniseries features Judi Dench and Eileen Atkins as spinster sisters in an 1840s British market town. The cast includes Michael Gambon and Imelda Staunton. The five-part series arrives in a two-disc set with a making-of segment. DVD set, $34.98. (BBC)
"Square Pegs: The Complete Series" " Before she was a randy columnist looking for love in Manhattan, "Sex and the City" star Sarah Jessica Parker was an outsider trying to fit in at her high school in this short-lived comedy from the early 1980s. Jami Gertz co-stars in the series, whose 19 episodes come in a three-disc package that includes cast interviews. DVD set, $29.95. (Sony)
"The Muppet Show: Season Three" " Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear and their menagerie of friends resume their wisecracking in a four-disc set with all 24 episodes from the third year. The set has a behind-the-scenes look at the song-and-dance puppet show, a series of TV commercials featuring the Muppets and a 1969 program on the Muppets featuring their creator, Jim Henson. DVD set, $39.99. (Disney)
"JAG: The Sixth Season" " David James Elliott and Catherine Bell are back on the case as members of the Judge Advocate General Corps, investigating and prosecuting crimes involving the Navy and Marine Corps. A six-disc set has season six's 24 episodes. DVD set, $64.99. (Paramount)
"Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. The Fourth Season" " On the lighter side of life in the Marines, Jim Nabors stars as the title character, a yokel who causes havoc for his hotheaded sergeant (Frank Sutton) at their military base. The five-disc set packs all 30 episodes from the sitcom's fourth year. DVD set, $42.99. (Paramount)