New on DVD this week:
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit
Harrison Ford, Ben Affleck and Alec Baldwin have all had a turn playing Tom Clancy’s reluctant hero. Chris Pine headlines this reboot prequel, which chronicles Jack Ryan’s combat injury and rehab, and how he started working for the CIA in the first place. It’s Commander Thomas Harper (Kevin Costner) who gives Jack a reason to get well, helping to thwart a Russian plot designed to cause a “second Great Depression” in the U.S. That means keeping secrets from his girlfriend (Keira Knightly) and getting cozy with the dangerous Victor Cherevin (a delightfully evil Kenneth Branagh, who also directs). The Blu-ray has an extra devoted to Sir Kenneth — “the tsar” — onset. Other special features: an extra on the stunts and interviews with stunt legend Vic Armstrong; Old Enemies Return explains the return of Russians as the bad guys; extensive interviews with director, actors, producers, stunt coordinators; a look at former Jack Ryans; deleted and extended scenes.
TV of DVD
Crime-fighting, rescuing supernatural artifacts, time travel: all in a day’s work for the crew working from the top-secret Warehouse 13. Their weapons of choice? A bus ticket belonging to Bob Dylan, Harvey Korman’s cufflinks, Edna St. Vincent Millay’s candle. This fifth and final season of the series comes with all sorts of fan extras including podcasts for each episode, gag reel, deleted and extended scenes and a holiday bonus episode.
There’s still time to catch up on season three of Suits before the new season starts next week. The series ends with a doozy of a cliffhanger that will change the relationship between Mike and Harvey (Patrick J. Adams and Gabriel Macht), two very different lawyers enmeshed in mergers, trysts and other drama in and out of the courtroom. Tons of extras on the four-disc DVD set including alternate openings and season finale ending, gag reel, a making-of extra, creator/producer/actor commentary, and more.
Piper Perabo stars in Covert Affairs as CIA agent Annie Walker, who goes deep undercover in season four, kicking butt while navigating a new romance with her blind co-worker (Christopher Gorham). Copenhagen, Hong Kong, Colombia and Vienna are few hot-spots for Annie this season as she chases down her nemesis Henry Walker. There’s an extra on the action sequences in the series, a gag reel, deleted scenes, a prequel and a making-of feature included in the four-disc set.
