Maybe the DVD will tell you how to say ‘Zathura’

Published 9:00 pm Monday, February 13, 2006

Selected home-video releases:

“Zathura” – It could have been a hit, if only people knew how to pronounce it at the ticket counter.

This cute sci-fi family adventure, adapted from the picture book by Chris Van Allsburg (“The Polar Express”), features bickering brothers (Josh Hutcherson and Jonah Bobo) who must learn to put their differences aside to escape the perils they encounter when a dusty old board game sends them on a star trek among berserk robots and nasty reptilian aliens.

Director Jon Favreau and co-producer Peter Billingsley offer commentary, while the DVD has a nice range of background material about casting, creature creation, miniatures and visual effects. There’s also a feature on the artistic style of Van Allsburg’s books. $28.95. (Sony)

“Saw II” – The fright franchise that has nothing to offer but blood, sweat, toil and blood returns with another round of sick games staged by a serial killer out to prove that pretty much all humans deserve a gruesome death.

With a mostly new cast led by Donnie Wahlberg as the cop at the center of the story, the sequel puts maniacal murderer Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) into the hands of police, who must race to discover the whereabouts of a house where the wacko has imprisoned eight people among various devices of torture and death.

The DVD has a making-of feature and segments on the ghoulish props and traps the filmmakers concocted. Wahlberg, co-star Beverly Mitchell and director Darren Lynn Bousman also provide audio commentary. $28.98. (Lionsgate)

“Proof” – Need fresh proof that Gwyneth Paltrow can act up a tempest without having Shakespeare around to love? That Anthony Hopkins has plenty of tooth left in his acting bite? That Jake Gyllenhaal is more than just the cowboy-toy of Heath Ledger?

Paltrow reunites with her “Shakespeare in Love” director John Madden for this adaptation of the stage play about an unbalanced woman living in fear that she has inherited not only the brilliance of her math genius dad (Hopkins), but also his madness. Gyllenhaal, an Oscar nominee for “Brokeback Mountain,” co-stars as a math student with a personal and professional interest in Paltrow.

Deleted footage is accompanied by remarks from Madden, who also provides commentary for the full film. $29.99. (Miramax)

“Young Mr. Lincoln,” “Metropolitan,” “La Bete Humaine” – Henry Fonda stars as the rail-splitter who grows up to be a struggling lawyer and the nation’s eventual emancipator in John Ford’s 1939 classic about Abraham Lincoln’s early years. The two-disc set has archival interviews with Ford and Fonda and a radio dramatization of “Young Mr. Lincoln.”

With 1990’s “Metropolitan,” Whit Stillman made an impressive writing-directing debut on this indie hit spinning an insightful comic portrait of life among New York City’s young upper-crust. DVD extras include commentary by Stillman on both the full film and outtakes.

Jean Renoir’s 1938 classic “La Bete Humaine,” adapted from Emile Zola’s novel, stars Jean Gabin and Simone Simon in a tale of illicit romance and murder. The disc features an introduction to the film by Renoir, along with an archival interview with the director and remarks from filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich.

“Young Mr. Lincoln” set, $39.95; “Metropolitan,” $39.95; “La Bete Humaine,” $29.95. (Criterion)

TV on DVD

“Grey’s Anatomy: Season One” – Ellen Pompeo, Sandra Oh and Patrick Dempsey star in the hip hospital drama about hotshot surgical interns. A two-disc set packs year one’s nine episodes, along with commentary and deleted scenes. $29.99. (Disney)

“The Golden Girls: The Complete Fourth Season” – Bea Arthur and her gaggle of old broads return in a three-disc set that packs all 26 episodes from year four, along with a segment on the season’s top guest stars. $39.99. (Disney)

“The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air: The Complete Third Season,” “Living Single: The Complete First Season” – A pair of four-disc sets pack year three of Will Smith’s sitcom and the first season of Queen Latifah’s series about Brooklyn housemates. $29.98 each. (Warner Bros.)

“Charles in Charge,” “Gimme a Break!” – It’s ’80s flashback time. Scott Baio stars as a live-in housekeeper/babysitter in “Charles in Charge,” in a three-disc set with 22 episodes. A three-disc set has the first 19 episodes of “Gimme a Break!” starring the late Nell Carter as a brassy housekeeper for a widower and his daughters. $34.98 each. (Universal)

“The Andy Griffith Show: The Complete Fifth Season” – It’s your last chance to see Don Knotts as a series regular as Andy’s jittery deputy. $39.99. (Paramount)

“The Pretender: The Complete

Third Season” – Michael T. Weiss is back as the human chameleon whose ability to blend in helps keep him out of the grip of the shadowy group that once held him captive. $39.98. (20th Century Fox)

Other new releases

“Nine Lives” – A phenomenal lineup of actresses – led by Glenn Close, Holly Hunter, Sissy Spacek, Robin Wright Penn and Dakota Fanning – is featured in writer-director Rodrigo Garcia’s loosely linked collection of nine shorts. The DVD has a Q-and-A session with the cast and crew and features. $26.96. (Sony)

“MirrorMask” – The Jim Henson Co. is not in Muppetland anymore with this visually striking fantasy tale about a girl who ventures into a strange parallel world where odd creatures abound and darkness holds sway. Writer Neil Gaiman and director Dave McKean offer insights in interviews and commentary, and the DVD has a range of background on visual effects. $26.96. (Sony)

Above, Josh Hutcherson (left) and Jonah Bobo in Zathura.”

Left, Noam Jenkins in “Saw II.”