Here are some new-to-DVD movies this week, led by a locally produced sequel.
"The Work and the Glory: American Zion" (Paramount, 2005, PG-13, $29.99). My primary complaint about the first "Work and the Glory" movie was that the main story was overly familiar, by-the-numbers stuff (see "East of Eden," among others), and it was never as compelling as the subplot about LDS Church founder Joseph Smith.
That problem seems to have been addressed in this sequel, subtitled "American Zion," which spends more time with Joseph (well-played by Jonathan Scarfe) as he leads his people to Kirtland, Ohio. Naturally, persecution follows, and this film is darker in tone as a result ... which is not necessarily a bad thing. Brigham Young (Andrew Bowen) also makes an appearance.
The fictional Steed family, meanwhile, has its own problems, as Joshua (Eric Johnson) heads east, still resentful that his younger brother Nathan (Alexander Carroll) has married Lydia (Sera Bastian). Their parents (Sam Hennings, Brenda Strong) aren't faring much better, as the family patriarch resents that his wife is following the church to Kirtland.
The film ends on a "tune-in-next-time" note, setting up the third film in the series, scheduled for Thanksgiving release. But that's OK. I found this one an improvement over the first film; let's hope that pattern is kept up with the third (which was filmed back-to-back with this one).
Extras: Widescreen, optional English subtitles, chapters.
"Munich" (Universal, 2005; R for violence, sex, nudity, language; $29.98, two discs). Steven Spielberg remains one of our most talented filmmakers, and this re-creation of events surrounding the killing of Israeli athletes during the 1972 Munich Olympics is stirring stuff.
The fictionalized story follows an Israeli (Eric Bana) who becomes an assassin for the secret police, assigned with his team to track down and kill those responsible for the '72 tragedy. But, as you might expect, things don't always go as planned.
The film is episodic, and Spielberg is very good at getting us inside the heads of his characters. And there are a number of gripping sequences, chiefly one involving a bomb and a child that echoes Hitchcock.
But there are also some that seem to be pure exploitation, as when a nude female agent is confronted and killed, and the finale with Bana having violent sex with his wife while reliving the horrifying killings of the Olympic athletes. Both scenes are undermined by their staging, which seem odd missteps for Spielberg.
Extras: Separate widescreen and full-frame editions, making-of featurettes, language options (English, French), subtitle options (English, Spanish, French), chapters.
"The New World" (New Line, 2005, PG-13, $27.95). Here's a big-budget film from director Terrence Malick, who has made only four movies in 28 years. And with the stars involved and the high-rolling production values, it's natural to expect something other than this tedious tone poem, which relies on visual imagery and occasional heavy-handed voiceover narration.
Colin Farrell is fine as Captain John Smith, and young newcomer Q'Orianka Kilcher, who plays Pocahontas, is even better. And there are flashes of Malick's brilliance. But the film is pretentious and drags, underuses some great actors, and suddenly skips over serious plot points without elaboration.
Extras: Widescreen, making-of featurettes, subtitle options (English, Spanish), chapters.
"Nanny McPhee" (Universal, 2005, PG, $29.98). I also wasn't thrilled with this one, which has been compared to "Mary Poppins." Yeah, right.
Emma Thompson, who also wrote the screenplay adaptation of a popular children's book, plays the title character, a less-than-attractive nanny who comes into the lives of several bratty children, straightens them out and gradually changes herself to a more attractive woman.
Silly, frantic but not terribly funny or charming, despite a game cast and colorful production values.
Extras: Separate widescreen and full-frame editions, deleted scenes, making-of featurettes, bloopers, language and subtitle options (English, Spanish, French), chapters.
E-mail: hicks@desnews.com