This collection of movies that are new to DVD is led by a 1970s underwater suspense picture.
"The Deep" (Columbia/Blu-ray, 1977, PG, $28.95). Based on a novel by Peter Benchley ("Jaws"), this thriller boasts gorgeous ocean cinematography (enhanced by this Blu-ray edition), a nice John Barry score and a great cast: Robert Shaw, Jacqueline Bisset, Nick Nolte, Louis Gossett Jr., Eli Wallach.
But the story is muddled and the pacing is deadly in the story of an innocent couple vacationing in Bermuda and getting mixed up with drug-dealers, underwater treasure and voodoo. There are some good action scenes in the second half but the first half dwells more on exploiting Bisset's body.
Fans will be happy to know that among the bonus features is nearly an hour of extra footage that hasn't been seen since the film aired on network television in the 1980s.
Extras: widescreen, deleted/extended scenes, vintage made-for-TV featurette
"Knowing" (Summet, 2009, PG-13, $26.99). Nicolas Cage stars in this exciting but strange and offbeat sci-fi thriller as a physicist who comes to believe that a page taken from a time capsule — a page filled with seemingly random numbers — contains apocalyptic prophesies.
Directed with vigor and bolstered by an earnest performance by Cage, this film nonetheless hangs almost entirely on how you react to the ending, which, of course, I can't reveal here. Suffice to say this is an uneasy alliance of sci-fi, religion and great computer-animated destruction sequences, but it's also loaded with head-scratching plot holes.
Extras: widescreen, audio commentary, featurettes
"Push" (Summit, 2009, PG-13, $26.99). Confusing sci-fi yarn about young people with such powers as mind-control and telekinesis being pursued by an evil government agency. Chris Evens, Dakota Fanning and Camilla Belle are on the run from Djimon Hounsou.
Extras: widescreen, deleted scenes, audio commentary, featurette
"Night Train" (NEM/Blu-ray, 2009; R for violence, language; $24.98). This fantasy-thriller plays like an extended "Twilight Zone" episode, with three money-strapped unfortunates (Danny Glover, Steve Zahn, Leelee Sobieski) discovering that a man who's died on the train they're riding has a mysterious box of great value, causing greed to take over.
Starts out like "Shallow Grave" but turns into something more mystical. Good performances, some good suspense but the level of gore is unnecessarily excessive.
Extras: widescreen, featurettes, photo gallery, trailer
"Flying By" (MTI, 2009, PG-13, $19.95). Billy Ray Cyrus stars in this predictable Lifetime cable-TV movie as an uncommunicative husband and real-estate developer who decides to pursue his love of music (put on hold since high school) when he reunites with members of his teenage band.
None of this sits well with his wife (Heather Locklear), though his teenage daughter (no, not Miley) thinks it's cool. The great Patricia Neal has a few scenes his mother. The biggest drawback here is that Cyrus can't act, not that his fans will care.
Extras: widescreen, trailer
e-mail: hicks@desnews.com