Blu-ray highlights for the week of April 8, 2008

Without a doubt, the crown jewel of this week’s Blu-ray release lineup, for me, is the 20th Anniversary Edition of Terry Gilliam’s The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (also available on DVD). Munchausen has long held the top spot on my list of all-time favorite movies, but don’t take that to mean that I consider it the ‘best’ film ever made. Rather, it is a flawed masterpiece whose missteps only serve to make it more endearing. More on that later in the week when I review the disc.

The rest of the Blu-ray highlights after the break.

Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story is yet another successful comedy in Judd Apatow’s rapidly growing oeuvre. Though co-written by Apatow, Walk Hard seems to lack the same charm that rounded out The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, and Superbad. Despite sometimes being abrasively sardonic, it certainly succeeds as a rockstar biopic parody, in most part thanks to John C. Reilly’s performance as the titular Dewey Cox.

When I first saw the trailer for The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep, the Walden Media family film about a boy and his lake-monster, I thought it was going to be a big-screen adaptation of Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher. Thankfully Hollywood doesn’t intend to unearth that gem from my childhood. Not yet, anyway. Water Horse’s generally positive reviews have granted it a position in my Netflix queue, albeit not a high one.

Don Bluth’s interactive Space Ace, of arcade and laserdisc fame, now gets the same hi-def treatment as its superior predecessor, Dragon’s Lair. Due to the theatrical quality of the animation, these games have aged pretty well, and Blu-ray’s interactivity (noticeably more responsive than DVD’s) makes it a suitable medium.

Lastly, an honorable mention: a movie that isn’t being released on Blu-ray this week, There Will Be Blood. Though Paramount announced their intention to publish on Blu-ray after being released from their HD-DVD contract by the latter format’s death, they’re taking their sweet time. I look forward to seeing Paul Thomas Anderson’s dark period piece again, but I’ll have to rent the DVD until Paramount gets their act together.