'Mad Max: Fury Road' roars into new blockbuster territory

‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ roars into new blockbuster territory

By Noel Murray

Aug. 30, 2015 9 AM PT

New Releases: ‘Mad Max: Fury Road,’ ‘The D Train,’ ‘Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me,’ ‘Bessie’

Mad Max: Fury Road

Warner Brothers, $29.98; Blu-ray, $44.95

Available on VOD Tuesday

Mad Max Anthology

Warner Brothers Blu-ray, $89.98

Writer-director George Miller’s long-gestating film is everything a blockbuster should be: a pulse-pounding, heart-tugging, jaw-dropping cross-country-chase picture, with a powerful social message and cutting-edge action. Tom Hardy plays the post-apocalyptic scavenger that Mel Gibson made famous, who here gets captured and exploited by a resource-hoarding death-cult. Charlize Theron is Imperator Furiosa, a steely warrior who uses a gasoline-run as an excuse to help a group of sex-slaves escape. From the unexpected character depth to the geometry-defying, constantly accelerating set-pieces, “Fury Road” sets a new standard for its genre, with never-seen-that-before images popping up every few minutes. The DVD and Blu-ray add deleted scenes and featurettes. The movie is also available as part of the five-disc “Mad Max Anthology,” which contains all four films from the series plus a bonus documentary about the original “Mad Max.”

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The D Train

Paramount, $29.99; Blu-ray, $39.99

Available on VOD Tuesday

Jack Black gets back to his indie roots in this skewed comedy, playing a middle-aged loser named Dan who tries to win over his old friends by organizing their high school reunion and trying to persuade a celebrity alum Oliver (played by James Marsden) to attend. When Dan flies out to Los Angeles to woo Oliver, he gets a taste of the kind of life he always coveted — and finds that it’s a little wilder and scarier than he’d expected. “The D Train” runs out of story about halfway through its running-time and settles for platitudes down the stretch, but the movie as a whole is smart about the roots of the hero’s self-hatred, and Black is as good as he’s been since Richard Linklater’s underseen “Bernie.” The DVD and Blu-ray tack on a few deleted scenes.

Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me

Virgil, $19.99

James Keach’s Oscar-nominated documentary follows the country-pop star during his final tour as he comes to grips with the realization that his Alzheimer’s is going to bring a premature end to a long, prosperous recording and performing career. Both heartbreaking and inspiring — and filled with beautiful music — “I’ll Be Me” isn’t just for Campbell fans. It’s about the physical labor that goes into making art and how even big stars are limited by what their bodies can do. It makes a fine final chapter to this stage of Campbell’s life story.

Bessie

HBO, $19.97; Blu-ray, $24.99

Queen Latifah has been underused by Hollywood since her Oscar-nominated 2002 performance in “Chicago,” but she has her best role yet in the HBO biopic playing singer Bessie Smith. Written and directed by Dee Rees (best known for her terrific indie drama, “Pariah”), “Bessie” has earned 12 Emmy nominations for its warts-and-all portrait of the R&B legend, which shows how she handled racism, rivalries, alcoholism, tumultuous romances and destitution throughout a storied career. The film follows the basic showbiz melodrama formula, but the music’s wonderful and the performances are strong. The DVD and Blu-ray come with a featurette.

And…

Backcountry

Scream! Factory, $14.93; Blu-ray, $24.97

The Face of an Angel

Screen Media, $24.95; Blu-ray, $24.98

Gemma Bovery

Music Box Films, $29.95; Blu-ray, $34.95

Good Kill

Universal, $29.99; Blu-ray, $39.99

The Harvest

Scream! Factory, $14.93; Blu-ray, $24.97

I’ll See You in My Dreams