School should be starting up any day now. (Some have already kicked off the new year -- yikes!) However, there's still some time to squeeze in a movie. Have you already exhausted everything at your local Cineplex? There are a few new animated Blu-ray releases that you'll want to check out.
First up is Epic. This movie didn't make much of a splash at the box office, probably because it was released the same weekend that Fast & Furious 6, The Hangover Part III and Star Trek Into Darkness were fighting for the top three spots. Based on one of William Joyce's works, the film has a ton of famous voices and some stellar 2D (and 3D!) imagery.
If you were one of the families to see Epic theatrically, you may want to revisit Neverland. Disney's Peter Pan sequel is also now available on Blu-ray.
If you don't want to indulge in kiddie fare, we have a sci-fi favorite, some uber-violence via HBO, and two comedies to stretch your imagination.
Did we miss one of your favorites for the week? Have something to say about one of this week's new releases? Sound off in the comments below. Otherwise, all of these titles are out as of August 20, 2013, except where noted. Enjoy!
Epic
It's hard to believe that a movie starring Colin Farrell, Amanda Seyfried, Christoph Waltz, Jason Sudeikis, Josh Hutcherson and Beyoncé sort of flew under the radar. However, it's pretty easy for tiny human soldiers to go virtually unnoticed, no? Epic wasn't a bomb, it just had a hefty budget and a poorly timed release. Once you exhaust some of the other current kiddie favorites, give this one a whirl. It's loosely based on William Joyce's children's book, The Leaf Men and the Brave Good Bugs, and comes from the creators of Ice Age.
It's also in 3D -- and 2D, depending on your version. Both have a sparkly 2.40:1 aspect ratio and a DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 track. The big difference between the two sets is the 3D disc. Otherwise, both have several featurettes to cover the bugs, the bad guys, and much more. There's even "Mysteries of Moonhaven Revealed, a seven-part featurette about the filmmakers, artists and animators at Blue Sky Studios. Other perks include the "Epic Coloring & Storybook Builder App" for iOS and Android devices, a standard-def DVD, the Digital Copy, and an UltraViolet Digital Copy.
Also worth noting is that each deluxe edition Blu-ray comes with three "Epic Seed" cards, so you can grow your very own Epic-style garden. [20th Century Fox]
Boardwalk Empire: The Complete Third Season
The Roaring Twenties are in full swing. However, it's hard to get the party started with the whole pesky Prohibition Era thing going on. Of course, there's alcohol to be had. That heats up competition, as well as this season's body count. Meanwhile, Nucky (Steve Buscemi) is dealing with his sham of a marriage to Margaret (Kelly Macdonald) and super-gangster Gyp Rosetti (Bobby Cannavale). Michael Shannon, Gretchen Mol, and more star in HBO's critically acclaimed series.
HBO is giving this set a total of seven discs. Two of those are standard-def DVDs, with all 12 of the episodes from this season. The five Blu-rays have a 1.78:1 image and a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. You can also expect a really surprising number of extras, including six episode commentaries, a piece with executive producer Martin Scorsese, a short on the new characters, a season 2 recap, and more. Also worth noting is the 30-minute "Director's Chair," as well as 62 minutes' worth of "Newsreels," a collection of 24 featurettes that perfectly cover the time period. The 7-disc set also includes a Digital Copy and an UltraViolet Digital Copy of the season. [HBO]
Star Trek: Enterprise - Complete Second Season
The second season of this prequel finds Captain Archer (Scott Bakula) and the crew of the Enterprise still trying to navigate their way through the galaxy. Set 100 years before Captain Kirk navigated those sometimes-unfriendly skies, this season exposes some of the mysteries of the final frontier, as well as Romulans and Klingons.
The 6-disc set includes all 26 episodes from season two, each of which has a 1.78:1 image and a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. Like most of the Star Trek sets so far, this one has a stellar selection of special features. Expect audio commentaries, deleted scenes, promos and archival interviews, as well as shorts on the writers, the cast, and more. The best of the bunch, however, is "In Conversation: The First Crew," a brand-new 90-minute featurette that has Brannon Braga sitting down with Bakula, Jolene Blalock, Anthony Montgomery, Dominic Keating, Linda Park, Connor Trinneer, and John Billingsley. [CBS/Paramount]
Peter Pan Return to Neverland: Special Edition
Look what flew out of the Disney vault! Prepare to go back to Neverland with all of your favorite characters in this sequel to 1953's Peter Pan. This time, Wendy's daughter Jane seeks adventure. Instead, she finds Captain Hook! Can the crew save her and create a little Disney magic at the same time?
It's not a Diamond Edition, but Disney has digitally restored this release's 1.66:1 image and added a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. The House of Mouse wasn't announcing any info about the extras before press time. However, we do know that this 2-disc set does include a standard-def DVD and Digital Copy of the film. [Disney]
Rapture-Palooza
It's highly possible that this comedy may have confused audiences. It came out around the same time as This Is the End, both star Craig Robinson, and both have a post-apocalyptic theme. That said, only one of the films made money and got good reviews. If you aren't sure which one, know that this has Anna Kendrick and John Francis Daley starring as a young couple trying to live a normal life amongst the locusts, blood rain showers and pot-smoking wraiths. Doesn't sound all bad, right? Rob Corddry, Ana Gasteyer, Thomas Lennon, Tyler Labine, Paul Scheer and Ken Jeong also star.
This single-disc includes a 2.35:1 image and a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix, as well as a Digital Copy and an UltraViolet Digital Copy. Besides the deleted scenes and gag reel, the two leads don't appear much in the extras. Instead, Robinson gets his own featurette and appears in the audio commentary alongside Corddry and Rob Huebel. [Lionsgate]
Scary Movie 5
Wait -- this came out already? Apparently, the big exchange between Charlie Sheen and Lindsay Lohan wasn't all that it was hyped up to be. The franchise that the Wayans Brothers built (and wisely dumped) is rebooting without franchise star Anna Faris or anything resembling a funny movie. Still, it does have a pretty impressive lineup, which includes Ashley Tisdale, Snoop Dogg, Katt Williams, Katrina Bowden, Kate Walsh, Heather Locklear and Mike Tyson.
Despite this movie's incredibly poor reviews (it's got a whopping 4% on Rotten Tomatoes), it is a brand-new film. Expect a nice 1.85:1 image and DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. Not surprisingly, the release doesn't have many extras. The 2-disc set just has a collection of deleted and extended scenes, a standard-def DVD, a Digital Copy, and an UltraViolet Digital Copy. [Weinstein Company]
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