DVDs that raise fundamental questions

It seems presumptuous, even preposterous, to make a movie called The Human Condition.

Surely, it would have to address mind-boggling philosophical questions about who we are and why we are (here) in the face of our ineluctable march to death.

But the late Japanese master, Masaki Kobayashi (1916-96), is no ordinary filmmaker. And his 91/2-hour masterpiece, The Human Condition, is no ordinary film (due Sept. 8 in a four-DVD box set from the Criterion Collection (www.criterion.com; $79.95).

Kobayashi, who is best known in America for his superb ghost-story anthology Kwaidan (1964), which developed the entire vocabulary and grammar of today's J-horror movies, crafted Condition as a trilogy of films released between 1959 and 1961.

Adaptated from the six-volume World War II-era novel by Junpei Gomikawa, Condition stars regular Akira Kurosawa leading man Tatsuya Nakadai as the gentle, luckless Kaji, a socialist whose pacifist beliefs are put to the test by Japan's fascist regime.

In the first film, the newly married Kaji moves to Manchuria in China, then a Japanese colony, for a job in a mining town. He is tasked with the distasteful, and to him, disgraceful task of supervising a group of Chinese prisoners who are being subjected to forced labor.

Kaji makes the mistake of protecting the Chinese workers and is punished by being conscripted into the Japanese army. Ironically, the pacifist Kaji thrives in the military and even tries to teach his humanistic beliefs to his fellow soldiers.

In the third and final part, Kaji's entire regiment is decimated by China's Red Army, forcing him to head south to find his wife. He's caught by the Chinese, brutalized, and in an echo of the first film, subjected to forced labor. Kaji's pro-socialist beliefs are shattered by the Chinese Communists.

The Human Condition is an astonishing work of art, which eloquently raises fundamental questions about our place in the world. Like all great art, it supplies no easy answers.

Sleepy Eyes of Death: Collector's Set, Vol. 1 from AnimEigo (www.animeigo.com; $79.98) features four of a beautifully crafted 12-film cycle from the mid 1960s that is considered to be one of Japan's best samurai film series. The films star the incomparable '60's matinee idol Raizo Ichikawa - who was dubbed the Japanese James Dean - as Nemuri Kyoshiro, a swordsman whose preternatural skill at killing is matched by his bleak, existentialist view of human existence.

Indie director Azazel Jacobs (Momma's Man) brings a Jim Jarmusch-ian minimalism to the uneven but enjoyable dramedy The Good Times Kid from Benten Films (www.bentenfilms.com; $24.98). Jacobs stars as Rodolfo, a slacker who is so bored with his life with kooky girlfriend Diaz (Sara Diaz) that he enlists in the army. But his call-for-service notice goes to another man with the same name. Humor, love and wonder ensue when the two Rodolfos meet.

Amy Adams, Emily Blunk and Alan Arkin star in the delightful, off-beat comedy about crime scene cleaners, Sunshine Cleaning from Anchor Bay (www.anchorbayentertainment.com; $29.98 DVD; $39.98 Blu-ray; rated R).

Director Greg Mottola, whose directorial resume includes episodes of the beloved indie sitcom, Freaks and Geeks, presents one of the year's best dramedies with Adventureland out from Miramax (www.miramax.com; $29.99; rated R). A coming-of-age story set at a dilapidated amusement park in the 1980s, the film stars Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart and Ryan Reynolds.

A brilliant, intense Slovenian thriller, Landscape No. 2 from Vanguard Cinema (www.vanguardcinema.com; $19.95; not rated) follows the ill-fated exploits of a young college student who helps a professional thief steal a priceless painting owned by a former Communist general. Before long they are hunted down by a vicious assassin: The thieves also took an explosive document which exposes the general as a mass-murderer.

Vanguard has re-released the harrowing American indie thriller My Sweet Killer from 2000 ($19.95; not rated) which features an early performance by the understated and under-rated American actor Clifton Collins Jr. The story follows Charlie Cavenaugh a man desperately holding on to his sanity after being released from a mental hospital.

Liev Schreiber turns in a deliciously wicked turn as Hugh "Wolverine" Jackman's evil brother in X-Men Origins: Wolverine from Fox (www.foxstore.com; $29.99; PG-13).

Indie horror writer-director Eben McGarr doesn't spare the blood, or the seriously depraved jokes, in Sick Girl from Synapse (www.synapse-films.com; $19.95; not rated), about an orphaned teen who comes apart at the seams.

Jason Statham has fun in his action sequel Crank 2: High Voltage, due Sept. 8 from Lionsgate (www.lionsgateshop.com; $29.95; rated R).

The Nail due Sept. 8 from MTI Home Video (www.mtivideo.com;    $24.95; rated R) stars Philly's very own Tony Luke, Jr., as a former boxer who gets a second chance at redemption after serving eight years in prison. The indie drama, which co-stars William Forsythe, Leo Rossi and Tony Danza, was directed by actor-director James Quattrochi.

Fancy a bit of funny horror? Rocker-turned-auteur Rob Zombie presents the animated comedy-horror treat, The Haunted World of El Superbeasto due Sept. 22 from Anchor Bay ($19.97 DVD; $34.98 Blu-ray; Rated R). Adapted from Zombie's comic book, the film follows the adventures of El Superbeasto, a former world class masked wrestler who fights evil wherever he can find it.

Boot Camp from Fox ($26.98; rated R) stars Mila Kunis and Gregory Smith as juvenile delinquents sent by their parents for a boot camp-style reform school run by a sadistic, abusive psycho played brilliantly by Peter Stormare.

Prolific 60's and 70's actor Tom Laughlin made quite a name for himself in the early 1970's as Billy Jack, a half-white, half-Native American former Green Beret and karate expert who returns from Vietnam only to find prejudice and hatred back home. Jack's story was told in four politically-aware action flicks which have had a cult following for decades. See all four with The Complete Billy Jack Collection (Born Losers; Billy Jack; The Trial of Billy Jack; Billy Jack Goes to Washington) a box set from Image (www.image-entertainment.com; $29.98; all rated PG).

Learn about the life and philosophy of the ultimate martial arts master Bruce Lee with the impressive A&E TV documentary, How Bruce Lee Changed the World (www.newvideo.com/aae.html; $19.95; not rated).

Yoji Yamada (The Twilight Samurai, The Hidden Blade) directs the graceful, touching drama Kabei: Our Mother due Sept. 8 from Strand Releasing (www.strandreleasing.com; $27.99; not rated). Based on novelist Teruyo Nogami's memoirs, the film follows the trials and tribulations of a mother trying to keep her family together during WWII.

The sublimely sexy Bond girl Olga Kurylenko (Quantum of Solace) stars in French auteur Diane Bertrand's erotic suspense drama, The Ring Finger, also from Strand ($27.99; not rated). Kurylenko stars as Iris, a 20-year-old factory worker who quits her job after losing a finger in an industrial accident. Fate takes her to an enigmatic scientist who hires her as an assistant in a strange laboratory, where the couple begins an intense, disturbing love affair.

Go back to the late 60's and early 70's with a new selection of five newly-restored films from Sony's "Martinie Movies" (www.sonypictures.com/homevideo; $14.94 each): French New Wave helmer Jacques Demy (Umbrellas of Cherbourg) directs Anouk Aimée and Gary Lockwood (2001: A Space Odyssey) in Model Shop (1969; rated PG) about a young man whose monotonous, dreary life takes a turn when he falls in love with a girl he sees on the street.

Michael Sarrazin and Barbara Hershey star in Robert Mulligan's The Pursuit of Happiness (1971; rated PG-13), about a hipster dude whose counter-culture values are put on trial. Michael Douglas stars in the Kirk Douglas-produced Vietnam-era drama Summertree (1971; rated R), about a young man who has just been drated to fight in Vietnam. Other flicks in the collection include The Buttercup Chain (1970; rated R), and Love & Pain & The Whole Damn Thing (1973; PG).

Other new and recent films on DVD include the Thai martial arts saga, Demon Warriors from Magnolia (www.magpictures.com; $26.98; not rated); The Bret Easton Ellis adaptation, The Informers from Sony ($24.96 DVD; $34.95 Blu-ray; rated R);

Prepare for the fall TV season with these new and recent TV shows on DVD. (All TV shows are Unrated.)

Foyle's War: Series 1-5: From Dunkirk to VE-Day, a mega box set due Sept. 29 from Acorn Media (www.acornmedia.com or www.foyleswar.com; $149.99) features 19 feature-length episodes of the acclaimed British WWII classic. One of TV's best-written and researched shows, it features Michael Kitchen as a senior detective who outwits crooks, murderers, smugglers, and dirty cops in the coastal town of Hastings.

Harper's Island: The DVD Edition, due Sept. 8 from Paramount (www.paramount.com; $42.99), features 13 episodes of CBS's brave, and frightfully good, network TV foray into the mystery/slasher genre. Set in a small island near Seattle, it's about a wedding party whose guests are killed one by one by a mysterious killer.

Fringe: The Complete First Season due Tuesday, Sept. 8 from Warner (www.wbshop.com; $59.98 DVD; $79.98 Blu-ray) features 20-episodes of Fox' new sci-fi series co-created by J.J. Abrams (Lost, Alias). Someone is using the world as a lab for dangerous, creepy experiments and it's up to a group of wily operators to stop them.

Fans of literary mysteries will delight in The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency due Tuesday, Sept. 8 from HBO (www.hbo.com; 59.99; TV-PG). The three-disc set features seven mysteries based on the best-selling books by Alexander McCall Smith. The series was shot entirely on location in Botswana.

The Game: The First Season due Tuesday, Sept. 1 from CBS/Paramount (www.paramount.com or www.cbs.com; $39.99) features CW's sexy comedy, which was spun off Girlfriends', about the women behind the men who play pro football.

Last season featured a whole score of super-smart super-investigators. The Mentalist: The Complete First Season due Sept. 22 from Warner ($59.98) features Australian star Simon Baker as a former faux psychic on TV who joins the California Bureau of Investigations after his wife and child are viciously murdered by a serial killer.

Castle: The Complete First Season due Sept. 22 from ABC Video (http://abc.go.com/video; $39.99) stars Firefly alumnus Nathan Fillion as a best-selling mystery writer who attaches himself to a New York homicide detective (played by Fillion's fellow Canadian actor Stana Katic) under the guise of doing research for his next book. The energy between Fillion and Katic is electric.

Patrick Swayze turns in an intense performance in A&E's original series The Beast: The Complete First Season from Sony ($39.95). The show features Swayze as a veteran FBI agent who is suspected of being crooked and is investigated by his rookie partner (Travis Fimmel).

Brit thesp Damian Lewis stars as the Zen-inspired master-detective - and former convict - Charlie Crews in one of network TV's best-written, Life: Season Two from Universal (www.universalstudioshomeentertainment.com; $59.98).

Another brilliant British actor, Tim Roth, stars as another genius sleuth in Lie to Me: Season One from Fox ($49.98 DVD; $59.99 Blu-ray). Roth plays the world's foremost deception expert who has set up an all-purpose investigations firm.

Brit comic Hugh Laurie plays the not-so-loveable genius investigative physician Dr. Gregory House in the now-classic series, House, M.D.: Season Five from Universal ($59.98).

Crash: The Complete First Season due Sept. 15 from Anchor Bay ($59.97 DVD; $79.97 Blu-ray) features the first 13 episodes of pay cabler Starz drama which was adapted from the acclaimed feature film. The brilliant cast includes Dennis Hopper, Ross McCall, D.B. Sweeney and Arlene Tur.

Superheroes and supervillains clash in Heroes: Season 3 due Tuesday, Sept. 1 from Universal ($59.98 DVD; $79.98 Blu-ray), which features Jack Coleman, Sendhil Ramamurthy, Hayden Panettiere and Milo Ventimiglia.

Smallville: The Complete Eight Season from Warner ($59.98 DVD; $79.98 Blu-ray) follows the early advantures of the ultimate superhero, Superman.

Indulge your nostaliga for the 1980's and for best-selling potboilers with the six-and-a-half-hour adaptation of Judith Krantz' best-seller, Mistral's Daughter out from E1 Entertainment (www.kochvision.com; $39.98). The 1984 miniseries which stars Stacy Keach, Lee Remick Stephanie Powers, Timothy Dalton and Robert Urich, traces three generations of beautiful, smart and powerful women descended from genius painter Julien Mistral (Keach).

Lifetime TV presents adaptations of four novels by best-selling novelist Nora Roberts released by Sony: High Noon, starring Emilie de Ravin and Cybil Sheperd; Midnight Bayou, starring Jerry O'Connell and Faye Dunaway; Northern Lights featuring LeeAn Rimes, Eddie Cibrian adn Rosanna Arquette; and Tribute with Brittany Murphy, Jason Lewis and Tipi Hedren. (East costs $14.94).

Crave Fame? Prepare for the Sept. 25 release of the big budge remake with two DVD packages both due on Sept. 25. Warner will reissue a new edition of Alan Parker's original film from 1980, Fame ($20.98), which starred Eddie Barth, Irene Cara, Lee Curreri. And look for the TV spinoff with Fame: The Complete Seasons 1 & 2 due from MGM (www.mgm.com/dvd.php; $39.98).

Elvis fans will dig Elvis Presley: The Ed Sullivan Shows: The Classic Performances from Image ($14.98; not rated). The one-disc DVD includes footage of four Elvis' appearances starting with his famous debut performance on Sept. 9, 1956.

Other new and recent TV shows on DVD include Sons of Anarchy: Season One from Fox ($49.98 DVD; $59.99 Blu-ray); Parks & Recreation: Season 1 due Sept. 8 from Universal ($29.98); My Name is Earl: Season Four due Sept. 15 from Fox ($49.98 DVD; $59.99 Blu-ray); NCIS: The Complete Sixth Season from Paramount ($55.98); Criminal Minds: The Complete Fourth Season due Sept. 8 from Paramount ($55.98); The Shield: Season Seven - The Final Act from Sony ($59.95). Gossip Girl: The Complete Second Season from Warner ($59.98); The Untouchables: Season Three, Vol. One from Paramount ($42.99). Showtime's Californication from Paramount ($42.99); The Office: Season Five due Sept. 8 from Universal ($90.98 DVD; $69.98 Blu-ray); and HBO's Dexter: The Complete Third Season from Paramount ($47.99 DVD; $57.99 DVD).

Happy viewing.