The new releases on DVD and Blu-Ray this week cater to two very specific arenas with four very different films: Science-fiction fans should be happy with the Blu-Ray releases of Prometheus and the classic E.T, while rock ‘n roll fans get the new release of Rock of Ages plus the classic Magical Mystery Tour.

Prometheus arrived in a blaze of hyped glory just a few months ago and fizzled away within just a few weeks.  Part of the problem is that many audience members wanted a prequel to Alien, and while Prometheus is certainly part of that overall story arc, it wasn’t quite what they were hoping for.  Visually, the film is a wonder for the eyes, and on Blu-Ray some of the images virtually pop off the screen. The film was presented on the big screen in 3D, but watching the film in hi-def is much better.  There are various different ways you can buy Prometheus.  Some box sets are loaded with features and making of documentaries, others have less.  It all depends on how much you want to know about the behind-the-scenes look, and how much you want to spend.

Rock of Ages was as much fun as I can ever remember having… live on stage.  While the film doesn’t exactly duplicate that experience it’s still a lot of silly fun.  Modern audiences can’t seem to warm to musicals and I’m not sure why, they’re missing out.  Rock of Ages has no plot to speak of, but like Mamma Mia and other juke-box productions like it, it’s the songs that matter, and the heavy-metal power ballads and party anthems are terrific, even if, like me, you never cared for most of the material when first released during the eighties.  The 2 disc set comes with several features, including a lookback to the eighties when music videos of big hair bands ruled MTV.  It won’t win awards, but after watching Alec Baldwin and Russell Brand hugging each other while singing “Can’t Fight This Feeling” your life may never be quite the same.

E.T. has been released in varying different forms since it was first released in 1982, including a version that digitally removed guns from the secret service and replaced them with walki-talkies, but fans were not happy. In this new Blu-Ray edition – perhaps the definitive version – the guns have been restored.  Many of the extras included in this new edition have been seen before, but look for the E.T Journals and a conversation with director Steven Spielberg who reflects back on the making of the film and what E.T. means to him.  A must for the collection.

There’s no way around it; Magical Mystery Tour was pretty awful.  I recall how I ran to a black and white TV set on Boxing Day, the day after Christmas Day in England, eager to catch the original transmission of the TV film, and wondering why I bothered, and this from  - dare I say it? - the world’s biggest Beatles fan.  The film has been a difficult find for years, even though there was a DVD release some years ago.   I have a copy of that early release and the images look terrible, almost like a pirate copy, which is why this new, pristine Blu-Ray release is so important; the content hasn’t improved but the picture is something else.  Look for all kinds of fun extras, including cut songs, edited scenes, a narration from Sir Paul McCartney – that alone is worth its weight in gold – and separate interviews with both Paul and Ringo.

 More new releases on DVD and Blu-Ray next week.