Following up an enormous box office run in 2012, action-thriller “Taken 2” gets launched on DVD and Blu-ray this week, looking to once again cash in on the success of the original. Also hitting stores this week will be Woody Allen’s latest flick “To Rome with Love” as well as Blu-ray versions of two of his most celebrated films, “Sleeper” and Oscar-winner “Hannah and Her Sisters.” Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Man Who Knew Too Much” is also getting a special edition Blu-ray release and fans of “Merlin” can also check out the complete fourth season of the hit British series.
Thanks to a controversial PG-13 rating and excellent buzz from action audiences, thriller “Taken” was nothing short of a smash hit back in 2009 and became the prototype for a new age of tough guy action flicks. Costing only $25 million to make, “Taken” would go on to land in the top 10 for more than two straight months while racking up $145 million in the U.S. – an excellent total for a $25 million production launched in the dead of winter.
With Liam Neeson returning to a popular role just a few years later, “Taken 2” was able to easily overcome poor critical reviews to become one of the most lucrative action movies of 2012. “Taken 2” hauled in a very solid $139 million domestically and gained a much bigger international audience than its predecessor, upping its worldwide total from $226 million in 2009 to a robust $371 million worldwide this time around.
With those types of numbers, “Taken 2” is another shining example of the power of the action sequel, not to mention a stepping stone for a franchise likely to continue as long as Neeson remains interested. Without any new action competition this week, “Taken 2” should clean up on DVD and Blu-ray and once again reach a fairly large international audience.
Not having nearly the same amount of mainstream appeal this week is Woody Allen’s latest romantic comedy “To Rome with Love,” which received some polite critical support but was mainly a box office disappointment last year. After Allen’s PG-13 flick “Midnight in Paris” became his biggest commercial success since the 1980s, audiences mainly didn’t show up for R-rated “To Rome with Love” despite Allen returning to acting for the first time in six years. But even though it had a hard time on the big screen, it could be a better fit for the home market thanks to an excellent cast that includes Ellen Page, Jesse Eisenberg and Alec Baldwin.
Allen fans who haven’t been that impressed by his most recent work can also check out two of his most popular films as they make their way onto Blu-ray. Allen’s 1973 comedy “Sleeper” is considered one of his best early films, helping establish him as a comedic star on the rise in the early 1970s and paving the way for classics like “Annie Hall” and “Manhattan.”
Also hitting Blu-ray this week will be 1986 release “Hannah and Her Sisters,” which earned Allen his second of three Oscars for screenwriting. Following the life of a neurotic accountant and a TV producer having an existential crisis, “Hannah” was Allen’s biggest commercial hit of the 80s and also bagged a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Michael Caine, though he infamously skipped the ceremony to film clunker “Jaws: the Revenge.”
Those looking for a different type of classic this week might turn to “The Man Who Knew Too Much,” which gets launched in a special edition Blu-ray set to celebrate the early Alfred Hitchcock film. Starring Peter Lorre in a sinister turn as a nefarious kidnapper, “The Man Who Knew Too Much” was originally released all the way back in 1934 – more than two decades before Hitchcock became a household name with films like “Vertigo” and “Psycho.” “The Man Who Knew Too Much” was one of Hitchcock’s biggest successes before leaving the U.K. for Hollywood, inspiring him to remake his own film in 1956 with James Stewart and Doris Day heading the cast.
Also hitting stores this week will be the fourth season of fantasy TV series “Merlin,” which has become a big hit in the U.K. and has started to catch on in the U.S. as well. “Merlin” tells the story of the famous wizard from his days as a talented young boy growing up in the mythical land of Camelot.
Next week, Jake Gyllenhaal-starring cop drama “End of Watch” is one of the most prominent titles hitting DVD and Blu-ray in a slow week for new releases. Horror film “Cujo” will also get the Blu-ray treatment and film buffs can catch the Criterion collection of “Ivan’s Childhood,” the acclaimed film from legendary Russian auteur Andrei Tarkovsky.
Later in the month we’ll see the release of dark comedy “Seven Psychopaths,” the third season of popular British series “Downton Abbey” and a collector’s set for the “Die Hard” franchise a couple weeks before John McClane returns to the big screen in “A Good Day to Die Hard.”
by RTT Staff Writer
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