Science Fiction - Page 18

Manufacturer: Funimation Brand: FUNIMATION-UNI DIST CORP Model: 28935078

Neo-Tokyo is about to E X P L O D E! Akira isn’t just a movie – it’s the genesis of a genre. Katsuhiro Otomo’s landmark cyberpunk classic obliterated the boundaries of Japanese animation and forced the world to look into the future. Akira’s arrival shattered traditional thinking, creating space for movies like the The Matrix to be dreamed into brutal reality. Without Kaneda and Tetsuo, without espers and psionic assassins, without that badass motorcycle – our world would be a far less exciting place to exist. But the manga became the movie and the movie became a phenomenon and the world took notice. Now, Akira is everywhere. If you can’t see it in the streets – if you can’t feel it crawling around inside your brain – then you have yet to be initiated. What. Are. You. Waiting. For? • Listen How You Want: The 25th Anniversary release of Akira features both English dubs that have occurred since 1988, letting you choose the track that’s best for you. • An Audiophiles Dream: Includes the “Hypersonic” 24-Bit, 192kHz Dolby TrueHD remaster of the original Japanese audio track. • Exploding with Extras: Packed with over 120 minutes of on-disc extra features; including the “Restoring Akira” documentary and original storyboards for the anime.

Manufacturer: Warner Home Video Brand: Warner Manufacturing Model: 883929248896

Person of Interest: The Complete First Season (DVD)Jim Caviezel (The Thin Red Line), Michael Emerson (Lost) and Taraji P. Henson (Hustle & Flow) team up in this thought-provoking crime action drama from The Dark Knight's Jonathan Nolan and J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot Productions (Fringe, Lost, Alias). Set in New York City, this procedural centers on an ex-CIA agent, presumed dead, who partners with a mysterious billionaire to prevent violent crimes.]]> A high-concept show that isn't afraid to get down and dirty, this latest exercise in paranoid worldbuilding from producer J.J. Abrams provides an addictive combination of action and future tech. Series creator Jonathan Nolan (brother of Christopher) lays out the premise at a furious clip: an eccentric tech genius (Lost's Michael Emerson) enlists a shadowy soldier-of-fortune (Jim Caviezel) to help with his pet project--a machine with seemingly endless surveillance capabilities. Utilizing the device's ability to identify threats before they happen, they set out to right future wrongs, attracting the attention of a dogged New York cop (Taraji P. Henson) in the process. Were Person of Interest content to remain at the level of weekly procedural, it would be a very good one, with every installment boasting well-choreographed fight scenes, Emerson's impeccably weird comedy timing, and a thorny morality that keeps the methods of the protagonists edging into the black. (A standout early episode, featuring Linda Cardinelli as a doctor with a hidden past, boasts an open-ended resolution that would do Elmore Leonard proud.) Thankfully, however, Nolan and co. also show an ability to play the long game, cannily inserting flashbacks that hint at a bigger mystery, introducing a strangely empathetic recurring supervillain, and laying out minor plot elements that pay off big further down the line. The show's impressive planning also extends to the supporting cast, with Henson given a character arc that many leading characters would envy. (Kudos as well to Kevin Chapman, as a former dirt...