ON VIDEO New releases

SELECTED HOME-VIDEO RELEASES
"Man on Fire"
Denzel Washington is a wild and furious guy in Tony Scott's explosive thriller. Washington stars as a boozehound ex-CIA agent who finds a new anchor in life when he hires on as bodyguard to a young girl (Dakota Fanning). After she's kidnapped, our anti-hero becomes a one-man wrecking crew as he takes on the gang responsible for the abduction. In commentary, Scott notes that plans for him to direct the original version, shot in Italy in 1987, fell through, but producer Arnon Milchan brought the project back to him when remake time rolled around. Ten-year-old Fanning is charming beyond her years in separate commentary, on which she's joined by producer Lucas Foster and screenwriter Brian Helgeland. DVD, $29.98. (20th Century Fox)
"Scooby-Doo 2:Monsters Unleashed"
Freddie Prinze Jr., Sarah Michelle Gellar, Matthew Lillard, Linda Cardellini and a computer-animated Great Dane return in this strictly-for-the-kiddies sequel to the 2002 hit based on the Hanna-Barbera cartoon. This time, the Mystery Inc. ghostbusters face a villain with a device that re-creates the gang's past monster foes, threatening to turn them loose on the little burgh of Coolsville. The DVD features seven minutes of deleted footage, a couple of music videos and a featurette on how the filmmakers made the computer-generated Scooby dance up a storm. Just in case you were wondering. DVD, $27.95. (Warner Bros.)
"THX 1138"
As a prelude to the DVD release of his original "Star Wars" trilogy next week, George Lucas reissues his first feature film, a 1971 sci-fi tale about a man (Robert Duvall) trying to escape a dystopian society whose denizens are constantly sedated. The two-disc set has the director's cut of the film, which had a few minutes of footage summarily chopped by studio bosses who did not understand its avant-garde approach. Excellent background materials offer Lucas' reflections on the studio ordeal, the short student film that inspired "THX," plus captivating interviews with Francis Ford Coppola, Steven Spielberg and other Lucas allies. Discussions of the initial communal optimism at Coppola's American Zoetrope studio, which produced "THX," are especially worthwhile. DVD set, $26.99. (Warner Bros.)
"Baadasssss!" and "Watermelon Man"
Two DVDs that bookend the intriguing working life of one Hollywood family. With 1970's "Watermelon Man," the story of a white racist who awakes one day to find he's turned into a black man, Melvin Van Peebles suddenly was in demand by mainstream show business. Rejecting Hollywood's embrace, he scrounged cash to make the seminal black-power flick "Sweet Sweetback's Baad Asssss Song," whose box-office success sparked the blaxploitation wave. This year's "Baadasssss!" is co-written and directed by his son, Mario Van Peebles, who stars as his dad in his fiercely single-minded quest to make "Sweetback" his way. "Watermelon Man" features an introduction by Melvin, while "Baadasssss!" DVD extras include commentary from both Van Peebles. DVDs, $24.96 each. (Columbia TriStar)
TV ON DVD
"Angels in America" -- The wildly acclaimed miniseries adapted from Tony Kushner's play stars Al Pacino as dying conservative Roy Cohn; Meryl Streep in multiple roles (including Ethel Rosenberg, executed for espionage with husband Julius after their prosecution by a team that included Cohn); and Emma Thompson, also in multiple roles, among them a fierce heavenly visitor who's not your typical comforting angel. Set in the mid-1980s, the tale follows a group of New Yorkers touched by the AIDS epidemic and clashing over Ronald Reagan's "morning in America" ideology. The six-hour saga is presented in a two-disc package. DVD set, $39.98. (HBO)
"Heir to an Execution" -- The Rosenbergs' story is re-examined in this documentary by their granddaughter, Ivy Meeropol, who tries to piece together the truth about her shattered family. The DVD has an interview with playwright Kushner about his characterization of Ethel Rosenberg in "Angels," plus commentary by Meeropol. DVD, $24.98. (HBO)
"Everybody Loves Raymond: The Complete First Season" -- Year one of Ray Romano's beloved sitcom comes to DVD. Romano and Patricia Heaton star as heads of a happy family coping with his meddlesome parents (Peter Boyle and Doris Roberts). The five-disc set has three making-of featurettes and commentary on two episodes by Romano and series creator Phil Rosenthal. DVD set, $44.98. (HBO)
"Survivor: All-Stars" -- A seven-disc set packs all 17 episodes featuring a best-of roster from previous "Survivor" competitions. The package includes commentary from various cast members on 10 episodes, deleted footage and a full disc of behind-the-scenes material. DVD set, $49.99. (Paramount)
"7th Heaven: The Complete First Season" -- The wholesome Camden clan returns in a six-disc set with the first 22 episodes of the family show about a minister (Stephen Collins), his wife (Catherine Hicks) and their five kids (including Jessica Biel). DVD set, $64.99. (Paramount)
"Diff'rent Strokes," "Sanford and Son" -- Season one of "Diff'rent Strokes," featuring Gary Coleman and Todd Bridges as Harlem brothers adopted by a Park Avenue widower (Conrad Bain), arrives in a three-disc set with 24 episodes, commentary from writer Fred Rubin and new interviews by Bridges, Bain and co-star Charlotte Rae. Season five of Redd Foxx's "Sanford and Son" has 25 episodes on three discs. DVD sets, $29.95 each. (Columbia TriStar)
"Lost in Space: Season Two, Volume One" -- The 1960s cult series about the space family Robinson and cowardly stowaway Dr. Smith makes the leap to color after a first season in black and white. The first half of year two lands in a four-disc set with 16 episodes of adventures. DVD set, $39.98. (20th Century Fox)
OTHER NEW RELEASES
"Home on the Range" -- Disney's animated musical features the voices of Roseanne Barr, Judi Dench and Jennifer Tilly as cows who join forces to save their ranch from a land-grabbing villain. Among DVD extras are four deleted scenes, a new animated short and a making-of featurette. DVD, $29.99. (Disney)
"Young Adam" -- Ewan McGregor stars in a twisting modern film noir as a knockabout womanizer who takes up with the wife (Tilda Swinton) of his riverboat boss (Peter Mullan) and is confronted by a dark past secret about a drowned woman (Emily Mortimer). The DVD has commentary from director David Mackenzie. DVD, $24.96. (Columbia TriStar)