DVD Releases

Director Stephen Frears knows how to show crooks meting out their own brand of justice - hence our permanent inability to ever look at oranges quite the same way after "The Grifters." But Frears also gave us "The Queen." It's hardly surprising, then, to see him and his cast handle the threat of imminent mob retribution with the sort of unflashy dramatic eloquence that they do in "The Hit" (1984). Terence Stamp (right) stars in the crime story-road movie as Willie Parker, a London gangster who, 10 years after turning informant, has morphed into a beatific expat in the Spanish countryside. Inevitably, the menacing, near-silent Braddock (John Hurt) and his dimly volatile sidekick, Myron (a very young Tim Roth), show up to haul him back to the boss for execution. Willie has a Zen resignation about his fate, yet he's also forever wryly angling to get inside his captors' heads. Is Willie just playing them? Is he conning himself? You won't be in a particular rush for answers, given how satisfying it is watching Stamp play mind games, and watching Hurt play detached, disgusted, and deadly without wasting a word. Extras: Commentary features Frears, Hurt, and Roth, while Stamp appears in a very '80s chat show segment. Some of the best bonus material comes in critic Graham Fuller's liner notes, where he observes: "Willie and Braddock's minds work overtime, and their invisible clash . . . lifts 'The Hit' into a metaphysical realm where bullets have no reach." (Criterion, $29.95)

DOCUDRAMA

JCVD (2008)

A then-rising star Jean-Claude Van Damme once held forth to a reporter - in a steam room, no less - about his resistance to celebrity's moral pitfalls. And then he promptly went from action-hero-on-the-verge to tabloid-fodder has-been. This arresting, thoroughly unexpected, quasi-reality offering is where a sadder, wiser "Muscles From Brussels" finally reemerges, acknowledging his many troubles and disappointments. It's still a Van Damme movie, of course, so the aching, dramatic confessionals come mostly amid a post-office holdup in his hometown - but it's one roundhouse kick-fest that feels almost, well, arthouse. Extras: Deleted scenes. (Peace Arch, $19.99; Blu-ray, $34.99)

DRAMA

JOHNNY GOT HIS GUN (1971)

Oscar-winning screenwriter ("Roman Holiday") and Hollywood blacklist figure Dalton Trumbo delivered his sole directing effort with an adaptation of his 1939 antiwar novel. The alternately stilted and haunting story follows the plight and wandering thoughts of a young WWI soldier (Timothy Bottoms) who's lost his limbs, sight, hearing, and voice, but is kept alive by Army doctors misguidedly hoping to learn from his extreme condition. A cult curiosity more than anything, particularly when Donald Sutherland cameos as a card-playing Christ. Extras: Trumbo documentary; James Cagney radio adaptation; Metallica's music video "One," which exposed another generation to the film. (Shout! Factory, $19.99)

CRIME DRAMA

WHAT DOESN'T KILL YOU (2009)

Character-actor-turned-filmmaker Brian Goodman draws on his own hard times in South Boston to tell the story of lifelong friends (Mark Ruffalo and Ethan Hawke) whose criminal ways keep them from the good life they're always chasing. The movie starts out feeling inexpertly paced and overly familiar - authentic grit, iffy accents - but it grows increasingly absorbing as it focuses on Ruffalo's demons and yearning for redemption. This one made a local festival stop recently on its way to what's essentially a straight-to-DVD dump-off, but it's certainly better than that. Extras: Commentary by Goodman and co-writer Donnie Wahlberg; production featurette. (Sony, $24.96; Blu-ray, $34.95)

BRIDE WARS (2009)

It's awfully tough to RSVP with any enthusiasm for Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway's grating Bridezilla showdown, Boston locations or no. Extras: Deleted scenes and (so timely) a wedding cost calculator. (Fox, $29.98; Blu-ray, $39.99)

HOTEL FOR DOGS (2009)

Stray kids set up a crash pad for stray canines in a minor diversion that benefits from an unexpected casting pedigree (Don Cheadle, Lisa Kudrow, Kevin Dillon) and pooch-centric Rube Goldberg ingenuity. Extras: Commentary by lead human Emma Roberts ("Unfabulous"), cast, and crew. (Paramount, $29.99; Blu-ray, $39.99)

THE UNINVITED (2009)

Elizabeth Banks ("Zack and Miri") changes things up as a very wicked stepmother-to-be in this standard horror entry. Extras: Alternate ending, production featurette. (Paramount, $19.99; Blu-ray, $29.99)

IN THE REALM OF THE SENSES (1976)

Japanese director Nagisa Oshima's explicit tale of all-consuming love gets scholarly treatment, as does his 1978 ghost story, "Empire of Passion." Extras: Critic commentary and essays, interviews with actor Tatsuya Fuji. (Criterion, DVD and Blu-ray, $39.95)

THE HAIRDRESSER'S HUSBAND (1990)

French filmmaker Patrice Leconte casts Jean Rochefort in his sexy comedy-drama about a guy who wants a girl just like the girl that worked in the neighborhood salon of his youth. Extras: "Leconte on Leconte" featurette. (Severin Films, $29.95)

TOP GEAR 10 (2007)

The British car-enthusiast series takes a 10th lap, still playing like a variety show for gearheads. The parts assortment includes amphibious cars crossing the English Channel and, for those who couldn't care less, celebs like Helen Mirren hitting the test track. (BBC Video, $39.98; available now) Titles are in stores Tuesday unless otherwise specified.