DVD Releases

At a point several years ago when James Cameron was eyeing a civilian tagalong aboard a Russian space flight, his message to prospective backers came down to one key selling point. “Astronauts are remarkable people and good at their jobs,’’ Cameron was quoted as saying. “But unfortunately their job description does not include the poetry and passion necessary to convey to the earthbound what it means to live and work in space.’’ A new reissue of the documentary “For All Mankind’’ (1989), timed to mark the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11’s touchdown on the moon, both validates and contradicts that argument. The film was assembled by journalist-turned-filmmaker Al Reinert (“Apollo 13’’) from footage that was sitting largely ignored in NASA’s vaults, overlooked by staffers who ultimately had science, not photography, on the brain. “It was only accidentally that they got these beautiful images,’’ Reinert notes in a half-hour retrospective. Reinert lets the Apollo astronauts themselves relate the action, both through interview audio and original transmissions. Hearing one astronaut marvel that the sight of Earth from space is “out of this world’’ inadvertently makes Cameron’s case about articulating the experience. But Apollo 17’s Gene Cernan, the last man to set foot on the moon, makes clear that the astronauts understood they “just had to steal time now and then. [Bringing] back some kind of thought and feeling was as important as bringing another chunk of rock back.’’ (Criterion, $29.95; Blu-ray, $39.95)

TELEVISION

MAD MEN: SEASON TWO (2008)

Don Draper (Jon Hamm) reveals more about how he pulled off his wartime identity switch, yet still remains an enigma, indulging in his most coldhearted affair yet. Peggy (Elisabeth Moss) comes into her own around the Sterling Cooper offices. And the indiscretions of Roger Sterling (John Slattery) cloud the agency’s future. An added highlight on DVD: Series creator Matthew Weiner and friends explain just what was behind Don’s surreal days playing hooky in Palm Springs. What better place for a master chameleon, they note, than among fabulous ciphers right out of a Slim Aarons photo? (Lionsgate, $49.98; Blu-ray, $49.98)

TELEVISION

THE STATE: THE COMPLETE SERIES (1994-95)

MTV’s showcase for the cult sketch comedy troupe isn’t worth a fresh look for enduring edginess, but rather as an early training ground for “Reno 911!’’ creators Thomas Lennon, Robert Ben Garant, and Kerri Kenney-Silver. (FYI, “Reno’’ fans, season six just hit DVD.) There’s goofy inspiration in bits like troupe members donning colored leotards to simulate raging teen hormones (blue for testosterone, pink for estrogen, naturally), but an Amish tweak of Michael Jackson’s “Beat It’’ video is only accidentally in step now, and definitely wasn’t then. Extras: Cast commentary; 90 minutes of unaired sketches. (Paramount, $69.99)

FOREIGN

[REC] (2007)

The Spanish horror movie that was remade stateside as “Quarantine’’ delivers enough scares that you might decide the English-language version is redundant. At the same time, it’s not as if this one isn’t cribbing from other genre hits itself, sometimes creatively, sometimes less so. Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza direct the story of a TV reporter (Manuela Velasco) joining Barcelona firefighters on a ride-along, only to be trapped in an apartment building where a neo-zombie virus is spreading. You’ll recognize “The Blair Witch Project,’’ “28 Days Later,’’ and “The Silence of the Lambs,’’ among others. Extras: Production featurette. (Sony, $24.96)

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THE EDGE OF LOVE (2009)

Matthew Rhys (“Brothers & Sisters’’) plays Dylan Thomas in a film that’s less about the poet and his work than about the complicated relationship among him, his free-spirited wife (Sienna Miller, above with Rhys), and the rediscovered sweetheart of his youth (Keira Knightley, the most interesting of the three). With Cillian Murphy. Extras: Commentary by director John Maybury (“The Jacket’’) and Rhys; production featurette. (Image, $27.98; Blu-ray, $35.98)

12 (2008)

Director Nikita Mikhalkov transplants the action of “12 Angry Men’’ to Russia, with the jurors now debating the fate of a Chechen youth accused of murdering his stepfather. An Oscar nominee for best foreign language film. (Sony, $28.96)

THE HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT (2009)

Virginia Madsen and family try their darnedest to make their new house a home - but the fact that it used to be a funeral home throws a glitch into the phrase, and some scares into them. Extras: Cast and crew commentary; production featurettes. (Lionsgate, $34.98; single-disc edition, $29.95; Blu-ray, $34.99)

CALLAN: SET 1 (1967)

Years before “The Equalizer,’’ Edward Woodward played another signature round of spy games as a British assassin with a seriously heavy conscience and very little job security. (Acorn Media, $49.99; available now)

THE UNBORN (2009)

“Batman Begins’’ co-writer David S. Goyer satisfies his occasional horror jones with the tale of a haunted young woman (Odette Yustman) getting an exorcist assist from Gary Oldman. Extras: Unrated cut. (Universal, $29.98; Blu-ray, $39.98; available now)

Titles are in stores Tuesday unless otherwise specified.