DVD Releases

From a thematic standpoint, the “X-Men’’ franchise is all wrapped up in evolution. From a business standpoint, not so much. “X-Men Origins: Wolverine’’ (2009), Hugh Jackman’s latest outing as the claw-popping superhero, initially leaves you thinking that change is on the way. The movie begins with a unique, arresting montage establishing how mutant healing powers have helped Jackman’s Logan and his vicious half-brother, Victor Creed (Liev Schreiber), survive a century and a half of bloody combat. If only there were this level of inspiration throughout the story, in which director Gavin Hood follows Logan’s doomed bid to put his violent past behind him. Schreiber plays morally feral with fangs-bared conviction, but Logan’s war of retribution against him gets clichéd, shorthand treatment, partly because of the story’s determination to paint another wide-world-of-mutants landscape. There are simply too many underwritten characters cluttering this ostensibly solo tale, even if a couple don’t feel overexposed. There’s also too much rehashing of ground already adequately covered in “X-Men’’ flashbacks. Extras: An alternate ending, featurette material, and commentary essentially confirm the producers’ intent to follow up this installment by tackling an iconic Wolverine comics tale set in Japan. (Now that could be a change.) Meanwhile, amid old news about his all-protein diet, Jackman reveals that Robert De Niro’s “Cape Fear’’ image was a model for Wolverine’s freakishly sinewy appearance. (Fox, $34.98; single-disc edition, $29.98; Blu-ray, $39.99)

TELEVISION

BONANZA: THE OFFICIAL FIRST SEASON (1959-60)

Until now, labyrinthine rights transfers seem to have resulted in the television landmark getting only grab-bag treatment on DVD. Here, two individually packaged volumes finally cover the first season in full, offering 16 episodes each. (Alas, the picture quality could be sharper for what was, after all, TV’s first color western.) See if you’re not mildly surprised to recall how ornery Ben Cartwright’s boys could get when townies dared set foot on the Ponderosa in those early days. Extras: Alternate pilot ending with Lorne Greene and castmates belting out the title theme; archival reminiscences from series creator David Dortort. (Paramount, $42.99 each; two-volume set, $76.99)

HISTORICAL DRAMA

THAT HAMILTON WOMAN (1941)

To hear about something similar pitched today, we’d probably scoff about “That Vanity Project’’: Real-life spouses Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh recount the star-crossed, scandalous romance between British naval officer Lord Horatio Nelson and ambassador’s wife Emma Lady Hamilton during the Napoleonic Wars of the late 18th century. But thanks to the performances, there’s real drama behind the glamour and the lavish direction of British production luminary Alexander Korda. Extras examine the picture as both World War II rally-’round-Britain propaganda and Churchill’s personal favorite. (Criterion, $39.95; available now)

HORROR

DEADGIRL (2009)

Directors Marcel Sarmiento and Gadi Harel lend adolescent emotional cred to taboo horror, taking the uncomfortable satire of, say, “Teeth’’ and dragging it to an even gnarlier level. Shiloh Fernandez and Noah Segan are high-school outcasts who make a gruesome discovery while ditching the nude body of a seemingly lifeless woman chained up in an abandoned mental hospital. Turns out she’s not exactly dead, and they’re not exactly good Samaritans. Extras: The unrated cut of the film includes commentary and a featurette. You’ll snort at the word choice when the filmmakers characterize this as a relationship story, but there is something to it. (Dark Sky Films, $24.98)

GLADIATOR (2000)

Standard DVD not quite maximus enough for you? Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe’s ancient Roman epic makes its Blu-ray debut, incorporating supplements from a previous three-disc extended cut. (Paramount, $39.99; available now)

HOMICIDE (1991)

David Mamet casts Joe Mantegna as an inner-city cop whose twisty investigation of a Jewish shopkeeper’s murder leaves him puzzling over his own identity as much as obscure clues. Extras: Commentary by Mamet and troupe member William H. Macy; new interviews with Mamet and cast; critical essay. (Criterion, $39.95; available now)

FAME (1980)

With the remake arriving in a couple of weeks, studio vault-minders remember the names, dreams, and hang-ups of the Performing Arts class of ’80. Another distributor reissues the first two seasons of the TV spinoff. (Warner, $20.98; series, MGM, $39.98)

THE SHOOTER SERIES: VOLUME 1 - DIRECTOR BRETT RATNER

We’ve previously seen arthouse-minded packages spotlighting the music videos and other extracurricular tidbits of, say, Spike Jonze or Michel Gondry, but nobody as mainstream as Ratner, the dude behind the “Rush Hour’’ series and “X-Men 3.’’ The oddity of the week, it includes his work with everyone from Wu-Tang Clan to Wynn Resorts marketers, along with NYU student films. (Lionsgate, $24.95)

THE OUR GANG COLLECTION (1938-44)

These aren’t the “Little Rascals’’ shorts you remember best, but rather the 52 MGM comedies made when Spanky was bigger, Alfalfa was ganglier, and Froggy (fer the love of Petey) was on the bill. Still, completists may want to take note. (Warner, $34.95; available now)

Titles are in stores Tuesday unless otherwise specified.