New Spy DVDs Out Last Week

Once again, I'm running a week behind. (And now even more behind, since I started writing this article on Tuesday.) But that's okay, because as far as I know there's only one major spy releases out this week. Looking back to last week, however, we have a couple of big TV releases to talk about. But first, that one out today...

A Dandy in Aspic makes its Region 1 debut as an MOD title from Sony's Columbia Screen Classics by Request line. It's been available on a Region 2 DVD for some time, but since a regular North American DVD release never materialized, I'm not at all surprised to see it show up as an MOD title, following in the footsteps of The Deadly Affair. Actually, Columbia has been quite good about mining their spy titles for MOD! A Dandy in Aspic is kind of a tough nut to crack. It's got a brilliant premise... but I'm not convinced the movie totally pulls it off. (I've really got to read the book on of these days.) Maybe that's just because I've never warmed to Laurence Harvey as a leading man. I do like Tom Courtenay, however, but never found this to be one of his better spy roles. (His best is in Otley, which just so happens to also be available as a Columbia MOD disc!) At any rate, it's still got all the skulduggery one could ask for against some great Sixties European backdrops, so I think I'll celebrate this release by re-watching my R2 copy at least... Columbia's list price is $26.99, but it's available cheaper than that on Oldies.com and DeepDiscount.

Burn Notice: The Fall of Sam Axe hit shelves last week on both DVD and Blu-ray, courtesy of Fox Home Entertainment. The first Burn Notice TV movie spin-off is a prequel starring Bruce Campbell that depicts Sam's final mission as a Navy SEAL prior to the events of the show.  As we've seen already this season, some of the events portrayed here (involving a pair of CIA agents Sam gets the better of) have already come back to bite Sam in the ass. Burn Notice: The Fall of Sam Axe marks the first high-def Burn Notice release since Season Two of the show, which was poorly received on BD. This one should boast a much better transfer, as it was shot in HD. Both the BD and the DVD contain an extended cut of the telefilm running 108 minutes (instead of 89) and including scenes not seen on the USA television broadcast this past spring.  Extras include an audio commentary with Campbell, Jeffrey Donovan (the star of Burn Notice who directed this spin-off--and makes a cameo) and series creator/spin-off writer Matt Nix, a featurette called "The Fall of Jeffrey Donovan" (a tongue-in-cheek "Hearts of Darkness" style portrait of Donovan the director going mad in the jungle, which was unveiled at this year's Comic-Con), "Burn Notice at Comic-Con," the 2010 panel (which I'd expected to turn up on the Season Four DVDs), two deleted scenes and a gag reel. Obviously, this is a must-buy for Burn Notice fans and Campbell fans! Retail is$19.98 for the DVD and $24.99 for the Blu-ray; both are currently available cheaper on Amazon.

Wish Me Luck: Series 3 also saw release last week from Acorn, thus completing the DVD collection of this 1987-90 WWII spy show. Wish Me Luck follows the fact-based exploits of female agents of Britain's SOE behind enemy lines in occupied France. The final season sees the team assigned a crucial mission to pave the way for the D-Day invasion. Meanwhile, Jane Asher's Faith Ashley has replaced Julian Glover as the head of the team's London office, and begins her tenure by recruiting two new agents to man a Resistance stronghold in the French Alps, which provide a spectacular scenic backdrop as the suspense builds toward an emotional, action-packed finale. Retail for the 2-disc set is $39.99, though of course it's available for less than that on Amazon.