A weekly round-up of the latest DVD releases.

By Damon Smith

New to rent on DVD/Blu-ray

DVD of the week

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (Cert 12, 140 mins, Lionsgate Home Entertainment UK Ltd, Action/Sci-Fi/Thriller/Romance, also available to buy DVD £19.99/2-Disc DVD £22.99/2-Movie DVD Set £24.99/Blu-ray & DVD Combi-Pack £26.99/Limited Edition Blu-ray & DVD Combi-Pack Steelbook £29.99/2-Movie Blu-ray Set £32.99)

Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Elizabeth Banks, Sam Claflin, Woody Harrelson, Jena Malone, Stanley Tucci, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Lynn Cohen, Jeffrey Wright, Amanda Plummer, Willow Shields, Lenny Kravitz, Patrick St Esprit.

Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) returns to District 12 to steal a kiss from her beau, Gale Hawthorne (Liam Hemsworth), before returning to the Victors' Village to continue her fake romance with Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson). President Snow (Donald Sutherland) is waiting for her and threatens Gale's life if Katniss steps out of line. Flanked by booze-sodden mentor Haymitch Abernathy (Woody Harrelson) and sartorially daring escort Effie Trinket (Elizabeth Banks), Katniss and Peeta tour the districts, scenting rebellion in the air. Meanwhile, Snow recruits a new Games creator, Plutarch Heavensbee (Philip Seymour Hoffman), to stage a special anniversary tournament known as the Quarter Quell, which will pit the darlings of District 12 against former winners in the ultimate duel of death. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is a lean and muscular sequel, which strikes a pleasing balance between brawn and brains. It is every bit as unrelentingly grim and brutal as the first film, including a wince-inducing scene of flagellation at the hands of a sadistic commander (Patrick St Esprit) and a moment of heartbreaking self-sacrifice. Michael Arndt and Simon Beaufoy's script invest precious time in developing sinewy emotional bonds between characters and turns up the heat on the central love triangle to a brisk simmer, while Lawrence and Hutcherson expertly navigate their characters' conflicting emotions, leavened by comic relief courtesy of Stanley Tucci as flamboyant TV host Caesar Flickerman. Francis Lawrence's sequel whets our appetites nicely for the devastation and tragedy in the concluding chapter, Mockingjay. A two-disc set comprising both films so far in the series is also available.

Rating: ****

Released

Escape Plan (Cert 15, 110 mins, Entertainment One, Thriller/Action, also available to buy DVD £17.99/Blu-ray £19.99)

Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jim Caviezel, Vincent D'Onofrio, Vinnie Jones, Sam Neill, 50 Cent, Amy Ryan, Caitriona Balfe, Faran Tahir.

CIA agent Jessica Miller (Caitriona Balfe) offers security expert Ray Breslin (Sylvester Stallone) five million dollars if he will abandon his usual protocols and go deep undercover in a top secret prison designed to hold the men that society wants locked up for life. Despite the misgivings of his right-hand woman Abigail (Amy Ryan) and technical genius Hush (50 Cent), Ray agrees and adopts the guise of a Spanish terrorist called Portos. He quickly realises that the mission is bogus and Ray is imprisoned for real under the watchful glare of sadistic warden Hobbes (Jim Caviezel) and his murderous henchman, Drake (Vinnie Jones). With no obvious means of escape from a state-of-the-art facility full of Perspex cells, Ray befriends fellow inmate Rottmayer (Arnold Schwarzenegger) and on-site medic Dr Kyrie (Sam Neill), and a daring plan takes shape. Book-ended by two hare-brained breakouts, which rely as much on meticulous planning as good fortune, Escape Plan is a preposterous yet entertaining thriller that unites two of cinema's great action heroes. Mikael Hafstrom's film is an undeniable guilty pleasure, energised by breathless direction and a script co-written by Miles Chapman and Arnell Jesko that keeps us on our toes. The film is brazenly divorced from reality and the two leads demonstrate an amazing ability to emerge unscathed from a hail of bullets or outpace teams of prison guards half their age. Stallone and Schwarzenegger's grizzled charm carries the film through its loopier moments. Slick editing keeps the pacing brisk and the scriptwriters engineer a neat sting in the tail.

Rating: ***

The Counsellor (Cert 18, 112 mins, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, Thriller/Romance/Action, also available to buy DVD £19.99/Blu-ray £27.99)

Starring: Michael Fassbender, Penelope Cruz, Cameron Diaz, Javier Bardem, Brad Pitt, Rosie Perez, Bruno Ganz, Goran Visnjic.

A nameless Counsellor (Michael Fassbender) has invested his fortune in a drug trafficking operation across the Texas-Mexico border. Inevitably, the deal goes bad and the Counsellor is marked for death along with two associates from the criminal underworld: floral-shirted playboy Reiner (Javier Bardem) and swaggering cowboy Westray (Brad Pitt). "It's not that you're going down, Counsellor... it's what you're taking down with you," Westray remarks sagely, referring to the Counsellor's girlfriend Laura (Penelope Cruz), who has just accepted his marriage proposal. Meanwhile, Reiner is distracted by his gold-toothed girlfriend Malkina (Cameron Diaz), who is slinkier than her two pet cheetahs and twice as deadly. The Counsellor is an erotically charged thriller that might leave some viewers in need of therapy after two hours of twisted desire and treachery. Ridley Scott's film looks glorious courtesy of impeccable visuals, but all of that style means nothing when we can't forge an emotional bond to the characters as they wallow through the mire. Fassbender wrings himself dry of tears as he realises Westray's words are right: "If your definition of a friend is someone who would die for you then you don't have any." Cruz is luminous, providing sweetness and light to counterbalance Diaz's alluring predator. Dialogue in Cormac McCarthy's overly complicated and wordy script is sodden with dense philosophical musings on the fragility of life that don't sound like anything normal people would say to one another. Even with a gratuitous scene of Diaz mounting the windscreen of a car without any underwear fails to quicken the pulse.

Rating: **

Also released

Blue Is The Warmest Colour (Cert 18, 172 mins, Artificial Eye, Romance/Drama, also available to buy DVD £15.99/Blu-ray £19.99 - see below)

Cabin Fever 3: Patient Zero (Cert 18, 91 mins, Signature Entertainment, Horror/Thriller, also available to buy DVD £14.99/Blu-ray £17.99 - see below)

Empire State (Cert 15, 91 mins, Lionsgate Home Entertainment UK Ltd, Action/Thriller/Romance, also available to buy DVD £17.99/Blu-ray £21.99 - see below)

I Am Soldier (Cert 15, 84 mins, Lionsgate Home Entertainment UK Ltd, Action/Thriller, also available to buy DVD £15.99/Blu-ray £19.99 - see below)

New to buy on DVD/Blu-ray

Call The Midwife - Series Three (Cert PG, 470 mins, BBC DVD, DVD £19.99/Complete Series DVD Box Set £39.99, Drama/Romance)

Death walks the corridors of Nonnatus House in another eight episodes of the hugely popular 1950s-set BBC One drama, adapted from Jennifer Worth's memoirs. This series, nurse Jenny (Jessica Raine) is excited to spend a weekend with her boyfriend Alec (Leo Starr) but a freak accident brings the relationship to a tragic conclusion. That loss forces Jenny to make a decision about where her future lies. Meanwhile, Chummy (Miranda Hart) discovers that her mother has a terminal illness, and Sister Evangelina (Pam Ferris) and co rally around her in the precious final hours. An eight-disc box set comprising all three series and the Christmas specials is also available.

Blue Is The Warmest Colour (Cert 18, 172 mins, Artificial Eye, DVD £15.99/Blu-ray £19.99, Romance/Drama)

Winner of the coveted Palme d'Or at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, Abdellatif Kechiche's achingly beautiful love story traces the ebb and flow of emotions between two students with very different outlooks on life in the northern French city of Lille. Adele (Adele Exarchopoulos) is 17-years-old and believes her future lies in teaching. She sleeps with classmate Samir (Salim Kechiouche) but isn't fully satisfied and when her best friend Valentin (Sandor Funtek) takes her to a gay bar, Adele feels a stirring when she catches the eye of a blue-haired free spirit called Emma (Lea Seydoux), who studies art at a nearby college. Emma kindles a passionate romance with Adele that turns the teenager's life upside down, forcing her to question her sexuality. They move in together and Adele secures work as a kindergarten teacher but with great passion comes great pain and the two women are at the mercy of their emotions which bind them, but which can also destroy them.

Monster High: Frights, Camera, Action! (Cert U, 71 mins, Universal Pictures (UK) Ltd, DVD £10.99, Animation/Children)

William Lau directs this latest feature-length animation set at a school for ghouls. Draculaura is informed that she is the true heir to the vampire throne in Transylvania and a coronation is hastily arranged. However, it transpires that the search for the new queen is not yet complete and Draculaura might not wear the crown. So Draculaura and pals Frankie and Clawdeen embark on a trans-continental adventure from Londoom to Hauntlywood to learn the truth about the next Transylvanian ruler and hunt down the elusive Vampire's Heart.

Jonathan Creek - Series Five (Cert 15, 174 mins, BBC DVD, DVD £19.99, Drama)

Alan Davies returns to the role that made his name in three new episodes of the popular BBC drama. Lateral-thinking detective Jonathan Creek (Davies) has left behind his beloved windmill and the world of professional magic to enjoy married life with Polly (Sarah Alexander) in the countryside. However, Jonathan is soon dragged back to the city when the lead actress in a West End musical is found dead in her locked dressing room. The plot thickens, especially when Jonathan witnesses ghostly events in the quaint village he now calls home. The DVD includes The Letters Of Septimus Noone, The Sinner And The Sandman and The Curse Of The Bronze Lamp.

1: Life On The Limit (Cert 12, 106 mins, Studio Canal, DVD £17.99/Blu-ray £22.99, Documentary)

Director Paul Crowder celebrates the golden age of Formula One Grand Prix in this action-packed documentary narrated by Golden Globe nominated actor Michael Fassbender. 1 steps back to the time before rigorous safety procedures, when the sport was incredibly dangerous and drivers were treated like swaggering rock stars. With raw talent and a need for speed, these men raced on the edge and changed the sport forever, many of them paying the ultimate price in their pursuit of glory at the chequered flag.

Cabin Fever 3: Patient Zero (Cert 18, 91 mins, Signature Entertainment, DVD £14.99/Blu-ray £17.99, Horror/Thriller)

Kaare Andrews directs this third chapter of the blood-soaked horror franchise - a prequel, which unleashes the deadly virus that decimates the characters in subsequent films. A Caribbean bachelor party cruise unexpectedly runs aground on an island. A killer contagion runs rampant on this far-flung rock and the passengers including sassy research grad student Bridget (Lydia Hearst) must find a way to escape the island before they are consumed by flesh-eating bacteria and their own demons. Meanwhile, in a top-secret medical research facility, grieving father Porter (Sean Astin) shows no symptoms of the virus and is held in a secure area under the watchful eye of Dr Edwards (Currie Graham).

Inside No 9 (Cert 18, 168 mins, BBC DVD, DVD £19.99, Comedy/Drama)

Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, creators of The League Of Gentlemen and Psychoville, write and star in this six-part black comedy which broadcast on BBC Two. Each episode ventures behind a different door marked number 9, where extraordinary and often macabre events unfold including a battle of wits between a primary school teacher (Shearsmith) and a homeless man (Pemberton). Gemma Arterton, Anna Chancellor, Julia Davis, Tamsin Grieg, Helen McCrory and Anne Reid co-star.

Empire State (Cert 15, 91 mins, Lionsgate Home Entertainment UK Ltd, DVD £17.99/Blu-ray £21.99, Action/Thriller/Romance)

Dito Montiel directs this action thriller based on an incredible true story. Chris Potamitis (Liam Hemsworth) dreams of a life as a police officer but those hopes are cruelly dashed and he settles for a position as a security guard for the Empire State Armoured Truck Company. A passing comment about the firm's poor security to good friend Eddie (Michael Angarano) sows the seeds of an audacious plan to steal millions of dollars. Chris and Eddie engineer their scheme to perfection but they are soon hounded by investigating NYPD detective James Ransome (Dwayne Johnson) and mob bosses, who are enraged that two amateurs dared to stage a heist on their territory.

I Am Soldier (Cert 15, 84 mins, Lionsgate Home Entertainment UK Ltd, DVD £15.99/Blu-ray £19.99, Action/Thriller)

Writer-director Ronnie Thompson shines a light on the brutal selection process for the Special Air Service (SAS) in this gruelling action thriller. Military chef Mickey Tomlinson (Tom Hughes) puts himself forward to join the elite fighting force of the British Army regiment, which means a series of extreme tests of body and mind to weed out the wheat from the chaff. Like his fellow recruits including Carter (Noel Clarke), Mickey is emotionally and physically scarred by his ordeal, yet he endures. The inductees find themselves putting this training to the test in a real-life scenario when the Counter Terrorism Squadron takes charge of a deadly situation.

Covert Affairs - Season Three (Cert 12, 656 mins, Universal Playback, DVD £24.99, Thriller/Drama)

Special ops agent August Anderson (Christopher Gorham) takes control in the aftermath of a car bomb in 16 more episodes of the popular US spy drama. This series, August's promotion means CIA operative Annie Walker (Piper Perabo) is assigned a new handler, Lena Smith (Sarah Clarke). They work closely together on various cases including surveillance of British businessman Simon Fischer (Simon Coyle), who is a suspected Russian spy. The closer Annie gets to her target, the more conflicted her emotions... then Simon surprises her with a marriage proposal.

Journal De France (Cert E, 98 mins, Soda Pictures, DVD £17.99, Documentary)

Acclaimed documentary filmmaker Raymond Depardon (Modern Life, 10th District Court) and his long-time sound engineer Claudine Nougaret co-direct this self-study of the director, shot in part during Depardon's 2004 tour of France, when he took photographs of charming regional cafes, factories, forests and highways with a large-format 20x25 camera for an exhibition at the Bibliotheque Nationale. This road movie is intercut with revealing behind-the-scenes footage, anecdotes and excerpts from the filmmaker's impressive oeuvre, building up a rich and fascinating portrait of the artist and his working practices.

A World Not Ours (Cert E, 91 mins, E2 Films, DVD £14.99, Documentary)

Danish filmmaker Mahdi Fleifel grew up with his parents in the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain al-Hilweh in south Lebanon. More than 70,000 people have lived in this enclave measuring just one square kilometre for more than 60 years, and Fleifel chronicles three generations of conflict and courage in his documentary, which includes archive material and video footage shot by his father in the 1980s and 1990s alongside interviews with his long-time friend Abu Eyad, who shares the director's passion for Palestinian politics and football.

Abducted (Cert 18, 86 mins, 4Digital Media, DVD £15.99, Thriller)

Following the death of his son, doting father Matt Hollis (Mark Harris) organises a trip of a lifetime to Los Angeles for his grieving wife Alison (Anna Nightingale) and six-year-old daughter Lara (Honor Kneafsey). In a horrific twist of fate, Matt's wife is attacked in their holiday home, leaving her in a coma, and his darling girl is kidnapped by a child trafficking ring. Hunted by the police who believe he has absconded with Lara, Matt must risk everything to rescue his only child within a 72-hour window in a city he doesn't know. Pushed to the brink, the father does anything to save Lara from her abductors and reunite his fractured family.

Phata Poster Nikhla Hero (Cert 12, 153 mins, Eros International, DVD £12.99, Action/Romance)

Shahid Kapoor and Ileana D'Cruz headline Rajkumar Santoshi's Hindi action romance. Vishwas Rao (Kapoor) is an aspiring actor, hoping for that one big break to propel him to stardom. when he is mistaken for an ace police officer and has to put all his acting skills to the test to pass himself off as a top cop. Thrust into a world of death-defying action, corruption and crime, Vishwas crosses paths with the beautiful Kajal (D'Cruz) and attempts to woo her while continuing his hare-brained charade.

The Last Experiment (Cert 15, 99 mins, High Fliers Video Distribution, DVD £12.99, Horror/Thriller)

Eric Wostenberg directs this bloodthirsty horror about a pharmaceutical trial that goes terribly wrong. College students and friends, Greg (Travis Van Winkle) and Rob (John Bregar), decide to earn some extra money during the Christmas break by signing up for a two-week trial in a secluded hospital to assess the side-effects of a revolutionary new serum. Dr Wilcox (Tricia Helfer) oversees the experiment and within a matter of hours, some of the patients exhibit violent episodes, which escalate out of control. The medics cannot keep control of their own experiment and the patients go on the rampage, endangering everyone within the building.

Top 10 DVD retail

1. (1) Frozen

2. (5) The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

3. (2) Gravity

4. (3) Game of Thrones - Season 3

5. (-) The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

6. (7) Philomena

7. (4) Thor: The Dark World

8. (8) Jillian Michaels: 30 Day Shred

9. (6) Captain Phillips

10. (-) The Butler

(Chart supplied by amazon.co.uk)

Top 10 DVD rental

1. (-) Frozen Rush

2. (-) Thor - The Dark World

3. (-) Despicable Me 2

4. (-) The Hunger Games - Catching Fire

5. (-) Captain Phillips

6. (-) Rush

7. (-) 12 Years A Slave

8. (-) Despicable Me 2

9. (-) Ender's Game

10. (-) Star Trek Into Darkness

(Chart supplied by Amazon Prime Instant Video)

Top 10 film streaming

1. (-) Tangled

2. (-) One Direction: This Is Us

3. (-) 300

4. (-) The Impossible

5. (-) The Twilight Saga Breaking Dawn Part 2

6. (-) Behind The Candelabra

7. (-) Toy Story 3

8. (-) The Perks of Being A Wallflower

9. (-) Song for Marion

10. (4) Cars

(Chart supplied by Amazon Prime Instant Video)