Two animated features with very different epic vibes premiere on home video today as The Weinstein Co. and Genius Products release Turok: Son of Stone, and Genius gives us The Ten Commandments, which opened theatrically in October of last year. There’s more heroic action to be found in the second volume of episodes from Warner Bros. Animation’s Legion of Super Heroes and a special edition release of the 1970 Disney favorite The Aristocats.
A classic 1950s comic-book series and modern video game favorite finally makes its way to the screen with Turok: Son of Stone. In the film, the title Stone Age native American returns home after twenty years in exile to find his village in ruins, his people annihilated by their ruthless enemy, Chichak, and his brother, Nashoba, dying. Upon his brother’s death, Turok swears revenge and seeks to protect his brother’s wife and son. To keep his promise, our hero must journey to the Lost Land, a savage and primeval world outside of time, and struggle with dinosaurs, cave dwellers and even his own spirit. The unrated movie features some graphic violence and is not intended for young children.
Turok is voiced by Adam Beach (Flags of our Fathers, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee), leading a cast that includes Robert Knepper (Good Night, and Good Luck), Irene Bedard (The New World), Cree Summer (Rugrats) and Graham Greene (Dances With Wolves). The film’s supervising director is Tad Stones, who most recently served as supervising director of the animated DVD feature Hellboy: Blood and Iron, which he co-wrote with Mike Mignola, creator of the Hellboy comics. In bringing Turokto the screen, Stones got some help from accomplished directors Dan Riba, Curt Geda and Frank Squillace. Two-time Emmy winner Riba has directed episodes of the animated series Justice League, Batman Beyond and Superman: The Animated Series, as well as Batman Beyond: The Movie. Fellow Emmy winner Geda has directed such animated movies as Ultimate Avengers, Superman: Brainiac Attacks, Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman and Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker. Squillace’s directorial credits include Jackie Chan Adventures, The Life and Times of Juniper Lee and X-Men: The Animated Series.
Stones, Riba, Geda and Squillace all provide commentary on the disc, along with producer Evan Bailey. There’s also a featurette titled Total Turok, which examines the property from its comic-book beginnings and how it’s been updated for modern audiences with this new film. The DVD lists for $19.95.
With narration by Academy Award winner Sir Ben Kingsley, The Ten Commandments features the voices of Christian Slater as Moses, Alfred Molina as Ramses and Oscar nominee Elliott Gould as God. The film is directed by Bill Boyce (Hermie & Friends) and John Stronach (Ben Hur, Cahoots) from a screenplay by Ed Naha (Honey, I Shrunk the Kids). The film is produced by Promenade Pictures and arrives on disc with a music video for the song ‘I Am Willing’ by Jeremy Camp, a behind-the-scenes featurette, interviews with Slater and Molina, and an interactive game titled Ten Commandments Challenge. The first in a proposed series of 12 biblical films, the release lists for $19.95.
Legion of Super Heroes Vol. 2 offers four more episodes of the new animated series from Warner Bros. Animation. The show finds an awkward teen named Clark Kent transported to the 31st Century to use his unique abilities and superhero alter ego to help fellow teens Bouncing Boy, Brainiac 5, Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad battle the Fatal Five and other threats to the galaxy. Fans of the series can pick up the latest DVD for $14.97 or less.
Disney has polished another classic form its vaults, bringing digitally enhanced picture and sound to The Aristocats, an animated feature starring the voices of Phil Harris, Eva Gabor, Sterling Holloway, Scatman Crothers and Paul Winchell. Set in Paris, the movie centers on Dutchess, a high-society cat with three kittens, who inherits the estate of her late millionaires owner. When the scheming buttler attempts to pull off the ultimate catnap caper, an alley cat and his jazz cat band swing in to save the day. Listing for $20.99, The Aristocats Special Edition features a deleted song and a virtual kitten game.
