Cranking up the action
October 27, 2006

Poor Jason Statham. He keeps getting poisoned, then, with mere hours to live, he must fight for his life. His latest effort, the $28 million-grossing Crank (he faced this problem in Transporter 2 as well), is Lionsgate’s next simultaneous DVD/50GB Blu-ray Disc release, bowing Jan. 9 (prebook Dec. 14; DVD $28.98, BD $39.99). And the studio has cranked up (oh come on, you saw that one coming) the bonus features with an innovative-sounding “Crank’d Out Commentary” (I swear I didn’t copy them). Instead of the usual voice track and featurettes, Lionsgate has programmed an animated pop-up video interface—“Crank’d Out Mode”—that plays with the movie and tells viewers when to use their remotes to bring up interviews, behind-the-scenes footage and portals to additional bonus material, similar to the idea behind New Line’s Infinifilm line. What’s a little poison for special features like these?

Back in the ring

Talking about harassed men, heavyweight boxing champion George “Iceman” Chambers is back fighting for his life in Undisputed II: Last Man Standing. When we last saw him, Chambers was played by Ving Rhames and put on the gloves for a prison boxing match. In New Line’s DVD premiere sequel, Rhames has been replaced by Michael Jai White and must compete in the “ultimate fighting face-off” inside Russia’s worst prison, according to the press materials. Arriving Jan. 23 (prebook Dec. 19) through Warner, the DVD will be priced at $19.97 and includes commentary and a behind-the-scenes featurette. Who needs a shot of testosterone?

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