New on DVD and Blu-ray Disc

“Fast & Furious” DVD, Blu-ray
In this, the fourth film in the franchise, the producers apparently ran out of titles, and so now we have just “Fast & Furious,” which is perfect because it’s actually faster to say. Beyond that triumph, the movie comes through with exactly what its title promises. Vin Diesel and Paul Walker--each of whom were in dire need of a career lift before they signed onto this project--got one here. The movie was a surprise box office hit, and after viewing it, it’s easy to see why since it plays directly and unapologetically to its core audience. The film is old school. It gets back to the basics--fast cars, Michelle Rodriguez, illogical situations, daring stunts--which is precisely what fans wanted and got. Nobody should come (or will come, for that matter) to the movie seeking much of a storyline, and so it all comes down to the crazed pace, the insane driving, the corny one-liners, and the amplification of all that’s ridiculous. That’s the point of this film, and while it’s true that parts of it are crudely done, it’s also good to remember that this is a B-movie--and one that mostly gets the job done. Rated PG-13. Grade: B-

“The Fast and the Furious” Blu-ray
The first film in the franchise is slick entertainment without a brain in its head, a movie whose tough, sweaty cast dumbs down the action with this sort of leaded dialogue: “I live my life a quarter-mile at a time!” Exactly how does one do that? Best not to ask. What’s more curious is the actor who speaks that gem: Vin Diesel, the bald-headed block of beef who plays Dominic Toretto, a popular L.A. garage mechanic whose sideline--street racing--isn’t just his passion, but let’s face it, folks, also his manhood. Surrounding Toretto are a group of outsiders who make the people behind street racing seem like a bizarre subspecies--the women are hot, the men and their cars are fueled with nitrous oxide, together they’re explosive. When Brian (Paul Walker), a pretty boy street racer with tipped hair and capped teeth, joins this greasy fray, Toretto and crew initially believe he’s just a poseur who wants street cred and respect. But Brian has other plans up his exhaust pipe, none of which will be revealed here. “The Fast and the Furious” is wise in that it knows what it is--a flashy bit of nothingness streamlined to be a guilty pleasure. The film has no pretensions, just muscle cars and muscle heads burning up the pavement at speeds that soar above and beyond the legal limit. The filmmakers get it. They know they’ve created something vapid, but that knowledge informs the movie, unhinges it, and allows it all the amusing liberties it eagerly takes. Rated PG-13. Grade: B

“2 Fast 2 Furious” Blu-ray
This sequel to the surprise 2001 hit offers audiences solid answers to that age-old question: Exactly how does one become too fast and too furious? Apparently, doing so involves more than just having the right muscle car or, for that matter, the right muscles. There’s a dress code involved: Miami-tramp contemporary seems to work best for the ladies as does cabana-boy casual for the men. Regardless of gender, hair should be teased and tousled, as if you just hopped out of bed--preferably somebody else’s. Tattoos and implants are encouraged, as are piercings and bright-white orthodontia. And yet here’s the irony--in spite of all this, the movie deserves a dressing down. It’s too much of a dim bulb to live up to its title, too long-winded to be considered quick, let alone fast. Initially, it seems as if it’s going to continue the fun, cartoonish ride offered in the first movie, but it doesn’t go the distance. By its midpoint, it gets bogged down in a silly drug cartel plotline involving Paul Walker, Tyrese, Eva Mendes and Cole Hauser that's taken so seriously, the film loses the giddy spunk that made its predecessor so enjoyably dumb and over-the-top. The problem with “2 Fast 2 Furious” isn’t just that it’s no longer running hard on Vin Diesel, which turns out to be a strike against it, but that it actually wants to be about something, which is sweet, but a shame. The first film never wanted to be anything more than an homage to the hot rod films of the 1950s; its kitschy embrace of a forgotten subculture was part of its charm. Worse for “2 Furious,” there’s nothing about it that sets it apart from the pack. It’s just sort of there, revving its engines and racing around street corners with no place to go. Rated PG-13. Grade: C-

“The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift” Blu-ray
The third film in the franchise embraces the idea that this series should only ever be about fast cars, faster car races, fast women and lobotomized, testosterone-soaked men, with just enough menacing villains glowering in dark rooms to make things entertaining. The plot is beautifully uncluttered--17-year-old Sean Boswell (Lucas Black) can’t stay out of trouble in the States, so he’s shipped to Tokyo, where he gets into trouble with an underground circuit of young men and women who "drift" dangerously through the busy streets and winding hillsides of that city. The film channels cheap melodrama, which is a release. Like the best films in this series, it delivers precisely what fans want, it does it well, and on those terms, it succeeds. Rated PG-13. Grade: B

"The Joan Collins Superstar Collection"
Long before she was swinging her fists, shaking her diamonds and smoking her cigarillos on "Dynasty," Collins was a movie star, slinking from stage left to stage right as if she belonged at stage center. And she did, too, even if too many of her movies were stinkers. This collection from Fox gives us five Collins' films, all from the Cinescope era, with three proving just absurd enough to be disarming--1955's "Girl in the Red Velvet Swing"; 1957's "Sea Wife," with Collins marooned onscreen opposite Richard Burton; and the 1957 espionage thriller "Stopover Tokyo," with Joan and Robert Wagner struck dumb in Japan. The set's two other movies, 1958's "Rally 'Round the Flag, Boys" and 1960's "Seven Thieves," are as enjoyably appalling as you could imagine. This is the rare boxed set in which the cover art alone, which features Collins as kneeling, bustiered sex kitten, is worthy of its own commentary, though not in a family newspaper. Grade: B

Also on DVD and Blu-ray disc

Fans of science fiction with a British twist should look to the recent editions from the BBC’s Doctor Who series, including “Doctor Who: Planet of the Dead" and “Doctor Who: The Complete Fourth Series”--each of which is appropriately surreal.

The seventh season of the television show “Monk” also is available, and it’s germ free--at least when it comes to the writing and acting, which are solid. In this season of the unusual detective show, Tony Shalhoub settles further into his niche as Adrian Monk, the reluctant, San Francisco-based detective whose Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, complicated by his wife's death, actually helps him solve mysteries. He’s so hyper aware of his surroundings, he's able to see clues others can't see. Echoes of "Columbo" abound, but the show nevertheless stands on its own.

Also available is the first season of “Hotel,” which is based on Arthur Hailey’s novel and features a hirsute James Brolin as the manager of an elegant San Francisco hotel. Not unlike so many shows of the time (“Fantasy Island,” “The Love Boat”), the series was meant to offer a faded red carpet of throwbacks in the likes of such weekly guest stars as Scatman Crothers, Eva Gabor, Dina Merrill and Englebert Humperdinck, all of whom were happy to generate their share of chaos.

Rounding out those television shows new and recommended on DVD are the second season of “Early Edition,” in which Gary Hobson (Kyle Chandler) is saddled with the responsibility of knowing whatever tragedy will strike the next day (and how to prevent it); Lucille Ball in the first season of “The Lucy Show”; Joss Whedon’s “Dollhouse: Season One” and “Battlestar Galactica: Season 4.5,” the latter two of which are heavy on the sci-fi--and which also are available on Blu-ray disc.