New on DVD and Blu-ray Disc

Of the many recommended titles new to Blu-ray disc, chief among them are several throwbacks, including “The Sixth Sense,” by far M. Night Shyamalan’s best movie, with the director showcasing solid writing and directing across the board. The film is satisfying on many levels, most notably because it gives evil an opportunity to roam along the fringes of a well-developed story before it allows that evil to spread its wings at center stage. Bruce Willis is excellent as Dr. Malcolm Crowe, a child psychologist who gradually comes to understand things about himself through his relationship with Cole Sear (Haley Joel Osment), a young boy who literally can see the walking dead.

Also receiving high marks on Blu-ray is Lawrence Kasdan’s excellent 1981 crime thriller “Body Heat,” with Kathleen Turner and William Hurt never hotter than they were in this modern noir. It’s Turner again (this time with Michael Douglas) in two popular adventure movies from the 1980s--“Romancing the Stone” and its sequel, “The Jewel of the Nile.” Watching them again makes you wish that Turner would just get on with it and return to movies.

Martin Scorsese’s engrossing 1995 crime movie, “Casino,” is available. Based on Nichols Pileggi’s book, this fiercely entertaining, Academy Award-nominated movie about the rise and fall of the Mafia’s gambling influence in Las Vegas clocks in at three hours, but with Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Sharon Stone, James Woods and a host of others doing some of their finest work, the film races by as if juiced by cocaine. Which, of course, parts of it are.

That movie is a thrill to revisit, but so are three other films new to Blu-ray--Tim Burton’s 1988’s creepshow “Beetlejuice,” the 20th anniversary edition of which is a swell reminder of why Michael Keaton once mattered. The film has held up, as has the remastered version of Tobe Hooper’s “Poltergeist” (which includes a 44-page booklet about the movie) and, believe it or not, even the 25th anniversary of “Risky Business,” with a young Tom Cruise showcasing the sort of charm and charisma that would carry him through an impressive career that only faltered when he allowed his personal life to intervene.

The good news is that more compelling fare awaits on home video, such as in the Blu-ray release of Mel Brooks’ “Young Frankenstein,” an affectionate send-up of Mary Shelley's influential novel, James Whale's 1931 movie version of that novel, and all of the dozens of horror movie spin-offs each inspired. Here is a movie that loves horror movies first, comedy second. If it were the other way around, the film might have been just another satire that missed its zenith because it lacked the necessary substance on which to hang its laughs. But Brooks, a master of the form, knows that good satires are only good if they can stand up to the real thing. "Young Frankenstein" is the real thing--it's just standing on its side. Supporting it are Gene Wilder as Dr. Frederick Frankenstein--or, more specifically and phonetically, Dr. Frahnkinshteen; his ridiculous fiance, Elizabeth (Madeline Kahn); the wall-eyed Igor (Marty Feldman); buxomly Inga (Teri Garr); and the chilling Frau Blucher (Cloris Leachman), who looks like Nosferatu after a sex change.

Otherwise on Blu-ray, you take your chances.

Those chances are excellent if you choose, say, “When We Left Earth: The NASA Missions,” a fine 4-disc set from the Discovery Channel that chronicles our continued efforts to explore space; Sergie Bodrov’s Academy Award-nominated “Mongol,” an engrossing epic about the early years of Genghis Khan; and the Simon Pegg comedy “Run, Fatboy, Run,” which is funny enough, coming through with a few memorable moments.

The Adam Sandler comedy, “You Don’t Mess with the Zohan,” is not to be messed with at all--the movie is typical, stereotypical trash from Sandler, with dumb jokes fueling the tired set pieces. As for “The Omen Collection,” which gathers together all four “Omen” films in clean, high-definition transfers, viewers are left with a mixed bag of tricks and treats--only the 1976 original is the standout. All the others just trade off the success of that film and its long-running franchise.

Three television shows are recommended, including “My Three Sons: First Season, Vol. 1,” with Fred MacMurray puffing on that pipe as he deals with this share of bickering boys (in another era, it wouldn’t have been tobacco in that pipe given the stress he’s under); “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation: The Eighth Season” is amplified beyond reason, which makes sense since it’s in this season that a major character leaves the show; and the second season of “Brotherhood,” which pits two brothers against each other while their families--and the law--stand between them.

Finally, fans of science fiction with a British twist should look to the three recent editions from the Doctor Who series, including the very good “Doctor Who: The Trial of the Time Lord,” as well as “Doctor Who: The Brain of Morbius” and “Doctor Who: The Invasion of Time.”

All are appropriately surreal, but they have nothing on the weirdness unleashed in one of the BBC’s best comedies, “Keeping Up Appearances,” the entire series of which is now available in a “Full Bouquet” edition. With Patricia Routledge’s overachieving, social climbing Hyacinth Bucket (she pronounces it “bouquet”) stopping at nothing to rise to the top of the social ladder in spite her rather questionable pedigree, the show takes on the British class system, runs hair pins through the lot of it and lays it flat. What unfolds is often so laugh-out-loud funny, it likely will have the same effect on viewers.