Captain Planet And The Planeteers: The Complete Collection (1990-1996/Warner Blu-ray Set)/The Day The Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie (2024/Warner/Ketchup Blu-ray)/Dune Prophecy: The Complete First Season 4K (2024/Warner 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray)/Invisible Swordsman (1970/Daiei/MVD/Arrow Blu-ray)/Landman: Season One (MTV*)/Yellowstone: Season 5, Part 2 (*both 2024/Paramount Blu-ray Sets)

4K Ultra HD Picture: B Picture: B/B-/X/B/B-/B Sound: B-/C+/B+/C+/B/B Extras: D/C-/C+/C/C/C+ Main Programs: C+/C+/B-/C/C+/C+

Now for a bunch of TV and general entertainment releases...

Captain Planet And The Planeteers: The Complete Collection (1990 - 1996) has been upgraded to Blu-ray after recently arriving on DVD, a surprise for an animated series form the 1980s since so many of the time were finished on low def video. You can read more about the shows at this link to our coverage of the DVD set:

https://fulvuedrive-in.com/review/16513/Captain+Planet+and+The+Planeteers:+The+Complete

Still fresh in my memory from going through the DVDs, it is a one-of-a-kind show from its time and one of the last to be pro-environment after such productions started disappearing after the glory days of children's television in the 1970s despite being loud and somewhat reactionary or at least aggressive. For fans only, this is now the best way to experience the series, but more on that below.

Though there are still no extras, fans will love the upgrade.

Pete Browngardt's The Day The Earth Blew Up (2024) is yet another Looney Tunes franchise film that was controversially delayed for reasons unknown, but has been picked up by the small-but-growing Ketchup Entertainment company for belated release. I wondered why this was delayed and it is not bad, but we have seen much of this before, except some passing humor of a sexual nature that was never part of the franchise like this that does not quite fit.

Otherwise, we get daffy Duck with some features of his earliest incarnation now in his current one, Porky Pig getting more of the screen time he deserves and Petunia Pig even show up, one of the most underused characters in the history of the franchise. The duo encounters a devious alien invasion and the script is all over the place with the themes they are able to get out of this high concept.

Save the sexual parts, this is just fine for what it is and is a competent side project release like so many straight-to-video animated releases studios like Warner do with their characters. Though no classic, it does not look cheap either and the use of color and the voicing is not bad, while the animation is fine for the style chosen. Now you can see for yourself.

A trailer is the only extra.

Dune Prophecy: The Complete First Season 4K (2024) is a surprise series based on events in the new wave of Dune feature films, imitating its style and linked to its narratives. We covered both films at these links:

Dune 2021 remake Blu-ray w/4K comments

https://fulvuedrive-in.com/review/16064/Addams+Family+2+(2021/animated/MGM/Universal+Bl

Dune, Part Two 4K

https://fulvuedrive-in.com/review/16455/Dune,+Part+Two+4K+(2024/Warner+4K+Ultra+HD+Bl

Emily Watson, Travis Fimmel, Olivia Williams, Jodhi May and Mark Strong lead a surprisingly good cast that has more chemistry than it might have had otherwise and follows how the Harkonnen Sisters take on take on a dark sect that could be more of a threat to the human race than it first seems. Inspired by Sisterhood Of Dune, it is thorough and when you follow closely, adds up nicely and is worthy of the previous adaptions of the books since David Lynch pulled off his 1984 version. If you are not a fan or have not seen the feature films, you could be lost a bit, but the makers take the material and audience seriously, so fans (at the least)_ and others will find this impressive and worthy of the new films. The money is on the screen too. All in all, a pleasant surprise, even if you are not a fan.

Extras include 'Inside the Episode' featurettes for all six episodes at about a half-hour each, plus you get 'Building Worlds' (13 minutes), 'Entering The Dune Universe' (3 minutes), 'Houses Divided' (2 minutes), 'Expanding The Universe' (2 minutes), 'Truth Or Lie' clips with the cast, 'Behind the Veil' piece made up of 'Envisioning The Future' (9 minutes), 'Power Of Sound' (8 minutes), 'Designing The Universe' (7 minutes), 'Crafting The Costumes' (6 minutes) and 'Crafting The Hair & Make-up' (5 minutes).

Yoshiyuki Kuroda's The Invisible Swordsman (1970) wants to capitalize on the hit Japanese (et al) children's TV shows of the 1960s by being a comical romp involving sword fights and the many by-then cliches of invisible men. That makes it a one-joke film that lasts 78 minutes, quitting while its ahead and just barely staying above B-movie status, but it is also a curio and those who are curious are the ones who will most want to see it. Others might get bored more quickly.

Extras for this limited edition include a brand new feature length audio commentary from author and Asian culture expert Jonathan Clements

• The Invisible People, a brand new interview with film critic Kim Newman on the history of invisibility in cinema

• Phantom Fighter, a brand new interview with film critic and Japanese cinema expert Jasper Sharp

• Image Gallery

• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Jolyon Yates

• and an Illustrated Collector's Booklet featuring new writing on the film by Zack Davisson.

Landman: Season One (2024) is a show that wants to combine Dallas with the big budget of the original Dynasty, but be a modern raw answer to the likes of Yellowstone, a modern Western-like series involving oil and oil rigs in Texas. Note the oil there is the 'sweet' kind versus the kind from overseas that needs more refining. The drama comes out of two couples (Billy Bob Thornton/Ali Lauter and John Hamm/Demi Moore) from Taylor Sheridan, the creator of Yellowstone.

That's some solid casting, but these Sheridan shows have becomes a little canned and formulaic, with some cliched looks and ideas also here holding back the full potential of this series. Maybe follow-up season will be stronger, but this was a mixed bag at best, though I like the casting and it is some of the better for TV we've seen lately. Those curious, especially fans of the big four names here, will want to give it a good look to be certain.

Extras run over 85 minutes long and include Constant Crisis: The Road to Landman

• Passion and Poise: Tommy & Angela/Cami & Monty

• Inside the Series

• Meet the Millers

• The Best of Tommy

• Roughnecking it with Billy, James, and Jacob

• and Digging Deep with the Cast of Landman.

Last but not least, Yellowstone: Season 5, Part 2 (2024) begins the episodes where Kevin Costner's main character is totally gone, though spinoffs go on and people still talk about the show. Once a decade or so now for the dead Western genre, you get a hit TV show that encompasses it, like Deadwood did a while ago. Instead of understanding this, Kevin Costner decided to repeat the mistakes of the past (Wyatt Earp and especially The Postman, a sort of post-modern Western) by making himself a self-imposed McLean Stevenson and leaving this huge hit series to make a series of Western feature films. Like those other post Dances With Wolves projects, they were huge bombs.

So what you get here are some good actors, if mostly unknown, left holding the bag and trying to continue on, but these shows just seem to be tying up loose ends (odder when you did not watch the previous seasons for sure) and though professionally competent, the party is over. They are curios and some will like them, but its like the last few episodes of Game Of Thrones (if that) where the action is over and you get the long goodbye with the slow slowdown. For fans only.

Extras include some collectible cards in our copy, while the disc adds over two hours of programming that includes Redemption: A Season of Change

• Photographer Emerson Miller

• The Heartbeat of Yellowstone: Chief Joseph Ranch

• and Stories from the Bunkhouse for every episode.

Now for playback performance. The 2160p HEVC/H.265, 2.00 X 1, Dolby Vision/HDR (10; Ultra HD Premium)-enhanced Ultra High Definition image on the Dune 4K series tries to match the look of the feature films, but without the step of using photochemical film. Its fine and does a decent job, also worth of the look of the previous two TV mini-series adaptions with its innovative filming process. The lossless Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 mixdown for older systems) mixes are also well done and the combination will keep fans and others happy.

The 1080p 1.33 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on the Planet episodes can look fine for the most part, but it is more obvious as you watch the limited animation that skips frames like old TV anime of the time. Also, credits in low-def video have been retained, so the improvements are the majority of the shows over the decent DVD set. The DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0 Mono (and later Stereo) lossless mixes on each episode are the best the shows will ever sound, so this is the set to get if you are a fan.

The 1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image on the Looney Tunes Blu-ray has some good color and art, but can be limited at times, but is consistent. The lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 mix disappoints, especially since the sound sounds like the soundmaster is well done, so why no lossless mix here?

The 1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on The Invisible Swordsman can show the age of the materials used, but the anamorphic lenses are not as distorting and color is very good. The PCM Japanese 1.0 Mono sound is limited and holds the sound back a bit, but how much better it could be as a 2.0 presentation is questionable.

The 1080p 2.00 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on Landman purposely de-colors the image throughout a bit as part of its style, but it is at least consistent, if a little repetitive. The lossless Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mix has a consistent soundfield and is well mixed and recorded.

The 1080p 2.00 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on Yellowstone has a more naturalistic look and is fine, but nothing too memorable or spectacular either, though maybe earlier seasons looked better. We'll see those down the line. The lossless Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mix also has a consistent soundfield and is well mixed and recorded, so its good too, just nothing shocking or groundbreaking.

- Nicholas Sheffo