What's New in Home Video & Pop Culture - July 22nd, 2025 - Cobra, Strangers With Candy, TMNT Last Ronin, Fu Manchu, & More!

By Mike Spring

on July 22, 2025

What’s New in Home Video & Pop Culture – July 22 & 29th, 2025

This is a double column, as I’ll be away on vacation next week, so we’re covering everything coming out July 22, July 29^th, and a few things that have come out already but that I just received my review copies of. We’ve got movies, novels, comics… it’s a smorgasbord of summertime entertainment!

In This Week’s Column:

Cobra (4K Ultra HD)
Strangers With Candy (Blu-ray)
The Last Ronin II Re-Evolution (Graphic Novel)
Cliff Twemlow & Books (Blu-ray, Novels)
The Castle of Fu Manchu & The Blood of Fu Manchu (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray)
Godzilla Monsterpiece Theatre (Graphic Novel)
The Beast to Die (Blu-ray)
The Tattooed Dragon (Blu-ray)
Detonation! Violent Riders (Blu-ray)
Rosa La Rose, Fille Publique (Blu-ray)
Muted (Graphic Novel)
Karmopolis (Graphic Novel)
The Tundra Within Me (DVD)

Cobra (4K Ultra HD)

The Movie:

Even if Cobra isn’t one of Sylvester Stallone’s best films, this ‘80s actioner is fun to revisit in this new 4K Ultra HD release from Arrow Video. If the words “Crime is a disease and he’s the cure” don’t ring a bell for you, then you need to dive into this testosterone-laden shoot ‘em up ASAP.

The story sees Stallone playing Marion Cobretti – AKA Cobra – a tough-as-nails cop squarely in the Dirty Harry mode. When Cobra has to escort a witness to a safe house, they come under fire from the New World, a murderous cult who will stop at nothing to kill his witness. It’s pretty straightforward stuff, but it is fun to see Sly in full-on action mode as someone other than Rambo (who’s usually in a jungle) or Rocky (who’s usually in a boxing ring.)

Stallone is pretty monosyllabic here, but there’s a good supporting cast (including Andrew Robinson and Brian Thompson) and this new 4K Ultra HD disc includes a bevy of new extra features, making it a real value for the money.

The 4K Video/Audio:

The 4K Ultra HD presentation of Cobra offers up a nice audiovisual upgrade. Image clarity is nice and sharp, and the print is free of any blemishes or artifacts, and that’s what you would hope for. The color saturation is solid, with some moments where some real vibrancy shines through, and the film has a nice, warm tone to it that gives it a lot of life. The surround soundtrack nicely bolsters music and dialogue, both of which sound great, while the action scenes take on new life and fill in the satellite speakers nicely. A very strong effort overall.

The Bonus Features:

Brand new audio commentary by film critics Kim Newman and Nick de Semlyen
Brand new audio commentary by film scholars Josh Nelson and Martyn Pedler
Archive audio commentary by director George P. Cosmatos (1998)
TV version of the film featuring deleted and alternate scenes, presented for the first time on home video (standard definition only)
Slashing the Night Away, a new interview with composer Sylvester Levay
Dark Glasses, Violence & Robots, a new visual essay by film critic Abbey Bender on Cobra and 80s maximalist cinema
White Line Nightmare, a new visual essay by film critic Martyn Conterio on Cobra and the “Maverick Cop” genre
Stalking and Slashing, an archive interview with actor Brian Thompson
Meet the Disease, an archive interview with actor Marco Rodriguez
Feel the Heat, an archive interview with actor Andrew Robinson
Double Crossed, an archive interview with actor Lee Garlington
A Work of Art, an archive interview with actor Art LaFleur
The Making of Cobra, 1986 featurette
Trailers and TV spots
Image gallery
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Tommy Pocket
Illustrated collector’s booklet containing new writing on the film by film critics Clem Bastow, William Bibbiani, Priscilla Page, and Ariel Schudson
Double-sided fold-out poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Tommy Pocket

Digital Copy Included: No

The Wrap-Up:

Like I said, Cobra isn’t one of Stallone’s best, but if you’re a fan of Sly, it’s still fun to watch. You’d be hard pressed to find a Stallone movie I actively dislike, so I’m super glad to see this one get the high-quality treatment we’ve come to expect from Arrow Video.

Strangers With Candy (Blu-ray)

The Movie:

I really don’t like when I don’t like things that other people like. (That might be one of the worst sentences I’ve ever written.) For example, I know that Strangers With Candy, the short-lived comedy TV series, has its fans. Obviously it has enough fans that they made a movie of it after the series ended. But man, it is just not my thing.

This movie, which gets a Blu-ray release for the first time courtesy of Shout Factory, serves as a prequel to the show, with Amy Sedaris’s Jerri coming out of jail and going back to high school and — inexplicably — ending up trying to win the big science fair prize in order to save the school. Despite the supporting presence of great cast members like Stephen Colbert, Chris Pratt, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Allison Janney, Matthew Broderick, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Justin Theroux, the humor is so offbeat and weird for the sake of being weird that it just doesn’t resonate with me. I know Strangers With Candy is kind of a cult classic show (and movie, I guess), but it’s clearly meant for other people than me.

The Bonus Features:

Special 20th Anniversary Screening Q&A with Amy Sedaris, Stephen Colbert and Paul Dinello, Moderated by Cole Escola
Audio Commentary with Amy Sedaris, Stephen Colbert and Paul Dinello
Deleted Scenes
Atomic Car Music Video Starring Iris Puffybush, Performed by Delano Grove, Stephen Colbert, and Paul Dinello
Trailer Gallery

Digital Copy Included: No

The Wrap-Up:

If you’re a Strangers With Candy fan, this is a terrific release; Shout Factory has done a great job here. It’s just not a thing that I like.

TMNT: The Last Ronin II – Re-Evolution (Graphic Novel)

The Book:

In 2020, IDW Publishing released the first installment of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin, a five-issue miniseries that took the comic book world by storm and ended up at the top of the NY Times bestseller list. In it, we follow the lone remaining turtle (whose identity is somewhat of a mystery) in the future, as he fights the tyrannical corporation set up by Oroku Saki’s descendants. Based on a story that was developed by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird back in the ‘80s, the book was a massive success.

Massive successes, of course, lead to sequels, and so now here we are with TMNT: The Last Ronin II – Re-Evolution, a five-issue follow up that shares most of the creative team with the first series. Now, I wasn’t particularly of the mindset that the story needed a sequel, especially since – and I’m trying to keep this spoiler-free – the end of the first book didn’t really leave us with a lot of places to go. But this second volume introduces four new child/teenage mutant turtles, and they become a large part of the focus of the story.

And the results are… mixed. Honestly, there was a lot of story dedicated to these new turtles who I just don’t care that much about. And I felt like the plot was definitely denser (and a little less interesting) than in the first book. That said, I did enjoy the book overall. The artwork – by Ben Bishop, the Escorza Brothers, and Kevin Eastman himself – is outstanding, and the story works much better when read in one setting.

Which brings us to IDW’s big new hardcover release of the entire miniseries, which I highly recommend as the best way to experience this story. It’s packed with extra material like variant covers and such, and its oversized so the art really sings. In short, it’s a gorgeous book.

The Specs:

Publisher: IDW Publishing
Format: Hardcover
Page Count: 232 pages
Cover Price: $34.99

The Wrap Up:

If you haven’t dived into the world of The Last Ronin, I would 100% start with book one before buying this volume, but once you’ve been introduced to the world, TMNT: The Last Ronin II – Re-Evolution is a worthy successor, if not quite as good as its predecessor.

Bloody Legend: The Complete Cliff Twemlow Collection + Cliff Twemlow Novels [Tuxedo Warrior, The Pike, & The Beast of Kane] (Blu-ray, Novels)

The Movie & Books:

I’d never heard of Cliff Twemlow before the press release for this box set crossed my desk, and when I first read about him I assumed that was because he was well-known in England but not in the U.S. But after watching the excellent feature-length documentary The Mancunian Man that is included in the Bloody Legend: The Complete Cliff Twemlow Collection, I realized that people in England don’t really know who he is, either. Cliff Twemlow was the very definition of a cult classic in human form.

A former bouncer, Twemlow wrote a book about his experiences in the nightclub world called Tuxedo Warrior which was adapted into a low-budget film. From there, Twemlow went to write, produce, and star in a number of movies that were so direct-to-video they make direct-to-video movies look like blockbusters by comparison. All of his films were shot on video and were often shot without permits or any kind of real budget; it was guerilla filmmaking at its finest. His biggest claim to fame was G.B.H. (Grievous Bodily Harm) in which Twemlow takes on the lead role. The film became a video store success and was also caught up in the Video Nasties controversy in England in the early 1980s, making it somewhat notorious amongst British youth at the time.

This box set also includes every other film he made, some of which were unfinished. Some he wrote and starred in and produced, others he’s just a bit player in. (The final disc includes Fitness Over 40 and The Art of Sensual Massage, in which he simply appears on screen as a buff older man.) The standouts include G.B.H, obviously, as well as fellow actioners The Ibiza Connection, and Tuxedo Warrior, the only movie which was shot on film. Throughout the documentary they refer to short films or pilots or films he created as teasers to try and get funding for bigger projects, and I’m happy to say that all of them are included here, often as bonus features. Even the complete films are occasionally unfinished (although most of them are complete), but most of them were never officially released, so this is the only place they can be seen at all. This really is an incredibly comprehensive collection.

The box set also includes a CD of Twemlow’s original score music for several of the films, which is surprisingly good. Twemlow actually had some side success as a composer under the pseudonym Peter Reno, and this disc is a really nice added bonus.

Now, the box set is exclusively available through Severin’s website (www.SeverinFilms.com) and you can buy just the box set or you can get it in a bundle with three books that Twemlow wrote: Tuxedo Warrior, The Pike, and The Beast of Kane. Tuxedo Warrior is his original memoir that started his whole movie career. It’s a fun read and a fascinating look at the seedy world of British nightclubs of the 1970s. The Pike is effectively a Jaws rip-off set at a Manchester lakeside setting, while The Beast of Kane is another monster-killing-people story (and easily the thickest of the three books; the other two are pretty slim volumes.) Twemlow is actually a pretty good writer and the books are quick and easy reads; his strength is in the action sequences, though, and not so much in dialogue. Still, they’re worth adding on if you can.

The Bonus Features:

This box set includes a nice selection of extra features. There’s a full complement of extras for the documentary, and then the original Cliff Twemlow films included in the box set also have a mix of extra features; I’ve listed the most common ones below.

The Mancunian Man:

Additional Scenes
Manchester Locations Tour
The Swedish Connection – Interview with Jonathan Sisson on G.B.H.’s First-Time/Last-Time Investors
The Pike Rediscovered – The Hunt for The Mechanical Monster
Manchester Premiere
London World Premiere
Glasgow Premiere
Trailer
Image Gallery

Other Films:

Audio Commentaries
Featurettes
Stills Galleries
Short Films/Promo Materials
Trailers

Digital Copy Included: No

The Wrap-Up:

While very few people will really know who Cliff Twemlow is, this box set is a fascinating trip down a movie rabbit hole that will entertain you for hours. Grab the super bundle if you have the means, too, because the books are a lot of fun as well.

The Blood of Fu Manchu & The Castle of Fu Manchu (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray)

The Movies:

These two new releases from Blue Underground continue the studio’s run of high quality release of movies that skirt the line between cult classics and forgotten films. The Blood of Fu Manchu hails from 1968 and The Castle of Fu Manchu comes from 1969, and both star the legendary Christopher Lee as the world-dominating super villain.

In The Blood of Fu Manchu, Lee plays the titular villain as he discovers a poison that will kill men through the kiss of a woman. So naturally, he kidnaps 10 women and infects them and sends them off to poison his enemies, which ultimately brings lawmen to his hidden lair in the jungle. In The Castle of Fu Manchu, Lee returns and launches a scheme to freeze the world’s oceans, which once again brings his nemesis, a Scotland Yard inspector, to his door.

Now, look, from a purely critical standpoint, these aren’t the kinds of films that I can rave about. They’re low-budget and ham-fisted 1960s cinema B-movies. That said, if you like B-movies, these will be right up your alley. They’re fun and colorful and slightly unhinged in the best way. And Christopher Lee, of course, is a great screen presence no matter what roles he’s in. And, as usual, Blue Underground has gifted us with two new 4K Ultra HD releases that are outstanding, with great A/V quality and copious bonus features.

The 4K Video/Audio:

For older films, the Fu Manchu movies look and sound very good in the premium format. The color saturation in both is quite vibrant, image clarity is sharp, and shadow delineation is very strong. You won’t think these are brand-new movies, but the restoration and remastering has worked its magic here. The soundtracks are presented in mono, so there are obviously some limitations here, but dialogue is clear and nothing sounds too tinny or hollow. Overall, for older, low-budget movies, there’s little to complain about here.

The Bonus Features:

Blood:

NEW! Audio Commentary with Film Historians Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thompson
The Rise of Fu Manchu – Interviews with Director Jess Franco, Producer Harry Alan Towers, and Stars Christopher Lee, Tsai Chin, & Shirley Eaton
NEW! Sanguine-Stained Celluloid – Interview with Stephen Thrower, Author of “Murderous Passions: The Delirious Cinema of Jesus Franco”
Trailers
NEWLY EXPANDED! Poster & Still Gallery
NEW! RiffTrax Edition – THE BLOOD OF FU MANCHU Riffed by Mike Nelson, Bill Corbett & Kevin Murphy (77 Mins.)

Castle:

NEW! Audio Commentary with Film Historians Nathaniel Thompson and Troy Howarth
The Fall of Fu Manchu – Interviews with Director Jess Franco, Producer Harry Alan Towers, and Stars Christopher Lee & Tsai Chin
NEW! Castle of Carnage – Interview with Stephen Thrower, Author of “Murderous Passions: The Delirious Cinema of Jesus Franco”
International Trailer
NEWLY EXPANDED! Poster & Still Gallery
NEW! RiffTrax Edition – THE CASTLE OF FU MANCHU Riffed by Mike Nelson, Bill Corbett & Kevin Murphy (75 Mins.)

Digital Copy Included: No

The Wrap-Up:

For B-movie fans, both of these new Fu Manchu releases from Blue Underground will be welcome additions to your collection. They’re excellent efforts from top to bottom.

Godzilla Monsterpiece Theatre (Graphic Novel)

The Book:

While I don’t love every single project that fits this formula, by and large I enjoy when creators take existing properties and give them a unique spin. In the case of Godzilla Monsterpiece Theater, writer/artist Tom Scioli has given us a take on Godzilla unlike anything we’ve ever seen before.

In this “what if?” style story, we see Godzilla in a different age, as he’s summoned to the surface world by none other than Jay Gatsby from The Great Gatsby. Helping Gatsby restore order to the world are none other than Sherlock Holmes and the protagonist of H.G. Wells’ novel The Time Machine. As these men team up to defeat Godzilla, we are treated to a quirky adventure story in Scioli’s innate style.

Comic Watch Reviews:

From a story point of view, the book is a ton of fun. Scioli’s art style borders on an indie cartoonist look, which is an odd fit for Godzilla at first, but the offbeat nature of the story makes it all gel together nicely. This new Trade Paperback from IDW includes all three monster-sized issues that made up the miniseries, and includes bonuses like variant covers and the like.

Comic Watchers – Episode 238: Tom Scioli Summons Godzilla, The Great Gatsby, and More

The Specs:

Publisher: IDW Publishing
Format: Softcover
Page Count: 152 pages
Cover Price: $21.99

The Wrap Up:

I love pretty much every Godzilla book that IDW publishes, but I wasn’t sure what to expect with Godzilla Monsterpiece Theatre. I’m happy to report that any Godzilla fan (who doesn’t take the big green guy TOO seriously) should have a ton of fun with this book.

The Beast to Die (Blu-ray)

The Movie:

This 1980 thriller from Japan is not a creature feature, as the title might imply. Instead, it’s a dark psychological drama about a troubled war photographer who has been capturing scenes of strife and war for years and finally returns home. Once there, he begins committing a series of robberies and murders as he works his way up to one big final crime.

The film stars Yusaku Matsuda, who had collaborated with director Toru Murakawa on several other projects. His performance is outstanding as we watch him slowly devolve and fight encroaching madness. The direction is solid as well, with some standout scenes of cinematography that give the film a really sharp look. At a full two hours long, there are a couple of moments where the icing flags, but by and large it’s a pretty intense film that will have an impact on its viewers.

The Bonus Features:

Interview with Toru Murakawa (2025)
Interview with Shoichi Maruyama (2025)
Critical appreciation from novelist and screenwriter Jordan Harper (2025)
Newly improved English subtitle translation
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Time Tomorrow
Limited edition booklet featuring new writing by Tatsuya Masuto
Limited edition of 3000 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings

Digital Copy Included: No

The Wrap-Up:

Radiance always does a great job with their releases, and this is no exception. It’s definitely worth tracking down, especially if you’re a fan of The Beast to Die.

The Tattooed Dragon (Blu-ray)

The Movie:

Not to be outdone, Eureka Entertainment has its own Asian action release, The Tattooed Dragon, which also arrives under some truly stunning cover art! The 1973 film stars Jimmy Yang Wu in his first true showcase film after having been part of the ensembles in several Shaw Brothers films in the 1970s. In this actioner, Wu plays a lone warrior who fights defending the innocent; when he is injured and taken in by a farmer, he develops a kinship with the man and his paramour. However, gangsters have set their sights on the town and create a casino in order to graft the townspeople. Well, Wu can’t just let that stand… which of course leads to lots of action. You could describe the film as Walking Tall with martial arts and it wouldn’t be inaccurate.

The Tattooed Dragon was written and directed by Lo Wei, who directed two of Bruce Lee’s biggest movies, The Big Boss and Fist of Fury. No slight intended to Jimmy Yang Wu, but he’s not Bruce Lee and it feels like the lack of Lee’s presence effected Wei’s directorial style, as the action scenes are solid but not as exciting as I would have hoped. Still, it’s a relatively enjoyable film overall.

The Bonus Features:

Limited edition collector’s booklet featuring new writing on The Tattooed Dragon by film critic and writer James Oliver
The Tattooed Dragon presented in 1080p HD from a new 2K restoration
Original Mandarin mono and English dubbed audio options
Optional English subtitles, newly translated for this release
New audio commentary by East Asian cinema expert Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival)
New audio commentary by action cinema experts Mike Leeder and Arne Venema
Here Be Dragons – new discussion of Tattooed Dragon with martial arts cinema expert Wayne Wong

Digital Copy Included: No

The Wrap-Up:

While not the best of what 1970s martial arts movies have to offer, The Tattooed Dragon is also far from the worst. It’s a decent movie that benefits from a terrific home video release.

Detonation! Violent Riders (Blu-ray)

The Movie:

Another release with gorgeous cover art, 88 Films’ Detonation! Violent Riders is a little bit different than a lot of the Japanese offerings of the 1970s. A contemporary-set biker gang melodrama, this one features the legendary Sonny Chiba in a supporting role and is a bit of a mash-up between Marlon Brando’s The Wild One and Romeo and Juliet.

In the film, young Iwaki dreams of being a motorcycle racer, but his plans are derailed by a local biker gang terrorizing the town. When he falls for a girl who has ties to the gang, he gets embroiled in more than he bargained for. While there is a dramatic story at the heart of the film, it’s also important to recognize it as the kind of grungy movie that was popular in the 1970s; there’s lots of motorbike racing sequences, plenty of action, and a few uncomfortable moments with some material that veers into exploitation territory.

I can’t say I loved the movie, but I can’t say I hated it, either. It’s never boring, and it’s an interesting snapshot of another era through a non-American lens, which I always find fascinating. As per usual, Radiance have given us a strong home video release for the film.

The Bonus Features:

Audio Commentary by Ashley Darrow and Jonathan Greenaway of the Horror Vanguard podcast
Brand new Video Essay by Nathan Stuart
Trailer
Stills Gallery
Original and newly commissioned artwork by Ilan Sheady

Digital Copy Included: No

The Wrap-Up:

Detonation! Violent Riders isn’t going to be for everyone, but fans of movies like last year’s The Bikeriders will probably find a lot to like here. For fans of B-movie culture, this will be a great find.

Rosa La Rose, Fille Publique (Blu-ray)

The Movie:

The final released in this week’s foreign film specialty-release quadrilogy is Rosa La Rose, Fille Publique, a French drama from 1986. In the film, we meet Rosa, a prostitute who is living her best life. She’s radiant and beautiful, and to use a cliché, men want to be with her, and women want to be her. But when she meets a young man that she falls in love with and contemplates leaving her profession, that causes problems for her pimp, who doesn’t want to let her go.

Now, some people may have a hard time letting go of the idea that a prostitute can be happy and fulfilled in her job, but once you accept that, the film is quite good. Marianne Basler is luminous as Rosa, and the film keeps things moving well with a brisk 90-minute run time. There is some sex and nudity, yes, but it fits the story and never really feels gratuitous or exploitative. Obviously., the subject matter won’t be for everyone, but it’s a solid film for sure.

The Bonus Features:

Interview with critic David Jenkins (2025)
Archival interview with director Paul Vecchiali (1985)
Archival interview with actors Marianne Basler and Jean Sorel (1985)
Newly improved English subtitle translation
Reversible sleeve featuring designs based on original promotional materials
Limited edition booklet featuring archival interviews and new writing by Marina Ashioti
Limited edition of 3000 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings

Digital Copy Included: No

The Wrap-Up:

I never know what to expect from these types of movies, especially from the 1980s. But I was surprised by the filmmaking quality of Rosa La Rose, Fille Publique and it’s a nice little foreign film gem.

Muted: Volume 1 (Graphic Novel)

The Book:

Ten Speed Graphic continues its excellent line of tween/teen releases based on popular Webtoons with Muted: Volume 1, a new graphic novel from writer/artist Miranda Mundt.

In this new series, we meet teenaged Camille, a young witch whose mother and twin sister were killed in a mysterious fire many years ago. She’s raised by her cruel Aunt Athalie but has grown close with Athalie’s daughter, Camille’s cousin, Silvia. When a traditional rite-of-passage summoning goes wrong, it sets in motion a series of events that will lead to Camille possibly finding love, solving the mystery of her family’s death, and becoming the witch she’s meant to be.

I had slightly mixed feelings about Muted, all of which have to do with me and not with the quality of the content. The book is well-written, easy to read, and features beautiful artwork by Mundt. Honestly, the main issue for me is that I just can’t get into witch fiction. Whether it’s graphic novels or movies or TV shows, I generally just find the world/genre of witches… well, largely not that interesting. So I really enjoyed the character beats in Muted, but all the magic stuff and the parts of the story about the magic rituals and such just didn’t do all that much for me. That said, readers in the target demographic (and beyond) who don’t feel that way should really enjoy this book.

The Specs:

Publisher: Ten Speed Graphic
Format: Hardcover or Softcover
Page Count: 320 pages
Cover Price: $29.99 (HC) or $22.99 (SC)

The Wrap Up:

Muted is a well-written book with outstanding artwork, and it’s hard to find any fault with that at all. The subject matter might not have been my cup of tea, but for anyone who is even mildly interested in it, I think you’ll really enjoy it.

Karmopolis Book 1: Land of Cars (Graphic Novel)

The Book:

A new younger-reader themed graphic novel from Top Shelf, Karmopolis, Book 1: Land of Cars introduces readers to the world of Karmopolis, a futuristic sort of landscape where everything is moving all the time, from cars to houses to mega malls; everything is on wheels. (Except for those mysterious walkers… what’s up with them?) When two young siblings find a mysterious gem (that, naturally, bad guys are after), it sets them on a race against time to find out what secrets the gem holds before things go bad for the duo.

The book is written and drawn by Nick Bertozzi, who I’m a big fan of from his previous graphic novel, Shackleton: Antarctic Odyssey, which recounted the true story of Ernest Shackleton’s famed arctic journey in 1914 in graphic novel form. Obviously, Karmopolis is fiction, but Bertozzi combines crisp, sharp writing with a sense of fun and adventure and a cartoony style that still manages to pack in lots of detail. Karmopolis may technically be for younger readers, but I had a blast reading it!

The Specs:

Publisher: Top Shelf Productions
Format: Softcover
Page Count: 128 pages
Cover Price: $14.99

The Wrap Up:

Karmopolis is a digest-sized book that is easy to read but densely packed with enough visual flair to keep it from being a too-quick read. Nick Bertozzi surely has another hit on his hands, and I’m here for it.

The Tundra Within Me (DVD)

The Movie:

The Tundra Within Me is a new drama film from Norway, and the film’s description might be the most stereotypically Norwegian thing I’ve ever heard: “A visual artist returns to her native Northern Norway where she finds love with a reindeer herder but is haunted by the decisions from her past.” I mean… I don’t want to come across too cliched, but if that doesn’t sound like everything I think of when I think of Norway, I don’t know what does!

But lest you think this is just a Norwegian Hallmark Christmas Movie, it’s anything but. It is in fact a somber drama that deals with sociopolitical issues, stereotypes, and societal acceptance. It turns out the main characters are part of the Sami people, which is somewhat akin to the Scandinavian version of the Native American population in the U.S. Unfortunately, she’s not particularly accepted by her people when she returns, so there’s some additional challenges in the relationship between the two lovers-to-be.

I can’t say that The Tundra Within Me was my personal cup of tea. It’s a cold affair, both figuratively and literally, and being in a foreign language and set within a community I know nothing about didn’t make it MORE accessible. It’s a well-made film but I think it’s more for people who like artsy dramatic fare.

The Bonus Features:

There are no bonus features on this release.

Digital Copy Included: No

The Wrap-Up:

The Tundra Within Me is a bit of a tough watch at times, but I suspect people who like more challenging movies will find it an attractive prospect.