What’s New in Home Video & Pop Culture – March 4th, 2025 – Gladiator 2, Red One, Kraven the Hunter, Den of Thieves 2, Surfside Girls GN, & More!

What’s New in Home Video & Pop Culture – March 4th, 2025

This week we get back to a bigger release slate, with no less than four box office hits! (Well, three actual hits and one box office release that didn’t fare so well.) There’s also a new graphic novel,  some catalogue releases, and a few hidden gems. Check out the full slate below!

In This Week’s Column:

• Gladiator II Steelbook (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital)
• Red One (4K Ultra HD + Digital)
• Kraven the Hunter Blu (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray Digital)
• Den of Thieves 2: Pantera (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital)
• Flesh & Blood (Blu-ray)
• Project Silence (Blu-ray)
• Ghost Cat Anzu (Blu-ray)
• Surfside Girls: The Clue in the Reef (Graphic Novel)
• The Mask of Satan (Blu-ray)

Gladiator II Steelbook (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital)

The Movie: 

Despite the fact that 2000’s Gladiator was an Oscar-winning, critically acclaimed and audience-beloved film, I’m not the biggest fan of it. I mean, I like the movie, sure, but I never fell under its spell like a lot of people did. Is that probably more because I’m not a huge Ridley Scott fan than anything else? It’s likely. I tell you all that to say that my excitement going into Gladiator II – a movie that wouldn’t even have the powerhouse performance of Russell Crowe in it – was limited at best.

And while it’s not a perfect movie, I have to admit that I did enjoy Gladiator II more than I expected to. The film takes place a couple of decades after the events of the first movie, with Maximus’s son Lucius (who doesn’t know who his father is) being captured and sold to arena masters. In this case, his new master is Denzel Washington’s Macrinus, a scheming political genius who has his own motives for everything he does. What follows is a mix of brutal arena action and political maneuvering that managed to keep my interest much more than I expected. 

Paul Mescal might not be a natural movie star, but he holds his own as Lucius, with the physical presence necessary to be convincing as a gladiator who could survive almost anything, while also handling the more emotional scenes opposite his distraught mother (Connie Nielsen, returning from the original film.) Pedro Pascal, not surprisingly, steals the show as a Roman general with loose ties to Lucius and closer ties to the events unfolding in Rome. 

This week Gladiator II arrives on home video in a 4K Ultra HD Steelbook, and the Steelbook is gorgeous, with bright and colorful artwork on it that will look good in your collection. 

The 4K Video/Audio:

Gladiator II looks absolutely beautiful in 4K Ultra HD. The film has a lot of earthy tones in it, so while there isn’t necessarily a ton to work with, color saturation is terrific. Sometimes it can feel like you’re just watching a regular high-quality Blu-ray movie… and then a big special effects scene will come along and just blow you away. In those cases, the image has an almost 3D quality to it that you just don’t get on Blu-ray. The surround soundtrack has a lot to work with and it makes the most of it, featuring strong directional effects and an immersive soundfield, plus a thumping low-end bass that really gives the action scenes some oomph. It’s a terrific A/V presentation from start to finish.

The Bonus Features: 

• A Dream That Was Rome: Origins
• What We Do in Life, Echoes in Eternity: The Cast
• In the Arena: Filmmakers
• To Those About to Die, We Salute You: Combat
• Building an Empire: Post-Production
• The Making of Gladiator II (20 minutes)
• 10 Deleted Scenes

Digital Copy Included: Yes

The Wrap-Up:

While I don’t think Gladiator II is going to end up on my Top 10 Films of the Year list or anything like that, I did enjoy watching it and I was impressed that Ridley Scott was able to put together a good sequel to a movie that came out 25 years ago. Those are usually a bit of a disaster and this one definitely isn’t. 

Red One (4K Ultra HD + Digital)

The Movie: 

I have a lot of criticisms of Red One, but I feel like I should lead with the fact that I did also really enjoy the film, especially upon repeat viewings. 

A big-budget Christmas adventure movie, Red One sees Santa Claus kidnapped by evil forces and his number one bodyguard (Dwayne Johnson) recruiting a morally ambiguous non-magical hacker (Chris Evans) to help rescue him. The movie has come clever conceits and it’s always fun to see a new take on how the North Pole operates to deliver presents to kids on Christmas. 

That said, I do have a few complaints. First and foremost, the script is really pedestrian. The concepts in the movie are great, but there were so many opportunities for some great or funny dialogue that felt missed. The charisma of the actors, the action scenes, and the general concept carry the movie, but I kept feeling like with a little more effort on the script, this would truly be a Christmas classic for the ages. The special effects also aren’t particularly noteworthy. There are some sequences where they’re better than others, but it feels like the studio farmed out different sequences to different FX houses (which is likely what happened) and got varying results, but never bothered to try and make it look more cohesive. 

The 4K Video/Audio:

Red One comes to home video in 4K Ultra HD (as well as Blu-ray and DVD) and it looks quite nice in 4K Ultra HD. The film has a lot of blue and silver toned imagery, so while color saturation is terrific, there isn’t a ton to work with at all times. The surround soundtrack does have a lot to work with, however, and it makes the most of it, featuring strong directional effects and an immersive sound field, plus a nice, solid bass channel that really anchors the action. It’s a very strong A/V presentation overall.

The Bonus Features: 

I know this was an Amazon film and they’re not usually big on extras, but the fact that this disc comes without a single bonus feature is a huge disappointment.

Digital Copy Included: Yes

The Wrap-Up:

Despite my complaints, Red One is still a largely fun movie that kids and adults will enjoy, and I expect we’ll see it on in a lot of households every holiday season.

Kraven the Hunter (4K Ultra HD + Digital)

The Movie: 

I haven’t come down as hard on some of Sony’s Spider-Man spin-offs as many people have. Like all that nonsense about Morbius being the worst movie ever made? That was just internet chicanery and people not being able to think for themselves. Was it great? No. But there were a lot worse films that have come out before and since. So I try to give Sony’s spin-off films a little bit of benefit of the doubt and I went into Kraven the Hunter with an open mind. 

But it’s surprising to me that Sony hasn’t bothered to see what doesn’t work in their previous films that underperformed and then… you know, tried to fix it. Kraven the Hunter just isn’t that good. The story follows Sergei Kravinoff, a young man who was raised by a domineering father and with a brother who always needed his protection. He’s become something of a vigilante/hunter of criminals – more of an anti-hero than anything else – but when his brother gets kidnapped and his father refuses to pay the ransom, Kraven must go up against a dangerous new villain. 

Sadly, the movie doesn’t have much going for it. Kraven is an okay character at best, but there’s no one to really care about in this movie. The action scenes feel unnecessarily brutal at times, like the filmmakers were just trying really hard to get an R-rating because they could, not because it needed to be. Sony just doesn’t seem to get that people aren’t that interested in Spider-Man’s castoff B-list villains. 

The 4K Video/Audio:

The 4K Ultra HD presentation helps out here because this is a movie with a lot of darker scenes, and the improved shadow delineation allows us to see all of the onscreen action with no pixelation or blocking. Blacks are deep and color saturation is solid, and all in all it feels like a medium-budget superhero movie should feel. The surround soundtrack offers up some nice activity, allowing the action scenes to work their magic throughout the various speakers. All in all, it’s a well-done effort.

The Bonus Features: 

• Deleted & Extended Scenes
• Becoming Kraven 
• Beast Mode: The Stunts of the Hunt 
• Outtakes & Bloopers
• Kraven’s First Hunt: The Direction 
• Allies & Antagonists: The Killer Cast 

Digital Copy Included: Yes

The Wrap-Up:

Despite a seasoned director in J.C Chandor (who helmed the critically acclaimed films Margin Call, All is Lost, and A Most Violent Year), Kraven the Hunter feels like it just got spewed out of Sony’s Marvel Spin-Off Factory, and it really is as mediocre as you would expect. 

Den of Thieves 2: Pantera (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital)

The Movie: 

I’ve been thinking about this review for a couple of days. Because I have so much to say about Den of Thieves 2: Pantera that I don’t even quite know where to start. It’s one of those movies that has lived in my head even a few days after watching it. 

Let me start here: in one of the bonus features on the new 4K Ultra HD release of Den of Thieves 2: Pantera, director Christian Gudegast discusses how the two Den of Thieves films were planned to be a franchise even before the first movie was made. After watching this second film, I can see exactly what he means, and I’m here for it.

This film sees police detective “Big Nick” O’Brien (Gerard Butler) still obsessed with capturing Donnie Wilson (O’Shea Jackson Jr.), who pulled off an impossible heist of the Federal Reserve Bank under Nick’s watch in the first movie. Now in Europe, Nick tracks him down and decides he wants in; he’s going to help Donnie and his crew rob the World Diamond Center in France, one of the most secure buildings in the world. 

The film borrows a little bit from Heat (one of the best scenes in the movie is Nick and Donnie sitting down over food and sharing how they became who they are in life), a little bit from Point Break, a little bit from The Fast and the Furious, but in the end it feels like its own movie. And it’s a movie that’s pretty damn awesome. 

When I watched the first movie back in 2018, I thought it was a pretty good heist movie, but nothing more. Now that both films have come out, it’s easy to see how they’re part of a bigger canvas, and this entry definitely leaves things open for a third film. I worry that the movie’s $56 million worldwide gross won’t be enough for us to get that third installment, but I really hope we do. 

The 4K Video/Audio:

Den of Thieves 2: Pantera comes to home video on 4K Ultra HD (as well as Blu-ray and DVD), and it is an absolutely impeccable A/V presentation in 4K. The imagery is stunning, with deep black levels, vibrantly saturated colors, and razor-sharp picture clarity. My biggest complaint is that there are several darker and/or nighttime scenes where it’s a little hard to see what’s going on, but I suspect that’s more on the part of the director, who strives for authenticity at a ridiculous detail in his films (as is revealed in one of the special features on the disc.) The surround soundtrack ekes every possible nuance out of the surround speakers, creating a truly dynamic atmosphere. There’s a car chase/shootout that will have you ducking your head because it feels like the bullets are whizzing right by you. It’s an incredible experience from the A/V perspective.

The Bonus Features: 

• Audio Commentary with writer/director Christian Gudegast, producer Tucker Tooley,cinematographer Terry Stacey, and editor Robert Nordh
• Flipping the Script: Plotting Den of Thieves 2 (21 minutes)
• Deleted Scenes
• Theatrical Trailer

Digital Copy Included: Yes

The Wrap-Up:

Unfortunately, I’m not sure if there’s a future for the Den of Thieves franchise; I suspect the studio was hoping for a John Wick-like effect where the sequel would become even bigger than the original but sadly that didn’t happen. For my money, though, these two films are outstanding and you should definitely go back and rewatch the original before you watch this one. Together, they make an incredibly cool film experience. 

Flesh + Blood (Blu-ray)

The Movie: 

Paul Verhoeven didn’t make a huge amount of movies in his career, but the ones he did make had a huge impact on me. As a budding film-obsessive teenager, I was treated to his inimitable filmmaking style with genre-defining movies like RoboCop, Starship Troopers, Total Recall and Basic Instinct and I’ve been a huge fan of his ever since. 

But I had never seen Flesh + Blood before, one of his first English-language movies. A 1985 medieval action epic, the film sees Rutger Hauer play a soldier-for-hire who is betrayed by a corrupt king. He kidnaps the king’s soon-to-be daughter-in-law, who is seemingly seduced by the rogue bandit lifestyle, while Martin is being chased down by the king’s son. It’s kind of like Robin Hood, if Robin Hood had a lot more gang rapes and dismembered body parts in it. 

Now, I recognize that that kind of more extreme subject matter is Verhoeven’s stock in trade, but I have to say that I was disappointed by Flesh + Blood because I was so excited to see a Verhoeven movie I had never seen before and I pretty plainly did not enjoy this movie. There isn’t a single redeemable character in the movie, aside from maybe the King’s son. There are glimmers of Rutger Hauer’s Martin having a heart of gold, but pretty early on in the film he rapes Jennifer Jason Leigh’s Agnes, and it’s hard to root for the guy after that. The movie is just unpleasant for large stretches, and while there are some signature Verhoeven flourishes in sight, by and large I didn’t enjoy it nearly as much as I had hoped to. 

The Bonus Features: 

• Commentary Track with Paul Verhoeven
• Interview with Paul Verhoeven
• Interview with Gerard Soeteman

Digital Copy Included: No 

The Wrap-Up:

While I didn’t enjoy Flesh + Blood, I am glad that Eureka Classics has released it on Blu-ray. It’s important to make sure films like this – especially from beloved directors such as Verhoeven – are preserved and available for fans. I just wish the film had lived up to my hopes for it. 

Project Silence (Blu-ray)

The Movie: 

A new science-fiction/action thriller from Korea, Project Silence could sound like a bad B-movie, but instead it’s absolutely fantastic. And while it’s not exactly a concept we’ve never seen before, it manages to feel pretty fresh.

The film sees a group of people trapped on a bridge that has partially collapsed. So far, so good; that’s pretty standard disaster movie fare. Oh wait, did I mention that they’re trapped on this bridge with a group of genetically engineered attack dogs created by the government who are out of control and killing everyone in their way? Yeah, that’s a pretty important part of it. 

The film is a tense, taut thriller that works exactly how you would want it to. It gives us characters with just enough backstory to care about them before unleashing utter mayhem on them and turning it into a survival story. The dog special effects are pretty impressive, too; you can tell they’re CGI effects but they’re convincing enough that it never distracts you from the action. There’s also just enough comic relief to keep the film from being too dark and dour to enjoy. I was very impressed by Project Silence and had a hell of a good time watching it. 

The Bonus Features: 

As is often the case with foreign releases, this disc comes without any extra features. Bummer. 

Digital Copy Included: No 

The Wrap-Up:

Oftentimes, some of the Asian action films I get to review in recent years get bogged down in unnecessarily complex plots or bloated running times, but this 90-minute thriller from is a perfect blast of adrenaline. Definitely track it down!

Ghost Cat Anzu (Blu-ray)

The Movie: 

I know it’s not cool to say this, but I’m not a big fan of Studio Ghibli movies. Now, Ghost Cat Anzu is decidedly not a Studio Ghibli movie, so why am I leading off with that opinion? Well, because Ghost Cat Anzu is definitely a movie that was inspired by the Studio Ghibli catalogue, and it’s hard not to draw some comparisons. 

The film follows tween girl Karin who meets a giant ghost cat named Anzu who is supposed to serve as Karin’s guardian, although it seems like being mischievous and getting Karin in trouble is more their calling. In an effort to try and win Karin over, Anzu makes a deal with the devil – yes, you read that correctly – and that’s when things get crazy. 

As with most animated films from a certain studio that I won’t mention anymore, Ghost Cat Anzu is just plain weird. Sure, Anzu – the giant cat ghost who drives a motorcycle – is somewhat endearing, but the story is offbeat and goes weird places, and it just never feels grounded in any kind of reality. And I realize it’s a fantasy film of sorts so that shouldn’t be a criteria for it, but that weirdly mystical world so many of these films seem to reside in just never works for me. 

The Bonus Features: 

The only bonus features are some trailers. 

Digital Copy Included: No 

The Wrap-Up:

Ghost Cat Anzu wasn’t my cup of tea, but I suspect if you’re an anime fan – and especially a fan of most of Studio Ghibli’s movies – you will probably like this one a lot more than I did. 

Surfside Girls: The Clue in the Reef (Graphic Novel)

The Book: 

The Surfside Girls series of tween-reader graphic novels started in 2017, and I’ll admit that this is the first one I’ve read. That said, I’m happy to report that it was incredibly easy to jump right into the world of the Surfside Girls without any previous knowledge. 

The latest graphic novel by writer/artist Kim Dwinell is Surfside Girls: The Clue in the Reef, which sees our protagonists Samantha and Jade, tween best friends in the oceanside town of Surfside, embark upon another new mystery. It begins when they find a family of hedgehogs trapped on a reef off the coast. How did they get there? And are they related to the mysterious creature stealing fruit in the town’s annual festival? Well, it’s up to Sam and Jade – and the ghosts of Surfside – to solve the mystery.

Now, obviously, I’m not the target audience for this book, but I found it quite enjoyable. (Officially) aimed at 9-12-year-old readers (but I think it will have a wider range than that), the story is written in a way that is both simple and yet in-depth. The mystery actually kept me guessing and the characters are well-drafted. Writer/author Kim Dwinell’s art style is that perfect tween/teen reader style that is both cartoony yet sophisticated at the same time, and while it’s a fast-paced read, the 256-page length meant it still took me some time to get through it. 

The Specs: 

Author/Artist: Kim Dwinell

Publisher: Top Shelf Productions

Length: ?256 pages

Trim Size: 6×9 inches

Cover Price: $19.99

The Wrap Up:

Surfside Girls: The Clue in the Reef was my introduction to the series, and I’m impressed with it. If you have a young reader in your house and they like comic books, surfing, mysteries, ghosts and/or humor, this should be right up their alley. 

The Mask of Satan (Blu-ray)

The Movie: 

Severin Films has quietly been making a name for itself in the home video market as a boutique studio that is comparable to Arrow Video or Vinegar Syndrome. Their latest release is the North American Blu-ray premiere of The Mask of Satan, an Italian horror film by Lamberto Bava, also known as Demons 5 (which makes some sense since he directed Demons 1 & 2.) 

In this one, a group of trapped skiers unleash a demonic force when they discover a long-frozen female corpse. (You shouldn’t mess with long-frozen female corpses, I thought everyone knew that!) They remove a mask from her face, which resurrects a long-dead witch, who possesses or kills just about everyone in her range. From there, it’s an occasionally over-the-top horror film that you would expect from Lamberto Bava, son of the incredibly influential Mario Bava, one of the pioneers of the Giallo genre. 

Even though the movie came out in 1990, it definitely feels like it was made in the 1980s. It’s filled with big, bright colors and even bigger hair, and it takes on kind of an ‘80s slasher vibe when our two leads are trying to survive all of their possessed friends trying to kill them. It’s a pretty fun movie, even if it has some slower moments. 

The Bonus Features: 

• The Curse of the Mask (37 minutes) – An interview with Lamberto Bava
• Una Americana A Roma (12 minutes) – An interview with actress Mary Sellers
• Sabina the Teenage Witch (12 minutes) – An interview with actress Debora Caprioglio

Digital Copy Included: No 

The Wrap-Up:

The Mask of Satan is a more modern take on the Giallo genre (and by modern, I still mean 35 years ago), but there’s a big difference between a movie made in 1990 and made in the 1970s. It’s not a masterpiece, but it’s a fun little horror outing.