'Holmes' among new DVDs

Robert Downey Jr.'s revisionist take on the world's greatest detective leads off these movies that are new to DVD.

"Sherlock Holmes" (Warner, 2009, PG-13, $28.98). Downey plays Holmes as if he's Indiana Jones, and director Guy Ritchie directs with distracting flamboyance, and worst of all, the colors have been washed out so that everything looks even grimier than it would have in natural light.

But there are some witty and exciting moments among all the chaos, and Jude Law as Watson and Rachel McAdams as Irene Adler offer some fun. Downey is witty and smart (if unhygienic), but this is not a film for Holmes purists.

Extras: widescreen, featurette, trailers

"An Education" (Sony Classics, 2009, PG-13, $28.96). Carey Mulligan earned an Oscar nomination for her winning performance here as a mature-for-her-age teen who gets some lessons in life from a seemingly sweet-natured suitor twice her age (Peter Sarsgaard). But, of course, he's up to no good.

The 1960s period trappings are fine, and the film is helped along by an excellent supporting cast (Alfred Molina, Rosamund Pike, Olivia Williams, Emma Thompson) — but the sordid goings-on are distasteful at best.

Extras: widescreen, deleted scenes, audio commentary, featurettes, trailers

"The Baader Meinhof Complex" (MPI, 2009; R for violence, nudity, sex, language; two discs, $27.98). Based on true events, this epic action yarn focuses on a gang of German radicals that gradually evolved into terrorists.

But for the first hour or so of this 21/2 hour film, it seems as if the filmmakers are cheering on with these hypocritical bank-robbing thugs, which may make it tough going for the audience.

Then, after awhile, it eventually switches allegiances as a police inspector (Bruno Ganz, of "Downfall" and "Wings of Desire") is assigned to the case. The end result is interesting, but wildly uneven and never compelling.

Extras: widescreen, in German with English subtitles, featurettes

"I Sell the Dead" (IFC/MPI, 2008, $19.98). More zombies? Yup, along with a vampire and even an alien!

Dominic Monaghan is a 19th century body snatcher about to be beheaded when he tells his story to a priest (Ron Perlman), as the film becomes an anthology of sorts about Monaghan's misadventures, both gory and comic.

Extras: widescreen, audio commentary, featurettes, trailer

e-mail: hicks@desnews.com