First-rate 'Appaloosa' new to DVD

Here are a few of the latest movies to land on DVD, led by a first-rate Western that debuted in theaters last year.

"Appaloosa" (New Line, Blu-ray, 2008; R for violence, language; $35.99). This is one of those films that really gets a boost from high-def, with director Ed Harris demonstrating an eye for widescreen detail and location shooting. Harris also stars, along with Viggo Mortensen, as guns for hire who take on vicious landgrabber Jeremy Irons while lusting after Ren? Zellweger, whose character is not what she seems. Somewhat traditional, with a few twists.

Extras: widescreen, deleted scenes, audio commentary, featurettes (also on DVD, $28.98)

"A Hero Ain't Nothin' But a Sandwich" (Koch, 1978, PG, $14.98). Moralistic tale of alienated 13-year-old growing up in the ghetto, becoming hooked on heroin and his mother's efforts to save him. Bolstered by wonderful performances from Larry B. Scott as the youth, Cicely Tyson as his mother and Paul Winfield as her boyfriend.

Extras: full frame.

"Higher Ground" (Sony, 1988, PG, $19.94). John Denver stars — and sings — in this CBS-TV movie, a mild-mannered thriller in which he battles bootleggers in Alaska. Fans of Denver will love it.

Extras: full frame

"Closing the Ring" (Weinstein/Genius, 2008; R for sex, nudity, violence; $19.97). Richard Attenborough directed this surprising misfire, an old-fashioned epic that is never engaging with its cluttered storyline about a ring lost in World War II and returned in the present day, affecting several lives in wholly predictable ways. Contrived in the extreme with undistinguished acting, despite the presence of Shirley MacLaine, Christopher Plummer, Pete Postlethwaite, Brenda Fricker, Mischa Barton and Neve Campbell. Sadly, it's closer to Attenborough's "In Love and War" than his Oscar-winning "Gandhi."

Extras: widescreen, featurette, trailer

"Taxi Blues" (Koch Lorber, 1990; R for violence, sex, nudity, language, drugs; $24.98). This tale of decadence in Russia has unlikable characters and a less-than-flattering treatment of women in the story of a Jewish saxophonist who stiffs a cabbie and the cabbie's subsequent revenge — who stand as respective metaphors for the new freedoms at the time and old Russia.

Extras: widescreen, in Russian with English subtitles

"Charlie & Me" (Genius, 2007, $14.95). A feisty 12-year-old bolsters her grandfather after he suffers a heart attack. Tom Bosley gives his all but it's a bit too cloying and predictable.