'Easy Rider' among new releases: Also, 'Cheri,' 'The Elephant King' and 'Blood' now on DVD

A landmark independent production from 40 years ago gets a high-definition buff and leads off this look at movies that have arrived on DVD this week.

"Easy Rider: 40th Anniversary" (Columbia/Blu-ray, 1969; R for sex, drugs, language, nudity; $38.96). Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper made film history when their little low-budget hippie picture earned millions and paved the way for a new brand of maverick moviemaking. The film also featured an innovative rock soundtrack and introduced the world to young Jack Nicholson.

Fonda and Hopper had labored in mainstream Hollywood for years before they co-wrote and starred in this anarchic look at a pair of drug-dealing motorcyclists on a road trip from California to Louisiana, searching for "the real America." Hopper also directed.

The film is dated and even somewhat campy today, but still packs a punch for those of us who grew up during this era. And there's no denying Nicholson's attention-getting performance.

Extras: widescreen, audio commentary by Hopper, featurette with Fonda and Hopper, movieIQ Internet application; 32-page booklet

"Cheri" (Miramax, 2009; R for sex, nudity, drugs, language; $29.99). This reteaming of Michelle Pfeiffer with her "Dangerous Liaisons" director (Stephen Frears) and writer (Christopher Hampton) is a forced, heavy-handed misfire.

The comedy-drama is about a 1920s aging courtesan (Pfeiffer) and her destructive May-December relationship with the title character, the spoiled son (Rupert Friend) of another courtesan (Kathy Bates).

Extras: widescreen, deleted scenes, featurette, trailers

"The Elephant King" (E1, 2006; R for sex, drugs, language, violence; $24.98). Two brothers of disparate character find themselves in Thailand when one goes to bring the other home, but then gets equally caught up in the drugs-and-women lifestyle. Ellen Burstyn and Josef Sommer play their worried parents.

Extras: widescreen, trailers

"Blood: The Last Vampire" (Sony/Blu-ray, 2009; R for violence; $34.95). Live-action adaptation of Japanese anime feature/TV series about a centuries-old female warrior on a quest to banish vampires.

Extras: widescreen, featurettes, storyboards, BD-Live Internet applications

e-mail: hicks@desnews.com