Blue Streak capitalizes on an unusual premise (a criminal goes undercover as a cop) and the charm of star Martin Lawrence to make for a superior action comedy with a strong following. Columbia TriStar's DVD offers excellent picture and sound quality, with an anamorphic widescreen transfer and Dolby 5.1 Audio ensuring the explosive action is rendered as effectively as possible. There are also a pleasing number of additional features on this disc. Aside from the obligatory filmographies and original theatrical trailer, there are two featurettes and no less than three music videos. The better of the two featurettes is the 22-minute "Setting Up For the Score," which is mainly standard on-set material, but does reflect the likeable charm of the film and its stars. HBO's "Inside & Undercover" is a minute longer, but not quite as good, as it employs the more tiresome method of punctuating long clips of the movie with tiny interview snippets. The three music videos are "Girl's Best Friend" by Jay-Z, "Criminal Mind" by Tyrese, and "Damn (Should've Treated U Right)" by So Plush. Two of these incorporate scenes from Blue Streak, and all are visually interesting and worthwhile additions to an anamorphic DVD. Like Blue Streak itself, this disc is laid back and fun, and should be more than satisfactory to fans of Lawrence and the film.

This release of American History X is a testament to the fact that New Line devotes most of its time and efforts to its "platinum series," and while that particular line of releases is among the best to be found, it's an unfortunate side effect that other deserving films such as this one get neglected in the process. Subject matter so volatile and controversial could easily justify an entire second disc's worth of bonus material, yet the only supplements present here are a few deleted scenes (only one of which is truly worthwhile), the theatrical trailer, and cast and crew biographies. What is lacking in the extras department, however, is made up for in the quality of the video presentation. This is the widescreen version of the film, presented in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1, and although it hasn't been enhanced anamorphically, it's a beautiful transfer nevertheless. Interestingly, the film is shot on both black-and-white and color film stock, which is difficult to balance properly under any circumstances, but here the two styles are mixed perfectly: the colors are bright, vibrant, and sharply defined, while the black-and-white sections are beautifully shot, with deep, dark, grainless blacks. The quality does justice to the cinematography of Tony Kaye, who also directs. The disc's audio presentation isn't overwhelming due to the generally subdued tone of the film, but the digital 5.1 mix is very nicely balanced, making good use of the center channel to cleanly convey the dialogue while relegating the ambient sounds to the rear channels. Overall, this is another instance where a special edition release is probable at some point in the future, but until that time comes, this disc is a more than adequate presentation of an important, powerful film.

Previously released on DVD as a no-frills disc, Columbia TriStar Home Video has thankfully re-released Kevin Smith's controversial satirical religious fantasy, Dogma, as a two-disc special edition. The DVD is thoroughly excellent and a prime example of what the format is really capable of. Disc one contains the digitally mastered film in its original theatrical ratio of 2.35:1 (Smith's first film in scope), anamorphically enhanced for widescreen TVs. The picture is superb and seems identical to the transfer on the no-frills release. The film, which has been given an expansive 5.1 Dolby Digital boost, also seems identical to the previous disc's audio. The film's audio is also available in English, French, and Spanish two-channel Dolby Surround. The audio and visual quality of this disc is worth the price alone, but fortunately there is a lot more included, namely two commentary tracks. The first track is the more breezy, loose, and damn well funny, with Smith and stars Ben Affleck, Jason Lee, Jason Mewes, producer Scott Mosier, and View Askew partner-in-crime Vincent Pereira all delivering the goods. The track is hilarious, though it is also filled with some interesting production anecdotes and more. The track is also equipped with a great little addition called "Follow the Buddy Christ." By clicking on the said option in the "Special Features" menu, a blinking image of Buddy Christ will occasionally appear in the lower right corner of the screen. Hit enter on your remote control and two small screens will appear at the bottom of the screen showing Smith and crew relentlessly chain-smoking while recording the commentary track. A fun little option. The disc's second commentary track includes Smith, Mosier, and Pereira giving a more production-detailed history of the trouble-plagued shoot, sans the Buddy option. Though it lacks the former track's anarchic feel, the second one is even better, as it chronicles the frustration of making the ambitious, yet still low-budget film. It must also be noted that, though both tracks are filled with sometimes brutally frank comments, some of the names have been bleeped to protect the not-so-innocent. But for all of disc one's digital treats, the real fun kicks in with disc two. Containing a plethora of visual goodies, including 100 minutes of deleted footage (the quality of which has been intentionally downgraded) with intros by Smith and Pereira, cast and crew outtakes and bloopers, storyboards to three major scenes, talent files, theatrical trailer, and a link to the View Askew website, the extras easily make this a must-have disc. The DVD also contains some rather funny animated menus and even better hidden extras. By going to the last page in the "Scene Selections" on disc one, viewers can hit the number 3 key on their remote controls twice and get a little surprise; on disc two, they can go to the last page in "Deleted Scenes" and press the number 2 and 4 keys on the remote; another little surprise awaits.