Catching Fire, Last Days On Mars, And The Visitor Hit Home Video: Today In Science Fiction

By David Wharton | Updated

This article is more than 2 years old

CatchFireIf you’re the sort of person who’s likely to purchase The Hunger Games: Catching Fire on Blu-ray, chances are you already know it’s coming out today. You’ve probably had it on your calendar for months. You may have even camped out last night so you could get your copy ASAP, assuming you didn’t just team up with some fellow fans and break into Best Buy through the ceiling. Regardless, you can now take home Catching Fire in the usual formats: a Blu-ray/DVD combo pack or as a digital download from Amazon or other retailers. More importantly, here are the bonus features: an audio commentary with director Francis Lawrence and producer Nina Jacobson, a 2+ hour collection of making-of featurettes, and some deleted scenes. No, Lionsgate, I will not count the Divergent sneak peak as a feature.

Not into The Hunger Games? Fear not, there are several other wildly different sci-fi releases today as well. Check ‘em out below, plus the lineup of what’s new tonight on TV!

The Last Days on Mars (Blu-Ray, DVD & Digital)
You can read Nick’s review of this mediocre space thriller right here. Liev Schreiber leads a mission to the Red Planet that goes horribly wrong. At least it’s not bare bones; there are a three featurettes included: “The Making of The Last Days on Mars,” “Analyzing the Visual Effects,” and “Behind the Scenes Comparisons.”

On the eve that the crew of the very first manned expedition to Mars is about to return to Earth, it makes an astounding discovery fossilized evidence of life on Mars. Oscar® nominated and visionary filmmaker Ruairí Robinson, along with an extraordinary special effects team including the people behind DISTRICT 9, X-MEN: FIRST CLASS and AVATAR, introduce us to a terrifying new landscape, where the scientific discovery of life might be the death of us all.

Somewhere in Time (Blu-Ray)

Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour star in the timeless love story of a young writer who sacrifices his life in the present to find happiness in the past in Somewhere in Time. After one of his plays, Richard Collier (Reeve) is approached by an elderly woman (Seymour) who gives him an antique gold watch and pleads with him to return in time with her. Years later, when Richard sees a photograph of a beautiful young woman at the Grand Hotel, he realizes she is the same woman who had approached him and becomes obsessed with returning to 1912 to find her. Co-starring Christopher Plummer and Teresa Wright, this romantic fantasy is an unforgettable story of passion, obsession and love that will live on forever.

  • Digital Copy of Somewhere in Time (Subject to expiration. Go to NBCUCodes.com for details.)
  • Includes UltraViolet (Subject to expiration. Go to NBCUCodes.com for details.)
  • Back to Somewhere in Time
  • The Somewhere in Time Fan Club
  • Production Photographs
  • Theatrical Trailer
  • Feature Commentary with Director Jeannot Szwarc

The Visitor (Blu-Ray, DVD & Digital)

In this unforgettable assault on reality — fully restored and presented completely uncut theatrically for the first time ever in the U.S. — legendary Hollywood director/actor John Huston (The Maltese Falcon; Treasure of the Sierra Madre) stars as an intergalactic warrior who joins a cosmic Christ figure in battle against a demonic 8-year-old girl and her pet hawk, while the fate of the universe hangs in the balance. Multi-dimensional warfare, pre-adolescent profanity and brutal avian attacks combine to transport the viewer to a stat unlike anything they’ve experienced… somewhere between Hell, the darkest reaches of outer space, and Atlanta, GA. THE VISITOR fearlessly fuses elements of The Omen, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Birds, Rosemary’s Baby, The Fury, and even Star Wars, creating the most ambitious of all ’70s psychedelic mindwarps. Its baffling all-star cast includes Shelley Winters (Night of the Hunter), Glenn Ford (Superman), Lance Henriksen (Aliens), Franco Nero (Django) and Sam Peckinpah (director of The Wild Bunch).

Special Features: Trailers + Interview with Star Lance Henriksen, Screenwriter Lou Comici and Cinematographer Ennio Guarnieri

Today’s Television

Face Off (Syfy, 9/8c) — “Ego Trip Abroad”

A trip to Tokyo is followed by two extreme challenges inspired by the ancient culture of Japan.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (ABC, 8/7c) — “T.A.H.I.T.I.”

Coulson goes on the attack to save Skye – enlisting the aid of Ward’s former S.O. John Garrett (Bill Paxton) — and uncovers shocking truths about his own life and S.H.I.E.L.D.

Person of Interest (CBS, 10:01/9:01c) — “RAM”

The secrets of Finch’s operation before Reese joined him are chronicled, including revelations about ties to current events.