This week's new DVD & Blu-ray

Silent Running There aren't many science-fiction movies that will make you cry (bored to tears doesn't count, nor do tears of laughter). Douglas Trumbull's much-loved 1972 classic comes with an emotional punch that's rare in the genre. After Easy Rider hit big, major studios were keen to invest modest sums on more unusual projects, so first-time director Trumbull shot his hippies into space. After spending five glorious years as a key special effects artist on 2001, he saw this as an opportunity to make a space movie full of the sort of passion and emotion that were absent from Kubrick's futuristic vision. Bruce Dern plays Freeman Lowell, one of a small team of astronauts charged with looking after the overpolluted Earth's remaining forests, which have been sealed into domes and sent orbiting Saturn. The complex geometrical design and model work is as dazzling as you'd expect from someone with Trumbull's technical credentials, but his direction also impresses, as he puts nature's future in very prickly hands. Lowell is hard to like: every interaction with fellow crew members ends with seething anger or explosive arguments. Trumbull and Dern do nothing to sweeten the character, leaving the heart and soul of the movie to the drone robots who service the spaceship. Played by amputees, the drones, with their Disneyfied nicknames Huey, Dewey and (poor old) Louie are clear predecessors to R2-D2. It's thanks to the drones that the ending manages to be both bleak and somehow incredibly sweet. Warning: there will be tears. DVD & Blu-ray, Eureka Bridesmaids Perhaps now Kristen Wiig can stop stealing scenes in other people's movies now she's got this deserved hit of her own under her belt. DVD & Blu-ray, Universal Kung Fu Panda 2 Enjoyable CGI sequel given a stunning visual boost thanks to "creative consultant" work from Guillermo Del Toro. DVD & Blu-ray, Paramount Johnny Yesno Redux Peter Care's atmospheric 1982 Sheffield noir short, includes vintage videos from Cabaret Voltaire. DVD, Mute Community: Season 1 The best US sitcom on TV, one that constantly messes with the format, is now on an extras-stuffed DVD. DVD, Sony