One of the earliest Pixar blockbusters, A Bug's Life (Disney) won the battle of the animated ants back in 1998 by outgrossing the far funnier Antz—which scored a coup by having Woody Allen voice the lead insect. A Bug's Life does look amazing, as all Pixar films do, particularly on BluRay, where the computer-generated visuals literally pop out at you like watching 3D without wearing those annoying glasses. Extras from the original DVD release include director's commentary, behind-the-scenes featurette, animated shorts and an unfunny "blooper" reel of cartoon characters messing up their lines. New special features are A Bug's Life—The First Draft and a filmmaker's round table discussion.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Criterion/Paramount), David Fincher's overambitious epic is ostensibly based on the 25-page F. Scott Fitzgerald short story about a man born old who ages in reverse until dying as a baby; however, aside from the title, any resemblance is purely coincidental. Eric Roth's elephantine script pointlessly drags in every conceivable Big Event of the past 100 years, from World Wars I and II to Hurricane Katrina. Fincher, of course, is a master director, and there are set pieces as stunning as anything he's done, but his film remains curiously remote and finally vacuous, a missed chance to deal honestly and straightforwardly with Fitzgerald's gimmicky but essentially dramatic story. Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Julia Ormond, Taraji P. Henson and Tilda Swinton are reduced to ciphers at the mercy of first-rate editing, photography, set design and wizardly makeup and special effects. The two-disc edition contains Fincher's illuminating commentary and a three-hour documentary crammed with interviews that explores the film's long gestation: longer than the movie, it's far more satisfying.

The Da Vinci Code (Sony) is a better read than it is a movie: author Dan Brown is no stylist, but he can whip up an enjoyably convoluted story that nods to high-brows (the plot twists include clues buried in famous artworks). Onscreen, director Ron Howard and star Tom Hanks drain the liveliness out of Brown's ridiculous involving story, robbing us of an entertaining two-plus hours while we suspend disbelief. Even lovely Audrey Tautou is transformed into a drab, dull sidekick. The BluRay version gives us the extended cut, so now the movie of The Da Vinci Code drags on for nearly three hours; the compensation is that the visuals have never looked better, from the Louvre and its celebrated paintings and sculptures to other gorgeous properties scattered throughout Europe. But a basic travelogue would have been shorter and more sensical. Extras from the original release include 17 featurettes on anything you can possibly want; new extras include Howard's scene-specific commentary and a preview of the sequel, Angels and Demons.

Don Giovanni (Opus Arte) - Mozart's masterpiece about Don Juan's conquests and eventual destruction has been staged in all sorts of ways and in all kinds of time periods and costumes. Francesca Zambello's 2008 production at London's Royal Opera House plays out in front of a glass wall for much of its length, which isn't very erotic, comedic or even dramatically compelling (for all that, you'd have to go to Mozart's music). At least the fiery finale, when Giovanni is dragged to his death by the Commendatore's staue come to life, is staged with literal pyrotechnics; otherwise, Zambello leaves these expressive characters at a remove from the audience. The performers—Simon Keenlyside as the Don and Miah persson, Joyce DiDonato and Marina Poplavskaya as three of his victims—are veteran Mozarteans, as is conductor Charles Mackerras, who leads the orchestra and chorus in a rhapsodic account of the score. On BluRay, this is a sonic event, but the visuals leave much to be desired. Extras include short interviews with Mackerras and Zambello.

Elton John: The Red Piano (Universal Music) shows what happens to an aging pop star: he eventually sets up shop in Las Vegas, where he plays his overpriced greatest hits show at Caesars Palace. There's no denying Elton and his band's professionalism: for nearly two hours, they pump out his '70s hits—with a few later tunes sprinkled in—to a delirious audience. For added spice, several songs are visualized by David LaChapelle's striking if superfluous films. Unlike the original two-DVD set, the BluRay release fits the material on one disc, so one can watch LaChapelle's song films individually rather as projections behind Elton and his band. There's also a 50-minute documentary about The Red Piano, with Elton commenting on putting together an extravagant show built around songs we've all heard a million times before. The HD cameras capture the 14-song set with almost unerring accuracy: man, are these guys getting old!

Enemy at the Gates (Paramount) is French director Jean-Jacques Annaud's heavy-duty war film about the German siege of Stalingrad during World War II. Starring Joseph Fiennes, Jude Law, Rachel Weisz and Bob Hoskins as Russians (and Ed Harris as a German sniper!), Enemy at the Gates sacrifices authenticity in its cast for verisimilitude in Annaud's recreation of a pivotal time in the war: rarely has wartime been shown at its grittiest and most visceral, enhanced by the BluRay treatment, which gives these events a shocking immediacy that leaps off the screen. If the movie eventually gets bogged down in the usual dramatic clichés of the genre (including an unlikely romance and a mano-a-man showdown), it's nonetheless a valiant attempt to make a Hollywood-style blockbuster about foreign armies. The extras include two featurettes with cast and crew interviews and deleted scenes.

Grease and Saturday Night Fever (Paramount) propelled John Travolta to superstardom 30 years ago. Saturday Night Fever earned him his first Best Actor Oscar nomination, while Grease made him a pop star thanks to his Number One duets with costar Olivia Newton-John. Grease has always seemed one of the cheesiest musicals ever made, even considering the intentional silliness already in the original Broadway show. At least Stockard Channing is on hand to provide needed grit in an otherwise relentlessly cheery nostalgia trip. Fever, however, is a time capsule worth revisiting, not least because the BeeGees smash hits might be the only disco music ever worth hearing again. On BluRay, both films look nicely cleaned up, and the surround sound gives the music added oomph if that's what you're after. The extras from the original DVD releases are included, with deleted scenes aplenty and interviews with many of the cast and crew—except for the conspicuously absent Travolta.