Tom Cruise in ‘Edge of Tomorrow’ takes on past, future

Live Die Repeat: Edge of Tomorrow

Warner Bros., $28.98; Blu-ray, $44.95

Available on VOD Tuesday

After underperforming at the box office, this sharp sci-fi action picture has been renamed “Live Die Repeat: Edge of Tomorrow” (awkward, but still better than the name of the Japanese novella it’s based on, “All You Need Is Kill”). Tom Cruise stars as a pencil-pushing military officer who’s thrown onto the front lines to fight alien invaders, where he dies, repeatedly, each time being yanked back to start again, armed with new knowledge and experience. Emily Blunt plays the hard-edged soldier who trains the hero in the past (and gives him someone to fight for in the future). Superbly plotted, frequently funny and even a little soulful, “Edge of Tomorrow” comments on the disposability of most action heroes by killing its own, over and over. The DVD and Blu-ray come with deleted scenes and featurettes.

Million Dollar Arm

Walt Disney, $21.99; Blu-ray, $39.99

Available on VOD Tuesday

A cross between “Jerry Maguire” and “Slumdog Millionaire,” this Disney sports drama stars Jon Hamm as real-life sports agent J.B. Bernstein, who in 2008 tried to revive his flagging career by creating an Indian reality television competition, looking to find a cricket bowler he could convert into a major league baseball pitcher. The film follows him to India and back, depicting the culture clashes in both countries — and doing so with an emphasis on comedy that borders on the culturally insensitive. But Hamm is likably frazzled, and the story is fascinating enough to overcome any cartoonishness. The DVD and Blu-ray add deleted scenes and featurettes.

A Million Ways to Die in the West

Universal, $29.98; Blu-ray, $34.98

Available on VOD Tuesday

Comedy impresario Seth MacFarlane follows up his unexpectedly charming comedy “Ted” with a filthy western spoof starring MacFarlane as a sheepish sheep-farmer who knows the Old West is ripe with disease and disaster. Liam Neeson plays the movie’s big villain, while Charlize Theron plays a gunfighter who helps Albert discover his bravery, and Sarah Silverman is a prostitute who has a blast describing frontier sex acts. MacFarlane can’t sustain the modern dialogue/period dress shtick for the movie’s two-hour running time, but it’s intermittently hilarious and plays well in pieces on the DVD and Blu-ray (which includes both the theatrical and unrated versions, plus a commentary track, featurettes, deleted scenes, and a gag reel).

Obvious Child

Lionsgate, $19.98; Blu-ray, $24.99

Already on VOD

A surprise hit at Sundance Film Festival, writer-director Gillian Robespierre’s raw comedy stars Jenny Slate as a confessional comic who gets pregnant, right around the time that she finds herself out of work and without a boyfriend. “Obvious Child” initially seems like the umpteenth movie about immature city-dwellers, but Slate’s so warm and funny — and the movie so honest about what women with unplanned pregnancies go through — that it quickly becomes its own film. It’s not just a comedy about abortion; it’s about a young woman facing uncertainty and hoping that what’s going on with her body doesn’t mess up her chances with the nice young man who impregnated her. The DVD and Blu-ray add a Robespierre/Slate commentary track, a featurette, extended scenes and Robespierre and Slate’s original 2009 short film version.

And…

American Horror Story: Coven

20th Century Fox, $59.98; Blu-ray, $69.99

Houdini

Lionsgate, $26.98; Blu-ray, $29.99

Rick And Morty: The Complete First Season

Warner Bros., $24.98; Blu-ray, $29.02

Sharknado 2: The Second One

Asylum, $14.93; Blu-ray, $19.93

Available on VOD Tuesday

Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon

Starz/Anchor Bay, $24.98; Blu-ray, $29.99

Available on VOD Tuesday

calendar@latimes.com