A point-blank look at a veteran British director

Call it kismet, fate or a clever marketing tool that led to the DVD debuts today of British director John Boorman’s first American film and his latest feature.

A former documentary filmmaker, Boorman made the leap to features in 1965 with the well-received musical “Having a Wild Weekend” (it was known as “Catch Me if You Can” in England), which starred the popular British pop group the Dave Clark Five. Two years later, he came to America and made the influential crime thriller “Point Blank” (Warner, $20).

Lee Marvin is at his steely, two-fisted best as a man bent on revenge. His wife and best friend betrayed him when they gunned him down during a heist at Alcatraz. Left for dead, he recovers from his wounds and travels to Los Angeles to find his duplicitous wife and former friend, who has used the money to buy his way back into a powerful crime organization.

Angie Dickinson, John Vernon and Keenan Wynn also star in this surreally structured film, which reappeared in 1999 as the poorly remade “Payback” with Mel Gibson.

The digital edition includes two vintage featurettes and perceptive, intelligent commentary from Boorman and Oscar-winning director Steven Soderbergh, a longtime fan of the film.

Though the intentions of Boorman’s more recent “In My Country” (Sony, $25) are honorable, the drama -- set during South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation hearings, which took place in the country in the mid-’90s after apartheid ended -- doesn’t quite gel.

Part of the problem is adding a romance between an Afrikaner poet and broadcaster (Juliette Binoche) and an angry Washington Post journalist (Samuel L. Jackson). Brendan Gleeson, who starred in Boorman’s acclaimed “The General,” gives the film’s best performance as an unapologetic, sadistic police chief.

Extras on the DVD include deleted scenes, cast and crew interviews and passionate commentary from Boorman.

Also new this week

“Bride & Prejudice” (Miramax, $29): Gurinder Chadha, the British filmmaker of Indian ancestry, follows up her 2003 hit “Bend It Like Beckham” with this equally enchanting Bollywood musical version of Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice.” Aishwarya Rai, Martin Henderson and Naveen Andrews star. The DVD includes deleted scenes, extended songs, a gag reel, a behind-the-scenes mini-documentary and charming commentary from Chadha and her co-writer husband, Paul Mayeda Berges.

“Dear Frankie” (Miramax, $30): Sweet little British drama that manages to avoid maudlin cliches. Emily Mortimer, Jack McElhone and Gerard Butler (“The Phantom of the Opera”) star.

“Fantastic Four -- The Complete Series” (Buena Vista, $50): With the big-budget, live-action version of the long-running Marvel Comics series hitting theaters Friday, the 1994-96 animated TV series has resurfaced in this four-disc set that includes all 26 episodes of the show plus an interview with creator Stan Lee.

“Hide and Seek” (Fox, $29): Child star Dakota Fanning picked up an MTV Movie Award last month for “best frightened performance” for her turn as a little girl who creates a supposedly “imaginary” friend named Charlie after her mother (Amy Irving) commits suicide. Robert De Niro and Elisabeth Shue also star. Special features include no fewer than four alternate endings, several deleted scenes and passable commentary from director John Polson, screenwriter Ari Schlossberg and editor Jeffrey Ford.

“Georgy Girl” (Sony, $26): 1966 was a watershed year for the Redgrave sisters, Vanessa and Lynn. Vanessa received an Academy Award nomination for best actress for the quirky comedy “Morgan,” and baby sister Lynn also was Oscar nominated in the same category for her poignant performance in this bittersweet comedy drama. She plays Georgy, a homely young woman living in swinging London who becomes the surrogate mom to her roommate’s (Charlotte Rampling) unwanted child; James Mason received a supporting actor Oscar nomination as her father’s employer, who wants Georgy to become his mistress.

Coming soon

July 12: “Million Dollar Baby” and “A Very Long Engagement”

July 19: “Constantine,” “Ice Princess” and “Man of the House”

July 26: “The Upside of Anger,” “XXX: State of the Union,” “King’s Ransom” and “Steamboy”

Aug. 2: “Guess Who,” “Alexander,” “Downfall” and “The Wedding Date”

Aug. 9: “Kung Fu Hustle,” “Because of Winn-Dixie,” “Merci Docteur Rey!,” “Look at Me” and “Off the Map”

Aug. 16: “Sin City,” “The Ballad of Jack and Rose,” “The Deal” and “The Brown Bunny”

Aug. 23: “Ring Two,” “Beauty Shop,” “Layer Cake” and “Dust to Glory”

Aug. 30: “Sahara,” “Monster-in-Law,” “Walk on Water” and “Schultze Gets the Blues”

Sept. 13: “Fever Pitch,” “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” and “Winter Solstice”

Sept. 20: “The Longest Yard,” “Robots,” “Inside Deep Throat” and “Mindhunters”

Oct. 4: “The Interpreter”

Nov. 22: “The Polar Express”