Costner, Kutcher come to the rescue

Twenty years ago, Kevin Costner portrayed the young G-man Eliot Ness who received guidance from an older, wiser Chicago cop played by Sean Connery in “The Untouchables.” Now Costner is the paternal figure in the action-drama “The Guardian” (Touchstone, $30). As an experienced Coast Guard rescue diver, Costner takes a young recruit (Ashton Kutcher) under his wing. It’s predictable, but rescue sequences are effective. Andrew Davis directed.

The disc includes a by-the-books “making of” featurette, a thoughtful tribute to real Coast Guard rescuers, the wan alternate ending and intelligent commentary from the director and writer Ron L. Brinkerhoff.

Made for just $15,000, “The Puffy Chair” (Netflix, $15) is a slight but engaging comedy about growing up and taking responsibility for one’s life.

Mark Duplass stars and co-wrote the film with his brother Jay, who served as director. He plays a guy who drives with his girlfriend (his real-life fiancee, Kathryn Aselton) and his offbeat brother (Rhett Wilkins) from New York to North Carolina to pick up a vintage La-Z-Boy recliner for his father’s birthday. Extras include a clever interview with the brothers shot while they were driving around Los Angeles, outtakes and amusing commentary with the siblings. Rounding out the disc are the Duplasses’ short films, including the riotous “This Is John.”

“Robert Mitchum -- The Signature Collection” (Warner, $60 for the set, $20 each): These “Signature” collections are generally a mixed bag, and this six-film set is no exception. But at least three of the films feature the sleepy-eyed tough guy in three of his quintessential performances.

Mitchum and Jane Russell, RKO’s biggest stars in the 1950s, exude chemistry in the 1952 film noir “Macao,” directed by Josef von Sternberg. William Bendix also stars. The disc features the Turner Classic Movies “Private Screening” series with both Mitchum and Russell and sprightly commentary with film noir historian Eddie Muller and the movie’s co-writer Stanley Rubin.

In his commentary on 1952’s cult classic “Angel Face,” Muller states that the quirky film noir was one of French new wave director Jean Luc-Godard’s top 10 favorites. Directed by Otto Preminger, the addictively enjoyable film stars Jean Simmons as a twisted rich girl and Mitchum as an ambulance driver who makes a fatal error when he falls for her.

Preminger and Mitchum had a tenuous working relationship after the Vienna-born director insisted Mitchum actually slap Simmons in the face until she cried on camera. Mitchum eventually slapped the director and asked if that’s how he wanted him to slap Simmons.

Unfortunately, there’s only a brief vintage featurette on the DVD of 1960’s lovely “The Sundowners,” which was nominated for several Oscars, including best film. Fred Zinnemann directed this hearty tale that revolves around the year in the life of a drover (Mitchum), his wife (Deborah Kerr) and their teenage son (Michael Anderson Jr.).

Rounding out the set are 1960’s “Home From the Hill,” 1969’s “The Good Guys and the Bad Guys” and 1974’s “The Yakuza.”

“Yojimbo & Sanjuro -- Two Films by Akira Kurosawa” (Criterion Collection, $70): Two of the seminal Japanese director’s more lighthearted films star Toshiro Mifune as a wandering samurai. In 1961’s entertaining “Yojimbo,” Mifune’s wily Sanjuro arrives in a small town divided between two gangsters and decides to play one group off the other; in the equally pleasurable 1962 sequel, “Sanjuro,” he helps a group of naive samurai. The discs feature lively and informative commentary from Kurosawa scholar Stephen Prince and excerpts from a lengthy Japanese TV documentary on Kurosawa and the making of both films.

And: “This Film Is Not Yet Rated” (IFC, $25), “Jesus Camp” (Magnolia, $27); “Saw III -- Unrated Edition” (Lionsgate, $30); “Sherrybaby” (Universal, $25); “Brokeback Mountain -- Two-Disc Collector’s Edition” (Universal, $27); “Cocaine Cowboys” (Magnolia, $27).