By Peter Covino

Entertainment Editor

Robin Hood did have its shortcomings when the Ridley Scott/Russell Crowe collaboration was released this spring, just ahead of the onslaught of summer movies.

And while this second-coming of Gladiator (both men were part of that blockbuster as well) doesn’t quite click all the time, it is a big epic film, worthy of a place in the collection of any historical drama fan, especially in Blu-ray.

Robin Hood (Universal Studios Home Entertainment) is not your normal retelling of the tale of Robin, Marion (played by Cate Blanchett here), Friar Tuck and the rest. There is no stealing from the rich and giving to the poor here. Even King Richard, the royal family member that Robin usually pledges his allegiance to and fights for, never quite makes it back to England from the Crusades.

The Crusades are over and Robin Longstride (Crowe) is going home to England.

Robin, and the men who will soon be his followers meet up with a dying knight, Sir Robert Loxley, with a wish: For Robin to return his sword to his father back in Nottingham.

And thus, the legend begins.

Robin masquerades as the fallen knight, to ensure safe passage back to England, and when he returns to England, the man’s blind father (Max Von Sydow), wants him to continue the ruse. This also is means he is now married to Loxley’s widow, Lady Marion (Cate Blanchett). The ruse is necessary, because by English law, if the old man dies, and with Marion widowed, the family will lose all of their land. Robin also has some father issues of his own to deal with.

Robin Hood is great for home theater systems with its numerous battle scenes, particularly the invading force by sea coming from France.

Robin Hood is available in several formats, including a three-disc Blu-ray combo pack and two-disc special edition. Both the Blu-ray and DVD editions feature an unrated director’s cut plus the original theatrical film. A single disc DVD edition also features both versions.

The three-disc combo pack includes a digital copy, formatted easily onto most portable devices.

The other bonuses are numerous, making watching the Blu-ray an experience not quite as long as the Crusades.

One of the nicer bonuses is the director’s notebook. Watch the film in one corner of the screen as Ridley Scott talks about the filmmaking process (including behind-the-scenes footage) in another more dominate portion of your HD set. A third area shows photos and more on the screen.

Other bonuses include The Art of Nottingham, a look at the portfolio designs generated for the film; deleted scenes; Rise and Rise Again: Making Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood; Ballad, Legend & Myth: Pre-Production; The More the Merrier: Production; and No Quarter Given: Post Production.

Some bonuses are include in the DVD 2-disc special edition as well.

The Blu-ray also features BD-Live which allows you to connect your Internet-connected player to get even more content.

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Sometimes Big Bang Theory borders on brilliant.

You just can’t explain why Big Bang Theory works. You need to watch, and fortunately the show, which has just entered its fourth season on CBS, has actually become a hit.

Just in time for season four is the release of Big Bang Theory The Complete Third Season (Warner Home Video), available for the first time in Blu-ray as well as DVD.

If you have never watched, Big Bang Theory is about two Caltech geniuses, one an experimental physicist (Leonard Hofstadter) and the other a theoretical physicist (Sheldon Cooper). They are the ultimate nerdy roommates and have two best friends (Raj and Howard) who are ever bit as nerdy as they are.

Watching this ensemble (Johnny Galecki, Jim Parsons, Kaley Cuoco and Simon Helberg) is television comedy at it very best, and it features some of the best writing since the heyday of Seinfeld.

Some choice dialogue examples from the show:

Leonard: When we watch Frosty the Snowman, he roots for the sun.

Sheldon: Excuse me, but the sun is essential for all life on earth. Frosty is merely a bit of frozen, supernatural ephemera in a stolen hat. A crime, by the way, for which he is never brought to account.

Or

Sheldon: You’re asking me to use my superior intellect in a tawdry competition. Would you ask Picasso to play Pictionary? Would you ask Noah Webster to play Boggle? Would you ask Jacques Cousteau to play Go Fish?

And

Raj: I don’t like bugs, okay? They freak me out.

Sheldon: Interesting. You’re afraid of insects and women. Ladybugs must render you catatonic.

(Playing 3D chess)

Sheldon: Checkmate.

Leonard: Oh, again?

Sheldon: Obviously, you’re not suited for three dimensional chess. Perhaps three dimensional Candy Land would be more your speed.

Leonard: Just reset the board!

Sheldon: It must be humbling to suck on so many levels.

Season 3 highlights include neighbor Penny’s romance with Leonard and a guest appearance by Wil Wheaton, just one of many people Sheldon hates. Parsons, who plays Sheldon, was nominated for outstanding lead in a comedy series at the 2009 Emmy Awards.

Bonus features included in the 23-episode collection (included in both the Blu-ray and standard DVD sets) include the Big Bang set tour with Simon and Kunal and Take-Out with the cast of The Bang Theory, a collection of some of the season’s funniest moments, presented by the cast.

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Sometimes Disney does over do the whole fairy/ princess thing, but judging by the number of little princesses at the Magic Kingdom on any given day, they certainly know their market.

The fairies are back in Tinker Bell and The Great Fairy Rescue, a new Disney release featuring the world’s favorite fairy.

There is nothing amazingly new in this pre-story (set before Tink met up with the Lost Boys, Peter Pan and that guy with the hook) but the animation looks great as Tinker Bell and friends get caught up an adventure that takes them from their pastoral home to London in the late 19th century.

Tinker Bell and friends have just set up summer camp at a new home in the forest when she is captured by a lonely young girl living nearby. The young girl has an obsession with fairies, it is how she occupies her time because her father is too busy to spend much time with her. She and Tinker Bell become fast friends (this is Tinker Bell’s first encounter with a human) and with a little help from some pixie dust even young Lizzy becomes an accomplished flier.

It’s nice family entertainment that youngsters will enjoy, but adults will appreciate the look of the computer graphic animated film.

It is available in a Blu-ray combo pac k (Blu-ray and bonus DVD of the film in a single package and standard DVD.

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Also new on DVD and Blu-ray is The Office Season Six (Universal Studios Home Entertainment).

The long-running sitcom offers a Blu-ray bonus that includes being able to watch the latest five episodes from season seven after their network airing, via BD-Live through an Internet-connected Blu-ray player.

The documentary-style comedy follows the lives of the employees of paper supplier company Dunder Miffin and has launched the very successful career of star Steve Carell (The 40-Year-Old Virgin) as well as other members of the talented cast including Jenna Fischer (Solitary Man); John Krasinski (It’s Complicated); Rainn Wilson (The Last Mimzy); B.J. Novak (Inglourious Basterds) and Ed Helms (The Hangover).

Based on a BBC hit with the same name, Blu-ray/DVD bonuses in the season six set include the digital short The Podcast; Welcome to Sabre featurette, a full-screen version of the corporate welcome video starring Kathy Bates and Christian Slater; two hours of deleted scenes; two extended episodes; a blooper reel plus commentaries by cast and crew on several of the included episodes.