New video: ‘Rogue One’ freshens up the ‘Star Wars’ franchise in exciting ways

New on Blu-ray

“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” (Disney/Buena Vista DVD, $19.96; Blu-ray, $24.96; also available on VOD)

Judging by the tales of backstage turmoil that leaked into the showbiz news media, “Rogue One” didn’t have the easiest path to the screen. The first in a series of one-off movies set in the “Star Wars” universe, the Gareth Edwards-directed film stars Felicity Jones as an agent of the Rebel Alliance, scheming to steal vital military plans from the Galactic Empire. This is a darker, more violent, less epic take on the saga than the main “Star Wars” pictures, and that understandably provoked some concern during production about whether it would play with fans worldwide. But the fussiness paid off. Beyond being a huge hit, “Rogue One” is an exciting and entertaining science-fiction story just on its merits, and proof that sometimes it’s a good idea for a long-running franchise to let some new kids play with the old toys.

(Special features: Hours of behind-the-scenes featurettes)

VOD

“Salt and Fire” (available April 4)

It’ll probably take some familiarity with the offbeat career of director Werner Herzog to appreciate his new film. This deeply odd adaptation of a Tom Bissell short story stars Michael Shannon as a visionary industrialist who kidnaps an environmentalist, played by Veronica Ferres, to teach her a harsh lesson about the true causes of ecological disaster. As is Herzog’s habit sometimes, he eschews realism, delivering a film with at-times laughably clunky dialogue and stiffly exaggerated performances. But viewers who can hang with the dissonance (which at least appears to be intentional) might get a lot out of how the artificiality forces them to forget about heroes-vs.-villains storytelling and instead to think about what’s really destroying our planet. The movie is abrasive but provocative.

TV set of the week

“The Carol Burnett Show: The Best of Tim Conway” (Time/Life DVD, $12.95)

Comedian Tim Conway is so associated with his work on the hit ’70s variety series that vintage TV fans may not realize he was only an occasional guest star through the first eight seasons and didn’t become an actual cast member until the final three years. “The Best of Tim Conway” DVD collects four full episodes’ worth of his appearances and illustrates why his work is well remembered even today. Beyond his uncanny ability to crack up his cast-mates by flummoxing them with funny ad-libs, Conway knew how to play to the studio audience, using his voice and his face to turn simple comic ideas into TV magic.

(Special features: None)

From the archives

“Notfilm”/“Film” (Milestone DVD, $34.99; Blu-ray, $39.99)

In 1964, playwright Samuel Beckett and director Alan Schneider spent three weeks in New York City with legendary comedian Buster Keaton, shooting “Film,” a dreamlike, dialogue-free portrait of a desperate, lonely man. In 2013, film preservationist Ross Lipman gained access to the project’s outtakes and behind-the-scenes footage while working to clean up the original, and he turned those pieces into the experimental documentary “Notfilm,” which re-creates the weirdness of the original while explaining some of what was behind it. The companion films — now available separately on DVD and Blu-ray — evoke a particular era of avant-garde art and theater while also showing how the new breed had its roots in the classics. Keaton famously never understood what “Film” was, but his presence makes a strange movie special.

(Special features: Extensive featurettes on “Notfilm” and a feature-length 1961 TV version of Beckett’s play “Waiting for Godot” on “Film”)

Three more to see

“Don’t Kill It” (Sony DVD, $17.99; Blu-ray, $19.99); “Paterson” (Universal DVD, $19.98; Blu-ray, $26.98; also available on VOD); “Three” (Well Go USA DVD, $24.98; Blu-ray, $29.98)

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