‘Episode III’ gives most satisfying ending

“Millions”

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It’s not often that English filmmaker Danny Boyle does sweet. Yet that’s exactly what the director of such intense films as “Shallow Grave” and “Trainspotting” does here with this story of a young, motherless English boy named Damian (Alexander Nathan Etel) who just happens to see and talk with long-dead saints. And so when he discovers a bag of English pounds, he decides that the loot is a gift from God that must be passed on to the needy. Boyle tempers the treacle with a sense of foreboding: The bag is from a railroad heist, and the thief wants his money back. But the real key to the film’s success is young Etel, a first-time screen star who has the kind of natural screen presence that isn’t so much acting as simply being. DVD includes commentary by director Boyle and screenwriter Frank Cottrell Boyce, outtakes, deleted scenes, a making-of featurette and audition footage. (1:38; rated PG for thematic elements, language, peril, mild sensuality)

“The Perfect Man”

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You can package Hollywood sweet stuff only so many ways. Hilary Duff (the other Lindsay Lohan) plays the older daughter of a desperately needy woman (played by Heather Locklear, as if) who moves the family around in her search for a man. So Duff’s character concocts a fictional “perfect” man. Trouble arises, predictably, when mom wants to meet the real guy (who ends up being Chris Noth). It’s hard to imagine a movie that could possibly send so many wrong messages to young women. But, then, the title here isn’t “The Perfect Movie.” That, at least, would indicate that the filmmakers understood irony. DVD includes commentary by director Mark Rosman, deleted scenes and Locklear and Duff talking about their onscreen mother-daughter relationship. (1:38; rated PG for being mildly suggestive)

“The War of the Worlds (1953): Special Collector’s Edition”

For its day, this Byron Haskin interpretation of the H.G. Wells novel about alien invaders (made famous by the 1937 radio broadcast by Orson Welles’ Mercury Theatre) was pretty effective. It was nominated for three Oscars and won for best special effects (Gordon Jennings). The revamped DVD includes not only commentary by actors Gene Barry and Ann Robinson but also the original hour-long 1937 radio broadcast, a featurette on H.G. Wells and original theatrical trailer. (1:25; not rated)