Blu-ray movie reviews: ‘Little Women’ and ‘21 Bridges’

Here’s a look at a few of the latest entertaining movies now available in the Blu-ray format.

Little Women (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Rated PG, 2.39:1 aspect ratio, 135 minutes, $19.96) — The latest cinematic adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s seminal novel offered director Greta Gerwig’s vision of the complicated lives of the March family and their four mischievous daughters in this coming-of-age period drama.

The classic story finds the sisters Josephine (Saoirse Ronan), Margaret (Emma Watson), Amy (Florence Pugh) and Elizabeth (Eliza Scanlen) growing up during a Civil War America in Concord, Massachusetts, with help from their mother Abigail (Laura Dern), Aunt March (Meryl Streep) and local rich kid Laurie (Timothée Chalamet).

The siblings eventually go off on different adventures in America and Europe while reuniting during times of joy and sadness with their lives often exposed through flashbacks fleshing out each character’s key experiences and the bonding of the entire family.

Miss Gerwig’s empowering effort embraces the source material and will certainly entrance younger female viewers as it equally explores themes of struggle, family and perseverance.

It’s arrival on high definition, not only allows home theater audiences to appreciate the performances in a clear, screen-filling format but also Jacqueline Durran’s Academy Award-winning costumes as well as the rich mid-1800s production design.

Extras include 38 minutes on making the film broken into five featurettes covering the cast; the director’s vision; production design; costuming, hair and make-up; and the impact of the original book.

And, best of the bunch, viewers get a 10-minute historical look at Alcott’s life at Orchard House in Concord, featuring words from the executive director of the property, Jan Turnquist.

21 Bridges (Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Rated R, 2.39:1 aspect ratio, 100 minutes, $34.98) — New York City police Detective Andre Davis (Chadwick Boseman), known for taking a “Dirty Harry” approach when stopping criminals, gets tasked with hunting two cop killers in this by-the-book thriller from director Brian Kirk.

Specifically, the loss of eight officers after a drug theft gone bad creates an intense, roughly four-hour manhunt requiring a total lockdown of Manhattan, including all of its 21 bridges, and also unravels a much deeper problem than catching a pair of dangerous crooks.

With help from a few heavyweights including J.K. Simmons as Capt. Matt McKenna and Sienna Miller as Detective Frankie Burns (offering a miserable New York accent), the mildly entertaining, somewhat violent crime drama allows Mr. Boseman to hone his tough-guy acting chops and take a breather from his more famous role as Black Panther.

Often more interesting than the story are the gritty shots of the Big Apple by day turned into high definition, panoramic postcards at night of a city that never sleeps.

Extras include a nonstop optional commentary track with Mr. Kirk and editor Tim Murrell often focused on story and character minutiae.

The pair often comments too much on self-explanatory action but also manage to offer brief overviews of the filmmaking process and production detail.