New on DVD: ‘Dope’ tackles weighty issues with exuberance

Capsule reviews of the next week’s video releases, on DVD and Blu-ray, including special features:

• “Dope” (R, 103 minutes, Universal): An exuberant coming-of-age comedy that beguiled audiences at the Sundance Film Festival, “Dope” engages the issues of race, identity and authenticity currently aswirl in the culture. Malcolm, a self-described geek, tries to survive life in a tough Los Angeles neighborhood while nursing obsessions with skateboards, Japanese manga, the band TV on the Radio and getting into Harvard. Contains profanity, drug content, sexuality, nudity and violence involving teens.

• “The Gallows” (R, 81 minutes, Warner): In this horror film, set 20 years after a school play ended in a deadly freak accident, a group of students decide to re-create the failed show on the anniversary of the tragedy. Big mistake. Contains disturbing violent content and terror. Extras include “Charlie: Every School Has Its Spirit”; deleted scenes; gag reel. Blu-ray adds original feature length cut of the film, the “director’s cut” that initially caught the attention of the film’s producers and led to “The Gallows” worldwide theatrical release; concept, original version and theatrical trailers.

• “San Andreas” (PG-13, 114 minutes, New Line Cinema/Warner): Set during a record-breaking 9.6-magnitude earthquake along California’s most infamous fault line, “San Andreas” is a triumph of CGI mayhem, as Los Angeles buildings topple like stacks of Jenga bricks, a tsunami threatens San Francisco Bay and a yawning chasm opens in the earth between them. Dwayne Johnson stars as a heroic helicopter pilot. Contains cataclysmic destruction and some crude language. Extras include commentary by director Brad Peyton, “San Andreas: The Real Fault Line,” “Dwayne Johnson to the Rescue,” “Scoring the Quake,” deleted scenes, gag reel, stunt reel.

• “Tomorrowland” (PG, 130 minutes, Disney): Based on a Disney theme park area, “Tomorrowland” stars George Clooney in a story that follows two modern-day scientific geniuses on a quest to get to the vibrant metropolis of Tomorrowland, a secret world filled with big thinkers and grand ideas. The camera work and editing are impressive, but director Brad Bird’s action-adventure is a letdown. Contains sequences of sci-fi action violence and language. Extras include “Brad Bird Production Diaries: Diary Entry 3 — NASA,” “Blast from the Past Commercial.” Blu-ray adds “Remembering the Future: A Personal Journey Through Tomorrowland With Brad Bird”; “Casting Tomorrowland”; “A Great Big Beautiful Scoring Session”; “The World of Tomorrow Science Hour” hosted by futurologist David Nix; animated short: “The Origins of Plus Ultra”; “Brad Bird Production Diaries: Diary Entry 1 — The First Day,” “Diary Entry 2 — Tomorrowland vs. the Weather,” “Diary Entry 3 — NASA”; eight deleted scenes; four Easter Eggs.

Also:

“Ballet Boys” (documentary follows three budding future dance stars over a four-year period), “Baseball Legends” (the stories of Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Hank Aaron and Lou Gehrig).

Television series:

“Ascension: A Miniseries Event” (three-part, six hour SyFy series inspired by the real-life Project Orion space mission that thrived under President John F. Kennedy), “Bates Motel: Season Three” (all 10 episodes), “The Bionic Woman: The Complete Series” (fourteen-disc set with all 58 episodes), “The Don Rickles TV Specials: Volume 1,” “The Following: The Third and Final Season” (all 15 episodes), “The Following: The Complete Series” (all 45 episodes), “Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce: Season One” (three-disc set with 13 episodes), “Heroes: The Complete Series” (all 78 episodes), “Justified: The Complete Series” (nineteen-disc set with all 78 episodes), “Mad Men: The Final Season, Part 2” (three-disc DVD, two-disc Blu-ray with seven episodes), “Mad Men: The Complete Collection” (limited-edition gift set featuring the complete seven seasons and all special features ever released plus four hours of new bonus material), “The 100: The Complete Second Season” (four-disc set with all 16 episodes), “The Saint: Seasons 1 & 2” (10-disc set with all 39 episodes), “Sesame Street: Elmo Can Do It!” (new compilation of stories and songs), “The Six Million Dollar Man: The Complete Series” (33-disc set with all 100 episodes).