Rampant (Korea, 2018, Well Go USA, Blu-ray or DVD, NR, 121 min.). This entertaining film is as if “The Walking Dead” invaded the American Revolution. The historical portion involves the political infighting that was part of the feudal history of the Asian region. The zombies are a new plague that complicates the return of a prodigal son, Prince Ganglim (Hyun Bin of TV’s “Crash Landing on You,” “Secret Garden”), who returns from imprisonment abroad after the death of his older brother, the Crown Prince (Kim Tae-woo of TV’s “That Winter, the Wind Blows”) of Joseon.

Ganglim wants nothing to do with becoming king of Joseon; in fact, he mainly has returned to fetch a woman to safety, as requested in his brother’s last letter. Ganglim believes Joseon should become part of the Qing Dynasty of China. Ganglim is accompanied by his aide Hak-su (Jeong Man-sik of “Miracle in Cell No. 7,” TV’s “Vagabond”).

While the film takes an hour or so to work in all the politics, the horror of attacks by the undead, called night demons, begins at the start, when pirates attack and take over a burning ship, only to encounter some hungry undead.

The film then shifts to King Lee Ljo (Kim Eui-sung of the zombie film “Train to Busan,” the two “Alienoid” films), who has put down a rebellion, only to see the Crown Prince kill himself rather than have the ministers involved executed.

After Ganglim and Hak-su depart their boat, they are attacked by six or so men sent to kill Ganglim. As Ganglim fights back, the undead of the village of Jemulpo also attack. It is the first of several exciting fight sequences that director Kim Sung-hoon (“Confidential Assignment,” TV’s “Goldland”) stages, mostly filled with practical effects. Ganglim and Hak-su are aided by four fighters of the resistance, including Park Eul-ryong (Jo Woo-jin of “Steel Rain”).

Meanwhile, King Lee is infected by one of his lovers and is turning into a night demon. Behind the mechanisms at the court is Minister of War Kim Ju-joon (Jang Dong-gun of “Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War”).

Much of the film’s ending is devoted to the night demons massed attack on Joseon’s capital, with more than 500 of the infected attacking. Included is the affecting death of one character and Kim Ju-joon being infected and then killing all the other ministers. Kim Ju-joon, even as a zombie, continues to be intent on killing Ganglim.

Extras are minimal and include a making-of look (1:38), a behind-the-scenes glance (34 sec.) and a character trailer (1:48). Grade: film 3.25 stars; extras 1/2 star

Rating guide: 5 stars = classic; 4 stars = excellent; 3 stars = good; 2 stars = fair; dog = skip it

Purchase link for some titles: https://moviezyng.com?bg_ref=ApLKdWV51k

Excalibur (1981, Arrow Video, 4K Ultra HD + 2 Blu-rays or 3 Blu-rays, PG, 140 min.). Director John Boorman, who co-wrote the script with Rospo Pallenberg, presents the story of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table in an adaptation of Thomas Mallory’s immortal "Le Morte D'Arthur," which he wrote during his 1468 to 1471 imprisonment in England’s Newgate prison. The film earned an Academy Award nomination for cinematographer Alex Thomson.

Merlin the magician (Nicol Williamson of “Spawn,” “The Seven-Per-Cent Solution”) helps Arthur Pendragon (Nigel Terry of “The Lion in Winter,” “Troy”) unite the Britons around the Round Table of Camelot, even as dark forces conspire to tear his leadership apart. The film touches on all aspects of the Arthurian legend in a somewhat moody presentation, with lots of dark scenes, including the opening battle versus Duke Cornwall (Corin Redgrave of “A Man for All Seasons”). Excalibur, of course, is the sword in the stone that only Arthur could pull out.

Part of the film’s fun is seeing several actors early in their careers. They include Helen Mirren (“The Queen,” “Gosford Park,” “F9: The Fast Saga”) as Morgana, the daughter of Igrayne (Katrine Boorman), the wife of Cornwall whom King Uther Pendragon (Gabriel Byrne, in his third film, of “The Usual Suspects,” TV’s “War of the Worlds”) seduces through magic, giving birth to Arthur, whom Uther promises to give to Merlin to raise. Patrick Stewart of the “Star Trek” universe plays noble Leondegrance, Guenevere’s father, and Ciaran Hinds (“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”) plays Lot in his first feature film.

Among the Knights of the Round Table are Liam Neeson (“Schindler’s List,” “The Grey”) as Gawain in his third film, and Nicholas Clay (“Zulu Dawn”) as the betrayer Lancelot du Lac, who beds King Arthur’s wife, Guenevere (Cherie Lunghi of 1994’s “Frankenstein”).

The film turns a bit weirder towards the end, as Mordred (Boorman’s 14-year-old son Charley), Morgana’s son, tries to destroy Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.

Disc one contains the film and three audio commentaries: new ones by Brian Holyle, author of “The Cinema of John Boorman” and by David Kittredge, director of “Boorman and the Devil”; and an archival one by Boorman himself.

Disc two is packed with extras, including the first release of Neil Jordan’s documentary “The Making of Excalibur: Myth into Movie” (48:19), shot during the production of “Excalibur” and featuring interviews with the actors and extensive talk by Boorman, who says his “Zardoz” also was a grail film. There also are five new interviews, including one with John Boorman and Charley Boorman (28:12), as well as with Neil Jordan (25:09), production designer Anthony Pratt (26:11) and 2nd unit director Peter MacDonald (75:44). The latter is very interesting as he talks about a Terence Stamp car joke during “Blow-Up,” Lee Marvin riding on the roof of Boorman’s car as they made “Point Blank” and MacDonald almost getting in a pub fight with actor Oliver Reed.

The fifth new interview is with co-writer Pallenberg on his 15 years working with Boorman, including an unused adaptation of “The Lord of the Rings,” as well as writing on Boorman’s “Deliverance,” “Zardoz” and other films (27:34). There also is a new visual essay by Howard S. Berger on Boorman’s use of cinematic illusion (30:07), plus five image galleries, including black-and-white stills, color stills, posters, original production notes and a draft screenplay.

The third disc contains the television version of the film (120 min.), presented on home video for the first time, and an archival making-of featurette (52:24). In addition, the set comes with a double-sided poster, six postcard-sized reproduction art cards and a collector’s perfect-bound booklet with writing by Charles Brigden, K.A. Laity, Kimberly Lindberg, Josh Nelson, Philip Kemp, John Reppion, Icy Sedgwick and Jez Winship. Grade: film 3 stars; extras 5 stars

King Richard and the Crusaders (1954, Warner Archive Collection, Blu-ray, NR, 114 min.). Based on Walter Scott’s 1825 classic of myth in history, “The Talisman,” the film tells the story of English King Richard I’s participation in the Third Crusade against the Muslims, who are led by Saladin, the sultan of Araby, to retake control of Jerusalem in 1191. The film was directed by David Butler (“Look for the Silver Lining”) in CinemaScope and features a robust score by Max Steiner.

The film opens with an ambush by the Muslims. Afterwards, King Richard (George Sanders of “All About Eve,” “Rebecca,” “The Picture of Dorian Gray”) ill-advisably names Sir Giles Amaury (Robert Douglas of “The Fountainhead,” “Adventures of Don Juan,” “Tarzan, the Ape Man”) his vice-regent. Shortly thereafter, Giles and Duke Leopold V of Austria (Wilton Graff of “Lili,” “Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back”) are behind an assassination attempt against King Richard. Richard is endangered by the poison the arrow carried.

King Richard’s aide is Kenneth of Huntington (Laurence Harvey of “The Manchurian Candidate,” “The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm”). He is sent to be a scout guard for Queen Berengaria (Paula Raymond of “Devil’s Doorway,” “City That Never Sleeps”) and Lady Edith Plantagenet (Virginia Mayo of “White Heat,” “The Best Years of Our Lives”), King Richard’s cousin. Kenneth and Edith have been secretly in love for some time.

Along the way, Kenneth encounters physician Emir Ilderim (Rex Harrison of “My Fair Lady,” “Cleopatra,” “Dr. Doolittle”), who says he was sent by Saladin to heal King Richard, which he does. Much later, it is revealed to Kenneth, after his banishment, that Ilderim actually is Saladin, who also fell in love with Edith while staying in Richard’s camp.

The plot is loaded with treachery on the European side. King Richard even forces a duel between himself and Kenneth. There is surprisingly little combat in the film, although the standard trope of a beautiful woman dancing is included. There is a fight on a raised drawbridge though.

Extras include the Joe McDoakes short “So You Want to Be a Banker” (9:49) and the cartoons “Satan’s Waitin’” with Tweety that has cat Sylvester visit hell (7:06) and “Baby Buggy Bunny” with Bugs Bunny and a miniature bank robber who pretends to be a baby (7:07). Grade: film 3 stars; extras 2 stars

Raising Hitler (France, 2017, Darkside Releasing, Blu-ray, NR, 66 min.). The Internet Movie Database website lists this as an 8-episode TV series, but here it is presented as a unified film, so I’m guessing the episodes were very short originally. The film’s idea is clever, but the execution is somewhat lacking. It was directed by Louis Farge and written by Ofer Seker.

The main characters are Mickey Applebaum (Ziad El May) and Jesse Wagnon (Lucas Englander), friends who get stoned on pot a lot. Mickey, who is from a Jewish family, has just broken up with his girlfriend. One day he says that if he could, he would go into the past and kill young Adolf Hitler to prevent the Holocaust.

Coincidentally, Jesse has developed a working time machine in his bedroom (!). Mickey accidentally sends them into the past, where they meet 10-year-old Adolf Hitler (Moritz Hoyer) and learn he has an abusive father. Luckily, Jesse speaks German.

Mickey thinks young Adolf is cute, so he basically kidnaps him and brings him back to the present, a present much changed by the butterfly affect, which is changing one thing in the past creates ripple effect changes. Mickey fails to notice that young Adolf is still a bit nasty and he most often just says, “I don’t like that.” Grade: film 2.5 stars

Monster on a Plane (Germany, 2024, Uncork’d Entertainment, Blu-ray, NR, 92 min.). Shades of “Snakes on a Plane,” writer-director Ezra Tsegaye (a storyboard and comic book artist; director of “Skin Creepers”) has one of his characters smuggle on a plane a previously unknown creature that when it farts causes people to get high, making it appear like a person to its soon-to-be victims, as it loves to eat people.

Yes, the premise is ridiculous, but it does lead to some gross feedings. The creature starts out looking like an extra from “Critters,” but eventually grows huge.

Meanwhile, the plane, on a six-hour flight to Hamburg, Germany is filled with jerks. Most of the actors have German accents, except for pilot Capt. James Pillow (Philippe Brenninkmeyer), who sounds as British as the actor is. The film is in English. The co-pilot is Nico Torrez (Nicolás Artajo of “Skin Creepers,” TV “Snow White”), who already has had sex with Karin (Kim Kelly Braun), one of the stewardesses, and is busy having sex with her in one of the plane’s toilets when the monster gets loose.

The creature belongs to Professor Singh, who has stuffed it in a suitcase. Turbulence causes the suitcase to open, freeing the ravenous beast, which also fiddles with the plane’s controls through its biting. Among the passengers is teacher Ben (Robin Czerny), with at least two female students, nympho Melanie (Isabel Dornheim) and sweet Salima (Anamika Ditta). Oh yes, late in the film, another passenger is revealed to be a wanted killer, as if the monster wasn’t enough of a problem.

Stewardess Nathalie (Eva Habermann) and Ben team up to try and regain control amidst the chaos. Capt. Pillow gets shot in the stomach, but still must land the plane. Grade: film 2 stars

Illustrious Corpses (Italy, 1976, Radiance, Blu-ray, NR, 121 min.). A lack of knowledge about Italian mid-Seventies history makes this film less impactful, although both mafia types and communist reporters are in the film, which was adapted by co-writer/director Francesco Rosi (“Three Brothers,” “Christ Stopped at Eboli”) from the novel “Il Contesto” by Leonardo Sciascia.

The film is set in the “years of lead” that Italy was going through at the time, even if the film hides the fact that it is set in Italy. It has a clear statement about the political unrest, including street rioting, and disturbing machinations of power shaking the nation as Inspector Amerigo Rogas (Lino Ventura of “Army of Shadows,” “Elevator to the Gallows”) investigates the deaths of four judges within a small area.

Rogas, who at one point is even removed from the case, believes the killer is one of three men who were unjustly imprisoned by the judges in the past. They include a pharmacist whose vengeful wife accused him of animal cruelty; a mechanic accused of homosexuality; and a former lorry driver, now homeless after four years in prison. (Warning: There is a disgusting scene of a cat poisoning.)

The film’s ending is unexpected.

Extras include audio commentary by director Alex Cox; two 1976 French TV interviews, one with Rosi (3:40) and the other with Rosi and Ventura (4:46); Professor Gaetana Marrone comparing the film with the source novel (28:53); and a stills gallery. There also is an illustrated 32-page booklet, with an essay by Michael Atkinson; Rosi writing on the film; and a 1976 interview with Rosi by Andree Tournes. Grade: film 3 stars; extras 2.75 stars

Task: The Complete First Season (HBO, 3 Blu-rays, NR, 7 hours 7 min.). The seven-episode series is from creator Brad Inglesby (“Mare of Easttown”). It is set in the working-class suburbs of Philadelphia, where an FBI agent Tom Brandis (Mark Ruffalo of “Spotlight,” “The Avengers”) heads a task force to put an end to a string of violent robberies, led by an unsuspected family man Robbie Prendergrast (Tom Pelphrey of TV’s “Ozark,” “Iron Fist,” “Banshee”).

Prendergrast and Cliff Broward (Raul Castillo of “Smile 2,” TV’s “Looking”) work together as garbage collectors, but at the same time case “drug houses,” so they can rob them of cash eventually. The third member of their crew is “Peach Boy” (Owen Teague of the 2 “It” films, TV’s “Bloodline”).

Spoiler alert as some plot details follow. During one robbery, against members of a powerful motorcycle gang, an unexpected third man shows up and kills Peach Boy, leading Prendergrast and Broward to kill the three gang members. Instead of finding cash, they flee with a load of fentanyl. Prendergrast, who already has a complicated family life, also brings Sam (Ben Lewis Doherty), a 6-year-old boy who suddenly popped up in the hallway. Stupidly, to me, is they also leave Peach Boy’s body at the crime scene.

Prendergrast’s wife has taken off, leaving him to care for their two children in the home of his niece Maeve (Emilia Jones of “CODA”), after his brother was murdered.

Now with a kidnapping, Brandis, a former priest who now drinks too much and has his own complicated family life, is assigned to head a task force to look for Sam and solve the drug robberies. That task force includes Anthony Grasso (Fabien Frankel of TV’s “House of the Dragon”), awkward Lizzie Stover (Alison Oliver of “Saltburn”) and Aleah Clinton (Thuso Mbedu of TV’s “The Underground Railroad”).

Brandis is a widower who had been spending his days recruiting people for the FBI and his weekends bird watching. He has an adopted teenage daughter (Silvia Diconicio as Emily) that he is trying his best to raise, an incarcerated adopted son that presents an almost impossible test of forgiveness, and a daughter who visits with her baby from out of town.

By the second episode, a third major character is introduced. He is Perry Dorazo (Jamie McShane of TV’s “Bloodline,” “Wednesday,” “1823”), the leader of the motorcycle gang whose drugs were stolen. Dorazo is cold as ice, compared to the warmth of Brandis and Prendergrast.

Extras include a look at Philly slang and a “Task Unmasked” for each episode. Grade: series 3.5 stars; extras 2 stars

Voltron: Legendary Defender: The Complete Series (2016-2018, DreamWorks, 12 DVDs, NR, 29 hours, 58 min.). The set contains all 78 episodes from the eight seasons. From days long ago, from uncharted regions of the universe comes the original series, as DreamWorks Animation reimagines one of the most popular fan-favorite shows of all time in this comedic action-packed show. The original Japanese anime aired in 1984, but it was a heavily edited version of “Beast King GoLion.”

Five unsuspecting teenagers, transported from Earth into the middle of a sprawling intergalactic war, become pilots for five robotic lions in the battle to protect the universe from evil. Only through the true power of teamwork can they unite to form the mighty warrior known as Voltron: Legendary Defender.

After Keith (voiced by Steven Yuen), Lance (Jeremy Shada), Pidge (Bex Taylor-Klaus), Hunk (Tyler Labine) and Shiro (Josh Keaton) are sent into space in a blue lion, they find two Alteans, Princess Allura (Kimberly Brooks) and royal advisor Coran (Rhys Darby), who have been frozen in cryopods for 10,000 years. They then discover they must each pilot the robotic lions of Voltron and defend the universe from the Galra Empire and their evil Emperor Zarkon (Neil Kaplan). Grade: series 4 stars