Skip to main content
Games Radar
  • Newsarama
  • Total Film
  • Edge
  • Retro Gamer
  • PLAY
  • SFX
Total Film The smarter take on movies
Subscribe
(opens in new tab) (opens in new tab)
flag of UK
UK
flag of US
US
flag of Canada
Canada
flag of Australia
Australia
Gaming Magazines
(opens in new tab)
Gaming Magazines (opens in new tab)
Why subscribe?
  • Takes you closer to the games, movies and TV you love
  • Try a single issue or save on a subscription
  • Issues delivered straight to your door or device
From$12.99
(opens in new tab)
View (opens in new tab)
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Subscribe
  • Podcast
  • Newsletter
  • Magazines
    • Retro Gamer
    • Play
    • Total Film
    • Edge
    • SFX
Trending
  • Best Netflix Movies
  • Best movies on Disney Plus
  • Movie Release Dates
  • Best Netflix Shows

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

  1. Home
  2. Movies

Movies to watch on Blu-Ray and DVD: Baby Driver, Spider-Man: Homecoming, and more

By Total Film Staff
published 11 November 2017

  • (opens in new tab)
  • (opens in new tab)
  • (opens in new tab)
  • (opens in new tab)
  • Comments
Out on November 13 and November 20

Out on November 13 and November 20

Edgar Wright hotwires the musical. Sion Sono delivers a gory blast of WTF-ery. A found-footage shark movie makes it way to DVD.

Yes, here’s the new DVD and Blu-Ray releases coming out in the next two weeks. Click on for our reviews of Baby Driver, Spider-Man: Homecoming, The Thing, Tag, Office Christmas Party, The Beguiled, The Big Sick, Cage Dive, Certain Women, The Howling, Suntan, and The Suspicious Death of a Minor.

For the best movie reviews, subscribe to Total Film (opens in new tab).

Page 1 of 15
Page 1 of 15
Baby Driver

Baby Driver

When a job goes south, a slick getaway is what’s needed. Ask Edgar Wright, whose response to that business with the MCU over Ant-Man (opens in new tab) sends signals of new hope to other casualties of studio-steered film. Not just his most evolved and successful film yet, Wright’s sixth feature is also – much like Darren Aronofsky’s mother! (opens in new tab) (though kinder to its Baby), a rare case of starry, studio-backed filmmaking made personal.

As with another 2017 heist romp, Soderbergh’s Logan Lucky (opens in new tab), the director’s fingerprints are all over the wheel. Just as Baby Driver opens with a “hum in the drum” over the company logos, Wright had tinnitus as a kid. Just as Wright writes to music and directs with panache, so Ansel Elgort’s tinnitus-stricken, music-loving Baby drives with the style of someone who’s absorbed a surprising amount of classic car films for a kid in 2017.

Poke under the hood and the Wright stuff gets clearer. The script (an original, gasp) is his first solo screenwriting credit in 20-plus years. In Wright style, it strips overt genre influences down and reassembles them, retooling the car-chase movie to the hyperreal tune of a musical via the inbuilt meta-potential of the heist movie. The pay-off is a bundle of many-layered joys, kickstarted from a clear spot: the spectacle of a writer/director taking control of his ride.

And what nurturing control that is. With every gesture synced to the disco-garage-funk melee of the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion’s ‘Bellbottoms’, the opening heist set-piece unfolds with the ease of a ludicrously complex show-stopper that’s been lovingly slow-cooked until the effort doesn’t show. And it was slow-cooked: Wright had the idea while editing debut feature A Fistful of Fingers to JSBX’s Orange album in 1995, before directing a dry run with 2003’s pop promo for Mint Royale’s ‘Blue Song’.

Though the plot hits familiar cars/crime/romance beats, the stakes feel personal. Baby, a car-sharp getaway driver working for crime boss Doc (Kevin Spacey), wants out of the heist game. But he gets dragged back in under threatening duress.

If we’ve been down this one-last-job road before, the music in Baby’s headphones keeps genre conventions fresh. For Baby, the playlists are a salve for the scars of childhood trauma. For Wright, they’re a means to further a career-long interest in characters who use pop culture as emotional insulation (or weapons to lob at zombies): just as Baby Driver challenges its hero’s moral remove, Wright challenges his own default settings.

Wright’s leads pirouette around these subtexts nimbly, revitalising genre stereotypes. Dancing with the camera or jigging in his car seat like someone possessed by a Carrie-vintage John Travolta, Elgort makes light work of doubling for viewers’ PoVs and for Wright himself. Jamie Foxx pitches his villain’s homicidal streak at a steady simmer, and Jon Hamm slyly suggests psychosis through a razor-thin smile.

Spacey, meanwhile, spins fresh variations on his many slippery on-screen bastards in Doc’s mix of cynicism and curdled paternalism. Wright’s affection for his leads is well served by CJ Jones’ tender nuances as Baby’s foster dad and Lily James as love interest Debora, a character who might not have worked without James’ lightness.

Beyond the cast, stunt coordinator/driver Jeremy Fry, editors Jonathan Amos and Paul Machliss, and DoP Bill Pope help keep Baby Driver limber and lush. Rejecting CGI, Wright’s compositional clarity matches his story-building with elegance. And the orchestration of images to the soundtrack’s deep soul, funk, rock and hip-hop cuts is so fine-tuned, you almost forget the meticulous craft and just surrender to the exuberance of sound.

Almost, because if Baby Driver is a Wright film, it also doesn’t entirely dodge his shortcomings. Fun as it is to see him embrace his hyper-expressionist dark side, the plotting veers off-road towards the climax. And, despite James’ presence, Debora could have been developed beyond ‘endlessly patient lover who knows her new man’s music references’. 

Still, it keeps luring you back in, whether to tease out its minute details (there are plenty) or find new routes into its playlist-style pleasures. Including an annotated guide to the street noises in the coffee-run scene, a hefty haul of disc featurettes helps with the latter.

Two commentaries from Wright and Wright/Pope range from character insights to did-you-spot? homages, while Wright also considers whether the ending is real or fantasy, and ruminates on sequel possibilities. Whether Baby Driver needs one is debatable, but the idea isn’t implausible, given its success. A sequel to an original in these studio-dominated, property-led times? That’s an unambiguous happy ending.

EXTRAS: Commentaries, Deleted/Extended scenes (BD), Featurettes, Animatics, Music video, Storyboards

Director: Edgar Wright; Starring: Angel Elsort, Jamie Foxx, Jon Hamm, Eiza González; Digital HD release: October 27, 2017; DVD, BD, 4K release: November 13, 2017

Kevin Harley

Page 2 of 15
Page 2 of 15
Spider-Man: Homecoming

Spider-Man: Homecoming

The best joke in Homecoming – Peter Parker’s first film proper in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, after Captain America: Civil War (opens in new tab)’s crowd-pleasing cameo – is that this big-screen superhero veteran is suddenly the callow newcomer in someone else’s story.

The film finds a remarkably fresh, funny tone simply by positioning Spidey (Tom Holland) as an Avengers fanboy, swinging with glee in the margins of Marvel’s weightier peers. That allows Robert Downey Jr. to recapture his wit as Tony Stark, while Captain America (Chris Evans) appears solely for the sake of a superb running gag (which gets its own bonus feature).

This makes for a more grounded adventure, exemplified by Michael Keaton’s Vulture, the best Marvel villain since Loki. He’s an underdog like Peter, a shadow of Stark and an inversion of the superhero Keaton once played.

Also, by putting Peter back in high school, this hits the Spidey sweet spot. Like a turbo-charged John Hughes teen comedy, its laughs come from seeing a clumsy kid in a genre that’s become the slick preserve of grown-ups. The perfectly cast Holland’s exuberance makes the set-pieces sing with a personality that the spectacle-heavy Marvel films can lack.

EXTRAS: Featurettes, Deleted scenes, Gag reel, Captain America PSAs

Director: Jon Watts; Starring: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Michael Keaton; Digital HD release: November 3, 2017; DVD, BD, 4K release: November 20, 2017

Simon Kinnear

Page 3 of 15
Page 3 of 15
The Thing

The Thing

Released to deafening indifference in the summer of E.T. (opens in new tab) – and on the same day as Ridley Scott’s similarly overlooked Blade Runner, no less – John Carpenter’s Antarctic horror has stood the test of time, as though perfectly preserved in ice for 35 years. A claustrophobic, paranoia-powered classic with never-bettered creature effects by Rob Bottin, The Thing hasn’t lost any of its ability to chill.

Bearded everyman MacReady (Kurt Russell) is the helicopter pilot for a crew of researchers who find their camp invaded by a parasitic, shape-shifting alien that hides in plain sight. Mining every drop of suspense from a simple premise – can you trust your own eyes? – it’s a masterclass in unremitting tension and environmental dread.

Proving that remakes done right can transcend even celebrated originals (1951’s The Thing from another World), Carpenter paints a bleak picture of humanity; self-preservation is the priority, even for the ‘heroic’ MacReady. But that only adds to the film’s nihilistic punch, alongside a marrow-shaking score, top-tier performances and those sensational practical effects.

Receiving the lavish Arrow Video treatment, this edition comes with a superb 4K remaster overseen by Carpenter and cinematographer Dean Cundey, two new documentaries and hours of archive features. Short of Denis Villeneuve signing on to direct The Thing 2049, it’s the finest tribute to Carpenter’s masterwork yet.

EXTRAS: Commentary, Documentaries, Featurettes, Stills galleries, Booklet

Director: John Carpenter; Starring: Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley, Keith David; BD release: November 20, 2017

Jordan Farley

Page 4 of 15
Page 4 of 15
Tag

Tag

Arty headbanger Sion Sono (Cold Fish) fuels rites-of-passage convention with riotous invention in his giddy, gory blast of WTF-ery. Reina Triendl makes winning work of Mitsuko, a teenager facing murderous winds and psycho teachers; Sono, meanwhile, confounds grindhouse cliché with poignant moments and indelible images.

Post-rockers Mono’s sublime score helps steer the tone swerves towards a finale that sort-of explains things, though not quite why a would-be-feminist fable needs so many upskirt shots.

EXTRAS: None

Director: Sion Sono; Starring: Reina Triendl, Mariko Shinoda, Erina Mano; Dual format release: November 20, 2017

Kevin Harley

Page 5 of 15
Page 5 of 15
The Big Sick

The Big Sick

Silicon Valley’s Kumail Nanjiani, together with his co-writer/wife Emily Gordon revisit their rocky early days together – when he hid his impending arranged marriage and she fell dangerously ill – in this surprisingly truthful and excruciatingly funny romcom.

Zoe Kazan plays Emily, sparking up a winning chemistry with Nanjiani, who mines his years as a stand-up. Exploring cultural differences with his Pakistani family, it’s a startling and original love story – funny, frank and heartwarming.

EXTRAS: Commentary, Making Of, Featurettes, Deleted scenes

Director: Michael Showalter; Starring: Kumail Nanjiani, Zoe Kazan, Ray Romano, Holly Hunter; Digital HD release: November 17, 2017; DVD, BD release: November 20, 2017

James Mottram

Page 6 of 15
Page 6 of 15
Office Christmas Party

Office Christmas Party

An ensemble cast working through increasingly raucous exploits is a tried, tested and lazy formula. Centred on relatable workplace politics, this Yule-com adds nothing new. Jason Bateman and T.J. Miller throw a wild bash to secure a new client, all while at odds with boss Jennifer Aniston. 

Character comedy comes from Kate McKinnon and Jillian Bell, but reliance on debauched merriment yields little laughter or charm.

EXTRAS: Commentary, Featurettes, Outtakes, Deleted/extended scenes, Extended version (BD)

Directors: Josh Gordon, Will Speck; Starring: Jason Bateman, Olivia Munn, T.J. Miller; Digital HD release: November 6, 2017; DVD, BD release: November 13, 2017

Matt Looker

Page 7 of 15
Page 7 of 15
 The Beguiled

The Beguiled

Adapted as a grand guignol thriller by Don Siegel in 1971, with a predatory Clint Eastwood forcing snogs on a 12-year-old girl, Thomas Cullinan’s Civil War-era novel, written in 1966, is here shot through a feminist lens by Sofia Coppola.

Colin Farrell plays wounded Union soldier John McBurney as more cad than brute, while the coterie of women (Nicole Kidman, Kirsten Dunst, Elle Fanning) who nurse him at a Virginian seminary are subtly shaded in their sexual awakening. Exquisitely shot, playful and poised.

EXTRAS: Featurettes

Director: Sofia Coppola; Starring: Nicole Kidman, Kirsten Dunst, Colin Farrell, Elle Fanning; Digital HD release: November 6, 2017; DVD, BD release: November 20, 2017

Jamie Graham

Page 8 of 15
Page 8 of 15
Cage Dive

Cage Dive

The found-footage genre comes back for another unnecessary encore – this time, taking on great white sharks. Stretching the ‘why don’t they put the flipping camera down?’ plot hole, the disavowed second Open Water sequel throws three obnoxious American youths into the sea so we can watch them flap around for an hour or so while they get repeatedly bitten by the fishy beasties (keeping one hand on the record button, of course).

If you only see one movie this year about a cage dive gone wrong, see another one.

EXTRAS: None

Director: Gerald Rascionato; Starring: Joel Hogan, Josh Potthoff, Megan Peta Hill; DVD, Digital HD release: October 9, 2017

Paul Bradshaw

Page 9 of 15
Page 9 of 15
Certain Women

Certain Women

Two of writer/director Kelly Reichardt’s preoccupations – women’s work, the landscapes of Montana – come together in her evocative adaptation of three short stories by Montana-born author Maile Meloy (the Apothecary series), here given the top-end Criterion treatment.

Four women, lives loosely linked, pursue their existences against the odds: lawyer Laura (Laura Dern), businesswoman Gina (Michelle Williams), night-school teacher Beth (Kristen Stewart) and ranch hand Jamie (Lily Gladstone). Common to all is a sense of stoical isolation in a world where men seem to keep getting the cushier deal.

EXTRAS: Interviews, Essay

Director: Kelly Reichardt; Starring: Michelle Williams Kristen Stewart, Laura Dern; DVD, BD, Digital HD release: September 25, 2017

Philip Kemp

Page 10 of 15
Page 10 of 15
The Howling

The Howling

After Dee Wallace’s newsreader is traumatised following a run-in with a serial killer, she attempts to heal at an isolated retreat, where the good ol’ boys and girls like their hamburgers on the rare side…

Among the ’80s silver-bullet buffet, John Landis’ American Werewolf may be the most beloved, but Joe Dante’s biting satire is altogether grislier, gnarlier – and, frankly, funkier, shot through with wolfish humour and transformation effects to rival the former. The sequels are right dogs, though.

EXTRAS: Commentary, Documentary, Interviews, Featurettes

Director: Joe Dante; Starring: Dee Wallace, Patrick Macnee, Dennis Dugan; DVD, BD, Digital HD release: October 9, 2017

Ali Catterall

Page 11 of 15
Page 11 of 15
Suntan

Suntan

Set on a Greek island, this cringe-com finds sadness in the sun, as plump, jaded middle-aged doctor Kostis (Makis Papadimitriou) falls hopelessly in love with beautiful twentysomething holidaymaker Anna (Elli Tringou).

Always on hand with a bunch of beers to gain entry to her group, Kostis finds himself clubbing by night and tanning by day, until his time in the sun inevitably ends in humiliation. ‘Some bronze. Others burn’ reads the tagline, and any viewers clinging to their youth (cough) will certainly wince with pain.

EXTRAS: Documentary, Interview, Deleted scenes

Director: Argyris Papadimitropoulos; Starring: Makis Papadimitriou, Elli Tringou, Dimi Hart; DVD, BD release: September 11, 2017

Jamie Graham

Page 12 of 15
Page 12 of 15
The Suspicious Death of a Minor

The Suspicious Death of a Minor

Italian director Sergio Martino (Torso) made some of cinema’s twistiest gialli, but this 1975 polizei (cop thriller) is some distance from his best. Set in sleazy, none-more-’70s Milan – no fringe unflicked, no jacket unchecked – it follows shady customer Claudio Cassinelli as he investigates the underage sex trade.

But the slapstick humour detracts from the seriousness of the subject matter, and the borrowings from Argento do neither any favours. Minimal extras.

EXTRAS: Commentary, Interviews, Booklet

Director: Sergio Martino; Starring: Claudio Cassinelli, Mel Ferrer, Lia Tanzi; Dual format release: September 25, 2017

Matt Glasby

Page 13 of 15
Page 13 of 15
 Don’t Torture a Duckling

Don’t Torture a Duckling

Director Lucio Fulci made many classic horror films, including Zombie Flesh Eaters (1979) and The Beyond (1981), but this was his favourite. A rare giallo set in the rural south of Italy, it charts a series of child murders and the resulting investigations.

Taking in themes of superstition and modernity, it still remains a challenging watch that blends breathtaking vistas with stunning violence. This restoration is switchblade sharp, with extras including analysis by genre aficionados, new cast interviews and audio recollections from Fulci himself.

EXTRAS: Commentary, Discussion, Video essay, Interviews, Booklet

Director: Lucio Fulci; Starring: Florinda Bolkan, Barbara Bouchet, Tomas Milian; Dual format release: September 11, 2017

Tim Coleman

Page 14 of 15
Page 14 of 15
It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World

It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World

Whether you choose the restored, 197-minute roadshow version or the marginally sprightlier, 163-minute wide-release edit (both here), Stanley Kramer’s comedy is a long, long, long, long movie. 

While the story’s madcap chase could probably be chopped down further, there’s an undeniable fascination to Kramer’s raucous maximalism. The destructive glee of the stunt work is outdone only by the audacious ‘spot the cameo’ casting, including Jerry Lewis, Buster Keaton and the Three Stooges.

EXTRAS: Commentary, Documentary, Archive material, Booklet

Director: Stanley Kramer; Starring: Spencer Tracy, Milton Berle, Ethel Merman; BD release: September 4, 2017

Simon Kinnear

Page 15 of 15
Page 15 of 15
  • (opens in new tab)
  • (opens in new tab)
  • (opens in new tab)
  • (opens in new tab)
  • Comments
Total Film Staff
Social Links Navigation

The Total Film team are made up of the finest minds in all of film journalism. They are: Editor Jane Crowther, Deputy Editor Matt Maytum, Reviews Ed Matthew Leyland, New Editor Jordan Farley, and Online Editor Jack Shepherd. Expect exclusive news, reviews, features, and more from the team behind the smarter movie magazine. 

More about movies
Justice Smith and Sophia Lillis in Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves actors Justice Smith and Sophia Lillis reveal Chris Pine's favorite D&D spell and why their film is a different kind of action movie

Ben Affleck as Nike co-founder Phil Knight in Air

Ben Affleck explains why Michael Jordan never appears in Air

Latest
Vampire Survivors

Vampire Survivors claims BAFTA Best Game award over Elden Ring and God of War Ragnarok

See more latest ►
See comments
Most Popular
Tears of the Kingdom looks great, but I still don't understand what it is

By Ali JonesMarch 28, 2023

Is it just me, or is the 'Emo Parker' scene a Spider-classic?

By Matt LookerMarch 28, 2023

Fortnite Creative 2.0 could change the game, but only moderation will decide if it's for the better

By Joe DonnellyMarch 27, 2023

You can pet the animals in After Us, but can you save them?

By Edwin Evans-ThirlwellMarch 27, 2023

Suicide Squad's lacklustre reveal is a symptom of a widespread disease in AAA

By Jeremy PeelMarch 27, 2023

Mark Millar and Frank Quitely preview "most ambitious comic book of all time" The Ambassadors

By Will SalmonMarch 27, 2023

Diablo 4's world boss is a nightmare I couldn't wait to walk away from

By Josh WestMarch 25, 2023

Heed my warning: The Diablo 4 open beta will ruin your weekend if you aren't careful

By Josh WestMarch 24, 2023

How the localization of Final Fantasy 14 rose from the ashes

By Josh BroadwellMarch 24, 2023

The D&D movie embraces the game's chaos, and that's why it's a perfect adaptation

By Benjamin AbbottMarch 24, 2023

Celebrating 27 years of Resident Evil

By Josh WestMarch 24, 2023

Load Comments
Recommended
New games for 2023 and beyond to add to your wishlist
  1. Audeze Maxwell gaming headset on a stand next to a plant
    1
    Audeze Maxwell review: 'The next brilliant step for a legendary line of audiophile gaming headsets'
  2. 2
    Razer DeathAdder V3 review: 'An FPS mouse for those who hate FPS mice'
  3. 3
    PNY GeForce RTX 4070 Ti review: "Uses some cheap tricks to stay competitive."
  4. 4
    Dredge Review: "A fascinating, ever-so-gently horrifying experience"
  5. 5
    Razer Hammerhead Hyperspeed (PS5) review: "Feature-rich at a great price"
  1. Alexander Skarsgård as James in Infinity Pool
    1
    Infinity Pool review: "Stylish but ultimately shallow"
  2. 2
    Shazam! Fury of the Gods review: "A disappointing follow-up"
  3. 3
    John Wick Chapter 4 review: "Burns oh-so-brightly"
  4. 4
    Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves review: "turns the board game into a big-screen treat"
  5. 5
    Scream 6 review: "A brash but broad requel-sequel"
  1. Jasmin Savoy Brown in Yellowjackets
    1
    Yellowjackets season 2 episode 2 review: "It certainly isn't pulling any punches"
  2. 2
    The Mandalorian season 3, episode 5 review: "A thrilling chapter that pits good against evil"
  3. 3
    The Mandalorian season 3, episode 4 review: "Where would this show be without Grogu?"
  4. 4
    Yellowjackets season 2 episode 1 review: "It's like we've never been away"
  5. 5
    The Mandalorian season 3, episode 3 review: "A nuanced perspective on the wider world our heroes are operating in"

GamesRadar+ is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site (opens in new tab).

  • About Us (opens in new tab)
  • Contact Future's experts (opens in new tab)
  • Terms and conditions (opens in new tab)
  • Privacy policy (opens in new tab)
  • Cookies policy (opens in new tab)
  • Advertise with us (opens in new tab)
  • Review guidelines (opens in new tab)
  • Write for us (opens in new tab)
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers (opens in new tab)

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.