DVD packages superb acting of 'Volcano,' rich features

"Under the Volcano: The Criterion Collection" -- The Criterion brand on a DVD is as powerful as the little blue box from Tiffany: You know that whatever's inside has to be good. Criterion's release of "Under the Volcano," a 1984 film by legendary filmmaker John Huston ("The Maltese Falcon") doesn't disappoint. The movie is set during the Day of the Dead holiday in Mexico in 1939, and it takes us through the final 24 hours in the life of Geoffrey Firmin (Albert Finney), a former British consul living in a fog of alcoholism. Firmin staggers around a small Mexican village, desperately hoping to reconnect with his estranged wife, Yvonne (Jacqueline Bisset). He even enters a church and murmurs a clumsy prayer for her return. A short while later comes a scene of exquisite acting and direction. Firmin sits in a bar, drinking and barking out war stories to the bored bartender, when Yvonne appears in the doorway. Firmin looks at her, then turns away and continues talking. He looks again, then turns away. He looks a third time, convinced now that his wife might really be standing before him, that she isn't just a drunken hallucination, that his prayer has actually been answered. Yvonne's return lifts Firmin's spirit, but it also triggers his resentment over a past affair she had with his half-brother. The rest of the film shows Firmin trying to start over with Yvonne, even as the booze won't let him forget her betrayal. "Under the Volcano," based on a novel by Malcolm Lowry, isn't perfect. Huston doesn't give Bisset's character enough room in the story, so she remains a mystery, a flaw that blunts the film's ending. But Finney's Oscar-nominated performance is so brilliant, so perfectly controlled and executed, that it lifts the movie past its shortcomings. (You'll stare in awe as Finney recreates the tortured speech and movements of a drunk.) As is typical of Criterion, this two-disc set comes loaded with meaty and well-chosen supplements, including a commentary with the film's producers, a new interview with Bisset and a fascinating documentary from 1984 about the making of the film. (R; Criterion, $39.95)

"Mr. Brooks" -- There's a nice little thriller inside "Mr. Brooks," but it's buried by too many characters, too many plot lines, too many endings. Kevin Costner plays Earl Brooks, a successful business owner and family man in Portland, Ore., who hides a dark secret: He's the notorious Thumbprint Killer. Earl, with the help of Marshall (William Hurt), his sinister inner voice, has managed to keep both of his lives separate, until an impulse killing of a young couple is witnessed by a neighbor across the street. But in a unique twist, the neighbor (a miscast Dane Cook) doesn't go to the police. Instead, he approaches Earl and demands that Earl bring him along on the next kill. If Earl refuses, the neighbor will turn him in. So far, so good. But then the movie introduces Detective Atwood (Demi Moore), the tenacious cop pursuing the Thumbprint Killer. Atwood is in the middle of a divorce, which is hurting her career, and she's also in danger from an escaped serial killer who's after her for putting him away. Oh, then there's Earl's daughter, who announces suddenly that she's pregnant and dropping out of college, though she might be hiding a darker secret of her own. As each plot wraps around the others, the movie gets sillier, culminating in a ridiculous dream sequence at the end that'll have you saying "What the HECK?" It's a shame, because Costner and Hurt are great together, and it's nice to see Moore (looking as lithe as she did 15 years ago) back in her "I'm-as-tough-as-the-boys" mode. The "Mr. Brooks" DVD includes a commentary with the director and writers, deleted scenes and several featurettes exploring different aspects of the production. (R; MGM, $29.98)

Also out today:

• The long-awaited first volume of the "The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones" arrives today, and it has to be one of the most unusual TV-on-DVD releases ever. The mammoth 12-disc set includes seven "episodes," each of which consists of two episodes of the TV show edited together into a feature-length movie, plus no less than 38 companion documentaries about the various historical figures and events touched on in the episodes. The early-'90s show is a family-friendly mix of humor and adventure, and it's notable for using digital effects that later became central to series creator George Lucas' "Star Wars" prequels. (Paramount, $129.99)