New on DVD

Beowulf: Director’s Cut

(Paramount, $30)

Robert Zemeckis’ special-effects-laden take on the Anglo-Saxon epic looks surprisingly good on a small screen, said Mike Clark in USA Today. The director’s cut is “slightly ickier” and more explicit, complete with a nearly nude, digitized Anthony Hopkins.

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State of Play

(BBC Warner, $35)

This riveting BBC miniseries will be adapted into a film starring Russell Crowe next year, said Aubry D’Armino in Entertainment Weekly. It will have “loads to live up to,” from Bill Nighy’s acclaimed lead performance as a grouchy newsman investigating murders to David Yates’ “adrenalized direction.”

Pierrot le Fou

(Criterion, $35)

Nearly five decades after its release, Jean-Luc Godard’s 1965 film still stands up, said Dave Kehr in The New York Times. Godard’s tale of a love affair gone awry broke new ground with its clever blend of highbrow and lowbrow to the “postmodern ease with which it mixes and matches genres.”