March 20, 2013 THE VILLADOM TIMES IV • Page 17 Thriller offers gripping look at worldwide manhunt by Dennis Seuling “Zero Dark Thirty” (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment) traces the decade-long hunt for Osama bin Laden, mastermind of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Director Kathryn Bigelow (“The Hurt Locker”) focuses on one CIA analyst, Maya (Jessica Chastain), who is based on a real person. Maya’s sole assignment is the search for bin Laden and she is consumed by the task. She has no serious relationship, no friends, and not much of a life outside her job. “Zero Dark Thirty” rises above other political thrillers because it is not burdened with unnecessary romantic entanglements, comic relief, or cliché. Bigelow takes viewers through the behind-the-scenes operations of the CIA as it juggles information, spends billions, and is under enormous pressure to get results. Chastain plays Maya as an intelligent, outspoken team member with an amazing ability to recognize clues, piece them together, and convince her superiors to bankroll field operations that will net her the next piece of valuable information. She builds her quest -- one piece at a time -- for the world’s foremost terrorist. Mark Boal’s script portrays interrogation methods using torture, but leaves the audience members to form their own opinion as to whether the means justify the end. The film chronicles the Navy SEALS operation that resulted in the death of bin Laden, but this is only one part of the picture. Its most interesting aspect is depicting how incredibly difficult anti-terrorism is and how many sharp minds are needed. The two-disc Blu-ray/DVD combo pack’s extras include a making-of featurette, a tour of the movie’s rebuilt compound, and footage of the cast training with authentic SEALS gear. A single-disc DVD edition containing the Jessica Chastain stars as a CIA analyst in ‘Zero Dark Thirty.’ same extras is also available. “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” (New Line Home Video) is director Peter Jackson’s lengthy adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy novel. Taking place 60 years before the events in the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, it follows the adventures of young hobbit Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman), who is recruited by the wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellan) to help a gang of rowdy dwarves reclaim their mountain home. Jackson’s plan to break down “The Hobbit” into three feature-film installments may tax the patience of his core audience. The first hour plays very much like a children’s flick. Though the movie does turn darker and more dramatic, the director veers considerably from the well known book in an attempt to add spectacle and endow some characters with loftier motives than Tolkien envisioned. As in the “Lord of the Rings” films, the cinematography and production design are impressive, but the running time makes this fantasy a long slog. A deluxe five-disc edition contains Blu-ray 3D, Bluray 2D, DVD, and digital copy. Extras include Jackson’s making-of production videos; featurettes on the start of production, location scouting, and filming in 3D; a postproduction overview; and footage of the world premiere in Wellington, New Zealand. “The Hobbit” is also available in a three-disc Blu-ray/DVD combo pack and a two-disc DVD edition. “The Other Son” (Cohen Media Group), which is available in both Blu-ray and DVD editions, tells of Tel Aviv resident Joseph (Jules Sitruk). As he is preparing to join the Israeli army for his national service, he discovers he is not his parents’ biological son, and that he was accidentally switched at birth with Yacine (Mehdi Dehbi), the son of a Palestinian family from the West Bank. At the time of the boys’ birth, during the first Gulf War, a missile attack forced the hospital’s evacuation, and in the confusion, they were sent home with the wrong parents. Now, 18 years later, (continued on Crossword page)