New DVDs: 'Straight Outta Compton,' 'The Martian,' 'Wake Up and Kill'

One of the most significant cultural events of 2015 was the hip-hop biopic

Straight Outta Compton

. The movie told the story of the rise of the Compton, Calif., outfit N.W.A., founded by future music legends MC Ren (Aldis Hodge), Dr. Dre (Corey Hawkins), Eazy-E (Jason Mitchell), DJ Yella (Neil Brown Jr.), and Ice Cube (played in the movie by the rapper's son, O'Shea Jackson Jr.).

Universal will release the film Tuesday for the home video market.

Straight Outta Compton was directed by F. Gary Gray (Set It Off, The Negotiator), who has considerable experience helming music videos. But the film is anything but an extended music vid.

Straight Outta Compton has an intelligent, complex narrative, exploring the political and social circumstances from which the group emerged in the 1980s. And it presents without apology the group's fierce, sometimes incendiary, criticism of American society.

Filmgoers responded: Made for $28 million, the 147-minute picture went on to earn more than $200 million in worldwide ticket sales.

(www.uphe.com; $29.98 DVD; $34.98 Blu-ray/DVD Combo; rated R)

The Martian. Jeff Daniels, Matt Damon, and Michael Peña star in Ridley Scott's epic adaptation of the Andy Weir novel. An astronaut (Damon) is left behind during a manned flight to Mars. He has to fend for himself until a rescue vessel can reach him. (www.foxconnect.com; $29.98 DVD; $39.99 Blu-ray; $49.99 Blu-ray 3D/Blu-ray/DVD Combo; rated PG-13)

Wake Up and Kill. Carlo Lizzani's violent 1966 crime epic, also known as Wake Up and Die, tells the true story of author, poet, and gun-toting thief Luciano Lutring, who was nicknamed "the machine-gun soloist" because he carried his gun in a violin case.

Played by Austrian actor Robert Hoffmann, the criminal committed more than 100 heists in Italy and the French Riviera before he was wounded and arrested in Paris in 1965. The film has been exquisitely restored and is presented here in a two-disc set featuring both DVD and Blu-ray editions. (mvdb2b.com; $29.95 DVD/Blu-ray Combo; not rated)

Experimenter. Peter Sarsgaard plays social psychologist Stanley Milgram in director Michael Almereyda's terrific drama. The story centers on Milgram's infamous 1961 Yale University experiments about social conformity, which showed how far average people would go to obey authority figures. (www.magpictures.com; $26.98 DVD; $29.98 Blu-ray; rated PG-13)

A Girl Like Her. Amy S. Weber's brilliant film also explores the pressure to conform, this time in the sometimes vicious world of teenagers. Lexi Ainsworth stars as the victim of high school bullies who seeks the help of her only friend, a would-be-filmmaker (Jimmy Bennett) to document the abuse she suffers daily.

Shot as a faux documentary, Weber's film shows how the bullies react to the horrifying footage when they are forced to sit through it. It's due Tuesday. (www.agirllikehermovie.com; $19.93; rated PG-13)

Stonewall. Director Roland Emmerich, best known for over-the-top action thrillers such as Independence Day and White House Down, explores the roots of the modern gay-rights movement in this low-budget character piece.

Jeremy Irvine stars as a young gay man from Indiana who is drawn into the 1969 Stonewall riots in Manhattan. It's due Tuesday from Lionsgate. (www.lionsgateshop.com; $16.99; rated R)

12 Monkeys: Season 1. Aaron Stanford and Amanda Schull costar in Syfy's impressive adaptation of Terry Gilliam's dystopian sci-fi thriller from 1995. The second season won't premiere until April, so you have ample time to spend with this three-disc set. (www.uphe.com; $44.98 DVD; $49.98 Blu-ray; not rated)

Most titles also available for digital download from major retailers.

tirdad@phillynews.com

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