New on DVD

Experience the hard life and unforgiving education of John Connor, the once and future savior of the human race, in the TV series set in the aftermath of "Terminator 2: Judgment Day." Lena Headey is Sarah Connor (in the role created by Linda Hamilton), and petite hellcat Summer Glau (of "Firefly" fame) is the next generation of Terminator bodyguard, sent back in time to protect John (Thomas Dekker) from the assassins sent from the future. They do a little time traveling themselves in the opening episode, leaving 1999 and their old identities behind by landing in the 21st century, where the world assumes they are long dead. Dekker is fine as John, but Heady carries the show as the kick-ass single mom, whose maternal instincts have been colonized by survival instincts, and Glau uses her dancer's training to give a little grace and a lot of strength to her action moves. Richard T. Jones is the FBI agent dogging their trail (even after the world thinks they died in a giant set-piece explosion), and Brian Austin Green joins the show as a resistance fighter from the future who is suspicious of all cyborgs. The midseason replacement ran for a mere nine episodes, but it is a visceral action series, one of the most expensive on TV, and it shows in each dynamic scene.

All nine episodes are collected on a three-disc set in a standard case with a hinged sleeve. Executive producer Josh Friedman, who developed the show and wrote the first episodes, provides commentary on three episodes with various collaborators: director David Nutter and actress Glau join him on the "Pilot"; actors Headey and Dekker and writer John Worth are on board for "The Turk"; and Glau, Green and writer Ian Goldberg talk about the season finale. The three-part "Creating the Chronicles" is a behind-the-scenes documentary for fans, a near-obsessive survey of the development of the look and texture and ideas behind the show, illustrated with plenty of sketches and models and rough production footage. Also features an extended director's cut of the episode "The Demon Hand" (about eight minutes longer, with some unfinished effects and footage); audition tapes for Headey, Dekker and Jones; Glau dance rehearsal footage; and deleted scenes from select episodes among the supplements. Also available in Blu-ray format.