One of last season’s most talked about new TV series, Homeland was available only to those with subscriptions to Showtime. Now that it is out on Blu-ray and standard DVD, everyone now has access to the series’ complete first season.

Based on an Israeli TV series, but adapted to American prejudices and fears, the series’ narrative is about an Iraq War P.O.W. who returns home to a hero’s welcome after eight years in captivity. But is he what he seems? A bi-polar C.I.A. agent with a troubled past doesn’t think so. She thinks he’s been turned and is part of a conspiracy to commit terrorist acts on U.S. soil.

The series keeps you guessing through the first five episodes after which it delivers a surprise you don’t see coming, followed by numerous twists and turns that satisfy some story threads, but leave others dangling.

The best thing about Homeland is its cast, headed by Golden Globe winner and Emmy nominee Claire Danes as the nervous but forthright C.I.A. agent and Golden Globe and Emmy nominee Damian Lewis as the returning soldier. Many Patinkin, in one of his best roles, also delivers as Danes’ mentor. The rest of the stellar cast includes such relative unknowns as Morena Baccarin as the solder’s wife; Diego Klattenhoff as his best friend and her lover; Jackson Pace and Morgan Saylor as the soldier’s kids; David Harewood as the Assistant C.I.A. Director; Hrach Titizian as an Islamic C.I.A. agent; Jamey Sheridan as the Vice President and former head of the C.I.A. and Linda Purl as a Washington hostess.

Also making its way to Blu-ray and standard DVD is an even tougher to find series, one that is available only to subscribers of Direct-TV.

Originally made for British TV, Injustice is a mini-series that may or may not be picked up for additional episodes. Focusing on the murder of a young girl, who may be a spy, the narrative also focuses on the simultaneous murder of an animal rights protester that may or may not have anything to do with the case. It also goes off on several tangents dealing with bullies, police corruption and marital discord among other things.

Again, the acting is the thing that keeps it interesting, especially the performances of James Purefoy as a barrister with a troubled past; Dervla Kerwin as his inquisitive wife; Charlie Creed-Mills as an abusive cop; Joe Cole as a teenage prisoner with a secret and Nathaniel Parker as the man on trial for the murder of his secretary.

The Iraq war provides the background for another new to Blu-ray and standard DVD release, Scott Hicks’ The Lucky One, based on the novel by Nicholas Sparks.

Sparks’ novels, or at least the films made from them, though they may be set in contemporary times, always seem to me to take place in the less complicated 1950s as though they were about soldiers and veterans of the Korean War instead of Iraq or Afghanistan. Their lyrical romances have a 1970s feel about them and their general wholesomeness remind me of 1990s made-for-Cable TV movies. The Lucky One is no exception.

Zac Efron, who always seems to me to be on the verge of breaking out as a major star, but never quite does, is competent as the former marine who believes that his discovery of a picture of a girl he never met to be his lucky charm. After his discharge, he walks from Wyoming to Louisiana with his dog to find the girl. He does, but doesn’t tell her the backstory.

Taylor Schilling is the girl; Riley Thomas Stewart her gifted son; Jay R. Ferguson her menacing ex-husband and Blythe Danner her feisty grandmother. It’s pretty much by the numbers, but a decent enough film if you have nothing else to do with a couple of hours.

With all the great films of Hollywood’s past yet to make their way to Blu-ray., Henry Koster’s 1950 film, Harvey, may seem like an odd choice to be given the upgrade as one of Universal’s 100th Anniversary releases, although it is a welcome one.

The release, which was delayed from earlier in the year, is probably timed to coincide with the opening of the new Broadway revival with Jim Parsons. So be it, but having seen James Stewart inhabit the role of Elwood P. Dowd on more than one occasion, I really can’t see anyone else in the role.

Stewart replaced original Broadway star Frank Fay in the role on stage before playing it on screen. He subsequently played the part in a 1970 Broadway revival and a 1975 TV production. Who else but Stewart could warm the hearts of generations as a mild-mannered middle-aged man whose best friend is an invisible 6’3’ rabbit? Josephine Hull won an Oscar recreating her Broadway role as Stewart’s exasperated sister, but make no mistake, this is Stewart’s film and one of his finest comedy hours.

Fox Cinema Archives continue to release some of their most requested films on standard DVD. Among the newest batch of releases are such popular titles as Claudia and David; The Power and the Glory and My Gal Sal.

A sequel to 1943’s Claudia, which was released in the first batch of Fox titles, 1946’s Claudia and David takes place four years after the first one. In the first one, Dorothy McGuire, recreating her Broadway role, made her screen debut as the naïve bride (married to Robert Young), who has to grow up fast when she learns simultaneously that she is pregnant and her beloved mother (Ina Claire) is facing imminent death. This time she has to learn to stop fretting about every little sniffle her son has and her perception that her ever faithful husband (Young) is straying.

The notable supporting cast of Claudia and David includes Mary Astor, John Sutton, Gail Patrick and Rose Hobart in an outstanding portrayal of a woman who can’t get beyond the grief of losing a young child.

The model for Citizen Kane, 1933’s The Power and the Glory, with a screenplay by Preston Sturges, tells the complex story of a tycoon’s life in flashback after his death. Spencer Tracy is the tycoon, lovely Colleen Moore his wife and Ralph Morgan the narrator.

1890s songwriter Paul Dresser is the focus of 1942’s My Gal Sal. Victor Mature is fine as Dresser, but the picture belongs to top-billed Rita Hayworth, subbing for a pregnant Alice Faye, who plays the song-and-dance gal he loved. Hayworth’s singing is dubbed, but not her dancing, which is superb.

This week’s new DVD releases include Sidney Lumet’s never before on home video 1972 psychological mystery, Child’s Play and Robert Siodmak’s never before on DVD 1946 nail-biter, The Dark Mirror.