Charismatic, cutthroat and a showstopper

Kill Bill Vol. 2

Uma Thurman, David Carradine

Miramax, $30

The first volume in Quentin Tarantino’s tale of a woman’s revenge was so filled with gratuitous gore and mayhem, one didn’t harbor much hope that the second installment would be any better. Surprisingly -- shockingly -- it’s not only better, “Vol. 2” contains some of the director’s best work since “Pulp Fiction” a decade ago. Uma Thurman is on target, so to speak, as the revenge-filled Bride out to kill her former boyfriend Bill. But the movie is stolen, lock, stock and barrel, by David Carradine as the charismatic, cutthroat Bill.

The DVD offers a passable documentary that was produced for TV; footage of the group Chingon -- led by “Once Upon a Time in Mexico” director Robert Rodriguez -- performing at the premiere; and a bloody but fun scene in which Carradine dispatches a gang of killers.

*

Good Bye, Lenin!

Daniel Bruhl, Katrin Sass

Columbia TriStar, $30

A sweet comedy-drama from Germany that was nominated for a foreign-language film Oscar. Daniel Bruhl plays a young man living in East Germany whose fervid socialistic mother (Katrin Sass) has a heart attack. While she is in a coma, the country is unified. Because her doctor says she cannot handle stress in her life after she wakes up, her son decides to create the illusion that communist Germany is alive and well.

There is a surprising amount of extras for a foreign film on the DVD, including deleted scenes, a look at the visual effects, intelligent commentary from director Wolfgang Becker and an equally charming track with the cast.

*

Predator

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers

Fox, $27

With “Alien vs. Predator” hitting the screens Friday, Fox is releasing this “widescreen collector’s edition” of the original 1987 “Predator,” starring Schwarzenegger at his muscular best. The first major feature for director John McTiernan (“Die Hard”), “Predator” is a rough-and-tumble thrill ride about an elite band of Army commandos who get more than they bargained for when they are flown by helicopter into a remote South American jungle to rescue a kidnapped official.

The two-disc set includes a profile of the Predator, a creepy deleted scene and three tiny outtakes, a look at the special effects and camouflage tests, the fun retrospective documentary “If It Bleeds, We Can Kill It: The Making of Predator” and seven featurettes. There’s also text commentary from film historian Eric Lichtenfeld that’s more distracting than informative and lackadaisical commentary from McTiernan.