Channing Tatum stars as Duke in “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.”

Paramount Pictures

Possibly the most violent PG-13 movie ever, “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra” (Paramount, $29.99) has cardboard characters, relentless blam-blam-blam action, plenty of explosions, and a too-long running time. When it’s over, you may feel as though you’ve been playing a video game for two hours. Of course the film was a hit in theaters late last summer.

G.I. Joe is not the name of a soldier, but a fighting force that’s called in after everyone else has failed. This time they’re trying to find a large case that’s filled with nanomites — tiny critters with an insatiable taste for metal that can turn a tank into dust in minutes — before the hungry little monsters can fall into the wrong hands and be weaponized.

There’s plenty of mayhem and almost too many characters as the film tries to accommodate as many of them as possible from the G.I. Joe mythology that was concocted 25 years ago to coincide with Hasbro’s release of a new line of G.I. Joe action figures. Sometimes, encased in cumbersome costumes, it’s hard to tell who is who. But it’s the explosions and special effects that you’ve probably come to see and in those, “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra” does not disappoint.

In addition, Paramount also has “G.I. Joe: Resolute” ($19.99), a nearly hour-long film that continues the raging battle between G.I. Joe and Cobra Commander in which even some of the good guys die.

Family friendly

Much less violent is “Aliens in the Attic” (Fox, $29.98) in which youngsters attending an extended family gathering in a big Victorian house in the country stumble across four diminutive aliens (animated) who have landed in the attic as the vanguard of a Zirconian invasion force. The adults are out of the loop. So is the sheriff. So it’s up to the kids to save the Earth. Who can resist the alien mind-and-body control ray that turns adults into zombie puppets? Stupid movie, right? But kid-friendly, as the children work out ways to fend off the beasties.

Subway to hell

There’s lots more mayhem in “The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3” (Sony, $28.96), an updated remake of the 1974 thriller about a team of hijackers holding 19 people hostage aboard a New York City subway car, demanding that a ransom be paid in one hour or they will kill one hostage for every minute of delay.

Denzel Washington plays a disgraced transit official who tries desperately to buy time for the victims over the phone with the terrorist’s ringleader, a maniacal character named Ryder. John Travolta gives an almost over-the-top performance as Ryder. Should we laugh at this guy or be terrified? Clever and smart and in a constant rage, Ryder is a coiled snake who can be set off by the slightest and sometimes most innocent comment. It’s a race-against-the-clock movie that provides more than its share of suspense and thrills.

Bon appetit

Just as scary, only real is Robert Kenner’s documentary “Food, Inc.” (Magnolia, $26.98), which follows our food supply from farm (or rather, factory) to table. Kenner shows us at the start how marketers have given most Americans “a pastoral fantasy” image of food production out of the early 19th century.

The reality he shows us in quite different, however — a mechanized, high-tech industry controlled largely by a handful of multinational corporations in which chickens never see sunlight, cattle stand all day in their own slop, illegal immigrants with no experience are hired to butcher hogs.

After seeing “Food, Inc.,” you may think twice about ordering a hamburger or a glass of soda.

Also this week

A high school geek proclaims his love for the most popular girl in school and is surprised when she turns up at his house to party in “I Love You, Beth Cooper” (Fox, $27.98); a man is implanted with a lethal microchip in “Hardwired” (Sony, $24.96); director John Huston tackles James Joyce’s mournful rumination on passion in “The Dead” (Lionsgate, $14.98); John Leguizamo plays a washed-up boxer trying to get back on his feet in “Where God Left His Shoes” (IFC, $19.98); a Palestinian widow fights to save her lemon grove after the new Israeli defense minister moves next door and orders the trees cut down in “Lemon Tree” (IFC, $19.98).

From TV

Back on your home screen come: “Here’s Lucy: Season Two” (MPI, $29.98); “The Shield: The Complete Series Collection” (Sony, $159.95).

For children

Keep them riveted to the screen with: “Mickey’s Magical Christmas: Snowed In at the House of Mouse” (Disney, $26.99); “Thomas & Friends: Holiday Express” (HIT/Lionsgate, $16.98); “Scruff: A Christmas Tale” (Image, $9.97); “Dora the Explorer: Dora’s Christmas Carol Adventure” (Nick Jr., $19.99); “Ruby-Spears Superman” (Warner, $26.99); “LeapFrog Learning DVD Set” (Lionsgate, $29.98); “A Merry Fraggle Holiday” (Lionsgate, $14.98); “Fraggle Rock: The Complete Final Season” (Lionsgate, $29.98); “Fraggle Rock: The Complete Series Collection” (Lionsgate, $99.98).

Relive your own childhood with: “Zorro: The First Complete Season” and “Zorro: The Second Complete Season” (Disney, $59.99 each); “Kukla, Fran and Ollie Premiere Collector’s Edition” (Tahse, $35.95) which can be ordered at kuklafranandollie.com or (800) 393-0462.

Performance

Will Ferrell attempts to skewer George W. Bush in his Broadway one-man show and comes up a mite lame in “Will Ferrell: You’re Welcome, America. A Final Night With George W. Bush” (HBO, $19.97); strum along with America’s favorite banjoist in “Bela Fleck: Throw Down Your Heart” (Docurama, $26.95).

Documentaries

Investigate how climate change might bring an end to civilization in the next century in “Earth 2100” (MPI, $14.98); see Darwin’s Theory evolve in “Charles Darwin and The Tree of Life” (BBC, $19.98) on the 150th anniversary of his “On the Origins of Species” or learn even more with “The Genius of Charles Darwin” (Athena, $49.99); search for the ancient kings of Egypt in “Mummies: Secrets of the Pharaohs” (Image, $19.98); unlock the mysteries of daily life in ancient Egypt in “Ancient Lives” (Athena, $49.99); explore the complex history of Christianity and its global impact in “The Christians” (Athena, $99.99); learn how nature not only satisfies our desires, but creates new ones in “The Botany of Desire” (PBS, $24.99).

Collections

On its 20th anniversary, Warner has brought back the perennial holiday hit “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation as the Ultimate Collector’s Edition” ($39.92 DVD; $49.99 Blu-ray).

Warner is still trying to get mileage out of those Emperor penguins with the “March of the Penguins Limited Edition Giftset” ($39.92) which includes the Academy Award-winning documentary plus a new feature-length documentary about an African breed, “On the Wings of a Penguin.”

Take a walk on the dark side with “Columbia Pictures Film Noir Classics Volume 1” (Sony, $59.95) which includes “The Sniper,” “The Big Heat,” “5 Against the House,” “Murder By Contract” and “The Lineup.”

Warner has restored an Alfred Hitchcock classic in high definition in “North by Northwest 50th Anniversary Edition” ($24.98 DVD; $34.99 Blu-ray) with two new documentaries and special features.

There’s a whole new movie to be found in “Watchmen: The Ultimate Cut” (Warner, $43.87 five-disc DVD; $59.99 four-disc Blu-ray) which weaves director Zack Snyder’s film with the animated story-within-a-story “Watchmen: Tales From the Black Freighter.”

With Journal Wire Reports

mjanuson@projo.com