Sony, $27.96; Blu-ray, $34.95

There was little chance that director John Hillcoat’s adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s bestselling novel “The Road” was going to be as powerful as the book, which turns the cliché of post-apocalyptic survival into a haunting, poetic tale about fathers and sons and letting go. And sure enough, literalizing McCarthy’s story on screen does rob it of some of its mystery. But Viggo Mortensen is effective as a dad trying to protect his son from ravagers in the scorched wasteland of the future, and Hillcoat skillfully conveys McCarthy’s profound sense of melancholy and impending doom. Most important, he’s made a movie that’s painful to watch but gets people to reflect on the meaning of their own lives and families — just as McCarthy intended. “The Road” DVD and Blu-ray add a Hillcoat commentary, deleted scenes and short making-of featurette. [Source]

Viggo Mortensen’s “The Road” was one of the best films of 2009 (in my opinion), but not only was it ignored by the Academy Awards, but it also didn’t get much of a release in the US.

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has now announced that the film will be coming to DVD and Blu-ray on May 25th and will include such bonus material as a director’s commentary, deleted and extended scenes, the making of ‘The Road,’ and two theatrical trailers.

Plot: A father (Mortensen) and his son (Kodi Smit-McPhee) walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape. It is cold enough to crack stones, and when the snow falls it is gray. The sky is dark. Their destination is the coast, although they don’t know what, if anything, awaits them there. They have nothing; just a pistol to defend themselves against the lawless bands that stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged food and each other. [Source]