A time-tested fairytale received a modern-day update--and made an unlikely sex symbol of bearish actor Ron Perlman--in the late-1980s television drama Beauty and the Beast. Created by Ron Koslow, the series centers on the love between New York district attorney Catherine Chandler (Linda Hamilton) and a deformed but chivalric man-beast named Vincent (Perlman), who lives in the city’s labyrinthine underground passageways along with an entire community of fellow outcasts. As Catherine’s crime-fighting duties frequently place her in mortal danger, Vincent is there to save her from harm and share a star-crossed love that can never be consummated, providing the series with much of its achingly romantic appeal.

Based on the 1960s Japanese-manga-derived animated TV series of the same name, Speed Racer follows the adventures of the title character (Emile Hirsch), a young race car driver who sits behind the wheel of the lightning-fast Mach 5 vehicle. Aided by his family, which includes Pops Racer (John Goodman) and Mom Racer (Susan Sarandon), and his devoted doe-eyed girlfriend, Trixie (Christina Ricci), Speed racks up victory after victory, but still lives in the shadow of his late older brother, Rex (Scott Porter), who died in a race. When Speed garners the wrath of Royalton Industries, he must team up with the enigmatic Racer X (Matthew Fox) to defeat the ruthless corporation. Written and directed by Larry and Andy Wachowski, the masterminds behind the Matrix films, Speed Racer replaces the gritty techno patina of that blockbuster series with a polished, brightly hued virtual reality.

Marcel Langenegger makes his feature-film directorial debut with the aptly titled Deception, a film about secrets and lies. Jonathan McQuarry (Ewan McGregor) feels that life is passing him by. He completes short-term audits for a large firm, but doesn’t really feel any connection to his employer and finds it difficult to make friends at his assignments since he’s never there for long. Jonathan’s circumstances change overnight when charming lawyer Wyatt Bose (Hugh Jackman) befriends him. In an instant, the shy accountant is playing doubles tennis with his new friend and beautiful women and visiting upscale clubs. Just as mild-mannered Jonathan is getting used to his new lifestyle, Wyatt leaves town on business. When Jonathan finds himself mistakenly in possession of Wyatt’s cell phone, he also discovers a whole new world of anonymous sex in elite Manhattan hotels with powerful women known simply as “The List.” But soon Jonathan is in over his head: he’s the prime suspect when a woman goes missing, and the threat of extortion looms.

The latest Marvel Comics superhero to hit the big screen is Daredevil (Ben Affleck), a man blinded by a radioactive chemical accident as a young boy but left with superhuman senses and agile acrobatic ability. Like his Marvel compatriot Spider-Man, Daredevil attempts to lead a normal life by day as Matt Murdock, a Hell’s Kitchen defense attorney. By night Matt becomes Daredevil, a brooding superhero fighting for justice in the dark and squalid New York streets overrun with vermin and criminal injustice. Wearing a red leather suit and mask, Daredevil leaps from high skyscrapers and tracks his enemies with his radar-like vision, punishing those who are guilty but who he cannot tackle in the courtroom.

The History Channel’s Gangland series profiles some of the uncompromising figures who make up America’s toughest gangs. Among the episodes featured on this collection are segments on the Hells Angels, the Mexican Mafia, the Aryan Brotherhood, and menacing street gangs such as the Bloods and the Crips. Each show focuses on issues that are a part of everyday life for gang members, such as gaining territory over rivals, drug dealing, acquiring weaponry, and internal conflict. Every episode from the first season of the show is included on this collection.