Bridge of Spies (2015) PICK

Spectre (2015) PASS

Star Trek: Original Motion Picture Collection PICK

Star Trek: The Next Generation Motion Picture Collection PASS

Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks reunite for Bridge of Spies, a cracking, witty fact-based Cold War thriller about an insurance lawyer named James B. Donovan (Hanks) who is unexpectedly picked by the government to defend a captured Soviet spy, Rudolf Abel (wryly stoic Mark Rylance), but who brings more to the table than anyone expects.

It’s also the story of an Eisenhower-era CIA pilot shot down in Soviet airspace and Donovan’s role in the tense negotiations that follow.

Along the way, the film blends an eloquent Capra-esque celebration of the American ideals enshrined in the Constitution with a humanistic respect for any loyal citizen doing his duty to his country, even if that country is the USSR.

In less delightful espionage escapades, Daniel Craig is back as Bond in the decidedly lame Spectre, a 007 film that works hard to offer a master statement on the whole franchise to date, but comes off as uneven and misguided.

A mishmash of Craig-era grit and Roger Moore-era escapism, Spectre continues the squandering of the moral and psychological achievement of Casino Royale, still the best Bond film. Worse, Spectre undermines the whole Bond mythos (spoiler alert) by linking every threat Bond has ever faced to childhood sibling rivalry between James and his foster brother, who grows up to be Dr. Evil. Boo.

Should you pick up the new Star Trek: Original Motion Picture Collection on Blu-ray or DVD? It’s six films for a very good price — though only four are good, and that’s counting Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, which I do count, though not everyone does.

In any case, you get Ricardo Montalban as Khaaaaan, the Trek crew in the 1980s searching for humpback whales, and the first tentative diplomatic overtures between the Federation and the Klingon empire, like the beginning of the end of the Cold War. (Oh look, full circle.)

On the other hand, nobody needs Star Trek: The Next Generation Motion Picture Collection. There’s really only one great Next Generation film: the original, First Contact, with Picard and the Borg. Get that, and you’re set.