Bicycle Thieves (1948) — PICK
The Bourne Trilogy (2002–2007) — PICK
Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens (2015) — PICK

One of the greatest films ever made, a Vatican film-list honoree in the “Values” category, comes to Blu-ray courtesy of the Criterion Collection.

Bicycle Thieves (also known in the U.S. as The Bicycle Thief), Vittorio De Sica’s towering masterpiece of Italian neorealism, is one of those classics that transcends its own certified reputation, not to mention its age, affecting viewers as profoundly today as when it was released.

The film follows a sympathetic but flawed protagonist, an impoverished husband and father named Antonio, as he grasps at a straw of hope offered to him, only to lose it. Although we see the Church, the police and other institutions doing what they can for Antonio and others in need, the family is the surest bastion of hope in a hard world. Like a parable, the story has a symmetrical, haunting power that stays with the viewer forever.

Also new on Blu-ray and DVD, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, from director J.J. Abrams, is a nostalgic blast from the past, a credible return to that time long ago and that galaxy far, far away. It takes viewers once again to a world of lightsabers, Jedi knights and a last hurrah for Harrison Ford’s elderly Han Solo.

There are new heroes — Daisy Ridley as a self-sufficient young heroine named Rey and John Boyega as Finn, an anxious stormtrooper with a conscience — as well as a new villain, Adam Driver’s low-rent Vader wannabe, Kylo Ren.

In the end, it’s probably too nostalgic, borrowing too heavily from the original 1977 Star Wars in particular. But fans burned by the prequel trilogy will find The Force Awakens balm for their wounds and hope for new chapters yet to come.

Finally, The Bourne Trilogy is out in new Blu-ray editions. Matt Damon is at his empathic best in these films as a memory-challenged former black-ops agent struggling to do the right thing, even though another character skeptically says, “Nobody does the right thing.”

All three films are compulsively watchable action fare with a conscience — but you can skip the Damon-less afterthought, The Bourne Legacy, starring Jeremy Renner.