Today, we’re going to look at two Blu-ray discs, both of which I think would be perfect gifts for Father’s Day.

Valkyrie is Bryan Singer’s first foray onto the silver screen since the generally panned but, in my opinion, underrated Superman Returns. Here, he tells the story of another superhero, but this time about one who existed in real life. Klauss von Stauffenberg led the most daring plot to assasinate Adolf Hitler before the end of the war from inside the German army. I reviewed the film (and you can read that review here) and feel much the same way about it upon another viewing. The added bonus to this version of the film is the on-location cinematography. When a film has makers that are passionate enough about the authenticity of a true story to shoot it in the real locations, it’s always infinitely fascinating to see it in all of its high definition glory.

There are a plethora of special features on this disc, and though I enjoyed the behind the scenes drama involved in actually securing the actual locations, my favorite was the History Channel style look at the actual events behind the movie.

It was as riveting as Bryan Singer’s film.

The next film on today’s docket is Taken. I must say, I was pleasantly surprised by this film. Reviews had been mixed and reaction amongst my circle of friends varied drastically. I skipped it in theatres because of this reaction and opted instead to check it out on Blu-ray. Honestly, I wish I would have seen this in the theatres first.

Luc Besson (who’s always been a favorite of mine) crafted a mindless action script into something just a little bit more and it made me extremely happy.

Don’t go into this film expecting to get anything other than what you would have expected to see watching the trailer. This is a film for Liam Neeson to have his daughter kidnapped, and have the audience be entertained by the ultra-violence that ensues when he goes about finding her abductors and getting his sweet, sweet revenge.

I didn’t see the PG-13 version, obviously, but for all its flaws, the unrated version was an entirely satisfying film experience that I would actually be interested in repeating. Sure, some of the acting is bad (never Neeson’s though, that man is top notch) and some of the story parts are cheesy, but the action is assembled with a deft hand and Liam Neeson is, quite simply, an action hero.

Both of these films are perfect Father’s Day gifts for dads.

World War II films have long been a staple in the movie diet of fathers and grandfathers and there haven’t been many better in the last ten years than Valkyrie. I think the same goes for Taken and the genre of mindless action films with heart.