The 2008 film version of the beloved TV spy comedy "Get Smart" is out on DVD. Also new: a collection of Westerns from famed director Budd Boetticher and a box set of vintage "Howdy Doody" TV shows.

• "The Films of Budd Boetticher" Sony, unrated

Director Boetticher's five Randolph Scott Westerns at Columbia each were shot in 18 days, give or take. The movies are given their due on this splendid set from fans Martin Scorsese, Clint Eastwood and Taylor Hackford.

Back story: Scott's taciturn protagonists often had melancholy pasts, while the villains (Richard Boone, Claude Akins, Lee Van Cleef, Skip Homeier, James Coburn) were superb. My order of preference: "The Tall T" (1957); "Ride Lonesome" (1959); "Comanche Station" (1960); "Decision at Sundown" (1957); and "Buchanan Rides Alone" (1958, still pretty good). Two non-Columbias are not here: "Seven Men From Now" (1956; on DVD) and "Westbound" (1959; not on DVD).

Extras: Eastwood and Quentin Tarantino in 2005's documentary "A Man Can Do That"; commentaries.

• "Howdy Doody," Mill Creek, unrated

You needn't love it — or its occasional political incorrectness — to bow to this five-disc set's awesome archival value. But yes, I love it.

Back story: We've had Howdy VHS-DVD predecessors, but the kinescope quality here is excellent and the programming skews toward the earlier prime era. You get: Bob Keeshan (later Captain Kangaroo) as Clarabell; Judy Tyler's Princess Summerfall Winterspring; Howdy foil Buffalo Bob Smith saying "Bouncin' Buffaloes"; Chief Thunderthud originating "Kowabunga" and putting a "um" on every word ("Sant-um Claus-um"); Bob shilling for Kellogg's cereals; Colgate toothpaste busting "Mr. Tooth Decay."

Extras: Twilight interviews of Smith and other personnel; a 32-page glossy booklet; two anniversary broadcasts; 1960's final show.

• "Transsiberian," First Look, rated R (no extras)

If you love vintage choo-choo mysteries — think Hitchcock's "The Lady Vanishes" or Carol Reed's "Night Train to Munich" or the original "The Narrow Margin" — one of the year's standout sleepers to date is for you.

Back story: A protracted China-Mongolia-Russia railway trek offers snow and ice out the window plus feelings of claustrophobia inside. Even before sex, drugs and deceit become factors, it's an atmosphere ripe to unravel the lives of missionaries whose marriage is shaky. As the husband, Woody Harrelson is cast against type, though the standout performance is arguably Emily Mortimer's as the wife. Why arguable? Because Ben Kingsley (wily Russian detective) belatedly dominates much of a juicy narrative.

• "Get Smart," Warner, PG-13

This retread of TV's lucrative spy-farce franchise continues Steve Carell's recent mild-or-worse streak that began with "Evan Almighty" and "Dan in Real Life," after the far funnier comedies that launched his big-screen stardom. Relatively painless as summer comedies go, though not exactly bound for an extended shelf life, "Get Smart" is of mild interest for contrasting co-star Anne Hathaway's appealing turn as a comic/romantic foil with her current triumph in "Rachel Getting Married" (indeed, one of the year's landmark performances).

This also offers another example of how resourceful Terence Stamp (as KAOS heavy Siegfried) is, renewing his career more than four decades after "Billy Budd" and "The Collector," speaking of movies that really do have shelf lives.

• "When Did You Last See Your Father?" Sony, PG-13

Writer/poet Blake Morrison's memoir sparked the latest in a much-trod-upon movie genre about sons dealing with irascibly impossible fathers and gnawing memories of their transgressions near the end of dad's life.

The great Jim Broadbent plays a rural English physician who has too-periodically abused his high standing with boorish behavior. Colin Firth, an actor who has carved a successful career out of not being relaxed on screen, is his ball-of-nerves son, who is much more worldly and an aspiring man of letters.

Because it deals with the effect of complex memories on adult psyches, you can't say the movie lacks depth. Yet it does lack the ultimate oomph of director Anand Tucker's 1998 "Hilary and Jackie,"which was stirring enough to come out of nowhere to win two Oscar nominations for performances.