DVD Picks: The 'Dragon Tattoo' Trilogy

by Bob Mondello, NPR

Each week, Bob Mondello suggests an addition to your video queue. This week, it's the 'Dragon Tattoo' trilogy, available now in a box set on DVD and Blu-ray.

No man who terrorizes women would ever want to meet Lisbeth Salander, she of the dragon tattoo, scary hair and fierce aspect — a girl, shall we say, of few words, every one of them choice and more than a few unprintable.

As played by Noomi Rapace, Lisbeth is an avenging, leather-clad rape survivor/computer hacker/amateur detective taking on an entrenched culture of corruption, neglect, and misogyny in tandem with crusading journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyquist). Based on Stieg Larsson's gazillion selling Millennium novels, the Swedish-language film trilogy has taken in more than $200,000,000 worldwide.

The first screen adaptation was designed as a film and consequently has striking visuals, while the other two, though international hits, were initially created for Swedish TV. On the big screen that seemed a drawback, but it means they play just fine on video.

The new box set has Lisbeth sleuthing in the original Swedish, but she's also dubbed for those who just can't bear to take their eyes off Rapace to read subtitles. Extras include a European documentary about the author, as well as interviews with most of the principals, including one in English with the leading lady who, considering her screen persona, is almost disconcertingly cute and chatty.

Having been passed over for the inevitable American remakes, Rapace now leaves tattoos, fires, and hornets' nests behind to co-star with Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law in their next Sherlock Holmes mystery.

Broadcast Dates

• All Things Considered, March 8, 2011