There's now an entire generation that is vaguely aware W.C. Fields was a venerated comedian, but has absolutely no idea why.

Fields' films rarely show up in film revivals, and only occasionally on cable's Turner Classic Movies channel, in part because of their cranky creakiness. Fields' films have little of the anarchic velocity of Marx Brothers films, and less of the arty cachet attached to the pioneering pictures auteurs Harold Lloyd and Buster Keaton made. As for the pathos of Chaplin — well, the cynical Fields would never touch the stuff.

Yet Fields' sound-era features from the 1930s and early '40s hold up remarkably well, as evidenced by "W.C. Fields Comedy Collection Vol. 2" (Universal). Except for 1941's "Never Give a Sucker an Even Break," Fields' final movie, the remastered titles on the five discs are not as well-known as those that are in "Vol. 1," yet this is an altogether more satisfying collection.

In "Sucker," Fields plays himself; in the course of trying to sell a picture to "Esoteric Studios," he bumbles into all manner of misadventures small and large. He finds himself paired with his least favorite creature on earth, a child. She's his niece, orphaned after her circus performer mother missed a swing of the trapeze. She is with Fields for a harrowing airplane diversion to Mexico, during which, in an effort to retrieve a bottle of booze, he lands on a mountain occupied by the malevolent Mrs. Hemoglobin (Marx Brothers' foil Margaret Dumont). None of this makes even a modicum of sense, but it makes for a great deal of surreal hilarity.

1934's "Old-Fashioned Way" is remembered for the classic juggling bit Fields revived from his vaudeville days, and for the scene in which Baby LeRoy throws Fields' watch in a molasses jar, but there's not a wasted second in the movie's 71 minutes. "You're Telling Me," also from 1934, is an extended remake of one of the star's silent films. It's the little-seen gem of the quartet, but the golfing routine is legendary. 1935's "Man on the Flying Trapeze" sees Fields taking off work ostensibly to attend his poor old ma's funeral, but actually he's off to attend a rasslin' match.

In contrast to most Fields films, in which a plot is something to be sidestepped drunkenly, 1936's "Poppy" suffers from too much story. Fields, a carny pushing patent medicine, contrives a scheme that would allow his daughter to inherit an estate that a conniving countess claims.

The set is one of the few multifilm collections in which every movie is a winner.

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Last year's Christmas season surprise was "Rocky Balboa" (MGM). It saw writer-director Sylvester Stallone making a true comeback with this unexpectedly fulfilling and entertaining final chapter in the career of the Italian Stallion.

He makes Rocky's exhibition-bout return to the ring, taking on cocky champ Mason "The Line" Dixon (Antonio Tarver), almost plausible, but the real punch is emotional.

Stallone provides a commentary, and special features have him addressing the hoops he had to jump through to get the film to screen; there are deleted scenes and an alternate ending, too — but don't worry, Rocky doesn't die.

TV ON DVD

Without question, television has addressed terrorism better and more dramatically than movies, mostly because serialized TV allows for more complexity and depth. "Sleeper Cell: American Terror" (Showtime) sends Muslim FBI agent Darwyn (Michael Ealy) from teaching at Quantico, Va., to an undercover placement in a Los Angeles terror cell so he can learn about a new plot that involves acquiring a nuclear weapon. Terrorist leader Faris Al-Ferik (Oded Fehr) returns, too. He escaped at the end of the first series. If you didn't see the first series, you might want to. It will help you acclimate to this underground world; those nine episodes are available, too.

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