At last! The Star Trek: TMP – Director’s Edition hits Paramount+ on 4/5, plus our Godfather Trilogy UHD review & more

Monday, 21 March 2022 15:14

At last! The Star Trek: TMP – Director’s Edition hits Paramount+ on 4/5, plus our Godfather Trilogy UHD review & more

by Bill Hunt

Star Trek: The Motion Picture – Director’s Edition (4K)

All right, we’ve got some great new disc reviews for you today, along with some terrific announcement news as well. But first, as always, those reviews...

I’ve just posted my in-depth look at Francis Ford Coppola’s legendary The Godfather Trilogy in 4K Ultra HD from Paramount. And let me tell you, the image restoration is breathtaking—as good as the 2008 Blu-rays were, this is almost a night and day difference. It’s really something. Best of all, the set includes all three films, including Coda (and two alternate versions of Part III as well), not to mention a wealth of new and legacy special features. There’s even restored mono audio on The Godfather and The Godfather Part II. This may very well be the 4K release of the year, so don’t miss it.

Also today, I’ve taken a look at Volume 3 and Volume 4 of ClassicFix’s 2K restorations of The Little Rascals shorts on Blu-ray. It appears that there will be 7 volumes total to release all 80 of the classic Hal Roach sound shorts, and Volume 5 is already slated for release on 4/5.

We’ve got more new disc reviews coming tomorrow and all this week, including Madman and The Sword and the Sorcerer in 4K and much more, so be sure to keep your eyes peeled for those. [Read on here...]

Now then, the big news that’s breaking today—though it’s not yet official—is that the long awaited Star Trek: The Motion Picture – Director’s Edition is not only finished, but it’s going to make its exclusive streaming debut on Paramount+ on 4/5 in 4K with Dolby Atmos audio! And the trailer—which I’ve had the good fortune to see early—is set to drop any time now. The moment it does, obviously, you can consider the release official. Now then, there’s no word yet as to when a physical 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray release of the film will happen, but we know that it will be exclusive to Paramount+ for a specific window of time. So my guess—and keep in mind this is only a guess—is that we might see the physical disc release in December. Why? The film originally debuted in theaters back in 1979 on December 6. So that seems like as good a date as any, right in time for Christmas. We’ll see. In the meantime, I’ll replace the image below with the official trailer link the moment it drops online... [Editor’s Update: Here at last is the official trailer. We also now know that the Director’s Edition is officially coming to physical 4K Ultra HD in September.]

Speaking of Paramount, the studio is dropping a bunch of catalog Blu-ray re-issue titles in May and June, including Top Secret! on 5/17, a Grease 2: Limited Edition Steelbook, The Weather Man, The Mexican, She’s Having a Baby, Kinky Boots, and Some Kind of Wonderful on 6/7, and EuroTrip (Unrated) on 6/14.

Also today, Universal Studios Home Entertainment has set The Last Kingdom: The Complete Series for release on Blu-ray and DVD on 5/17. You can see the cover artwork below. Also coming that day is The Last Kingdom: Season Five.

And Kino Lorber Studio Classics has revealed two more new 4K catalog titles that they’re working on for release later this year, including George Pavlou’s Rawhead Rex (1986) and Underworld (1985 – aka Transmutations). Street date is listed as coming soon, but both will feature Dolby Vision HDR.

We’ll leave you with a look at the cover artwork for The Little Rascals: Volume 5 and The Last Kingdom: The Complete Series on Blu-ray, along with Criterion’s Shaft in 4K Ultra HD, all of which are now available for pre-order on Amazon.com...

Stay tuned!

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At last! The Star Trek: TMP – Director’s Edition hits Paramount+ on 4/5, plus our Godfather Trilogy UHD review & more

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