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Friday, 02 August 2013 15:04

World War Z official for 9/17, plus new President's Men BD, Croods, Welles' Stranger & more!

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The big news today, I suppose, is that Paramount has just officially announced the Blu-ray 3D Combo, Blu-ray Combo and DVD release of World War Z on 9/17, with the digital streaming versions available online on 9/10.  Both Blu-rays will feature the unrated version of the film, while the DVD will include the theatrical version.  Extras on the Blu-rays will include the Origins and Looking to Science featurettes and the 4-part WWZ: Production documentary (includes Outbreak, The Journey Begins, Behind the Wall and Camouflage).  Audio will be DTS-HD 7.1 MA on the Blu-rays and standard Dolby Digital 5.1 on DVD.  You’ll find the cover artwork below… […]

By the way, Paramount and Spelling Entertainment have also set the vampire series Kindred: The Embraced for DVD release on 10/22, featuring audio commentary on 4 episodes, an extended version of the pilot episode, deleted scenes and 2 featurettes (Daedalus: Last Will and Testament and The Kindred Chronicles).

Meanwhile, Warner Home Video has set The Big Bang Theory: The Complete Sixth Season for release on Blu-ray and DVD on 9/10, with extras to include deleted scenes, a gag reel, 3 featurettes (The Big Bang Theory: The Final Comedy Frontier, Houston, We Have a Sit-Com and The Big Bang Theory at Paley Fest 2013) and also the 4-part Electromagnetism: The Best Relationship Moments in Season 6.  Following on 9/24 from Warner is Two and a Half Men: The Complete Tenth Season on Blu-ray and DVD.  The only extras are a gag reel and the Two Manly Men Signing and Dancing featurette.

Warner has also officially set an All the President’s Men: 2-Disc Special Edition for Blu-ray Disc release on 11/12 (SRP $19.98).  Extras will include the all-new All the President’s Men Revisited documentary, along with audio commentary by Robert Redford, 4 vintage featurettes (Telling the Truth About Lies: The Making of All the President’s Men, Woodward and Bernstein: Lighting the Fire, Out of the Shadows: The Man Who Was Deep Throat and Pressure and the Press: The Making of All the President’s Men), a vintage Jason Robards interview excerpt from Dinah! (hosted by Dinah Shore) and the trailer.

20th Century Fox Home Entertainment and DreamWorks Animation have set the CG-animated The Croods for release on Blu-ray 3D Combo, Blu-ray Combo and DVD on 10/1.  Extras on all three versions will include Belt’s Cave Journal and The World of DreamWorks Animation featurettes.  The Blu-rays will also exclusively add The Croodaceous Creatures of Croods! and Be An Artist! featurettes, and the interactive The Croods Coloring & Storybook Builder App.

Finally, our friends at Kino Lorber have announced their October Blu-ray and DVD release slate.  From the Kino Lorber label, you’ll get Ain’t in It for My Health: A Film About Levon Helm (BD & DVD) on 10/8.  From Artsploitation, look for Horror Stories (DVD – includes Don’t Answer the Door, Endless Flight, Secret Recipe and Ambulance on the Dead Zone) on 10/8 and Animals (DVD) on 10/22.  The Kino Classics line will deliver some gems in October, including Curtis Harrington’s Night Tide: Remastered Edition (BD & DVD), Ida Lupino’s The Hitch-Hiker: Remastered Edition (BD & DVD) and Orson Welles’ The Stranger: Remastered Edition (BD & DVD) all on 10/15.  on the Adopt Films label, you’ll get Molly’s Theory of Relativity (DVD) on 10/22 and Tabu (DVD) on 10/29.  Finally, on the Raro Video USA, look for Il Generale Della Rovere (BD & DVD) on 10/29.

By the way, one more comment regarding The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey – Extended Edition.  A couple of you have asked what happened to the 30-minute A Hobbit’s Tale: Part I – The Journey Begins featurette that was exclusive on the Best Buy version of the 2D Blu-ray of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey theatrical cut.  (There’s a mouthful!)  Here’s the deal: That 30-minute featurette was simply a greatly truncated version of the documentaries that were created for the EE (specifically, I believe it’s a shortened version of the 14-part The Appendices: Part 7 – A Long-Expected Journey: The Chronicles of The Hobbit documentary).  So even though the Best Buy featurette isn’t on the EE by name, the contents of the featurette will be included in the new EE sets.  That comes directly from producer Michael Pellerin.  So basically you can forget the Best Buy exclusive version if you don’t have it.  If you buy the new Extended Edition set, you’re going to have everything.  However, as was the case with The Lord of the Rings: Extended Editions, you may still want to hang on to your theatrical cut Blu-ray to keep everything, as there’s little overlap of extras on the two different sets.  Specifically, the Hobbit Video Blogs are not included on the EE set... and obviously the theatrical version of the film itself isn’t there either.  Got that?  Good.

Here’s the final cover art for both Blu-ray versions of Paramount’s World War Z, the final art for both versions of Fox/DreamWorks Animation’s The Croods, Warner’s All the President’s Men: 2-Disc Special Edition (this is the final art – look for the red "Two-Disc Special Edition" band at the top) and Kino’s The Stranger: Remastered Edition… 

World War Z (Blu-ray 3D final)    World War Z (Blu-ray Disc - final)    The Stranger (Blu-ray Disc)

The Croods (Blu-ray 3D - final)    The Croods (Blu-ray Disc - final)    All the President's Men: 2-Disc Special Edition (Blu-ray Disc)

All right, we’ll be back next week with news, new Blu-ray and DVD reviews, a behind-the-scenes look at Warner’s Oblivion and much more.  Stay tuned!

- Bill Hunt