My Two Cents
Wednesday, 26 September 2018 13:59

Superman 4K Ultra HD official, plus Rambo Trilogy 4K announced, and Farewell Chummy

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Today’s post is going to be brief for reasons I’ll explain in a moment. But we do have some pretty significant announcement news we need to tell you all about.

First, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has just officially announced the long-expected 4K Ultra HD release of Richard Donner’s original Superman: The Movie on 11/6. The 4K release will include the theatrical version of the film only on 4K and on the newly-remastered Blu-ray included in the package as well. The 4K version will feature both Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos object-based audio. Our information is that, in addition to Atmos, the 4K release will include 5.1 audio mixed from the original 1978 6-track 70mm as well.

Extras on both discs will include the audio commentary with Pierre Spengler and Ilya Salkind. The Blu-ray will add the 1978 The Making of Superman: The Movie TV special, the 58-minute Superman and the Mole-Men (1951) feature starring George Reeves, additional cartoon shorts, trailers, and TV spots. You can see the cover artwork there at left and also below. SRP for the set is $41.99, though it’ll be on sale for much less on Amazon and elsewhere. [Read on here...]

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Also newly-announced today from Lionsgate is the 4K Ultra HD release of First Blood, Rambo: First Blood: Part II, and Rambo III on 11/13 (SRP $22.99 each). All three are scanned from film in native 4K, with the original 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio sound mixes. The 4K discs will each include audio commentary with the filmmakers. The included Blu-rays will carry over all the previous extras. Each film will also include a new retrospective featurette: Rambo Takes the 80s, Parts 1, 2 and 3. Here’s a look at the cover artwork (Amazon links will be added as they become available)...

Superman: The Movie (4K Ultra HD) First Blood (4K Ultra HD) Rambo: First Blood Part II (4K Ultra HD)

Rambo III (4K Ultra HD) 2001: A Space Odyssey (4K Ultra HD) Philadelphia (4K Ultra HD)

Also, Best Buy has just listed Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List for release on 4K Ultra HD on 12/18 from Universal. The title hasn’t been officially announced yet but we’ve expected it was coming for a long time and the studio should announce any time now.

We’ve updated The 4K Ultra HD Release List here at The Bits accordingly.

Finally today, we’re going to be taking the rest of the week off. Specifically, I’m going to be taking the rest of the week off. And the reason is this: Yesterday, I lost a friend of 17 1/2 years, my cat Chummy. I started The Bits in 1997, and Chummy came along in 2000 as a rescue cat we adopted (born just a block from our house here in SoCal), but he quickly took up residence by my side in my office and there he remained, a loyal friend and Bits staffer his whole life. Chummy’s original name was Hilton, and officially it always was, but he was such a buddy, pal, and chum that at some point I took to calling “Chummy” in a voice like Tennessee Tuxedo (whose sidekick in the cartoons of course is named “Chumley”) and there it was.

Chummy had a overstuffed bed next to my chair (now my stand-up desk) by the office window, and that’s where you’d find him 99% of the time, supervising our work, contemplating the important stuff, and soaking in the breeze. He was always first into the office and last out. Whenever I had to spend time elsewhere in the house – for example, down in the home theater to do BD and 4K reviews – he would come looking for me and give me a stern stare that suggested I should really be back in the office with him. My wife and I used to joke that The Digital Bits was actually just a front company for the real organization based in my office: Chummy and Associate. She even had a desk sign made for us. Anyway, he was the greatest, just the most loving and good-naturedly chilled-out cat I’ve ever known. If you’ve enjoyed our work here at The Bits at all over the last 17 years, know that Chummy had a hand in almost every post in a very real way. We will miss him.

And so – asking your patience in advance – I’ll see you back here on Monday with lots of news and reviews (trust me, The Bits team is working on a bunch of them, plus a new column from Bud Elder and more). I just really need to take a few days to unplug and go out and smell the flowers here, you know? To clear my head and regroup.

Meanwhile, this post is dedicated to Chummy, from his grateful friend... now and always, our The Digital Bits Team Member of the Month. Thanks for everything, pal.

Chummy... The Digital Bits Employee of the Month

Stay tuned...

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