Kicking off a new week here at The Bits, we’ve got a couple of things for you today...

First up, Tim has reviewed another new Blu-ray release for you in the form of Franco Propseri’s Wild Beasts (1984 – aka Belve Feroci) from Severin Films.

Also, Mark Altman has a few thoughts, in his latest MOS DEF column today, on good catalog titles that ought to get released in 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray this year to help the format get on track.

In announcement news today, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has set A League of Their Own: 25th Anniversary Edition for release on Blu-ray on 4/18. It includes the new Bentonville, Baseball & the Enduring Legacy of A League of Their Own featurette, as well as legacy extras including 15 deleted scenes, a 9-part documentary, audio commentary with the filmmakers, Madonna’s This Used to Be My Playground music video, and the film’s theatrical trailer. [Read on here…]

Recently, like many of you I made the plunge into 4K. As a veteran of the home video wars for the last several decades; I’ve gone from Fotonovels to Viewmasters to Selectavision to Beta to VHS to laserdisc to HD-DVD to Blu-ray and now UHD Blu-ray. There’s no question that UHD is the finest home video format to hit the consumer market yet, but with the ubiquitousness and ease of use that streaming offers, it’s no secret 4K is going to have an uphill climb. Let’s face it, even those of us who care about getting the very best quality out of our home A-V systems will occasionally fall prey to the demonic lure of Netflix, Hulu Plus or iTunes over discs we might have stashed away because of the simple convenience of pressing a button on the remote rather than searching through racks of thousands of Blu-ray’s or rifling through closets for a certain disc. [Read on here…]

Afternoon, folks! We’ve got some great stuff for you here at The Bits today…

First up, Tim has turned in a review of Shout! Factory’s Mystery Science Theater 3000: Volume IV, which includes the episodes Space Mutiny, Overdrawn at the Memory Back, Girl in Gold Boots, and Hamlet. The disc is now available, so do give it a look.

Meanwhile, we have a new MOS DEF column from Mark A. Altman as well today, in which he takes a look back at his favorite Blu-ray releases of 2016. We’ll have more from Mark later this week too. Enjoy!

In announcement news today, the BIG news is that Disney and Lucasfilm have just officially set Rogue One: A Star Wars Story for Blu-ray Combo, DVD, and On Demand release on 4/4, with a Digital HD release set for 3/24. There’s no word yet of a 4K version, but it appears that Target and Best Buy will have retail-exclusive Blu-ray 3D versions on 4/4 (per Star Wars.com). The Target package appears to match the Star Wars: The Force Awakens 3D Collector’s Edition. The Best Buy package comes in a Steelbook. Walmart will also have exclusive packaging. Extras on the Blu-rays will include 11 behind-the-scenes featurettes (A Rogue Idea, Jyn: The Rebel, Cassian: The Spy, K-2SO: The Droid, Baze & Chirrut: Guardians of the Whills, Bodhi & Saw: The Pilot & The Revolutionary, The Empire, Visions of Hope: The Look of Rogue One, The Princess & The Governor, Epilogue: The Story Continues, and Rogue Connections). Note that the lack of deleted scenes – and we know there are many – or audio commentary suggests that a more elaborate Collector’s Edition BD release is coming later this year. You can see the cover artwork at the left and below. [Read on here…]

While physical media may be dying the death of a thousand cuts in some people’s minds (and on studio bean counters spreadsheets) and there aren’t as many truly special editions as there once was with movies getting dropped on disc with a few chintzy self-aggrandizing EPKs, that doesn’t mean there still aren’t a few treats to still be discovered on Blu-ray.

2016 boasted an ever dwindling but no less exceptional myriad of fantastic new releases that I would deem must-owns. Here are some, but by no means all of the releases that will leave you anything but blue. [Read on here…]

All right, we’ve got a couple things for you today...

First, as promised, we’re very proud today to present Michael Coate’s latest History, Legacy & Showmanship column here at The Digital Bits, entitled Still Boldly Going: Celebrating “Star Trek” on its 50th Anniversary! In this lengthy piece, Michael moderates a great roundtable discussion on the history of the beloved franchise with Trek luminaries Mark A. Altman, Jeff Bond, Robert Meyer Burnett, Marc Cushman, Daren R. Dochterman, Dorothy Fontana, Gary Gerani, David Gerrold, Edward Gross, Bill Kraft, Herbie J. Pilato, and Melinda Snodgrass. It’s a terrific discussion and a rare opportunity to hear from so many leading Treksperts all in one place. We hope you enjoy it and, as always… “Live Long and Prosper!”  [Read on here…]

“Star Trek has left a legacy of hope and optimism that humankind has a future. If we cultivate the potential of Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations so that we embrace a universe brimming with the riches of life in all of its forms, then humankind can evolve into something finer and nobler. I think that is what Gene Roddenberry meant when he said that the human adventure is just beginning.” — Bill Kraft, author of Maybe We Need a Letter from God: The Star Trek Stamp

The Digital Bits and History, Legacy & Showmanship are pleased to present this retrospective article commemorating the golden anniversary of Star Trek, Gene Roddenberry’s legendary science-fiction television series depicting the voyages of Captain James T. Kirk and his crew of the starship Enterprise.

The memorable television series premiered 50 years ago this week (September 6th, 1966, on CTV in Canada, and September 8th, 1966, on NBC in the United States), and similar to our other Star Trek roundtables (here and here) and classic television retrospectives (here, here, here, and here), The Bits for the occasion has assembled a Q&A with an esteemed group of Treksperts, historians and Star Trek writers who examine the best episodes and offer commentary on the show’s enduring appeal, influence and legacy.  [Read on here...]

“Star Trek: The Motion Picture provided a unique experience, leaving some audience members, myself included, elated at the prospect, “The Human Adventure Is Just Beginning.” — Robert Meyer Burnett

“I do feel very lucky to have been a kid while this amazing renaissance of fantasy filmmaking was going on.… Star Wars, then Close Encounters, then Superman, then Alien, then Star Trek: The Motion Picture… at least in terms of going to the movies, those are two-and-a-half years I wish I could experience again. It was a truly magical time.” — Mike Matessino  [Read more here...]

Here at The Bits today, Tim Salmons has turned in a review of Disney’s Frozen on Blu-ray. Do check that out.

Also, today happens to be the 15th anniversary of a little film called Free Enterprise, starring William Shatner, directed by our old friend Robert Meyer Burnett, and produced by Mark A. Altman (who also writes the occasional MOS DEF column here at The Bits). So our own Michael Coate has taken the opportunity to do a new interview with Rob and Mark for his latest History, Legacy & Showmanship column. You’ll find that here, so we hope you enjoy it! [Read on here...]

“Get a Life!” exclaimed William Shatner to a legion of Star Trek fans in a classic 1986 Saturday Night Live skit. Among those who did indeed get a life were Mark A. Altman and Robert Meyer Burnett. The pair succeeded in creating Free Enterprise, the affectionate 1999 comedy about a pair of pop culture geeks who meet their idol, William Shatner. Be careful about wanting to meet your heroes may have been the moral of the story as Mark (Eric McCormack) and Robert (Rafer Weigel) discover Mr. Shatner is not quite the person they think he is. [Read on here…]

All right, we’ve got a couple of new columns for you today, one of which features a good interview, plus a bit of release news.

First, our own Michael Coate has turned in a new installment of his History, Legacy & Showmanship column looking back at the release of Field of Dreams on its 25th Anniversary. As part of this piece, he’s got a new interview with director Phil Alden Robinson. Enjoy! [Read on here...]