All right, we’re closing out the week with one last new title announcement: Disney and Amblin Entertainment have set Steven Spielberg’s The BFG for Blu-ray, DVD, Digital HD, Disney Movies Anywhere, and On-Demand release on 12/6. Extras on the Blu-ray will include 5 featurettes (Bringing “The BFG” to Life, The Big Friendly Giant and Me, Gobblefunk: The Wonderful Words of The BFG, Giants 101, and Melissa Mathison: A Tribute). Sadly, the best featurette is a digital exclusive, which I hate and you hate, but apparently nobody at Disney cares we hate… John Williams: Scoring a Dream. Anyway, audio on the Blu-ray will be English 7.1 DTS-HD MA. You can see the cover artwork to the left there.  [Read on here…]

All right, we’ve got two reviews for you today. As expected we’ve got my thoughts on Shout! Factory’s Flight of the Butterflies in 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray, which I think is their best release on the format to date. I’ve reviewed the Warner Archive’s Longmire: Complete Seasons 1-4 on Blu-ray this morning too. The DVDs are available from Warner Bros Home Entertainment, the Blu-rays via Warner Archive, and you can stream the series – which is terrific – on Netflix. The new season of Longmire debuts on Netflix tomorrow, so do give it a look. I think you’ll really enjoy it.  [Read on here…]

We’re kicking off the day today with a couple of new 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray reviews... my thoughts on Shout! Factory’s recent Rocky Mountain Express, which is terrific, and Wonders of the Arctic, which is also a nice release. It’s fun to watch these 4K titles mastered from IMAX source material. They really look spectacular. Anyway, I may have at least one more review up today as well if you check back later, which would be Shout!’s Flight of the Butterflies in 4K. So do watch for that.

Here at The Bits today, our own Russell Hammond has just updated the Release Dates & Cover Art section with all the latest Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K cover art, as well as Amazon.com pre-order links. As always, anytime you order product from Amazon – literally anything at all – through any of our links, you’re helping to support our work here at The Bits and we really do appreciate it.  [Read on here…]

All right, the big news today is that we finally have the official word from our contacts at Paramount Pictures Home Entertainment: Star Trek Beyond will arrive on Blu-ray Combo, Blu-ray 3D Combo, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD formats on 11/1, with the Digital HD release due on 10/4. There will also be Star Trek Trilogy Collection on Blu-ray, as well as a number of retail exclusive SKUs (see here, here, here, and here). Audio on the Blu-ray and 4K versions will be English Dolby Atmos. Extras on the Blu-ray versions will include deleted scenes, a gag reel, and 9 behind-the-scenes featurettes (Beyond the Darkness, Enterprise Takedown, Divided and Conquered, A Warped Sense of Revenge, Trekking in the Desert, Exploring Strange New Worlds, New Life, New Civilizations, To Live Long and Prosper, and For Leonard and Anton). You can see the final cover artwork to the left and below.  [Read on here…]

Afternoon, folks. Hope you had a fine weekend. I’m been busy working on new Blu-ray and 4K reviews, the first of which I’m pleased to offer you now...

Here are my thoughts on Universal’s new Frankenstein: Complete Legacy Collection and The Wolf Man: Complete Legacy Collection, which streeted last week and are now available. Both are good upgrades of the previous DVD box sets of the same name, but the value proposition for each is a little complicated. I should note that in order to review these sets, I had to purchase them at my own expense. Universal chose not to make them available for review. Meanwhile, I’m working on additional reviews for posting later and tomorrow, so stay tuned for those.  [Read on here…]

All right, I’ve been busy working on Blu-ray reviews for you these last couple days, and we have four to share with you now. Late yesterday I posted my thoughts on Magnolia’s The Wave (aka Bølgen), which is a nifty little Norwegian disaster film from last year, as well as Madman Entertainment’s excellent North Sea Hijack (1979), better known to Americans as ffolkes! The film stars Roger Moore and it’s a great little gem. Best of all, though the packaging says Region B, the disc is actually an All Region release. Then today, our own Jim Hemphill has turned in his thoughts on Twilight Time’s new double feature of the Frank Sinatra films Tony Rome (1967) and Lady in Cement (1968). Finally, I’ve just completed my thoughts on CBS and Paramount’s whopping new 30-disc Star Trek: 50th Anniversary TV and Movie Collection Blu-ray box set, which as many of you know includes the first-ever release of Star Trek: The Animated Series on Blu-ray. That title will also be released separately on Blu-ray later this year, but in the meantime do check out our thoughts on the box set.  [Read on here…]

Warner Bros Home Entertainment has just set a new Mad Max High Octane Collection for Blu-ray and DVD release on 12/6 (SRP $79.99 and $54.97). Both will include Mad Max (1979), Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981), Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985), and Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), plus 5 hours of bonus content and the Mad Max: Fury Road “Black & Chrome” Edition. The Blu-ray set will also include a 4K Ultra HD and UV Digital Copy versions of Mad Max: Fury Road. You’ll also get a new George Miller Introduction to the Mad Max Fury Road: Black and Chrome Edition, the new Road War featurette (with George Miller, Terry Hayes and Mel Gibson), and the previous Madness of Max (1979) documentary.

Mad Max: Fury Road and the Mad Max: Fury Road “Black & Chrome” Edition will also be released as a Blu-ray 2-pack on 12/6 (SRP $29.98) with the previous extras as well as the new George Miller introduction.  [Read on here…] 

Just a quick update for you today, as we’re working on new Blu-ray and 4K UHD reviews for you...

First up, Scream Factory has just announced the list of extras you’ll find on their 2-disc The Exorcist III: Collector’s Edition Blu-ray, which streets on 10/25. Disc One will include The Exorcist III: Theatrical Cut via new 2K IP scan, with a vintage featurette, vintage interviews, a delete scene, alternate takes, bloopers, a deleted prologue, theatrical trailers, TV spots, and photo galleries. Disc Two will include Legion (the Original Director’s Cut) with all-new extras including an audio interview with writer/director William Peter Blatty and 5 featurettes (A “Wonderfull” Time, Signs of the Gemini, The Devil in the Details, Music for a Padded Cell, and All This Bleeding). You can see the cover artwork at right and below.  [Read on here…]

The big news today is that Sony is bringing Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver back to theaters (on 10/16 and 10/19) for its 40th Anniversary, and will re-issue the film on Blu-ray in a new Taxi Driver: 40th Anniversary Edition that’s mastered from the film’s 4K restoration (which was supervised by Scorsese and cinematographer Michael Chapman). The 2-disc set, which streets on 11/8, will include much legacy bonus material along with a new 40-minute Q&A with Scorsese, Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster and more, recorded live at the Beacon Theatre in New York City at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival.

The specific list of extras includes: Disc One – Taxi Driver Q&A, Interactive Script to Screen, original 1986 commentary with Scorsese and writer Paul Schrader (recorded by The Criterion Collection), additional commentaries by Schrader and by Professor Robert Kolker, 6 featurettes (Martin Scorsese on Taxi Driver, Producing Taxi Driver, God’s Lonely Man, Taxi Driver Stories, Travis’ New York, and Travis’ New York Locations), and the film’s theatrical trailer; Disc Two – The Making of Taxi Driver documentary, Storyboard to Film Comparisons (with Scorsese introduction), and Animated Photo Galleries. You can see the cover artwork above left and below.  [Read on here…] 

All right, first up today: Be sure to check out Michael Coate’s Still Boldly Going: Celebrating “Star Trek“ on its 50th Anniversary column in the event you missed it yesterday. It’s a fun and fascinating roundtable discussion featuring some of the very best Treksperts in the business. Don’t miss it.

Now then... we have some new announcements today...

Disney and Pixar have just set Finding Dory for Blu-ray 3D, Blu-ray, DVD and On-Demand release on 11/15, preceded by the Digital HD and Disney Movies Anywhere release on 10/25.  [Read on here…]