Displaying items by tag: The Digital Bits

This just in: Retail and industry sources are now telling us that 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment is going to be releasing John McTiernan’s original Predator (1987) on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray later this year, likely in August, to support the September theatrical release of the new Shane Black sequel film The Predator. We’ve updated our 4K Ultra HD Release List accordingly.

We don’t have any additional information on this yet (this is NOT an officially announced title yet), but fans will know that this film has been plagued by terrible transfers on disc over the years. The original 2008 Blu-ray release was decent, though the 2010 Ultimate Hunter Edition Blu-ray (which included all the legacy special features) was a flat-out disaster of epic proportions, with so much of the film’s fine detail and grain texture removed through the excessive use of DNR (digital noise reduction) that it was unwatchable.

Fox certainly already knows this, but it’s worth saying regardless: The studio could score massive points with fans of the film if the 4K remastered package included a new and properly-remastered Blu-ray edition of the film as well… one with all those good special features too in one package. Fingers crossed.

Stay tuned…

- Bill Hunt

(You can follow Bill on social media at these links: Twitter and Facebook)

All right, we’re kicking things off today with two more new Blu-ray reviews...

We start with Tim’s take on Larry Cohen’s It’s Alive Trilogy, new on Blu-ray from our friends at Scream Factory. He’s also got a review of Herschell Gordon Lewis’s Two Thousand Maniacs! on Blu-ray from the good folks at Arrow Video.

I’m working to wrap up that review of The Patriot in 4K Ultra HD from Sony, and I should have that up later this afternoon. So be sure to watch for it. Fury is on deck along with Escape Plan from Lionsgate.

Universal swears that they’re sending us the Jurassic Park Collection for review as well, so we do intend to cover it as soon as we’re able. [Read on here...]

All right, we’ve got some big announcement news for you today, but first we also have some new disc reviews for you...

To start with, I’ve posted my thoughts on Francis Lawrence’s Red Sparrow from 20th Century Fox and Alex Garland’s Annihilation from Paramount, both in 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray. Both are interesting films that definitely deserve a second look on disc.

Also, Tim has turned in his thoughts on Paul Mazursky’s Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice from Twilight Time and George P. Cosmatos’ Of Unknown Origin from Scream Factory, both in regular Blu-ray Disc.

More reviews of both formats are on the way, including Sony’s The Patriot and Fury in 4K, though we still do not have Universal’s Jurassic Park 4K Collection in hand, so it may be a few days before we get to review it for you. [Read on here...]

All right, Universal and Sony have been slow to send us Fury, The Patriot, and the Jurassic Park Collection for review on 4K here at The Bits. We expected them earlier this week and now it looks like we may not get our hands on them until sometime tonight or over the weekend. Rest assured, we’ll get them reviewed as soon as possible when we finally see them.

Fortunately, however, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment has sent us Red Sparrow in 4K Ultra HD, and now Paramount has kindly delivered Alex Garland’s Annihilation on UHD, so we’re diving into those now. We’ll get reviews of those posted as soon as we’re able, so keep checking back here (and on our social media pages) over the weekend.

Meanwhile, in announcement news today, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has set the Hulu original drama series The Looming Tower for release on Blu-ray on 9/18, featuring all 10 episodes along with 4 featurettes (Across Three Continents: Creating The Looming Tower, Ali Soufan: In His Own Words, The Looming Tower: Divided We Fail, and The Complexities of Character), as well as audio commentaries on the first and last episodes. [Read on here...]

All right, we’re waiting on a number of 4K Ultra HD review titles to come in any time now, including The Patriot, Fury, Red Sparrow, and the Jurassic Park set. While we do, we’ve got some release and announcement news for you...

First up, it appears that the official street date for Disney and Pixar’s The Incredibles in 4K Ultra HD is 6/5 and not 6/12. We expect the official press release to go out any time now and we’ll post the details as soon as it does. So adjust your plans accordingly.

Also today, Shout! Factory has announced that review product for their recent Wild at Heart: Shout Select Blu-ray release had a manufacturing error that’s now being corrected for the actual retail product. This means that the street date for the title has been moved from 5/22 to 8/21. Adjust your plans accordingly. [Read on here...]

All right, the big news today is that, as we first revealed here at The Bits several weeks ago, Disney and Pixar are indeed releasing Brad Bird’s The Incredibles on 4K Ultra HD on 6/12, in support of the theatrical release of The Incredibles 2 that same week. It looks like the 4K release will include Dolby Atmos audio and will also include the Blu-ray edition with all its special features. Note that Best Buy is going to have an exclusive Steelbook version of the title. [Update: It appears that Best Buy is listing the Steelbook 4K version as streeting on 6/5. It’s possible that the wide release will be 6/5 as well, and not 6/12 as currently listed. We expect official details soon from the studio and we’ll update this information then.]

This would mark the very first time that Disney has gone back to release a deeper catalog title on the 4K format (not just a new theatrical release). Here’s hoping we see many more Pixar, Marvel, and Star Wars catalog titles released in 4K soon.

Meanwhile this afternoon, our friends at The Criterion Collection have now officially announced their August slate of Blu-ray and DVD titles as follows… [Read on here...]

We’re working on a lot more reviews here at The Bits this week, including The Patriot, Fury, and Jurassic Park (as soon as they each come in).

Meanwhile, we’ve just posted our review of Fox’s Die Hard in 4K Ultra HD here at the site (it streets tomorrow). And on Friday night, we posted our review of Warner’s The Matrix in 4K as well (due on 5/22). Both are good, though The Matrix is the real stand-out title, absolutely reference quality in every way (and the Blu-ray has been remastered from the new 4K transfer too). Don’t miss them. [Read on here...]

We’ve got a bit of a slow news day here at The Bits, but we do have a couple items to report...

First though, we’ve got no less than four new disc reviews for you, including my own thoughts on Universal’s The Incredible Hulk, the second installment in Marvel’s Cinematic Universe, as well as Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins and The Dark Knight from Warner, all new to the 4K Ultra HD format. Tim also checks out Scream Factory’s The House that Dripped Blood on regular Blu-ray Disc. All are well worth a look, both the discs and the reviews, so do check them out.

Rest assured, we’re hard at work on several more new Blu-ray and 4K reviews here at the site. We expect to have our hands on Warner’s The Matrix and Fox’s Die Hard: 30th Anniversary Edition on Ultra HD any day now, so look for those reviews to be posted very soon. [Read on here...]

It’s a little bit of a slow news day today, but we do have a couple items of interest for you...

First though, I had the chance to see an impressive new IMAX film last night. Directed by Stephen van Vuuren and narrated by LeVar Burton of Star Trek fame, In Saturn’s Rings is a large-format look at NASA’s Cassini mission to Saturn, made using over 7.5 million real high-resolution images of the planet, its moons, and other astronomical objects, carefully assembled and presented using classical multi-plane animation techniques. The film is aptly named; some of these images are truly breathtaking, putting you right in the middle of the Saturn system. If you’re a space enthusiast or simply love a good IMAX documentary, the film is well worth a look.

It’s now playing at a handful of theaters around the country, with many more screenings to come. And I can tell you, it would make a pretty fine Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD release at some point too. You can visit the official website here for all the details and you can see the trailer below. Be sure to view it in native 4K if you can for the full effect. [Read on here...]

First things first today... some of you may have seen my reviews of Mel Gibson’s Braveheart and Ridley Scott’s Gladiator on 4K Ultra HD when I posted them late on Friday night, but if not... there you go. Both are coming out on 5/15 from Paramount in reference quality (or very close to it) and they’re certainly the best way to see these films yet bar none.

Also today, Tim has just posted reviews of Kino Lorber Studio Classics’ outstanding new The Outer Limits: Season One box set, along with Adult Swim’s Rick and Morty: Season 1 and Season 2, all on Blu-ray. Each of these titles are well worth a look.

In 4K Ultra HD catalog news, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has just set The Quick and the Dead for release on the format on 7/17. The 4K disc will feature Dolby Atmos audio and HDR10. It will also include the previous Blu-ray extras and will add 7 never-before-seen deleted scenes for this release. We’ve updated the 4K Ultra HD Release List here at The Bits accordingly. [Read on here...]