My Two Cents
Friday, 13 February 2026 17:27

Criterion’s May slate, Speed Racer 4K in May, new Via Vision, KLSC & Synapse titles, Ben-Hur 4K reviewed & more!

by
  • Print
  • Email

Cheers, Bits readers!

We’ve got one last My Two Cents update for you this week with some great new disc reviews, as well as some great new Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD release news. Let’s hit those reviews first…

I’ve just updated our dear late friend Barrie Maxwell’s review of William Wyler’s Ben-Hur (1959) to cover Warner’s stunning new 4K Ultra HD restoration of the film, which streets next week. It’s truly one of the great classic film presentations we’ve seen on this format to date, and certainly not to be missed.

Dennis and Tim have checked in with thoughts on a pair of Agatha Christie film adaptations in 4K Ultra HD from Kino Lorber Studio Classics, including John Guillerman’s Death on the Nile (1978) and Guy Hamilton’s The Mirror Crack’d (1980).

Dennis has also reviewed Michael Winner’s The Mechanic (1972) and Antonia Bird’s Priest (1994) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics and Imprint, respectively.

Tim has posted his own reviews of Alberto Cavalcanti, Charles Crichton, Basil Dearden, Robert Hamer’s Dead of Night (1945) anthology on Blu-ray from KLSC as well as Chor Yuen’s The Jade Tiger (1977) from Arrow’s Shawscope: Volume 3 Blu-ray box.

Stephen has reviewed Emma Seligman’s Bottoms (2023) on Blu-ray from KLSC.

And Stuart has taken a look at Hideo Gosha’s Gate of Flesh (1988) on Blu-ray from Toei via 88 Films.

We have lots more great 4K reviews cooking for next week as well, believe me.

Also here at The Bits today, we’ve posted an update of our Release Dates & Artwork section featuring all the latest Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD cover artwork with Amazon pre-order links. As always, whenever you order anything after clicking to Amazon though one of our links (like this one) you’re helping to support our work here at the site and we appreciate it!

Now then, first things first: Our retail and industry sources have informed us that Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment’s much anticipated 4K Ultra HD release of the Wachowski’s Speed Racer (2008) should street on or about 5/19. So adjust your plans accordingly. Go Speed Go!

Of course, the big news today is that our friends at the Criterion Collection have just unveiled their May slate of Blu-ray and 4K titles. And any slate that includes more Kurosawa in 4K UHD is a good one. [Read on here...]

These will officially include Akira Kurosawa’s Stray Dog (1949) (Spine #233 – 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray) on 5/5, Ira Sachs’ The Delta (1996) (Spine #1309 – Blu-ray) on 5/12, Shu Lea Cheang’s Fresh Kill (1994) (Spine #1310 – Blu-ray) and Lawrence Kasdan’s Body Heat (1981) (Spine #1308 – 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray and Blu-ray) on 5/19, and Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value (2025) (Spine #1311 – 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray, Blu-ray, and DVD) and Bob Fosse’s Lenny (1974) (Spine #1312 – 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray and Blu-ray) on 5/26.

Also coming on 5/21 is another Criterion Premieres Blu-ray and DVD release, Ira Sachs’ Peter Hujar’s Day (2025).

Criterion's May 2026 slate

In other release news, Via Vision Entertainment has just revealed another pair of 4K Ultra HD Limited Editions they have coming in April (street date 4/29), including the Cabin Fever Collection (2002-2016) and Mikael Håfström’s 1408 (2007). Each comes in a 3D lenticular hardcase and is limited to 2K units. The company has also announced four more Imprint Asia titles for release on 4/29, including Wang Xiaoshuai’s Beijing Bicycle (2001) and Peter Pau’s The Touch (2002) on Blu-ray, as well as John Woo’s The Killer (1989) and Hard Boiled (1992) in 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray.

Red Shirt Pictures and Synapse Films have also announced the Blu-ray release of Adam Marcus’ Hearts of Darkness: The Making of the Final Friday (2025) documentary, chronicling the production of Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday. The street date for the 2-disc release is 4/14 and you can pre-order it on the Synapse website.

And Kino Lorber Studio Classics has just set Jess Franco’s Ilsa, the Wicked Warden (1977) and Danny DeVito’s Throw Momma from the Train (1987) for 4K Ultra HD release on 4/28.

Finally, there are lots of great sales going on this weekend on the various boutique label websites, including a 25% off “Friday the 13th” sale today only on select horror titles on Lionsgate Limited. So be sure to check that out!

Now then… this is a long weekend here in the States, given Monday’s President’s Day holiday. We might have some reviews for you on Monday, but we’ll be back here on Tuesday with more news.

And for those of you who subscribe to our Digital Bits Patreon page—and you if you love the kind of work we’ve done here at the site over the last 28+ years, you should be a subscriber—I’ll be checking in there with a new My Two Cents: A Video Blog entry on Sunday afternoon. It’s gonna be a good one for 4K catalog fans, so don’t miss it!

Subscribing to our Patreon is very affordable and it helps us to keep this site going really more than anything else, including Amazon affiliate sales and online advertising, both of which are in decline given changes in the Internet, social media, and people’s media consumption habits in recent years. So if you want The Bits to keep going, subscribing is the best way to support that—and we really try to make it worth your while with the kind of exclusive news and information you’ll find nowhere else.

And for the next week only, we’re offering a special discount code for 10% off all our annual subscriptions: OAC65

So we hope you’ll join us!

All right, that’s it. Don’t forget that tomorrow is Valentine’s Day.

See you back here next week!

- Bill Hunt

(You can follow Bill on social media on Twitter/X, BlueSky, and Facebook, and also here on Patreon)

 

Contact Bill Hunt

Please type your full name.
Invalid email address.
Please send us a message.
Invalid Input