Displaying items by tag: Paramount

All right, we’ve got a bunch of great announcement news to start the week, but as always we begin first with new disc reviews. Today we have for you…

My reviews of Akira Kurosawa’s High and Low (1953) in 4K Ultra HD from Criterion, as well as Steve Lisberger’s TRON (1982) and Joseph Kosinski’s TRON: Legacy (2010) in 4K Steelbook from Disney via Sony.

Tim’s review of DC Studios and HBO Max’s The Penguin (2024) spin-off limited series in 4K Ultra HD from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment.

Dennis’ look at John Adams, Zelda Adams, and Toby Poser’s Hellbender (2021) on Blu-ray from Arrow Video and Sydney Pollack’s This Property is Condemned (1966) on Blu-ray from Imprint Films.

Stuart’s thoughts on Elliott Nugent’s The Great Gatsby (1949) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

And Stephen’s take on Savage Steve Holland’s Better of Dead: 40th Anniversary Edition (1985) in 4K Ultra HD from Paramount.

As always, more disc reviews are forthcoming, so be sure to stay tuned for them!

Now then, the big news today is that our friends at The Criterion Collection have officially announced their complete December slate, which is set to include Return to Reason: Four Films by Man Ray (2023) (Spine #2191 – Blu-ray only) and Howard Hawks’ His Girl Friday (1940) (Spine #849 – 4K + Blu-ray) on 12/2, Mira Nair’s Salaam Bombay! (1988) (Spine #1292 – 4K + Blu-ray and Blu-ray) and Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s I Know Where I’m Going (1945) (Spine #94 – 4K + Blu-ray and Blu-ray) on 12/9, and Tim Burton’s Pee-wee’s Big Adventure (1985) (Spine #1293 – 4K + Blu-ray and Blu-ray) and Spike Lee’s David Byrne’s American Utopia (2020) (Spine #1294 – 4K + Blu-ray, Blu-ray, and DVD). [Read on here...]

We have three new reviews for you to enjoy today…

Stephen’s look at Michael Mann’s Thief (1981) in 4K UHD from Arrow Video in the UK.

And Stuart’s thoughts on Valerio Zurlini’s Girl with a Suitcase (1961) on Blu-ray from Radiance Films, as well as Yasuzô Masumura’s Play It Cool (1970) on Blu-ray from Arrow Video.

More reviews are forthcoming in the days ahead, so be sure to keep checking back for them.

All right, in announcements today, the big news is something we broke on Saturday: Disney has officially set Steven Lisberger’s TRON (1980) and Joseph Kosinski’s TRON: Legacy (2010) for 4K Ultra HD Steelbook release on 9/16. Both gave been carefully remastered under the filmmakers’ supervision by The Walt Disney Film Restoration team to include Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos audio. Our sources are telling us that some of the early “de-aging” VFX in the latter film have been redone to modern standards. [Read on here...]

We’ve got three new disc reviews for you today, including…

Stephen’s look at Tonino Ricci’s Night of the Sharks (1988) on Blu-ray from Severin Films.

Stuart’s take on Kinji Fukasaku’s Jakoman and Tetsu (1964) on Blu-ray from 88 Films.

And Tim’s review of Chang Cheh’s Magnificent Ruffians (1979) on Blu-ray from Arrow’s excellent Shawscope: Volume Two box set.

Tim has also posted a review of Paul Spurrier’s Dream! (2025) in a rare installment of his Dailies column, so do give it a look!

In announcement news today, MVD Entertainment has revealed that they’re releasing Tenacious D: The Complete Masterworks – Volume 3 on Blu-ray and DVD on 10/3. It will feature their a complete 16-track concert from their 2023 Spicy Meatball Tour recorded in London’s O2 Arena, along with the band’s animated film Post Apocalypto and music videos for ...Baby One More Time, Wicked Game, Video Games, Fiber d’Lish, Tenacious D’s The Who Medley, You Never Give Me Your Money/The End, and Time Warp. [Read on here...]

We’ve got three more new disc reviews for all of you to enjoy today, including…

Tim’s thoughts on Jess Franco’s The Castle of Fu Manchu (1969) in 4K Ultra HD from Blue Underground as well as David Schmoeller’s Crawlspace (1986) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

And Stephen’s take on Stephen Sayadian’s Café Flesh (1982) on Blu-ray from Mondo Macabro.

Before we get going today, it looks like we finally know what the next two Steven Spielberg films are that are going to be released in 4K Ultra HD: Multiple retail sources are reporting that both Minority Report (2002) and Catch Me If you Can (2002) are coming to the format before the end of the year from Paramount. Street date for each is TBA, but this isn’t entirely surprising—both films have been recently available Digitally in 4K. As more information comes in, we’ll be sure to let you know.

Speaking of Paramount, their long-delayed 4K Ultra HD Steelbook release of Karyn Kusama’s Æon Flux (2005) is finally set for 10/7.

Also, we have a street date for Christopher McQuarrie’s Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (2025) on Blu-ray, DVD, 4K Ultra HD, and 4K Steelbook. Look for it to arrive on 10/14. [Read on here...]

Hey, Bits readers!

Boy, is it good to be back posting content!

As you may have noticed, The Bits has been down for a few weeks, first as we began to experience website technical issues and more recently has we worked to make the software upgrades needed to get us back to a level of stability that allows us to move forward.

Of course, any time you update software, most things get better but a few things break, so you then have to debug and test everything as much as you can, which we’ve been doing over the last several days.

At any rate, I believe we’re finally at a point now where I can start posting news updates here again—and there’s a lot of release news to catch you up on, as you can imagine.

What’s more, we can also start posting new Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD disc reviews—and rest assured that our review team here has been writing and stockpiling tons of them while we’ve been down. So expect lots of them over the coming days.

In fact, we’re starting that right now with…

Tim’s review of Jeff Rowe’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (2023) in 4K Ultra HD from Nickelodeon Movies and Paramount Home Entertainment, as well as the recent region-free import Blu-ray 3D from Turbine Media in Germany.

Stephen’s take on Brian Gibson’s Breaking Glass (1980) on Blu-ray from Fun City Editions.

And Dennis’ thoughts on King Vidor’s The Citadel (1938) on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection.

Again, more reviews are forthcoming, so be sure to keep your eyes peeled for them! [Read on here...]

Afternoon, folks! I wanted to check in here today with some news, and few more reviews, and an update.

Some of you have probably noticed that The Bits website has been slow this week. We’ve been having some software issues and our tech support team is on it. The good news is, they’ve identified the cause. We’re working on a solution which is going to involve a bunch of software upgrades, but it’s likely to going to take a week or two to sort out. So I just wanted to apologize for the inconvenience and ask for your patience in the meantime. Rest assured, Scotty and the crew down in Engineering are on the case and we should be back to normal soon!

In the meantime, we have some new disc reviews for you...

Stephen has taken a look at Bill Plympton’s I Married a Strange Person! (1997) on Blu-ray from Deaf Crocodile Films, as well as David Allen’s The Primevals (2023) on Blu-ray from Full Moon Features.

Dennis has offered his take on Steven Soderbergh’s The Good German (2006) in 4K Ultra HD from Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment (with an assist on the 4K side from Tim Salmons), as well as Dougal Wilson’s Paddington in Peru (2024) on Blu-ray from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, and Charles Walters’ Lili (1953) on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection.

And Tim has reviewed Gordon Flemying’s Daleks’ Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. (1996) on Blu-ray from Severin Films.

Lots more disc reviews are definitely on the way, so be sure to watch for them. And I also wanted to let you know in advance that if news updates or social media posts are a little light over the next few days, it’s because I just got my hands on Warner and MGM’s new 007: James Bond – Sean Connery 6-Film Collection in 4K Ultra HD. So I’m going to crack that open and start working on detailed reviews of the films therein, but it’s probably going to take me through the weekend to get them all covered.

But if a cursory examination of Dr. No and From Russian with Love is any indication, these new 4K remasters are pretty terrific. They’re on 100GB discs, they feature very high data rates, and the color, detail, and grain are all very nice indeed. Fingers crossed, I think the Warner remastering team has nailed it. These are definitely a big improvement over the old Lowry Digital 4K masters. So watch for more on that in my reviews soon! [Read on here...]

We’ve got a trio of new disc reviews for you to enjoy this afternoon, including…

Tim’s take on Russ Meyer’s Motorpsycho (1965) in 4K Ultra HD from Severin Films.

Stuart’s look at John and Roy Boulting’s Heavens Above! (1963) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

And Dennis’ thoughts on Billy Ray’s Shattered Glass (2003) on Blu-ray from Imprint Films and Via Vision Entertainment.

In release news today, Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment has begun taking pre-orders on the Blu-ray, DVD, 4K Ultra HD, and 4K Steelbook release of Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein’s Final Destination: Bloodlines (2025), which we hear is a pretty solid entry in the franchise. The street date is still TBA, but you should be able to find listings on all the major retail sites.

It appears that the Warner Archive Collection’s recently-announced 4K Ultra HD release of Charles Walters’ VistaVision classic High Society (1956) has been delayed slightly from May until June, though we expect pre-orders for the title to appear soon on Amazon and elsewhere. [Editor’s Note: I’ve just confirmed with WAC that the street date for this title has now shifted from 5/17 to 6/10 to what should be the final date of 6/24. And I’m told the 4K image is a knock-out.]

As we’ve reported previously, the film has been remastered from new 13.5K scans of the original VistaVision negative. The 4K disc will include Dolby Vision HDR on a 100GB disc, with disc authoring and compression by Fidelity in Motion. The remastered film will also be included in the package on Blu-ray, a BD-50. [Read on here...]

We have more new disc reviews to share here at The Bits today, including...

Tim’s look at Kenji Kamiyama’s animated The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim (2024) in 4K Ultra HD from Warner Bros, and Greg Ford and Terry Lennon’s Daffy Duck’s Quackbusters (1988) on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection.

My review of Edward Zwick’s Legends of the Fall: 30th Anniversary (1994) in 4K Ultra HD from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, featuring a stunning restoration of John Toll’s magnificent cinematography and a great Atmos mix as well.

Stuart’s reviews of Henry Hathaway’s The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935) on Region B Blu-ray from Indicator, and Michel Brault’s Orders (1974) on Blu-ray from Canadian International Pictures and Vinegar Syndrome.

And finally, Stephen’s look at Stephan Elliott’s The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994) in 4K Ultra HD from the good people at Via Vision’s Imprint Films.

As always, more reviews are on the way here at the site, so be sure to keep checking back for them.

Also today, we’ve posted our latest update of our Release Dates & Cover Artwork section here at The Digital Bits, featuring all the latest Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD cover artwork and Amazon.com pre-order links. Don’t forget that anytime you order from Amazon through our links, you’re helping to support our work here at The Bits and we really appreciate it! [Read on here...]

We’ve got a couple quick items of announcement news for you all today, but first I wanted to let you all know that our Release Dates and Artwork section has been updated to include all the latest Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K UHD cover art and Amazon pre-order links. As always, whenever you order literally anything from Amazon after clicking to them through one our links (like this one), you’re helping to support our work here at The Bits and we greatly appreciate it! And don’t forget, you can also support our work here by subscribing to our Patreon or by making a donation via PayPal here. Thank you!

Now then... Paramount has officially set Peter Segal’s Tommy Boy (1995) for 4K Ultra HD and 4K Steelbook release on 3/25. The film has been newly-remastered under the supervision of the director. All the legacy Blu-ray extras will carry over.

Our friends at Kino Lorber Studio Classics are officially bringing Gary Fleder’s Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead (1995) to 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray on 4/29. Also coming that day to Blu-ray from KLSC are Kirk Douglas’ Posse (1975) and Richard Friedenberg and James L. Conway’s The Bermuda Triangle (1979).

From Raro Video via KLSC, Lina Wertmüller’s Swept Away (1974) is coming to 4K Ultra HD on 4/29 as well. [Read on here...]

Afternoon, Bits readers... and welcome to the first week of February!

Tim is taking a much-deserved week off to spend time with his family, but we’ll have plenty of news content here and maybe a review or two as well in the meantime.

Last night, my wife Sarah and I attended The 52nd Annual Saturn Awards here in Los Angeles, produced by The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films. It was a lovely evening, a chance to catch up with industry friends, brush elbows with genre celebs (think Nicolas Cage, William Shatner, Mark Hamill, Peter Weller, Christopher Lloyd, Laurence Fishburne, tons of Star Trek cast members, etc), and to celebrate great work in genre entertainment. Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two took home the Best Science Fiction Film award, as it well should! Denis himself also won for Best Film Director—a nice show of appreciation for the filmmaker, especially given that he wasn’t nominated for Best Director by the Academy this year, despite Dune: Part Two being nominated for the Best Picture. Go figure.

In the Home Media categories, the key winners were:

• Best Classic Film Home Media Release: Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Kino Lorber Studio Classics)
• Best 4K Home Media Release: Saw X (Lionsgate Home Entertainment)
• Best Film Home Media Collection: Batman: 85th Anniversary Collection (Warner Home Video)
• Best Television Home Media Release: Star Wars: Andor – The Complete First Season (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)

We actually had the good fortune to be seated at the same table as Kino Lorber’s VP of Acquisitions and Business Development, Frank Trazi, who—since he lives on the East Coast—I hadn’t had the chance to meet before. But trust me when I say that Frank is good people, and that KLSC’s fantastic slate of upcoming Blu-ray and 4K titles is in great hands with him. You can watch his new podcast, Shelf Space with Kino Lorber, here on YouTube.

In any case, the event was great fun and it was streamed live online here and on Roku. You can read the complete list of winners here at Deadline today. And all of us here at The Bits would like to offer our congratulations to Frank and everyone at KLSC for their win for Invasion of the Body Snatchers (you can see their actual Saturn statue below the break), to our friend Cliff Stephenson and everyone at Lionsgate for their 4K win with Saw X, and to the disc teams at Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment for their wins as well!. [Read on here...]