First up today, Shout! Factory has announced a few new titles that are worth mentioning, including Robot Jox (Blu-ray – 7/7), The Legend of the Lone Ranger (Blu-ray – 7/14), and All Quiet on the Western Front: The Uncut Edition (1979 – 156 minutes – DVD only – due 7/14).
Any Walking Dead fans out there? Starz and Anchor Bay are officially releasing The Walking Dead: The Complete Fifth Season on Blu-ray and DVD on 8/25 (SRP $79.99 and $69.98). There will also be the usual Amazon-exclusive version with super-deluxe packaging, but it hasn’t been announced yet. Details will follow soon.
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment has also set The Strain: The Complete First Season for Blu-ray Premium Edition release on 6/9 in deluxe packaging. We’ll have details and cover artwork tomorrow.
Well Go USA will release Kung Fu Killer on Blu-ray on 7/21. The film stars Donnie Yen. They also have For the Emperor and The Road Within coming to Blu-ray on 7/7.
Warner Home Video has set Virtuosity for Blu-ray release on 7/7 as well. We believe this is the first time the film has been released in Region A on the format.
Here’s something awesome: Flicker Alley and the 3-D Film Archive have announced the Blu-ray 3D Combo release of 3-D Rarities on 6/23 (SRP $39.95). The release is designed to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the first documented public exhibition of 3D material, which occurred on June 10, 1915. From the official press release…
“Selections include Kelley’s Plasticon Pictures, the earliest extant 3-D demonstration film from 1922 with incredible footage of Washington and New York City; Lumière’s L’Arrivée d’un Train, first shown at the Academie des Sciences in Paris; New Dimensions, the first domestic full color 3-D film originally shown at the World’s Fair in 1940; Thrills for You, a promotional film for the Pennsylvania Railroad; Around is Around, a 3-D animated gem by Norman McLaren; Rocky Marciano vs. Jersey Joe Walcott, the only 3-D newsreel; Stardust in Your Eyes, a hilarious standup routine by Slick Slavin; trailer for The Maze, with fantastic production design by William Cameron Menzies; Doom Town, a controversial anti-atomic testing film mysteriously pulled from release; puppet cartoon The Adventures of Sam Space, presented in widescreen; I’ll Sell My Shirt, a burlesque comedy unseen in 3-D for over 60 years; Boo Moon, an excellent example of color stereoscopic animation...and more!
Presented in high-quality digital 3-D, all films have been stunningly restored and mastered direct from archival materials by 3-D Film Archive Technical Director Greg Kintz. Meticulously aligned shot by shot for precise registration of the original left/right elements, these historic 3-D motion pictures have never looked this good.”
That sounds really awesome if you have Blu-ray 3D viewing capabilities, though note that the material can also be viewed in regular 2D Blu-ray as well.
Meanwhile, Entertainment One will release Pound of Flesh, staring Jean-Claude Van Damme, on Blu-ray and DVD on 6/23.
And it looks like many of the Kino Lorber June catalog Blu-ray titles are finally available for pre-order on Amazon, including F/X on 6/9, The Land That Time Forgot, An Eye for an Eye, Hero and the Terror, Malice, and The Onion Field on 6/16, and Bank Shot, Cops & Robbers, Harry in Your Pocket, Sugar Hill, Needful Things, Moana with Sound, and The Island of Dr. Moreau on 6/23. We’ll post cover art soon.
Here’s a look at the Blu-ray cover artwork for new upcoming titles, including some of the those mentioned above…
Stay tuned!
- Bill Hunt