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Monday, 10 April 2023 16:10

MVD sets the original Swamp Thing for 4K, plus The Firm, Vanilla Sky & Toxic Avenger on Ultra HD, new KLSC Blu-ray titles & more!

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We’re kicking things off this week with a pair of new disc reviews...

Tim has posted his thoughts on Neil Jordan’s The Company of Wolves (1984) in 4K Ultra HD from Scream Factory.

And Stephen has checked in with his take on Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert’s Best Picture-winning Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022) in 4K Ultra HD from A24 via Lionsgate.

In announcement and release news today, we have several interesting items for you...

First, our friends at MVD Entertainment have revealed the first 4K title in their MVD Rewind Collection, and it’s none other than Wes Craven’s Swamp Thing (1982)! Look for it to arrive on 7/25, and it will include both the Unrated International Version as well as the US Theatrical Version (which is rated PG). The title is also coming to Blu-ray that same day. You can see the cover artwork above left and also below.

Both versions are restored from new 16-bit 4K scans of the original camera negative, presented in the correct 1.85 aspect ratio with Dolby Vision HDR and audio in English 2.0 mono in DTS-HD Master Audio format (as well as Spanish mono). [Read on here...]

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Extras will include two audio commentaries (one with Craven and Sean Clark, and a second with makeup artist William Munns and Michael Felsher), 5 featurettes (Tales from the Swamp Remastered with Adrienne Barbeau, Hey Jude with Reggie Batts, That Swamp Thing with Len Wein, Swamp Screen: Designing DC’s Main Monster, and From Krug to Comics: How the Mainstream Shaped a Radical Genre Voice), galleries of production photos and poster artwork, two behind-the-scenes photo galleries (by William Munns and Geoffrey Rayle), and the film’s theatrical trailer.

Meanwhile, Amazon is now taking pre-orders for Paramount’s The Firm and Vanilla Sky in 4K Ultra HD, both Tom Cruise films. These are titles that we first mentioned were coming several weeks ago. Street date for each is 6/20, as expected. YoOu can see the official cover artwork below.

Also available for pre-order on Amazon is a new The Matrix Ultimate Collection 4K box set (street date 9/1) that includes The Matrix, The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions, and The Matrix Resurrections in 4K, plus The Animatrix on Blu-ray. This appears to be a UK-import release with WB 100th Anniversary branding, but it doesn’t yet appear on Amazon UK. So it will be interesting to see if a true US SKU appears as well. In any case, you can see the UK art below and the pre-order link goes to Amazon US.

Here’s something cool for you Troma fans: Troma Entertainment has revealed that it’s also getting into the 4K catalog game, starting with a new The Toxic Avenger Collection 4K box set that includes The Toxic Avenger, The Toxic Avenger II, The Toxic Avenger: Part III, and Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger. Street date is 8/29.

And in a bit of follow up to news we’ve posted previously, we now have street dates for Steven Spielberg’s Duel (1971) and Les Miserables (2012) in 4K Ultra HD. Look for them to arrive on 7/11.

Also today, Kino Lorber Studio Classics has officially set Michael Apted’s Gorky Park (1983) and Andrew Davis’ The Package (1989) for Blu-ray release on 6/13. And revealed as “coming soon” to the format by the indie label are Henri Verneuil’s Mille Milliards de Dollars (1982) and Theodore J. Flicker’s The President’s Analyst (1967).

Blue Underground has announced a new 4K Ultra HD title this weekend: Look for Bob Clark’s Deathdream (1974) on the format later this year. Details and an official street date are reportedly coming soon.

We also expect to hear official announcements for the release of Warner’s Rio Bravo and East of Eden in 4K in the coming weeks, along with Sony’s The Way We Were in 4K.

In other release news today, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has just announced Mia Hansen-Løve’s One Fine Morning (2022), starring Léa Seydoux. Look for it to street on Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital on 4/11 (tomorrow).

RLJE Films and Shudder have set Kurt Wimmer’s Children of the Corn (2020) for Blu-ray and DVD release on 5/9.

And we’ve confirmed with Dazzler in the UK that their forthcoming release of Apple TV’s For All Mankind: Season One and Season Two on Blu-ray (street date 5/1) will have no special features—just the episodes only. But again, it’s the only legal way to get the series on disc at the moment. We’d love to think a US Blu-ray will happen eventually, not to mention a 4K Ultra HD release, but there’s no guarantees. So make your plans accordingly.

We’ll leave you with a look at the cover artwork for some of the titles mentioned above and more, with Amazon pre-order links if available...

Swamp Thing (4K Ultra HD) The Firm (4K Ultra HD) Vanilla Sky (4K Ultra HD)

Max Fleischer's Superman (Blu-ray Disc) Mad Monster Party (Blu-ray Disc) The Matrix Ultimate Collection (with Animatrix, UK import 4K Ultra HD)

Stay tuned...!

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