Serpico on 4K in Germany, plus Unhinged, Psycho 4K replacement update, a BTTF 4K sample & RIP Kevin Burns

Tuesday, 29 September 2020 16:55

Serpico on 4K in Germany, plus Unhinged, Psycho 4K replacement update, a BTTF 4K sample & RIP Kevin Burns

by Bill Hunt

All right, we’ve got a couple new disc reviews to start the proceedings here at The Bits today...

I’ve taken a look at the first season of HBO’s new His Dark Materials series on Blu-ray, which is pretty good. Fans of the Philip Pullman books will be pleased to know that this is a solid adaptation. I just wish HBO would release the series in 4K, because the film was shot natively in 4.5K and 6K and finished in 4K, so it should look tremendous. Anyway, the Blu-ray release is solid enough (and Season Two starts in November).

Also, I’ve reviewed Luc Besson’s The Fifth Element as newly released in 4K by StudioCanal in the UK. And here’s the thing: Though the disc has no extras (and its remastered Blu-ray is Region B locked), StudioCanal’s 4K features a new and better encode than the previous Sony Ultra HD release, with much higher data rates, and Dolby Vision HDR. It’s a notable improvement in image quality. So serious fans of the film may want to consider it. Click here for all the details. [Read on here...]

Now then, before we get started today, I wanted to take a moment to acknowledge the passing Kevin Burns. A legendary Lost in Space fan, filmmaker, and producer, Kevin made many great DVD documentaries over the years, including Lost in Space Forever, Empire of Dreams (on the making of the Star Wars trilogy), and Look, Up in the Sky! The Amazing Story of Superman. He was also a producer on the new Lost in Space TV series on Netflix. Kevin was just an all-around good human being and we’ll miss him. Be sure to check out Michael Coate’s History, Legacy & Showmanship discussion on the classic Lost in Space TV series with Kevin on The Bits at this link. Kevin was 65. You can read more here at Deadline.

Now then, StudioCanal is getting ready to release Sidney Lumet’s Serpico on 4K Ultra HD. It’s already available for pre-order on Amazon.de with a street date of November 19. Thanks to Bits reader Jeremy C. for the heads-up.

This is in addition to Three Days of the Condor, which is coming to 4K from StudioCanal at the same time. (The image above links to the French Amazon pre-order page).

FYI, we’re also aware that StudioCanal intends to release Akira Kurosawa’s Ran on 4K Ultra HD sometime in early 2021.

Also today, Lionsgate has announced the Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital release of Unhinged, starring Russell Crowe, on 11/17.

One other item worth mentioning: Bits readers who have contacted Universal regarding their Psycho 4K Ultra HD replacement program are now hearing back from the studio. The corrected discs should be shipping in the next 2-4 weeks. Thanks to all the many readers who let us know. FYI, the contact details to request your copy are found in this post on The Bits.

Finally today—and speaking of Universal—the studio has just shared a tease of their new 4K restoration of Back to the Future on YouTube. You can watch it below, but be sure to set your video resolution to 4K and make it big and large to get the fill effect. If the rest of this film—and the other two—look as good as this, fans should be in good hands when the set streets on 10/20 (you can pre-order it on Amazon here).

That’s all for now. Stay tuned...

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Serpico on 4K in Germany, plus Unhinged, Psycho 4K replacement update, a BTTF 4K sample & RIP Kevin Burns

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