Items filtered by date: November 2009

Today I’m diving into work on more disc reviews here at The Bits, especially new 4K titles. So today’s update will be fairly quick. However, we do have some interesting odds and ends to report after yesterday’s flood of major news, and we have Amazon pre-order links for a bunch of newly-announced titles to share with you too.

First, some Blu-ray reviews... Tim has taken a look at Don Siegel’s The Beguiled (1971), which was released late last year on Blu-ray by Kino Lorber Studio Classics. He’s also given one of the last Hammer Films titles a spin on Blu-ray from Scream Factory, Terence Fisher’s Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974). Both discs are worth your time.

A quick note on the subject of Kino Lorber Studio Classic: It appears that they inadvertently used the wrong master for their recent Blu-ray of Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (reviewed here on The Bits). The company is correcting this by replicating new replacement discs that use the proper 2017 4K restoration and you can request a copy by filling out this form on the Kino Lorber website.

Now then... the big announcement news today is that Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has officially set Guy Ritchie’s Snatch for release on 4K Ultra HD on 6/1. [Read on here...]

All right, that was fast!

It’s now official: Paramount Home Entertainment and Lucasfilm have indeed set the Indiana Jones 4-Movie Collection for release on 4K Ultra HD on 6/8.

Here’s a nice surprise: The set will include Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos audio after all. Per studio confirmation, the exact audio options on the US SKUs will include in English (Dolby Atmos), as well as 5.1 in French, Italian, Japanese, Russian, and Spanish. Subtitles will be available in English, Cantonese, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, and Thai.

The 5-disc set will contain all four of the existing films—Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull—along with a Blu-ray Disc of legacy bonus features. It does NOT appear that the set will include any new features. You will, however, get Digital copies of each film.

The collectible packaging will be available in two varieties: Regular and Steelbook (exclusive to Best Buy in the US), each with a slipcase. You can see both pictured below (the regular version is also visible at left).

Read on for the full text of the official Paramount and Lucasfilm press release... [Read on here...]

Okay, we’ve got some serious ground to cover in today’s My Two Cents update, so let’s get right to it...

First, we’ve just posted Michael Coate’s brand new History, Legacy & Showmanship column here at The Bits, featuring a terrific new retrospective of George Lucas’ THX 1138 in honor of the film’s 50th anniversary (which was last week on 3/11 – the piece was delayed due to a technical issue). The column takes an in-depth look back at the original theatrical release and also features a great roundtable discussion with film historian Chris Barsanti, documentary filmmaker Gary Leva, and original Director of Fan Relations at Lucasfilm Craig Miller. I think you’ll really enjoy it. So you’ll find that here.

Next up, as some of you may have noticed over the weekend, we posted word on Saturday (see here) that video distributors had begun listing a 4-film Indiana Jones Collection for release on 4K Ultra HD on 6/8. This is still not to be considered official until Paramount and Lucasfilm make their actual announcement, however be aware that I’ve now confirmed it with multiple film industry sources in addition to retail and distribution sources. And it’s really not all that surprising given that 6/12 is marks the 40th anniversary of the original film’s theatrical release. We expect the set to include all four existing films in 4K with HDR10 high dynamic range and the previous DTS-HD Master Audio lossless sound mixes (but that’s still subject to change). [Editor’s Note: We’ve just confirmed that the set WILL include Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos audio. Details to follow shortly.] The 5-disc set will also include a disc of bonus features that are TBA. Of course, we’ll post more information on this as it comes in.

The other big news today is that our friends at The Criterion Collection have just unveiled their June slate of titles. [Read on here...]

“What’s fun about seeing THX 1138 now, after 50 years, is to see how George Lucas took the rather dark themes and dynamic visual storytelling of his first film and found a way to infuse them into the Saturday matinee style films of the Star Wars series. THX is not his best film, but it’s fascinating to see the seeds of his future work within it.” – Gary Leva, director of Fog City Mavericks

The Digital Bits and History, Legacy & Showmanship are pleased to present this retrospective commemorating the golden anniversary of the release of THX 1138, George Lucas’s feature-length adaptation of his award-winning 1967 USC student film Electronic Labyrinth THX 1138 4EB.

Released two years before American Graffiti and six years before Star Wars, Lucas’s first motion picture starred Robert Duvall (Apocalypse Now, Tender Mercies) and Donald Pleasence (You Only Live Twice, Halloween) and was about a dystopian future where love and individuality are forbidden.

THX 1138 was executive produced by Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather, Apocalypse Now) as part of a deal in which Warner Bros. would finance and distribute American Zoetrope productions. [Read on here...]

All right, we’ve got a rare Saturday news update here at The Digital Bits with some potentially BIG breaking 4K news for you all today...

Keep in mind that this isn’t to be considered official until Paramount Home Entertainment makes their actual announcement with a press release, official cover artwork, and all the usual details.

However, it appears that retail and distribution sources are starting to list an Indiana Jones: 4-Film Collection for release on 4K Ultra HD from Paramount with an anticipated street date of 6/8.

And for those of you who may be wondering, that’s just in time for the 40th anniversary of the original Raiders of the Lost Ark on 6/12.

We’ve known that the films were being remastered in 4K since last year, so this isn’t too surprising.

In fact, we’ve had the title listed in our 4K Ultra HD Release List for many months now. But it looks like things are finally heating up for an actual release this summer. [Read on here...]

We’re starting our final news update for this week with more new Blu-ray Disc reviews...

Dennis has taken a look at Albert Brooks’ Defending Your Life (1991), as newly released on Blu-ray Disc by the Criterion Collection.

And Tim has offered up his thoughts on a pair of Clint Eastwood films, including Don Siegel’s Two Mules for Sister Sara (1970) and Eastwood’s own The Eiger Sanction (1975), both recently released by Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

In terms of announcements today, the big news is that Universal Studios Home Entertainment has just made their animated Shrek available for release on 4K Ultra HD on 5/11, in honor of the film’s 20th anniversary. High dynamic range will be HDR10, with DTS:X audio. Extras on the 4K and Blu-ray Disc in the package will include audio commentary with directors Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson and producer Aron Warner. deleted scenes, music videos, Shrek’s Interactive Journey, Spotlight on Donkey, and Secrets of Shrek. [Read on here...]

We’ve got some new release news to report today...

We’ll start with Shout! and Scream Factory, who have begun to announce their June Blu-ray and DVD release slate. Look for it to include Embattled on 6/1, The Unhealer (2020) and Sesame Street: Cool Counting Collection (DVD only) on 6/8, Sphinx (1981), Kindred (2020), and The Awakening (1980) on 6/15, The Wind Rises (Steelbook), The Secret World of Arrietty (Steelbook), Hunter Hunter, Human Nature: Shout Select (2001), and When Calls the Heart: What The Heart Wants & Before My Very Eyes (DVD only) on 6/22, and Stardust, Just a Gigolo (1978), and Battle Beyond the Stars (Steelbook) on 6/29. You’ll also be able to get a NECA figure of Battle Beyond the Stars’ Saint-Exmin on 6/29 by ordering directly from the Shout website.

Universal Studios Home Entertainment will release Adam Mason’s Songbird on Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital on 3/16. Extras will include audio commentary with Mason and co-writer Simon Boyes, deleted scenes with commentary, The Story of Songbird, the Kingdom promo video, and The Making of Kingdom. [Read on here...]

We’ve got just a quick update for you today...

First up, we’re starting with another new Blu-ray review. Tim has taken a look at John Sturges’ Joe Kidd (1972), as recently released on Blu-ray by our friends at Kino Lorber Studio Classics. Sounds like it’s a pretty solid release, so do give it a look.

Also today, our friend Arnold Leibovit has just kicked off a new crowdfunding effort to make possible the release of The Puppetoon Movie: Volume 3, a new Blu-ray collection of 18-20 more original George Pal Puppetoon short films scanned from the original 35 mm nitrate Technicolor prints (or successive exposure negatives) restored in 2K HD. You can learn more about the effort here, and if you’re a fan of these great shorts—or of film preservation in general—we strongly encourage you to participate. You can see the planned cover artwork for Volume 3 at left. [Read on here...]

All right, I’ve had a pretty steady stream of plumbers and carpenters here the last couple days as my wife and I work get our water leak sorted out. On top of which, yesterday was our annual visit to the tax man. LOL. So I appreciate your patience with the lack of an update yesterday.

We did at least get Tim’s Facebook problems resolved today. He’s back up and able to access his account there. Turns out it being disabled was just an error on Facebook’s part, so special thanks to a friend of the site who helped us to sort it all out.

While he was off the Book, Tim completed work on a new Blu-ray review for Arrow’s excellent He Came from the Swamp: The William Grefe Collection box set, which includes Sting of Death (1965), Death Curse of Tartu (1966), The Hooked Generation (1968), The Psychedelic Priest (1969), The Naked Zoo (1970), Mako: Jaws of Death (1976), and Whiskey Mountain (1977). You can find that here.

In announcement news today, HBO has set His Dark Materials: Season Two for Blu-ray and DVD release on 12/31, presumably not long before the BBC and HBO debut of Season Three in very early 2022. The second season has been available in the UK since December of last year. [Read on here...]

All right, we have one last news post for you guys today to close out the week and it’s a good one...

The big news is that Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has now officially set John McTiernan’s Last Action Hero for release on 4K Ultra HD on 5/18. The film is presented newly remastered in 4K from the original camera negative with HDR10 high dynamic range and a new Dolby Atmos mix. You’ll also get the original theatrical SDDS mix presented in 5.1 and the original theatrical stereo audio.

Extras on the disc will include an all-new audio commentary with McTiernan, deleted and alternate scenes—as well as an alternate ending—all presented in 4K with HDR10, AC/DC’s Big Gun music video, the original behind-the-scenes featurette, and the theatrical trailer. The Steelbook packaging also includes a Blu-ray copy and a Digital code.

You can see the cover artwork above left and also below, and you can pre-order the title now on Amazon as well (by clicking on the cover art below)... [Read on here...]