Displaying items by tag: Shout! Factory

We’re working on new disc reviews here at The Bits at the moment, and we have a few recently-posted ones to catch you all up on today...

I’ve posted my thoughts on Lana Wachowski’s The Matrix Resurrections in 4K Ultra HD from Warner Bros.

Stephen has turned in his review of a Region B Blu-ray double-feature title from All the Anime: Makoto Shinkai’s The Place Promised in Our Early Days and Voices of a Distant Star. Hold that thought for a moment.

Tim has checked in with a look at Christophe Gans’ Silent Hill and Brian Trenchard-Smith’s The Man from Hong Kong on region-free Blu-ray from our friends at Umbrella Entertainment.

And Dennis has offered his take on David Butler’s Lullaby of Broadway (1951) on Blu-ray from The Warner Archive Collection.

I’m also working on a review of Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story on 4K Ultra HD from 20th Century Studios, and I’ve just gotten my hands on Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather Trilogy in 4K from Paramount. So be sure to watch for those reviews to get posted over the weekend and early next week. Rest assured, the rest of the team has more new reviews on tap for the coming week as well. [Read on here...]

We’ve got some interesting odds and ends to share news-wise here at The Bits today, as well as another big disc review, and some sad news unfortunately. But first, the review...

Tim has just delivered his in-depth look at Sony’s new Ghostbusters Ultimate Collection 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray box set, which includes new 4K editions of Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II—now with Dolby Vision HDR—as well as Ghostbusters: Afterlife on disc, and Ghostbusters: Answer the Call on Digital only (though the code redeems for both versions of that film in 4K). Plus the set include no less than two Blu-ray bonus discs with a ton of legacy extras, as well as new material exclusive to this set. And you get a mini replica of Don Shay’s Making Ghostbusters book from 1985.

Unfortunately, the set is a limited edition release from Sony and it’s sold out almost everywhere. (At last check, you could still get it from a few international retailers, but that version may have region issues and will not come with Digital codes.) We have asked the studio whether it might be released in a second printing, or perhaps in a discs-only configuration at some point in the future, and have been told that while it’s possible there’s no news to report at this time. Should that change, we will of course post an update here on The Bits.

In the meantime, we’ve gotten reports from a number of readers that their sets were damaged in shipment, or that the box they received had the wrong discs resulting from a packaging error (for example, they may have gave gotten two copies of Ghostbusters in BD and 4K, but no copies of Ghostbusters II). If that applies to you, Sony has provided us with a customer service email address for you to use to get things sorted. [Read on here...]

Thursday brings two more new disc reviews, and more release news—this time including some pretty great catalog 4K titles for Hitchcock fans.

First, Stephen has taken a look at Ruggero Deodato’s House on the Edge of the Park (1980) on Blu-ray from Severin Films.

And Dennis has turned in his thoughts on Michael Anderson’s Shake Hands with the Devil (1959), which stars James Cagney. The film is now available on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

A quick note: We’ve just gotten our hands on Sony’s new Ghostbusters Ultimate Collection 4K set and Tim is neck deep in work on an in-depth review. So watch for that coming soon here at The Bits.

Now then, in 4K Ultra HD catalog news, Spanish retail sources are indicating that Universal is planning another big wave of Alfred Hitchcock titles for release in 4K UHD this year. [Read on here...]

A funny thing happened on the way to yesterday’s My Two Cents post! For some reason, I lost track of a day this week, so I thought yesterday was Friday. Then I wake up and here’s Friday again, much to my surprise. LOL. So anyway, while a bit of yesterday’s post still applies this afternoon, we’ve got some great breaking release news to share with you all today...

First up, the fine Imprint Films (down in Australia) has just announced their March 2022 Blu-ray slate, which is due to street on 3/30/22. It will include Sam Peckinpah’s The Osterman Weekend (1983 – mastered from new 2K scans of the director’s cut negative and the theatrical cut, so it will include both versions), Buzz Kulik’s The Hunter (1980 – starring Steve McQueen), Samuel Fuller’s China Gate (1957), Byron Haskin’s Conquest of Space (1955 – produced by George Pal), John Sturges’ Marooned (1969), Robert Wise’s Audrey Rose (1977), and Dalton Trumbo’s Johnny Got His Gun (1971). Not bad at all!

As usual, all of these Blu-rays should be region free. You’ll find them available here on the Imprint website.

But here’s the whopper today... Arrow Video has just announced its March 2022 slate as well, which includes no less than three new 4K UHD catalog titles! [Read on here...]

We’re wrapping up the week today with another new disc review, a major piece of announcement news, and some very interesting things to check out around the Interwebs. We’ll start with the review...

Tim has posted his thoughts on Alfred E. Green’s The Fabulous Dorseys: Special Edition, which is newly available on Blu-ray from our friends at The Film Detective. The film is essentially a biopic about big band leaders Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey, staring themselves along with Janet Blair. Do give it a look if you’re interested.

Now then, the big release news today is that Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution and Marvel have just officially announced the 2/15 release of Chloé Zhao’s The Eternals on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD, with the Digital release expected on 1/12. (Note that I haven’t yet seen any indication of an international Blu-ray 3-D release, but one may appear eventually.)

This film was actually finished as a native 4K Digital Intermediate and should feature HDR10 high dynamic range on UHD, with Dolby Atmos audio (the Blu-ray will feature 7.1 DTS-HD MA). Note that the aspect ratio for both disc and digital on this title will be 2.39:1, though it’s likely to appear as IMAX enhanced at 1.90 as a Disney+ streaming exclusive. Extras will include an audio commentary (with Chloé Zhao, Stephane Ceretti, and Mårten Larsson), 4 deleted scenes, a gag reel, and 2 featurettes (Immortalized and Walks of Life). You can see the cover artwork at left and also below. [Read on here...]

We’ve got more reviews and some great new announcements today as well. As usual, let’s start with the reviews...

I’ve just taken an in-depth look at Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane (1941) with an assist from the late great Bits reviewer Barrie Maxwell. The film is now available in a 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Disc combo edition from The Criterion Collection and it’s worth every penny. The package features a terrific new film restoration and a wealth of new and legacy special features. As you know, there’s an issue with the movie Blu-ray in the package, but Criterion is already fixing it and I wouldn’t let that stop you from picking up what is one of the best releases of 2021.

Also today, Stephen has taken a look at Glenn Jordan’s Mass Appeal (1984) on Blu-ray from Code Red, and William Malone’s Creature (1985) on Blu-ray from Vinegar Syndrome.

Tim has checked in with this thoughts on Jeffrey Obrow and Stephen Carpenter’s The Kindred (1987) on Blu-ray from Synapse Films.

And Dennis has offered his thoughts on Jerry Schatzberg’s The Seduction of Joe Tynan (1979) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics. [Read on here...]

We start today’s post with a couple more new disc reviews, as usual...

Stephen has taken a nice deep dive into Neon Genesis Evangelion: The Complete Series, as newly-released on Limited Collector’s Edition Blu-ray by GKids via Shout! Factory. Directed and later re-envisioned by Hideaki Anno (Shin Godzilla), the series is a classic of Japanese anime, right up there with Akira, Ghost in the Shell, and Cowboy Bebop. But it can be a little daunting for the uninitiated, so Stephen will help guide you through it, and there’s no better way to experience the series than this new Blu-ray box set. It’s only available directly from Shout!, but you can also find a wide release Blu-ray edition of the series on Amazon (linked in the review).

Also today, Dennis has take a look back at Milos Forman’s Ragtime, which is now available on Blu-ray from Paramount Pictures Home Entertainment fully remastered from a new 4K scan and restoration as part of their Paramount Presents line. Both the theatrical version and Director’s Cut workprint version are included in the set. You can learn more here.

As always, more reviews are on the way, including a look at Criterion’s new Citizen Kane 4K Ultra HD, which should be up here on the site by Monday. [Read on here...]

Today’s update is a quick one, but we’ve got some good announcement news and a bunch of new disc reviews for you to enjoy. So as always, let’s start with the latter first...

I’ve now posted my thoughts on Cary Joji Fukunaga’s No Time to Die in Ultra HD from MGM and Universal, which offers a stunning 4K image, a very good Dolby Atmos mix, and a lean batch of extras that actually includes a nice 4K exclusive feature.

I’ve also reviewed Ridley Scott’s latest medieval drama, The Last Duel, new on 4K Ultra HD from 20th Century Studios. The film stars Matt Damon, Adam Driver, Jodie Comer, and Ben Affleck, and borrows liberally from Akira Kurosawa’s Rashomon.

Tim’s been busy reviewing as well, delivering his thoughts on William Lustig’s Maniac Cop 2 (1990) in 4K UHD from Blue Underground, as well as Budd Boetticher’s Wings of the Hawk in Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D from Kino Lorber Studio Classics (with a restoration by the 3-D Film Archive). [Read on here...]

All right, we hope you all had a great Thanksgiving holiday, and that you were able to take advantage of some good Black Friday Week and Cyber Monday deals on discs and whatnot.

We’ve got some big announcement news for you today, and a few follow-ups on previously-mentioned titles and issues too. But let’s get to a couple new reviews first...

First up, Dennis has posted his thoughts on Michael Showalter’s The Eyes of Tammy Faye on Blu-ray from Fox Searchlight.

And Stephen has checked in with this thoughts on Imprint/Via Vision’s The Harry Palmer Collection, which stars Michael Caine as a working-class spy. The set includes The Ipcress File, Funeral in Berlin, and Billion Dollar Brain on region-free Blu-ray Disc.

More reviews are forthcoming, so be sure to watch for them over the coming days. [Read on here...]

Afternoon, folks! Hope you all had a good Halloween weekend.

We’re got some more new disc reviews for you today, starting with the one I posted yesterday: My in-depth look at the Universal Classic Monsters: Icons of Horror Collection, which features Dracula (1931), Frankenstein (1931), The Invisible Man (1933), and The Wolf Man (1941), along with the Spanish version of Drácula (1931) all in 4K Ultra HD. The set is definitely worth a look for fans of the characters.

Also today, Stephen has reviewed John Huston’s Freud (1962) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

And Dennis has delivered a look at Arthur Lubin’s The Spider Woman Strikes Back (1946) also on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

More reviews are coming over the course of the week, so be sure to check back for them. [Read on here...]