Displaying items by tag: Richard Donner

We’ve got more new disc reviews today to start the short Thanksgiving week out right here at The Bits. Among them are...

Stephen’s take on Fred Zinnemann’s A Man for All Seasons (1966) in 4K Ultra HD from Sony’s new Columbia Classics 4K Ultra HD Collection: Volume 5 box set.

Tim’s review of Don Siegel’s Two Mules for Sister Sara (1970) in 4K Ultra HD from Kino Lorber Studio Classics, as well as his on-going film-by-film review of Arrow’s excellent Shawscope: Volume Two Blu-ray boxed set—today featuring his thoughts on Lau Kar-leung’s The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (1978).

And my review of Dean Parisot’s Galaxy Quest (1999) in 4K Ultra HD Steelbook from our friends at Paramount Home Entertainment.

We’ve all got a lot more reviews in the works here at the site as well, so be sure to check back. In fact, in the next 24 hours or so, I’ll have my reviews of Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai (1954) in 4K from the BFI (as compared to the recent Criterion 4K release, which I reviewed here last week), as well as my thoughts on Fede Álvarez’s Alien: Romulus (2024) in 4K UHD from 20th Century Studios.

Also today, I wanted to let you that I just dropped my second My Two Cents: A Video Blog episode exclusively for our supporters on The Digital Bits’ Patreon page. It runs about 26 minutes and includes comments on new and recent 4K titles, a sneak peek of 2025 4K catalog titles, and more. [Read on here...]

We’re wrapping things up here at The Bits this week with three more new disc reviews, all of them from Tim Salmons...

First up is Tim’s take on Jorge Grau’s The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue (1974), which is coming on Blu-ray on 6/7 from Synapse Films in regular Amaray, and is already available in Steelbook packaging. Tim has reviewed both versions here and here.

Tim has also given a look at Genndy Tartakovsky’s Hotel Transylvania 2 on Blu-ray 3D, a throw-back animated title released back in 2016 from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

In terms of release news today, Synapse Films has announced that a new 4K Ultra HD edition of Dario Argento’s Tenebrae (1982) is coming on 7/26. Two versions will be available, a 3-Disc 4K UHD Limited Edition (of 6,000 units) and a 3-Disc 4K UHD “Variant Cover” Limited Edition (of just 2,000 units that’s exclusive to DiabolikDVD). [Read on here...]

“Clark Kent’s alley transformation into Superman and Superman’s flight to the White House to return the American Flag are two of the best moments; they are just as chill-inducing and magical today as they were 40 years ago!” — Jim Bowers, CapedWonder.com

The Digital Bits and History, Legacy & Showmanship are pleased to present this multi-page retrospective commemorating the 40th anniversary of the release of Superman II, the 1980/1981/2006 follow-up to 1978’s Superman: The Movie and featuring Christopher Reeve reprising his legendary dual role of Superman and alter ego Clark Kent.

Taking over from Richard Donner midway through production, Richard Lester (The Three Musketeers, Help!) directed and re-shot much of the Saturn Award-winning sequel, which focused on the three Kyptonian outlaws (Terrence Stamp, Sarah Douglas and Jack O’Halloran) breaking free from their cosmic imprisonment and seeking revenge on the Man of Steel.

The first Superman sequel—also starring Clifton James as Sheriff and E.G. Marshall as The President—featured reprisal performances by Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor, Ned Beatty as Otis, Jackie Cooper as Perry White, Margot Kidder as Lois Lane, Valerie Perrine as Miss Teschmacher, Susannah York as Superman’s biological mother Lara, and Marc McClure as Jimmy Olsen. [Read on here...]

All right, we’ve got some very interesting ground to cover today...

First, we’ve posted a review of Richard Donner’s Timeline (2003), which has just been released on Blu-ray for the first time ever by Paramount. Our own Dr. Adam Jahnke reviewed the DVD way back in 2004, so I’ve revived his film review and added my own comments on the Blu-ray’s A/V quality. Timeline is cheesy and paper-thin to be sure (I would never call it a great film, or really even a very good one), but I still kind of enjoy it. So it’s nice to finally have it on Blu-ray, especially for just $9.99 SRP.

Also, later today or tomorrow morning I expect to finish my review of Zack Snyder’s 300 in 4K Ultra HD from Warner Bros. So watch for that to be posted very soon.

Now then, in release news today, we’ve got a few things for you. None of this is yet official—as in no press releases have been issued, but we expect them to be shortly—but we’ve got updates today on a few new 4K catalog titles that we know many of you have been eagerly awaiting. [Read on here...]

We’ve got still more release news to report today, though much if it we’ve already talked about here at The Bits. The point is, it’s all now official.

First up, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has just set four catalog titles for release on 4K Ultra HD (with Blu-ray and Digital Copy) on 9/1...

These include Richard Donner’s The Goonies (1985), Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice (1988), and Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes (2009) and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011). All four were shot on film, so appear to have been mastered from new 4K scans of the original camera negatives (the two Sherlock Holmes titles were shot on film but finished as 2K DIs, so it’s possible new 4K DIs were built from scans of the camera neg and VFX film outs).

All four titles will include the previous Blu-ray extras. In addition, Beetlejuice will offer a new English Dolby Atmos sound mix. There’s no indication of Dolby Vision HDR in Warner’s press release, so assume HDR10 for the time being. Both The Goonies and Beetlejuice will also be available in new Deluxe 4K Giftsets exclusive to Amazon.com. [Read on here...]

“Superman: The Movie radiated magic in 1978 and continues to captivate the world 40 years later. This December, surely multitudes of fans will be watching Superman—via streaming, DVD, Blu-ray or the new 4K UHD—with the same hope, optimism, and innocence they felt the first time they watched in awe as Christopher Reeve soared out of the Fortress of Solitude and into the world.” — Jim Bowers, CapedWonder.com

The Digital Bits and History, Legacy & Showmanship are pleased to present this retrospective commemorating the 40th anniversary of the release of Superman, Richard Donner’s classic superhero adventure starring Christopher Reeve (Somewhere in Time, Monsignor). The year 2018 also marks the 80th anniversary of Superman’s debut in Action Comics.

Often described as the first modern-day superhero movie, Superman (aka Superman: The Movie) was a box-office smash and winner of numerous awards and, of course, inspired a series of sequels and spin-offs as well as, arguably, decades of superhero/comicbook-themed media. [Read on here...]

All right, we’ve got your first look at what might be the cover artwork for Warner’s Superman: The Movie 4K Ultra HD release… by way of the official German retail cover artwork seen at left.

We know that the disc will include the theatrical version of the film in 4K, with Dolby Atmos audio.

There is also the possibility that the longer cuts will be included in the package on Blu-ray only.

The German street date is November 8, but we suspect it will be an October release here in the States.

We should know more soon, when Warner makes the official announcement, so stay tuned. [Read on here...]

“The Mr. Novak series is among the finest programs to be produced in the 1960s. It ranks with The Twilight Zone, The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Defenders and others as an absolute pinnacle of television production.” — Chuck Harter, author of Mr. Novak: An Acclaimed Television Series

The Digital Bits and History, Legacy & Showmanship are pleased to present this retrospective commemorating the 55th anniversary of the premiere of Mr. Novak, the acclaimed but little seen television series starring James Franciscus (Beneath the Planet of the Apes) and Dean Jagger (Twelve O’Clock High) which ran on NBC from 1963 to 1965.

Highly influential on the education community, the series featured still-timely themes, some early-career directing by Richard Donner (Superman, Lethal Weapon) and Mark Rydell (The Rose, On Golden Pond) and a bevy of now-recognizable guest stars including Ed Asner (The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Lou Grant), Beau Bridges (The Fabulous Baker Boys), Tony Dow (Leave it to Beaver), Walter Koenig (Star Trek), Martin Landau (Mission: Impossible, Space: 1999), June Lockhart (Lost in Space), Burgess Meredith (Batman, Rocky), and Marion Ross (Happy Days). [Read on here...]

REMEMBERING “SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE” ON ITS 35TH ANNIVERSARY

It has been a big year for the Man of Steel. The year 2013 marked the 75th anniversary of Superman’s debut (in Action Comics issue #1), a new movie was made starring Henry Cavill and directed by Zack Snyder, and, of course, it represents the 35th anniversary of the release of the classic cinematic adventure starring Christopher Reeve and directed by Richard Donner.  The Digital Bits celebrates the occasion with a look back at Superman: The Movie’s opening weekend and features a reflective interview with some Superman authorities.  [Read on here...]

Anyone interested in some new Blu-ray reviews to start the week?  Our own Tim Salmons has checked in today with a pair of them featuring a look at a couple of Criterion titles in high-definition, including David Maysles and Albert Maysles’ Rolling Stones concert film Gimme Shelter and also the new special edition of Charlie Chaplin’s City Lights.  Both are now available on BD, so enjoy!

Meanwhile, pre-orders are now on for Paul Greengrass’ Captain Phillips from Sony at this link on Amazon.  Disney’s Thor: The Dark World and Summit Entertainment’s Ender’s Game are also both up for pre-order on BD on Amazon.  [Read on here…]