Displaying items by tag: Universal Studios Home Entertainment

We’ve got a good bit of ground to cover here at The Bits today, so let’s start as always with new disc reviews...

Now available here are Stephen’s take on Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation (1974) in 4K Ultra HD from StudioCanal, David Allen’s The Primevals (2023) as released on Blu-ray by Umbrella Entertainment, and the Blu-ray Audio version of Jonathan Demme and Talking Heads’ Stop Making Sense (1984) live album, which includes Dolby Atmos.

Stuart’s look at the Philo Vance Collection on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics—which includes The Canary Murder Case (1929), The Greene Murder Case (1929), and The Benson Murder Case (1930)—as well as George King’s The Shop at Sly Corner (1947) and the Columbia Film Noir #6: The Whistler box set—which includes The Whistler (1944), The Mark of the Whistler (1944), The Power of the Whistler (1945), Voice of the Whistler (1945), Mysterious Intruder (1946), The Secret of the Whistler (1946), The Thirteenth Hour (1947), and The Return of the Whistler (1948)—both on Blu-ray from Indicator.

Dennis’ thoughts on Basil Dearden’s The Man Who Haunted Himself (1970) on Blu-ray from Imprint and Welcome Back, Kotter: The Complete Series (1975-1979) on DVD from Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment.

And finally, Tim has taken a look at Arch Oboler’s Bwana Devil (1952) on Blu-ray 3D from Kino Lorber Studio Classics with the help of the 3-D Film Archive.

More reviews are forthcoming, so stay tuned!

Now then, before we get to the big release news today, I wanted to alert you all to the fact that we’ve just posted a big update to our Cover Art section here at The Bits, aka the Release Dates & Artwork section (thanks to our own Russell Hammond)! It now features TONS of new Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD cover art, all with Amazon.com pre-order links. You can browse and sort the titles by street date and format, and of course The Bits is an Amazon Affiliate, so anytime you click through one of our Amazon links and order literally anything from them, you’re helping to support our work and we really do appreciate it. It makes a real difference for us. [Read on here...]

We’re starting the new week as always with more new disc reviews…

First, our own Tim Salmons has turned in his thoughts on Imprint Films’ new double feature of The Uninvited (1944) and The Unseen (1945) on region-free Blu-ray, a pair of film noir titles both directed by Lewis Allen.

And Stephen has weighed in with a look at a hefty title of his own: Full Moon Features’ new The Primevals: Ultimate Collector’s Edition Blu-ray box set, featuring the restored 2023 David Allen film, which was originally greenlit in 1978 but wasn’t filmed until 1994. Sadly, Allen passed away in 1999 before the film was completed. But thanks to an Indiegogo campaign, it’s finally completed as much as is possible and available on disc. And what a nice package it is too.

More reviews are on the way of course, but today we’ve got a TON of Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD release news to catch up all up on. It starts with Arrow’s Friday morning announcement of their October slate, which includes John Boorman’s Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977) on Blu-ray (in the UK only) on 10/7, William Peter Blatty’s The Exorcist III (1990) on 4K (in the UK only) on 10/7, the Hellraiser: Quartet of Torment box set—which includes Clive Barker’s Hellraiser (1987), Tony Randel’s Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988), Anthony Hickox’s Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth (1992), and Kevin Yagher’s Hellraiser: Bloodline (1996)—on Blu-ray and 4K (in the US and Canada only, it was already released in the UK) on 10/22, Michael Dougherty’s Trick ‘r Treat (2007) on 4K (in the UK, US, and Canada) on 10/28, and the J-Horror Rising: Limited Edition Blu-ray box set—which includes Shunichi Nagasaki’s Shikoku (1999), Toshiyuki Mizutani’s Isola: Multiple Personality Girl (2000), Masato Harada’s Inugami (2001), Ten Shimoyama’s St. John’s Wort (2001), Kōji Shiraishi’s Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman (2007), Takashi Komatsu’s Persona (2000), and Koji Shiraishi’s Noroi: The Curse (2005)—on Blu-ray (in the UK, US, and Canada) also on 10/28. [Read on here...]

We’ve got two more new disc reviews for you to check out today, just as Comic-Con officially gets underway down in San Diego...

Stephen has taken a look at Michael Tuchner’s Fear Is the Key (1972) on Blu-ray from Arrow Video.

And Dennis has offered his thoughts on Étienne Périer’s When Eight Bells Toll (1971) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

We’ve also got several good new title announcements to report this afternoon here at The Bits...

First, Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment has revealed that a Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga – Black & Chrome Edition will be available Digitally on 8/13. The color version is already set to debut on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD on 9/24. And you will be able to get the Black & Chrome Editions of both Furiosa and Mad Max: Fury Road in the forthcoming Mad Max 5-Film 4K Collector’s Edition, which is also due on 9/24 (pre-order here). This new Black & Chrome Edition was created by George Miller, who feels that it distills the essence of the film into something more pure and classical (per comments on social media).

Universal will release Jeff Nichols’ The Bikeriders (2024) on 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray on 8/13, with the Digital release set for 8/9. The film stars Jodie Comer, Austin Butler, Tom Hardy, Michael Shannon, Michael Faist, and Norman Reedus. The Blu-ray editions will feature Dolby Atmos audio, and the 4K will boast HDR10 high dynamic range. Extras will include feature commentary with Nichols and 3 featurettes (Johnny, Benny & Kathy, The Era of The Bikeriders, and The Filmmaker’s Eye: Jeff Nichols). You can see the cover artwork below the break. [Read on here...]

We’ve got more interesting release news here today to close out the week, and a few more new disc reviews as well. First the reviews...

Stephen has turned in his thoughts on Abel Ferrara’s Dangerous Game (1993) on Blu-ray from Vinegar Syndrome via their fine new Cinématographe line.

And Dennis has reviewed Bryce McGuire’s Night Swim (2024) on Blu-ray from Blumhouse via Universal, as well as Raoul Walsh’s The Man I Love (1947) on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection.

More reviews are on the way for next week, including my take on Hayao Miyazaki’s animated The Boy and the Huron (2023) in 4K Ultra HD from GKids. So be sure to stay tuned for them.

Also, my apologies for the lack of news updates this week, but I was struck a bout of vertigo last Saturday, and I’ve been having to take it a bit easy to reset everything back to normal. It’s nothing serious—mine is caused by tension in my shoulders aggravating the nerves in my neck, in this case triggered by sleeping with my neck in an awkward position. So the key is to fix my pillow situation and try to relax a little bit more. I’m sure some of you out there can relate!

Anyway, the big news lately is that Second Sight in the UK has finally set their long-awaited 4K remaster of Robert Harmon’s The Hitcher (1986) for release on both 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray on 9/30. It’s currently exclusive to their website in a 4K + Blu-ray Limited Edition, as well as separate (and standard) 4K UHD and Blu-ray editions. [Read on here...]

We’re closing out the week here at The Bits with a bunch of release news and more new disc reviews as well. The reviews include...

Tim’s take on Rocky Morton & Annabel Jankel’s Super Mario Bros. (1993) in 4K Ultra HD from Umbrella Entertainment—the deluxe Trust the Fungus edition.

Stuart’s look at Hal Ashby’s Coming Home (1978) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics, as well as his review of Kino Lorber’s Homicide Hills: The Complete Series on DVD.

And Dennis’ reviews of Frank Lloyd’s Blood on the Sun (1945) and Alfred L. Werker and Anthony Mann’s He Walked by Night (1948), both on Blu-ray also from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

Also, just to let you know, we’ve been sharing some additional content for our supporters over on Patreon, including essays on Godzilla Minus One’s visual effects Oscar win and the difficulty in creating or evaluating home video transfers for film, along with an exclusive tease about a trio of forthcoming 4K Ultra HD catalog titles that are in the works for later this year, my in-depth film review of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two, and a little behind-the-scenes on a visit with some friends of The Bits who just so happen to have been involved with the Star Trek franchise for over 38 years.

Supporting The Bits on Patreon is a really great way to help us keep the site going, and doing so makes it possible for us to continue our work in support of physical media and disc fans everywhere. So please consider joining us there! [Read on here...]

All right, it’s been a busy couple of days here at The Bits in the wake of our reviews of the James Cameron 4K titles—The Abyss, Aliens, and True Lies.

Many of you have reported having trouble getting your pre-orders fulfilled, or have seen shipping dates delayed, whether from Amazon, Walmart, Disney Movie Club, Target, or what have you. This is apparently due to distribution issues resulting from—we strongly suspect—demand for these titles outstripping Disney’s expectations. In any case, more product is being replicated and shipped to distributors and retailers, so these issues should clear up over the next week or two.

Hopefully, this will send a strong message to Disney that people still want to buy catalog 4K titles—a good sign for the future.

Meanwhile, we have one new disc review here at The Bits today: Stephen has taken an in-depth look at Howard Hawks’ His Girl Friday (1940) in 4K Ultra HD from Sony’s new Columbia Classics 4K Collection: Volume 4 box set. More reviews from this set will follow soon.

In announcement news today, Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment has now officially set Steven Soderberg’s Ocean’s Trilogy for 4K UHD release on 4/30. [Read on here...]

All right, we have a lot to report today so let’s get right into it. We’ll start with more new disc reviews, which include...

Dennis’ look at Rick Charnoski’s Warm Blood (2022) on Blu-ray from Factory 25 and Vinegar Syndrome.

Stuart’s take on Elia Kazan’s final film, The Last Tycoon (1976) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classic.

And Tim’s thoughts on Jonathan Lynn’s Clue (1985) in 4K Ultra HD from Shout! Factory.

Enjoy those and watch for more all this week!

In terms of announcement news this afternoon, Universal Pictures Home Entertainment and DreamWorks Animation have just officially set the CG-animated Trolls Band Together for release on Blu-ray, DVD, 4K Ultra HD, and Digital on 1/16—that’s right, next week! Extras will include a Sing-Along Version, 7 featurettes (including Fun in the Recording Booth, *NSYNC: Hi, Hi, Hi, Building the Band, Together Again, Animating Trolls, How to Draw, and How To: Hug Time Bracelets), 3 deleted scenes, and audio commentary (with producer Gina Shay, co-director Tim Heitz, head of story Colin Jack, production designer Ruben Perez Reynoso, and visual effects supervisor Marc J. Scott). The 4K disc will be a UHD-100 with Dolby Atmos audio (the Blu-ray will include Atmos as well). You can see the cover artwork below the break.

Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment has just officially announced the 3/26 Blu-ray and DVD release of Wednesday: Season One. It doesn’t appear that there will be any extras, but all eight episodes will be included. You can see the cover artwork at left and also below. [Read on here...]

Afternoon, Bits readers! It’s been a few days since we’ve done a major news update here on the site, and the reason is that we’ve been very focused on completing new disc reviews for you guys. This is the time of year when all of the big fourth quarter titles start arriving for review, and we’re right in the thick of it now. So today we’re pleased to offer you...

My reviews of James Mangold’s Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023), along with The Mandalorian: The Complete First Season (2019) and The Mandalorian: The Complete Second Season (2020), all in 4K Ultra HD from Lucasfilm via Disney, as well as my review of James Cameron’s Titanic: 25th Anniversary Limited Edition in 4K Ultra HD from Paramount.

We also have Stephen’s reviews of WandaVision: The Complete Series (2021) in 4K Ultra HD from Marvel via Disney, as well as Tommy Wirkola’s Violent Night (2022) in 4K UHD via Universal, and Michael Crichton’s The Great Train Robbery (1978) on Blu-ray from MGM via Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

And Stuart has weighed in on Henry Decoin’s Strangers in the House (1942) on Blu-ray from Gaumont via Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

Rest assured, we have many more new disc reviews on the way as well, so be sure to watch for them. [Read on here...]

Afternoon folks! I just wanted to chime in here quickly this afternoon with a couple of quick updates.

I’m currently working on my 4K Ultra HD reviews of James Cameron’s Titanic and James Mangold’s Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, so I’ll be busy for the rest of the day on those.

In the meantime, we have three more new disc reviews for you all to enjoy this afternoon...

Tim has reviewed Roger Vadim’s Barbarella (1968) in 4K Ultra HD from the good people of Arrow Video.

Stephen has offered his thoughts on Stelvio Massi’s giallo Five Women for the Killer (1974) on Blu-ray from Vinegar Syndrome.

And Dennis has turned in his take on Larry Yang’s Ride On (2023), a Jackie Chan actioner on Blu-ray from Well Go USA Entertainment. [Read on here...]

This is going to be a big week in terms of new disc reviews! Just today we’ve got...

My take on Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer (2023) in 4K Ultra HD from Universal, which in my opinion is the A/V demo disc of the year, not to mention a terrific special edition release. Unfortunately, it’s selling out everywhere, but we strongly suspect that Universal is already replicating more copies (and we’ve asked for official confirmation of that, which we’ll share here as soon as we hear back).

Tim’s reviews of Greta Gerwig’s Barbie (2023) in 4K Ultra HD from Warner Bros and Jeannot Szwarc’s Santa Claus: The Movie (1985) in 4K UHD from StudioCanal in the UK.

Stuart’s look at the Audie Murphy Collection III box set from Kino Lorber Studio Classics, which includes Hell Bent for Leather (1960), Posse from Hell (1961), and Showdown (1963) on Blu-ray.

And Dennis’ thoughts on Brad Watson’s The Siege (2023) on Blu-ray from Well Go USA Entertainment, as well as Harry Beaumont’s Dance, Fools, Dance (1931) on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection.

I’m also hard at work on my 4K review of James Cameron’s Titanic (1997) from Paramount and we have several more Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD reviews cooking at the moment. I would expect James Mangold’s Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny to show up at any time for review in 4K as well. So be sure to keep your eyes peeled for them. [Read on here...]