Displaying items by tag: Universal Studios Home Entertainment

All right, we’re working on a bunch of things today, but we wanted to chime in quickly with this...

Universal is officially bringing The Blues Brothers, Jaws, and Back to the Future to 4K Ultra HD this year. We’ve been saying that the titles were coming for a while now (because we knew that from our industry sources) and we’ve had the titles listed in our 4K Ultra HD Release List for months.

But I’ve now gotten the studio to confirm on the record that Jaws and Blues Brothers are indeed coming to the format this year (BTTF was confirmed last year). Street date is still TBA, but expect them likely this summer.

I’ve also gotten the studio to confirm that what you see at left is indeed the final 4K cover artwork for John Landis’ The Blues Brothers on the format. [Read on here...]

All right, there’s not a whole lot going on today news-wise, so we’re busy working on new disc reviews.

But we did want to check in briefly with a new interesting odds and ends.

To start with, we have a sneak peek at temp cover artwork from our retail sources (in Europe in this case) for Universal’s Spartacus and Jaws on 4K Ultra HD, which are expected to street widely in June or July (street date TBA). You can see Jaws at left and both of them below. This should be close to final, but know that it’s not actually final until the studio officially announces the titles.

Also coming from Universal on 6/2 (only at Best Buy stores in the US) is a new 4K Ultra HD Steelbook version of Ron Howard’s Apollo 13. You also can see that below. [Read on here...]

All right, many of you have asked about (or otherwise understandably bemoaned) the lack of big or significant announcements relating to catalog films on 4K Ultra HD lately. So today’s update here at The Digital Bits is about addressing that concern.

And while we still have little in the way of official announcements at the moment, I can confidently report that at least some of titles you’re waiting for are on the way in 2020.

The information in today’s post should be considered unofficial until the studios in question make their actual announcements. But we believe it to be a reliable gauge of titles currently in the production pipeline or planning stages.

First, we know for sure that Disney is going to be releasing Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga on 4K coinciding with the Blu-ray and 4K release of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, likely in March. [Read on here...]

We’ve got a couple things for you today, starting with a new batch of Blu-ray reviews...

First up is Tim’s take on Steve Mitchell’s King Cohen documentary from La-La Land Entertainment, along with his look at John Landis’ Schlock from Arrow Video. It continues with Jason’s take on Molly from Artsploitation Films and David’s thoughts on Welcome to the Dollhouse from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

Now then... while we’re talking Blu-ray discs, we’re getting the first reports from Bits readers that their Revenge of the Creature/The Creature Walks Among Us replacement discs are starting to arrive from Universal, replacing the identical defective discs in their Universal Classic Monsters 30-Film Collection and Creature from the Black Lagoon: Complete Legacy Collection Blu-ray sets. So if you’ve requested a replacement from the studio (via the instructions we’ve posted at the end of those reviews) keep an eye on your mail, folks. [Read on here...]

Today’s post is going to be brief for reasons I’ll explain in a moment. But we do have some pretty significant announcement news we need to tell you all about.

First, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has just officially announced the long-expected 4K Ultra HD release of Richard Donner’s original Superman: The Movie on 11/6. The 4K release will include the theatrical version of the film only on 4K and on the newly-remastered Blu-ray included in the package as well. The 4K version will feature both Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos object-based audio. Our information is that, in addition to Atmos, the 4K release will include 5.1 audio mixed from the original 1978 6-track 70mm as well.

Extras on both discs will include the audio commentary with Pierre Spengler and Ilya Salkind. The Blu-ray will add the 1978 The Making of Superman: The Movie TV special, the 58-minute Superman and the Mole-Men (1951) feature starring George Reeves, additional cartoon shorts, trailers, and TV spots. You can see the cover artwork there at left and also below. SRP for the set is $41.99, though it’ll be on sale for much less on Amazon and elsewhere. [Read on here...]

All right, I’ll be checking in later this evening with a review of Fox’s X-Men: 3-Film Collection on 4K Ultra HD (it’s available now at this link). But in the meantime, we’ve gotten some important Universal Blu-ray information that we wanted to share with all of you.

As we’ve reported, and as many of you know, Universal currently has a replacement program in effect for the defective Revenge of the Creature Blu-ray 3D/The Creature Walks Among Us Blu-ray combo disc in their recent Universal Monsters BD sets. Replacement discs should start shipping in the first half of October.

Contact this address to arrange your replacement copy: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. [Read on here...]

Heads-up: Universal has just issued an official statement…

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment (UPHE) has identified a manufacturing issue which may affect the presentation of the 3D Blu-ray offering of the film Revenge of the Creature, released on August 28, 2018 as part of the Universal Classic Monsters: Complete 30-Film Collection and the Creature From the Black Lagoon Complete Legacy Collection. The issue is isolated to this particular film and does not affect any other discs in the collections. UPHE’s goal is to always deliver the best possible product to its consumers. To that end, a replacement program is being established to ensure that those who have purchased either collection have the opportunity to receive a corrected Blu-ray disc featuring the 3D version of Revenge of the Creature and 2D version of The Creature Walks Among Us, should they encounter the issue. To receive an updated disc, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

So there you go. Thanks to everyone at Universal Studios Home Entertainment for addressing this problem so quickly. Special thanks also to Rob Furmanek of the 3-D Film Archive for his assistance in getting to the bottom of this.

Stay tuned…

(You can follow Bill on social media at these links: Twitter and Facebook)

All right, we’ve got a quick update for you today…

As many of you know, Universal released its Universal Classic Monsters: Complete 30-Film Collection and Creature from the Black Lagoon: Complete Legacy Collection Blu-ray sets in stores last week.

We don’t yet have review product from the studio, but, as we reported last week, many readers began to complain about a problem with the new 3D presentation of Revenge of the Creature being subpar because of a suspected authoring issue. There were also reports that the 2D presentation of The Creature Walks Among was problematic.

We suggested that readers contact the studio via the customer service form on their website. [Read on here...]

This is just a quick update with word we’ve gotten overnight from our retail sources.

It currently appears that Universal’s Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom will street on Blu-ray, DVD, 3D, and 4K Ultra HD on 9/18.

To be very clear, this is not official. It’s simply the street date the studio has been giving to retailers.

The date is still subject to change, and shouldn’t be considered set until Universal makes their official announcement.

But in the interest of those who may be wondering, that’s the current time frame to look for it, per our best available information.

One other note: We posted our review of Paramount’s Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol in 4K Ultra HD here on The Bits last night, as planned. Turns out, it’s the best of the lot as far as image quality goes. Do give it a look.

That’s all for now. Stay tuned…

- Bill Hunt

(You can follow Bill on social media at these links: Twitter and Facebook)

We’re working on a bunch of new reviews here at The Bits, so today’s update is going to be a quick one. But this morning we do have two reviews to start with for you...

First up, we have my thoughts on Steven DeKnight’s Pacific Rim: Uprising in 4K Ultra HD, which streets on 6/19 from Universal.

We’ve also got Tim’s take on Duccio Tessari’s 1965 spaghetti westerns A Pistol for Ringo and The Return of Ringo, both of which are now available together in a new double-feature Blu-ray from our friends at Arrow Video.

And if you check back early tomorrow morning, we’ll have my thoughts on David Ayer’s Fury in 4K Ultra HD from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, as well as Tim’s review of Claudio Fragasso’s Zombie 4: After Death on Blu-ray from Severin Films. Both of those titles are now available in stores.

Rest assured, we’ll catch up on new announcements tomorrow afternoon or Friday morning.

Stay tuned…

- Bill Hunt

(You can follow Bill on social media at these links: Twitter and Facebook)