Displaying items by tag: Universal

All right, we’ve got a couple of things for you today, including a little bit of follow-up on this Disney/Guardians Vol 2 4K Dolby Vision thing. More on that in a moment...

First, Michael Coate has a great new History, Legacy & Showmanship column for you today that celebrates Sir Roger Moore and the 40th Anniversary of the classic Bond installment The Spy Who Loved Me. Michael is joined by another fine roundtable of Bond experts to discuss the film and I think you’ll really enjoy reading what they have to say. So you’ll find that here.

Now then... some announcement news: Universal has officially set The Mummy (2017) for Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD release on 9/12, with the Digital HD release expected on 8/22. [Read on here…]

All right, folks... this is one of those posts it’s fun to write. None of this news has been officially announced, it comes from retail sources. But we know from our other industry sources that this information is legit. The street dates may change, but the titles should all be forthcoming.

The Swedish video retailer CDON.com has just listed for pre-order a number of catalog titles that we’ve known were either in production or planning for a while now, but the news is starting to break. They include (listed by studio and European street date):

Universal – The Mummy (1999 – 5/22), The Mummy Returns (5/22), The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (5/22), Despicable Me (6/12), Despicable Me 2 (6/12), Gladiator (6/12)

Sony – The Bridge on the River Kwai (6/19), Spider-Man (6/26), Spider-Man 2 (6/26), Spider-Man 3 (6/26), The Amazing Spider-Man (6/26) [Read on here…]

All right, the 2017 Consumer Electronics Show is finally under way in Las Vegas today, with a number of the major CE manufacturers holding big press conferences to announce their product line-ups for the year. In fact, I’ve just now sat through Samsung’s big press event (more on that in a minute). I’ll check back in with more tomorrow, but for now let’s get to what news we have so far concerning 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray at the show...

In terms of new 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray player hardware, obviously Oppo Digital has just launched their debut player on the format, the UDP-203 (SRP $549). I’ve been testing this unit for about a week now and it’s just tremendous. For a first-generation player, it’s very solid, very fast, and it plays just about everything – Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D, DVD, DVD-Audio, CD, and SACD, plus a wide variety of digital video and audio formats via network and USB. It’s compatible with HDR-10 right out of the box, and it’s also hardware compatible with Dolby Vision; a firmware update in the months ahead will add full Dolby Vision compatibility (keep in mind that no Dolby Vision UHD BD software is yet available, though software is forthcoming – again, more in a moment – and you can stream it now via Netflix and Vudu). Oppo is also working on an audiophile-upgraded version of this player, the UDP-205 (SRP around $1K), due for release later this year. [Read on here…]

All right, this just in from our industry sources...

Universal is confirmed to be preparing to release a new Marx Brothers set, The Marx Brothers Silver Screen Collection – Restored Edition on Blu-ray on 10/18, set to include The Cocoanuts, Animal Crackers, Monkey Business, Horse Feathers, and Duck Soup. This will be a 3-disc set and an upgrade of the existing DVD edition (first released by the studio in 2004). As many of you know, Universal has recently completed the 4K restoration of all five films (see here) and those restorations will be the source material for this release. [Read on here…]

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All right, we’re kicking off this Thursday here at The Bits with another new Blu-ray review, and then we’ve got some great announcement news to share with all of you.

First though, Tim has checked in with his thoughts on another fine BD title from our friends at Arrow Video – the Killer Dames box set, which includes Emilio Miraglia’s The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave and The Red Queen Kills Seven Times. Do check it out.  [Read on here…]

[Editor’s Note: Be sure to follow us on Twitter @thedigitalbits @BillHuntBits and on Facebook here and here. And you can help support The Bits by pre-ordering Blu-rays and other items from Amazon through this link.]

We’ve got another pair of Blu-ray reviews for you today... Tim has checked in with his Pick-Ups look at Arrow Video’s Bride of Re-Animator and Jim Hemphill has given Sony’s Risen a spin too. Do check them out. 

Also this afternoon, our own Russell Hammond has updated the Release Dates & Artwork section with all the latest Blu-ray and DVD cover artwork and Amazon.com pre-order links. Do remember that anytime you order literally anything from Amazon after clicking to them through any of our links, you’re helping to support our work here at The Bits and we surely do appreciate it. [Read on here…]

[Editor’s Note: Be sure to like TheDigitalBits.com page on Facebook for breaking news, site updates on the go, discussion with our staff and other readers, giveaways and more!]

The UHD Alliance held their official press event at CES 2016 last evening to begin the official unveiling of “full-featured” Ultra High Definition as an in-home consumer experience here at the convention. The Alliance was formed in part to simplify the UHD experience for consumers by unifying the consumer electronics industry and content creators behind a single standard, thus avoiding the pain of another costly format war.  [Read on here…]

“This was the world of Spartacus…when Antoninus traded the luxury of Rome’s most palatial household to battle by the side of Spartacus…and learned that a slave can live, fight, die better than any Roman!”

The Digital Bits presents this retrospective on Spartacus, commemorating the 55th anniversary of its original release and the recent release of the film on Blu-ray.  [Read on here...]

[Editor’s Note: Be sure to like TheDigitalBits.com page on Facebook for breaking news, site updates on the go, discussion with our staff and other readers, giveaways and more!]

All right, this is just a quick update to let you know that Amazon.com has just listed for pre-order TWO different SKUs of the classic Battlestar Galactica TV series on Blu-ray from Universal Studios Home Entertainment, each with a street date of 5/12/15.  [Read on here…]

[Editor’s Note: Be sure to like TheDigitalBits.com page on Facebook for breaking news, site updates on the go, discussion with our staff and other readers, giveaways and more!]

All right, we’ve got a great piece of release news for you today, but first… we face the end of an era…

I’m sad to say that our dear friend and family member, Dr. Adam Jahnke, the inventor of the peanut butter-based scratch proof coating himself, is officially retiring from The Bits. [Read on here…]