Displaying items by tag: Charlton Heston

Morning folks! We’ve got some good release news for you today, along with more new disc reviews as always. The reviews include…

Tim’s take on Jonathan Liebesman’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006) in 4K Ultra HD from Arrow Video, as well as Jim Stenstrum’s animated Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island (1998) on Blu-ray from Hanna-Barbera via Warner Bros. “Terror Time” line.

Also today, we’ve just posted our latest update of the Release Dates & Cover Art section featuring all the latest Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD covers with Amazon.com pre-order links. As always, whenever you purchase literally anything from Amazon after clicking to them through one of our links, you’re helping to support our work here at The Bits and we appreciate it!

Now then, we’ve been talking about this next title on our Patreon page for subscribers for a few months at this point, but here’s some great news: William Wyler’s epic Ben-Hur (1959) is officially coming to 4K Ultra HD disc from Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment! [Read on here...]

For today’s Retro Release Day here at The Bits, we’re looking at a 65 mm epic from director William Wyler: MGM’s Ben-Hur (1959), first released on DVD on March 13, 2001 by Warner Home Video.

Winner of 11 Academy Awards, the film stars Charlton Heston in the title role, with cinematography by Robert L. Surtees (Camera 65 process), music by Miklós Rózsa, and a supporting cast that includes Jack Hawkins, Haya Harareet, Stephen Boyd, Hugh Griffith, Martha Scott, Cathy O’Donnell, and Sam Jaffe.

The film is renowned for its chariot race sequence, which takes full advantage of the 2.66:1 widescreen frame (70 mm prints featured 2.76:1).

Today, Ben-Hur is often considered the second greatest American epic film behind Lawrence of Arabia. [Read on here...]

“It’s hard to overstate the influence of Planet of the Apes on the sci-fi film genre. Until then, sci-fi didn’t get much respect, but the one-two punch of that film followed by Kubrick’s mind-blowing 2001 would cause critics and audiences to reevaluate the genre as something more than hapless earthlings trying to repel creatures with ray guns.” — Lee Pfeiffer, Cinema Retro editor-in-chief

The Digital Bits and History, Legacy & Showmanship are pleased to present this retrospective commemorating the golden anniversary of the release of Planet of the Apes, the science fiction classic starring Charlton Heston (The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur) and Roddy McDowall (The Black Hole, Fright Night).

Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner (Patton, Papillon) and based upon the Pierre Boulle novel, Planet of the Apes also featured Kim Hunter, Maurice Evans, James Whitmore, James Daly, and Linda Harrison.

The popular film turns fifty this month, opening initially in New York before a staggered spring rollout across the country. [Read on here...]