My Two Cents
Friday, 26 March 2021 15:08

Vinegar Syndrome sets Six-String Samurai for 4K, Blue Underground’s Dead & Buried 4K, Scream’s King Kong (1976) BD features & more new announcements

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Let’s close out the week today with another new disc review and more release news...

First, Dennis has just turned in his thoughts on Cecile B. DeMille’s The Greatest Show on Earth (1952) on Blu-ray from Paramount Home Entertainment, the 16th title in their Paramount Presents line. It sounds as if the remaster is a nice one, so do give it a look.

A quick disc update: FUNimation is now shipping out fixed replacement discs for their recent release of Akira in 4K Ultra HD. As some of you know, the original discs lacked the HDR option they were supposed to include. The new fixed discs correct this. My own replacement copy arrived a couple of days ago and I’m really pleased with the HDR grade overall, so I’m going to try to get a review of the fixed version up here at The Bits next week.

On a similar note, Amazon UK has just listed Speed for pre-order in 4K and naturally the cover artwork they’ve posted has caused still more confusion in that it correctly lists DTS-HD MA audio in the features grid on the back, but also (incorrectly) shows a Dolby Atmos logo. What’s more, there’s no mention of any special features. [Read on here...]

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Based upon our repeated communications with Disney about this title, we believe the Dolby Atmos logo (and lack of extras) is an error on the part of Disney’s UK operation. But we’re checking again with Disney US to reconfirm. We’ve had a number of UK readers tell us recently that a few of Disney’s recently distributed Fox titles in that country have incorrectly had the Dolby Atmos logo. So we suspect this is a case of a company that’s a little out of practice releasing these live action catalog 4K titles. In any case, we’ll post an update when we’ve heard back (yet again) from Disney US on all this. [Editor’s Note: As expected, the Dolby Atmos logo on the UK back packaging was an error. I’ve been told it will be corrected for the actual release. The features grid correctly shows DTS-HD MA for the 4K disc.]

In announcement news today, Vinegar Syndrome has just revealed its new 4K title as expected, and it turns out to be none other than Lance Mungia’s Six-String Samurai (1998). You can see the details here at their website. The title is expected to ship on or about 6/1, after the conclusion of their Halfway to Black Friday Sale (May 28-31).

Also today, Blue Underground has officially announced the 4K Ultra HD release of Gary Sherman’s Dead & Buried (1981) on 7/20. The 4K disc will include Dolby Vision HDR, Dolby Atmos audio, and also DTS-HD Master Audio. Extras will include:

  • Audio Commentary #1 with Director Gary Sherman
  • Audio Commentary #2 with Co-Writer/Co-Producer Ronald Shusett and Actress Linda Turley
  • Audio Commentary #3 with Director of Photography Steven Poster, ASC
  • ­NEW! Audio Commentary #4 with Film Historians Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thompson
  • ­NEW! Behind the Scenes of Dead & Buried
  • ­NEW! Dead & Buried Locations: Now & Then
  • ­NEW! Murders, Mystery, and Music – Interviews with Director
  • Gary Sherman and Composer Joe Renzetti
  • ­NEW! The Pages of Potters Bluff – Interview with Novelization Author Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
  • Stan Winston’s Dead & Buried EFX
  • Robert Englund: An Early Work of Horror
  • Dan O’Bannon: Crafting Fear
  • Theatrical Trailers
  • Poster & Still Galleries
  • Steven Poster’s Location Stills
  • BONUS! DEAD & BURIED Original Motion Picture Soundtrack CD by Joe Renzetti
  • BONUS! Collectible Booklet with new essay by Michael Gingold

Meanwhile, Scream Factory has made their King Kong (1975): Collector’s Edition official for release on Blu-ray on 5/11. Extras will include:

DISC 1: Theatrical Cut

  • NEW Audio Commentary with film historian Ray Morton (author of KING KONG – THE HISTORY OF A MOVIE ICON)
  • NEW Audio interview with special makeup effects wizard Rick Baker
  • NEW Something’s Haywire – an interview with actor Jack O’Halloran
  • NEW On the Top of the World – an interview with assistant director David McGiffert and production manager Brian Frankish
  • NEW Maybe in their Wildest Dreams – an interview with sculptor Jack Varner
  • NEW There’s A Fog Bank Out There – an interview with second unit director William Kronick
  • NEW From Space to Apes – an interview with photographic effects assistant Barry Nolan
  • NEW When the Monkey Dies, Everybody Cries – an interview with production assistants Jeffrey Chernov and Scott Thaler
  • Audio: DTS-HD 5.1 and NEW restored theatrical DTS-HD 2.0 stereo track
  • Theatrical Trailer
  • TV Spots
  • Radio Spots
  • Still Galleries – posters, lobby cards, behind-the-scenes photos

DISC 2: Extended TV Broadcast Cut

  • NEW 2K scan of the additional TV footage from the internegative
  • KING KONG panel discussion from the Aero Theater (2016)

Mill Creek Entertainment has announced that their June release slate will include Safe House (BD), Alpha Dog (BD), The Randolph Scott Western Collection (BD – includes The Desperadoes, The Nevadan, Santa Fe, Man in the Saddle, Hangman’s Knot, The Stranger Wore a Gun, A Lawless Street, The Tall T, Decision at Sundown, Buchanan Rides Alone, Ride Lonesome, and Comanche Station), a Contraband/Fear double feature (BD), a Miami Vice/The Kingdom double feature (BD), The Adjustment Bureau/The Good Shepherd double feature, the Bruce Willis 8-Movie Collection (DVD – includes Sunset, Hudson Hawk, The Whole Nine Yards, Mortal Thoughts, Perfect Stranger, The Jackal, Mercury Rising, and Alpha Dog), the Jean-Claude Van Damme 8-Movie Collection (DVD – includes The Quest, Street Fighter, Universal Soldier: The Return, The Hard Corps, Second in Command, Maximum Risk, Knock Off, and Double Team), a Problem Child/Problem Child 2 double feature (DVD), Finding Forrester (BD), Becoming Evil: Serial Killers of the Old West (DVD), and The Critic: The Complete Series (DVD) on 6/8, followed by Pasture (DVD), Ultra Galaxy Mega Monster Battle (BD – includes Ultraman: Ultra Galaxy Mega Monster Battle, Ultraman: Ultra Galaxy Mega Monster Battle – Never Ending Odyssey, and Ultraman: Mega Monster Battle – Ultra Galaxy: The Movie), and the Ultraman Zero Collection (BD – includes Ultraman: Ultra Galaxy Legend Side Story – Ultraman Zero vs Darklops Zero, Ultraman: Ultraman Zero – The Revenge of Belial, Ultraman: Ultraman Zero Side Story – The Killer Beatstar, and Ultraman: Ultraman Saga) on 6/15. Whew!

Also, Paramount has set Pixie for DVD, Digital, and On Demand release on 5/11.

And MVD Entertainment has revealed their MVD Marquee Collection Blu-ray and DVD titles for the spring and summer of this year, which are set to include Zeroville (2019) on 6/8, Adam Resurrected (2008), Camino (2015), and Feed the Gods (2014) on 6/22, Mr. Jealousy (1997) and The Last Time I Committed Suicide (1997) on 7/6, and Royal Deceit (1994) and a Scott Adkins Action Double Feature of Close Range (2015) and Savage Dog (2017) on 7/20.

One last note: Thanks to our own Russell Hammond, we’ve just posted the latest update of the Release Dates & Artwork section here at the site featuring all the latest Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD cover artwork and Amazon.com pre-order links. As always, a portion of anything you order when you click to Amazon through one of our links goes to help support our work here at The Bits and we really do appreciate it.

Finally today, given the current difficult economic times of this past year (which have unfortunately crushed online advertising and affiliate sales income), we ask that if you believe in and appreciate the work we do here at The Digital Bits, please consider making a donation to the site via PayPal (click here or the button below). Every little bit makes a difference in terms of helping us to keep the site going strong, and we really do appreciate it very much. And thank you again to every single one of you who have donated in the past, and to all those of you who support our work in other ways. We’re very grateful to have all of you as readers.

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All right, that’s all for this week. Everyone enjoy the weekend!

Stay tuned...

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