My Two Cents
We’ve got a lot of announcement news to cover today, so we’re going to share some of it here now, and then we’ll come back early tomorrow morning with the rest of it. But first, as always, here are some new disc reviews that we’ve posted recently...
Tim has taken a look at Albert Band’s Ghoulies II (1987) on Blu-ray from the MVD Rewind Collection.
Stephen has reviewed Carl Theodor Dreyer’s Michael (1924) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber via their Kino Classics label.
And Stuart has offered his thoughts on Max Ophüls’ There’s No Tomorrow (1939) on Blu-ray also from Kino Classics, as well as Otto Preminger’s Angel Face (1953) and Anthony Mann’s Border Incident (1949) both on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection.
Now then! Let’s get to that release news...
First up, just as we predicted the other day, Paramount has set David Zucker’s The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988) for release in 4K Ultra HD Steelbook format on 11/28. You can see the cover artwork at left and also below. It’s not up for pre-order yet, but the Amazon listing is there, so we’ll include the link below. The 2-disc set will include the film in 4K UHD and also Blu-ray. We don’t yet know if the Blu-ray is remastered as well, and if there will be any new extras, but you can certainly expect many of the legacy extras to carry over. The release is timed to honor of the film’s 35th anniversary, which takes place on 12/2. [Read on here...]
[Editor’s Note: Since the original publication of this column back in 2016, a new book on 2001 has been published that deserves to be mentioned here—Michael Benson’s Space Odyssey. I’ve added a new section at the end to address it. There is also an excellent 2018 Michael Coate retrospective on the film here at The Bits that we’ve included as well.]
–Originally published on The Digital Bits on 9/28/2016–
I decided that I wanted to do something a little different with today’s My Two Cents column on The Digital Bits, so I thought I’d review a few new and/or recent books that may be of interest to cinephiles, especially those of you who are fans of Stanley Kubrick’s legendary 2001: A Space Odyssey.
As many of you would agree, I’m sure, 2001 is a landmark of filmed science fiction. Based loosely on a short story by visionary author Arthur C. Clarke, it depicts an AI-guided but manned journey through deep space, first to Earth orbit, then the Moon, and eventually out to the distant gas giant Jupiter and beyond, in response to the discovery of an alien artifact on the Moon’s surface, apparently having been buried there millions of years ago.
Not only was Kubrick’s film notable for its realistic depiction of the Moon’s surface fully a year before NASA’s Apollo astronauts actually landed there, it’s been lauded ever since for its realistic approach to depicting future spaceflight technology. Indeed, some of those who contributed designs to the project were actually involved in the space program. [Read on here…]
We’ve got a couple quick updates for you over the long Labor Day weekend here at The Bits...
The big one is that Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has just set David Anspaugh’s Rudy (1993) for release on 4K Ultra HD on 11/11, complete with both the 114-minute Theatrical Cut and a new 127-minute Director’s Cut in 4K, with Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos audio. Both are fully restored from original camera negative and the process was approved by the director. The 4K disc also includes English 5.1 DTS-HD MA for both versions, plus 2.0 audio for the Theatrical Cut. You also get a new commentary with Anspaugh and screenwriter Angelo Pizzo on the Director’s Cut, 5 additional deleted scenes, and the film’s trailer.
The package will also include the previous Blu-ray that offers 5.1 audio and 3 legacy featurettes (Rudy: The Real Story, Production, and First Down with Sean Astin). It comes in Steelbook packaging. You can see the cover artwork at left and also below the break.
Also today, Mondo Macabro and CAV have set Stephen Sayadian’s Dr. Caligari (1989) for release on 4K Ultra HD on 11/14, featuring both full frame and 1.85 theatrical versions, an isolated music and effects track, audio commentary with the director, and several interview featurettes. Audio will be 2.0 DTS-HD MA. [Read on here...]
All right, we’ve got a bunch more great new 4K Ultra HD catalog news to report today, and more new disc reviews as well...
As expected, I posted my review of producer Glen A. Larson’s original Battlestar Galactica (1978) in 4K Ultra HD from Universal late last night, and it’s a pretty detailed look at the film and its history.
Also today, Tim has gone in-depth on Martin Scorsese’s Hugo (2011), which is now available in a terrific new 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray 3D package from the good people of Arrow Video.
Dennis has checked in today as well with a look at Robert Wise’s Helen of Troy (1956) on Blu-ray from the always excellent Warner Archive Collection.
And Stuart rounds things out this afternoon with his thoughts on Marcel Ophul’s fascinating documentary on the Nazi occupation of France during World War II, The Sorrow and the Pity (1969) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber.
Back to Arrow briefly: The company has just revealed on their social media feed that—in response to customer requests—they’re going to be including Michael Mann’s excellent Blackhat: Director’s Cut on Blu-ray in their forthcoming 4K UHD and Blu-ray packages! Thus the street date is going to be pushed back from 10/31 to 11/28. But the Director’s Cut—which has never been released on home video—is significantly different that the other two cuts of the film already being included on the release, so this is a terrific and welcome addition. Tip of the hat to Arrow for going the extra mile on this one. [Read on here...]
Greetings, Bits-ers! Sorry I missed posting my usual news column yesterday here at the site, but it turned out to be an incredibly busy day of working on reviews and communicating with our industry sources to chase down details and confirm some interesting forthcoming titles. As such, we’ve got a bit of ground to cover today and all of it should prove interesting. First though, let’s start with our latest new disc reviews, as always...
Longtime Bits contributor Adam Jahnke has returned for an in-depth review of Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), new on 4K Ultra HD from Disney. The UHD image is spectacular, and we’ve confirmed that the studio went back to the original camera negative for a new 4K scan, remaster, and HDR grade, all of which were approved by director Henry Selick. Most but not all of the legacy special features carry over on the accompanying Blu-ray as well, which also offers better encoding and a higher data rate that the previous BD edition. This title seems to be one more sign that Disney is starting to turn things around with their physical media. So do give it a look.
Also today, Stephen has taken a good look at Wes Craven’s Swamp Thing (1982), which is new on 4K Ultra HD from our friends at the MVD Rewind Collection.
And Dennis has posted a review of Wesley Ruggles’ classic film epic Cimarron (1931) on Blu-ray from the good people at the Warner Archive Collection.
All of these are worth your time, and more new disc reviews are already in the works. In fact, I’m going to be posting my take on Universal’s new Battlestar Galactica (1978) 4K Ultra HD—which streets today—sometime later this evening or early tomorrow. So be sure to watch for that. [Read on here...]