Displaying items by tag: Dolby Vision

Today’s editorial is going to be brief, because frankly some of us here at The Digital Bits have grown a bit frustrated at this point. Disheartened by the state of things, as it were. So too—we suspect—have many of you, our dear readers and fans of physical media. But lately, after nearly twenty-six years of passionate advocacy for film, TV, and special edition content on disc, it’s come to our attention that a couple of the major Hollywood studios don’t seem to have quite that same passion for the subject anymore.

One of these—let’s call ‘em Garner Brothers—just announced a long awaited 4K Ultra HD catalog release with almost no special features. Certainly no newly-created special features, because this studio doesn’t seem to do many of those anymore, and almost no special features on the actual discs, which is where disc fans tend to prefer them. Instead, most of this title’s special features are included as Digital extras only.

Nor does this title include the most obvious extra that fans have been wanting for years, which is the uncut 81-minute “Festival Version” of a certain making-of documentary about this film. Why? Honestly, we’re not sure there’s many people left at this studio who even know that it exists or why fans might care about it. (And if there is, that person should definitely be given a bigger role in making these decisions.)

Now, all of this is particularly frustrating, because if you pre-order this same title on 4K UHD in the United Kingdom, you do get those extras on disc. What’s more, you get a couple of different deluxe packaging options with swag in the UK, both of them terrific, whereas here in the States, the packaging’s artwork simply makes fans of this film weep, created—as it seems to have been—by an intern and novice Photoshop user for reasons unknown (rather than using the film’s already existing poster or production art, which… again… is the kind of thing this studio’s best customers would actually prefer.) [Read on here...]

Here’s a quickie post with some quick bits of news because... you know... Solo tonight.

First up, in honor the Star Wars theme, our own Michael Coate has just posted a great new film retrospective in his History, Legacy & Showmanship column celebrating the 35th anniversary of Return of the Jedi! It’s features a new look back at the film and a great new roundtable interview as well with historians Michael Kaminski (The Secret History of Star Wars), Mark O’Connell (Watching Skies: Star Wars, Spielberg and Us), and Craig Stevens (The Star Wars Phenomenon in Britain). It’s a great read, so be sure to give it a look.

Also today, I’ve posted my review of Sony’s The Patriot in 4K Ultra HD (it’s a terrific disc) and Tim’s also posted a review of The Bloodthirsty Trilogy on Blu-ray from Arrow Video. Note that Universal’s Jurassic Park 4K Collection has finally arrives, so I’ll be diving into that tomorrow. Enjoy! [Read on here…]

We begin today with the usual bit of site business here, which includes a trio of new disc reviews...

Tim has checked out Umbrella Entertainment’s region free Blu-ray of The Land That Time Forgot (1975) and I’ve turned in my thoughts on 20th Century Fox’s Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and Murder on the Orient Express (2017) in 4K Ultra HD. All three titles are work a look, and Murder on the Orient Express is straight-up 4K demo material if you’re looking for such. Watch for my review of Sony’s The Dark Crystal in 4K soon as well.

Also here at the site today, our own Michael Coate has just posted a new History, Legacy & Showmanship retrospective featuring a 55th anniversary celebration of NBC’s classic TV series Mr. Novak. Michael is joined by author and historian Chuck Harter and their discussion is worth your time [Read on here...]

All right, the big 4K news continues this week! But first...

We’ve just posted two new disc reviews here at The Bits, including Tim’s thoughts on Terry Gilliam’s Jabberwocky, now available in a fine new Blu-ray edition from Criterion, and also my take on Darren Aronofsky’s challenging Mother! available in 4K Ultra HD from Paramount.

We’ve also got more new disc reviews coming, including several more BD titles from Tim and I have no less than three new 4K Ultra HD reviews coming in the next 24 hours as well, including Sony’s The Dark Crystal. So watch for that starting later today here at the site. [Read on here...]

All right, we’ve got a long weekend of disc reviewing ahead of us here at The Bits. But I wanted to jump in today with a bit of breaking news as well as some more new 4K cover artwork.

First that breaking news... Universal has just set Mamma Mia! The Movie for release on 4K Ultra HD on 5/1. High Dynamic Range will be HDR10 but the disc will feature DTS:X object based audio. Obviously, you’ll also get the Blu-ray (10th Anniversary Edition) too with all extras and a Digital Copy code. You can see the cover artwork below.

Something else I wanted to mention: It seems like a good bet that if Universal is including DTS:X on Mamma Mia! in 4K, the studio’s forthcoming Jurassic Park: 25th Anniversary Collection 4K titles could have it too. Some of the marketing artwork we’ve seen hints at it, but we’ll have to wait and see when Universal makes their official announcement to be sure. Fingers crossed. [Read on here...]

All right, this is just a quick post today with some big release news and updates...

First, Tim’s got a stack of Blu-ray titles he’s working his way through for review, while I’ve got reviews of Three Billboards, Dark Crystal, and Murder on the Orient Express in 4K Ultra HD all in the works. So watch for those to start going up tomorrow and Monday. And sometime late next week… Justice League 4K.

Also here at The Bits, today, we’ve got a new update for you of the Release Dates & Artwork section with lots of fresh Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD cover art and Amazon pre-order links. Remember, whenever you shop Amazon through our links, it makes a big difference for us here in terms of keeping The Bits going. So thank you for doing so!

Now then... the big news today is more 4K: Universal has just revealed its 4-film/8-disc Jurassic Park: 25th Anniversary Collection for release on 5/22 (SRP $79.88), which will include Jurassic Park, Jurassic Park: The Lost World, Jurassic Park III, and Jurassic World each on both 4K UHD and Blu-ray. [Read on here...]

We have just a couple release announcements for you today…

First, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has set Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle for release on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD formats on 3/20, with the Digital HD release expected on 3/6. Extras on the Blu-ray versions will include 5 featurettes (Journey Through the Jungle: The Making of Jumanji, Meet the Players: A Heroic Cast, Attack of the Rhinos!, Surviving the Jungle: Spectacular Stunts!, and Book to Board Game to Big Screen & Beyond! Celebrating the Legacy of Jumanji), along with a Gag Reel, and the Jumanji, Jumanji music video by Jack Black and Nick Jonas. [Read on here…]

All right, let’s talk about the latest news from CES 2018 in Las Vegas related to 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and HDR…

First up, the HDR10+ Alliance has announced that Warner Bros. has joined Samsung, Panasonic, 20th Century Fox, and Amazon in supporting their open standard “dynamic metadata” competitor for Dolby Vision. Any content producer who wants to use HDR10+ for their media needs only to pay an small annual fee, but there are no royalty fees, unlike Dolby Vision which requires a license fee for every use.

It will be interesting to see what impact Disney’s purchase of 20th Century Fox might have on this alliance, if any. Will Disney join or will Fox’s participation become more passive?

On a related note, our friends at Scenarist – which creates software and systems for Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D, DVD, and Ultra HD title authoring – is adding HDR10+ support into the work flow of its Scenarist UHD authoring system, currently used to create many Ultra HD Blu-ray releases. They’re actually demonstrating it in person at CES 2018. So you can expect movie software that supports HDR10+ to start arriving this year. Word is that Amazon will be adding HDR10+ to its 4K streaming offerings in the next few months as well. [Read on here…]

Afternoon, everyone! I hope all those of you here in the States had a happy and safe Thanksgiving weekend with your family and friends. We’ve got a couple interesting things for you here today, so let’s get right to it...

First, we have a pair of new Blu-ray reviews for you to enjoy. Tim has checked out Twilight Time’s The Pirates of Blood River and also Arrow Video’s new Hellraiser: Limited Edition Steelbook. Both are worth your time, so please give them a read. And I’m working on more new reviews myself, so watch for those soon.

Now then, today is Cyber Monday so the various online deals continue, including this one: Warner Archive is having a sale featuring 4 titles for $44. Click here for that and act fact to take advantage. [Read on here…]

All right, we’ve got one more new 4K Ultra HD review for you today, and that’s my in-depth look at Warner’s new Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. My review of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone in 4K has also now been fully updated to reflect the information I’ve heard back from Warner on its transfer.

Also, at some point in the next day or so (turkey coma permitting of course), I’ll have a review of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban in 4K up for you as well. [Read on here…]