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We’re starting our final news update for this week with more new Blu-ray Disc reviews...

Dennis has taken a look at Albert Brooks’ Defending Your Life (1991), as newly released on Blu-ray Disc by the Criterion Collection.

And Tim has offered up his thoughts on a pair of Clint Eastwood films, including Don Siegel’s Two Mules for Sister Sara (1970) and Eastwood’s own The Eiger Sanction (1975), both recently released by Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

In terms of announcements today, the big news is that Universal Studios Home Entertainment has just made their animated Shrek available for release on 4K Ultra HD on 5/11, in honor of the film’s 20th anniversary. High dynamic range will be HDR10, with DTS:X audio. Extras on the 4K and Blu-ray Disc in the package will include audio commentary with directors Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson and producer Aron Warner. deleted scenes, music videos, Shrek’s Interactive Journey, Spotlight on Donkey, and Secrets of Shrek. [Read on here...]

Hey, looks like we do have a little bit of new announcement news for you today...

First up though, we’ve got a quick Amazon Deal of the Day to report: Network’s Monty Python’s Flying Circus: The Complete Series Blu-ray is just $75 for today only on Amazon (42% off). It’s the same 7 discs found the Deluxe Edition (reviewed here on The Bits), just without the books and deluxe packaging. So strike fast if you’re interested. Here’s the Amazon link.

Also today, we have word that FUNimation’s Akira 4K Ultra HD release doesn’t have HDR. The version released in Japan does, but apparently the discs released in the US and the UK do not. FUNimation has now established an exchange program to get a proper 4K with HDR disc sometime in February via the mail. You can find those details here and here (below):

“For those of you who would like to request the 4K HDR version of AKIRA, please send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (US/CA) or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (UK/IRE) with “AKIRA 4K” as the subject, and provide your name, mailing address, email address and proof of purchase (receipt or confirmation email and photo of the disc).”

Okay, now for that announcement news: Kino Lorber Studio Classics has just officially set Sergio Leone’s The Good, The Bad and The Ugly for release on 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray combo on 4/27. You can see the cover artwork above left. [Read on here...]

All right, it’s been a busy week here at The Bits so far and we’ve got a lot of ground to cover today.

First of all, sorry for the lack of daily updates. The reason is three-fold. First, we’ve been working on reviews here at the website—more on that in a moment. Second, we had 110° heat here in SoCal this past weekend, with which our AC could not keep up. That meant my home theater was close to 90°, which made reviewing unpleasant, plus there was the danger of power outages. The good news is that we’ve made up for it since the heat broke—again, more on that in a moment. (The bad news is that our skies this afternoon are an unnatural shade of apocalyptic yellow-orange due to the California wildfires, but that’s neither here nor there.) The third reason is more complicated.

We’ve been hearing from many of our readers based in the Netherlands that you’re unable to see The Bits website. The cause of this is that—apparently—a very large portion of the Internet’s DDoS attacks and cyber shenanigans either come from, or are routed through—Netherlands IP addresses. So our server team is working on a solution to block the riff-raff while allowing the rest of you actual readers to see the site. Please be patient while we sort it all out. Unfortunately, this kind of thing seems perfectly in keeping with the whole 2020 milieu. [Read on here...]

Okay, I posted my review of MGM’s 007: The Daniel Craig Collection in 4K Ultra HD last night here on The Bits. It’s pretty darned good image-wise. You can read all the details in the review.

Also today, Tim has posted a review of the new An American Werewolf in London: Limited Edition Blu-ray from Arrow Video. He’s also posted a look at Severin Films’ new Killer Crocodile 1 & 2 Limited Edition Blu-ray.

And I’ve started working on a review of Warner’s incredible new 4K Ultra HD release of The Wizard of Oz. The film was scanned in 8K from the original Technicolor camera negative and I’ll tell you, it’s never looked more luminous and dimensional. For an 80-year-old film, it’s pretty stunning. So watch for that review in the next couple of days. [Read on here...]

All right, first things first today...

I’m currently at work on a 4K Ultra HD review of MGM’s 007: The Daniel Craig Collection, which includes all four of the existing Craig Bond films. That will be up either later today or first thing AM.

The quick preview is that the films look very good, a nice uptick from Blu-ray in terms of the video quality, with a restrained HDR grade. For video, I’d score the films as follows… Casino Royale: B+, Quantum of Solace: A-, Skyfall: A, SPECTRE: A. The first two are 2K upsamples, while the latter two are native 4K DIs. Watch for more details in the review.

Now then... the big news today has to do with Universal and Amblin’s Back to the Future films. Universal Brand Development (a division of Universal Studios) has revealed today that The Back to the Future Trilogy will officially be coming to 4K Ultra HD next year (in 2020) in honor of the original film’s 35th anniversary. [Read on here...]

Today’s Retro Release Day title here at The Bits ties into the Blu-ray news we announced earlier (see our post here). It’s A&E Home Video’s Space: 1999 – 30th Anniversary Edition box set, released on DVD on July 31, 2007.

Licensed from Network/ITV in the UK, the series was first released on DVD both in the US and UK beginning in 2001 – by A&E/New Video in the States and by Network in the UK. The US release was initially done via 8 2-disc sets (4 per season). In 2002, all 8 volumes were packaged together in a “Megaset” with an exclusive DVD bonus disc that includes the short follow-on video A Message from Moonbase Alpha.

The set you see at left and below is a repackaging of that same Megaset from 2002, re-issued in 2007 for the show’s anniversary. All 17 discs carried over, along with the bonus disc, simply packaged in ultra-thin DVD slim cases. [Read on here...]

About a year ago, and after years of reporting on this title, we reported here at The Bits that Shout! Factory had quietly obtained the rights to release Network/ITV’s classic 1970s British TV series Space: 1999 and UFO, produced by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson.

As many of you know, both series were released on DVD here in the States, and on Blu-ray in the UK and elsewhere, but only Season One of Space: 1999 ever appeared here in the States on the HD format.

Well, that changes now. On 7/16, our friends at Shout! Factory will release Space: 1999 – The Complete Series on Blu-ray Disc as 13 disc set including all 48 episodes in production order and special features (which are still TBA). The package will also include a booklet of photos and liner notes. [Read on here...]

All right, kind of a bummer day given today’s news, but we’ve got a few things for you to try and cheer you up...

First of all, we’ve posted a whole bunch of new reviews over the weekend, including my looks at Disney and Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: Rebels – Season Three on BD and Universal’s The Mummy (2017), Paramount’s Ghost in the Shell (2017), and Sony’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula and The Bridge on the River Kwai: 60th Anniversary Edition in 4K Ultra HD. Meanwhile, Tim has checked in with his thoughts on the Warner Archive’s Innocent Blood, Shout! Factory’s TAMI Show & The Big TNT Show, and Criterion’s Blow-Up on Blu-ray, as well as 20th Century Fox’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Complete Series DVD box set. [Read on here…]

All right, let’s get this over with. Our friends over at Trek Core have learned (and they’re right) something that’s going to infuriate Star Trek fans, and sadly suggests that neither Paramount nor Bad Robot have learned from fan complaints about their previous Star Trek Blu-ray mistakes. As you know, Star Trek Beyond is expected to street on Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray on 11/1, all with lots of extras... except filmmaker audio commentary. Well, you guessed it... once again, the iTunes Digital download version is going to have an exclusive “enhanced” commentary.

[Editor’s Note: Turns out there’s another Target-exclusive Bonus Disc too. See here: “Bonus blu-ray disc with over 90 minutes of extras including 45 minutes of exclusive content: Get a behind the scenes look at the film’s incredible visual effects, costumes and props. Plus, see how Director Justin Lin and the cast and crew of Star Trek Beyond created the climactic Battle of Yorktown, and more!”]

So... yeah. [Read on here…]

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All right, Tim’s just posted his thoughts on Shout!’s recent Pee-Wee’s Playhouse Christmas Special Blu-ray. And I’m making good progress on the X-Files review. Christmas has intruded on my time over the past week, but I’ve finally gotten through all the extra content on the set and so I’m getting there. I can’t stress enough what a mammoth task it is to review this set – there’s just SO much material to go through and check. But I’m working on it. Watch for it soon-ish. I will just quickly say that, given Amazon.com’s current pricing (see here), it probably makes more sense to buy the seasons individually. There’s nothing in the box that you wouldn’t get that way, other than the box itself, and you’ll pay significantly less.  [Read on here…]