Displaying items by tag: 4K Ultra HD

All right, I posted my in-depth review of HBO’s new Game of Thrones: The Complete First Season in 4K Ultra HD last night here at The Bits. I’m really surprised at how good it looks. Way better than I expected given the production resolution. It’s a genuine upgrade over the previous Blu-ray release in terms of A/V quality, so I recommend that fans give it a look.

We’ve got more 4K reviews coming soon and we’re also going to be taking a look at some interesting recent Blu-ray 3D titles thanks to our friends at the 3-D Film Archive. So be sure to watch for those.

One note however: We will probably not be reviewing Disney and Pixar’s The Incredibles in 4K Ultra HD. I picked up a copy of the disc this morning, and have found it to offer a modest (but definite) image and sound improvement over the previous Blu-ray release – probably enough for fans to want to make the upgrade. Note that it has Dolby Vision, HDR10, and Dolby Atmos audio. But Disney chose not to send this title for out review and we have a good number of titles to cover here that the studios (Disney included) have sent out for our consideration. With limited time at our disposal, we feel that we should focus our attenion on those. Just FYI. But if you’re a fan of the film, you might want to check the 4K edition out and Best Buy does have mighty nice exclusive Steelbook packaging. So there you go. [Read on here...]

All right, I’m working on more reviews today and a couple of other behind-the-post items here at The Bits, so today’s post will be a quick one. But...

As promised, I posted my reviews of Paramount’s Forrest Gump and Terminator Genisys in 4K Ultra HD on Friday night, so those are available this morning in case you missed them.

Up on deck for review next in 4K are A Wrinkle in Time, Fury, Escape Plan, and Game of Thrones: Season One (possibly not in that order), so be sure to watch for them.

Also, Tim will have a new Dailies column for you here at the site tomorrow.

The big news today is that Lionsgate has just announced that their Terminator 2: Judgment Day 4K Ultra HD is going to be re-released on 7/17 in both regular and long-delayed Endo Arm packaging. [Read on here...]

All right, we’ve been busy with reviews here at The Bits this week and the work continues through the weekend.

Case in point: I’ve just completed my in-depth review of Universal’s Jurassic Park 25th Anniversary Collection in 4K Ultra HD, which includes Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Jurassic Park III, and Jurassic World in both Blu-ray and 4K. You should read the review, obviously, but the cliff’s notes version is that the films all sound fantastic with DTS:X sound, but the transfers are a mixed bag. Jurassic Park looks better than ever (but don’t expect a miracle), The Lost World and Jurassic World look fantastic, and Jurassic Park III is barely an upgrade over the previous Blu-ray. The box is recommended for diehard fans of the franchise, certainly, and others if you can get a good sale price.

Not finished though, I’ve also posted my review of Universal’s Darkest Hour in 4K Ultra HD, which is not only a terrific film it’s a gorgeous 4K presentation of some of the best cinematography in recent years. I highly recommend this one.

By the end of the day (fingers crossed) I’ll also have posted my reviews of Paramount’s Forrest Gump and Terminator Genisys in 4K Ultra HD. [Read on here...]

All right, we’re going to have a bunch of new disc reviews for you starting tomorrow. I’m wrapping up the Jurassic Park 25th Anniversary Collection in 4K Ultra HD and Tim is working on a whole mess of new Blu-ray reviews as well. Watch for them soon.

Meanwhile, we have a bit of release news for you today...We have a street date from our retail and industry sources for 20th Century Fox’s Deadpool 2. Look for it on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD on 8/21. Keep in mind, this isn’t official until it’s announced by the studio.

Also, it looks like the street date for Disney’s The Incredibles on 4K Ultra HD has been delayed a week to 6/12. Adjust your plans accordingly. [Editor’s Note: It looks like the street date may still be 6/5 after all. The 6/12 date comes from Best Buy sources but isn’t being reported by other retailers. So probably best to assume it’s still 6/5 after all.] Our 4K Ultra HD Release List here at The Bits has been updated to reflect this. [Read on here...]

All right, first things first today. You may recall that recently (as part of our Back the Bits call to arms here at the site) we mentioned how tough it is to keep a good independent media website going on the Internet these days. Believe me, it is. No kidding.

So it’s with sadness that we tip our hats today in honor of our friends Gord Lacey, Dave Lambert, and their fine TVShowonDVD.com website, which has sadly gone dark after 18 years of great service to home media enthusiasts. They intend to continue on social media (visit the page for the links), but we’re sad to see their website go away regardless.

Gord, Dave… we love you guys. Thank you for 18 great years. And thanks too for your friendship. You have ours always. [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…]

This just in: Retail and industry sources are now telling us that 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment is going to be releasing John McTiernan’s original Predator (1987) on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray later this year, likely in August, to support the September theatrical release of the new Shane Black sequel film The Predator. We’ve updated our 4K Ultra HD Release List accordingly.

We don’t have any additional information on this yet (this is NOT an officially announced title yet), but fans will know that this film has been plagued by terrible transfers on disc over the years. The original 2008 Blu-ray release was decent, though the 2010 Ultimate Hunter Edition Blu-ray (which included all the legacy special features) was a flat-out disaster of epic proportions, with so much of the film’s fine detail and grain texture removed through the excessive use of DNR (digital noise reduction) that it was unwatchable.

Fox certainly already knows this, but it’s worth saying regardless: The studio could score massive points with fans of the film if the 4K remastered package included a new and properly-remastered Blu-ray edition of the film as well… one with all those good special features too in one package. Fingers crossed.

Stay tuned…

- Bill Hunt

(You can follow Bill on social media at these links: Twitter and Facebook)

All right, we’re kicking things off today with two more new Blu-ray reviews...

We start with Tim’s take on Larry Cohen’s It’s Alive Trilogy, new on Blu-ray from our friends at Scream Factory. He’s also got a review of Herschell Gordon Lewis’s Two Thousand Maniacs! on Blu-ray from the good folks at Arrow Video.

I’m working to wrap up that review of The Patriot in 4K Ultra HD from Sony, and I should have that up later this afternoon. So be sure to watch for it. Fury is on deck along with Escape Plan from Lionsgate.

Universal swears that they’re sending us the Jurassic Park Collection for review as well, so we do intend to cover it as soon as we’re able. [Read on here...]

All right, we’ve got some big announcement news for you today, but first we also have some new disc reviews for you...

To start with, I’ve posted my thoughts on Francis Lawrence’s Red Sparrow from 20th Century Fox and Alex Garland’s Annihilation from Paramount, both in 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray. Both are interesting films that definitely deserve a second look on disc.

Also, Tim has turned in his thoughts on Paul Mazursky’s Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice from Twilight Time and George P. Cosmatos’ Of Unknown Origin from Scream Factory, both in regular Blu-ray Disc.

More reviews of both formats are on the way, including Sony’s The Patriot and Fury in 4K, though we still do not have Universal’s Jurassic Park 4K Collection in hand, so it may be a few days before we get to review it for you. [Read on here...]

All right, Universal and Sony have been slow to send us Fury, The Patriot, and the Jurassic Park Collection for review on 4K here at The Bits. We expected them earlier this week and now it looks like we may not get our hands on them until sometime tonight or over the weekend. Rest assured, we’ll get them reviewed as soon as possible when we finally see them.

Fortunately, however, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment has sent us Red Sparrow in 4K Ultra HD, and now Paramount has kindly delivered Alex Garland’s Annihilation on UHD, so we’re diving into those now. We’ll get reviews of those posted as soon as we’re able, so keep checking back here (and on our social media pages) over the weekend.

Meanwhile, in announcement news today, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has set the Hulu original drama series The Looming Tower for release on Blu-ray on 9/18, featuring all 10 episodes along with 4 featurettes (Across Three Continents: Creating The Looming Tower, Ali Soufan: In His Own Words, The Looming Tower: Divided We Fail, and The Complexities of Character), as well as audio commentaries on the first and last episodes. [Read on here...]