Displaying items by tag: James Cameron

Whew! Yesterday was a big day, was it not? I was up all night prior to the announcement, formatting the post for 7 AM Pacific release, and man was it ever good to finally share that! I’ve been sitting on some of that information for months, so I’m very glad to finally be able to speak about it openly. And after thirteen years, it’s damn good to finally confirm that those James Cameron titles are indeed coming to 4K and Blu-ray at long last.

We have more new disc reviews to share today here at The Bits, and there’s more release news today as well. But first, I wanted to let you all know that I’ve just done a new blog post over on Patreon: My Two Cents on the New Abyss Trailer, and the Subject of DNR and Film Grain. It’s based on an impromptu Q&A thread I was involved in over on Twitter/X this morning, but with some added detail that will definitely be of interest to fans of these James Cameron films in remastered 4K. So if you’re a backer of The Bits’ new Patreon—and if you’re not, you should be, as we really need and appreciate the support!—I think you’ll certainly enjoy that. But for the rest of you, rest assured: Much of the substance of that post will be shared here on The Bits website when we review The Abyss, True Lies, Aliens, and Titanic in 4K, first on Digital in a few weeks and then in a few months on actual 4K UHD disc.

Now then, speaking of reviews... Stephen has posted his thoughts on Roger Spottiswoode’s The Best of Times (1986) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

Dennis has reviewed Éric Gravel’s Full Time (2021) on Blu-ray from Music Box Films and Vinegar Syndrome, as well as Jared Moshe’s Aporia (2023) on Blu-ray from Well Go USA.

Stuart has weighed in with his take on Roy Del Ruth’s Du Barry Was a Lady (1943) on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection, along with Jules Dassin’s Uptight (1968) on Blu-ray from Imprint Films.

And for you Peckinpah fans, Tim has shared his in-depth look at Sam Peckinpah’s Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974), also on Blu-ray from Imprint Films.

As always, more new disc reviews are on the way for tomorrow and all next week, so be sure to watch for them. [Read on here...]

All right, Digital Bits readers...

Having reported on the long and twisted saga of The Abyss and True Lies on Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD for over thirteen years now—and having first broken news of this release all the way back in March—it gives me enormous pleasure to be able to share this with all of you: The day has come at last!

Not only are The Abyss and True Lies finally coming to 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray, so too are Aliens, the recently-announced Titanic, and new versions of both Avatar (with all three versions of the film) and Avatar: The Way of Water!

Here’s the full text of Disney and Lightstorm’s official press release today…

SIX ICONIC JAMES CAMERON FILMS INCLUDING FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER ON 4K UHD™ ALIENS, THE ABYSS AND TRUE LIES!

IN ADDITION, SPECIAL COLLECTOR EDITIONS FOR TITANIC, AVATAR AND AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER WITH:

BURBANK, CA. (November 15, 2023) – A piece of cinema history comes home this year when six box-office juggernauts from Oscar®-winning director James Cameron are released. The six titles—The Abyss, True Lies, Aliens, Titanic, Avatar and Avatar: The Way of Water—will be made available in 4K Digital and 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray.

Cameron, who has helmed three of the five highest grossing movies of all time, says “There’s a world of emotions in revisiting these films and I hope we’ve captured some of that in the new bonus materials we created for our fans.”

Oscar®-winning producer Jon Landau added, “We really wanted to deliver the best possible experience at home so viewers could immerse themselves both in the films and the journeys we went through to make them.”

The 4K transfer for each release will be presented in superb Dolby Vision HDR and with an immersive Atmos audio mix. Additionally, most of the releases will arrive with several hours of captivating all-new bonus features. From the eight hours of Avatar: The Way of Water bonus including all-new deleted scenes to the five hours of new and legacy Titanic extras, fans will delight in the numerous hours of never-before-seen materials. [Read on here...]

Good afternoon, Bits readers and welcome to a new week! If all goes well, it’s shaping up to be a pretty exciting one—but more on that soon.

First up today, we’ve got an exclusive early 4K Ultra HD review for you: I’ve just taken an in-depth look at Christopher Cain’s fan-favorite western Young Guns (1988) in a long-awaited new Ultra HD release from our friends over at Lionsgate! The A/V quality is excellent, the disc includes original theatrical stereo and a great new Atmos mix, legacy extras carry over (including the commentary, a historical featurette, and trailers), and there’s a terrific new doc as well called How the West Was Wild: Making Young Guns. It’s a fine release that fans of the film should really love.

Now then, our friends at Kino Lorber Studio Classics have announced that Rod Lurie’s The Last Castle (2001) is “coming soon” to 4K Ultra HD.

Also newly revealed for Blu-ray from KLSC are Ted Kotcheff’s Split Image (1962), Joseph Sargent’s To Hell with Heroes (1968), Norman Panama’s The Road to Hong Kong (1962), and Douglas Sirk’s Has Anybody Seen My Gal (1952) on 1/9, followed by Andrew V. McLaglen’s The Devil’s Brigade (1968) on 1/16. And coming soon is Mitchell Leisen’s No Man of Her Own (1950). [Read on here...]

I’ve been thinking a lot, in recent days, about the future of physical media.

Frankly, I can’t recall a time in this industry that’s offered greater cognitive dissonance than this past week, which began with the news that Best Buy is exiting the disc business—and saw a Digital Bits headline on the subject appear in Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show monologue—but ended not only with the release of Barbie and The Exorcist in 4K, but also with the Ultra HD announcement of Titanic, The Color Purple, and Oppenheimer, to say nothing of the revelation (by Kino Lorber Studio Classics) that Stanley Kubrick’s earliest films are coming to the format!

What’s the opening line of A Tale of Two Cities again? “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity.” Charlies Dickens was nothing if not a visionary.

This coming December, I’ll mark my twenty-sixth year as editor of The Digital Bits, and my thirty-fifth as a working professional in the business of media more generally. For most of that time, I’ve had a front row seat from which to view the ebbs and flows of the disc business—both its public-facing portion, as well a singularly-unique insider’s perspective. I launched The Bits website in 1997, at the height of LaserDisc and the dawn of DVD, to create a nexus between fans of these formats and the industry professionals who create them.

Soon afterwards, I gave the world its first look at Circuit City’s pay-per-view DIVX format, then led the crusade against it. I co-led a campaign that convinced George Lucas to begin releasing his beloved Star Wars films on DVD. I reported from the trenches on—and correctly predicted the outcome of—the high-definition format war between Blu-ray and HD-DVD. And I’ve covered every minute of the Golden Age of Physical Media, the rise and stumbles of Digital and streaming, and the continuing adventures of our favorite little format that could… 4K Ultra HD. [Read on here...]

All right, believe it or not, even after the insanity that’s been the last couple of days, we still have a bit more new release news to catch you all up on here at The Bits...

First things first… Lionsgate has officially set The Expendables 4, aka Expend4bles, for release on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD on 11/21. There will also a trio of retail exclusive versions, including an Amazon 4K with lenticular cover, a Best Buy 4K Steelbook, and a Walmart Steelbook 4-Film 4K Collection. All 4K versions of Expend4bles will offer Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos audio on a 100GB disc. Extras on the Blu-ray and 4K SKUs will include audio commentary with director Scott Waugh, 2 featurettes (Bigger, Bolder, Badder: The Expendables in Action and More Than a Team: New Blood Meets Old Blood), plus the film’s theatrical trailer. You can see the cover artwork at left and also below.

Lionsgate has also set Kevin Greutert’s Saw X for release on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD on 11/21. Look for HDR10 and Dolby Atmos on the 4K SKU. Extras will include audio commentary (with director-editor Kevin Greutert, cinematographer Nick Matthews, and production designer Anthony Stabley), the 6-part Reawakening documentary (includes I Want to Play a Game: Bleeding New Life into the Saga, This Time It’s Personal: Characters and Casting, Another Time, Another Place: Locations and Cinematography, There Will Be Blood: Production Design and Make-up, Leave Nothing to Chance: Post-Production, and Live or Die: Release and Legacy), 2 additional featurettes (Drawing Inspiration: Illustrated Scene Breakdowns with Kevin Greutert and Make-Up Department Trap Tests), deleted scenes, and the film’s theatrical trailer. Again, you’ll find the cover art below. [Read on here...]

All right folks... this is a title we know that many of you have waited a very long time to see released on this format, but now it’s finally official.

Paramount has just announced James Cameron’s TITANIC (1997) for release in 4K Ultra HD & 4K Limited Collector’s Edition on 12/5!

Here are all the details…

TITANIC

Debuts on 4K Ultra HD December 5th

Limited-Edition Collector’s Box Set Also Available

Revisit James Cameron’s epic masterpiece TITANIC when it arrives for the first time ever remastered on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc December 5, 2023 from Paramount Home Entertainment.

[Editor’s Note: The title will be released by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment internationally, so watch for a separate announcement by them outside the U.S.]

The beloved, worldwide phenomenon won 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and continues to attract new fans 25 years after it was originally released. Now, viewers can experience all of the drama and spectacle in stunning 4K Ultra HD with Dolby Vision and a Dolby Atmos soundtrack for the finest visual and audio presentation at home.

TITANIC will be available nationwide in a two-disc set that includes the film on 4K Ultra HD, plus a Blu-ray Disc boasting more than five hours of new and legacy bonus content, including new interviews with James Cameron, star Kate Winslet, and producer Jon Landau. The set also includes access to a Digital Ultra HD copy of the film. [Read on here...]

We’re starting our first big news update of the week here at The Bits with some new disc reviews, as always. So now available for your reading enjoyment are...

Stephen’s in-depth reviews of both the wide release 4K Ultra HD and the Disney Movie Club-exclusive “quad” 4K Ultra HD release of Walt Disney’s classic animated Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). The good news is that Disney’s positive change in direction with 4K catalog releases is officially no fluke—the disc features absolutely beautiful 35mm film remastering with lovely grain structure and wonderfully vibrant colors.

Stephen has also turned in a review of Michael Cimino’s Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974) in 4K Ultra HD from Kino Lorber Studio Classics, which also features terrific new remastering.

And Stuart has delivered a look at Norman Taurog’s Spinout (1966) on Blu-ray from our friends at the Warner Archive Collection.

As always, more new reviews are on the way later this week, so be sure to watch for them.

Now then... in announcement news today, the Criterion Collection has officially revealed their January 2024 release slate. [Read on here...]

All right, folks! Last week was busy with big news, and this week will be no different.

We’re going to be back with a larger post later this morning to cover it all, but first we wanted to break in here early with official word that James Cameron’s Titanic (1997) is now available for pre-order on Amazon!

This fulfills at least part of a promise made to us by producer Jon Landau and first reported here at The Bits all the way back in March (see our report from the time here, complete with video we shot of Landau breaking the news). Note that we’ve included the video I shot at Lightstorm that day below the break as well.

Paramount’s street date is 12/5, just as we’ve been predicting for a while now. According to the packaging, which you can see at left and also below the break, the release will be a 2-disc set that includes the film in 4K Ultra HD, along with a Blu-ray disc of bonus features.

The set will include over 15 hours of content (most of it on the Blu-ray), including a new documentary, Titanic: Stories from the Heart, featuring new interviews with James Cameron, Jon Landau, and Kate Winslet, as well as a new fan art gallery. [Read on here...]

All right, we’ve got some ground to cover today here at The Bits, so first things first. We have a trio of new disc reviews for you to enjoy this afternoon, including...

Tim’s take on Amando de Ossorio’s Tombs of the Blind Dead (1972) on Blu-ray from Synapse Films.

And Dennis’ thoughts on William A Wellman’s Westward the Women (1951) on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection, as well as James Foley’s After Dark, My Sweet (1990) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

Don’t forget, Amazon’s Prime “Big Deal” Days Sale continues until the end of the day today, so be sure to take advantage of all the great prices on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD titles, box sets, and collections. Click here and here to see what’s on sale and act fast!

For the record, some of today’s deals include...

• Universal Classic Monsters: Icons of Horror 4K UHD (regularly $79.99) Now $29
• The Alfred Hitchcock Classics Collection 4K UHD (regularly $69.98) Now $38
• The Alfred Hitchcock Classics Collection #2 4K UHD (regularly $69.98) Now $38

• Game of Thrones: The Complete Collection 4K UHD (regularly $219) Now $94
• Batman: The Complete Animated Series Blu-ray (regularly $79) Now $24
• Superman: The Complete Animated Series Blu-ray (regularly $69) Now $19
• The Last of Us: The Complete First Season Blu-ray (regularly $49) Now $26
• Battlestar Galactica: The Complete Series Blu-ray (regularly $99) Now $49
• Bonanza: The Complete Series DVD (regularly $244) Now $159

• Back to the Future: The Ultimate Trilogy 4K UHD (regularly $55) Now $23
• The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy (Extended & Theatrical) 4K UHD (regularly $89) Now $39
• Harry Potter: 8-Film Collection 4K UHD (regularly $178) Now $59
• Mission: Impossible 6-Movie Collection 4K UHD (regularly $83) Now $50
• The Godfather Trilogy 4K UHD (regularly $90) Now $54
• The James Bond Collection 24-Films Blu-ray (regularly $144) Now $54

So be sure to act fast if you’re interested.

Also today here at the site, we’ve got word on some long-awaited 4K Ultra HD catalog titles... [Read on here...]

We’ve got some interesting release news for you today, as well as updates on forthcoming 4K catalog titles we’ve been tracking for a while, and of course more new disc reviews. So let’s get to the latter first...

Our own Stephen Bjork has posted his in-depth review of Loki: The Complete First Season in 4K Ultra HD Steelbook from Marvel Studios and Disney. The short version is that the studio really does seem to have done this title right, in terms of AV quality, which bodes well for forthcoming Disney+ streaming series in 4K UHD.

Stephen has also turned in a look at Barry Levinson’s Rain Man (1988) in 4K Ultra HD from the MVD Marquee Collection.

And Stuart has delivered his take on Kino Lorber Studio Classic’s Audie Murphy Collection II on Blu-ray, which features Sierra (1950), Kansas Raiders (1950), and Destry (1954).

In terms of new release news, we’re hearing from retail sources that Universal’s forthcoming Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD release of David Gordon Green’s The Exorcist: Believer (2023) will arrive in stores on 12/19.

Lionsgate has also delayed their 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray release of Jean-Luc Godard’s Contempt (1963) from 9/26 to 10/24. Adjust your plans accordingly. [Read on here...]