Displaying items by tag: Lionsgate

Before we get to today’s release news, we’ve got a few new disc reviews for you to enjoy here at The Bits...

Tim has reviewed the Looney Tunes: Collector’s Choice – Volume 2 Blu-ray set from the Warner Archive Collection.

Dennis has reviewed R.O. Blechman and Christian Blackwood’s The Soldier’s Tale (1984) on Blu-ray from Kino Classics, along with Jerry London’s Rent-a-Cop (1988) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

And Stuart has offered his thoughts on Édouard Molinaro’s The Road to Shame (1959) on Blu-ray from Kino Classics, as well as Guy Green’s Diamond Head (1962) on Blu-ray from our friends at Imprint Films.

More reviews are on the way, as always, so be sure to keep your eyes peeled for them!

Now then... the big news today is that Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment has officially set Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two (2024) for release on Blu-ray, DVD, 4K Ultra HD, and 4K UHD + Blu-ray Steelbook on 5/14, just as we expected. The Digital release is due on 4/16, which is just a week away.

Look for the 4K disc to include Dolby Vision and HDR10 high dynamic range and Dolby Atmos audio. Unfortunately, we’ve confirmed with the studio that the aspect ratio for all of these SKUs will be 2.39:1 only, matching the previous release of Dune: Part One (2021) on disc. These discs will not replicate the variable IMAX aspect ratio in 1.78:1, like the studio’s past 4K releases of Christopher Nolan’s films do (including TENET, Dunkirk, The Dark Knight, etc).

This is something that a LOT of Dune and 4K fans very much want. Since the discs went up for pre-order a few weeks ago, I’ve gotten many hundreds of questions about it. And since I shared the 2.39 confirmation on Twitter yesterday, the post has been seen by more than 1 million people! So there is clearly very keen interest in a disc release that does have the IMAX ratio. Hopefully, Warner is planning an IMAX 4K and BD disc re-release in the future. [Read on here...]

All right, I hope all of you guys here in the States checked out the solar eclipse this morning! Here in Southern California, the Moon only covered about 54% of the Sun at maximum, but I took the scope out this morning anyway and got a couple good pictures that I’ll share below the break.

In the meantime, the big news today is unofficial, but it comes from enough retail sources now that I’m confident it’s accurate: Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment will release Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two (2024) on Blu-ray, DVD, 4K Ultra HD, and 4K UHD Steelbook on 5/14. And while we’ll have to wait for the official press release (expected anytime now) to be sure, based on the promo images the studio is sharing with some of the pre-order listings, it looks like the aspect ratio for the title may be full 1.78:1. This would replicate the maximum IMAX image area for home viewing. Again, that’s not certain yet. So fingers crossed, we’ll know more very soon. You can see the 4K Steelbook art at left and also below the break.

[Editor’s Note: The 5/14 date is now official per WBHE, but we’ve confirmed that the aspect ratio will be 2.39:1 only. Don’t attack the messenger please; we’re only passing on what we’ve learned.]

Also newly announced today by Lionsgate is Francis Ford Coppola’s One from the Heart: Reprise (1982), which will finally arrive here in the States in 4K Ultra HD on 5/7. The entire film has been restored from the original camera negative and six minutes of footage have been added back to the film by Coppola himself. The 4K package will include a UHD disc of the new cut plus the original 1982 Theatrical Version on Blu-ray, with all of its legacy special features. [Read on here...]

We have a few good bits of release news for you today...

First up, our friends at Lionsgate have announced four new Walmart-exclusive 4K Ultra HD Steelbook titles for release on 4/1, including Cutthroat Island, Rambo: First Blood, Rambo: Last Blood, and a Red 2-Film Collection (including both Red and Red 2). All the Blu-ray extras should carry over. Note that these are essentially the same discs released previously.

Lionsgate has also set Kristoffer Borgli’s Dream Scenario (2023) for release on Blu-ray and DVD on 2/27. The film stars Nicolas Cage.

Film Masters is releasing Bert I. Gordon’s Tormented (1960) on Blu-ray and DVD on 4/23, restored in 4K from original 35mm archival elements. SRP will be $24.95 and $19.95 respectively. In terms of special features, look for:

“an unreleased TV pilot of Famous Ghost Stories, made by Bert I. Gordon and hosted by Vincent Price; the Mystery Science Theater 3000 version of Tormented (1992), full feature (1:33.1), with captions; new documentary by Ballyhoo Motion Pictures, Bert I. Gordon in the 1950s & 1960s: Bigger Than Life, featuring C. Courtney Joyner; archival interview with writer-producer-director Bert I. Gordon, Bert I. Gordon: The Amazing Colossal Filmmaker; feature essay by Tom Weaver with a bonus essay by John Wooley, former president of the Susan Gordon fan club and a personal friend of the actress; commentary provided by film historian-writer-filmmaker Gary Don Rhodes; new, visual essay by The Flying Maciste Brothers, The Spirit is Willing: CineMagic and Social Discord in Bert I. Gordon’s “Tormented”; original trailer, scanned in 4K from 35mm archival elements, presented in its raw format; as well as a recut trailer using restored film elements.” [Read on here...]

All right, if you thought yesterday’s post was busy with news, we’ve got another banger for you here today! But first, the day’s disc reviews...

Stuart has offered his thoughts on Henri Verneuil’s I... for Icarus (1979) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

Dennis has reviewed Neil Burger’s The Marsh King’s Daughter (2023) on Blu-ray from Lionsgate.

And just one more thing... Tim has delivered his take on Kino Lorber Studio Classics’ new Columbo: The 1970s – Seasons 1-7 Blu-ray box set as well. Enjoy!

Now then, a quick note: All of the Criterion Collection April titles we shared the cover artwork for in yesterday’s post now have Amazon pre-order links, though the actual pre-orders have yet to begin. But that should happen very soon. We’ve added the links to our 4K Ultra HD Release List here at The Bits as well.

We’re starting today with exciting news for music, concert film, and Talking Heads fans: A24 is going to begin pre-orders for their forthcoming 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray Collector’s Edition release of Jonathan Demme’s Stop Making Sense (1984) on 1/27. The official street date and other details are still TBA. And per Variety, the film will return to IMAX theaters around the country that same day for month-long residence screenings. You can read more here.

Following up on yesterday’s news column, Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment and DC have just officially announced the Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD release of James Wan’s Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom on 3/12. The Digital release will be available on 1/23. Extras on all versions will include 7 featurettes (Finding the Lost Kingdom, Aquaman: Worlds Above and Below, It’s a Manta World, Necrus, the Lost Black City, Escape from the Deserter World, Brawling at Kingfish’s Lair, and Oh TOPO!). To this, the Digital version will add the exclusive Aquaman Through Fire and Water motion comic. And the Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD will also add the exclusive Atlantean Blood Is Thicker Than Water featurette. Note that the 4K Ultra HD will also feature Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos audio. You can see the cover artwork at left and also below. [Read on here...]

Well, folks... it’s a new year and time to get right back into the thick of things in terms of physical media news. And we have a bunch to catch you up on here at The Bits today.

Before we get started though, I wanted to call your attention to Michael Coate’s latest History, Legacy & Showmanship column here at The Bits, which we posted on New Year’s Eve. It features a great retrospective and roundtable interview with film historians celebrating the 50th anniversary of George Lucas’ classic American Graffiti (1973). Its 9 pages and 17 chapters are packed with great reading, so do be sure to check it out.

I’d also like to start the new year by with another quick Patreon pitch: If you believe in the work we do here at The Bits in support of physical media, we’d like to ask you to consider becoming a supporter of the site on Patreon. I’ve been sharing exclusive blog posts there, and it’s becoming a great little community—a fun and welcoming place to share your love of Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD with fellow enthusiasts. You can join for as low as $6 a month (or as much as you’d like to contribute) and it really makes a difference in helping us to grow and continue our work here at the site. So thank you!

Now then, the big news item this afternoon is that Lionsgate has just officially set Francis Lawrence’s The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes for Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD release on 2/13, with the Digital release due on 1/30. There will also be a Walmart-exclusive 4K Steelbook release on 2/13. The 4K and Blu-ray will include the following special features: audio commentary with Lawrence and producer Nina Jacobson, the 8-part Predator or Prey: Making The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes documentary (note that both the commentary and documentary are exclusive to the physical release), Rachel Zegler’s The Hanging Tree music video, the A Letter to the Fans featurette, and the theatrical trailer. You can see the 4K cover art at left and also below.

FYI, Lionsgate is also releasing John Woo’s Silent Night (2023) on Blu-ray and DVD on 1/30. The film stars Joel Kinnaman (of For All Mankind fame). [Read on here...]

Evening, folks!

Next week is going to be another big one here at The Digital Bits, as all three of the new James Cameron catalog titles—Aliens, The Abyss, And True Lies—drop in 4K Digital on Tuesday. And it’s very possible that they could start appearing on Digital services sooner, especially if you already own HD Digital copies (iTunes/AppleTV sometimes upgrades the files to 4K a little early). So I’ll be back on Tuesday to review them from an A/V standpoint, in anticipation of the disc releases arriving in March. And I’ll have more restoration details from Lightstorm as well, so be sure to check back next week.

In the meantime, we have a little big more announcement news today...

Imprint has just unveiled their February 2024 Blu-ray slate. They include Ingmar Bergman’s Face to Face (1976), Peter Yates’ The Dresser (1983), Bob Rafelson’s Mountains of the Moon (1990), Diane Kurys’ A Man in Love (1987), Gabriele Salvatores’ I’m Not Scared (2003), and Majid Majidi’s Children of Heaven (1997). Face to Face, Mountains of the Moon, and I’m Not Scared are all arriving on Blu-ray for the first time. All of these titles are limited to 1500 copies. Street date is 2/28/24 and you can pre-order them here on the Imprint webstore.

Kino Lorber Studio Classics has set Pat Rocco’s Drifter (1974) for Blu-ray release on 2/20/24 as the next title (#6) in its new Kino Cult label.

It looks very much like Paramount Home Entertainment will be releasing John Landis’ Beverly Hills Cop III (1994) and a new Beverly Hills Cop 3-Movie Collection in 4K Ultra HD on 2/20 as well. [Read on here...]

This is going to be a big week in terms of new disc reviews! Just today we’ve got...

My take on Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer (2023) in 4K Ultra HD from Universal, which in my opinion is the A/V demo disc of the year, not to mention a terrific special edition release. Unfortunately, it’s selling out everywhere, but we strongly suspect that Universal is already replicating more copies (and we’ve asked for official confirmation of that, which we’ll share here as soon as we hear back).

Tim’s reviews of Greta Gerwig’s Barbie (2023) in 4K Ultra HD from Warner Bros and Jeannot Szwarc’s Santa Claus: The Movie (1985) in 4K UHD from StudioCanal in the UK.

Stuart’s look at the Audie Murphy Collection III box set from Kino Lorber Studio Classics, which includes Hell Bent for Leather (1960), Posse from Hell (1961), and Showdown (1963) on Blu-ray.

And Dennis’ thoughts on Brad Watson’s The Siege (2023) on Blu-ray from Well Go USA Entertainment, as well as Harry Beaumont’s Dance, Fools, Dance (1931) on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection.

I’m also hard at work on my 4K review of James Cameron’s Titanic (1997) from Paramount and we have several more Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD reviews cooking at the moment. I would expect James Mangold’s Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny to show up at any time for review in 4K as well. So be sure to keep your eyes peeled for them. [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...]