Displaying items by tag: Steven Spielberg

Morning, folks! We’re checking in early here at The Bits today with some new disc reviews.

Over the weekend, I managed to turn out reviews of three new 4K Ultra HD Steelbook releases, including Steven Spielberg’s Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) from Paramount, and David Lean’s Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) and Lawrence of Arabia (1962) from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

It should be noted that the 4K Steelbook edition of Bridge on the River Kwai now includes Dolby Vision HDR and the original theatrical mono mix, both of which were missing from the 2017 4K release.

And this marks the first time Lawrence of Arabia has been available in 4K outside of Sony’s expensive (and long out-of-print) Columbia Classics 4K Ultra HD Collection: Volume 1 box set from 2020, so this will likely be the first time many of you get to experience the film in 4K UHD at home (and let me tell you, that experience is terrific). [Read on here...]

We’ve got more new disc reviews for you to enjoy today, including a couple that we posted over the weekend...

First up, Tim and Dennis have taken a look at Billy Wilder’s Some Like It Hot (1959) in 4K Ultra HD from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

I’ve also posted my thoughts on Steven Spielberg’s new West Side Story on 4K Ultra HD from 20th Century Studios.

And Tim has offered his thoughts on Philip Marshak’s Dracula Sucks (1978) in 4K Ultra HD as well, an infamous adult genre title available from Vinegar Syndrome.

Finally, Dennis has posted his take on Ridley Scott’s House of Gucci on regular Blu-ray too.

More new disc reviews are on the way soon, so be sure to check back for them in the coming days, including my in-depth look at Paramount’s The Godfather Trilogy in 4K. I had the chance to watch the films over the weekend, and let me tell you: They’ve simply never looked better. The new 2020 restoration is a night and day improvement upon the already fine 2007 restoration that was released previously on Blu-ray, so you’re definitely not going to want to miss this new set. [Read on here...]

We have more new disc reviews for you today, and finally some official details on the Blu-ray and 4K release of West Wide Story from 20th Century Studios. As always, reviews first...

Dennis has turned in his thoughts on Ian Sharp’s The Final Option (1982) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

Tim has delivered his take on Jack Gold’s The Medusa Touch (1978) on Blu-ray from Imprint.

And Stephen has taken a look at Paramount’s new 30th anniversary Steelbook Blu-ray release of Wayne’s World (1992), as directed by Penelope Spheeris. Enjoy!

Now then, as we mentioned yesterday 20th Century Studios is releasing Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story (2021) on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD on 3/15, with the Digital and Disney+ streaming offerings available on 3/2. [Read on here...]

We have a quick President’s Day news update for you here at The Bits with some good title announcement news, both new and catalog. And of course, another new disc review.

Stephen has checked in with his in-depth thoughts on Chloe Zhao’s Eternals in 4K Ultra HD from Disney and Marvel, a somewhat polarizing entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. We think you’ll find his take interesting, and you can find it right here.

In new announcement news today, 20th Century Studios has just put Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story (2021) up for pre-order on Amazon in Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD with a street date of 3/15.

The 4K disc will include English Dolby Atmos audio, with HDR10 high dynamic range. [Read on here...]

We’re rounding out the week with a trio of additional disc reviews here at the site...

Stephen and Tim have checked in with thoughts on Scream Factory’s new 4K Ultra HD release of Joe Dante’s The Howling.

Tim has also taken a look at Mario and Lamberto Bava’s Shock (1977), which is now available on Blu-ray from Arrow Video.

And Dennis has delivered a new look at Nicholas Ray’s Party Girl (1958) on Blu-ray from The Warner Archive Collection.

More reviews are on the way for next week too, including my own of Frank Darabont’s The Green Mile in 4K from Warner. So be sure to check back then.

In terms of announcement news today, we expect Disney and 20th Century Studios to officially announce Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story for release on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD any time now, with an anticipated street date of 3/15. You can see the retail cover artwork below. [Read on here...]

We’ve got a couple more new disc reviews to start the week with here at The Bits...

Stephen has given Alfred Hitchcock’s Rich and Strange (1931) a look on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

He’s also offered his thoughts today on John Duigan’s Sirens (1994) on Blu-ray from Umbrella Entertainment, recently released as part of their Sunburnt Screens label.

And we’ve got another new History, Legacy & Showmanship piece for you this afternoon from our own Michael Coate. Michael’s film retrospectives take a great deal of time and effort to produce, and as such they occasionally become bonus content. So here’s a fun “leftover” from 2021 in which Michael and film historian Gary Gerani celebrate the 50th anniversary of Steven Spielberg’s Duel. Enjoy!

Now then... the big announcement news today is that Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has officially set Lana Wachowski’s The Matrix Resurrections for release on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD on 3/8 (SRP $29.99, $24.99, and $19.99), with the Digital release available on 1/25. [Read on here...]

“Duel showed us that art could be produced on a television budget and on a television schedule.” — Gary Gerani, co-author of Fantastic Television

The Digital Bits and History, Legacy & Showmanship are pleased to present this retrospective commemorating the golden anniversary of the original broadcast of Duel, the acclaimed television film adapted from Richard Matheson’s short story about a man menaced on the highway by the unseen driver of a truck.

Duel featured Dennis Weaver (Gunsmoke, Gentle Ben) and originally aired as a part of the ABC Movie of the Week in autumn 1971 before being expanded into a theatrical release.

Directed by a 24-year-old Steven Spielberg, Duel marked Spielberg’s transition into the production of feature-length motion pictures following two years of directing episodic television. [Read on here...]

“As soon as Indy stepped out of the shadows in that first scene and revealed himself to us with that badass confidence and intensity, I feel like in that moment, Harrison Ford truly became a movie star of the highest order.” – Charles de Lauzirika, producer/director of Dangerous Days: Making Blade Runner

The Digital Bits and History, Legacy & Showmanship are pleased to present this multi-page retrospective article commemorating the 40th anniversary of the release of Raiders of the Lost Ark, the Lucas & Spielberg action classic that introduced moviegoers to the globe-trotting adventures of Indiana Jones and spawned a franchise of sequels, prequels, games, and theme park attractions.

Raiders, featuring Harrison Ford as everyone’s favorite cinematic archaeologist, was the most successful movie of its year of release and for a period of time the third highest-grossing motion picture of all time. The Oscar-winning movie also starred Karen Allen as heroine Marion Ravenwood, Paul Freeman as archvillain Belloq, Ronald Lacey as villain Toht, John Rhys-Davies as sidekick Sallah, and Denholm Elliott as colleague Marcus Brody.

In 1999 the Library of Congress selected Raiders of the Lost Ark for preservation in the National Film Registry as being “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant,” and earlier this year, Raiders and the other movies in the series were released for the first time on 4K UHD (reviewed here). [Read on here...]

All right, that was fast!

It’s now official: Paramount Home Entertainment and Lucasfilm have indeed set the Indiana Jones 4-Movie Collection for release on 4K Ultra HD on 6/8.

Here’s a nice surprise: The set will include Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos audio after all. Per studio confirmation, the exact audio options on the US SKUs will include in English (Dolby Atmos), as well as 5.1 in French, Italian, Japanese, Russian, and Spanish. Subtitles will be available in English, Cantonese, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, and Thai.

The 5-disc set will contain all four of the existing films—Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull—along with a Blu-ray Disc of legacy bonus features. It does NOT appear that the set will include any new features. You will, however, get Digital copies of each film.

The collectible packaging will be available in two varieties: Regular and Steelbook (exclusive to Best Buy in the US), each with a slipcase. You can see both pictured below (the regular version is also visible at left).

Read on for the full text of the official Paramount and Lucasfilm press release... [Read on here...]

Okay, we’ve got some serious ground to cover in today’s My Two Cents update, so let’s get right to it...

First, we’ve just posted Michael Coate’s brand new History, Legacy & Showmanship column here at The Bits, featuring a terrific new retrospective of George Lucas’ THX 1138 in honor of the film’s 50th anniversary (which was last week on 3/11 – the piece was delayed due to a technical issue). The column takes an in-depth look back at the original theatrical release and also features a great roundtable discussion with film historian Chris Barsanti, documentary filmmaker Gary Leva, and original Director of Fan Relations at Lucasfilm Craig Miller. I think you’ll really enjoy it. So you’ll find that here.

Next up, as some of you may have noticed over the weekend, we posted word on Saturday (see here) that video distributors had begun listing a 4-film Indiana Jones Collection for release on 4K Ultra HD on 6/8. This is still not to be considered official until Paramount and Lucasfilm make their actual announcement, however be aware that I’ve now confirmed it with multiple film industry sources in addition to retail and distribution sources. And it’s really not all that surprising given that 6/12 is marks the 40th anniversary of the original film’s theatrical release. We expect the set to include all four existing films in 4K with HDR10 high dynamic range and the previous DTS-HD Master Audio lossless sound mixes (but that’s still subject to change). [Editor’s Note: We’ve just confirmed that the set WILL include Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos audio. Details to follow shortly.] The 5-disc set will also include a disc of bonus features that are TBA. Of course, we’ll post more information on this as it comes in.

The other big news today is that our friends at The Criterion Collection have just unveiled their June slate of titles. [Read on here...]