Displaying items by tag: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

We’ve got a few great new disc reviews for you to enjoy here at the site today as we continue our efforts to get things back to normal here. And a couple of them are significant titles…

First, Stephen has turned in his thoughts on David Fincher’s newly remastered Fight Club (1999) in 4K Ultra HD from 20th Century Studios via Disney and Sony. Stephen has also taken a look at Luis Llosa’s Anaconda (1997) in 4K Ultra HD from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

Next, Tim has offered his take on Ralph Bakshi’s animated Fire and Ice (1983) in 4K Ultra HD from Blue Underground.

And Dennis has shared his look at Jack Conway’s Honky Tonk (1941) on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection.

More reviews are forthcoming, and again there should be a lot more over the next week or so as we return to something like normal operations here at The Bits after our efforts to stabilize the first from intensive AI bot scraping and higher-than-ever site traffic.

Also, we’ve got a new update of the Release Dates and Artwork section for you all to enjoy as well.

So we really appreciate your patience as we’ve dealt with that over the last 6-8 weeks or so.

In terms of announcement news this week, our friends at the Criterion Collection have revealed their August slate, which includes Todd Haynes’ Safe (1995) (Spine #739 – 4K UHD + Blu-ray) on 8/4, Bertrand Tavernier’s Coup de torchon (1981) (Spine #106 – Blu-ray) on 8/11, and Barbara Koppe’s Harlan County USA (1976) (Spine #334 – 4K UHD + Blu-ray) and American Dream (1990) (Spine #1324 – Blu-ray), and James Gray’s Little Odessa (1994) (Spine #1323 – 4K UHD + Blu-ray) on 8/25. Also coming on 8/25 is Eclipse Series 49: Five Radical Documentaries by Kazuo Hara and Sachiko Kobayashi (1972-2016) on Blu-ray. [Read on here...]

We’ve got a few more reviews for you today, and a few more great bits of announcement news to round out the week here…

First, Stuart has turned in his thoughts on Howard Zieff’s House Calls (1978) and Gilles Grangier’s Maigret Sees Red (1963) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

And Dennis has offered his take on John Binder’s UFOria (1985), also on Blu-ray from KLSC.

Now then, here’s something fun: Our friends at Vinegar Syndrome have revealed they’ve licensed Joe Dante’s Explorers (1985) from Paramount and they’ve about to release a new 4K Ultra HD edition! Limited to 8,000 units, it will ship following their next Halfway to Black Friday sale that runs from May 22nd to 25th! And in addition to legacy extras, you’ll get a 40-page book and a new 77-minute documentary on the making of the film by Elijah Drenner! [Read on here...]

Welcoming to a new week, Bits readers!

So the good news is that the site appears to be stable, our email is working, and all of our functionality appears to be restored. If you’re having any trouble, please let us know.

In the meantime, we have some new reviews for you to enjoy today…

Stephen has taken a look at Guy Hamilton’s Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins (1985) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics, as well as Frank Henenlotter’s Frankenhooker (1990) in 4K Ultra HD from Synapse Films.

Tim has offered his thoughts on Hanna-Barbera’s The New Fred and Barney Show: The Complete Series (1979) on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection. He’s also assisted Dennis with 4K Ultra HD reviews of Terry Jones’ Monty Pythons’ Life of Brian (1979) from the Criterion Collection and Alvin Rakoff’s Death Ship (1980) from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

And Dennis has turned in a solo review of Mike Figgis’ Mr. Jones (1993) on Blu-ray from Imprint films.

More reviews are on the way all this week, so be sure to watch for them!

Now then, in release and announcement news today, Disney officially announced the Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD release of Pixar’s CG-animated Hoppers (2026) on 6/2, with the Digital release expected tomorrow on 4/28. The 4K disc will come in Steelbook packaging and interestingly, it will be released on a 100 GB disc with Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos audio. Extras will include 5 featurettes (The Critter Dairies, Hopping In: The Making of Hoppers, Meet King George: Scene Breakdown, Beaverton Revealed, and Damn Good Bloopers) plus 6 deleted scenes. You can see the cover art at left. [Read on here...]

We’ve got more new disc reviews for you all to enjoy today, including…

Stephen’s take on Ema Tammi’s Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 (2025) in 4K Ultra HD from Universal and also Bill Plympton’s Hair High (2004) on Blu-ray from our friends at Deaf Crocodile Films.

Tim’s review of David Lynch’s Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992) in 4K from Criterion.

Dennis’ look at Terry Jones’ Monty Python’s Life of Brian (1979) on Blu-ray from Criterion, as well as Martin Ritt’s Cross Creek (1983) on Blu-ray from Imprint Films.

And finally, Stuart’s thoughts on Raoul Walsh’s Silver River (1948) on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection.

More reviews are forthcoming all this week, so be sure to keep checking back for them!

Now then… in announcement news today, Kino Lorber Studio Classics has revealed that Howard Hawks’ El Dorado (1966) is “coming soon” to 4K Ultra HD. That’s a Paramount Western featuring John Wayne, Robert Mitchum, and James Caan, featuring a screenplay co-written by Leigh Brackett (The Empire Strikes Back) and music by Nelson Riddle (the 1966 Batman). [Read on here...]

All right, we have a few more new disc reviews to share with you this morning, including…

Tim’s thoughts on Guy Magar’s Lookin’ Italian (1994) on Blu-ray from Severin Films.

Dennis’ take on William Richert’s A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon (1988) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics and Shane Meadows’ TwentyFourSeven (1997) on Blu-ray from Imprint Films.

Stephen’s look at Richard Attenborough’s A Bridge Too Far (1977) in Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics, as well as Ivan Passer’s Cutter’s Way (1981) in 4K Ultra HD from Radiance Films.

And Stuart’s review of the Warner Archive’s Fred Astaire Collection on Blu-ray, which includes Easter Parade (1948), The Band Wagon (1953), Silk Stockings (1957), and Finian’s Rainbow (1968). Stuart has also reviewed Peter Yates’ Summer Holiday (1963) on Blu-ray from Indicator’s Cliff in Color! box set.

Now then, the big news we want to share with you today is that pre-orders have finally begin for Disney’s Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD release of James Cameron’s Avatar: Fire and Ash (2026), all of which are set to street on 5/19. [Read on here...]

Greetings, Bits readers—I hope this finds you all well!

You may have noticed that there have been very few updates here on the site this week, and also that we’ve had a lot of downtime in which the site wasn’t working or was slow to load.

There’s a reason for that, which is that we’ve been the target of relentless scaping by AI companies trying to train their LLMs. We’ve taken steps to prevent it in the past, but they don’t seem to care that when they scrape us, it causes significant disruptions for both us and you as readers. So it looks like we’re going to have to take further steps to prevent this going forward.

In the meantime, we’ve got a lot of ground to cover today, as I haven’t been able to post a news update since Monday due to these disruptions.

We’ll start with disc reviews! We’ve had a bunch for you this week, including…

My looks at Jeannot Szwarc’s Somewhere in Time (1980) in 4K from Kino Lorber Studio Classics, David Lynch’s The Straight Story (1999) in 4K from StudioCanal (a joint review with former Bits staffer Dan Kelly), Michael Crichton’s Westworld (1973) in 4K from Arrow Video, and Ted Lasso: The Richmond Way (2020-23) in 4K from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment.

Tim’s review of Lam Nai-Choi’s The Cat (1991) on Blu-ray from 88 Films.

Dennis’ take on Claude Leloch’s A Man and a Woman (1966) on Blu-ray from the Criterion Collection.

Stuart’s thoughts on Jerzy Skolimowski’s The Lightship (1985) on Blu-ray from Imprint Films and Jeffrey Dell and Roy Boulting’s Man in a Cocked Hat (1959) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

And finally, Stephen’s look at Dario Argento’s The Phantom of the Opera (1998) and Emmett Alston’s Demonwarp (1988) in 4K from Vinegar Syndrome, and Ti West’s The Innkeepers (2011) on Blu-ray from Umbrella and in 4K Ultra HD from Second Sight. Whew!

Now, let’s get to the news that’s broken since our announcement of James Cameron’s Avatar: Fire and Ash on Blu-ray and 4K on Monday… [Read on here...]

We start today with two new disc reviews for you to enjoy, including…

Stephen’s look at Richard Rush’s The Stunt Man (1980) in a great limited edition 4K Ultra HD release from Radiance Films.

And Tim’s thoughts on Arrow Video’s excellent 4K Ultra HD release of New Line’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Trilogy (1990-93).

More reviews are on the way, so be sure to keep checking back for them!

Also today, we’ve just uploaded our own Russell Hammond’s latest update of the Release Dates & Cover Artwork section here at The Bits, featuring new Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD cover artwork and Amazon.com pre-order links.

As always, whenever you order literally anything from Amazon after clicking to them through one of our affiliate links (like this one), you’re helping to support our work here at The Bits and we really do appreciate it.

Now then… our friends at the Warner Archive Collection have just revealed their terrific April slate of Blu-ray catalog titles, and it includes a great new 4K title as well! [Read on here...]

This has been a very busy week here at The Bits, tracking upcoming titles, talking with industry sources, and the like, thus the lack of posts.

But we’ve definitely got both new disc reviews for you today as well as some release news worth sharing. Let’s start with the latter first.

Today we’ve got…

Tim’s reviews of Chor Yuen’s The Sentimental Swordsman (1977) on Blu-ray from Arrow’s Shawscope: Volume Three box set, Severin Films’ Saga Erotica: The Emmanuelle Collection in 4K Ultra HD, and Michael Curtiz’s Captain Blood (1935) in 4K Ultra HD from Criterion.

Stephen’s reviews of Jean-Jacques Annaud’s Quest for Fire (1981) on Blu-ray from Umbrella Entertainment, Dario Argento’s Sleepless (2001) in 4K UHD from Vinegar Syndrome, Michael Cacoyannis’ Iphigenia (1977) on Blu-ray from Radiance Films, Corey Yuen’s She Shoots Straight (1990) on Blu-ray from 88 Films, and John Woo’s Once a Thief (1991) in 4K from Shout’s HK Cinema Classics line.

And Dennis’ take on Raoul Walsh’s Manpower (1941) and David Butler’s By the Light of the Silvery Moon (1953) both on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection.

Now then… before we get started on news today, I’m going to be joining my friend Tim Millard on his next The Extras podcast to talk about the latest developments in the ongoing Paramount/Skydance, Warner Bros., Netflix saga. Looks like we’re going to be recording the episode this weekend, so be sure to check Tim’s social media for news on the episode drop, and I’ll share the details on my own as well when I have them. [Read on here...]

All right, we have one new disc review for you today, with more coming later this week...

My look at Dan Trachtenberg’s audacious Predator: Badlands (2025) in 4K Ultra HD from 20th Century Studios.

Turns out, it’s pretty damn good! And the 4K disc has a blisteringly excellent Dolby Atmos mix that’s well worth your time.

Now then... we’ve got some new release information for you here at The Bits today, and then we’re going to talk a little bit about that Warner-Paramount-Netflix news from last week.

We’ll start with Warner Bros... the Wachowski’s Speed Racer (2008) is now available for pre-order on Amazon.com and pretty much everywhere else. The street date is expected to be 5/19. And I’ve been able to confirm that the disc will include Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos audio! The official announcement hasn’t yet been made, so we don’t have the final cover art, but I expect that to happen in the next couple of weeks. I also do believe that there will be a regular 4K SKU in addition to the 4K Steelbook, and obviously there’s an even more elaborate 4K version in the UK with swag. Anyway, here’s the US Amazon link.

Also today, our friends at Arrow Video have announced their May Blu-ray and 4K slate, which includes multiple titles that should make catalog fans happy. [Read on here...]

As promised, we have more new disc reviews for you to enjoy today, including…

My take on Guy Hamilton’s epic Battle of Britain (1969) in 4K Ultra HD from Imprint Films, as well as Sony’s long-awaited US/Region A Blu-ray edition of Apple TV’s excellent For All Mankind: Season Two (2021).

Stephen’s review of Osgood Perkins’s Keeper (2025) in 4K Ultra HD from Neon and Decal, as well as David Schmoeller’s Tourist Trap (1979) on Blu-ray from Umbrella Entertainment.

Dennis and Tim’s tag team look at Blake Edwards’ A Shot in the Dark (1964) in 4K Ultra HD from Kino Lorber Studio Classics, as well as Dennis’ look at Rudolph Maté’s For the First Time (1959) on Blu-ray from MGM via the Warner Archive Collection.

And Stuart’s thoughts on Gordon Parks’ Leadbelly (1978) on Blu-ray from Paramount via Imprint Films, as well as Géza von Radványi’s Maedchen in Uniform (1958) on Blu-ray from Kino Classics.

Watch more for new disc reviews tomorrow!

Also today, we’ve just posted the latest update of our Release Dates & Artwork section featuring all the latest Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K UHD cover art and Amazon pre-order links. As always, whenever you order literally anything from them after clicking through one of our links first, you’re helping to support our work here at The Bits and we really appreciate it!

Now then… there’s not a lot on the way of announcement news today, but we do have a couple of things for you. [Read on here...]