My Two Cents
Thursday, 12 March 2015 12:15

HBO’s The Wire is coming to BD at last, plus Blackhat, Ford Fairlane, Ray Donovan, Masters of Sex & more

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[Editor’s Note: Be sure to like TheDigitalBits.com page on Facebook for breaking news, site updates on the go, discussion with our staff and other readers, giveaways and more!]

Here at the site today, our own Michael Coate has posted another great History, Legacy & Showmanship column featuring a look back at Robert Wise’s The Sound of Music, celebrating the 50th anniversay of the film. The piece includes details of its original roadshow release and a new interview with film historians too. Don’t miss it.

All right, we’ve got a bunch of announcement news for you today, so let’s get right to it…

First up, the BIG catalog news is that HBO is releasing The Wire: The Complete Series on Blu-ray Disc on 6/2 (SRP $199.99). Extras on the 20-disc set will include 12 audio commentaries, 3 prequel videos, a gag reel, Q&A with series creator David Simon and the creative team, and multiple behind-the-scenes documentaries and featurettes. As many of you know, the show has been reformatted from 4x3 to 16x9 for its HD release, but this has been done in consultation with Simon himself, who views it as a “valid alternate version of the series” (you can read his in-depth thoughts about this here on his blog).  [Read on here…]

In feature news, Universal has set Michael Mann’s Blackhat for Blu-ray and DVD release on 5/12. Extras will include 3 featurettes (Creating RealityOn Location Around the World, and The Cyber Threat).

Music Box Films is releasing Beloved Sisters on Blu-ray and DVD on 5/12.

MGM is reissuing The Terminator on Blu-ray on 5/5 (SRP $19.99). Presumably this is the same recently remastered version, just in new packaging (see below).

Anchor Bay and Starz are releasing The Adventures of Ford Fairlane, Kiss of the Dragon, Supercross on Blu-ray on 5/5.

Fox has Black or White set for Blu-ray release on 5/5 as well.

The Cohen Film Collection is releasing the Chuck Workman’s Magician: The Astonishing Life & Work of Orson Welles documentary on Blu-ray and DVD on 5/26.

Click here to support The Bits by shopping through our Amazon links!

Showtime has set Ray Donovan: The Complete Second Season for Blu-ray and DVD release on 5/26.

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is releasing Masters of Sex: Season Two on Blu-ray and DVD on 5/5. Extras will include deleted scenes, 3 featurettes, and a BD-exclusive roundtable discussion.

PBS Distribution is releasing Fortitude on Blu-ray and DVD on 4/21, followed by Wolf Hall on both formats on 4/28.

CJ Entertainment is releasing Han-min Kim’s Admiral: Roaring Currents on Blu-ray and DVD on 4/28.

And Anchor Bay and The Weinstein Company have set James Gray’s The Immigrant for Blu-ray and DVD release on 4/7, starring Marion Cotillard.

In other release news, I know some of you are fans of Gerry Anderson’s The Thunderbirds. As you all know, The Complete Series is coming to Blu-ray on 6/9 from Shout! Factory. What you may not know, is that Fanderson U.K. (the official Gerry Anderson fan club) has released the complete Barry Gray score to the series as a 4-CD set containing more than 5 hours of restored music. You have to be a fan club member to buy the set, and it’s limited to just 1000 copies. Click here (or on the image below) for details. Thanks to Bits reader Robert H. for the heads-up.

Fanderson UK's The Thunderbirds: Complete Soundtrack (CD)

A quick follow-up on our post about One Step Beyond from yesterday. As you know, Film Chest is releasing 70 of the original 96 episodes on DVD on 4/7. Many of you have asked about the remaining 26 episodes, so I passed along the question. It turns out that some of them aren’t public domain for one reason or another. In addition, source material for a few of them is only available in very poor quality and a couple of the episodes simply couldn’t be located (though Film Chest worked very hard to do so). So there you go.

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One last title note: Is anyone out there a fan of NBC’s FriendsAmazon is having a deal of the day featuring 71% off Friends: The Complete Series on Blu-ray. Regularly $279.98, you can get it for just $79.99 for the next 14 hours.

Finally today, a message from Doogan for a good cause:

“Cancer sucks. Everyone I know knows and loves someone who is either fighting or has fought this disease. Many of us have lost a loved one. It doesn’t look like the fight is going to end any time soon, so every bit counts.

Not every charity out there is on the up and up – and so that puts people on the defensive when it comes to donating; but let me tell you that both this organization and this particular kid are fighting the good fight. Evan’s father and I go a ways back. We worked together, played in an improv comedy troupe and I even got into a fight with his new brother-in-law at his wedding. Good times. Nonetheless, I have a soft spot in my heart for him and his family and I take great pride to knowing that Evan is a great kid who has donated his head to St. Baldrick’s every year since I can remember. St. Baldrick’s is a foundation dedicated to battling childhood cancer by raising funds through a network of dedicated volunteers – Evan being one of them.

We all have donated a few bucks to Kickstarter – but I ask that you take a moment and donate a buck or two to Evan so he can reach his goal and shave off all that hair for a great cause. Here is the link.

I wish just hating cancer could cure it. Sadly it’s going to take money. Thanks from the bottom of my heart. - Doogan

All right, we’ll leave you with a look at a bunch more new Blu-ray cover artwork for some of the titles listed above and more. As always, any time you order anything at all through our Amazon links, you’re helping to support our work here at The Bits and we really do appreciate it…

Blackhat (Blu-ray Disc)    Mr. Turner (Blu-ray Disc)    The Wire: The Complete Series (Blu-ray Disc)

Masters of Sex: Season Two (Blu-ray Disc)    Ray Donovan: Season Two (Blu-ray Disc)    The Newsroom: Season Three (Blu-ray Disc)

The Frank Sinatra 5-Film Collection (Blu-ray Disc)    Magician: The Astonishing Life & Work of Orson Welles (Blu-ray Disc)    The Terminator (2015 reissue Blu-ray Disc)

Stay tuned...

Bill Hunt

 

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