My Two Cents
Monday, 25 April 2016 15:39

Sony sets Labyrinth: 30th for BD, DVD & 4K in September, plus our reviews of Sicario & The Revenant in 4K

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All right, this week is going to be all about 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray here at The Bits. I’ve been watching a ton of discs and working on title reviews, as well as making additional notes on my forthcoming Samsung UBD-K8500 player review and also my general thoughts on my experiences this far with the format. I’ll have new reviews each day, and I’m targeting Thursday for the player review and general thoughts. Sarah and I have had family visiting for the past week, so there’s only so much time in the day. And these things do take time.

Nevertheless, we’re kicking things off today with my look at a pair of titles that should be among the first that any new 4K adopter picks up on the Ultra HD format: Lionsgate’s Sicario and Fox’s The Revenant, both in full native 4K. Sicario also includes Dolby Atmos audio. And while The Revenant doesn’t have object-based audio, its 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio is demo-quality. More importantly, with its gorgeous Oscar-winning cinematography, it is the single best looking title I’ve seen on the format thus far. It’s a real HDR stunner. Check out my reviews (here and here) for more on all that.  [Read on here…]

Speaking of 4K Ultra HD, here’s a surprise: Sony has just announced that it’s celebrating the 30th Anniversary of Jim Henson’s Labyrinth with a new release of the film on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD formats on 9/20 (the film is also returning to theaters briefly on 9/11 and 9/14). The 4K release will include the film scanned in 4K with HDR and Dolby Atmos audio – it will also include the Blu-ray version with all its bonus content. Meanwhile, that Blu-ray will include a trio of all new extras, including 2 featurettes (The Henson Legacy and The Goblin King) and a Labyrinth Anniversary Q&A hosted by MythBusters’ Adam Savage. You’ll also get the all the legacy features, including The Storytellers Picture-in-Picture option, audio commentary by conceptual designer Brian Froud, the original Inside the Labyrinth documentary, 2 Journey Through the Labyrinth featurettes (Kingdom of Characters and The Quest for Goblin City), and the film’s theatrical trailer. Here’s what the cover artwork will look like for all three versions (click the covers to pre-order the BD and 4K version on Amazon – the DVD link will be added as soon as it’s available)...

Labyrinth: 30th Anniversary Edition (4K Ultra HD Blu-ray)    Labyrinth: 30th Anniversary Edition (Blu-ray Disc)    Labyrinth: 30th Anniversary Edition (DVD)

Also today, though it’s not officially announced yet, Amazon is now taking pre-orders for two new Blu-ray versions of Ridley Scott’s The Martian due on 6/7 (SRP $39.99 each). One is listed as a 2-disc Blu-ray set and the other 3-disc Blu-ray. It seems likely that both  of these are the long-awaited The Martian: Extended Cut, one in Blu-ray 3D and one in regular Blu-ray. You can pre-order them here and here. Do keep in mind that, until the official press release goes out, the specifics could change. We do expect an official announcement fairly soon.

Stay tuned… 

- Bill Hunt (@BillHuntBits)

 

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