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We’re starting today with two more new Blu-ray reviews here at The Bits. The first is Tim’s look at Piers Haggard’s 1983 horror film Venom, which is now available from our friends at Blue Underground. The second is Jim Hemphill’s take on Ralph Nelson’s Lilies of the Field (1963) from Twilight Time, another great limited edition catalog release.
Also here at The Bits today, our own Russell Hammond has updated the Release Dates & Artwork section with all the latest Blu-ray and DVD cover artwork and Amazon.com pre-order links. Please remember that anything at all that you order from Amazon (after clicking through any of our links) helps to support our work here at The Bits and we greatly appreciate it. It makes all the difference in allowing us to keep covering Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K news for you guys. So, thank you! [Read on here…]
In release news today, Captain America: Civil War is now available for pre-order on Amazon.com in Blu-ray 3D Combo, Blu-ray Combo, and DVD versions. There’s no street date listed yet, but that fact that Blu-ray 3D is confirmed is welcome indeed. Click the links provided to visit the respective Amazon pages.
Also, Magnolia has now set High Rise for Blu-ray and DVD release on 8/2.
Did any of you check out Hardcore Henry in theaters? Universal has just set that film for Blu-ray and DVD release on 7/26, featuring audio commentary with director/producer Ilya Naishuller, a second commentary with Naishuller and star/executive producer Sharlto Copley, deleted scenes, and a Fan Chat.
Universal has also set Term Life, starring Vince Vaughn and Hailee Steinfeld, for BD and DVD release on 7/5. The film was directed by Peter Billingsley of A Christmas Story fame.
Meanwhile, Acorn Films has set Jack Irish: Season 1 and Jack Irish: The Films for Blu-ray release on 7/26 as well.
Warner Home Video is releasing Person of Interest: The Complete Series on Blu-ray and DVD on 7/19.
Music Box Films has set Aleksandr Sokurov’s Francofonia for Blu-ray and DVD release on 7/28. As some of you may know, Sokurov also directed the acclaimed Russian Ark.
Olive Films has set American Ninja, American Ninja 2: Confrontation, American Ninja 3: Blood Hunt, and American Ninja 4: The Annihilation for Blu-ray release on 8/16, along with Wild in the Streets.
And Interscope has set U2: iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE – Live in Paris for Blu-ray and DVD release on 6/10. You can see the cover art for some of these titles below.
In other news today that’s 4K-related, we’ve just learned that the first triple-layer Ultra HD Blu-ray titles are starting to appear in Japan. Among them are a pair of Rurouni Kenshin movies shipped by Panasonic as part of their new UHD player promotion (Kyoto Inferno and The Legend Ends). Here’s the back of one of the cases, showing the specs...
As you can see by the circled indication above, the disc is listed as triple-layer. This is probably a small batch test run, but it’s indicative of the fact that triple-layer discs are on the way, and the first such titles could arrive in the States by the end of this year or early next. What does that mean? Much longer films can be accommodated. Think Lawrence of Arabia long.
Also on the 4K UHD front today, CyberLink just revealed on their PowerDVD discussion forum (see this link) that consumer UHD Blu-ray disc drives for computers are going to start appearing in 2017. Thanks to our own Jeff Kleist for the heads-up on all this.
Here’s a look at some new Blu-ray cover artwork for titles we’ve mentioned in this column (and more). Click on the covers to visit the Amazon pre-order pages for each, if available...
All right, we’re not done yet today!
With some of these longer columns, we’re going to start breaking them into multiple pages so that they load faster for people. So click here to continue reading today’s column, because we have a report for you on a great Dolby Atmos demonstration we’ve recently experienced… [On to Page 2...]
