Shout! & Scream Factory bow The Fog, Platoon & Army of Darkness in 4K, plus Trek 4K follow-up, Warner Q4 Ultra HDs & more, plus James Caan RIP

Thursday, 07 July 2022 15:30

Shout! & Scream Factory bow The Fog, Platoon & Army of Darkness in 4K, plus Trek 4K follow-up, Warner Q4 Ultra HDs & more, plus James Caan RIP

by Bill Hunt

All right, yesterday was a little crazy here at The Bits, what with Paramount finally dropping their long-awaited Star Trek 4K announcement. That deluxe Complete Adventure 4K package for the Star Trek: The Motion Picture – Director’s Edition was unexpected and frankly a fantastic surprise. But it’s worth a quick follow up today just to clarify everything...

The Star Trek: The Motion Picture – The Director’s Edition: The Complete Adventure Limited Edition is a 3-disc set here in the States that includes the DE in 4K, a newly-authored 4K of the previously-released Theatrical Cut as well as the Special Longer Version (included via seamless branching), and a Blu-ray full of bonus content that I’m told includes basically everything ever created and released for the film on home video. (I’m awaiting confirmation of the exact contents from the studio.) But it does NOT include a Blu-ray of the DE itself, nor are Blu-rays of the Theatrical and SLV versions included. The DE is available separately on Blu-ray, and obviously the Theatrical Cut Blu-ray was included in the original 4-Movie Collection from last year.

To be 100% clear, the Special Longer Version is ONLY going to be available in The Complete Adventure package, and producer David C. Fein has said that it’s a genuine limited edition. Much like Sony’s recent Ghostbusters: Ultimate Collection, it’s very likely to sell out in pre-orders, and it’s NOT going to be re-released. So if you were planning to wait for Black Friday to pick it up at a discount, or you’re expecting some future “ultimate” 4K box that includes the TNG films as well all The Complete Adventure content, you’re likely to be disappointed. The new 4K disc with both the Theatrical Cut and the Special Longer Version on it is exclusive to this set and when they’re gone, they’re gone. Be sure to plan accordingly.

[Editor’s Note: It appears that the UK version of this set MAY be a 5-disc set, which includes the Blu-rays of The Director’s Edition and the Theatrical Cut. And its discs should be all-region.] [Read on here...]

You can pre-order the Star Trek: The Motion Picture – The Director’s Edition: The Complete Adventure Limited-Edition Collector’s Set here on Amazon...

Now then, while I was traveling home on Tuesday from the Fourth of July holiday, some additional 4K Ultra HD release news broke from our friends at Shout! and Scream Factory, as well as other indie distributors and studios. So let’s run down that news, as well as additional 4K UHD news that’s just come in from our studio and retail sources...

Shout! Factory and Scream have now officially announced their September Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD release slate, and it’s got a bunch of long-awaited 4K Ultra HD titles in it. Dropping on 9/6 are Spitfire Over Berlin: To Hell and Back (Blu-ray), Chikyuu Sentai Fiveman: The Complete Series (DVD), and The Funhouse (on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD—delayed from 8/9). Following on 9/13 are Oliver Stone’s Platoon (4K Ultra HD), Cool World (Blu-ray), Jim Button and the Wild 13 (DVD), and John Carpenter’s The Fog (4K Ultra HD and 4K Ultra HD Steelbook). On 9/20, look for Port Mortem (Blu-ray and DVD), Kamen Rider Kuuga: The Complete Series (Blu-ray), and Potsy Ponciroli’s Old Henry (Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD). And last but not least, on 9/27 look for Fede Alvarez’s Evil Dead (2013) (4K Ultra HD) and Sam Raimi’s long-awaited Army of Darkness (Blu-ray, 4K Ultra HD, and 4K Ultra HD Steelbook). Shout! will have various exclusive SKUs of some of these titles available on their online store. You can see the cover artwork for the 4K titles below.

Lionsgate has just announced a Best Buy-exclusive 4K Ultra HD Steelbook release of Gavin O’Connor’s Warrior on 8/30.

Back to Paramount for a moment: Retail sources have informed us that the studio is planning to release another surprise on 9/27, specifically a 4K Ultra HD double feature of the original George Pal-produced, sci-fi classics War of the Worlds (1953) and When Worlds Collide (1951)!

Paramount has also set Alexandre Aja’s Crawl (2019) for release on 4K Ultra HD on 9/20.

And Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has just officially announced their long-anticipated (and R-rated) DCU animated film Batman: The Long Halloween – Deluxe Edition for Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD release on 9/20.

I should add, Warner Bros. is also getting ready to announce the 4K Ultra HD release some titles that we first revealed way back in November of last year (see our post then), specifically The Lost Boys, Poltergeist, and Casablanca. Retail sources are indicating that The Lost Boys and Poltergeist are likely to street on 9/20, while Casablanca is set to follow on 11/8. Meanwhile, Warner Bros. is cooking up a slate of holiday titles for 4K release in November as well, including National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation on 11/1, followed by Elf and A Christmas Story later in the month. We’ve updated the street dates on these titles in our 4K Ultra HD Release List here at The Bits, and we’ll post the official announcements as they drop.

We’ve also got a little bit of regular Blu-ray and DVD release news for you today...

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has set The Duke for Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital release on 7/28. The studio also has Sniper: Rogue Mission coming to Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital on 8/16. James Caan RIP

Mill Creek Entertainment will release Weekend Warriors on DVD only on 8/9, along with Paranormal Highway and County Line: All In on DVD on 8/23.

And finally today, we have to take a moment to acknowledge the passing of actor James Caan, who most of you will know for his role as Sonny Corleone in The Godfather films. But many of you may also remember him fondly for his appearances in such film as Rollerball, Misery, Brian’s Song, The Gambler, Thief, Alien Nation, Honeymoon in Vegas, and, of course, the aforementioned Elf. Caan passed away yesterday in Los Angeles at the age of 82. He will surely be missed. You can read more about him here at Variety and here at NPR.

All right, we’ll leave you with a look at the cover artwork for a bunch of the titles we mentioned above, nearly all of which are available now for pre-order on Amazon.com (by clicking on the covers)...

Stay tuned...

(You can follow Bill on social media at these links: Twitter and Facebook)

Published in My Two Cents

Tagged under

Shout! & Scream Factory bow The Fog, Platoon & Army of Darkness in 4K, plus Trek 4K follow-up, Warner Q4 Ultra HDs & more, plus James Caan RIP

Contact Bill Hunt