Items filtered by date: June 2021

We’ve got some great Blu-ray and 4K release news to share with you all today...

Let’s start with Paramount... as expected, Paramount Home Entertainment has officially announced the Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD release of John Krasinski’s A Quiet Place: Part II later this month on 7/27, with the Digital only release expected tomorrow (on 7/13). You’ll also be able to buy a 2-Movie Collection on Blu-ray and Digital. A Quiet Place: Part II in 4K will include Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos audio.

Extras will include 5 featurettes (Director’s Diary: Filming with John Krasinski, Pulling Back the Curtain, Regan’s Journey, Surviving the Marina, and Detectable Disturbance: Visual Effects and Sound Design). You can see the cover artwork above left and also below (complete with its Amazon pre-order link).

Speaking of Paramount, the studio has announced that it’s releasing Hardball, starring Keanu Reeves and Diane Lane, on Blu-ray for the first time on 9/21 in honor of the film’s 20th anniversary. Extras will include audio commentary by director Brian Robbins and writer John Gatins, The Making of Hardball, deleted scenes, the Hardball music video, interstitials, and the film’s theatrical trailer. You can see the cover art below. [Read on here...]

Well, it’s been a busy week of new title announcements here at The Bits. So let’s wrap things up with a few more here today. But first, more new disc reviews...

Our own Tim Salmons has just shared his thoughts on Vince Monton’s Windrider (1987), new on Blu-ray from Umbrella Entertainment’s Ozploitation line-up. And he’s also checked out Mark Hartley’s excellent 2008 documentary Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation!, also new on Blu-ray from Umbrella Entertainment’s Ozploitation line.

Meanwhile, Dennis has turned in a review of David Miller’s Back Street (1961) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

And Stephen rounds things out today with a look at Francine Parker’s F.T.A. (1972) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

So enjoy those and know that lots more disc reviews are on the way for next week, including some new 4K Ultra HD reviews from yours truly. [Read on here...]

We’ve got more new disc reviews for you today and some more new 4K Ultra HD release news as well!

Let’s start with those reviews...

Stephen has turned in his thoughts on All the Anime’s UK import 4K Ultra HD release of Makoto Shinkai’s Your Name. The package is exclusive to All the Anime’s online store and also to Zavvi. Sounds like it’s worth a look if you’re a fan, as the HDR makes a notable difference.

Also, Tim has weighed in with his take on Umbrella Entertainment’s region free Blu-ray import of James Gunn’s Slither.

Now then, a quick update on our Star Trek: The Original 4-Film Collection 4K and remastered Blu-ray news from yesterday: We’ve checked in with Paramount and have confirmed that all of the remastered films in BD & 4K will feature 7.1 Dolby TrueHD audio mixes. So plan accordingly.

Meanwhile, the 4K Ultra HD set and the remastered Blu-ray singles are all now available for pre-order on Amazon.com and you can see the cover artwork (and find the pre-order links) below. [Read on here...]

All right, we’ve got one more Star Trek 4K post for you today...

In addition to confirmation that the Star Trek: The Motion Picture – Director’s Edition is finally being restored in 4K Ultra HD (see our post here), Paramount Home Entertainment has officially announced that (as expected) the Star Trek: The Original 4-Movie Collection will indeed arrive in stores on 9/7 (9/6 in the UK, 9/8 in France, 9/9 in Germany).

An 8-disc set, it will include the newly-remastered films in BOTH 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray Disc formats (scanned in 4K from original elements), along with Digital codes for the Theatrical Cuts of each film. The remastered films will also be available as Blu-ray singles.

All of the 4K discs will include Dolby Vision HDR and HDR10 high dynamic range. We’re working to confirm the audio formats, but we believe that each will also include new Dolby Atmos sound mixes. [Editor’s Note: Scratch that. We’ve heard back officially from Paramount and have learned that each of the discs will include audio in 7.1 Dolby TrueHD format, as found on the previous Blu-ray releases.] [Read on here...]

Heads-up, folks!

No sooner did I post here on The Bits about that Star Trek: The Original 4-Movie Collection cover artwork leak, I got an email back from Paramount with a link to the official Star Trek website with this news:

“Paramount and Paramount+ are excited to announce that a full restoration of the Director’s Edition of Star Trek: The Motion Picture has been greenlit.”

From the website... [Read on here...]

Here’s a quick update with a bit of breaking news. Very early this morning, I noticed on the online retail website Bull Moose that their listing for Paramount’s Star Trek: The Original 4-Movie Collection 4K Ultra HD box set—which is now widely (yet still unofficially) known to be set for release on 9/7—had been updated to include the cover artwork you see at left (and also larger below).

After sharing this on my own personal Twitter and Facebook pages (and also on our Bits Twitter and Facebook pages), I contacted Paramount directly to ask about it. It’s now been several hours and the studio has not (as yet) responded to my inquiry. Within an hour of contacting them, however, the entire title listing (artwork and all) was pulled down by Bull Moose. But of course that artwork has already been shared far and wide online. (The Tribbles are most certainly out of the bag, so to speak.)

So here’s the deal: This now represents at least the third online retailer to leak the basic details of this release. As such, official or not, it does indeed appear that Paramount is releasing a Star Trek: The Original 4-Movie Collection box set in 4K Ultra HD on 9/7. In case you missed it when we first posted this in yesterday’s news column here at The Bits—which included a big update of the 4K UHD catalog titles we expect for the remainder of 2021—here are the details as we understand them based upon the best available information from our industry sources... [Read on here...]

All right, it’s been a busy last several days here at The Bits. For one thing, just personally, I had my mother visiting from North Dakota all last week for the first time in over two years given the pandemic. And that was great, but of course it set me back on 4K review work (which I intend to catch up on this week).

I’ve also just spent most of today on the phone with industry sources, gathering information for our big preview of 4K Ultra HD catalog releases that are coming in the second half of 2021. And that’s the crux of today’s post here at The Bits, but more on that in a minute.

First, we have a couple more new disc reviews to share with you...

Dennis has posted his thoughts on Andrew V. McLaglen’s 1965 Civil War drama Shenandoah, which stars Jimmy Stewart. The film arrives on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics on 7/27.

And Stephen has offered a look at John Sturges’ acclaimed 1959 western Last Train from Gun Hill, a VistaVision classic newly released on Blu-ray as part of the Paramount Presents line-up. [Read on here...]

All right, we’ve got a bunch of new disc reviews for you to enjoy today, as well as a round-up of the latest release news. Let’s start with the reviews first...

Tim has posted his in-depth look at Severin Films’ The Eurocrypt of Christopher Lee Collection, an 8-disc Blu-ray box set that includes Castle of the Living Dead, Challenge the Devil, Crypt of the Vampire, Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace, The Torture Chamber of Dr. Sadism, and the horror TV program Theatre Macabre.

Meanwhile, Dennis has taken a look at Wesley Ruggles’ The Bride Comes Home (1935) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics. He’s also reviewed Criterion’s new Blu-ray release of Samuel Fuller’s Pickup on South Street (1953).

And Stephen has shared his thoughts on George Lautner’s The Road to Salina on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics, as well as Universal’s 4K Ultra HD release of Phil Alden Robinson’s Field of Dreams.

More reviews are on the way, so be sure to check back for them soon. [Read on here...]