Displaying items by tag: Blue Underground

Another day brings more new disc reviews, and more release and catalog announcement news as well. First, the reviews...

Tim has taken a look at Jesús Franco’s Marquis de Sade’s Philosophy in the Boudoir (1970) in 4K Ultra HD from our friends at Blue Underground.

Dennis has given Curt Siodmak’s Curucu, Beast of the Amazon (1956) a spin on Blu-ray from Vinegar Syndrome.

And Stephen has checked in with a review of both the regular 4K UHD and 4K Steelbook editions of Walter Hill’s The Driver (1978) from EMI and 20th Century Fox via StudioCanal in the UK.

Stay tuned for more new disc reviews all this week.

Now then, MPI Home Video has made their 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray Mediabook edition of Edward Berger’s All Quiet on the Western Front (2022) official for release on 3/28. We mentioned the title yesterday of course, but now we know that the UHD disc will feature the film with Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos audio. We’re awaiting confirmation of any disc based extras, but we suspect that there are none, thus allowing the film the maximum possible data rates to ensure high A/V quality. [Read on here...]

Morning, folks! We’ve got an early update here on The Bits today with a few more new disc reviews, and some interesting release news as well. First, those reviews...

I’ve just completed a look at Universal’s new E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial: 40th Anniversary Edition 4K Ultra HD release, which came out a few weeks ago. It’s interesting in that both the 4K and accompanying Blu-ray are completely new discs, each of which carries over all the extras from the previous 35th Anniversary release while adding a couple of new features too. A/V quality is essentially the same as before, though the 4K disc is now a BD-100, presumably to allow for the addition of the special features. You can learn more here.

Tim has also just completed a review of Harry Essex’s I, the Jury (1953) which is now available in 4K from ClassicFlix. The package includes a Blu-ray as well, featuring the film in HD and also 3D. And he’s posted a review of Brian De Palma’s Dressed to Kill (1980) in 4K from Kino Lorber Studio Classics for your reading enjoyment too.

More reviews are forthcoming soon, including my take on Criterion’s new 4K Ultra HD release of WALL-E from Pixar.

Also here at the site this morning, we’d like to call your attention to Michael Coate’s retrospective look at Steven Spielberg’s sci-if classic Close Encounters of the Third Kind, which celebrated its 45th anniversary yesterday. Michael shared a great Q&A with film historians on the occasion of its 40th anniversary in 2017, and that discussion is well worth checking out if you missed it then. You’ll also find interesting details on the film’s original theatrical release. Enjoy! [Read on here...]

All right, sorry for the lack of an update over the last couple of days. We’ve been very busy here at the site, working on reviews, preparing for some big upcoming reviews, and finishing a few more site upgrades. But the major reason is that there’s a ton of breaking and evolving release news to cover, and getting to the bottom of it all—collating all the details, checking in with sources, confirming key pieces of release information—takes a huge amount of time. But I’m always up for a challenge.

Before we get to that, however, let’s share those disc reviews we’ve been working on over the past few days...

First up, I’ve posted my thoughts on John Milius’ Red Dawn (1984) from Shout! Factory and also Colin Trevorrow’s Jurassic World: Dominion (2022) from Universal, both in 4K Ultra HD.

Tim has delivered a look at Joel Schumacher’s Flatliners (1990) in 4K UHD from Arrow Video, as well as John Carpenter’s Escape from New York (1981) in 4K from Scream Factory.

Dennis has reviewed a number of regular Blu-ray titles in the last few days, including Lon Chaney: Before the Thousand Faces – Volume 2 from Undercrank Productions, Josh and Benny Safdie’s Daddy Longlegs (2009) from Criterion, and Jack Gold’s The Tenth Man (1988) and Ken Hughes’s The Trials of Oscar Wilde (1960) from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

And finally, Stephen has delivered in-depth looks at Paul W.S. Anderson’s Event Horizon (1997)—a Steelbook release that’s getting hard to find here in the States—and Jeff Fowler’s Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022) both in 4K Ultra HD from Paramount, along with Michael Findlay’s Shriek of the Mutilated (1974) on Blu-ray from American Films via Vinegar Syndrome.

As always more disc reviews are on the way in the coming days. [Read on here...]

We’ve got three new disc reviews for you to enjoy today, all of them 4K Ultra HD titles…

Tim has offered his thoughts on Larry Cohen’s God Told Me To (1976), new from our friends at Blue Underground.

Stephen has taken a look at Bo Arne Vibenius’ Thriller: A Cruel Picture (1973) from the good folks at Vinegar Syndrome.

And Stephen’s also reviewed Shout! Factory’s new 4K UHD of Moustapha Akkad’s Lion of the Desert (1981), which streets next week.

More reviews are on the way in the coming days, so be sure to watch for them!

Now then, we have a little bit of release news from industry and retail sources, as well as an actual 4K UHD catalog announcement. Let’s get to that last one first… [Read on here...]

We’ve got some major catalog release news for you today to start the new week off right…

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has just set Tom Holland’s Fright Night (1985) for release on 4K Ultra HD on 10/4. The release will feature a new 4K scan from the original camera negative, with Dolby Vision HDR and a new Dolby Atmos mix along with the previous 5.1 mix and the original stereo as well.

The title will come a Blu-ray version of the film mastered from the new 4K scan that will feature all-new Deleted Scene Storyboards and the never-before-seen alternate Holland/Beyda Spec Trailer, along with legacy extras that include audio commentary by Holland, actors Chris Sarandon and Jonathan Stark, and filmmaker Tim Sullivan, a second commentary with Holland, actors William Ragsdale and Stephen Geoffreys, FX artist Randall Cook, journalist Jeremy Smith and Tim Sullivan, and 3 featurettes (You’re So Cool, Brewster! The Story of Fright Night, What is Fright Night, and Tom Holland: Writing). [Read on here...]

We’ve got more announcement news for you today, starting with the big one...

Paramount has just set 1883: A Yellowstone Origin Story for Blu-ray and DVD release on 8/30. The Paramount+ series stars Sam Elliott, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, and Isabel May. The release will include all 10 episodes along with two hours of featurettes (among them A Land of Peril & Wonder: The Journey of 1883, From Cast to Cowboys: Creating the Pioneer Spirit, 1883: The Road West, Inside 1883, and Behind the Story for each episode). You can see the cover artwork at left and also below.

Paramount has also set Adrian Lyne’s Fatal Attraction (1987) for release on 4K Ultra HD on 9/13. The film stars Glenn Close and Michael Douglas. We’re awaiting official AV details and extras from the studio.

Coming on 9/13 from Paramount as well is a 4K Steelbook release of The Addams Family.

And Paramount and Comedy Central have set South Park: The Complete Twenty-Fourth Season for Blu-ray release on 8/16. [Read on here...]

I’m about to dive back into disc reviewing here this afternoon, but before I do we have two new reviews for you this morning and a major piece of release news as well. First those reviews...

Stephen has checked in with his thoughts on a fascinating Russian fantasy film from 1956, Aleksandr Ptushko’s Ilya Muromets, which also happens to be the first Russian film in both anamorphic widescreen and color. Russian cinema is fascinating, and this film is no exception, so it’s definitely worth a look on Blu-ray from Vinegar Syndrome.

Stephen has also given Cy Endfield, Roger Corman, and Gordon Hessler’s De Sade (1969) a look on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber, also a fascinating film from American International Pictures.

Now for that news... Marvel and Disney have just officially set Sam Raimi’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness for release on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD release on 7/26, with the Digital release anticipated for 6/22. [Read on here...]

We’re kicking off the new week with some interesting Criterion announcement news, along with an update about that Spider-Man: No Way Home Blu-ray 3D title we mentioned last week, and of course new disc reviews. Let’s cover that last item first...

Tim has posted new reviews of Douglas Heyes’s Kitten with a Whip (1964) from Imprint, as well as Paul Verhoeven’s Showgirls (1995) from Umbrella Entertainment. That last one features some new extras, as well as the recent You Don’t Nomi (2019) documentary, so it might be worth a look for fans.

Also Dennis has offered a look at John Badam’s American Flyers (1985), which is new on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection. [Read on here...]

Our friends at Media Play News have officially announced the winners of their 2022 Home Entertainment Media Play Awards, and you can find the full details here.

“Warner Bros. Home Entertainment’s Middle-Earth Ultimate Collector’s Edition earned the top prize in the annual Home Entertainment Media Play Awards, which honor the best home packaged-media, digital and streaming releases of 2021, taking Title of the Year, Blu-ray Disc of the Year, Best Movie Collection and Best Packaging.

Funimation’s Robotech: Collector’s Edition Blu-ray Disc won TV on Disc of the Year, as well as Best Disc Release of a Vintage TV Series.”

Here’s the partial list of winners: [Read on here...]

As always, we’re starting the week off today with a few new disc reviews for you all to enjoy...

Stephen has taken a look at Kino Lorber Studio Classics’ new double feature Blu-ray of Robert Mandel’s F/X (1986) and its sequel, Richard Franklin’s F/X2 (1991).

Dennis has offered his thoughts on Bert Gordon’s Village of the Giants (1965) on Blu-ray, an Embassy Pictures title also from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

And Tim has turned in a review of a Spanish-language oldie, Ramon Peon’s La Llorona (1933), which is now available on Blu-ray via Powerhouse Films and their fine Indicator label.

Rest assured, more reviews are forthcoming all this week. [Read on here...]