Displaying items by tag: Kino Lorber Studio Classics

All right, thanks for your patience while I was away at the end of last week. My father-in-law passed away, so my wife and I flew across the country to attend his memorial and see family.

But there’s a good deal to catch up on today news-wise, so let’s get right to it. First things first...

Yes, we are aware of the rumors that Warner Bros. Home Entertainment is planning to bring The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit films to 4K Ultra HD. They originated on the excellent 4K Filme.de website, which (I’m told) found the titles briefly listed on a Warner B2B website for German retailers. All six films were indicated for release on UHD (with the Extended Editions included) and with a tentative street date given of June 25, 2020. All right, now let’s put this in context...

First of all, there’s no doubt that Warner Bros. is going to release these films on physical 4K Ultra HD. These are literally their most demanded catalog titles on the format. Also, 2021 is the 20th anniversary of Fellowship of the Ring. And Amazon’s new Lord of the Rings prequel series, which reportedly begins production next month and will apparently be in production for two years, is likely to debut on Amazon Prime in late 2022. So the studio is certainly going to want to get those films ready for 4K release by then. [Read on here...]

We’ve got no less than three new disc reviews today, including my own thoughts on Disney’s classic animated Aladdin (1992) in 4K Ultra HD.

We also have Dennis’ take on Guy Ritchie’s new remake of Aladdin (2019) on both Blu-ray and (with my assistance on the technical side) 4K Ultra HD. We hope you enjoy.

And just so you know, there will be more disc reviews every day this week, including both Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD titles. So be sure to watch for the next batch starting tomorrow morning.

In announcement news today, Paramount has just set Night Hunter for release on Blu-ray and DVD on 10/15. The film stars Ben Kingsley, Henry Cavill, and Alexandra Daddario. [Read on here...]

We’ve got some interesting announcement news for you today...

First up, Lionsgate has just announced the 10/8 Blu-ray and DVD release of Ari Aster’s horror film Midsommar, with the Digital version coming on 9/24 from A24. Extras will include the Let the Festivities Begin: Manifesting Midsommar featurette and the “Bear in a Cage” promo.

Speaking of horror, Paramount has set Netflix’s The Haunting of Hill House for release on Blu-ray and DVD on 10/15, including all 10 episodes plus extended director’s cut versions of 3 episodes (Steven Sees a Ghost, The Bent-Neck Lady, and Silence Lay Steadily) and audio commentary by director Mike Flanagan on 4 episodes (the three extended episodes plus Two Storms). [Read on here...]

We’ve got a little bit of news for you today, as well as some new Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD reviews...

First, I’ve just posted a review of Jon Favreau’s original Iron Man in 4K Ultra HD, from Marvel (distributed by Paramount and now Disney). For you guys, I bit the bullet and picked up a copy myself. The new Atmos mix is pretty great, but the 4K image quality is a bit disappointing. Click here for the details. The title streets today.

And Tim has just posted his thoughts on Gordon Hessler’s Scream and Scream Again from Kino Lorber Studio Classics, as well as Riccardo Freda’s Double Face from Arrow Video, both on regular Blu-ray. [Read on here...]

All right, we’ve got a lot of ground to cover today, so bear with us.

First, very quickly, we’re currently working on those disc reviews we mentioned the other day, so watch for those starting tomorrow. But breaking news – and the need to dig into it – has keep us busy yesterday and today.

Let’s get some regular announcement news out of the way first...

CBS Home Entertainment has set Star Trek: Discovery – Season Two for release on Blu-ray and DVD on 11/12. The 4-disc Blu-ray release will include audio commentary on 4 episodes (with various combinations of Sonequa Martin-Green, Anson Mount, Ethan Peck, Alex Kurtzman, Jonathan Peck, and Olatunde Onsunanmi), promos, deleted scenes, a gag reel, and 8 featurettes (Star Trek: Discovery: The Voyage of Season Two, Enter the Enterprise, The Red Angel, Designing Discovery: Season Two, Prop Me Up: Season Two, Dress for Success: Season Two, Creature Comforts: Season Two, and Creating Space). You can see the cover artwork at left and also below. [Read on here...]

Boy, this is a big news day! We’ve got official word of titles we’ve been reporting on here at The Bits for many weeks now. So let’s get right to it...

First of all, Marvel Studios and Disney have just announced Avengers: Endgame for release on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD on 8/13, with the Digital release expected on 7/30. (And that is just as we predicted here on The Bits and have had listed in our 4K Ultra HD Release List here for quite a while.) Audio on the 4K will be Dolby Atmos, while the Blu-ray will feature 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio. Look for HDR10 on the 4K disc.

Extras will include audio commentary by directors Anthony and Joe Russo with writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, 7 featurettes (Remembering Stan Lee, Setting the Tone: Casting Robert Downey Jr., A Man Out of Time: Creating Captain America, Black Widow: Whatever It Takes, The Russo Brothers: Journey to Endgame, The Women of the MCU, and Bro Thor), 6 Deleted Scenes (including Goji Berries, Bombs on Board, Suckiest Army in the Galaxy, You Used to Frickin’ Live Here, Tony and Howard, and Avengers Take a Knee), a Gag Reel, and an intro by directors Joe and Anthony Russo. The Digital version will also include an exclusive featurette... Steve and Peggy: One Last Dance. You can see the cover artwork at left and also below. [Read on here...]

All right, we’ve got a big update for you today, with lots of news, a few rumors, and some announcements too. But first...

I’ve just posted my in-depth review of Shout! Factory’s long-awaited Space: 1999 – The Complete Series Blu-ray set, which marks the first time Year Two of the series has been available on the format here in the States. It includes all 48 remastered episodes (sourced from the recent Network remaster) with a bunch of legacy extras and some good new content too. You’ll find that here.

Also here at The Bits today, we’ve updated our 4K Ultra HD Release List with some new titles that we have reason to believe are coming (more on that in a minute), along with pre-orders for a couple of titles we’ve already confirmed are coming (Men in Black International and more). We also have a street date for Disney and Pixar’s Toy Story 4 from our retail sources (tentatively look for it on 9/24). [Read on here...]

We start this week with a great new Blu-ray review, this one of Scream Factory’s Universal Horror Collection, Volume 1 box set, which includes The Black Cat (1934), The Raven (1935), The Invisible Ray (1936), and Black Friday (1940). Do give it a look.

Also, just a heads-up: We’re going to be reviewing Warner Archive’s new Jonny Quest: The Complete Series Blu-ray soon. A review copy is on the way.

And we’ve posted the weekly update of the Release Dates & Artwork section featuring all of the latest Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K cover artwork with Amazon.com pre-order links. As always, whenever you order literally anything from Amazon after clicking to them through one of our links, you’re helping to support our work here at The Bits and we really do appreciate it. [Read on here...]

Okay, we’ve got a couple things for you today...

First, Tim has posted his thoughts on Teruo Ishii’s Yakuza Law (1969) on Blu-ray from Toei via Arrow Video. And Dennis has turned in a look at a Richard Dreyfuss film from 1979, The Big Fix on Blu-ray via Twilight Time.

Also today, the big announcement news is that Lionsgate has set Hellboy (2019) for release on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD on 7/23, with the Digital release expected on 7/9. The film employs a native 4K digital intermediate, so resolution should be very good indeed. The Ultra HD will also feature Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos audio. Extras will include deleted scenes, Previsualizations, and the 3-part Tales of the Wild Hunt: Hellboy Reborn documentary. You can see the cover artwork at left. [Read on here...]

All right, we’ve got a news roundup and a couple of updates for you today...

First, Tim has posted a new review of Book of Monsters on Blu-ray from Dread and Epic Pictures. Also, Dennis has turned in his thoughts on Michael Haneke’s Funny Games (1997) on Blu-ray from Criterion. Enjoy!

The big news today is that Warner Archive has just officially announced the Blu-ray release of Jonny Quest: The Complete Original Series (1964). We hear the set is expected next month (street date TBA). The 3-disc set will include all 26 original episodes newly-remastered in full HD from the original film elements. Audio will be 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio. Extras will include the Jonny Quest: Adventures in Animation featurette, a special version of the Double Danger episode with Quest Files facts and trivia, the Jonny Quest Video Handbook, and a Vintage P.F. Flyers Sneaker Commercial. You can see the cover artwork at left. [Read on here...]