Displaying items by tag: Universal

All right, we have two things for you today…

The first, is that I’ve just posted my in-depth review of Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing (1989), newly released on 4K Ultra HD by Universal Studios Home Entertainment. It’s a great disc, with a beautifully-remastered transfer and a great new DTS:X sound mix as well. Do check it out here.

The other thing is a recommendation for a great TV series that’s streaming right now on Apple TV+: Ron Moore’s For All Mankind.

Trust me when I say that if you’re a fan of science fiction, or human spaceflight, or alternate history, or just great character drama, this is absolutely a series that you should be watching. So let me tell you why you should be, and I promise there will be no spoilers. [Read on here...]

All right Bits readers, we’ve got a pretty significant news update for you today...

We’ve been tracking many of these titles, but a few of the 4K catalog titles we’re going to talk about today are breaking news, thanks to our old friends over at Media Play News.

They’ve just issued the September 2020 Digital edition of their magazine, which features an extensive look at the recent surge of 4K Ultra HD catalog releases. The publication’s editor, Stephanie Prange (who, full disclosure, I’ve known for many years), wrote a great longform piece for the issue called 4K Ultra HD: Into the Vaults about the process of preparing classic catalog films for release on the format.

Not only is it informative (and I should note that I was among the people interviewed therein), it includes some great news about forthcoming titles. [Read on here...]

All right, we’ve got one new disc review for you today: Tim has taken a look at John Hughes’ Sixteen Candles on Blu-ray from Arrow Video. Sounds like it’s a pretty nice release, so do check out his thoughts here.

In announcement news today, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has just set DC’s Legends of Tomorrow: The Complete Fifth Season for release on Blu-ray on DVD on 9/22. You’ll get all 15 episodes along with deleted scenes, a gag reel, and the DC’s Legends of Tomorrow Season 5 Post Production Theater featurette. As is the case with many of Warner’s recent DC live action releases, you’ll also get the Blu-ray bonus disc with all 5 episodes of the DC Crossover Event Crisis on Infinite Earths plus additional extras.

he big catalog 4K news today is that Second Sight in the UK has just finally revealed the specs of—and launched the pre-orders for—their long awaited 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray restoration of George Romero’s Dawn of the Dead. But there’s good news and bad news. [Read on here...]

Before we get started today, we have a pair of new Blu-ray reviews for you from Dennis—he’s taken a look at George Cukor’s Holiday, newly available on disc from The Criterion Collection, and also Judy from Lionsgate. Enjoy!

In announcement news today, we’ve got word that Universal plans to release Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite on Blu-ray and DVD on 1/28. The disc will include the Q&A with Director Bong Joon-ho featurette. There are no plans yet for a UK 4K Ultra HD release here in the States, though the film is coming to physical 4K in France, German, and elsewhere. Unfortunately, those discs will not have English subtitles for the original Korean language audio. Fingers crossed that Universal will decide to release a 4K if sales of the Blu-ray are strong. You can see the Blu-ray artwork above left.

Also today, we’ve updated our 4K Ultra HD Release List to reflect a bunch of new street dates and pre-order information we’ve gotten in from retail and industry sources. Here’s the gist (and if you click on the titles links provided, you can pre-order the titles on Amazon if available)... [Read on here...]

We mentioned this title a few days ago, but now we can officially confirm that Universal Pictures Home Entertainment and Neon will be releasing Todd Douglas Miller’s acclaimed large format documentary, Apollo 11, on Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital on May 14th.

From the studio’s press release:

“Crafted from a newly discovered trove of 65mm footage, and more than 11,000 hours of uncatalogued audio recordings, Apollo 11 takes us straight to the heart of NASA’s most celebrated mission—the one that first put men on the moon, and forever made Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin into household names. Immersed in the perspectives of the astronauts, the team in Mission Control, and the millions of spectators on the ground, we vividly experience those momentous days and hours in 1969 when humankind took a giant leap into the future ” [Read on here...]

All right, we’ve got a couple of things for you today, including a little bit of follow-up on this Disney/Guardians Vol 2 4K Dolby Vision thing. More on that in a moment...

First, Michael Coate has a great new History, Legacy & Showmanship column for you today that celebrates Sir Roger Moore and the 40th Anniversary of the classic Bond installment The Spy Who Loved Me. Michael is joined by another fine roundtable of Bond experts to discuss the film and I think you’ll really enjoy reading what they have to say. So you’ll find that here.

Now then... some announcement news: Universal has officially set The Mummy (2017) for Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD release on 9/12, with the Digital HD release expected on 8/22. [Read on here…]

All right, folks... this is one of those posts it’s fun to write. None of this news has been officially announced, it comes from retail sources. But we know from our other industry sources that this information is legit. The street dates may change, but the titles should all be forthcoming.

The Swedish video retailer CDON.com has just listed for pre-order a number of catalog titles that we’ve known were either in production or planning for a while now, but the news is starting to break. They include (listed by studio and European street date):

Universal – The Mummy (1999 – 5/22), The Mummy Returns (5/22), The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (5/22), Despicable Me (6/12), Despicable Me 2 (6/12), Gladiator (6/12)

Sony – The Bridge on the River Kwai (6/19), Spider-Man (6/26), Spider-Man 2 (6/26), Spider-Man 3 (6/26), The Amazing Spider-Man (6/26) [Read on here…]

All right, the 2017 Consumer Electronics Show is finally under way in Las Vegas today, with a number of the major CE manufacturers holding big press conferences to announce their product line-ups for the year. In fact, I’ve just now sat through Samsung’s big press event (more on that in a minute). I’ll check back in with more tomorrow, but for now let’s get to what news we have so far concerning 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray at the show...

In terms of new 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray player hardware, obviously Oppo Digital has just launched their debut player on the format, the UDP-203 (SRP $549). I’ve been testing this unit for about a week now and it’s just tremendous. For a first-generation player, it’s very solid, very fast, and it plays just about everything – Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D, DVD, DVD-Audio, CD, and SACD, plus a wide variety of digital video and audio formats via network and USB. It’s compatible with HDR-10 right out of the box, and it’s also hardware compatible with Dolby Vision; a firmware update in the months ahead will add full Dolby Vision compatibility (keep in mind that no Dolby Vision UHD BD software is yet available, though software is forthcoming – again, more in a moment – and you can stream it now via Netflix and Vudu). Oppo is also working on an audiophile-upgraded version of this player, the UDP-205 (SRP around $1K), due for release later this year. [Read on here…]

All right, this just in from our industry sources...

Universal is confirmed to be preparing to release a new Marx Brothers set, The Marx Brothers Silver Screen Collection – Restored Edition on Blu-ray on 10/18, set to include The Cocoanuts, Animal Crackers, Monkey Business, Horse Feathers, and Duck Soup. This will be a 3-disc set and an upgrade of the existing DVD edition (first released by the studio in 2004). As many of you know, Universal has recently completed the 4K restoration of all five films (see here) and those restorations will be the source material for this release. [Read on here…]

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All right, we’re kicking off this Thursday here at The Bits with another new Blu-ray review, and then we’ve got some great announcement news to share with all of you.

First though, Tim has checked in with his thoughts on another fine BD title from our friends at Arrow Video – the Killer Dames box set, which includes Emilio Miraglia’s The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave and The Red Queen Kills Seven Times. Do check it out.  [Read on here…]