Displaying items by tag: Disney

All right, today’s update is a quickie, but it’s a good one.

All of those re-issued Star Wars Blu-rays from Disney we mentioned yesterday are now up for pre-order on Amazon with a street date of 9/22 (that’s not a Tuesday, so it could be just a “week of” placeholder date until the announcement is made).

The SRP is $34.99, but Amazon’s usual sale price should kick in soon. All of them are up now except Episode IV: A New Hope, which should go live soon. In any case, you can see the cover art – now with pre-order links – below.

In 4K catalog news today, Ridley Scott’s American Gangster is now official for release on 4K Ultra HD by Universal on 10/15. You can see the cover artwork and pre-order it below. It will have DTS:X audio and HDR10 high dynamic range. [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...]

It’s been long awaited by film fans, especially after its extensive 4K restoration (from the original negative and 35mm 4-track audio masters) in 2012, which premiered at the TCM Classic Film Festival that year.

(You can read about the audio portion of that effort here at the Disney Digital Studio Services website.)

But Richard Fleischer’s beloved 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954) has never appeared on Blu-ray. The film stars Kirk Douglas, James Mason, and Peter Lorre, and is beloved by generations of movie buffs.

The reason for its absence on Blu-ray is that Disney has, for many years, been trying to remake the film.

Bryan Singer was involved at one point, then James Mangold, and David Fincher, along with a host of actors including Brad Pitt and more recently Johnny Depp. [Read on here...]

All right, I trust you all saw our new History, Legacy, and Showmanship column from last night featuring Michael Coate’s retrospective on Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, which celebrated its 20th anniversary on Sunday. You’ll find that here and if you’re a Star Wars fan, I think it’s well worth your time.

Meanwhile, we have some major new Blu-ray and 4K announcements for you today, so read on...

First, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment has just officially set Robert Rodriguez’s Alita: Battle Angel for release on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD (with Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D) on 7/23. The Digital version will be available on 7/9. The 4K will include not only Dolby Atmos audio, but HDR in Dolby Vision, HDR10, and HDR10+. Aspect ratio is 2.39:1, per the press release.

And there will be HOURS of special features, as follows... [Read on here...]

We’re going to have a new Michael Coate retrospective today in his History, Legacy & Showmanship column here at The Bits, looking back at Star Wars: The Phantom Menace in honor of yesterday’s 20th anniversary for the film. That will be up later this afternoon, so be sure to watch for it.

In the meantime, we have a bit of 4K and standard Blu-ray news to report...

First up, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has set Rob Reiner’s Stand by Me for release on 4K Ultra HD on 8/27. Scanned from the original camera negative, the film will be presented with a new Dolby Atmos mix, along with the original theatrical mono audio and the previous 5.1 remix. Extras on the 4K disc will include never-before-seen deleted and alternate scenes. The package will also include the previous Blu-ray with picture-in-picture video commentary with Reiner and the cast, the Walking the Tracks: The Summer of Stand by Me documentary, and audio commentary with Reiner. You can see the cover artwork at left. [Read on here...]

All right, we’ve got more reviews for you to enjoy today, including...

My take on James Wan’s Aquaman in 4K Ultra HD from Warner.

Dennis’ review of Dan Bush’s The Vault on Blu-ray from FilmRise.

And Chase’s look at Robert Zemeckis’ I Wanna Hold Your Hand on Blu-ray from Criterion.

More reviews are in the works for tomorrow and Friday, so be sure to check back for them.

Meanwhile, we have some new title news and announcements to report today as well...

We’ve now confirmed the 4/23 release of Captain America: Civil War and Captain America: The Winter Soldier on 4K Ultra HD from Disney. [Read on here...]

Today’s Retro Release Day title here at The Bits is none other than Disney’s The Black Hole (1979), directed by Gary Nelson and released by Anchor Bay Entertainment on DVD back on March 30, 1999.

The film stars Maximilian Schell, Robert Forster, Joseph Bottoms, Yvette Mimieux, Anthony Perkins, and Ernest Borgnine, and features a terrific score by composer John Barry.

The single-disc release was a much-dreaded (and double-sided) DVD-10 release, a disc configuration known as a “flipper” to DVD veterans.

The reason for this was that the release included the film in both non-anamorphic (letterboxed) widescreen on one side, and full frame on the other.

Both sides of the disc also includes the film’s theatrical trailer and a gallery of images. Each version of the film also included Dolby Digital 5.1 audio. [Read on here...]

Boy, we’ve got a nice little bit of news for you all today...

Just a few days ago, I raved about the experience of seeing Sergei Bondarchuk’s War and Peace on the big screen. (You can read my thoughts on the experience here.) Well now, Criterion has just officially announced that it will highlight their June Blu-ray and DVD release slate!

The complete wave of titles includes a BD upgrade of A Film Trilogy by Ingmar Bergman (Through a Glass Darkly, Winter Light, and The Silence – Cat #209-211 – Blu-ray and DVD) on 6/4, George Stevens’ Swing Time (Cat #979 – Blu-ray and DVD) on 6/11, Bruno Dumont’s L’humanité (Cat #981 – Blu-ray and DVD) and La vie de Jésus (Cat #980 – Blu-ray and DVD) on 6/18, John Cameron Mitchell punk musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Cat #982 – Blu-ray and DVD) and – yes – Sergei Bondarchuk’s War and Peace (Cat #983 – Blu-ray and DVD) on 6/25! [Read on here...]

All right, today is kind of a big day on the 4K Ultra HD announcement front, so let’s get right to it...

First up, Disney and Marvel have just officially confirmed that Avengers: Infinity War will street on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD on 8/14 – just as we predicted – with the Digital release planned for 7/31. You’ll get over two hours worth of extras, including featurettes, a gag reel, deleted scenes, and audio commentary with the filmmakers. The Digital edition will include an exclusive 30-minute roundtable with MCU directors Joe and Anthony Russo, James Gunn, Ryan Coogler, Peyton Reed, Jon Favreau, Joss Whedon, and Taika Waititi. You can see the official cover artwork at left and also below.

Also, you know how we’ve been telling you since April that Disney and Marvel would be releasing The Avengers and Avengers: Age of Ultron on 4K Ultra HD concurrently with Infinity War on 8/14? Sure enough... both Zavvi and Best Buy have now begun taking pre-orders for them. Consider them confirmed and you can see the official cover artwork below. [Editor’s Note: Disney has now officially confirmed the 8/14 4K Ultra HD release of The Avengers and The Avengers: Age of Ultron with The Avengers: Infinity War. Audio is confirmed to be Dolby Atmos on all three. Waiting to hear back on HDR.] [Read on here...]

We’re kicking off the new week with more new Blu-ray reviews. And we’re very pleased today to add a pair of new reviewers to The Bits staff: David Steigman and Dennis Seuling!

Dennis checks in with a look at John Krasinski’s A Quiet Place on Blu-ray, which streets tomorrow from Paramount.

David has offered this thoughts on Irving Cummings’s My Gal Sal on Blu-ray from Twilight Time. That disc is now available.

And Tim has checked in with a pair of new reviews today as well, including the Re-Animator: Collector’s Edition (Region B) and the Bride of Re-Animator & Beyond Re-Animator: Collector’s Edition double feature (all region) Blu-ray, both from Umbrella Entertainment. [Read on here...]