Displaying items by tag: James Cameron

All right, let’s get right down to it. I’ve been reluctant to talk about the prospects of James Cameron’s The Abyss and True Lies arriving on Blu-ray (and dare we hope 4K) in 2019 because we’ve had SO many solid reports that these films were finally coming only to see them evaporate. And when I’ve tried to find out why, Fox always pointed at Cameron and Cameron always pointed back at Fox. What I finally figured out is that Cameron has just been too distracted with other projects to approve new transfers of these films, first with diving to the bottom of the ocean and more recently with his Avatar prequels.

As longtime Bits readers will be well aware, both films were expected for their last major anniversaries in 2014. We know for a fact that 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment had even prepared new Blu-ray releases (most recently rumored for release in 2017), but Cameron never got around to approving the new transfers, so the Blu-ray releases never happened. The transfers were quietly released to the pay cable movie channels only.

Well, now it’s five years later. 2019 officially marks the 30th anniversary of The Abyss and the 25th of True Lies. Naturally, that means Bits readers have been asking me for weeks about the prospects of finally seeing these films released on Blu-ray (and, again, dare we hope 4K). I’ve even spoken to studio sources about this recently. And again, what I learned was that the ball was still in James Cameron’s court. [Read on here...]

We’ve got just a quick update for you today, but we’ve got a bit of release news and some new reviews too.

First up those reviews... Tim has checked out National Lampoon’s Class Reunion on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics, and David has posted his thoughts on Black Widow (1954) from Twilight and The [Rec] Collection from Scream Factory.

Now then, we’ve confirmed with Sony that there are currently no plans to release The Girl in the Spider’s Web on physical 4K Ultra HD in the States. This could change if the title performs unexpectedly well on Blu-ray, but the film’s failure at the box office seems to have put the kabosh on the studio’s initial release plans. It may also have cramped plans to release David Fincher’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo on 4K and Panic Room on Blu-ray/4K. But we’ll have to wait and see. [Read on here...]

All right, big release news today...

As we first reported was coming a few weeks ago here on The Bits, HBO has just officially announced the 4K Ultra HD release of Game of Thrones: The Complete First Season on 6/5. The discs will include Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos object-based audio. You can see the cover artwork at the left and below. The package will include all 10 episodes in Ultra HD with the previous BD bonus features in their original HD, plus a Digital copy code.

That bonus content includes: Animated Histories, Anatomy of an Episode, Cast Auditions, Making of Game of Thrones, Characters Profiles, Creating the Show Open, From the Book to the Screen, The Night’s Watch, Creating the Dothraki Language, and 7 episode Audio Commentaries with the cast and crew. [Read on here...]

All right, sorry for the lack of a news post yesterday, but the reason for it is that we’re hard at work on reviews for you here at The Bits. Speaking of which, late last night I posted my thoughts on Ridley Scott’s Alien: Covenant in 4K Ultra HD format from 20th Century Fox. That streets today. Yesterday afternoon, I also completed a review of Arrow’s new Blu-ray edition of John Frankenheimer’s Ronin, which arrives in stores on 8/29.

Meanwhile, Tim has turned in his thoughts on Scream Factory’s fine new Teen Wolf: Collector’s Edition Blu-ray and he’s also taken an exhaustive look at the contents of Sony’s recent Spider-Man: Limited Edition Collection Blu-ray box set. Now, a number of Bits readers have asked me recently what’s in the set, do all the legacy extras carry over, and what new content there may be. Tim has answered all of those questions for you in his review. The highlight of the set if definitely the new Spider-Man 3: Editor’s Cut created by Bob Murawski – we hear it’s a definite improvement upon the theatrical cut. So do give all of the above a look.

Also know that I am currently hard at work on my review of James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 on 4K Ultra HD format and I hope to have that posted later today. So keep checking back for it. [Read on here…]

Afternoon, folks. We’re starting off the new week with a pair of new Blu-ray reviews for you to enjoy. Tim Salmons has turned in his look at Scream Factory’s The Legend of Hell House and longtime Bits veteran Todd Doogan has returned with a look at Kino Lorber’s terrific new One Million Years B.C. Blu-ray. Both are well worth your time, so be sure to check them out.

In release news today, first up a biggie: 20th Century Fox’s Logan is now available for Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD pre-order on Amazon (via the links in this sentence and also the temp cover artwork below). We hear it’s pretty damn good, so go check it out in theaters and use our links to pre-order (we appreciate it!) if you enjoy the film. [Read on here…]

“It’s a fun film that also demanded you to take it seriously. I think some people missed all that and just wanted to indulge in the ‘bug hunt’ war porn of it all. But beneath its rollercoaster surface, Aliens is a pretty sophisticated genre classic.” — Documentarian Charles de Lauzirika

The Digital Bits and History, Legacy & Showmanship are pleased to present this retrospective article commemorating the 30th anniversary of the release of Aliens, the action-packed follow-up to Ridley Scott’s 1979 sci-fi/horror classic featuring Sigourney Weaver (Ghostbusters, Working Girl) in her Saturn-winning and Oscar- and Golden Globe-nominated reprisal of Ellen Ripley, the lone survivor of an Alien attack on her ship, the Nostromo. In the sequel, after several decades in hypersleep, she returns to exomoon LV-426 along with a team of Marines — and awesome sound and visual effects — to destroy the Aliens.  [Read on here...]

“Cameron’s achievement isn’t only technical. He’s using all the not-so-cheap thrills of a violent genre to make a movie with an antiviolence message, and the wonder of T2 is that he pulls it off without looking silly.” — David Ansen, Newsweek

The Digital Bits and History, Legacy & Showmanship are pleased to present this retrospective article commemorating the silver anniversary of the release of Terminator 2: Judgment Day, James Cameron’s sci-fi/action follow-up to his 1984 surprise hit featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger in perhaps his finest role. The most popular film of 1991 also featured Linda Hamilton (reprising her role as Sarah Connor) plus Robert Patrick’s memorable turn as the T-1000 and Edward Furlong as the young John Connor.

T2, the winner of four Academy Awards (including Visual Effects, Sound Mixing, Sound Editing and Makeup), opened 25 years ago this week, and to commemorate the occasion The Bits features a compilation of box-office data that places Cameron’s “violent movie about peace” in context, as well as a collection of passages from vintage film reviews and a list of the film’s “six-track” showcase presentations.  [Read on here...]

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All right, this morning’s post is a quick one, but we do have some interesting announcements and street date confirmations for you today…

First up, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment has set Mistress America for release on 12/1, followed by Transporter: Refueled on 12/8, Fantastic Four on 12/15, and Hitman: Agent 47 on 12/29, all on both Blu-ray and DVD.  [Read on here…]

[Editor’s Note: This column contains spoilers for all of the Terminator films. Read at your own risk.]

The Terminator movies began as a dream in James Cameron’s mind and evolved into a series of films, each reflecting the times in which it was made.

It was in the early 1980’s that Cameron had a vision: a nightmarish view of the future. On The Terminator Blu-ray, he describes how it came to him while he was working in Rome. [Read on here…]

“I’ll be back!”

The Digital Bits is pleased to present this retrospective commemorating the 30th anniversary of The Terminator, James Cameron’s science fiction classic starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton and Michael Biehn.

Originally produced by Hemdale and distributed by Orion Pictures, The Terminator was a low-budget production that caught the industry by surprise, grossing over ten times its cost and launching or elevating the careers of everyone involved, and spawning a successful franchise of movies, novels, comic books, video games, theme park attractions, and a television series.  [Read more here...]