Displaying items by tag: Universal Studios Home Entertainment

Greetings, Bits-ers! Sorry I missed posting my usual news column yesterday here at the site, but it turned out to be an incredibly busy day of working on reviews and communicating with our industry sources to chase down details and confirm some interesting forthcoming titles. As such, we’ve got a bit of ground to cover today and all of it should prove interesting. First though, let’s start with our latest new disc reviews, as always...

Longtime Bits contributor Adam Jahnke has returned for an in-depth review of Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), new on 4K Ultra HD from Disney. The UHD image is spectacular, and we’ve confirmed that the studio went back to the original camera negative for a new 4K scan, remaster, and HDR grade, all of which were approved by director Henry Selick. Most but not all of the legacy special features carry over on the accompanying Blu-ray as well, which also offers better encoding and a higher data rate that the previous BD edition. This title seems to be one more sign that Disney is starting to turn things around with their physical media. So do give it a look.

Also today, Stephen has taken a good look at Wes Craven’s Swamp Thing (1982), which is new on 4K Ultra HD from our friends at the MVD Rewind Collection.

And Dennis has posted a review of Wesley Ruggles’ classic film epic Cimarron (1931) on Blu-ray from the good people at the Warner Archive Collection.

All of these are worth your time, and more new disc reviews are already in the works. In fact, I’m going to be posting my take on Universal’s new Battlestar Galactica (1978) 4K Ultra HD—which streets today—sometime later this evening or early tomorrow. So be sure to watch for that. [Read on here...]

We’re closing out the week with a bunch of new disc reviews and a ton of significant new title announcements as well from the likes of Arrow, Imprint, Sony, Shout! Factory, and more. But first, here are those reviews...

First, Stephen has delivered his in-depth takes on James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy, Volume 3 (2023) on 4K Ultra HD from Marvel and Disney, Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley’s Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023) on 4K UHD from Paramount, Russell Mulcahy’s Razorback (1984) on 4K UHD from Umbrella Entertainment, Lucio Fulci’s City of the Living Dead (1980) on 4K UHD from Cauldon Films, and Dario Argento’s Tenebrae (1982) on 4K UHD from Synapse Films.

Stuart has chimed in with his thoughts on Henry Koster’s My Man Godfrey (1957) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics, as well as Fred Zinnemann and John Sturges’ The Old Man and the Sea (1958) on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection.

And Dennis has taken a look at Laura Tarruso’s About My Father (2023) on Blu-ray from Lionsgate, along with Cauleen Smith’s Drylongso (1998) on Blu-ray from the Criterion Collection.

Rest assured, we have even more new disc reviews coming next week, including Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas, Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams, and several other titles.

Now then... in announcement news over the last couple of days, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has officially set Frank Oz’s The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984) for release on 4K Ultra HD on 10/24. Look for the film to be mastered in 4K from the original camera negative with Dolby Vision HDR and a new Dolby Atmos sound mix, both approved by Oz (the original English 5.1 and mono audio are also included). The 4K disc will also include a new audio commentary with Oz. This will be accompanied by a Blu-ray disc featuring the remastered film with 5.1 audio and 3 legacy special features (including an Interview with Jim Henson, Muppetisms: Miss Piggy & Kermit the Frog, and Muppetisms: Pepe and Fozzie Bear). You can see the cover artwork at left and also below. [Read on here...]

We have two new disc reviews of you to enjoy today...

Stephen has taken a look at Dusty Nelson’s Effects (1979) in 4K Ultra HD, a film that originated from the minds of several Pittsburgh-area collaborators of George A. Romero. It’s now available from Image Works via the American Genre Film Archive and our friends at Vinegar Syndrome.

If you’re interested in this film, you might also enjoy reading a 2005 archived interview we did on the original Bits website about the project with our old friend John Harrison (Takes from the Darkside, Frank Herbert’s Dune). You’ll find that here (and pardon the messy HTML).

Also today, Dennis has taken a look at Cheryl Dunye’s The Watermelon Woman (1996) on Blu-ray from The Criterion Collection.

We don’t have a lot in the way of new announcement news today, but a number of long-awaited 4K Ultra HD catalog titles are finally available for pre-order on Amazon. [Read on here...]

I have the good fortune of having one of the thirty theaters on Earth that’s showing Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer in 15 perf/70 mm IMAX located within three miles of my house. So I needed all the coffees on Tuesday morning, after seeing the film at an 11 PM showing on Monday night, which is the only decent single ticket I could get my hands on. (My theatre of choice is virtually sold out well into the second week of August.)

I must say, the experience of this film in IMAX 70 was impressive, with the urgency of its editing and immediacy of its cinematography creating a uniquely engrossing narrative momentum. J. Robert Oppenheimer’s life and career, from his college years to his post-war exile, are covered in extensive detail, and while all of this adds context, I’m not sure that much detail was strictly necessary. (In Nolan’s shoes, I might have shortened the film by a good twenty minutes.)

The ensemble cast is fantastic, each of them disappearing into their roles to a degree I didn’t think some of these actors were capable of. There are many familiar faces that I knew would appear in this film, but many more here were unexpected (including Jack Quaid as Richard Feynman of all people, James Urbaniak as Kurt Gödel, and Gary Oldman as Harry S. Truman), yet all of them raised their game. What’s more, this is certainly the finest performance of Cillian Murphy’s career, and one of the most compelling. Hands down, the guy deserves an Oscar for this role. [Read on here...]

All right... as one might expect, we’ve got a lot to talk about again today here at The Bits.

First of all, we don’t have any new information on Manta Lab’s “disc-less” WandaVision packaging, except to reiterate that while this is a licensed Disney Consumer Products item, it’s most definitely not an official Marvel Studios/Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment physical media product. And while some you deluxe packaging collectors might think that’s splitting hairs, for the vast majority of disc consumers around the world it’s a very important distinction. Disney is not suddenly getting in the business of releasing Steelbook packaging for titles they have no intention of actually releasing on disc, and making it okay by including a Digital copy code. Just to be clear. In any case, we hope to hear more on this in the next few days.

As to the matter of today’s other Disney hot topic, I’m afraid, the news is not good. Despite the fact that Sanity has now pulled down their original Facebook post announcing it, we at The Digital Bits have confirmed today with multiple industry, distributor, and retailer sources in the region that Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment is indeed pulling out of the Australian market in terms of physical media. This follows similar moves in Asia (save for Japan) and Latin America, and the reason is apparently down to the gradual collapse of physical disc sales in the region, the growth of Disney+ Starz streaming, and also the rise of global retailers (think Amazon, Zavvi, etc). None of that will be of any comfort to disc fans in Australia, who will now have to pay a hefty shipping premium to import titles from outside the country. But it is true that Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol 3 will be the last new-release Disney title to get a physical release in the region. Previously-released titles may continue to be available for purchase until the end of the year, but that will be up to individual retailers.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, folks, but there it is.

Now then, before we shift to a bit of announcement news, we have several new disc reviews here at The Bits that are worth mentioning today...

Here’s the big one: Stephen has just turned in his in-depth thoughts on William Friedkin’s To Live and Die in L.A. (1985) in 4K Ultra HD, as newly-released by our friends at Kino Lorber Studio Classics. It’s a great disc, with the best A/V presentation of the film to date, and it includes nearly all of the previously-created special features. [Read on here...]

Okay, folks... we’ve got a LOT of ground to cover today, and I’m seriously not kidding, so strap in and hold on tight...

First up, it broke last night on the Interwebs that a company called Manta Lab in Hong Kong, which is a legit Disney licensee, was taking pre-orders for a “disc-less” Steelbook Blu-ray package for Marvel’s Disney+ streaming series WandaVision. Now, as you can imagine, that’s caused a great deal of surprise and consternation.

Some context... Manta Lab creates deluxe and custom packaging for lots of legit studio home entertainment releases, which are extremely popular with collectors, especially in the Asian market. However, since Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment officially exited the Asian market (apart from Japan), all of these licensing deals are made with Disney Consumer Products. The problem with this WandaVision release is that this is a title for which no authorized Blu-ray release exists anywhere in the world. So outside of the Steelbook packaging’s value as an objet d’art in and of itself, there’s no practical use for this packaging apart from holding people’s bootleg Blu-rays. And unfortunately, the proliferation of bootleg copies of Disney+ streaming titles has exploded online. (Don’t believe me? Visit Etsy and search for “WandaVision Blu-ray”—or just click here.)

In any case, when this news broke last night, too many otherwise respectable geek and movie news outlets online reported it as “Marvel and Disney have announced...” when nothing of the sort was true. This is a product licensed by Disney Consumer Products, but it is not in any way shape or form a licensed Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment release. I immediately contacted my sources at Disney last night, who assured me that this was the case, and who have this morning provided us with this statement:

“While Manta Lab is a legit licensee of Disney, and does create custom Steelbooks for Disney Blu-ray titles through Disney Consumer Products, the pre-order for a disc-less WandaVision was a surprise to some and we are looking into it as well as speaking to our partners in market.”

I expect to hear more back from Disney in the next day or so, so be sure to check back here on The Bits, and you can also follow us @BillHuntBits and @thedigitalbits on Twitter/X for the latest updates as I get them. Suffice it to say, this has generated an enormous amount of confusion outside of Manta Lab’s usual collector customer base. I’ve gotten literally hundreds of emails and messages in the last 24 hours from readers asking why Disney and Marvel would be releasing Steelbook packaging for a title they don’t appear to have any plans to actually release on physical media. (They aren’t, and stay tuned for further information.) [Read on here...]

All right, we’re working on a bunch things here at the website today, including more reviews, follow-up on upcoming titles from our industry sources, and a big My Two Cents editorial/commentary piece on the current state of the home video industry that I’ll be posting here after the July 4th holiday.

In the meantime though, we do have a few more new disc reviews for you today, including...

Dennis’ thoughts on Harvey Hart’s Bus Riley’s Back in Town (1965) on Blu-ray from Imprint Films and Via Vision.

Stuart’s take on Don Siegel’s Steve McQueen/WWII drama Hell Is for Heroes (1962) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

And Stephen’s look at Steve Jodrell’s Shame (1988) on Blu-ray from Umbrella Entertainment via Vinegar Syndrome. [Read on here...]

We have a few major title announcements to report today...

First up, the big one: Disney and Marvel have officially set James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 3 for release on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD on 8/1, with the Digital release expected on 7/7. You can expect Dolby Atmos audio and HDR10 high dynamic range on the 4K SKU. The Blu-ray Disc will include 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio. But here’s the most interesting thing: For the first time, a Disney/Marvel title has included a variable aspect ratio that switches from 2.35 to 1.85! [Editor’s Note: Per studio reps, this replicates not the IMAX presentation but rather the wide-release presentation of the film as seen in some regular, non-IMAX theaters. Just FYI.]

Extras on all SKUs will include 2 featurettes (The Imperfect, Perfect Family and Creating Rocket Raccoon), a gag reel, 8 deleted scenes (A Bit Much, A Lending Hand, Drax’s Analogies and Metaphors, The Perfect Society, The Search for 89P13, Annoyed Peter, A Burning Escape, and Knowhere After the Battle), and audio commentary with James Gunn. You can see the cover artwork at left and also below. [Read on here...]

We’ve got a bunch of news, rumors, and official announcements to cover for you today here at The Bits, so let’s get right to it...

First up, Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment has just made Enter the Dragon official for 4K Ultra HD and Digital release on 8/8. Extras will include the previous introduction by Linda Lee Cadwell and the audio commentary by Paul Heller and Michael Allin. This release is happening in honor of the film’s 50th anniversary. The 4K disc will include both the theatrical cut and the 3-minute-longer special editon with HDR10 high dynamic range.

Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment and Adult Swim have just set the all-new animated movie Metalocalypse: Army of the Doomstar for release on Digital and Blu-ray on 8/22 (SRP $19.99 and $29.98). This will be accompanied by two full-length album release by Dethklok: Dethalbum IV and the soundtrack for Army of the Doomstar on 8/25. These will be released widely via WaterTower Music and you’ll be able to get them on actual vinyl from Mondo.

WBDHE and HBO have also just announced Succession: The Complete Series for DVD only release on 9/12, including all 39 episodes with the previously released special features. Also coming that day on DVD will be Succession: The Complete Fourth & Final Season. [Read on here...]

All right, we’re kicking things off today with another new disc review...

With an assist from Stephen, I’ve taken an in-depth look at James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water (2022) in 4K Ultra HD from 20th Century Studios. The disc streets today, and I think both fans and A/V enthusiasts alike will appreciate not only its stunning 4K image quality but also a magnificent Dolby Atmos sound mix, and some great special features as well. Frankly, it’s one of the best looking and sounding 4K discs since last year’s Top Gun: Maverick. So we hope you enjoy it!

In announcement news today, Kino Lorber Studio Classics has revealed that they’re working on a new 4K UHD release of Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Translation (2003), mastered from a new scan of the negative and complete with a brand new Dolby Vision HDR grade. That’s currently listed as coming soon.

Also coming soon from KLSC: A new Blu-ray edition of Allan A. Goldstein’s Death Wish V: The Face of Death (1986).

Meanwhile, KLSC has officially set their long-awaited 4K Ultra HD release of Sydney Pollack’s 3 Days of the Condor (1975) for release on 8/29, also mastered from a brand new scan of the original camera negative and with Dolby Vision HDR. [Read on here...]