My Two Cents
Tuesday, 15 April 2025 19:06

Criterion’s July includes Barry Lyndon in 4K, plus Lionsgate Limited’s Kick-Ass art, a Sunset Boulevard 4K from Paramount, Space: 1999, Thunderbirds & more!

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We have no less than SIX new disc reviews for you all to enjoy here at The Bits today, including...

Stephen’s thoughts on Abel Ferrara’s King of New York (1990) and Paul Verhoeven’s Basic Instinct (1992) in 4K Ultra HD Steelbook from Lionsgate Limited.

Dennis’ review of Graeme Clifford’s Frances (1982) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

Tim’s take on Hanna-Barbera’s animated Wait Till Your Father Gets Home: The Complete Series (1972-74) on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection, as well as Via Vision Entertainment’s Firestarter Collection on Blu-ray, which includes both the 1984 original film and the 2002 Sci-Fi Channel miniseries.

And finally, Stuart’s look at Gilles Grangier’s Hi-Jack Highway (1955) (aka Gas-Oil) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

More reviews are forthcoming this week, so be sure to keep your eyes peeled for them!

Also here at the site today, we’ve posted the latest update of our Release Dates & Artwork section featuring all the latest Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD cover artwork and Amazon.com pre-order links. As always, anytime 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.

In announcement news today, the big development is that the Criterion Collection has just revealed their full July slate of titles, and it includes a 4K disc we first told you was coming a few weeks ago: Stanley Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon (1975)! [Read on here...]

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Their full list of July titles includes Fritz Lang’s The Big Heat (1953) (Spine #1269 – 4K + Blu-ray and Blu-ray) on 7/1, Stanley Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon (1975) (Spine #897 – 4K + Blu-ray) on 7/8, François Truffaut’s The Adventures of Antoine Doinel box set (Spine #185 – 4K + Blu-ray and Blu-ray) on 7/15—which includes The 400 Blows (1959), Stolen Kisses (1968), Bed and Board (1970), and Love on the Run (1979)—and Mike Nichols’ Carnal Knowledge (1971) (Spine #1270 – 4K + Blu-ray and Blu-ray) and Kenneth Lonergan’s You Can Count on Me (2000) (Spine #1271 – 4K + Blu-ray and Blu-ray) on 7/22.

Note that all of the 4K titles will feature Dolby Vision HDR. And in addition to the regular Criterion Collection titles listed above, they’re also releasing Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine as Light (2024) (Blu-ray and DVD) on 7/22 as a Janus Contemporaries title. You can see the cover artwork for these above left and also below.

Also today, our friends at Lionsgate have revealed the cover art for their Lionsgate Limited 4K Ultra HD Steelbook edition of Matthew Vaughn’s Kick-Ass (2010). Here’s what that looks like...

Kick-Ass (Lionsgate Limited 4K Steelbook)

Here’s a nice surprise: Billy Wilder’s Sunset Boulevard (1950), a classic Paramount title, has just been upgraded to 4K on Kaleidescape and a few other Digital services. And checking in with my industry sources, I’ve confirmed that the title is likely to be released on physical 4K Ultra HD as a Paramount Presents title later this year. This restoration has been completed in celebration of the film’s 75th anniversary, which happens on 8/10. So watch for official details in the coming months.

A couple other items of note today: Kino Lorber Studio Classics has announced the 4K Ultra HD release of Gore Verbinski’s Mouse Hunt (1997) on 6/24. Meanwhile, on 6/10 the company will release new Blu-ray reissues of Murder by Decree (1979) and Career Opportunities (1991). What’s more, KLSC has revealed that Ted Kotcheff’s Uncommon Valor (1983) is “coming soon” to 4K, and Joseph Losey’s King and Country (1964) is coming soon to Blu-ray thanks to a new StudioCanal restoration.

Finally today, we’ve learned from yesterday’s Gerry Anderson Day 2025 Livestream on YouTube that the premiere episode of Space: 1999 from 1975, Breakaway, is going to be released in 4K Ultra HD as a limited edition Steelbook in September. What’s more, two 1965 episodes of the original Thunderbirds series, Trapped in the Sky and Terror in New York City, are also coming to 4K UHD Steelbook in September as a double-bill release.

And look for a Thunderbirds: Super Space Theatre – Volume One Blu-ray set as well that will include the compilation films Thunderbirds to the Rescue (1980), Thunderbirds in Outer Space (1981), and Countdown to Disaster (1982) all in HD for the first time in their original 4:3 aspect ratio and with both original movie and episode audio. You’ll also be able to watch all three in SD for “the full VHS experience!” The pre-order date for this set is March 28th on GerryAnderson.com. You can learn more on all of these here. (Thanks to Bits reader Robert H. for the heads-up!)

We’ll leave you with a look at the cover artwork for all of the newly-announced Criterion titles. We’ll add the Amazon pre-order links as they become available...

Barry Lyndon (Criterion 4K Ultra HD) The Adventures of Antoine Doniel (Criterion 4K Ultra HD) The Big Heat (Criterion 4K Ultra HD)

You Can Count on Me (Criterion 4K Ultra HD) Carnal Knowledge (Criterion 4K Ultra HD) All We Imagine As Light (Blu-ray Disc)

Stay tuned!

- Bill Hunt

(You can follow Bill on social media on Twitter, BlueSky, and Facebook, and also here on Patreon)

 

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