The big news today is that Universal has set Hobbs & Shaw for release on Blu-ray, 4K Ultra HD, and DVD on 11/5, with the Digital release expected on 10/15. The 4K version will include HDR10, HDR10+, and Dolby Vision high dynamic range. Both the Blu-ray and 4K will also include Dolby Atmos audio. Over 80 minutes of extras on the set will include an audio commentary with director David Leitch, an alternate opening, deleted/extended/alternate scenes, and 12 featurettes (including Johnson & Statham: Hobbs & Shaw, Progress of a Fight Scene with Director David Leitch, Practical Action, The Bad Guy, The Sister, Hobbs’ Family Tree, The Matriarch, New Friends, Elevator Action, Stunt Show and Tell, Keeping It in the Family: A Conversation with Roman and Dwayne, Blind Fury, and Dwayne and Hobbs: Love at First Bite). You can see the cover artwork above left and also below.
And here’s a very nice surprise: Synapse Films is releasing Dario Argento’s classic Suspiria (1977) in actual 4K Ultra HD on 11/19! The disc will include HDR10 high dynamic range and a new Dolby Atmos audio mix (along with “Italian 5.1 Surround mix and the original 4.0 1977 English language LCRS sound mix not heard since the theatrical release in 1977, presented in high-resolution DTS-HD MA 96kHz/24-bit audio with newly translated, removable English SDH subtitles”). Says Synapse’s Don May Jr...
“Suspiria is the ultimate genre film to make the jump to UHD,” Don May, Jr., president of Synapse Films, tells Rue Morgue. “With the beautiful color palette and directional audio, there was no better candidate to set the standard for older catalog titles for this new 4K format. We went back to the original 4K files and basically started over, reconfiguring the theatrical DCI-P3 color space for UHD’s expanded color palette and utilized high dynamic range. I couldn’t believe it was possible, but the film looks even more jaw-dropping. The high dynamic range looks amazing without corrupting the original photographic intent. We also made the decision to add a Dolby Atmos remix for the release, just to have a little fun with the format.”
You can read more here at the excellent Rue Morgue website. We’ve updated our 4K Ultra HD Release List here at The Bits accordingly.
Also today, Paramount and Martin Scorsese have revealed a new Republic Rediscovered collection of classic Republic film titles, “personally curated by Martin Scorsese and restored and remastered by Paramount.” The films are now available on iTunes/Apple TV to rent or buy. The specific titles include Accused of Murder (1956), Angel on the Amazon (1948), City that Never Sleeps (1953), Come Next Spring (1956), Driftwood (1947), The Flame (1947), Flame of the Islands (1956), Hellfire (1949), Hell’s Half Acre (1954), I, Jane Doe (1948), The Inside Story (1948), I’ve Always Loved You (1946), Johnny Guitar (1954), Laughing Anne (1953), Moonrise (1948), The Outcast (1954), The Quiet Man (1952), The Red Pony (1949), Storm Over Lisbon (1944), Stranger at My Door (1956), That Brennan Girl (1946), Three Faces West (1940), Trigger, Jr. (1950), and Wake of the Red Witch (1948). There are currently no plans for a physical disc release.
Our friends at Shout! Factory have unveiled Candy, starring Heath Ledger, Geoffrey Rush, and Abbie Cornish, as a new Shout Select Blu-ray title to street on 12/3.
Shout has also announced that it plans to release the Satoshi Kon classic anime Millennium Actress on Blu-ray on 11/19.
Meanwhile, Scream Factory has set their Big Trouble in Little China: Collector’s Edition for release on Blu-ray on 12/3, and there will be day-and-date Steelbook and Blu-ray/Vinyl Limited Editions. You can read more about them all here.
Also coming from Shout! and Scream in December are Funan (BD, on 12/3 for GKids), IMAX: Turtle Odyssey (4K Ultra HD on 12/3), The High Chaparral: The Final Season (DVD, 12/10), the long-awaited The Fly Collection (BD, on 12/10), Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde (BD, 12/10), The Anne Bancroft Collection (BD, 12/10), the Universal Horror Collection: Volume 3 (The Black Cat, Tower of London, Man-Made Monster, and Horror Island – BD, 12/17), To the Devil a Daughter (BD, 12/17), Silver Bullet (BD, 12/17), and Murders in the Rue Morgue (BD, 12/17). You can see the cover artwork for some of them below.
Time Life is offering China Beach: The Complete Series on DVD for a discounted price exclusively at Walmart stores starting on 10/8. The price for the 19-disc/62 episode set is just $64.95.
For British readers, RLJ Entertainment will release The Truth Will Out (DVD) on September 3, Gwen (BD and DVD), Last Ones Out (DVD), and Ruin Me (DVD) on September 10, The Noonday Watch (BD) and Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, Midsomer Murders, and The Brokenwood Mysteries (all on DVD) with “holiday pop-up collectibles) on September 17, Satanic Panic (BD and DVD) on September 24, and Queens of Mystery (DVD) and A Discovery of Witches: Series One (BD and DVD) on October 1.
Meanwhile, Well Go USA has set The Lingering for release on Blu-ray on 10/15.
And finally, though it still hasn’t yet been announced, Amazon is now taking pre-orders on HBO’s Deadwood: The Movie on Blu-ray and DVD, with a street date of 10/8. You can see the official cover artwork below.
All right, we’ve been working to get a lot more reviews done here at The Bits lately, which takes a ton of time and effort (and in the case of Disney’s catalog MCU and Pixar titles, it means we have to buy them ourselves to do so). So we would surely appreciate it if you guys would consider ordering through our Amazon affiliate links (like this one) whenever you order anything from Amazon.com. It really helps us to keep the site moving forward and we appreciate it. You don’t have to use a specific title link either. Just click through ANY one of our links (again, like this one) and then literally anything you order in that same shopping session – Blu-rays, DVDs, 4Ks, action figures, books, auto parts, TVs, computer supplies, etc – counts in our favor. And keep in mind that if you pre-order a Blu-ray title at full price (before Amazon adds their usual 20-40% discount), you will get the sale price when they do. Again, we appreciate it. Thank you!
We’ll leave you today with a look at the cover artwork for a bunch of the titles mentioned above (with Amazon links if available)...
Back tomorrow. Stay tuned...!
-Bill Hunt
(You can follow Bill on social media at these links: Twitter and Facebook)