Displaying items by tag: 4K Ultra HD Release List update

Morning everyone, and welcome to the first week of July!

I’ve been very busy over the weekend working on new disc reviews, frankly probably a little too hard—I should probably have taken more of a break to recharge. Nevertheless, I’ve completed a trio of new reviews for you all to enjoy, so today we present...

My take on Luc Besson’s La Femme Nikita (1990) new on 4K Ultra HD Steelbook from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment—a great 4K remaster of one of my favorite films.

My look at Ron Frank’s funny and poignant documentary Remembering Gene Wilder (2023) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber—which covers the actor’s life and career in detail, and features interviews with Mel Brooks and other friends.

And finally, my review of a surprise title that just arrived on Sunday morning: Jan de Bont’s Twister (1996) in 4K Ultra HD from Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment—a terrific remaster that leaves this film looking and sounding better than it ever has before.

I’m also working to finish another review today, which is Alex Garland’s Civil War. I expect to have that up here by tomorrow. And of course, the rest of the Bits team is working on new reviews as well, so be sure to check back for those over the coming days.

Now then, in announcement news this afternoon, Universal has officially set David Leitch’s The Fall Guy (2024) for release on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD on 7/23. The package will include both the Theatrical Cut and an Extended Cut of the film with 20 minutes of additional footage. Extras will feature audio commentary on both of those with director Leitch and producer Kelly McCormick, a gag reel, alternate takes, the 5-part Stunts on Stunts: Breaking Down the Action documentary, and 6 featurettes (Making a Meta Masterpiece, How to Break a World Record, Nightclub Mayhem, The Art of Doubling, Making Metalstorm, and Falling for The Fall Guy with Rob Reese). You can see the cover artwork at left and also below. [Read on here...]

All right, we haven’t had a lot of news updates this week, because frankly there just hasn’t been a lot of news to report. And also because we’ve all been working on a lot of disc reviews for you to enjoy. In fact, today we have no less than TEN to share with you, including...

My thoughts on Guy Ritchie’s The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare (2024) in 4K Ultra HD from Lionsgate, Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams (1990) in 4K UHD from The Criterion Collection, and Gil Kenan’s Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024) in 4K UHD from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

Tim’s review of Ernie Fosselius’ Hardware Wars (1978) on Blu-ray and Albert Band’s Ghoulies II (1987) in 4K UHD from the MVD Rewind Collection, Gualtiero Jacopetti and Franco Prosperi’s Goodbye Uncle Tom (1971) in 4K from Blue Underground (which is definitely not for the faint of heart), and Jason Reitman’s Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021) in 4K UHD from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

Dennis’ take on Ted Geoghegan’s Brooklyn 45 (2023) on Blu-ray from Shudder.

And Stephen’s look at Mark Waters’ Mean Girls (2004) on 4K Ultra HD from Paramount, as well as the import version of Michael Mann’s Ferrari (2023) in 4K UHD from Neon and Sky via Universal in UK.

More reviews are on the way for Monday, including my look at Luc Besson’s La Femme Nikika (1990) in 4K from Sony, and Alex Garland’s Civil War (2024) in 4K from Lionsgate, so be sure to watch for them.

Also, just a heads up: Our very own Russell Hammond has posted the new update of our ever-popular Release Dates and Cover Art section (see Cover Art above), which includes all the latest Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD cover art and Amazon.com pre-order links. As always, you can sort by date, by format, even isolate the Criterion titles! And as an Amazon Affiliate, literally anything you order from Amazon after clicking to them through one of our links (like this one) goes to help support our work here at The Bits and we greatly appreciate it! [Read on here...]

We’re starting the new week here at The Bits, as always, with more new disc reviews...

Stephen has turned in his thoughts on Albert Magnoli’s celebration of all things Prince, Purple Rain (1984), in 4K Ultra HD from Warner Bros. Discover Home Entertainment. The film celebrates its 40th anniversary this summer, and the city of Minneapolis has been partying all weekend in honor of it (more on that here).

Also, I’ve shared my thoughts on Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999) in 4K Ultra HD from Paramount Home Entertainment. I’m not sure the title actually needed a 4K upgrade, but what the heck—blame Canada. You can read all the details here.

And Dennis has shared his perspective on The Wachowskis’ Bound (1996), which is new on Blu-ray (and 4K UHD) from our friends at The Criterion Collection.

More reviews are forthcoming this week, so be sure to stay tuned for them.

Now then... we’ve got a pretty significant piece of industry news to share with you today. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has completed an “umbrella” distribution deal with Studio Distribution Services (SDS) that covers not only their own Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD product, but also titles from Lionsgate and Disney (along with 20th Century Studios, Touchstone, Hollywood Pictures, and the other Disney-owned labels), which Sony produces for those studios. We first broke the news of this for our Patreon subscribers over the weekend.

The reason this deal is important is that it guarantees Sony, Disney, 20th Century Studios, and Lionsgate a direct and stable distribution channel for their physical media product into Walmart stores. And as we’ve reported previously, Walmart is the biggest disc retailer in North America with a whopping 45% share of the disc sales market (as of earlier this year—that number may have grown a bit with the recent exit of Best Buy, which had approximately 4% of the business). [Read on here...]

We’ve got two more new disc reviews for you to enjoy today, including...

My take on Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s Team America: World Police in 4K Ultra HD from Paramount, which streets this coming Tuesday.

Also, my review of Alfonso Cuarón’s Gravity (2013), which is available in a new reissue Blu-ray (essentially a repackage of the 2015 Diamond Luxe Edition with Dolby Atmos audio) from Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment.

I’m working on more disc reviews for early next week, including South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut (1999) and also The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare (2024), both in 4K UHD. And the rest of the review team will be back next week as well with a bunch more.

In announcement news today, Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment has officially set Ishana Night Shyamalan’s The Watchers (2024) for release on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD on 8/27. Expect the Digital release to become available on 6/28. Extras will include 4 featurettes (Welcome to the Show: The Making of The Watchers, Creating The Watchers, Constructing the Coop, and Ainriochtán and the Irish Fairy Folklore) as well as a deleted scene. You can see the cover artwork at left and also below. [Read on here...]

We’ve got several new disc reviews to share with you today, including...

My take on Michael Apted’s Thunderheart (1992) in its first-ever U.S. Blu-ray release from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

Stephen’s look at Adam Wingard’s Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024) in 4K Ultra HD from Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment.

Dennis’s thoughts on Adam Egypt Mortimer’s Daniel Isn’t Real (2019) on Blu-ray from Vinegar Syndrome and Jeremy Kagan’s Big Man on Campus (1989) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

And Stuart’s reviews of Ingmar Bergman’s Face to Face (1976) on Blu-ray from Imprint Films and Noboru Nakamura’s The Shape of Night (1964) on Blu-ray from Radiance Films.

We’ll have more new reviews here at The Bits tomorrow as well, so be sure to check back for them early!

In title announcements today, the big news is that Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment has officially set George Miller’s Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024) for release on Blu-ray, DVD, 4K Ultra HD, and 4K + BD Steelbook on 8/13. The Digital release is expected on 6/25. [Read on here...]

Welcome to a new week here at The Bits!

We certainly hope you enjoyed your weekend. And special thanks to all those of you who joined us for our members-only live chat on The Bits’ Patreon on Saturday. Lots of good questions were asked and answered, and it’s something we’re going to be doing more often in the future.

We’ve got some good announcement news here at the site today, starting with word that The Criterion Collection has just officially unveiled their September release slate, which will include a 4K upgrade of Alex Cox’s Repo Man (1984) (Spine #654 – 4K UHD + Blu-ray) on 9/3, Andrew Haigh’s All of Us Strangers (2023) (Spine #1234 – 4K UHD + Blu-ray and Blu-ray) on 9/10, a 4K upgrade of John Mackenzie’s The Long Good Friday (1980) (Spine #26 – 4K UHD + Blu-ray and Blu-ray) on 9/17, and Gregg Araki’s Teen Apocalypse Trilogy—including Totally F***ed Up (1993), The Doom Generation (1995), and Nowhere (1997)—(Spine #1233 – 4K UHD + Blu-ray and Blu-ray) and Todd Solondz’s Happiness (1998) (Spine #1235 – 4K UHD + Blu-ray and Blu-ray) on 9/24. [Read on here...]

We’re rounding out the week here at The Bits with a pair of additional disc reviews, including...

Stephen’s thoughts on Yuzuru Tachikawa’s anime Blue Giant (2023) on Blu-ray from GKids via Shout! Studios.

And Dennis’ take on Sophie Compton and Reuben Hamlyn’s Another Body (2023) on Blu-ray from Vinegar Syndrome.

Also today, we’ve updated our 4K Ultra HD Release List here at The Bits with all the latest announced 4K titles as well as those we’ve learned are coming from our industry sources.

Over on our Patreon page, many of you have asked us for an Annual Membership option in order to get the best value while backing us and supporting The Bits there. So we’re very pleased to finally make it available today. Signing up as a Patreon supporter of The Bits via the Annual Membership option (at whatever support level you choose) gives you a 10% discount.

And while we’re talking Patreon, we’re going to be holding a members-only Digital Bits: “Ask Us Anything” Live Chat on Patreon tomorrow (Saturday, June 15th) at 11 AM Pacific (1 PM Central, or 6 PM UTC). I’ll be on hand to participate, along with Tim Salmons and Stephen Bjork. You can ask us about physical media, 4K, Blu-ray, film in general, our work, our interests—pretty much any topic other than politics is fair game. While there may be a few questions (about specific upcoming titles) that we can’t answer, we’ll do our best to tackle all questions as they come in. Our goal is to go live for at least an hour. And if everything goes smoothly, we’ll continue for a second hour (provided there’s enough demand/questions to warrant doing so). We hope to see you there! [Read on here...]

Just another quick update today, but new disc reviews here at The Bits this afternoon include...

Stuart’s take on Kōhei Oguri’s The Sting of Death (1990) (aka Shi no toge) on Blu-ray from Shochiku via Radiance Films.

Tim’s look at Tinto Brass’ All Ladies Do It (1992) in 4K Ultra HD from Cult Epics.

And Dennis’ thoughts on Anthony Mann’s Devil’s Doorway (1950) on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection.

In announcement news today, Lionsgate has officially set Guy Ritchie’s The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare (2024) for release on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD on 6/25, with the Digital release expected on 6/18.

The film, which stars Henry Cavill, Eiza González, and Alan Ritchson, is based on a true story and has been well reviewed, with many critics calling it Ritchie’s best work in years. [Read on here...]

Today’s update is a quick one, but we’re starting with more new disc reviews...

Tim has posted his thoughts on Guillermo del Toro’s Crimson Peak (2015) in 4K Ultra HD from Arrow Video, as well as Hanna-Barbera’s Top Cat and the Beverly Hills Cats (1988) on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection.

And Dennis has reviewed Francis Ford Coppola’s The Rain People (1969) on Blu-ray, also from the Warner Archive Collection.

In announcement news today, Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment has just made Albert Magnoli’s Purple Rain (1984) official for release in physical 4K Ultra HD and 4K Digital on 6/25 (SRP $33.99 for the disc). As expected, the disc will include audio commentary by Magnoli, Robert Cavallo, and Donald E. Thorin, 3 featurettes (First Avenue: The Road to Pop Royalty, Purple Rain Backstage Pass: Behind the Scenes, and Riffs, Ruffles and a Revolution: The Impact and Influence of Purple Rain), the MTV Premiere Party Original Broadcast, a gallery of Prince movie trailers, and 8 music videos for songs from the film. [Read on here...]

We’re starting this week off with a pair of major new disc reviews here at The Bits...

Stephen has taken a deep dive into Jonathan Demme’s legendary concert film, Stop Making Sense (1984), newly-restored in 4K Ultra HD and available exclusively from the A24 online shop. This is arguably the greatest concert film ever produced, featuring the music of Talking Heads and the cinematography of Jordan Cronenweth (he shot this right after completing work on Blade Runner and Buckaroo Banzai).

I’ve also finished my in-depth review of Denis Villeneuve’s magnificent Dune: Part Two (2024) in 4K Ultra HD from Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment. It’s an epic pure-cinema masterpiece and, along with Dune: Part One, rightly takes its place alongside Stanley Kubrick’s 2001 and Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner as one of the greatest science fiction films of all time. And while one could pick a few nits with Warner’s 4K release, the A/V quality is demo-worthy.

Both films are absolutely not to be missed on disc, so be sure to give the reviews a look. And more reviews are on the way this week, so be sure to watch for those.

In release news today, the big item worth mentioning is that Paramount has just set Alexander Payne’s Election (1999) for release on 4K Ultra HD on 7/30 as a new Paramount Presents title. You can see the cover artwork at left. [Read on here...]