Displaying items by tag: Alien

We’ve got one more new disc review to close out the week...

Stuart has turned in his take on Michel Boisrond’s Naughty Girl (1956) on Blu-ray from Kino Classics. It’s a French comedy starring Brigitte Bardot.

And more reviews are forthcoming, including possibly starting this weekend. So be sure to keep your eyes peeled both here and on our various social media (including @billhuntbits and @thedigitalbits).

Now then, the big news today is that our friends at Arrow Video have just unveiled their January Blu-ray and 4K slate.

And as you might expect, it includes a couple of long-awaited gems, as well as a few titles other labels have released previously (but Arrow always makes their own versions special). [Read on here...]

As always, we’re starting the week off today with a few new disc reviews for you all to enjoy...

Stephen has taken a look at Kino Lorber Studio Classics’ new double feature Blu-ray of Robert Mandel’s F/X (1986) and its sequel, Richard Franklin’s F/X2 (1991).

Dennis has offered his thoughts on Bert Gordon’s Village of the Giants (1965) on Blu-ray, an Embassy Pictures title also from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

And Tim has turned in a review of a Spanish-language oldie, Ramon Peon’s La Llorona (1933), which is now available on Blu-ray via Powerhouse Films and their fine Indicator label.

Rest assured, more reviews are forthcoming all this week. [Read on here...]

All right, we’ll have a bit of additional announcement news for the week tomorrow here at The Bits, and I’ll be spending the afternoon working on a review of Akira Kurosawa’s Ran in 4K UHD, which will be posted then as well.

But today, I want to talk about Denis Villeneuve’s DUNE.

I had the opportunity last night to attend one of Warner and Legendary’s IMAX sneak peek events for the film as a member of the press.

A little background first... I would definitely go so far as to call myself an expert on the subject of science fiction cinema. I’ve been reading literary science fiction my entire life (including DUNE many times), I’m known in some circles to be well-versed on the topic human spaceflight, and I’m a life-long student of science in general. I read physics and astronomy research papers like some people read comic books.

So as I noted in my recent review of Voyagers in 4K, I have certain critical expectations of science fiction films and TV series. Is the story and its science setup plausible, or does it require too many contrivances or conveniences? Is the story logically consistent? Is the world-building credible and convincing? And most importantly, is the story entertaining, engaging, or thought-provoking? The vast majority of genre programming fails on one or more of those criteria. In other words, on both the big and small screen, truly great science fiction is rare. [Read on here...]

All right, we’re working on FOUR more 4K Ultra HD reviews for the next couple of days, at least of the first of which we hope to have posted later this afternoon.

In the meantime, we’ve just launched our second giveaway on The Digital Bits’ Facebook page, offering readers the chance to win one of Paramount’s three new Tom Cruise 4K Ultra HD titles – Top Gun, Days of Thunder, or War of the Worlds. All you have to do to enter is follow The Bits’ Facebook page and reply to this post (linked here) with your answer to the question you’ll find. Entries will be accepted until 11 AM Pacific tomorrow (Thursday, May 21). The contest is open to US residents only (due to COVID shipping restrictions—sorry!). THREE winners will be selected at random from the list of those who enter and will be announced tomorrow afternoon. Good luck!

Meanwhile today, we have a bit more announcement news... [Read on here...]

“Alien (like other 1970s films such as Jaws, Superman, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Godfather, and Star Wars) was a seminal landmark in the upgrade of shopworn B-movie clichés — monsters, comic book characters, flying saucers, gangsters, Saturday afternoon serials — into major A-movie assets.” — Paul M. Sammon, author of Ridley Scott: The Making of His Movies

The Digital Bits and History, Legacy & Showmanship are pleased to present this retrospective commemorating the 40th anniversary of the release of Alien, the sci-fi/horror classic about the five-man, two-woman (and one cat) crew of the Nostromo, who got more than they bargained for after investigating a distress signal from a mysterious planet.

Suspense, atmospheric moodiness and Oscar-winning visual effects were among the highlights of Alien, directed by Ridley Scott (Blade Runner, Gladiator) and starring Tom Skerritt (Top Gun), Veronica Cartwright (The Right Stuff), Harry Dean Stanton (Repo Man), John Hurt (The Elephant Man), Ian Holm (Chariots of Fire), Yaphet Kotto (Live and Let Die), and Sigourney Weaver (Ghostbusters) as Ellen Ripley. [Read on here...]

All right, first things first: We had a hard drive meltdown at the server farm a couple of days ago, the upshot of which is that The Bits (and several other sites) crashed for about a day. We’re on a newly-built server now and we seem to be back up and running, but it’s likely that there’s going to be some tweaking needed to get back to full stability. So anyway, we appreciate your patience. With a little luck, full normality should be restored by Monday morning.

In the meantime, I posted my in-depth review of Disney and Lucasfilm’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Blu-ray on Tuesday afternoon in case you missed it. I’ll have more to say about that subject in a minute.

Also, our own Tim Salmons has posted a new Pick-Ups review of Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life: 30th Anniversary Edition on Blu-ray. And Russell Hammond has posted the weekly update of the Release Dates & Artwork section with all the latest Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K cover artwork and Amazon.com pre-order links. Don’t forget, you can now sort titles by format in 4K in addition to DVD and Blu-ray. And a portion of anything you order from Amazon, after clicking to them from our links, goes to help support our work here at The Bits and we really appreciate it. [Read on here…]

Okay – how’s your Saturday going? The Bits crew has been down at San Diego Comic-Con the last couple days checking out all the BD-related stuff going on and we’re going to have a full report for you on Monday morning wrapping up all the details. There weren’t a ton of major announcements, and there was no sign of Abyss, True Lies, or The X-Files (though we will have updated information on those titles for you), but Shout! and Scream Factory certainly announced some impressive titles. We have posted a little bit of news on The Bits Facebook page, so be sure to check that out now if you’re interested.

Meanwhile, we thought you guys might enjoy a look at some pictures from the show floor, including your first good look at a number of upcoming (and in a few cases limited or exclusive) Blu-ray releases that were on display there, including Fox’s Comic-Con deluxe catalog BD sci-fi/fantasy title packaging, their X-Men “Cerebro” BD box set, the WETA-designed Planet of the Apes: Caesar Warrior box set, the Halloween Complete Collection, Pee-Wee’s Playhouse: The Complete Series, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, and more. So here’s the gallery. [Read on here…]

All right, here at The Bits today, our own Tim Salmons has checked in with a review of Eric Weston’s Evilspeak (1981) now available on Blu-ray from our friends at Scream Factory.

Meanwhile, Dr. Jahnke has turned in his weekly Burnt Offerings: MOD DVD column, covering this week’s latest small batch Manufactured on Demand catalog DVDs from Warner Archive and the Fox Cinema Archive. Enjoy! [Read on here…]