Displaying items by tag: James Gunn

Good afternoon, folks! We’re starting the week off with four new disc reviews...

Stuart has given Via Vision’s On the Buses Film Collection box set a review, which includes On the Buses (1971), Mutiny on the Buses (1972), and Holiday on the Buses (1973) all on Blu-ray. These of course are based on the popular British TV sitcom from the late 1960s and early 70s.

Dennis has taken a look at Raoul Walsh’s They Drive by Night (1940) on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection.

Stephen has offered his thoughts on Andrei Tarkovsky’s Nostalghia (1983) in 4K Ultra HD from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

And finally, I’ve completed an in-depth review of one of my favorite films: Sergio Leone’s magnificent Western epic Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) in 4K Ultra HD from Paramount via their Paramount Presents line. And I’m afraid the disc is... complicated.

In any case, more new disc reviews are on the way this week, so be sure to keep your eyes peeled for them! [Read on here...]

Today’s new disc reviews here on The Bits include...

Tim’s review of Phil Tucker’s Robot Monster (1953) on Blu-ray 3D from Bayview Entertainment.

Stuart’s in-depth take on the Essential Film Noir: Collection 4 Blu-ray box set from Imprint Films and Via Vision Entertainment, which features The Enforcer (1951), Beware, My Lovely (1952), Jennifer (1953), Rope of Sand (1949), and Appointment with Danger (1950).

And Dennis’ look at Elliott Nugent’s The Great Gatsby (1949) on Blu-ray also from Imprint and Via Vision.

In announcement news today, Lionsgate has set Jalmari Helander’s Sisu for release on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD on 7/11, with the Digital release available today. The 4K will be available in a wide-release Amaray SKU and also a Best Buy-exclusive Steelbook. Extras will include a pair of featurettes (Indestructible: Making Sisu and Pushing the Boundaries of Reality: The Visual Effects of Sisu). Audio on both the 4K and Blu-ray will be included in 5.1 Dolby TrueHD format. High dynamic range is likely HDR10 only on the 4K SKUs. [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...]

All right, Bits-ers... we’re checking in early this morning with more breaking news. But first as always, we have some new disc reviews for you...

First, Stephen has taken a look at Yves Boisset’s The Cop (1970) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

Stephen has also taken a deep-dive into Doug Liman’s Edge of Tomorrow (2014 – aka Live Die Repeat) in 4K Ultra HD from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment.

As always, more reviews are forthcoming, so be sure to stay tuned for them.

Now then, let’s get to that news: As we first reported here at The Digital Bits back on 12/6 (with follow ups on 12/20 and 1/4, not to mention the first hint way back in 2020), Paramount Home Entertainment has just officially announced the Blu-ray, 4K Ultra HD, and Limited Edition 4K UHD Steelbook release of Matthew Robbins’ Dragonslayer (1981) on 3/21! [Read on here...]

Today’s round of Halloween Bag-o-Tricks title reviews kicks off My Two Cents here at The Bits today, including...

Stephen’s look at Shin’ichiro Ueda’s One Cut of the Dead on Blu-ray from RLJE Entertainment.

His review of David Schmoeller’s Tourist Trap: VHS Retro Big Box Collection on Blu-ray from Full Moon Features.

And Tim’s take on the 1980 British TV entry Hammer House of Horror: The Complete Series on Blu-ray from Imprint Films. Enjoy!

Meanwhile, the big news this morning—though it’s not yet official in the form of an actual press release/announcement—is that HBO will definitely be releasing its excellent House of the Dragon: The Complete First Season on Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD on 12/20.

Extras on the set will feature “over one hour of bonus content” including two exclusive featurettes: Return to the Seven Kingdoms and Welcome to Westeros (with Ryan Condal, Miguel Sapochnik, and George R.R. Martin).

The 4K/Blu-ray combo set will be available in two different wide-release product SKUs, one in regular packaging and the other in Steelbook packaging. You can see the wide release version at left and both below. Both will feature Dolby Vision HDR and HDR10, as well as Dolby Atmos audio. [Read on here...]

We’re wrapping up the week here at The Digital Bits with a trio of additional disc reviews and a bit more release news too. First up, those reviews...

Tim kicks things off with a look at Jacques Tourneur’s 1964 horror-comedy classic The Comedy of Terrors, starring Vincent Price, Boris Karloff, and Peter Lorre. It’s coming to Blu-ray on 8/31 from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

Also, Dennis has offered his thoughts on Frank Perry’s Mommie Dearest, recently released as a new Paramount Presents Blu-ray edition.

And Stephen rounds things out today with his take on Robert Aldrich’s The Choirboys (1977) on Blu-ray also from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

Now then, in terms of release news, the British Film Institute has just surprised us all by announcing its very first 4K Ultra HD release and it’s a good one: Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal (1957). You can see the cover artwork at the left there. [Read on here...]

Boy, we’ve got a nice little bit of news for you all today...

Just a few days ago, I raved about the experience of seeing Sergei Bondarchuk’s War and Peace on the big screen. (You can read my thoughts on the experience here.) Well now, Criterion has just officially announced that it will highlight their June Blu-ray and DVD release slate!

The complete wave of titles includes a BD upgrade of A Film Trilogy by Ingmar Bergman (Through a Glass Darkly, Winter Light, and The Silence – Cat #209-211 – Blu-ray and DVD) on 6/4, George Stevens’ Swing Time (Cat #979 – Blu-ray and DVD) on 6/11, Bruno Dumont’s L’humanité (Cat #981 – Blu-ray and DVD) and La vie de Jésus (Cat #980 – Blu-ray and DVD) on 6/18, John Cameron Mitchell punk musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Cat #982 – Blu-ray and DVD) and – yes – Sergei Bondarchuk’s War and Peace (Cat #983 – Blu-ray and DVD) on 6/25! [Read on here...]

We’ve got a good release news update for you today here at The Bits. But first, a couple of items of note...

This is kind of important for us: It’s getting harder and harder to keep The Bits running, what with server, bandwidth, staff, and other operating costs that seem to be increasing all the time, even as advertising revenue is in decline. It’s a problem many websites are facing these days. But we’re lucky in that we’re an Amazon affiliate. So we’ve just posted the weekly update of our Release Dates & Artwork section here at The Bits, featuring all the latest Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD cover artwork and Amazon.com pre-order links. We’d like to humbly ask all our readers: Please use our links when ordering from Amazon. All you have to do is click through any one of our Amazon links here at the site, then we get affiliate credit for literally anything you order from Amazon in that same shopping session. It make a huge difference for us in allowing us to keep The Bits going. This support is critical; it’s the difference between continuing The Bits or not. So we thank you very much for supporting us in this way. [Read on here…]

All right... let’s have a release news update today, shall we?

First though, I have an update for you on the forthcoming 4K Ultra HD release of Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (due on 8/22), directly from Disney. I attended a press event for the title yesterday at Disney Studios in Burbank, and was able to ask some technical questions. First of all, Disney seems fairly bullish on the 4K Ultra HD format. As we’ve already reported, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales will be their second release on the format on 10/5. The studio is currently evaluating future releases in 4K and is likely to release most new release titles day and date on the format going forward, though there may be the occasional exception. Yes, of course I asked about the prospect of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story being released on the format in the months ahead, and no, they haven’t made a decision on this yet. Personally, I think there’s a decent chance we’ll see them in 4K in the next twelve months, but that’s just my own opinion... we’ll have to wait and see as Disney makes future announcements. We do expect Disney to announce more 4K titles in the next month or two. [Read on here…]

All right, no official update yet from Disney on the HDR on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 4K. There are reports that Dolby is claiming Dolby Vision will only be on the 4K streaming version, but we haven’t been able to confirm that yet. So stay tuned.

Disney has however, officially just announced (at D23) that they’re releasing Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD on 10/3, with the Digital release due on 9/19. We know that it will have HDR (so HDR-10, no word specifically of Dolby Vision) and that it will include Dolby Atmos audio. “Bonus material includes a collection of behind-the-scenes, making-of stories, including a conversation with directors Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg; a sit-down with the two young newcomers who play Henry and Carina; the secrets behind the menacing new villain, Salazar, and his ferocious ghost sharks; an on-set visit with Jack’s first mate from all five films; a chat with Sir Paul McCartney who appears as Uncle Jack; and a discussion about the franchise’s legacy; along with hilarious bloopers, deleted scenes and memories from producer Jerry Bruckheimer’s photo diary.” No other details are yet available. You can see the cover art at left.

Meanwhile, we have two new Blu-ray reviews for you today: Tim has checked out Vinegar Syndrome’s Psycho Cop Returns and Psychic Killer, both worth your time if you’re a fan of the genre. Do check them out. [Read on here…]