Displaying items by tag: Luc Besson

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...]

We’re starting this week with a trio of great new disc reviews here at The Bits, including...

Stuart’s thoughts on Kenneth Branagh’s A Midwinter’s Tale (1995) on Blu-ray from Castle Rock Entertainment via the always excellent Warner Archive Collection.

And Stephen’s take on Oldřich Lipský’s The Mysterious Castle in the Carpathians (1981) on Blu-ray from Deaf Crocodile and Vinegar Syndrome, as well as his look at John Carpenter’s Starman (1984) in 4K Ultra HD from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment as featured in their excellent Columbia Classics 4K Ultra HD Collection: Volume 4 box set!

All of these are fascinating titles and well worth a look.

Before we continue, I mentioned Warner Archive a moment ago: All of us here at The Digital Bits would like to take a moment today to salute our dear friend George Feltenstein and everyone who has contributed to the Warner Archive Collection over the years—the fan-favorite boutique label just celebrated its 15th anniversary on Saturday! Here’s to many more years and all the fantastic Blu-ray and DVD catalog titles to come. Well done, folks!

In announcement news today, Kino Lorber Studio Classics has just set Mark DiSalle’s The Perfect Weapon (1991) and Stephen Norrington’s Death Machine (1994) for Blu-ray release on 5/21. The company has also revealed that Gary Nelson’s Noble House (1988) miniseries is coming soon to Blu-ray, and also that Richard Stanley’s Dust Devil (1992) is coming soon to both Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD. [Read on here...]

All right, we’ve got a couple new disc reviews to start the proceedings here at The Bits today...

I’ve taken a look at the first season of HBO’s new His Dark Materials series on Blu-ray, which is pretty good. Fans of the Philip Pullman books will be pleased to know that this is a solid adaptation. I just wish HBO would release the series in 4K, because the film was shot natively in 4.5K and 6K and finished in 4K, so it should look tremendous. Anyway, the Blu-ray release is solid enough (and Season Two starts in November).

Also, I’ve reviewed Luc Besson’s The Fifth Element as newly released in 4K by StudioCanal in the UK. And here’s the thing: Though the disc has no extras (and its remastered Blu-ray is Region B locked), StudioCanal’s 4K features a new and better encode than the previous Sony Ultra HD release, with much higher data rates, and Dolby Vision HDR. It’s a notable improvement in image quality. So serious fans of the film may want to consider it. Click here for all the details. [Read on here...]

We’ve got some more new reviews for you today, and some interesting news as well. So let’s get to it.

First up, the reviews...

I’ve offered my thoughts on Luc Besson’s Anna on 4K Ultra HD from Summit and Lionsgate.

And Tim has turned in looks at Roy Ward Baker’s Scars of Dracula (1970) on Blu-ray, a Hammer title from Scream Factory, as well as Scream’s Humanoids from the Deep Steelbook Blu-ray.

With a little luck, we’ll have at least a couple more reviews tomorrow as well, so be sure to check back.

We’ve also got a street date update for you on a few titles: Look for Warner’s It: Chapter Two on BD, DVD, and 4K on 12/10. Lionsgate will release Red Heat on 4K on 10/8 (coming from Studio Canal in the UK). And Fox is expected to release The Art of Racing in the Rain on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K on 11/5. [Read on here...]

We’ve got just a quick update for you here at The Bits today, but it’s a good one...

First, Disney has just officially announced the Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD release of Toy Story 4 on 10/8, with the Digital release expected a week earlier on 10/1.

The 4K disc (and digital release) will include Dolby Atmos audio, while the Blu-ray will feature 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio. Expect the physical to offer HDR10 high dynamic range, while the digital 4K has Dolby Vision. Extras will include audio commentary with director Josh Cooley and his team, 4 featurettes (Toy Stories, Woody & Buzz, Bo Rebooted, and Let’s Ride with Ally Maki), a collection of mini-docs on the film’s characters called Toy Box, 6 deleted scenes with optional commentary (including Scamming Playtime, Bo Knows Hippos, Desperate Toys, Knock-Offs, Recruit Duke, and She’s the One) and more. [Read on here...]

We’ve got some interesting announcement news for you today...

First up, Lionsgate has just announced the 10/8 Blu-ray and DVD release of Ari Aster’s horror film Midsommar, with the Digital version coming on 9/24 from A24. Extras will include the Let the Festivities Begin: Manifesting Midsommar featurette and the “Bear in a Cage” promo.

Speaking of horror, Paramount has set Netflix’s The Haunting of Hill House for release on Blu-ray and DVD on 10/15, including all 10 episodes plus extended director’s cut versions of 3 episodes (Steven Sees a Ghost, The Bent-Neck Lady, and Silence Lay Steadily) and audio commentary by director Mike Flanagan on 4 episodes (the three extended episodes plus Two Storms). [Read on here...]

We’ve got some great new announcements for you today. First up though, Tim has turned in a review of Dan O’Bannon’s The Resurrected on Blu-ray from our friends over at Scream Factory. It’s a fun disc, so do give it a look if you’re of a mind to. Now then...

In announcement news today, Monsieur David Lynch has, his very own bad self, announced the forthcoming Blu-ray and DVD release of Twin Peaks: The Third Season via Twitter today. Look for it on 12/5 from CBS Home Entertainment and Showtime. We expect that they’ll have cooked up some nice extras to go with that tasty slice pie, so watch for further details in the weeks ahead. You can see the cover artwork below. We’ll add the Amazon link as soon as it goes live.

Also on the TV front today, are there any Game of Thrones fans in the house? HBO has just officially set Game of Thrones: The Complete Seventh Season for release on Blu-ray and DVD on 12/12, with the Digital HD version due on 9/25. [Read on here…]

All right, this is just a quick update, as we have work happening on the server today.

But... we’ve got final details for you – and official cover artwork – on the Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD release of Luc Besson’s Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets from Lionsgate. (We’d listed Sony as the distributor yesterday – that’s incorrect. Sorry. Loooooong day.)

In any case, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets will street on Blu-ray Combo, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD Combo on 11/21, as expected, with the Digital HD release due on 11/7. The 4K Ultra HD release will feature both Dolby Vision HDR – which should make it a real stunner – and also Dolby Atmos audio. [Read on here…]

We’ve got a few things for you today here at The Bits, so let’s get right to it...

First up, we’ve posted a trio of new disc reviews, including Tim’s thoughts on Arrow’s The Slayer and Sony’s The Amazing Spider-Man: Limited Edition Collection on Blu-ray, and also Jim Hemphill’s take on CBS’s NCIS: The Complete Fourteenth Season on DVD. Enjoy and know that more reviews are on the way, including more 4K!

Also here at The Bits today, we’ve just posted the weekly Release Dates and Artwork update, featuring all the latest Blu-ray, 3D, DVD & 4K Ultra HD cover artwork and Amazon.com pre-order links. As always, whenever you order literally anything from Amazon (in the same session) after clicking through to them from our links, you’re helping to support our work here at The Bits and we appreciate it very much. [Read on here…]

All right, here’s great news for fans of director Luc Besson and 4K Ultra HD: As we predicted earlier this week (see our story here), Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has officially announced the 4K Ultra HD release of Besson’s The Fifth Element and Léon: The Professional on 7/11, timed to coincide with the theatrical release of Besson’s new science fiction film Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets just ten days later.

Both discs will include both 4K and Blu-ray Discs, the latter containing all of the archival special features. Each 4K disc will include Dolby Atmos audio. Léon: The Professional will include both the theatrical and extended cuts in full 4K resolution. And The Fifth Element will include the all new The Director’s Notes: Luc Besson Looks Back featurette. [Read on here…]