Displaying items by tag: Neon

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 some good title announcement news to start the week off today, along with a round-up of other release news odds and ends...

First up, Paramount and CBS have finally officially set Star Trek: Lower Decks – Season Four for Blu-ray and DVD release on 4/16.

The 2-disc set contains all 10 episodes of the season, along with the following special features:

• Audio Commentary by Jack Quaid, Mike McMahan, and Brad Winters (Ep. 401)
• Audio Commentary by Tawny Newsome, Noël Wells and Gabrielle Ruiz (Ep. 404)
• Audio Commentary by Noël Wells, Eugene Cordero, Chase Masterson and Mike McMahan (Ep. 406)
• Audio Commentary by Dawnn Lewis, Tawny Newsome and Mike McMahan (Ep. 409)
• Audio Commentary by Robert Duncan McNeill and Mike McMahan (Ep. 410)
• Lower Decktionary: Setting Up Season 4 (featurette)
• Old Friends (featurette)

You can see the cover artwork at left and also below the break.

While we’re on the topic of Paramount, look for the studio to release Mark Waters’ original Mean Girls (2004) on 4K Ultra HD on 4/30. You can see that cover artwork below the break as well. [Read on here...]

More new disc reviews and more release news—that’s the order of business for today here at The Bits!

We start with Tim’s look at S.S. Wilson’s Tremors 2: Aftershocks (1996) in 4K Ultra HD from our good friends over at Arrow Video. Looks like they’ve done a nice job on this title, so do check it out.

Speaking of which, we’ve gotten a look at Arrow’s new Conan the Barbarian (1982) and Conan the Destroyer (1984) 4K Ultra HDs, and—by Crom—they’re fantastic! Watch for our in-depth reviews over the next few days here at the site.

Also today, we have another Toho Japanese kaiju 4K review from Stephen, who takes a look at Ishirō Honda’s Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964) on Ultra HD. Keep in mind, these titles do not include English subtitles, but there’s a workaround for that with certain models of UHD player. Stephen explains it all in the review.

In announcement news this morning, Neon has finally officially set the Blu-ray and DVD release of Michael Mann’s Ferrari (2023) for 3/12, with the 4K Digital release expected to drop tomorrow. Extras will include 5 behind-the-scenes featurettes, among them Michael Mann: Building the World, Building Perfection, The Mille Miglia, Adam Driver on Enzo Ferrari, and Penélope Cruz on Laura Ferrari. The Blu-ray will include Dolby Atmos audio. You can see the cover artwork at left and also below. [Read on here...]

We’re starting our first big news update of the week here at The Bits with some new disc reviews, as always. So now available for your reading enjoyment are...

Stephen’s in-depth reviews of both the wide release 4K Ultra HD and the Disney Movie Club-exclusive “quad” 4K Ultra HD release of Walt Disney’s classic animated Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). The good news is that Disney’s positive change in direction with 4K catalog releases is officially no fluke—the disc features absolutely beautiful 35mm film remastering with lovely grain structure and wonderfully vibrant colors.

Stephen has also turned in a review of Michael Cimino’s Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974) in 4K Ultra HD from Kino Lorber Studio Classics, which also features terrific new remastering.

And Stuart has delivered a look at Norman Taurog’s Spinout (1966) on Blu-ray from our friends at the Warner Archive Collection.

As always, more new reviews are on the way later this week, so be sure to watch for them.

Now then... in announcement news today, the Criterion Collection has officially revealed their January 2024 release slate. [Read on here...]

All right, we’ve got some ground to cover today here at The Bits, so first things first. We have a trio of new disc reviews for you to enjoy this afternoon, including...

Tim’s take on Amando de Ossorio’s Tombs of the Blind Dead (1972) on Blu-ray from Synapse Films.

And Dennis’ thoughts on William A Wellman’s Westward the Women (1951) on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection, as well as James Foley’s After Dark, My Sweet (1990) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

Don’t forget, Amazon’s Prime “Big Deal” Days Sale continues until the end of the day today, so be sure to take advantage of all the great prices on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD titles, box sets, and collections. Click here and here to see what’s on sale and act fast!

For the record, some of today’s deals include...

• Universal Classic Monsters: Icons of Horror 4K UHD (regularly $79.99) Now $29
• The Alfred Hitchcock Classics Collection 4K UHD (regularly $69.98) Now $38
• The Alfred Hitchcock Classics Collection #2 4K UHD (regularly $69.98) Now $38

• Game of Thrones: The Complete Collection 4K UHD (regularly $219) Now $94
• Batman: The Complete Animated Series Blu-ray (regularly $79) Now $24
• Superman: The Complete Animated Series Blu-ray (regularly $69) Now $19
• The Last of Us: The Complete First Season Blu-ray (regularly $49) Now $26
• Battlestar Galactica: The Complete Series Blu-ray (regularly $99) Now $49
• Bonanza: The Complete Series DVD (regularly $244) Now $159

• Back to the Future: The Ultimate Trilogy 4K UHD (regularly $55) Now $23
• The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy (Extended & Theatrical) 4K UHD (regularly $89) Now $39
• Harry Potter: 8-Film Collection 4K UHD (regularly $178) Now $59
• Mission: Impossible 6-Movie Collection 4K UHD (regularly $83) Now $50
• The Godfather Trilogy 4K UHD (regularly $90) Now $54
• The James Bond Collection 24-Films Blu-ray (regularly $144) Now $54

So be sure to act fast if you’re interested.

Also today here at the site, we’ve got word on some long-awaited 4K Ultra HD catalog titles... [Read on here...]

We’ve got some interesting release news for you today, as well as updates on forthcoming 4K catalog titles we’ve been tracking for a while, and of course more new disc reviews. So let’s get to the latter first...

Our own Stephen Bjork has posted his in-depth review of Loki: The Complete First Season in 4K Ultra HD Steelbook from Marvel Studios and Disney. The short version is that the studio really does seem to have done this title right, in terms of AV quality, which bodes well for forthcoming Disney+ streaming series in 4K UHD.

Stephen has also turned in a look at Barry Levinson’s Rain Man (1988) in 4K Ultra HD from the MVD Marquee Collection.

And Stuart has delivered his take on Kino Lorber Studio Classic’s Audie Murphy Collection II on Blu-ray, which features Sierra (1950), Kansas Raiders (1950), and Destry (1954).

In terms of new release news, we’re hearing from retail sources that Universal’s forthcoming Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD release of David Gordon Green’s The Exorcist: Believer (2023) will arrive in stores on 12/19.

Lionsgate has also delayed their 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray release of Jean-Luc Godard’s Contempt (1963) from 9/26 to 10/24. Adjust your plans accordingly. [Read on here...]

We’ve got a couple quick updates for you over the long Labor Day weekend here at The Bits...

The big one is that Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has just set David Anspaugh’s Rudy (1993) for release on 4K Ultra HD on 11/11, complete with both the 114-minute Theatrical Cut and a new 127-minute Director’s Cut in 4K, with Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos audio. Both are fully restored from original camera negative and the process was approved by the director. The 4K disc also includes English 5.1 DTS-HD MA for both versions, plus 2.0 audio for the Theatrical Cut. You also get a new commentary with Anspaugh and screenwriter Angelo Pizzo on the Director’s Cut, 5 additional deleted scenes, and the film’s trailer.

The package will also include the previous Blu-ray that offers 5.1 audio and 3 legacy featurettes (Rudy: The Real Story, Production, and First Down with Sean Astin). It comes in Steelbook packaging. You can see the cover artwork at left and also below the break.

Also today, Mondo Macabro and CAV have set Stephen Sayadian’s Dr. Caligari (1989) for release on 4K Ultra HD on 11/14, featuring both full frame and 1.85 theatrical versions, an isolated music and effects track, audio commentary with the director, and several interview featurettes. Audio will be 2.0 DTS-HD MA. [Read on here...]

All right, we’ve got a bunch more great new 4K Ultra HD catalog news to report today, and more new disc reviews as well...

As expected, I posted my review of producer Glen A. Larson’s original Battlestar Galactica (1978) in 4K Ultra HD from Universal late last night, and it’s a pretty detailed look at the film and its history.

Also today, Tim has gone in-depth on Martin Scorsese’s Hugo (2011), which is now available in a terrific new 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray 3D package from the good people of Arrow Video.

Dennis has checked in today as well with a look at Robert Wise’s Helen of Troy (1956) on Blu-ray from the always excellent Warner Archive Collection.

And Stuart rounds things out this afternoon with his thoughts on Marcel Ophul’s fascinating documentary on the Nazi occupation of France during World War II, The Sorrow and the Pity (1969) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber.

Back to Arrow briefly: The company has just revealed on their social media feed that—in response to customer requests—they’re going to be including Michael Mann’s excellent Blackhat: Director’s Cut on Blu-ray in their forthcoming 4K UHD and Blu-ray packages! Thus the street date is going to be pushed back from 10/31 to 11/28. But the Director’s Cut—which has never been released on home video—is significantly different that the other two cuts of the film already being included on the release, so this is a terrific and welcome addition. Tip of the hat to Arrow for going the extra mile on this one. [Read on here...]

All right, today’s news update is going to be a very quick one, because I’m hard at work on 4K UHD reviews of James Cameron’s Avatar and Avatar: The Way of Water. Hopefully, we should have at least one of them up tomorrow.

But first, we have several more new disc reviews for you to enjoy today, starting with...

My own in-depth look at Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – Season One in 4K Ultra HD from CBS Studios and Paramount Home Entertainment. The series is far from perfect, but what’s good is very good and it’s the most like the classic Trek we know and love that modern incarnations of this franchise have ever been, save for Picard: Season Three. (More on that in a moment.)

Also today, Tim has reviewed Michael Winner’s original Death Wish (1974) in 4K Ultra HD from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

Stephen has taken a look at Gaspar Noé’s Irreversible: Special Edition (2002) on Blu-ray from Altered Innocence and Vinegar Syndrome.

Dennis has reviewed Amanda Kramer’s Please Baby Please (2022) on Blu-ray from Music Box Films and Vinegar Syndrome.

And Stuart has checked out Maigret: Season 3 (1962), the classic BBC TV series, which comes to Blu-ray as part of a final arrangement between the now defunct Network Distributing and Kino Classics. [Read on here...]