Displaying items by tag: Seven Samurai 4K restoration

We’re starting things off this week as always with another new disc review...

Stephen has just checked in with his in-depth thoughts on Roman Polanski’s Chinatown (1974) in 4K Ultra HD, a new Paramount Presents title that also includes Jack Nicholson’s 1990 sequel, The Two Jakes, on Blu-ray. Sounds like it’s a pretty good release, so do give it a look.

Speaking of good 4K, I had the great fortune yesterday afternoon to attend the West Coast premiere of the new Janus Films 4K restoration of Akira Kurosawa’s legendary masterpiece Seven Samurai (1954), which was held at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood. It was my... I don’t know, forty or fiftieth viewing of the film? And I brought my friend Tom Beckett-Maines along for his first ever viewing. It goes without saying that we both enjoyed the film, and it was very encouraging to experience it with a packed crowd filled with young people who were really into it. Tip of the hat to the American Cinematheque for a great screening. If I lived a little closer to L.A. I would definitely become a card-carrying member, because they always do it right.

I think we can reasonably expect that Seven Samurai will be announced for physical 4K Ultra HD release by Criterion sooner rather than later, and I personally can’t wait for it. I still have a few “holy grail” physical media releases on my bucket list, and one of them is surely a Blu-ray/4K Ultra HD upgrade of Criterion’s wonderful AK100 DVD box set. But I’ll take all the Kurosawa I can get in 4K in the meantime. [Read on here...]

We start today with more new disc reviews, including...

Stephen’s look at John Flynn’s Rolling Thunder (1977) and Kimberly Peirce’s Carrie (2013) in 4K Ultra HD, as well as Jonathan Kaplan’s Over the Edge (1979) on Blu-ray, all from Shout! Factory.

Stuart’s take on Ken Loach’s documentary The Spirit of ‘45 (2013) on Blu-ray from Vinegar Syndrome and Alain Cavalier’s Le Combat dans l’île (1962) on Blu-ray from Radiance Films.

And Dennis’ thoughts on Kino Classics’ Vitagraph Comedies Blu-ray, featuring 40 classic shorts on three discs.

Now then, in terms of actual announcement news, we’ve got a couple of items for you and they’re pretty great. But there’s even more unofficial news, that’s no less exciting! Let’s get to the actual announcement news first...

It starts today with word that Janus Films will be debuting a brand new 4K restoration of Akira Kurosawa’s legendary epic Seven Samurai (1954) next month in New York and Los Angeles! You’ll be able to see it on 7/5 at the Film Forum in NYC and on 7/7 at the American Cinematheque’s Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles. This is only my favorite film of all time. I will absolutely be at that Egyptian Theatre screening, and the fact that this restoration is now complete surely means that a physical 4K Ultra HD is coming later this year from Criterion as well. You can see the poster for this release at left, and the trailer is available for reviewing below the break. [Read on here...]