Displaying items by tag: Universal Studios Home Entertainment

The big release news today, of course, is that Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment has announced the Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD release of Greta Gerwig’s Barbie on 10/17. The Digital version is already available. Now the highest-grossing film in Warner Bros’ 100-year history (per the studio’s own press release), the 4K will include HDR10 high dynamic range, along with English Dolby Atmos audio (the Blu-ray will include Atmos as well). Both discs will also offer six behind-the-scenes featurettes (including Welcome to Barbie Land, Becoming Barbie, Playing Dress-Up, Musical Make-Believe, All-Star Barbie Party, and It’s a Weird World). You can see the cover artwork at left and also below.

Warner Bros. has also officially set The Nun II for Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD release on 11/14, with the Digital version set to become available for purchase today (10/3). Extras will include two featurettes (Demons in Paradise and Handcrafter Nightmares). Audio on both the Blu-ray SKUs will be Dolby Atmos.

And in international release news, our friends at Turbine Medien GmbH in Germany have just set Chris McKay’s Renfield for release on 4K Ultra HD Steelbook in December. [Read on here...]

We’ve got a bunch of great title announcement news and “revels” to report today, so let’s get right to it...

First up, our friends at Kino Lorber Studio Classics have just revealed on their social media that they’re working on a new 4K Ultra HD release of Fred Dekker’s The Monster Squad (1987)! And we have street date: Look for it to arrive on 11/28, complete with a new 4K scan of the original camera negative with Dolby Vision HDR on a UHD-100 disc. The 3-disc set will also include the film remastered in 1080p HD on Blu-ray (which will also be available separately) and you’ll get a bonus disc with the Wolfman’s Got Nards (2018) documentary. Plus the set will include a ton of legacy special features. You can see the 4K cover artwork at left.

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has also just revealed the Region A/US Blu-ray release of Ron Moore and Apple TV+’s fantastic alternate/near future science fiction series For All Mankind: Season One. Look for that to street on 11/14. Unfortunately, no 4K Ultra HD release is currently planned. Also, the cover artwork leaves a lot to be desired; it’s identical to the key art used on Dazzler’s UK release (which we reviewed here) but it shares nothing in common with the show’s actual logo or promotional artwork, causing a number of fans we’ve heard from to say it looks like a bootleg. In any case, it’s a great series—one of my favorites actually, along with Apple TV’s Foundation—and it’s great to finally have a legit US Blu-ray option. You can see the cover (with the Amazon pre-order link) below the break.

Sony has also just set FX’s Justified: City Primeval – Season One for release on Blu-ray and DVD on 11/14. And we’ve got that cover artwork for you below as well. [Read on here...]

Welcome to the new week, Bits-ers! We’re starting as always today with a trio of new disc reviews for you to check out...

Stuart has offered his thoughts on Andrei Konchalovsky’s Duet for One (1986) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

Dennis has delivered a look at Renato Polselli’s Delirium (1972) on Blu-ray from Vinegar Syndrome.

And Tim rounds things out with his review of George A. Romero’s Creepshow (1982) in 4K Ultra HD from Scream Factory.

We also have several more reviews currently in the works for the next few days, so be sure to keep checking back for them.

The big news this morning is that the Criterion Collection has just unveiled its December slate of titles, including one new 4K Ultra HD release. The slate includes an upgraded version of Allen Baron’s Blast of Silence (1961) (Spine #428 – Blu-ray and DVD) on 12/5, followed by The Red Balloon and Other Stories: Five Films by Albert Lamorisse (1951-1965) (Spine #1200 – Blu-ray and DVD – includes Bim, the Little Donkey, White Mane, The Red Balloon, Stowaway in the Sky, and Circus Angel) and Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (2022) (Spine #1201 – 4K UHD + Blu-ray, Blu-ray, and DVD) on 12/12.

You can see the cover art for Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio at left and all three of them below the break. [Read on here...]

We’ve got one more quick update for you today here at The Bits. But first, we have two new disc reviews from Stephen...

He’s taken a look at Thom Eberhardt’s Night of the Comet (1984) in 4K Ultra HD from Shout and Scream Factory. And he’s also reviewed Scott Walker’s The Tank (2023) on Blu-ray from Well Go USA Entertainment.

Now then, the quick bit of news we have to report today is a follow up on something we predicted was coming here at The Bits several months back, which is that Universal Studios Home Entertainment is officially releasing the next wave of Alfred Hitchcock 4K Ultra HD titles on 10/31!

You’ll get the next box set of five films—The Alfred Hitchcock Classics Collection: Volume 3—as well as 4K single-film SKUs of each of the films in the set, including Rope (1948), The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), Torn Curtain (1966), Topaz (1969), and Frenzy (1972). You can see the cover art for the box at left, and the singles below the break. [Read on here...]

Greetings, Bits-ers! Sorry I missed posting my usual news column yesterday here at the site, but it turned out to be an incredibly busy day of working on reviews and communicating with our industry sources to chase down details and confirm some interesting forthcoming titles. As such, we’ve got a bit of ground to cover today and all of it should prove interesting. First though, let’s start with our latest new disc reviews, as always...

Longtime Bits contributor Adam Jahnke has returned for an in-depth review of Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), new on 4K Ultra HD from Disney. The UHD image is spectacular, and we’ve confirmed that the studio went back to the original camera negative for a new 4K scan, remaster, and HDR grade, all of which were approved by director Henry Selick. Most but not all of the legacy special features carry over on the accompanying Blu-ray as well, which also offers better encoding and a higher data rate that the previous BD edition. This title seems to be one more sign that Disney is starting to turn things around with their physical media. So do give it a look.

Also today, Stephen has taken a good look at Wes Craven’s Swamp Thing (1982), which is new on 4K Ultra HD from our friends at the MVD Rewind Collection.

And Dennis has posted a review of Wesley Ruggles’ classic film epic Cimarron (1931) on Blu-ray from the good people at the Warner Archive Collection.

All of these are worth your time, and more new disc reviews are already in the works. In fact, I’m going to be posting my take on Universal’s new Battlestar Galactica (1978) 4K Ultra HD—which streets today—sometime later this evening or early tomorrow. So be sure to watch for that. [Read on here...]

We’re closing out the week with a bunch of new disc reviews and a ton of significant new title announcements as well from the likes of Arrow, Imprint, Sony, Shout! Factory, and more. But first, here are those reviews...

First, Stephen has delivered his in-depth takes on James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy, Volume 3 (2023) on 4K Ultra HD from Marvel and Disney, Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley’s Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023) on 4K UHD from Paramount, Russell Mulcahy’s Razorback (1984) on 4K UHD from Umbrella Entertainment, Lucio Fulci’s City of the Living Dead (1980) on 4K UHD from Cauldon Films, and Dario Argento’s Tenebrae (1982) on 4K UHD from Synapse Films.

Stuart has chimed in with his thoughts on Henry Koster’s My Man Godfrey (1957) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics, as well as Fred Zinnemann and John Sturges’ The Old Man and the Sea (1958) on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection.

And Dennis has taken a look at Laura Tarruso’s About My Father (2023) on Blu-ray from Lionsgate, along with Cauleen Smith’s Drylongso (1998) on Blu-ray from the Criterion Collection.

Rest assured, we have even more new disc reviews coming next week, including Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas, Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams, and several other titles.

Now then... in announcement news over the last couple of days, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has officially set Frank Oz’s The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984) for release on 4K Ultra HD on 10/24. Look for the film to be mastered in 4K from the original camera negative with Dolby Vision HDR and a new Dolby Atmos sound mix, both approved by Oz (the original English 5.1 and mono audio are also included). The 4K disc will also include a new audio commentary with Oz. This will be accompanied by a Blu-ray disc featuring the remastered film with 5.1 audio and 3 legacy special features (including an Interview with Jim Henson, Muppetisms: Miss Piggy & Kermit the Frog, and Muppetisms: Pepe and Fozzie Bear). You can see the cover artwork at left and also below. [Read on here...]

We have two new disc reviews of you to enjoy today...

Stephen has taken a look at Dusty Nelson’s Effects (1979) in 4K Ultra HD, a film that originated from the minds of several Pittsburgh-area collaborators of George A. Romero. It’s now available from Image Works via the American Genre Film Archive and our friends at Vinegar Syndrome.

If you’re interested in this film, you might also enjoy reading a 2005 archived interview we did on the original Bits website about the project with our old friend John Harrison (Takes from the Darkside, Frank Herbert’s Dune). You’ll find that here (and pardon the messy HTML).

Also today, Dennis has taken a look at Cheryl Dunye’s The Watermelon Woman (1996) on Blu-ray from The Criterion Collection.

We don’t have a lot in the way of new announcement news today, but a number of long-awaited 4K Ultra HD catalog titles are finally available for pre-order on Amazon. [Read on here...]

I have the good fortune of having one of the thirty theaters on Earth that’s showing Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer in 15 perf/70 mm IMAX located within three miles of my house. So I needed all the coffees on Tuesday morning, after seeing the film at an 11 PM showing on Monday night, which is the only decent single ticket I could get my hands on. (My theatre of choice is virtually sold out well into the second week of August.)

I must say, the experience of this film in IMAX 70 was impressive, with the urgency of its editing and immediacy of its cinematography creating a uniquely engrossing narrative momentum. J. Robert Oppenheimer’s life and career, from his college years to his post-war exile, are covered in extensive detail, and while all of this adds context, I’m not sure that much detail was strictly necessary. (In Nolan’s shoes, I might have shortened the film by a good twenty minutes.)

The ensemble cast is fantastic, each of them disappearing into their roles to a degree I didn’t think some of these actors were capable of. There are many familiar faces that I knew would appear in this film, but many more here were unexpected (including Jack Quaid as Richard Feynman of all people, James Urbaniak as Kurt Gödel, and Gary Oldman as Harry S. Truman), yet all of them raised their game. What’s more, this is certainly the finest performance of Cillian Murphy’s career, and one of the most compelling. Hands down, the guy deserves an Oscar for this role. [Read on here...]

All right... as one might expect, we’ve got a lot to talk about again today here at The Bits.

First of all, we don’t have any new information on Manta Lab’s “disc-less” WandaVision packaging, except to reiterate that while this is a licensed Disney Consumer Products item, it’s most definitely not an official Marvel Studios/Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment physical media product. And while some you deluxe packaging collectors might think that’s splitting hairs, for the vast majority of disc consumers around the world it’s a very important distinction. Disney is not suddenly getting in the business of releasing Steelbook packaging for titles they have no intention of actually releasing on disc, and making it okay by including a Digital copy code. Just to be clear. In any case, we hope to hear more on this in the next few days.

As to the matter of today’s other Disney hot topic, I’m afraid, the news is not good. Despite the fact that Sanity has now pulled down their original Facebook post announcing it, we at The Digital Bits have confirmed today with multiple industry, distributor, and retailer sources in the region that Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment is indeed pulling out of the Australian market in terms of physical media. This follows similar moves in Asia (save for Japan) and Latin America, and the reason is apparently down to the gradual collapse of physical disc sales in the region, the growth of Disney+ Starz streaming, and also the rise of global retailers (think Amazon, Zavvi, etc). None of that will be of any comfort to disc fans in Australia, who will now have to pay a hefty shipping premium to import titles from outside the country. But it is true that Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol 3 will be the last new-release Disney title to get a physical release in the region. Previously-released titles may continue to be available for purchase until the end of the year, but that will be up to individual retailers.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, folks, but there it is.

Now then, before we shift to a bit of announcement news, we have several new disc reviews here at The Bits that are worth mentioning today...

Here’s the big one: Stephen has just turned in his in-depth thoughts on William Friedkin’s To Live and Die in L.A. (1985) in 4K Ultra HD, as newly-released by our friends at Kino Lorber Studio Classics. It’s a great disc, with the best A/V presentation of the film to date, and it includes nearly all of the previously-created special features. [Read on here...]

Okay, folks... we’ve got a LOT of ground to cover today, and I’m seriously not kidding, so strap in and hold on tight...

First up, it broke last night on the Interwebs that a company called Manta Lab in Hong Kong, which is a legit Disney licensee, was taking pre-orders for a “disc-less” Steelbook Blu-ray package for Marvel’s Disney+ streaming series WandaVision. Now, as you can imagine, that’s caused a great deal of surprise and consternation.

Some context... Manta Lab creates deluxe and custom packaging for lots of legit studio home entertainment releases, which are extremely popular with collectors, especially in the Asian market. However, since Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment officially exited the Asian market (apart from Japan), all of these licensing deals are made with Disney Consumer Products. The problem with this WandaVision release is that this is a title for which no authorized Blu-ray release exists anywhere in the world. So outside of the Steelbook packaging’s value as an objet d’art in and of itself, there’s no practical use for this packaging apart from holding people’s bootleg Blu-rays. And unfortunately, the proliferation of bootleg copies of Disney+ streaming titles has exploded online. (Don’t believe me? Visit Etsy and search for “WandaVision Blu-ray”—or just click here.)

In any case, when this news broke last night, too many otherwise respectable geek and movie news outlets online reported it as “Marvel and Disney have announced...” when nothing of the sort was true. This is a product licensed by Disney Consumer Products, but it is not in any way shape or form a licensed Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment release. I immediately contacted my sources at Disney last night, who assured me that this was the case, and who have this morning provided us with this statement:

“While Manta Lab is a legit licensee of Disney, and does create custom Steelbooks for Disney Blu-ray titles through Disney Consumer Products, the pre-order for a disc-less WandaVision was a surprise to some and we are looking into it as well as speaking to our partners in market.”

I expect to hear more back from Disney in the next day or so, so be sure to check back here on The Bits, and you can also follow us @BillHuntBits and @thedigitalbits on Twitter/X for the latest updates as I get them. Suffice it to say, this has generated an enormous amount of confusion outside of Manta Lab’s usual collector customer base. I’ve gotten literally hundreds of emails and messages in the last 24 hours from readers asking why Disney and Marvel would be releasing Steelbook packaging for a title they don’t appear to have any plans to actually release on physical media. (They aren’t, and stay tuned for further information.) [Read on here...]