All right, the big announcement news today is that Disney has officially set Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln for Blu-ray and DVD release on 3/26.  There will be a 4-disc Blu-ray Combo, a 2-disc Blu-ray Combo and a 1-disc DVD (SRP $28.00, $24.50 and $17.99 – surprisingly low prices).  The DVD will include The Journey to Lincoln featurette.  The 2-disc BD will add another featurette (A Historic Tapestry: Richmond, Virginia).  The 4-disc set will add another 4 more featurettes (In the Company of Character, Crafting the Past, Living with Lincoln and In Lincoln’s Footsteps).  You’ll find the final cover BD artwork below.

More news in a second, but first our own Russell Hammond has updated the Release Dates & Artwork section with all the latest Blu-ray, DVD and Video Game cover artwork and Amazon.com pre-order links.  As always, a portion of anything you order from Amazon after clicking through to them through our links goes to help support our work here at The Bits and we surely do appreciate it.

Also here at the site today, Tim Salmons has posted two more Blu-ray Disc reviews.  The first is a new title – Disney’s Peter Pan: Diamond Edition.  Sounds like the high-def upgrade is well worth your time and money.  Tim has also added another of his Blu-ray reviews from the old site to our new review database – Criterion’s House.  Don’t miss it!

In more announcement news, Lionsgate has set The History Channel’s WWII from Space for Blu-ray and DVD release on 5/7.  The studio has also set Dark Circles, H.P. Lovecraft’s Cool Air and Once Upon a Time in Brooklyn for DVD only release on 5/21, along with Stand Up Guys on both Blu-ray and DVD that same day.

And Universal has set the horror film Mama for Blu-ray Combo and DVD release on 5/7.  Extras will include the Matriarchal Secrets and The Birth of Mama featurettes, deleted scenes, feature commentary with director/co-writer Andy Muschietti and producer/co-writer Barbara Muschietti, and an original short with introduction by Guillermo Del Toro.

Here’s a look at the final Blu-ray cover artwork for the 4-disc BD version of Disney’s Lincoln, as well as Lionsgate’s Stand Up Guys and Warner’s Enter the Dragon: 40th Anniversary Edition (due 6/11)…

Stay tuned…

- Bill Hunt

All right, we’ve got another new Blu-ray Disc review for you today.  Our own Joe Marchese has given Twilight Time’s new The Rains of Ranchipur a spin and has his thoughts for you here.  Watch for more reviews over the next few days from Joe, Tim Salmons and others.

The big announcement news today is that 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment has finally set the Cleopatra: 50th Anniversary Collection for release on Blu-ray here in the States on 5/21. The 2-disc set includes the 243-minute version of the film fully restored, along with audio commentary with Chris Mankiewicz, Tom Mankiewicz, Martin Landau and Jack Brodsky, 6 documentary featurettes (Cleopatra Through The Ages: A Cultural History, Cleopatra’s Missing Footage, Fox Movie Channel presents Fox Legacy with Tom Rothman, The Cleopatra Papers: A Private Correspondence, Cleopatra: The Film That Changed Hollywood and The Fourth Star of Cleopatra), 2 Fox Movietone News segments (archival footage of the New York and Hollywood premieres) and theatrical trailers.  The set comes packaged in a full-color book featuring rare images from the making of the film.  You’ll find cover artwork below.

In addition, Fox has set American Horror Story: Season Two (a.k.a. Asylum) for release on Blu-ray and DVD on 9/24 (SRP $59.99 and $49.98).  Fox has also set Sons of Anarchy: Season Five for Blu-ray and DVD release on 8/27 (SRP $69.99 and $59.98), as well as Homeland: The Complete Second Season (SRP $69.99 and $59.98 – for Showtime).  And Fox will also release Wilfred: Season Two on Blu-ray and DVD on 6/18.

Fox and Anchor Bay have also set a number of new deep catalog titles for BD release on 5/28, including Bedazzled, Airheads, My Super Ex-Girlfriend, Dying Young, The Star Chamber, Jumpin’ Jack Flash, The Newton Boys, Chasing Papi, Black Knight, Best Laid Plans and Simply Irresistible.

Meanwhile, Warner Home Video has announced an Enter the Dragon: 40th Anniversary Ultimate Collector’s Edition gift set for Blu-ray release on 6/11 (SRP $49.99).  Extras will include audio commentary by producer Paul Heller, 3 all-new featurettes (No Way As Way, The Return to Han’s Island and Wing Chun: The Art that Introduced Kung Fu to Bruce Lee), an interview gallery featuring Bruce Lee’s wife Linda Lee Caldwell, 5 vintage featurettes (Backyard Workout with Bruce Lee, Curse of the Dragon, Location: Hong Kong with Enter the Dragon, Blood and Steel: The Making of Enter the Dragon and Personal Profile Bruce Lee: In His Own Words), 5 trailers and 7 TV spots.

Universal has set 30 Rock: Season 7 and Royal Pains: Season Four for DVD only release on 5/7.  They’ve also announced Márcio Garcia’s Open Road for release on Blu-ray and DVD on 5/21.

Sony has set Revenge for Jolly, Left to Die: The Sandra and Tammi Chase Story and Lifetime’s modern updating of Steel Magnolias for DVD only release on 5/7 as well.

Well Go USA Entertainment has the “martial arts fantasy epic” The Four due for release on Blu-ray and DVD on 4/9.

Image Entertainment begins releasing individual seasons of The Dick Van Dyke Show on Blu-ray on 4/9 starting with Season One (SRP $59.98).

Image Entertainment and Acorn Media are releasing the George Gently Collection: Series 1-4 and George Gently: Series 5 on Blu-ray and DVD on 5/28.

CBS has set Rawhide: The Sixth Season, Volumes One and Two for DVD only release on 6/4.

And in news from around the Net today, our friend Adam Walker over at TrekCore has posted a great multi-part interview with producer Roger Lay, Jr. about the fine work that he and Robert Meyer Burnett are doing on the Star Trek: Enterprise and Star Trek: The Next Generation Blu-ray special features.  I’m a big fan of Enterprise in particular, and I’ll tell you – their documentary work on the upcoming Season One set (and it sounds like the future seasons too) is second to none.  Everything you ever wanted to know about the show is being explored in these features they’re producing.  Hats off to TrekCore for a great interview.

Here’s a look at the Blu-ray cover artwork for Fox’s Cleopatra: 50th Anniversary Collection and American Horror Story: Asylum, and Disney’s Shanghai Noon/Shanghai Knights double feature (due 5/7)…

Stay tuned…

- Bill Hunt

Happy Friday, folks!  Hope you’re all ready for the weekend.  Sorry for missing yesterday’s post – lots of things going on behind-the-scenes at The Bits this week.  Good stuff, but stuff that kept us all away from the office yesterday.  Life happens!

Meanwhile here at the site today, our own Tim Salmons has posted another new Blu-ray Disc review for you from Scream Factory: it’s the Prison: Collector’s Edition – an early Renny Harlin film (from 1988) starring a fellow you might recognize… Viggo Mortensen.  Do check it out!

In announcement news today, Lionsgate has set The Last Stand for Blu-ray and DVD release on 5/14 (SRP $39.99 and $29.95).  Extras will include 4 featurettes (Not in My Town: Making The Last Stand, Cornfield Chaos, The Dinkum Firearm and Historic Weaponry Museum and Actor-Cam Anarchy: with Johnny Knoxville and Jaimie Alexander) and deleted, extended and alternate scenes.

Lionsgate will also release Texas Chainsaw on Blu-ray 3D Combo and DVD and A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III on Blu-ray and DVD on 5/14 as well.  Extras on A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III will include audio commentary with writer/director Roman Coppola and 2 featurettes (The Making of Charles Swan and A Glimpse Into the Mind of Charles White).

Inception Media Group will release the Brit comedy On Approval on Blu-ray on 3/19.

Meanwhile, Warner Home Video and TNT have set Falling Skies: The Complete Second Season for release on Blu-ray and DVD on 6/4 (SRP $49.99 and $39.98).  The BD will be a 2-disc set and the DVD a 3-disc set, but each will include all 10 episodes plus extras.  No word yet on extras.  Season Three of the series is set to begin airing this summer, so you can probably expect the 6/4 street date is designed to let people catch up beforehand.

Universal has announced a trio of new catalog films for release on Blu-ray on 5/7, including Babe: Pig in the City, Jesus Christ Superstar and In the Name of the Father.

And Magnolia Home Entertainment has A Royal Affair coming on Blu-ray and DVD on 3/19.

Here’s a look at the cover art for Lionsgate’s The Last Stand, Warner’s Falling Skies: Season Two and Universal’s Promised Land (street date 4/23 – retail temp art)…

Have a great weekend and see you Monday!  Stay tuned…

- Bill Hunt

All right, here at the site this morning, our own Joe Marchese has turned in a new Blu-ray Disc review of Twilight Time’s Experiment in Terror, directed by Blake Edwards.  Enjoy!

Now for some release news…

First up today, Amazon.com is finally taking pre-orders on all three versions of Warner’s The Hobbit (due 3/19).  Just click on the cover artwork to visit the pre-order pages...

Moving on... this is yet to be officially announced by Sony (so consider it unconfirmed for the moment), but Amazon.com has just listed Funny Girl (1968) as coming on Blu-ray on 4/30 (SRP $19.98).  See the cover art below.

20th Century Fox meanwhile has set Hello Dolly for release on Blu-ray on 4/2 (SRP $24.99 – again, cover art below).  Also coming to BD that day from Fox is That Thing You Do.  And the classic Panic in the Streets arrives on BD on 3/26.

Weinstein Company and Anchor Bay have Django Unchained currently set for Blu-ray and DVD release on 4/16, at least according to Amazon (SRP $39.99 and $29.98).  They’re also expected to release Silver Linings Playbook on both formats on 4/30 according to retail sources.

Paramount will release Not Fade Away on Blu-ray and DVD on 4/30.

Warner has announced the Blu-ray and DVD release of LEGO Batman: The Movie – DC Super Heroes Unite on 5/21.

Lionsgate has set Felicity: Season Three and Felicity: Season Four for DVD release on 5/7, along with Power Rangers Samurai: The Sixth Ranger – Volume 4 on DVD on 5/14.

Shout! Factory has set American Masters: Mel Brooks – Make a Noise for DVD release on 5/21.  The documentary premieres on PBS the day before.

Anchor Bay Entertainment and RADiUS-TWC have set the Chinese actioner Dragon for Blu-ray and DVD release on 4/16.  The film stars Donnie Yen.

Universal will release Frankie Go Boom on Blu-ray and DVD on 5/14.

And in other news, you Battlestar fans will be interested to learn that retail BD copies of Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome include an insert with word that the original 1978 Battlestar Galactica feature film is coming to Blu-ray in 2013.

Here’s a look at the Blu-ray cover artwork for Warner’s Mad Max Trilogy (due 6/4), Fox’s Hello Dolly and Sony’s Funny Girl…

Stay tuned...

- Bill Hunt

Morning, folks!  Hope you all enjoyed The Bitsy Awards yesterday.  We’ve got some announcement news and a new Blu-ray review for you this morning here at The Bits.

But first, our very own Russell Hammond has once again updated the Release Dates and Artwork section with all the latest Blu-ray, DVD and Video Game cover artwork and Amazon.com pre-order links.  As always, a portion of anything you order from Amazon after clicking through to them from our links goes to help support our work here at The Bits and we surely do appreciate it.

All right, time for that review.  Tim Salmons has checked in with a look at another fun Scream Factory title in high-definition – The Nest!  Enjoy and be sure to watch for more new BD reviews every day here at The Bits all this week.

Warner Home Video has just announced a new Mad Max Trilogy Blu-ray collection for release on 6/4 (SRP $49.99).  The set come in limited tin packaging and will include Mad Max (1979), The Road Warrior (1982) and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985 - new to Blu-ray).  The latter two will be released as BD singles on 6/4 as well.  No word yet on extras.  As some of you may know, George Miller has returned to direct a fourth film in the series, Mad Max: Fury Road, which should hit theaters sometime later this year.

Warner Home Video has also set the animated Superman: Unbound for Blu-ray and DVD release on 5/7, featuring actor John Noble as the voice of Brianiac.

Sony would like to remind you all that the newly-crowned and Oscar-winning Best Documentary Feature, Waiting for Sugar Man, is now available on Blu-ray and DVD.  We hear it’s pretty good.

Well Go USA Entertainment has set Takashi Shimizu’s Tormented for Blu-ray and DVD release on 4/2.  This will be followed by Deadball on both formats on 4/9.

Cohen Media Group will release The Other Son on both Blu-ray and DVD on 3/19.

And here’s a cool bit of news:  Severin Films is releasing the 1970s classic Zulu Dawn on Blu-ray and DVD on 3/12 (SRP $29.95).  Extras will include “new featurettes with Zulu War expert Ian Knight, the film’s historical advisor Midge Carter, a visit to the actual locations of the battle of Isandlwana hosted by Knight, and a selection of rare out-takes.”  You can see the cover artwork below.

We’ll leave you with a look at the Blu-ray cover artwork for Severin’s Zulu Dawn, Warner’s Superman: Unbound and Kino’s Little Fugitive (due 3/26)…

Stay tuned...!

- Bill Hunt

All right, we’ll be back tomorrow with the usual cover artwork update, the latest announcement news and even a new Blu-ray Disc review.  But first… it’s time for The 10th (Semi) Annual Digital Bits Bitsy Awards!  We’ve nominated, we’ve voted and now here are our picks for the Best of the Blu-ray format in 2012.  Enjoy!

Stay tuned...

- Bill Hunt

Well… it’s that time again, folks.  Time for The Digital Bits to honor and acknowledge the best of Blu-ray Disc from the past year’s crop of excellent releases.

For this year’s awards we’ve decided to strip things down and keep it simple.  We’ve boiled down our awards to just TEN categories, with one BONUS category.  And while many titles could obviously qualify in multiple categories, we’ve decided that if a title wins any category that would disqualify it from winning in others – the idea being that this would allow us to recognize as much great work as possible.  The primary qualification is that each winner must have arrived in stores in the calendar year 2012.  Beyond that, virtually every title was eligible for consideration.  Each member of The Bits voting staff was invited to nominate as many titles as they wished per category and then to select their choice for the very best.  What follows is the result – one winner per category and a handful of titles we also felt deserved special recognition in each.  We hope you enjoy it.

All right, first up today we’ve got some new title announcements for you...

Paramount has set Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away for Blu-ray 3D, Blu-ray and DVD release on 3/12.  The studio will also release Not Fade Away on Blu-ray and DVD on 4/30.

Disney will release a Shanghai Noon: 2-Movie Collection on Blu-ray on 5/7, due to include Shanghai Noon and Shanghai Knights.

Lionsgate will release Mighty Fine on DVD on 5/7.  They also have Dark Feed coming on DVD on 3/19.

MPI/Dark Sky Films will release Stitches on Blu-ray and DVD on 4/2.  MPI will also release The Return of the Beverly Hillbillies on DVD on 3/12, followed by The Big Picture on Blu-ray and DVD on 3/19.

Shout! Factory has set The Aquabats! Super Show! Season One! for DVD release on 5/21.

Timeless Media Group will release A Haunting: The 2012 Season on DVD on 4/23.

Inception Media Group will release The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp: The Complete Season Two and Pressed on DVD on 3/12, followed by The Hunt for Bin Laden on DVD on 3/19.

Indomina Releasing will release Holy Motors on Blu-ray and DVD on 2/26.

Acorn Media will release Foyle’s War: The Complete Home Front Files – Sets 1-6 on DVD on 3/12.

Well Go USA Entertainment has set Tormented for release on Blu-ray and DVD on 4/2, followed by Deadball on both formats on 4/9.  The company also has A Simple Life coming on both formats on 2/26.

Comedy Central has set Kristen Schaal: Live at the Fillmore for DVD only release on 4/2.

Eagle Rock Entertainment has set Miles Davis with Quincy Jones and the Gil Evans Orchestra: Live at Montreux 1991 on Blu-ray and DVD on 3/19.

And finally, 20th Century Fox has set Parental Guidance for release on Blu-ray Combo and DVD on 3/26.

Also today, don’t forget that that this year’s Oscars are awarded this weekend in Los Angeles.  The broadcast will be live on ABC on Sunday evening for those who may be interested.  I guess I’m rooting for Argo to win Best Picture, but Lincoln could sneak in there too.  We’ll see.  Meh…

And before we go, we should let you all know that we’re getting in the awards season spirit here at The Digital Bits too.  Yes, it’s almost time for The Bitsy Awards!  On Monday, we’ll offer a rundown of our staff picks for the very best of Blu-ray in 2012, so be sure to check back then.

In the meantime, have a great weekend!  Stay tuned...

- Bill Hunt

There’s a bit of release news to talk about today, but first some other business…

Here at the site today, our own Jeff Kleist has written a new 3rd Dimension column about the conversion of Tony Scott’s Top Gun into 3D for IMAX 3D and Blu-ray 3D release.  It’s well worth a look, so do check it out.  Don’t forget you can read Jeff’s review of the Blu-ray 3D here.

Also today, as expected Sony held their big PlayStation 4 unveiling last night.  The unit is expected to be released in time for the holidays in the U.S. and Japan.  Strangely, they didn’t show the actual console, but did reveal images of the controllers and many games in the works for the platform.

So what did we learn last night? Here are the official system specs:

Main Processor

• Single-chip custom processor
• CPU : x86-64 AMD “Jaguar”, 8 cores
• GPU : 1.84 TFLOPS, AMD next-generation Radeon based graphics engine

Memory

• GDDR5 8GB

Hard Disk Drive

• Built-in

Optical Drive (read only)

• BD 6xCAV
• DVD 8xCAV

I/O

• Super-Speed USB (USB 3.0),  AUX
• Communication Ethernet (10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, 1000BASE-T)
• IEEE 802.11 b/g/n
• Bluetooth® 2.1 (EDR)

 AV output

• HDMI
• Analog-AV out
• Digital Output (optical)

Just as we expected, the PS4 will include 1080p Blu-ray playback capability and it will also play 4K movie content – presumably via Sony’s own streaming service as we’ve expected (that’s yet to be announced) – but not 4K games (this per Sony’s Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida).   It will, however, be capable of playing games in full 1080p 3D.  It also will apparently NOT block used games, so there’s that.  There are many other details available from last night’s event (viewable in re-streams here and you can read more here at ars technica) that will surely be of interest to gamers, but that covers the PS4’s utility as a movie playback device for now.

Now… in announcement news today, Universal has set Gus Van Sant’s Promised Land (written by Matt Damon and John Krasinski) for Blu-ray Combo and DVD release on 4/23.  Extras will include an extended scene and The Making of Promised Land featurette.

CBS and Paramount are re-issuing all 7 seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation on DVD individually on 4/16.  These are the original DVDs as previously released – not SD versions of the new HD re-masters.  Just FYI.

20th Century Fox is re-issuing The Sandlot as a new 20th Anniversary Edition on Blu-ray Combo on 3/26.

Amazon is taking pre-orders on Disney and ABC’s Once Upon a Time: The Complete Second Season on Blu-ray and DVD – no street date is yet announced.

And New Video Group will release the documentary Chasing Ice on Blu-ray and DVD on 9/10.

Finally today, I wanted to take a moment to acknowledge the passing of acclaimed film historian Donald Richie, who passed away on Tuesday in Tokyo at the age of 88.  Richie was one of America’s foremost experts on Japanese cinema and almost single-handedly (at least in the early days, until his converts began making their own contributions to the effort) introduced English audiences to the masters and classics of Japanese film.  Tuesday’s New York Times describes one of Richie’s earliest visits to a Japanese movie studio:

In his memoir, The Japan Journals, 1947-2004, Mr. Richie recounted how in the late 1940s he paid his first visit to a Japanese studio, where he met a director in a white floppy hat and “someone I guessed was a star” wearing “a loose Hawaii-shirt.”  Thus began Mr. Richie’s enduring acquaintance with two of the giants of Japanese cinema, the director Akira Kurosawa and the actor Toshiro Mifune.

Can you imagine not only meeting but starting a long friendship with both Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune in their filmmaking prime?  That’s Ritchie on the left in the photo below and Kurosawa in the center.

Richie’s 1959 book (co-written with film critic Joseph L. Anderson) The Japanese Film: Art and Industry remains a landmark text on the subject.  And my own battered copy of his comprehensive The Films of Akira Kurosawa has become indispensible to me.  I know I speak for my fellow Japanese cinephile Todd Doogan (and others on the Bits staff) when I say that Donald Richie’s work has enriched our enjoyment and appreciation Japanese film immensely.  Would I have discovered Kurosawa or... say... the Zatoichi films of Shintaro Katsu on my own, without Richie’s having opened the door for us so many years before?  Probably not and – speaking personally – what a great tragedy that would have been.

Donald… we thank you.

Donald Richie (1924-2013)

That’s all for now.  Stay tuned…

- Bill Hunt

Building on the success of Raiders of the Lost Ark’s re-release last fall, Paramount celebrated the reissue of Top Gun in 3D last week with a run in IMAX 3D.  To the 3D aficionado, this presented a unique opportunity – an opportunity that I just couldn’t pass up.  One of the tragedies of home video is the lack of scale in the viewing experience that you get in a theater, which makes it difficult to actually compare the theatrical experience to the home with any real accuracy.  Still, with a brand new copy of Top Gun 3D on Blu-ray in one hand and an IMAX 3D ticket in the other, here was an opportunity to compare the 3D viewing experiences, one right after the other.

Top Gun has always been an amazing picture for the big screen, with its epic aerial photography shot ‘real’ as much as humanly possible.  Having never seen the movie theatrically before (being 9 at the time the film was originally released), I hoped my first theatrical viewing was going to be AWESOME.