My Two Cents
All right, we’ve got an announcement news update for you here at The Bits this afternoon...
First up today, Kino Lorber Studio Classics has officially set their long-awaited Spaceballs (1987) 4K Ultra HD for release on 4/12. The 4K disc will include Dolby Vision HDR and audio commentary by Mel Brooks. Audio will be includes in 5.1 and 2.0 (format TBA) with optional English subs. You’ll also get the film on Blu-ray, which will include lots of additional legacy extras. You can see the 4K art at left. We’ve updated our 4K Ultra HD Release List here at The Bits accordingly.
The company also has a nice March slate of catalog Blu-ray titles, which is expected to include Sidney Lanfield’s My Favorite Blonde (1942), David Butler’s Caught in the Draft (1941), and Elliott Nugent’s Nothing But the Truth (1941) on 3/2 (all Bob Hope films), followed by Don Jones’ The Forest (1982, for Code Red), Sam Peckinpah’s Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974), Robert Aldrich’s The Choirboys (1977), and Richard Fleischer’s The Don is Dead (1973) on 3/9, Jim O’Connoly’s Tower of Evil (1972, for Scorpion Releasing), Andy Anderson’s Positive I.D. (1986), Francis Megahy’s Taffin (1988), Andrei Konchalovsky’s Runaway Train (1985), and Marty Feldman’s The Last Remake of Beau Geste (1977) and In God We Trust (1980) on 3/16, Don Jones’ Schoolgirls in Chains (1973, for Code Red), Frank Perry’s Doc (1971), George Seaton’s Showdown (1973), Henry Hathaway’s Shoot Out (1971), and Richard Fleischer’s Crossed Swords (1977, aka The Prince and the Pauper) on 3/23, and Otto Preminger’s Rosebud (1975), Andrew Bergman’s Isn’t She Great (2000), Édouard Molinaro’s A Pain in the Ass (1973), and Ang Lee’s Lust, Caution (2007) on 3/30. [Read on here...]
Afternoon, folks! We’ve got a late Bits post for you today with some reviews and catch up on a bit of release news as well. First, those reviews...
Tim has checked in with his thoughts on Douglas Trumbull’s Silent Running (1972), now available on Blu-ray from our friends at Arrow Video.
He’s also posted a review of Douglas Sirk’s Taza, Son of Cochise (1954), a classic Technicolor western staring Rock Hudson, now available on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics. The disc includes a new 3D presentation restored by the 3D Film Archive as well.
Not done yet: Tim has also reviewed Terence Fisher’s The Brides of Dracula (1960), the Hammer Films classic staring Peter Cushing newly available on Collector’s Edition Blu-ray from the good folks over at Scream Factory.
And finally, Dennis has checked in with his thoughts on Mario Camerini and Mario Bava’s Ulysses (1954) on Blu-ray, also from Kino Lorber Studio Classics. [Read on here...]
Well folks, this news is not unexpected. But it’s certainly shocking to see a major Hollywood film studio finally do more than just dip their toes in the streaming waters.
Warner Bros. has now official confirmed that it plans to bypass traditional theatrical windowing and release its entire 2021 slate of films titles day-and-date on HBO Max with the normal theatrical release. Each film will be available for streaming on the service for a 31-day window. This includes Dune, The Matrix 4, The Suicide Squad, Godzilla vs. Kong, and Space Jam: A New Legacy.
We already saw Warner Bros. signal this shift last month with the announcement that Wonder Woman 1984 will arrive on HBO Max with its long-awaited theatrical release on 12/25. Now it looks like they’ve just pushed their chips all in on this move. [Read on here...]
Well... the day is finally here. Many of you are no doubt picking up or receiving in the mail your copies of Warner’s The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit in 4K Ultra HD. I hope you all enjoy them as much as I did!
There have been reports of Amazon and other retailers running out of stock this week, and that’s no doubt because Warner Bros. Home Entertainment is scrambling to manufacture enough copies to meet demand.
Keep in mind that there’s only one physical media replication plant in all of North America now and every studio is trying to get their big Q4 titles produced there at the moment.
But I would imagine that more stock will arrive in the next week or two, so that everyone who wants a copy should be able to get one by Christmas. [Read on here...]
Afternoon, everyone and happy Cyber Monday. We hope you’ve all had a happy and safe Thanksgiving holiday, for those of you here in the States. And for everyone else, we hope you had a great weekend.
We were very busy here at The Bits over the weekend. I’ve completed our in-depth review of Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy in 4K Ultra HD from Warner Bros. The disc streets tomorrow, but we’re hearing that supplies are a little short so it might take another few weeks for everyone who ordered to get their copies.
For those of you who want the short version, the set is fantastic. It includes all three films—The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King—in both the Theatrical Cuts and Extended Editions on separate discs (the Extended Editions are split over two UHD discs, as they were on Blu-ray and DVD). There are no special features in the set beyond a Digital Copy code. However, the new 4K remasters are spectacular. Truly, these films have never looked better—not even during their original run in theaters. The 4K-remastered image falls a bit short of reference quality, but trust me when I say that they’re so much better than their previous Blu-ray versions that there’s just no comparison. And the new HDR color grade is breathtaking. Not to mention the sound—each film includes a new Dolby Atmos surround sound mix that absolutely IS reference quality. So I highly recommend that you all check out my review here. [Read on here...]