Displaying items by tag: Universal

We’re starting the new week, after the long holiday weekend here in the States, with more new disc reviews from The Bits’ team, including…

Tim’s thoughts on Gary Goddard’s Masters of the Universe (1987) in 4K Ultra HD from Arrow’s new Toy Robot Video sub label, as his thoughts on Kevin Reynolds’ Robin Hood: Price of Thieves (1991) in 4K UHD from Arrow Video proper.

Dennis’ look at Martin Scorsese’s Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974) in 4K Ultra HD from the Criterion Collection (with an assist by Tim), his take on Kino Lorber Studio Classics’ Death Ship/Terror Train Double Feature DVD (1980) (again, with an assist by Tim), and Burt Kennedy’s The War Wagon (1967) on Blu-ray also from KLSC.

And Todd’s take on Paul Wendkos’ Cannon for Cordoba (1970) on Blu-ray from Imprint, Nicanor Loreti, Fabián Forte, and Luca Castello’s Portraits of the Apocalypse (2024) on DVD from Cleopatra Entertainment, and John Williams’ Watch Me Sleep (2023) on DVD from Wild Eye Releasing.

Watch for more reviews all this week!

Now then… we’ve got a couple of things to talk about today…

First, Amazon MGM Studios and Alliance Home Entertainment have officially set The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power – Seasons One and Two for Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD release on 11/3. There will also be an Amazon-exclusive Limited Edition 4K Steelbook release on 12/1. [Read on here...]

Just a quick heads up, Bits readers…

It looks like Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey (2026) is set to arrive on Blu-ray, 4K Ultra HD, and Digital on November 17th.

This comes per Variety today.

We’ll share additional details as they become official.

Stay tuned…

- Bill Hunt

(You can follow Bill on social media on Twitter/X, BlueSky, and Facebook, and also here on Patreon)

We’ve got more new disc reviews to share with you today here on The Bits, including...

Stephen’s look at Nathan Juran’s The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958) in 4K Ultra HD from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

Tim’s review of Simon McQuoid’s Mortal Kombat II (2026) in 4K Ultra HD from Warner Bros.

Stuart’s take on the Brit Noir Collection I and II collections on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics, as well as the Youth Gone Wild! 1950s Juvenile Delinquency box set on Blu-ray from Imprint Films.

And finally, Todd’s thoughts on Alex Chandon’s Cradle of Fear (2001) on Blu-ray from Unearthed Films, and Todd Norris’ The Paranormal (1998) and Donald Farmer’s Scream Dream (1989) both on Blu-ray from Visual Vengeance and Wild Eye.

Now then... just a couple of quick announcements to mention today...

Imprint Films has recently announced their September slate, which includes Toshiharu Ikeda’s Cursed Village in Yudono Mountains (1984) and Kunio Watanabe’s Chushingura: The Loyal 47 Ronin (1958) on Blu-ray for Imprint Asia, Ridley Scott’s G.I. Jane (1997) in 4K UHD (the wide release), Richard Attenborough’s Oh! What A Lovely War (1969), David Greene’s The Strange Affair (1968), Basil Dearden’s Only When I Larf (1968), Sidney Hayers’ All Coppers Are... (1972), and Peter Collinson’s And Then There Were None (aka Ten Little Indians) (1974) on Blu-ray, and Richard Fleischer’s Red Sonja (1985) and the Deathstalker Collection (films 1-3, 1983-2025) in 4K Ultra HD Steelbook. [Read on here...]

All right, we've had another bout with AI scraping and other AI-related shenanigans here at The Bits website this week, but our meat-brain team has fought back valiantly and all is well here at the site again.

As such, we've got a bunch of news to catch you all up on here today and we have lots more new disc reviews to share with you, including...

Tim’s take on Hal Ashby’s Let’s Spend the Night Together (1983) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics and Jess Franco’s Vampyros Lesbos (1971) in 4K UHD from Severin Films.

Stephen’s look at Huang Chiang-hua’s Legend of the Sacred Stone (2000) on Blu-ray from Deaf Crocodile, Lucio Fulci’s Conquest (1983) in 4K UHD from Cauldron Films, and William Dear’s Harry and the Hendersons (1987) in 4K UHD from Kino Lober Studio Classics.

Todd thoughts on Imprint’s Directed by John Mackenzie (1980-92) Blu-ray box set, and Bradley Bell and Pablo Jones-Soler’s Charli XCX: Alone Together (2021) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber.

Stuart’s take on Lewis Allen’s Another Time, Another Place (1958) and the Directed by David Lean: Volume II (1949-55) box set both on Blu-ray from Imprint.

And finally, Dennis’ look at Brian Levant’s Beethoven (1992) and Tomas Alfredson’s The Snowman (2017) both on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

As always, more reviews are forthcoming, so be sure to keep checking back!

Now then, we have a few pieces of great title announcement news for you today. First, Sony has officially set Ben Stiller’s The Cable Guy (1996) for 30th anniversary 4K UHD release on 10/6—something we first revealed was coming to our Patreon subscribers several weeks ago! The disc will include a new 4K Dolby Vision presentation restored from the original camera negative, with both a new Dolby Atmos mix and the original English 5.1 audio mix. The package will also include legacy extras as well as a new feature: A 30th Anniversary Conversation with Ben Stiller and Matthew Broderick, from the 2026 Tribeca Film Festival. Great news indeed! [Read on here...]

We’ve got more new disc reviews for you to close out the week here at The Bits, including…

Stephen’s reviews of Rango Lam’s City on Fire (1987) and John Woo’s The Killer (1989) in 4K Ultra HD from Imprint.

Stuart’s thoughts on John Guillermin’s House of Cards (1968) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics, the Spencer Tracy Collection on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection—which includes Bad Day on Black Rock (1955), Fury (1936), Libeled Lady (1936), and Northwest Passage (1941)—and the Directed by David Lean: Volume II box set on Blu-ray from Imprint—which includes The Passionate Friends (1949), Madeleine (1950), The Sound Barrier (1952), Hobson’s Choice (1954), and Summertime (1955).

Tim’s look at Tobe Hooper’s Salem’s Lot (1979) in 4K Ultra HD from our friends at Arrow Video.

And Dennis’ take on Brian Levant’s Beethoven (1992) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

More reviews are in the works for release here all next week, so be sure to keep checking back for them.

Now then… the first thing to be said today is that Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s Project Hail Mary (2026) is now available for pre-order on Amazon.com in Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD (click here for the link). This is an Amazon MGM Studios release. The street date isn’t yet official, but we believe it will be on or about 8/11. Look for the disc to include audio commentary with the directors, deleted scenes, and the Earth’s Favorite Eridian featurette. You can see the cover artwork above left. [Read on here...]

We’ve got a bunch of new disc reviews for you to check out today, including…

Tim’s take on Charlie Chaplin’s A Woman of Paris (1923) on Blu-ray from the Criterion Collection, Taylor Wong’s Buddha’s Palm (1982) on Blu-ray from Arrow’s Shawscope: Volume Three box, and J. Lee Thompson’s 10 to Midnight (1983) in 4K Ultra HD from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

Stephen’s thoughts on Robert Wise’s The Haunting (1963) in 4K Ultra HD from Scream Factory, John “Bud” Cardos’ Mutant (1984) in 4K Ultra HD from Vinegar Syndrome, and Clive Barker’s Nightbreed (1990) in 4K from Arrow Video.

Todd’s review of Spike Lee’s Highest 2 Lowest (2025) on Blu-ray from A24, Timur Bekmambetov’s Mercy (2026) on Blu-ray from Amazon MGM, and Tony Scott’s The Fan (1996) and David Greene’s Hard Country (1981) on Blu-ray from Imprint Films.

Stuart’s look at Hobart Henley’s Night World (1932), Anthony Mann’s Bend of the River (1952), Allen Smithee’s Death of a Gunfighter (1969 – actually directed by Robert Totten and Don Siegel), and Christian-Jaque’s The Second Twin (1966) all on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

And Dennis’ thoughts on William Keighley’s The Man Who Came to Dinner (1941) on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection.

Also today, be sure to check out my recent special feature articles on Apple TV’s For All Mankind and Star City series, as well as Warner’s remastering the Wachowskis’ Speed Racer (2008) in 4K Ultra HD! [Read on here...]

Good afternoon, disc fans!

After yesterday’s big release news of Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair in 4K from Lionsgate, it’s time to start catching up on news that dropped while we were grappling with our AI bot-scraping issue.

To start with today, we’ve got a number of new disc reviews to share with you, and—on that very note—we also have a nice surprise announcement as well…

Our old friend Todd Doogan is returning to The Digital Bits as a review contributor!

Longtime Bits readers will know that Doogan was a founding member of The Bits team, not only reviewing DVD and Blu-ray discs here for many years, but also writing his own Doogan’s Views and Gripe Soda columns here at the site.

Since we have so many great disc releases that need covering, Doogan has offered to revive Doogan’s Views as a new “quick” review format—these will feature the Doogan’s Views banner at the top of the review. And while the reviews won’t be as detailed as our regular review work, they’ll include enough information to highlight discs worth your attention and help you make buying decisions. These are the kinds of titles that would otherwise fall through the cracks, but that deserve some love from fans—indie and boutique deep cuts, genre oddballs, and more.

Todd’s first new Doogan’s Views reviews this afternoon include Chris Stuckmann’s Shelby Oaks (2025) on Blu-ray from Decal Releasing and Johannes Roberts’ Primate (2025) on Blu-ray from Paramount via Alliance.

We’re all thrilled here to have Todd on The Bits team again, and I’m personally very happy to have my friend calling videodisc balls and strikes once more as only he can.

So welcome back, Todd, and watch for more Doogan’s Views reviews in the days and weeks ahead!

Meanwhile today, we have a bunch of new disc reviews from the rest of The Bits review team too, including... [Read on here...]

All right, I wanted to check in here today with one more update.

I believe we finally have the site stable, but just quick note: If you see a message that says “Performing Security Verification…” that is 100% normal. We’re using Cloudflare to verify actual human Bits readers from AI bots trying to scrape the site.

The good news is that it’s definitely helping—the site is much more stable now.

And we have a couple things to share with you all here today.

First, we have more new disc reviews, including…

My take on the Wachowskis’ Speed Racer (2008) in 4K Ultra HD from Warner Bros. as well as Ric Roman Waugh’s Greenland (2020) in 4K Ultra HD from Lionsgate.

Tim’s looks at Richard Fleischer’s Red Sonja (1985) in 4K from Arrow Video, as well as John Binder’s UFOria (1983) in 4K Ultra HD from Kino Lorber Studio Classics, and Kuei Chih-Hung’s Killer Constable (1980) on Blu-ray from Arrow’s Shawscope: Volume 3 box set.

Dennis’ take on Ira Sachs’ The Delta (1996) on Blu-ray from the Criterion Collection and Vincente Minnelli’s Tea and Sympathy (1956) on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection.

Stuart’s look at The Magnificent Seven Collection on Blu-ray from Imprint Films.

And Stephen’s thoughts on John Woo and Tsui Hark’s A Better Tomorrow Trilogy (1986-1989) in 4K Ultra HD from both Shout! Studios and also Imprint Films!

More reviews are also on the way next week, including our review of David Fincher’s Fight Club (1999) in 4K and more! So be sure to check back then. [Read on here...]

Afternoon, Bits readers!

If you’re seeing this, it’s a good sign that we’re making progress in stabilizing the site in the face of relentless efforts by AI companies to scrape our content.

Fingers crossed, we’re getting a handle on this. Chalk it up to a problem none of us foresaw thirty twenty-eight years ago when we started this website.

All right, we do have some good 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray announcements for you today, so let’s get right into it…

First, our friends at the Warner Archive Collection have just unveiled their June slate of deep catalog Blu-ray classics, which is set to include Clarence Brown’s Letty Lynton (1932), W.S. Van Dyke’s Rose-Marie (1936), Frank Borzage’s Strange Cargo (1940), Clarence Brown’s Come Live with Me (1941), Mervyn LeRoy’s Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944), Michael Curtiz’s Night and Day (1946), Frank Perry’s Last Summer (1969), Hanna-Barbera’s Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machine: The Complete Series (1969-70), Bud Yorkin’s Start the Revolution Without Me (1970), and Roger Vadim’s Pretty Maids All in a Row (1971). The street date for all of these is 6/30.

Keep in mind, the Warner Archive also has a number of great 4K catalog titles coming, which we expect to be announced in the next few months. [Read on here...]

All right, as you can see by that headline, we’ve got some big release news for you today! But first, a few more new disc reviews…

Stephen has reviewed William Friedkin’s Jade (1995) in 4K Ultra HD from Imprint Films.

Tim has offered his thoughts on Rod Amateau’s The Garbage Pail Kids Movie (1987) in 4K Ultra HD from Vinegar Syndrome.

And Dennis has shared his perspective on a Jack Benny Comedy Classics double feature of Raoul Walsh’s Artists and Models (1937) and Mark Sandrich’s Man About Town (1939) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

I’ve also got a couple of additional reviews coming tomorrow, so be sure to watch for those.

Now then… you know how lots of people a few weeks ago were saying that if Netflix won the bidding war for Warner Bros. that might mean the end of physical media?

Yeah, maybe not so much.

Not only has Netflix recently let Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein and the animated K-Pop Demon Hunters be licensed to Criterion for Blu-ray and 4K release, today we have even bigger news.

Arrow Video just announced on social media that they’re bringing the most popular Netflix Original series of all time—the Duffer Brothers’ Stranger Things: The Complete Series—to Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD in July (street date 7/28)! [Read on here...]