Warner makes Aquaman 2 official, plus A24’s Stop Making Sense, Warner Archive’s Hanna-Barbera Blu-ray binge, new Indicator 4K titles, Jack Ryan & more!

Thursday, 18 January 2024 16:15

Warner makes Aquaman 2 official, plus A24’s Stop Making Sense, Warner Archive’s Hanna-Barbera Blu-ray binge, new Indicator 4K titles, Jack Ryan & more!

by Bill Hunt

All right, if you thought yesterday’s post was busy with news, we’ve got another banger for you here today! But first, the day’s disc reviews...

Stuart has offered his thoughts on Henri Verneuil’s I... for Icarus (1979) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

Dennis has reviewed Neil Burger’s The Marsh King’s Daughter (2023) on Blu-ray from Lionsgate.

And just one more thing... Tim has delivered his take on Kino Lorber Studio Classics’ new Columbo: The 1970s – Seasons 1-7 Blu-ray box set as well. Enjoy!

Now then, a quick note: All of the Criterion Collection April titles we shared the cover artwork for in yesterday’s post now have Amazon pre-order links, though the actual pre-orders have yet to begin. But that should happen very soon. We’ve added the links to our 4K Ultra HD Release List here at The Bits as well.

We’re starting today with exciting news for music, concert film, and Talking Heads fans: A24 is going to begin pre-orders for their forthcoming 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray Collector’s Edition release of Jonathan Demme’s Stop Making Sense (1984) on 1/27. The official street date and other details are still TBA. And per Variety, the film will return to IMAX theaters around the country that same day for month-long residence screenings. You can read more here.

Following up on yesterday’s news column, Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment and DC have just officially announced the Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD release of James Wan’s Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom on 3/12. The Digital release will be available on 1/23. Extras on all versions will include 7 featurettes (Finding the Lost Kingdom, Aquaman: Worlds Above and Below, It’s a Manta World, Necrus, the Lost Black City, Escape from the Deserter World, Brawling at Kingfish’s Lair, and Oh TOPO!). To this, the Digital version will add the exclusive Aquaman Through Fire and Water motion comic. And the Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD will also add the exclusive Atlantean Blood Is Thicker Than Water featurette. Note that the 4K Ultra HD will also feature Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos audio. You can see the cover artwork at left and also below. [Read on here...]

For fans of vintage animation, our friends at The Warner Archive Collection have just revealed an amazing Blu-ray box set called Hanna-Barbera’s Superstars 10. Due on 2/27, it will include a collection of made-for-TV films produced in 1987 and 1988, among them Yogi and the Invasion of the Space Bears, Yogi Bear and the Magical Flight of the Spruce Goose, Yogi’s Great Escape, Top Cat and the Beverly Hills Cats, Scooby Doo Meets the Boo Brothers, Scooby Doo and the Reluctant Wolf, Scooby Doo and the Ghoul School, Rockin’ with Judy Jetson, The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones, and The Good, the Bad, and Huckleberry Hound. Here’s a sampling of the cover art (Amazon links will be added as they become available)...

Hanna-Barbera’s Superstars 10 (Blu-ray Disc) The Jetsons Meet The Flintstones (Blu-ray Disc) Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School (Blu-ray Disc)

Yogi's Great Escape (Blu-ray Disc) The Good, The Bad, and Huckleberry Hound (Blu-ray Disc) Colt .45: The Complete Series (Blu-ray Disc)

As you can see, Warner Archive is also releasing a classic TV western series on Blu-ray on 3/12! Colt .45: The Complete Series (1957-1960) will be a 10-disc set that includes all 67 episodes. Based on the 1950 Warner Bros. film of the same name, the series starred Wayde Preston and ran for three seasons on ABC.

I believe I mentioned yesterday that Powerhouse Films’ Indicator label would be announcing some new titles today. Well, indeed they have! On March 25-26 (in the UK and US), look for René Cardona’s The Panther Women (1967), The Bat Woman (1968), and Santo vs the Riders of Terror (1970) on Blu-ray. And following on April 22-23 (in the US and UK) are Jean Rollin’s The Nude Vampire (1970) and The Demoniacs (1974), each on both Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD! Here’s what those last two titles will look like...

Each film is newly remastered from the best available elements, and will include new and archival extras, improved English subtitles, and 80-page books with new essays, historical articles and interviews, and film credits. A 10% discount is available if you pre-order them in advance directly from the Powerhouse website (via this link).

Meanwhile, Paramount will be releasing Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan: The Final Season and Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan: The Complete Series on Blu-ray and DVD on 4/16 (you’ll find them available for pre-order here and here on Amazon very soon). We expect that The Final Season will also be made available in 4K Ultra HD around the same time.

Lionsgate has announced a pair of new Blu-ray collections for release on 3/5, including The Expendables 4-Film Collection (SRP $44.99) and the Saw: 10-Film Collection – 20th Anniversary Edition (SRP $79.99). Each will include legacy special features as well as exclusive art cards.

Blue Underground has set Gualtiero Jacopetti and Franco Prosperi’s Goodbye Uncle Tom (1971) for release on Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD on 4/23. Each will be a 4-disc set, including the 123-minute English and 136-minute Italian versions of the film, the feature-length documentary The Importance of Shocking: Gualtiero Jacopetti and more special features, and Riz Ortolani’s soundtrack for the film on CD.

We also have a couple of other interesting news items to report from around the Interwebs today...

First, if you’re a fan of David Lynch’s Dune (1984), it appears that Max Evry, author of the terrific new book A Masterpiece in Disarray: David Lynch’s Dune. An Oral History, has found Lynch’s half-completed script for Dune II, aka Dune Messiah, and he talks about it in detail in a new piece on Wired. It sounds, frankly, fascinating. Also, be aware that Lynch’s Dune is going to be returning to theaters in the US for two days next month (on 2/18 and 19) in honor of the film’s 40th Anniversary. You can find tickets here at Fathom Events.

And our friend Steve Melching (an excellent TV writer whose work you might know from Star Wars: The Clone Wars, The Batman, Transformers Prime, and Star Wars: Rebels) has alerted us to the fact that some heroic YouTuber has curated over three hundred classic episodes of the Siskel & Ebert film review show, from 1976 to 1999! And there are some real gems in there. These two guys introduced the love of film, and the art of film criticism, to millions of Americans on their syndicated TV series. And Roger was regular Bits reader, with whom I had the pleasure of communicating on a number of occasions over the years. You really owe it to yourself to check this collection of videos out on YouTube—trust me when I say that it’s a rabbit hole you can spend hours enjoying. Thumbs up to all involved (and thanks for the heads-up, Steve)!

We’ll leave you with a look at the cover artwork for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, as well as Umbrella’s Dead End Drive-In, Vinegar Syndrome’s Southern Comfort in 4K Ultra HD, and more…

Stay tuned!

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Warner makes Aquaman 2 official, plus A24’s Stop Making Sense, Warner Archive’s Hanna-Barbera Blu-ray binge, new Indicator 4K titles, Jack Ryan & more!

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