My Two Cents
Thursday, 21 January 2021 14:54

Paramount makes The Ten Commandments official for 4K, plus Harley Quinn on Blu-ray, new KL Studio Classics & more

by
  • Print
  • Email

We’re starting things off today with two more new Blu-ray reviews...

Tim has checked out Luigi Cozzi’s The Black Cat (1989) on BD from Severin Films.

And Dennis has shared his thoughts on Frank Darabont’s Buried Alive (1990) on BD from Kino Lorber Studio Classics. Enjoy!

The big announcement news today is that Paramount Home Entertainment has officially revealed the 4K Ultra HD release of Cecil B. DeMille’s The Ten Commandments (1956), staring Charlton Heston, on 3/30 just as we expected. Per the studio’s press release, the original VistaVision negative was scanned in 6K as part of the 2010 restoration effort and those files were the basis for this new Dolby Vision presentation. “In addition, Paramount spent well over 150 hours doing new color work and clean-up on the scan. The move to Dolby Vision created the opportunity to further improve the look of the film: blacks are enhanced and improvements were made to smooth out special effects mattes to create the most vibrant and pristine image possible. The 4K film presentation contains an introduction by DeMille, an intermission, an overture/exit music card, and an entr’acte card, along with a DTS-HD 5.1 lossless soundtrack.” [Read on here...]

CLICK HERE to BACK THE BITS in our fight to preserve Physical Media CLICK HERE to shop through our Amazon.com links and SUPPORT THE BITS CLICK HERE to visit The Bits on Facebook CLICK HERE to visit The Bits on Twitter

The 4K disc will include the entire film (on a single disc) plus audio commentary by film historian Katherine Orrison, author of Written in Stone: Making Cecil B. DeMille’s Epic The Ten Commandments. Two Blu-ray discs will also be included with the film split over the two, along with the same commentary, newsreel footage of the film’s NY premiere, trailers and a 10-minute “making of” trailer. You can see the cover artwork above left and also below, and we’ve updated our 4K Ultra HD Release List accordingly.

Based on this announcement, you can expect JJ Abrams’ Super 8 and George Cukor’s My Fair Lady to be announced for 4K release soon by Paramount as well.

Speaking of 4K, our friends at Second Sight in the UK have teased an upcoming 4K Ultra HD release of Jennifer Kent’s The Babadook (2004) on Twitter. You can see that here. The title is listed as “coming to 4K,” presumably early in 2021.

Meanwhile, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment and DC have set Harley Quinn: The Complete First and Second Seasons for release on Blu-ray Disc on 2/26. Again, the cover artwork is below.

Also recently announced by Warner: Rick and Morty: The Complete Seasons 1-4 on Blu-ray and DVD on 3/2. You can see the Blu-ray artwork below.

In other release news, Universal has set Freaky for Blu-ray and DVD on 2/9, with the Digital release expected on 1/26. Audio commentary, deleted scenes, and a number of featurettes will be included.

Lionsgate has set Silk Road for Blu-ray and DVD release on 2/23, while Eddie will arrive on Digital only on 3/9.

And our friends at Kino Lorber Studio Classics and the 3-Film Archive are working on a new Blu-ray/Blu-ray 3D release of Budd Boetticher’s 1953 3-D Western classic Wings of the Hawk, starring Van Heflin and Julia Adams. Look for it to be released on 2/9.

Other titles newly announced by KL Studio Classics on Blu-ray include CB4 (1993), Cool as Ice (1991), The Hot Spot (1990), Sweet Liberty (1986), and The Last Married Couple in America (1980) on 5/4, and Tank (1984), Quantez (1957), and Horizons West (1952) on 5/11. Cartouche (1962), O.S.S. (1946), Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967), Million Dollar Mystery (1987), and Thunderbolt (1929) have also been revealed as “coming soon” from the company.

We’ll leave you today with a look at the cover artwork for some of the titles mentioned above, with Amazon pre-order links if available...

The Ten Commandments (4K Ultra HD) Harley Quinn: The Complete First and Second Seasons (Blu-ray Disc) Rick and Morty: Seasons 1-4 (Blu-ray Disc)

Wings of the Hawk (Blu-ray 3D) World of Wong Kar Wai (Blu-ray Disc) Monster Hunter (4K Ultra HD)

Stay tuned...

(You can follow Bill on social media at these links: Twitter and Facebook)

 

Contact Bill Hunt

Please type your full name.
Invalid email address.
Please send us a message.
Invalid Input