The press release doesn’t indicate, but we’ve asked the studio if the disc will preserve the variable aspect ratio of the IMAX experience and we’ll update this post when we hear back.
Both the Blu-ray and 4K editions will offer 15 behind-the-scenes featurettes (including The Royal Houses, Filmbooks: House Atreides, Filmbooks: House Harkonnen, Filmbooks: The Fremen, Filmbooks: The Spice Melange, Inside Dune: The Training Room, Inside Dune: The Spice Harvester, Inside Dune: The Sardaukar Battle, Building the Ancient Future, My Desert, My Dune, Constructing the Ornithopters, Designing the Sandworm, Beware the Baron, Wardrobe from Another World, and A New Soundscape). You can see the cover artwork above left and also below.
Now then, speaking of Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, we’ve learned that the studio tech team has investigated and found that there is an issue with the audio options on their new 4K Ultra HD of Mad Max 2, as reported. The good news is that they’ve also found that the audio on the studio’s 4K UHD of Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome is just fine, so the problem is only on the Mad Max 2 disc. Retailers are reporting that the studio has recalled copies already in stores, and the studio tells us that they’ll have an official statement shortly on their plans to correct the disc. Rest assured, we’ll post an update here when we have it.
Also, we’re sorry to report that there’s another new 4K release with issues: Apparently, Criterion’s new 4K/Blu-ray combo of Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane includes an error on the Blu-ray Disc in the package. The 4K presentation is just fine, but reportedly the Blu-ray version is too dark (there was apparently a problem with the down-conversion of the 4K SDR master to HD). We don’t actually have the disc in hand—Criterion did not send it out to us for review (our purchased copies are still yet to be received from Barnes and Noble.) But we’ll confirm when we have the disc in hand, and you can expect our review of the title here on The Bits next week, after the Thanksgiving holiday. We assume if there is indeed and error, Criterion will move to correct it and issue replacement discs. [Update: Criterion has now issued an official statement confirming the problem with the new Citizen Kane Blu-ray in their 4K/BD package and have provided instructions on how you can get a replacement disc. Click here for those details on their website.]
All right, while we might still have another review or two to post this week, this is going to be our last news post before Thanksgiving. We all need a break here, and a few of us actually have family visiting. So The Digital Bits is officially on holiday until next week.
Don’t forget that there will all kinds of pre-Black Friday, Black Friday, and post-Black Friday sales on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K titles—not to mention all kinds of gadgets, gizmos, and the like—on Amazon. Rather than bother you all with new “Hey, check out this deal!” messages all week long, we’ll simply ask humbly that whenever you go shopping for Black Friday deals on Amazon over the coming days, you consider starting by clicking to them from one of our links (like this one, or click on the image below). Doing so means that we get Affiliate credit for a portion of anything you order in that shopping session, which goes to help support our work here at The Bits—and we really do appreciate it!
We’ll leave you today with a look at the cover artwork for Warner’s Dune on Blu-ray and 4K UHD (the Amazon links are correct but pre-orders aren’t yet live), and also The Batman: The Complete Series on Blu-ray (which is now available for pre-order)...
And with that, we wish all of you here in the States a very Happy Thanksgiving with your family and friends. And best wishes to everyone else around the world as well. Peace out!
(You can follow Bill on social media at these links: Twitter and Facebook)