Displaying items by tag: Studio Canal

We’ve got a new disc review today from Tim—actually a pair of reviews, but it’s essentially the same title in two different packaging SKUs—featuring his thoughts on John McTiernan’s Last Action Hero (1993) in 4K Ultra HD and 4K UHD Steelbook from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. Sounds like it’s a good release, so do give it a look.

Now then, the big news today is that Criterion has officially announced their September slate, which is set to include Neil Jordan’s Mona Lisa (Blu-ray and DVD – Spine #107) on 9/14, Gina-Prince-Bythewood’s Love & Basketball (Blu-ray and DVD – Spine #1097) and Johnnie To’s Throw Down (Blu-ray and DVD – Spine #1092) on 9/21, and Luchino Visconti’s The Damned (Blu-ray and DVD – Spine #1098) and Melvin Van Peebles: Four Films (Blu-ray only, includes The Story of a Three Day Pass – Spine #1093, Watermelon Man – Spine #1094, Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song – Spine #1095, and Don’t Play Us Cheap – Spine #1096) on 9/28. You can see the cover artwork for Melvin Van Peebles: Four Films at left and also below the break. Click here for all the A/V and extras details on the Criterion website.

We’ve updated our Criterion Spines Project pages here on The Bits accordingly. [Read on here...]

We’ve got some bit 4K release news for you today, but first more new disc reviews...

Stephen has posted his thoughts on Rod Lurie’s The Outpost: Extended Director’s Cut in 4K Ultra HD from Screen Media. Sounds like it’s a good film, but be aware that this is one of those rare 4K releases that doesn’t include HDR.

Also today, Dennis has reviewed Gus Trikonis’ Take The Job and Shove It (1981) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

More reviews are on the way for later this week. (And yes, I’m still waiting on Zack Snyder’s Justice League in 4K, but I will review that the moment it arrives.) [Read on here...]

Okay, we’ve got some serious ground to cover in today’s My Two Cents update, so let’s get right to it...

First, we’ve just posted Michael Coate’s brand new History, Legacy & Showmanship column here at The Bits, featuring a terrific new retrospective of George Lucas’ THX 1138 in honor of the film’s 50th anniversary (which was last week on 3/11 – the piece was delayed due to a technical issue). The column takes an in-depth look back at the original theatrical release and also features a great roundtable discussion with film historian Chris Barsanti, documentary filmmaker Gary Leva, and original Director of Fan Relations at Lucasfilm Craig Miller. I think you’ll really enjoy it. So you’ll find that here.

Next up, as some of you may have noticed over the weekend, we posted word on Saturday (see here) that video distributors had begun listing a 4-film Indiana Jones Collection for release on 4K Ultra HD on 6/8. This is still not to be considered official until Paramount and Lucasfilm make their actual announcement, however be aware that I’ve now confirmed it with multiple film industry sources in addition to retail and distribution sources. And it’s really not all that surprising given that 6/12 is marks the 40th anniversary of the original film’s theatrical release. We expect the set to include all four existing films in 4K with HDR10 high dynamic range and the previous DTS-HD Master Audio lossless sound mixes (but that’s still subject to change). [Editor’s Note: We’ve just confirmed that the set WILL include Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos audio. Details to follow shortly.] The 5-disc set will also include a disc of bonus features that are TBA. Of course, we’ll post more information on this as it comes in.

The other big news today is that our friends at The Criterion Collection have just unveiled their June slate of titles. [Read on here...]

We’ve got still more release news to report today, though much if it we’ve already talked about here at The Bits. The point is, it’s all now official.

First up, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has just set four catalog titles for release on 4K Ultra HD (with Blu-ray and Digital Copy) on 9/1...

These include Richard Donner’s The Goonies (1985), Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice (1988), and Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes (2009) and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011). All four were shot on film, so appear to have been mastered from new 4K scans of the original camera negatives (the two Sherlock Holmes titles were shot on film but finished as 2K DIs, so it’s possible new 4K DIs were built from scans of the camera neg and VFX film outs).

All four titles will include the previous Blu-ray extras. In addition, Beetlejuice will offer a new English Dolby Atmos sound mix. There’s no indication of Dolby Vision HDR in Warner’s press release, so assume HDR10 for the time being. Both The Goonies and Beetlejuice will also be available in new Deluxe 4K Giftsets exclusive to Amazon.com. [Read on here...]

All right, we have a very quick post here at The Bits today, but it’s got a goodie bit of 4K news for you.

First though, I believe I promised some new disc reviews from...

I’ve now posted my thoughts on the Warner Archive Collection’s new Blu-ray edition of V: The Final Battle. And since we hadn’t covered the original yet, I went back to review their V: The Original Miniseries Blu-ray from last year as well.

Also, just this morning I posted a review of Erik Nelson’s tremendous WWII documentary The Cold Blue, new on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber. The disc also includes director William Wyler’s fully restored original documentary Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress (1944). Both of them are a treat, and I guarantee you’ve never seen 8th Air Force air combat footage looking so good before. Don’t miss it. [Read on here...]

So the big news this morning is that Shout! Factory has dropped an out-of-left-field 4K Ultra HD announcement: They’re gotten the US release rights to Michael Cimino’s 1978 Best Picture winner The Deer Hunter. As some of you will know, this was a Studio Canal release last year in the UK on 4K Ultra HD, but there was no U.S. distributor.

Shout! will be releasing it on 5/26 as a Shout Select 4K/Blu-ray Collector’s Edition. SRP is $34.93, but you can pre-order it direct from the Shout website for just $28.43 with an exclusive poster. There will apparently be some new extras, which will be announced at a later date. We have no details yet on HDR or audio specs, but the Studio Canal package included Dolby Vision and HDR10, with 2.0 and 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio. [Read on here...]

All right, many of you have asked about (or otherwise understandably bemoaned) the lack of big or significant announcements relating to catalog films on 4K Ultra HD lately. So today’s update here at The Digital Bits is about addressing that concern.

And while we still have little in the way of official announcements at the moment, I can confidently report that at least some of titles you’re waiting for are on the way in 2020.

The information in today’s post should be considered unofficial until the studios in question make their actual announcements. But we believe it to be a reliable gauge of titles currently in the production pipeline or planning stages.

First, we know for sure that Disney is going to be releasing Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga on 4K coinciding with the Blu-ray and 4K release of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, likely in March. [Read on here...]

All right, we’ve got a lot of ground to cover today, so bear with us.

First, very quickly, we’re currently working on those disc reviews we mentioned the other day, so watch for those starting tomorrow. But breaking news – and the need to dig into it – has keep us busy yesterday and today.

Let’s get some regular announcement news out of the way first...

CBS Home Entertainment has set Star Trek: Discovery – Season Two for release on Blu-ray and DVD on 11/12. The 4-disc Blu-ray release will include audio commentary on 4 episodes (with various combinations of Sonequa Martin-Green, Anson Mount, Ethan Peck, Alex Kurtzman, Jonathan Peck, and Olatunde Onsunanmi), promos, deleted scenes, a gag reel, and 8 featurettes (Star Trek: Discovery: The Voyage of Season Two, Enter the Enterprise, The Red Angel, Designing Discovery: Season Two, Prop Me Up: Season Two, Dress for Success: Season Two, Creature Comforts: Season Two, and Creating Space). You can see the cover artwork at left and also below. [Read on here...]

Sorry for our absence yesterday. We’ve been dealing with various and sundry server issues over the weekend and we’re just starting to get back to normal. Honestly, it’s a wonder the Internet still works at all these days. So anyway, thanks for your patience.

We have a bunch of title announcements to cover today, but first, today marks the 20th anniversary of our friends Robert Meyer Burnett and Mark A. Altman’s film Free Enterprise. So we wanted to call your attention to Michael Coate’s retrospective on the film from its 15th anniversary back in 2014. You can read Still Loving Long & Partying: Remembering Free Enterprise on its 15th Anniversary right here. The film isn’t on Blu-ray yet and so it’s always surprising how many people haven’t see it. But if you’re a fan of classic Star Trek, pop culture, and actors William Shatner and Eric McCormack, we think you’ll really enjoy it.

Meanwhile, we’re starting to get back to reviews. I still have two more Batman 4Ks coming, plus Tim and Dennis have some Blu-rays they’ve reviewed for you too. I’ve also got a trio of science fiction Blu-ray releases I’m going to try to cover soon as well. So be sure to watch for those. [Read on here...]

We’ve got three more Blu-rays for you today, including...

Tim’s look at Stewart Raffill’s Mac and Me: Collector’s Edition (1988) from Shout! Factory.

David Steigman’s take on Albert Pynn’s Blast (1997) from MVD.

And Dennis Seuling’s thoughts on Desmond Davis’ British comedy Smashing Time (1967) from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

I’m also working on several new 4K Ultra HD reviews, which should start appearing later this afternoon, so do check back for those.

In announcement news, we have details on Liongate’s next Vestron Video Collector’s Series Blu-ray title, Maximum Overdrive. [Read on here...]