Displaying items by tag: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Afternoon, everyone! We hope you all had a great weekend, and that those of you here in the States enjoyed a great 4th of July weekend as America celebrated its 250th anniversary.

We’ve got a couple of things to share with you today, but first as always we have a few new disc reviews for you…

Stephen has turned in his thoughts on Val Guest’s Toomorrow (1970) on Blu-ray from Deaf Crocodile Films, Oliver Stone’s Talk Radio (1988) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics, and Frank Henenlotter’s Frankenhooker (1990) on Blu-ray from Refuse Films.

Tim’s look at The Eurocrypt of Christopher Lee: Collection 2 Blu-ray box set from Severin Films, Rod Serling’s Night Gallery: The Complete Collection on Blu-ray from Imprint Films, Ringo Lam’s The Adventurers (1995) on Blu-ray from Eureka Entertainment, and Tobe Hooper’s The Mangler (1995) in 4K Ultra HD from Vinegar Syndrome.

Stuart’s take on Michael Winner’s You Must Be Joking! (1965) on Blu-ray from Indicator Films.

And finally, Dennis’ reviews of Howard Zieff’s Private Benjamin (1980) and Victor Fleming’s Captains Courageous (1937) on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection, as well as Robert Alan Aurthur’s The Lost Man (1969) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

As always, lots more reviews are forthcoming, so be sure to check back for them!

Now then, the big release news today is that Kevin Costner’s Dances with Wolves: Extended Edition (1990) is premiering at the Locarno Film Festival in August (in Locarno Switzerland) in a new 4K restoration completed by the Zurich-based Cinegrell! [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...]

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...]

We’ve got a few great new disc reviews for you to enjoy here at the site today as we continue our efforts to get things back to normal here. And a couple of them are significant titles…

First, Stephen has turned in his thoughts on David Fincher’s newly remastered Fight Club (1999) in 4K Ultra HD from 20th Century Studios via Disney and Sony. Stephen has also taken a look at Luis Llosa’s Anaconda (1997) in 4K Ultra HD from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

Next, Tim has offered his take on Ralph Bakshi’s animated Fire and Ice (1983) in 4K Ultra HD from Blue Underground.

And Dennis has shared his look at Jack Conway’s Honky Tonk (1941) on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection.

More reviews are forthcoming, and again there should be a lot more over the next week or so as we return to something like normal operations here at The Bits after our efforts to stabilize the first from intensive AI bot scraping and higher-than-ever site traffic.

Also, we’ve got a new update of the Release Dates and Artwork section for you all to enjoy as well.

So we really appreciate your patience as we’ve dealt with that over the last 6-8 weeks or so.

In terms of announcement news this week, our friends at the Criterion Collection have revealed their August slate, which includes Todd Haynes’ Safe (1995) (Spine #739 – 4K UHD + Blu-ray) on 8/4, Bertrand Tavernier’s Coup de torchon (1981) (Spine #106 – Blu-ray) on 8/11, and Barbara Koppe’s Harlan County USA (1976) (Spine #334 – 4K UHD + Blu-ray) and American Dream (1990) (Spine #1324 – Blu-ray), and James Gray’s Little Odessa (1994) (Spine #1323 – 4K UHD + Blu-ray) on 8/25. Also coming on 8/25 is Eclipse Series 49: Five Radical Documentaries by Kazuo Hara and Sachiko Kobayashi (1972-2016) on Blu-ray. [Read on here...]

We’ve got a few more reviews for you today, and a few more great bits of announcement news to round out the week here…

First, Stuart has turned in his thoughts on Howard Zieff’s House Calls (1978) and Gilles Grangier’s Maigret Sees Red (1963) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

And Dennis has offered his take on John Binder’s UFOria (1985), also on Blu-ray from KLSC.

Now then, here’s something fun: Our friends at Vinegar Syndrome have revealed they’ve licensed Joe Dante’s Explorers (1985) from Paramount and they’ve about to release a new 4K Ultra HD edition! Limited to 8,000 units, it will ship following their next Halfway to Black Friday sale that runs from May 22nd to 25th! And in addition to legacy extras, you’ll get a 40-page book and a new 77-minute documentary on the making of the film by Elijah Drenner! [Read on here...]

Welcoming to a new week, Bits readers!

So the good news is that the site appears to be stable, our email is working, and all of our functionality appears to be restored. If you’re having any trouble, please let us know.

In the meantime, we have some new reviews for you to enjoy today…

Stephen has taken a look at Guy Hamilton’s Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins (1985) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics, as well as Frank Henenlotter’s Frankenhooker (1990) in 4K Ultra HD from Synapse Films.

Tim has offered his thoughts on Hanna-Barbera’s The New Fred and Barney Show: The Complete Series (1979) on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection. He’s also assisted Dennis with 4K Ultra HD reviews of Terry Jones’ Monty Pythons’ Life of Brian (1979) from the Criterion Collection and Alvin Rakoff’s Death Ship (1980) from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

And Dennis has turned in a solo review of Mike Figgis’ Mr. Jones (1993) on Blu-ray from Imprint films.

More reviews are on the way all this week, so be sure to watch for them!

Now then, in release and announcement news today, Disney officially announced the Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD release of Pixar’s CG-animated Hoppers (2026) on 6/2, with the Digital release expected tomorrow on 4/28. The 4K disc will come in Steelbook packaging and interestingly, it will be released on a 100 GB disc with Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos audio. Extras will include 5 featurettes (The Critter Dairies, Hopping In: The Making of Hoppers, Meet King George: Scene Breakdown, Beaverton Revealed, and Damn Good Bloopers) plus 6 deleted scenes. You can see the cover art at left. [Read on here...]

We’ve got more new disc reviews for you all to enjoy today, including…

Stephen’s take on Ema Tammi’s Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 (2025) in 4K Ultra HD from Universal and also Bill Plympton’s Hair High (2004) on Blu-ray from our friends at Deaf Crocodile Films.

Tim’s review of David Lynch’s Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992) in 4K from Criterion.

Dennis’ look at Terry Jones’ Monty Python’s Life of Brian (1979) on Blu-ray from Criterion, as well as Martin Ritt’s Cross Creek (1983) on Blu-ray from Imprint Films.

And finally, Stuart’s thoughts on Raoul Walsh’s Silver River (1948) on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection.

More reviews are forthcoming all this week, so be sure to keep checking back for them!

Now then… in announcement news today, Kino Lorber Studio Classics has revealed that Howard Hawks’ El Dorado (1966) is “coming soon” to 4K Ultra HD. That’s a Paramount Western featuring John Wayne, Robert Mitchum, and James Caan, featuring a screenplay co-written by Leigh Brackett (The Empire Strikes Back) and music by Nelson Riddle (the 1966 Batman). [Read on here...]

All right, we have a few more new disc reviews to share with you this morning, including…

Tim’s thoughts on Guy Magar’s Lookin’ Italian (1994) on Blu-ray from Severin Films.

Dennis’ take on William Richert’s A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon (1988) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics and Shane Meadows’ TwentyFourSeven (1997) on Blu-ray from Imprint Films.

Stephen’s look at Richard Attenborough’s A Bridge Too Far (1977) in Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics, as well as Ivan Passer’s Cutter’s Way (1981) in 4K Ultra HD from Radiance Films.

And Stuart’s review of the Warner Archive’s Fred Astaire Collection on Blu-ray, which includes Easter Parade (1948), The Band Wagon (1953), Silk Stockings (1957), and Finian’s Rainbow (1968). Stuart has also reviewed Peter Yates’ Summer Holiday (1963) on Blu-ray from Indicator’s Cliff in Color! box set.

Now then, the big news we want to share with you today is that pre-orders have finally begin for Disney’s Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD release of James Cameron’s Avatar: Fire and Ash (2026), all of which are set to street on 5/19. [Read on here...]

Greetings, Bits readers—I hope this finds you all well!

You may have noticed that there have been very few updates here on the site this week, and also that we’ve had a lot of downtime in which the site wasn’t working or was slow to load.

There’s a reason for that, which is that we’ve been the target of relentless scaping by AI companies trying to train their LLMs. We’ve taken steps to prevent it in the past, but they don’t seem to care that when they scrape us, it causes significant disruptions for both us and you as readers. So it looks like we’re going to have to take further steps to prevent this going forward.

In the meantime, we’ve got a lot of ground to cover today, as I haven’t been able to post a news update since Monday due to these disruptions.

We’ll start with disc reviews! We’ve had a bunch for you this week, including…

My looks at Jeannot Szwarc’s Somewhere in Time (1980) in 4K from Kino Lorber Studio Classics, David Lynch’s The Straight Story (1999) in 4K from StudioCanal (a joint review with former Bits staffer Dan Kelly), Michael Crichton’s Westworld (1973) in 4K from Arrow Video, and Ted Lasso: The Richmond Way (2020-23) in 4K from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment.

Tim’s review of Lam Nai-Choi’s The Cat (1991) on Blu-ray from 88 Films.

Dennis’ take on Claude Leloch’s A Man and a Woman (1966) on Blu-ray from the Criterion Collection.

Stuart’s thoughts on Jerzy Skolimowski’s The Lightship (1985) on Blu-ray from Imprint Films and Jeffrey Dell and Roy Boulting’s Man in a Cocked Hat (1959) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

And finally, Stephen’s look at Dario Argento’s The Phantom of the Opera (1998) and Emmett Alston’s Demonwarp (1988) in 4K from Vinegar Syndrome, and Ti West’s The Innkeepers (2011) on Blu-ray from Umbrella and in 4K Ultra HD from Second Sight. Whew!

Now, let’s get to the news that’s broken since our announcement of James Cameron’s Avatar: Fire and Ash on Blu-ray and 4K on Monday… [Read on here...]

We start today with two new disc reviews for you to enjoy, including…

Stephen’s look at Richard Rush’s The Stunt Man (1980) in a great limited edition 4K Ultra HD release from Radiance Films.

And Tim’s thoughts on Arrow Video’s excellent 4K Ultra HD release of New Line’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Trilogy (1990-93).

More reviews are on the way, so be sure to keep checking back for them!

Also today, we’ve just uploaded our own Russell Hammond’s latest update of the Release Dates & Cover Artwork section here at The Bits, featuring new Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD cover artwork and Amazon.com pre-order links.

As always, whenever you order literally anything from Amazon after clicking to them through one of our affiliate links (like this one), you’re helping to support our work here at The Bits and we really do appreciate it.

Now then… our friends at the Warner Archive Collection have just revealed their terrific April slate of Blu-ray catalog titles, and it includes a great new 4K title as well! [Read on here...]