Displaying items by tag: William Wyler

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

Dennis’ review of Harold S. Bucquet’s On Borrowed Time (1939) on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection.

Stuart’s look at Irving Rapper’s The Miracle (1959), also on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection.

Stephen’s thoughts on John Woo’s Bullet in the Head (1990) in 4K Ultra HD from Shout! Studios via their Hong Kong Cinema Classics line.

And finally Tim’s take on Moonrise Kingdom (2012) and The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) in 4K Ultra HD from Criterion’s The Wes Anderson Archive box set.

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

In release news today, it’s finally official: Warner Bros. Discover Home Entertainment has just sent out their press release announcing William Wyler’s Ben-Hur (1959) and Alan J. Pakula’s All the President’s Men (1976) for 4K Ultra and 4K Steelbook release on 2/17! Both films will include Dolby Vision HDR. Ben-Hur is an 8K restoration of the original 65mm camera negative and will have Dolby Vision HDR. It will also include Dolby Atmos audio, while both titles will include DTS-HD MA tracks representing the original theatrical audio. (Ben-Hur will have its original theatrical audio in 5.0, representing the original 6-track stereo experience). [Read on here...]

We’ve got just a couple of days left of 2025 now, and we’re going to use this one to highlight more recent disc reviews that we’ve done here at The Bits, as well as to share some more great 4K release news.

First, those reviews…

Tim has turned in his thoughts on Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) in 4K Ultra HD from Criterion’s Wes Anderson Archive box set, as well as Menahem Golan and Sam Firstenberg’s The Ninja Trilogy (1981-84) in 4K UHD from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

Stuart has reviewed Warner Archive’s James Cagney Collection on Blu-ray, which includes The Public Enemy (1931), White Heat (1949), Angels with Dirty Faces (1938), and Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942).

And finally, Stephen has delivered his take on Michael Winner’s Death Wish II (1982) on Blu-ray from KL Studio Classics, as well as P. T. Anderson’s Boogie Nights (1997) in 4K Ultra HD from Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment!

More reviews are forthcoming in the days ahead, so be sure to keep checking back!

Now then, we have a great new title announcement for you today: 20th Century Studios and Disney have just set Dan Trachtenberg’s Predator: Badlands (2025) for Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD Steelbook release on 2/17! The Digital release is expected on 1/6. [Read on here...]

All right, friends… we’ve got a good My Two Cents news post for you today, especially if you’re looking for 4K Ultra HD release news!

First though, we have a couple more new disc reviews for you to enjoy today, including…

Stephen’s look at Brian De Palma’s Scarface (1983): Limited Edition Ultimate Collector’s Series in 4K Ultra HD from Universal.

Stuart’s take on Gerry Anderson’s Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons: The Complete Series (1967-68) on Blu-ray from Imprint Television.

Dennis’ review of Delmer Daves’ A Summer Place (1959) on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection.

And finally, Tim’s thoughts on Chor Yuen’s The Magic Blade (1976) from Arrow’s Shawscope: Volume Three Blu-ray box set.

Now then, let’s get to that release news, shall we?

And it’s frankly nice to have a bit of good news to report about Warner Discovery Home Entertainment for a change.

Here’s the deal… we have a better picture this afternoon of Warner’s 2026 4K Ultra HD catalog release slate! [Read on here...]

Morning folks! We’ve got some good release news for you today, along with more new disc reviews as always. The reviews include…

Tim’s take on Jonathan Liebesman’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006) in 4K Ultra HD from Arrow Video, as well as Jim Stenstrum’s animated Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island (1998) on Blu-ray from Hanna-Barbera via Warner Bros. “Terror Time” line.

Also today, we’ve just posted our latest update of the Release Dates & Cover Art section featuring all the latest Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD covers with Amazon.com pre-order links. As always, whenever you purchase literally anything from Amazon after clicking to them through one of our links, you’re helping to support our work here at The Bits and we appreciate it!

Now then, we’ve been talking about this next title on our Patreon page for subscribers for a few months at this point, but here’s some great news: William Wyler’s epic Ben-Hur (1959) is officially coming to 4K Ultra HD disc from Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment! [Read on here...]

Good afternoon, Bits readers!

We’ve got some great release news for you today, but first we’re starting out with more new disc reviews…

Tim has turned in his thoughts on Hanna-Barbera’s animated Magilla Gorilla: The Complete Series (1964-66) on Blu-ray from our friends at the Warner Archive Collection!

And Dennis has offered a look at Wong Kar-wai’s Chunking Express (1994) on Blu-ray from the Criterion Collection.

Also, I wanted to let you know that we’ve been posting regular updates over on The Digital Bits’ Patreon page, including weekly video posts and early word on many upcoming 4K catalog releases. So if you really want the scoop on future 4K UHDs, there’s absolutely no better place to find it. Subscribing to our Patreon is very affordable and a great way to support The Bits in the process. [Read on here...]

We’ve got a good bit of ground to cover here at The Bits today, so let’s start as always with new disc reviews...

Now available here are Stephen’s take on Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation (1974) in 4K Ultra HD from StudioCanal, David Allen’s The Primevals (2023) as released on Blu-ray by Umbrella Entertainment, and the Blu-ray Audio version of Jonathan Demme and Talking Heads’ Stop Making Sense (1984) live album, which includes Dolby Atmos.

Stuart’s look at the Philo Vance Collection on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics—which includes The Canary Murder Case (1929), The Greene Murder Case (1929), and The Benson Murder Case (1930)—as well as George King’s The Shop at Sly Corner (1947) and the Columbia Film Noir #6: The Whistler box set—which includes The Whistler (1944), The Mark of the Whistler (1944), The Power of the Whistler (1945), Voice of the Whistler (1945), Mysterious Intruder (1946), The Secret of the Whistler (1946), The Thirteenth Hour (1947), and The Return of the Whistler (1948)—both on Blu-ray from Indicator.

Dennis’ thoughts on Basil Dearden’s The Man Who Haunted Himself (1970) on Blu-ray from Imprint and Welcome Back, Kotter: The Complete Series (1975-1979) on DVD from Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment.

And finally, Tim has taken a look at Arch Oboler’s Bwana Devil (1952) on Blu-ray 3D from Kino Lorber Studio Classics with the help of the 3-D Film Archive.

More reviews are forthcoming, so stay tuned!

Now then, before we get to the big release news today, I wanted to alert you all to the fact that we’ve just posted a big update to our Cover Art section here at The Bits, aka the Release Dates & Artwork section (thanks to our own Russell Hammond)! It now features TONS of new Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD cover art, all with Amazon.com pre-order links. You can browse and sort the titles by street date and format, and of course The Bits is an Amazon Affiliate, so anytime you click through one of our Amazon links and order literally anything from them, you’re helping to support our work and we really do appreciate it. It makes a real difference for us. [Read on here...]

We have just one new disc review for you today (but a lot more are coming next week): Dennis’ look at Billy Wilder’s Witness for the Prosecution (1957) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

Meanwhile, we have some good announcement news today, so let’s get right to it...

First up this afternoon, our friends at The Warner Archive Collection have just revealed more great new Blu-ray titles that are all due to street on 4/30, including Charles Brabin’s The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932), Fred Zinnemann’s The Nun’s Story (1959), William Wyler’s Friendly Persuasion (1956), Francis Ford Coppola’s The Rain People (1969) and You’re a Big Boy Now (1966), and finally a Hanna-Barbera Double Feature of Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island (1998) and Scooby-Doo: Return to Zombie Island (2019)!

We’ll share all of the cover art and Amazon pre-order links as soon as they go live, but in the meantime you can see The Rain People at left.

Moving on, Kino Lorber Studio Classics has just set both Mark DiSalle’s The Perfect Weapon (1991) and Sam Firstenberg’s Revenge of the Ninja (1983) for release on Blu-ray Disc on 5/21. [Read on here...]

We’ve got some great announcement news for you catalog fans today, but first we also have another new Blu-ray review for you to check out...

Our own Tim Salmons has just turned in his thoughts on the 4-disc Laurel & Hardy: The Definitive Restorations BD set from Kit Parker Films and MVD Visual, which includes 21 shorts, 2 feature films, and a bevy of extras. Sounds like it’s a pretty nice set, so if you’re a fan of the comedy duo, you should definitely check it out.

Now then, the big news today is that Paramount Home Entertainment has just revealed that its next Paramount Presents Blu-ray title is none other than William Wyler’s Roman Holiday (1953), starring Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck. Look for it to street on 9/15 (SRP $29.98). You can see the cover artwork at left and also below.

The film was digitally restored in 2015 in a process took roughly six months, following an exhaustive worldwide search for the best available elements. [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...]

For today’s Retro Release Day here at The Bits, we’re looking at a 65 mm epic from director William Wyler: MGM’s Ben-Hur (1959), first released on DVD on March 13, 2001 by Warner Home Video.

Winner of 11 Academy Awards, the film stars Charlton Heston in the title role, with cinematography by Robert L. Surtees (Camera 65 process), music by Miklós Rózsa, and a supporting cast that includes Jack Hawkins, Haya Harareet, Stephen Boyd, Hugh Griffith, Martha Scott, Cathy O’Donnell, and Sam Jaffe.

The film is renowned for its chariot race sequence, which takes full advantage of the 2.66:1 widescreen frame (70 mm prints featured 2.76:1).

Today, Ben-Hur is often considered the second greatest American epic film behind Lawrence of Arabia. [Read on here...]