My Two Cents
Morning, folks!
We’re busy working on reviews here at The Bits this week, including The Wizard of Oz and It’s a Wonderful Life in 4K, as well as Monty Python’s Flying Circus and Batman Beyond on Blu-ray (and more).
But there’s breaking news we wanted to jump in a post right away...
First, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has officially announced the Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD release of Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood on 12/10, with the Digital release expected on 11/25.
The film was finished as a native 4K Digital Intermediate, so it should look terrific. Audio will be 7.1 DTS-HD MA on 4K (with HDR10 high dynamic range) and 5.1 DTS-HD MA on Blu-ray. [Read on here...]
We’ve got a few interesting news items to report today, but first some more reviews...
Tim has posted his thoughts on Scream Factory’s new The Omen Collection Blu-ray box set and it sounds like it’s pretty fantastic. The title is well worth a look and you’ll find the review here.
Also, Dennis has turned in his thoughts on The Art of Self-Defense on Blu-ray from Universal and the remake of The Lion King (2019) from Disney also on Blu-ray.
And I’m working on a review of Warner’s The Wizard of Oz in 4K Ultra HD, which looks absolutely fantastic. The title streets on Tuesday and I hope to have my review posted on Monday. So stay tuned for that. [Read on here...]
Okay, I posted my review of MGM’s 007: The Daniel Craig Collection in 4K Ultra HD last night here on The Bits. It’s pretty darned good image-wise. You can read all the details in the review.
Also today, Tim has posted a review of the new An American Werewolf in London: Limited Edition Blu-ray from Arrow Video. He’s also posted a look at Severin Films’ new Killer Crocodile 1 & 2 Limited Edition Blu-ray.
And I’ve started working on a review of Warner’s incredible new 4K Ultra HD release of The Wizard of Oz. The film was scanned in 8K from the original Technicolor camera negative and I’ll tell you, it’s never looked more luminous and dimensional. For an 80-year-old film, it’s pretty stunning. So watch for that review in the next couple of days. [Read on here...]
All right, first things first today...
I’m currently at work on a 4K Ultra HD review of MGM’s 007: The Daniel Craig Collection, which includes all four of the existing Craig Bond films. That will be up either later today or first thing AM.
The quick preview is that the films look very good, a nice uptick from Blu-ray in terms of the video quality, with a restrained HDR grade. For video, I’d score the films as follows… Casino Royale: B+, Quantum of Solace: A-, Skyfall: A, SPECTRE: A. The first two are 2K upsamples, while the latter two are native 4K DIs. Watch for more details in the review.
Now then... the big news today has to do with Universal and Amblin’s Back to the Future films. Universal Brand Development (a division of Universal Studios) has revealed today that The Back to the Future Trilogy will officially be coming to 4K Ultra HD next year (in 2020) in honor of the original film’s 35th anniversary. [Read on here...]
We’ve got another new disc review for you to enjoy today...
I’m just posted my thoughts on HBO’s Deadwood: The Movie, written by David Milch and directed by Daniel Minahan. If you’re a fan of the original Deadwood TV series (reviewed here on Blu-ray), you should really appreciate what a fine piece of work it is (and what a miracle it is that it finally happened).
I should note here though that HBO has informed us they’re no longer sending out review product for most of their physical media releases (they’re deciding it on a title by title basis, essentially the same thing). That is a sorry state of affairs for a network of HBO’s pedigree. In any case, it means that we had to purchase our own copy of this title for the review, something will certainly not be doing often in the future. Sadly, we can only see this as yet another sign that physical media is waning.
In any case, we do thankfully have some good physical media news for you today... [Read on here...]