My Two Cents
Afternoon Bits readers! We hope you all had a good weekend—a good long Memorial Day weekend for those of you who live here in the States.
We’ve got some great 4K catalog release news for you here today, but first we have more new disc reviews...
First up, I’ve reviewed Ridley Scott’s Kingdom of Heaven: Director’s Cut (2005) in 4K Ultra HD from 20th Century Studios via Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. It’s a fantastic release that streets on Tuesday. But we know it’s been hard to pre-order, so we’re waiting to hear back from Sony on the demand issue and we’ll let you know when we do. In the meantime, my review is lengthy and in-depth, so enjoy.
Also, Stephen has reviewed David Cronenberg’s The Brood (1979) in 4K Ultra HD from Second Sight Films.
Tim has shared his thoughts on Gordon Flemying’s Dr. Who and the Daleks (1965) in Blu-ray from Severin Films.
And finally, Dennis has offered his take on Roger Kumble’s Just Friends (2005) on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection.
Now then, the big news today is that the Criterion Collection is working on a 10-film Wes Anderson Collection for release later this year! [Read on here...]
We’ve got three more new disc reviews to share with you today, including...
Stephen’s reviews of Julius Onah’s Captain America: Brave New World (2025) in 4K Ultra HD from Marvel via Sony, as well as John Carpenter’s Starman (1984) in 4K UHD Steelbook packaging from Sony.
And Dennis’ look at Edwin Carewe’s Ramona (1928) on Blu-ray from Kino Classics and the Library of Congress.
Also here at the site today, we’ve just posted the weekly update of our Release Dates & Artwork section with all the latest Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD cover art and Amazon.com pre-order links. As always, anytime you order literally anything from Amazon after clicking to them through our links, you’re helping to support our work here at The Bits and we really appreciate it!
In announcement news today, Shout! Studios has just unveiled their first two Hong Kong Cinema Classics releases for 4K Digital on 6/24, including John Woo’s Hard Boiled (1992) and Ringo Lam’s City on Fire (1987). They’ll be followed by Woo’s A Better Tomorrow trilogy (1986-89) in 4K Digital on 7/8, Tsui Hark’s Peking Opera Blues (1986) and Woo’s The Killer (1989) on 7/22, Tony Ching’s A Chinese Ghost Story trilogy (1987-91) on 8/5, and Woo’s Bullet in the Head (1990) on 8/19. [Read on here...]
We’ve got two more new disc reviews for you here at The Bits today...
Tim has shared his thoughts on Steve Miner’s Friday the 13th: Part II (1981) in 4K Ultra HD from the Paramount Scares: Volume 2 box set.
He’s also taken an in-depth look at Adam Marcus’ Jason Goes to Hell (1993) in 4K Ultra HD from New Line via Arrow Video.
In announcement news today, Madman Entertainment in Australia is releasing both Peter Faiman’s Crocodile Dundee: The Encore Cut (1986) and John Cornell’s Crocodile Dundee II (1988) in 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray on 7/9.
The company already has six recent 4K Ultra HD titles available, including Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai (1954), Sean Baker’s Anora (2024), Richard Kelly’s Donnie Darko: 20th Anniversary Edition (2001), Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance (2024), and Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite (2019).
A24’s online shop is now taking pre-orders on Isaiah Saxon’s The Legend of Ochi (2025) on Blu-ray. The title is expected to ship in July (street date TBA). [Read on here...]
We’ve got a trio of new disc reviews for you to enjoy this afternoon, including…
Tim’s take on Russ Meyer’s Motorpsycho (1965) in 4K Ultra HD from Severin Films.
Stuart’s look at John and Roy Boulting’s Heavens Above! (1963) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.
And Dennis’ thoughts on Billy Ray’s Shattered Glass (2003) on Blu-ray from Imprint Films and Via Vision Entertainment.
In release news today, Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment has begun taking pre-orders on the Blu-ray, DVD, 4K Ultra HD, and 4K Steelbook release of Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein’s Final Destination: Bloodlines (2025), which we hear is a pretty solid entry in the franchise. The street date is still TBA, but you should be able to find listings on all the major retail sites.
It appears that the Warner Archive Collection’s recently-announced 4K Ultra HD release of Charles Walters’ VistaVision classic High Society (1956) has been delayed slightly from May until June, though we expect pre-orders for the title to appear soon on Amazon and elsewhere. [Editor’s Note: I’ve just confirmed with WAC that the street date for this title has now shifted from 5/17 to 6/10 to what should be the final date of 6/24. And I’m told the 4K image is a knock-out.]
As we’ve reported previously, the film has been remastered from new 13.5K scans of the original VistaVision negative. The 4K disc will include Dolby Vision HDR on a 100GB disc, with disc authoring and compression by Fidelity in Motion. The remastered film will also be included in the package on Blu-ray, a BD-50. [Read on here...]
Our friends at the Criterion Collection have just closed out the week by announcing their August slate of Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD titles, and it’s interesting indeed. There are few, what one might call, major titles this month, but there are some interesting art house gems. The slate includes...
Kon Ichikawa’s Fires on the Plain (1959) (Spine #378 – 4K + Blu-ray and Blu-ray) and The Burmese Harp (1956) (Spine #379 – 4K + Blu-ray and Blu-ray) on 8/5, Youssef Chahine’s Cairo Station (Spine #1273 – Blu-ray and DVD) on 8/12, A Confucian Confusion / Mahjong: Two Films by Edward Yang (1994-96) (Spine #1275 – Blu-ray) and Vittorio De Sica’s Shoeshine (1946) (Spine #1272 – 4K + Blu-ray, Blu-ray, and DVD) on 8/19, and finally Maura Delpero’s Vermiglio (2024) (Janus Contemporaries – Blu-ray and DVD), Alice Wu’s Saving Face (2004) (Spine #1276 – Blu-ray), and Zeinabu irene Davis’s Compensation (1999) (Spine #1274 – Blu-ray and DVD) on 8/26.
Curiously, there aren’t a lot of 4K titles in this batch, but I strongly suspect it’s because they have many more in the works. In any case, you can read more about these titles on Criterion’s website here. And don’t forget that they’re running their Spring Sale until 5/26, offering 30% of all discs. [Read on here...]