My Two Cents
All right, it’s been a busy week here at The Bits. And we’ve got a bunch of ground to cover today, so let’s get right to it.
First, some a couple of disc reviews…
Tim has completed his exhaustive coverage of Severin Films new Doctor Who releases with a look at both the Blu-ray and 4K versions of their Total Extermination: The Peter Cushing Doctor Who Collection, which includes Dr. Who and the Daleks (1965) and Daleks’ Invasion Earth 2150 AD (1966).
And we have a lot more new disc reviews on the way. For my part, I’m currently working on a review of a major upcoming Criterion 4K title, and of course I’ll be finishing up our Bond 4K reviews as well early next week.
In terms of announcement news today, we have a bunch of stuff to report, starting with the fact that Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has just officially announced that they’re releasing Peter Yates’ Krull (1983) in 4K Ultra HD Steelbook on 9/16! [Read on here...]
All right, as you may have noticed, we’ve been having some functionality issue here at The Bits website in the last week or two. I’m gonna talk about that a little more in a second, so hold that thought.
But first, I wanted to call your attention to a bunch of new disc reviews we’ve completed here at the site lately…
Over the last three or four days, I’ve completed detailed reviews of four of the films in MGM’s new 007: James Bond – Sean Connery 6-Films Collection in 4K Ultra HD, including Terence Young’s Dr. No (1962), From Russia with Love (1963), and Thunderball (1965), as well as Guy Hamilton’s Goldfinger (1964).
Now, I was in the middle of reviewing You Only Live Twice (1967) when I discovered that the copy of the film on 4K disc in my set was defective (I’m having a layer switch issue late in the film—just a bad disc I think, not a widespread issue). So I’m awaiting a replacement copy from WBDHE and I’ll resume my review work on the set as soon as it arrives. in the meantime, I may knock out another 4K review or two, so be sure to stay tuned.
Also today, Tim has posted reviews of Wyott Ordrung’s Monster from the Ocean Floor (1954) on Blu-ray from Film Masters, as well as Gordon Flemying’s Dr. Who and the Daleks (1965) and Daleks’ Invasion Earth 2150 AD (1966) in 4K Ultra HD from the good people at Severin Films.
Dennis has turned in his thoughts on Glenn Gordon Caron’s Clean and Sober (1988) on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection.
And Stephen has offered a genuinely in-depth look at our old friend Vincent Pereira’s A Better Place (1997), which has been newly remastered on Blu-ray from View Askew and the MVD Rewind Collection!
All are well worth your time, so please give them a look. [Read on here...]
Afternoon, folks! I wanted to check in here today with some news, and few more reviews, and an update.
Some of you have probably noticed that The Bits website has been slow this week. We’ve been having some software issues and our tech support team is on it. The good news is, they’ve identified the cause. We’re working on a solution which is going to involve a bunch of software upgrades, but it’s likely to going to take a week or two to sort out. So I just wanted to apologize for the inconvenience and ask for your patience in the meantime. Rest assured, Scotty and the crew down in Engineering are on the case and we should be back to normal soon!
In the meantime, we have some new disc reviews for you...
Stephen has taken a look at Bill Plympton’s I Married a Strange Person! (1997) on Blu-ray from Deaf Crocodile Films, as well as David Allen’s The Primevals (2023) on Blu-ray from Full Moon Features.
Dennis has offered his take on Steven Soderbergh’s The Good German (2006) in 4K Ultra HD from Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment (with an assist on the 4K side from Tim Salmons), as well as Dougal Wilson’s Paddington in Peru (2024) on Blu-ray from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, and Charles Walters’ Lili (1953) on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection.
And Tim has reviewed Gordon Flemying’s Daleks’ Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. (1996) on Blu-ray from Severin Films.
Lots more disc reviews are definitely on the way, so be sure to watch for them. And I also wanted to let you know in advance that if news updates or social media posts are a little light over the next few days, it’s because I just got my hands on Warner and MGM’s new 007: James Bond – Sean Connery 6-Film Collection in 4K Ultra HD. So I’m going to crack that open and start working on detailed reviews of the films therein, but it’s probably going to take me through the weekend to get them all covered.
But if a cursory examination of Dr. No and From Russian with Love is any indication, these new 4K remasters are pretty terrific. They’re on 100GB discs, they feature very high data rates, and the color, detail, and grain are all very nice indeed. Fingers crossed, I think the Warner remastering team has nailed it. These are definitely a big improvement over the old Lowry Digital 4K masters. So watch for more on that in my reviews soon! [Read on here...]
Now here’s a title I’ve known about for a while, and that I’m very excited to finally share with all of you!
Longtime Bits readers will know that this film is another huge favorite of mine. And back in January of last year… not long before we first broke the exclusive news of the new Sony/Disney distribution deal here at The Digital Bits… I was invited by Disney reps to submit a list of films that I thought the studio should consider for release on physical 4K UHD.
I compiled a list of fifty titles, an A-list of twenty-five, and a B-list of twenty-five more.
Kevin Jarre, Kurt Russell, and George P. Cosmatos’ Tombstone (1993) was at the very top of that A-list.
The third film on that A-list was Ridley Scott’s Kingdom of Heaven: Director’s Cut (2005).
Both titles have now obviously been released on physical 4K Ultra HD from Disney/Touchstone and 20th Century Studios via Sony Pictures Home Entertainment—Tombstone on 4/22, and Kingdom of Heaven on 5/27. (Initial supplies of both titles are hard to come by, but I’m told that Sony is working hard to replicate more copies.)
Well… now I can confirm that the second title on the list I submitted is finally coming to 4K Ultra HD as well, and I couldn’t possibly be more excited. That title is none other than… [Read on here...]
The new week is here, and so we’ve got three new disc reviews to share with you today accordingly...
Stuart’s look at Ken Loach’s Family Life (1971) on Blu-ray from Indicator.
Dennis’ thoughts on Predrag Antonijević’s Savior (1998) on Blu-ray from Imprint Films.
And Tim’s take on another title from Arrow’s Shawscope: Volume Two Blu-ray box set, this time Lau Kar-leung’s Mad Monkey Kung Fu (1979)!
In announcement news today, Shout! Factory has begun to reveal its August slate of titles, which is set to include the Shaw Brothers Classics: Volume Seven Blu-ray box set on 8/5, which features the films The Imperial Tomb Raiders (1973), Legend of the Bat (1978), The Shadow Boxed (1975), The Spiritual Boxer (1975), Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre (1978), Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre 2 (1978), Seven Shaolin Hand Lock (1978), Swordsman and Enchantress (1978), The Proud Twins (1979), A Deadly Secret (1980), and Heroes Shed no Tears (1980). [Read on here...]