My Two Cents
We’re starting the new week off today with a bunch of new disc reviews. I’ve gone on a 4K Ultra HD review spree over the last week, and have completed and posted my looks at the following titles:
Jan de Bont’s Speed in 4K from 20th Century Studios and Disney, which streets tomorrow.
Ric Roman Waugh’s Greenland in 4K, a German import disc that came out earlier this year from Tobis Film and LEONINE Distribution. (It’s worth importing if you like the film, as Universal and STX seem to have no plans as yet to release it in 4K here in the States).
Sergio Leone’s The Good, the Bad and the Ugly in 4K from Kino Lorber Studio Classics, a must-have disc which came out last week but is out of stock almost everywhere at the moment. (Rest assured, the company says more copies are on the way very soon, so do NOT pay scalper prices).
And Don Taylor’s The Final Countdown in 4K from Blue Underground, which streets on 5/25.
Meanwhile, Dennis has just offered his thoughts on Shaka King’s Judas and the Black Messiah on standard Blu-ray from Warner Bros, a disc which also streets tomorrow. [Read on here...]
We’ve got just another quick news update here today, as I’m diving into some long overdue work on new disc reviews...
Speaking of which, Tim has shared his thoughts on Augusto Caminito and Klaus Kinski’s Nosferatu in Venice (1988) as recently released on Blu-ray by Severin Films. You’ll find that here.
In announcement news today, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment and HBO have just set His Dark Materials: The Complete Second Season for release on Blu-ray and DVD on 6/29. The season is already available for streaming viewing on HBO Max. In addition to all 7 episodes, extras will include 11 behind-the-scenes featurettes (Noble Rogue: The Legend of Lee Scoresby (exclusive to Blu-ray and DVD), Exploring His Dark Materials: Panserbjørne, Exploring His Dark Materials: Daemons, Exploring His Dark Materials: Portals & The Multiverse, Exploring His Dark Materials: Witches, His Dark Materials: Bringing Daemons and Bears to Life, His Dark Materials: Exploring Cittàgazze, His Dark Materials: Worlds Collide, The Powerful Mrs. Coulter, Lyra, and The Subtle Knife). [Read on here...]
Okay, we’ve got just a couple things for you this afternoon...
First, Dennis has offered his thoughts on Michael Curtiz’s 1932 pre-Code horror film Doctor X, staring Fay Wray. It’s now available on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection and you can see what Dennis has to say about the title here. Sounds like the actual disc quality is excellent.
In release news today, Amazon.de is now showing Zack Snyder’s Justice League coming to 4K in Germany on 5/27 (pre-order it here). There’s also a 4K Steelbook following in Germany on 7/8. Meanwhile, the dates for this title in France are currently listed as 6/9 for both the regular 4K release and the Steelbook 4K version. US retailers have yet to list the title, but our most recent information is that the studio will drop it on or about 5/25. We’ll certainly post updates as we have more information. [Read on here...]
All right, we have a few key items to discuss here at The Bits today...
Also for those of you might be interested, I had the great pleasure of joining our friends Sam Posten & Brian Dobbs from the Home Theater Forum to talk Blu-ray, 4K, and the state of the home entertainment industry in general on their excellent Home Theater United podcast! The discussion was a lot of fun, and you longtime Bits readers especially should find it an interesting listen. We definitely get into the topic of where the industry is and where it’s going, so do give it a listen here. [Read on here...]
We’re starting things off with another new Blu-ray review here at The Bits today: Tim has offered his thoughts on Jack Hill’s Switchblade Sisters (1975), as soon-to-be-released on the format by our friends at Arrow Video. You’ll find that here.
In announcement news today, the big update is that StudoCanal has finally revealed that their Basic Instinct 4K Ultra HD release will happen in the UK on 6/14. There’s a deluxe edition coming to Amazon UK (click here for that) and an exclusive Steelbook edition coming to Zavvi (click here for the US pre-order link and here for the UK link).
Extras on the 4K disc itself will include audio commentary with Camille Paglia, a second commentary with Paul Verhoeven and Jan de Bont, 4 featurettes (Basic Instinct: Sex, Death and Stone, An Unending Story: Scoring Basic Instinct, Blonde Poison: The Making of Basic Instinct, and Cast & Crew Interviews), 3 Storyboard Comparisons (for the Love Scene, Car Chase, and Elevator Murder), and Screen Tests (4 for Sharon Stone and 1 for Jeanne Tripplehorn). The 4K package will also include a 2-disc Blu-ray edition with the same extras. [Read on here...]