My Two Cents
We have three new reviews for you to enjoy today…
Stephen’s look at Michael Mann’s Thief (1981) in 4K UHD from Arrow Video in the UK.
And Stuart’s thoughts on Valerio Zurlini’s Girl with a Suitcase (1961) on Blu-ray from Radiance Films, as well as Yasuzô Masumura’s Play It Cool (1970) on Blu-ray from Arrow Video.
More reviews are forthcoming in the days ahead, so be sure to keep checking back for them.
All right, in announcements today, the big news is something we broke on Saturday: Disney has officially set Steven Lisberger’s TRON (1980) and Joseph Kosinski’s TRON: Legacy (2010) for 4K Ultra HD Steelbook release on 9/16. Both gave been carefully remastered under the filmmakers’ supervision by The Walt Disney Film Restoration team to include Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos audio. Our sources are telling us that some of the early “de-aging” VFX in the latter film have been redone to modern standards. [Read on here...]
BREAKING on The Bits: Disney sets TRON (1982) & TRON: LEGACY (2010) for 4K Ultra HD release on 9/16!
Greetings, programs!
We have some great 4K Ultra HD catalog release news for you this morning that I know many of you have been waiting for, and this comes straight from the game grid at D23.
So here’s the official Disney press release with all the preliminary details...
THE DIGITAL UNIVERSE REAWAKENS ON 4K ULTRA HD!
TRON and TRON: Legacy Getting 4K Release September 16
BURBANK, Calif. (September 2, 2025) – Disney’s groundbreaking sci-fi adventures, TRON and TRON: Legacy, will debut on 4K Ultra HD for the first time on September 16. [Read on here...]
We’ve got one last review for you to enjoy this week…
Dennis has offered his thoughts on Elia Kazan’s Splendor in the Grass (1961) on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection.
More reviews are forthcoming here at The Bits next week, so be sure to check back for them!
Now then, in announcement news today, our friends at Arrow Video have finally officially announced their November Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD slate, so let’s get into all the details!
As expected, look for Christian Tafdrup’s Speak No Evil (2022) on Blu-ray (in the UK only) on 11/3, followed by Peter Hyams’ Outland (1981) on 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray (in the US, UK, and Canada) on 11/4 (11/3 in the UK), Chuck Russell’s The Mask (1994) on Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray (in the US, UK, and Canada) on 11/11 (11/10 in the UK), Wes Craven’s Deadly Friend (1986) on Blu-ray (in the UK only) on 11/17, Antony’s Hoffman’s Red Planet (2000) on 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray (in the US, UK, and Canada) on 11/18 (11/17 in the UK), and finally Billy Wilder’s The Apartment (1960) on 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray (in the UK only) on 11/24. [Read on here...]
All right, we’re back with a news update today and we’ve got a bunch of reviews to share with you today as well. Sorry it’s taken a few days to get back to news coverage this week, but I had a bunch of stuff to deal with this week, including checking in with our industry sources but also clearing a few important items off my review stack, after having my mother visiting for about ten days earlier this month.
As such, I’ve recently reviewed Sony’s terrific The Karate Kid: Ultimate Collection in 4K Ultra HD, a 6-film Amazon-exclusive box set that includes all of the films in this series plus some nice extras and great swag as well. It’s definitely worth getting your hands on if you’re a fan of the series.
On Monday, I also reviewed our friends Jeffrey Morris’ excellent new Space: 1999-themed documentary The Eagle Obsession. That’s coming on Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD in 2026, so we’ll cover it then too.
Meanwhile, Tim has reviewed more of Arrow’s Shawscope: Volume Two Blu-ray box set—specifically Chang Cheh’s Ten Tigers of Kwangtung (1980)—as well as Peter Medak’s The Odd Job (1978) and The Ghost of Peter Sellers (2018) both on Blu-ray from Severin Films.
Dennis has taken a look at Alice Wu’s Saving Face (2004) on Blu-ray from the Criterion Collection.
Stephen has offered his thoughts on Martin Scorsese’s Raging Bull (1980) as newly-released in 4K Ultra HD by the folks at Imprint Films, as well as Atsushi Yamatoya’s Inflatable Sex Doll of the Wastelands (1967) and Jiří Barta’s The Pied Piper & Jiří Barta Shorts (1986) both on Blu-ray from Deaf Crocodile.
And Stuart has reviewed Tōru Murakawa’s The Beast to Die (1980) on Blu-ray from Radiance. [Read on here...]
In September of 1975, a new science-fiction series appeared on British television. Created and produced by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, Space: 1999 followed the trials and tribulations of the inhabitants of Moonbase Alpha, after the Moon is accidentally blown out of Earth’s orbit and sent hurtling out into interstellar space. Though the series only ran for two seasons, it picked up a loyal following thanks to a strong cast led by Martin Landau and Barbara Bain (Mission: Impossible), as well as compelling and high-concept storytelling. But one of the show’s greatest strengths was a production design aesthetic that seemed far more plausible and realistic than those of other sci-fi franchises. And no design from Space: 1999 exemplifies this more clearly than the show’s iconic spacecraft, the Eagle Transporter.
Science fiction has certainly shown us other examples of compelling spacecraft on TV and the big screen, including Star Trek’s USS Enterprise and the Millennium Falcon of Star Wars fame. But for anyone interested in spaceflight at the time, the Eagle Transporter—used by the Alphans to shuttle between the Earth and Moon, to travel around the surface, and visit alien planets—seemed like a vehicle that could actually be built, flown, and perform as depicted. That’s because its design has much more in common with NASA’s Lunar Excursion Module (LEM)—which in reality delivered astronauts to the lunar surface six times between 1969 and 1972—than the Enterprise, the Falcon, or any other spacecraft that sci-fi enthusiasts had seen before or since. It’s only natural then that the Eagle has gained a legion of fans over the years. In fact, the author of this review is one of them. [Read on here...]