Displaying items by tag: Universal

We’ve got three new disc reviews for you today, starting with my take on Paramount’s new George Pal Double Feature of Byron Haskin’s The War of the Worlds (1953) on 4K Ultra HD and Rudolph Maté’s When Worlds Collide (1951) on regular Blu-ray Disc. Unfortunately, both discs are... problematical... as you may have heard here and elsewhere. (And I should note that we have Paramount’s official position on War of the Worlds in the review text.) But they may still be worth your consideration so do check it out.

Also today, Tim has posted his thoughts on Jack Bender’s Child’s Play 3 (1991) in 4K Ultra HD from Scream Factory.

And Stephen has chimed in with his thoughts on Jeff Kanew’s Natural Enemies (1979) on Blu-ray from Fun City Editions via Vinegar Syndrome.

I’ve also just gotten my hands on Imprint Film’s new all-region Blu-ray of Akira Kurosawa’s Dersu Uzala (1975) and it’s pretty terrific. I’ve never seen the film looking better than it does here, and there are some nice extras on board as well, including a cracking new audio commentary by Japanese film expert Stuart Galbraith IV. I’ll have a full review here on The Bits in the next day or two. [Read on here...]

We’ve got two new disc reviews for you on this lovely Tuesday afternoon, both of them by our own Stephen Bjork...

First up, he’s taken a look at Universal’s CG-animated prequel Minions: The Rise of Gru in 4K Ultra HD.

Stephen has also offered his thoughts on Fernando Di Leo’s The Violent Breed (1984) on Blu-ray from Code Red via Kino Lorber.

As mentioned yesterday, more new disc reviews are on the way including a few great new 4K catalog titles, among them The War of the Worlds from Paramount and The Lost Boys from Warner Bros. So watch for those and more in the coming days.

Now then, in announcement news, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has officially set David Leitch’s Bullet Train (2022) for release on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD on 10/18, with the Digital release expected on 9/27. [Read on here...]

We’ve got two new disc reviews for you today, as well as more interesting 4K Ultra HD news and a few other things as well. First up, those reviews...

Tim has turned in his thoughts on Kenneth G. Crane’s Monster from Green Hell (1957) on Blu-ray from The Film Detective.

And Dennis has offered his take on Michael Curtiz’s The Scarlet Hour (1956) on region-free Blu-ray from Imprint Films in Australia.

More reviews are on the way all this week, so be sure to stay tuned for them.

The big 4K news today is that Paramount has officially set Walter Hill’s 48 Hrs. (1982) and Another 48 Hrs. (1990) for release on 4K Ultra HD on 12/6, just as we’ve been anticipating. [Read on here...]

Our friends at the Criterion Collection have just unveiled their December Blu-ray slate this afternoon, which is set to include four more interesting titles...

It starts with the Michael Haneke: Trilogy (Spine #1161 – Blu-ray only – includes The Seventh Continent, Benny’s Video, and 71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance) on 12/6. And following on 12/12 are Todd Haynes’ The Velvet Underground (Spine 1164 – Blu-ray and DVD), Three Films by Mai Zetterling (Spine #1162 – Blu-ray only – includes Loving Couples, Night Games, and The Girls), and finally Michael Schultz’s Cooley High (Spine #1165 – Blu-ray only).

It’s worth noting that The Velvet Underground documentary will include a new Dolby Atmos soundtrack. Click here for more details on all of these titles.

In 4K Ultra HD news today, retail sources are indicating that Universal will release David Gordon Green’s Halloween Ends on 12/27, though do keep in mind that this date is tentative and subject to change, as the film doesn’t actually hit theaters until 10/14. [Read on here...]

We have two more new disc reviews for you this afternoon, as well as more announcement news—including a couple of surprise titles. But first those reviews...

Tim has turned in his thoughts on John Lafia’s Child’s Play 2 (1990) in 4K Ultra HD from Scream Factory.

And Dennis has offered his take on Atom Egoyan’s Exotica (1994) on regular Blu-ray from The Criterion Collection.

As always, more reviews are on the way in the days ahead, so be sure to watch for them.

Now then... the big news today is that Universal Pictures Home Entertainment has just made Jordan Peele’s Nope official for release on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD on 10/25, with the Digital release due on 9/20. It appears that both the Blu-ray and 4K presentations will feature a variable aspect ratio that shifts between 2.20 and 1.78 to preserve the theatrical IMAX experience. [Read on here...]

All right, we’ve got a LOT of Blu-ray and 4K announcement news today, as well as lots of new Amazon pre-order links. But first, we have a few more new disc reviews...

Tim has taken a look at Steve Wang’s Drive (1997) on 4K Ultra HD from 88 Films and the MVD Rewind Collection.

Dennis has turned in his thoughts on Onur Tukel’s Summer of Blood (2014) on Blu-ray Disc from Vinegar Syndrome.

And Stephen has offered his take on Neil Marshall’s Dog Soldiers (2002) on 4K Ultra HD in a terrific special edition release from Second Sight.

Also here at The Bits, our own Michael Coate has posted a great new History, Legacy, and Showmanship column featuring a retrospective look at George Lucas’ Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones on the occasion of the film’s 20th anniversary. The piece contains a complete rundown of the film’s first-run D-Cinema and IMAX presentations, along with a roundtable interview with historians Stephen Danley, W.R. Miller, and Richard Woloski. If you’re a Star Wars fan in particular, I think you’ll really enjoy it. [Read on here...]

And... we’re back! My wife Sarah and I spent the long holiday weekend here in the States up in rustic Portland, Oregon, where—through the power of the Interwebs—I officiated my niece’s wedding. It was a lovely ceremony, a wonderful trip, and a good time was had by all, as they say.

But, while I was away, The Bits’ team turned in a bunch of great new disc reviews, including...

Stephen’s take on The Incredible Melting Man (1977) in 4K UHD, and Creature from Black Lake (1976), the Vampyr: Limited Edition (1932), and Fire in the Sky (1993) on Blu-ray.

Tim’s thoughts on The Beast (1988) and The Black Phone (2021) on Blu-ray, and Child’s Play (1988) in 4K UHD.

And Dennis’ look at Bright Victory (1951), The Last Train from Madrid (1937), and Samson and the 7 Miracles of the World (1961) all on Blu-ray.

As always, lots more new disc reviews are on the way over the coming days so be sure to keep your eyes peeled for them.

We’ve also got some pretty significant catalog 4K release news to catch you all up on this afternoon, and some TV Blu-ray news too... [Read on here...]

All right, folks. This will be our last post until Wednesday next week, as it’s not only the long Labor Day weekend here in the States but by wife and I are also celebrating our thirty-second wedding anniversary. So we’re going to take a little time to relax here in sweltering-in-a-heatwave Southern California.

But, we’ve got a TON of release news to talk about, as well as a pair of new disc reviews to start things off today...

Stephen has turned in his thoughts on Gaspar Noe’s intriguing and doubly-experimental Lux Aeterna (2019) on Blu-ray from Yellow Veil Pictures via Vinegar Syndrome.

And Tim has posted his thoughts on Jeffrey Obrow and Stephen Carpenter’s The Kindred (1987), now available in a new Special Edition Blu-ray release from Synapse Films.

And we’ve got lots more disc reviews coming over the weekend and early next week, so be sure to check back for them.

Meanwhile, our friends at Via Vision Entertainment down under are releasing a Saw: The Ultimate Collection 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray set on 11/9 that’s not only comes in an exclusive “reverse bear trap” replica, but is limited to just 1500 copies. The 13-disc set includes Saw, Saw II, Saw III, Saw IV, Saw V, Saw VI, Saw 3D: The Final Chapter, Jigsaw, Spiral: From the Book of Saw, plus a Bonus Disc packed with extras. You can see the packaging at left. Be sure to visit their website here for all the details and to pre-order. [Read on here...]

We’re back as promised this evening with more upcoming catalog 4K Ultra HD news and rumors from our studio, industry, and retail sources. Keep in mind, some of these titles are not yet officially announced, so the dates and details are subject to change.

First of all, this is a title we’ve known is coming for a few months now and while it’s not yet been officially announced by the studio, we do have the final cover artwork from retailers: Universal Studios Home Entertainment is expected to release their Universal Classic Monsters: Icons of Horror Collection – Volume 2 box set in 4K Ultra HD on 10/11.

The set will include The Mummy (1932), The Bride of Frankenstein (1935), Phantom of the Opera (1943), and Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954). You can see the cover artwork at left and also below.

It’s also believed that the titles in the studio’s Volume 1 set—Dracula (1931), Frankenstein (1931), The Wolf Man (1941), and The Invisible Man (1932)—will finally be released as single-film SKUs, for sure in the UK and possibly in the US as well. We’ll post more as soon as the studio makes any of this official. [Read on here...]

All right, sorry for the lack of an update over the last couple of days. We’ve been very busy here at the site, working on reviews, preparing for some big upcoming reviews, and finishing a few more site upgrades. But the major reason is that there’s a ton of breaking and evolving release news to cover, and getting to the bottom of it all—collating all the details, checking in with sources, confirming key pieces of release information—takes a huge amount of time. But I’m always up for a challenge.

Before we get to that, however, let’s share those disc reviews we’ve been working on over the past few days...

First up, I’ve posted my thoughts on John Milius’ Red Dawn (1984) from Shout! Factory and also Colin Trevorrow’s Jurassic World: Dominion (2022) from Universal, both in 4K Ultra HD.

Tim has delivered a look at Joel Schumacher’s Flatliners (1990) in 4K UHD from Arrow Video, as well as John Carpenter’s Escape from New York (1981) in 4K from Scream Factory.

Dennis has reviewed a number of regular Blu-ray titles in the last few days, including Lon Chaney: Before the Thousand Faces – Volume 2 from Undercrank Productions, Josh and Benny Safdie’s Daddy Longlegs (2009) from Criterion, and Jack Gold’s The Tenth Man (1988) and Ken Hughes’s The Trials of Oscar Wilde (1960) from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

And finally, Stephen has delivered in-depth looks at Paul W.S. Anderson’s Event Horizon (1997)—a Steelbook release that’s getting hard to find here in the States—and Jeff Fowler’s Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022) both in 4K Ultra HD from Paramount, along with Michael Findlay’s Shriek of the Mutilated (1974) on Blu-ray from American Films via Vinegar Syndrome.

As always more disc reviews are on the way in the coming days. [Read on here...]