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Tuesday, 21 May 2019 14:51

Alita: Battle Angel official, plus The Doors 4K, Pet Sematary, Cinderella 70th BD, Cinderella (2015) 4K & more

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All right, I trust you all saw our new History, Legacy, and Showmanship column from last night featuring Michael Coate’s retrospective on Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, which celebrated its 20th anniversary on Sunday. You’ll find that here and if you’re a Star Wars fan, I think it’s well worth your time.

Meanwhile, we have some major new Blu-ray and 4K announcements for you today, so read on...

First, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment has just officially set Robert Rodriguez’s Alita: Battle Angel for release on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD (with Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D) on 7/23. The Digital version will be available on 7/9. The 4K will include not only Dolby Atmos audio, but HDR in Dolby Vision, HDR10, and HDR10+. Aspect ratio is 2.39:1, per the press release.

And there will be HOURS of special features, as follows... [Read on here...]

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The Blu-ray will include Alita’s World dynamic motion comics (including The Fall, Iron City, What it Means to be a Cyborg, and Rules of the Game), 7 featurettes (From Manga to Screen, Evolution of Alita, Motorball, James Cameron, 2005 Art Compilation (2019), Robert Rodriguez and Cast Q&A Moderated by Jon Landau, and Robert Rodriguez’s 10 Minute Cooking School: Chocolate), plus 4 Scene Deconstructions (I Don’t Even Know My Own Name, Just an Insignificant Girl, I’m a Warrior Aren’t I?, and Kansas Bar).

For better or worse, there’s even more to be found among the Digital only extras, which will add Musical Themes, 7 Streets of Iron City featurettes (including Iron City, Scrapyard, Ido’s Clinic, Cathedral, Ambush Alley, Vector’s Office and the Factory, and Kansas Bar), 9 Allies and Adversaries featurettes (Zapan, Dr. Dyson Ido, Grewishka, Nyssiana, Romo, McTeague, Vector, Chiren, and Hugo), a 2016 Art Reel, and 2 theatrical trailers.

Here again is the official cover artwork for all three SKUs, which are now available for pre-order on Amazon.com (and we’d certainly appreciate it if you pre-ordered the titles through our links, as it helps us to keep The Bits going – thank you!)...

Alita: Battle Angel (4K Ultra HD) Alita: Battle Angel (Blu-ray Disc) Alita: Battle Angel (DVD)

Also today, Lionsgate has now officially announced the 4K Ultra HD release of Oliver Stone’s The Doors: The Final Cut, and the broad strokes are essentially the same as the StudioCanal release. However, the package will include different cover artwork, which you can see below. And while the cover notes that the Blu-ray version will be included, it’s not clear from Lionsgate’s press release if it will be the same 3-disc Blu-ray set found in the StudioCanal release. Either way, the 4K release will have Dolby Atmos audio and Dolby Vision HDR. Says Stone of the new sound mix:

“This brand-new 4K restoration of The Doors in Dolby Atmos will provide far greater overall clarity and dimension for the audience. During the many concert sequences, the sound now fills the auditorium above the audience, behind it, and all points in between. I wanted the film to be as immersive as possible to a real ’60s Doors experience,” said director Oliver Stone. “Additionally, I’ve made one cut of three minutes to a scene I thought was superfluous to the ending, which helps close out the film in a more powerful way.”

The actual 4K disc will also include the same extras as the StudioCanal version, namely Stone’s audio commentary and new interviews with Stone and original sound engineer Lon Bender, who supervised the new Atmos mix.

Lionsgate has also issued a new trailer to promote the release...

Meanwhile, here’s the cover artwork for The Doors, along with Warner’s The Shining 4K (now available for pre-order on Amazon and the 30% discount should appear soon), and Pet Sematary 4K (more on that in a second)...

The Doors: The Final Cut (4K Ultra HD) The Shining (4K Ultra HD) Pet Sematary (4K Ultra HD)

All right, Paramount has just officially announced the 7/9 Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD release of the new Pet Sematary remake, with the Digital release expected on 6/25. The 4K will include Dolby Atmos audio. All versions will include an alternate ending, deleted and extended scenes, the 4-part Beyond the Deadfall documentary (includes Chapter One: Resurrection, Chapter Two: The Final Resting Place, Chapter Three: The Road to Sorrow, and Chapter Four: Death Comes Home), The Tale of Timmy Baterman featurette, and 3 Night Terrors: Family Haunting Visions clips (Louis, Rachel, and Ellie).

Also, Disney has just officially announced the 4K Ultra HD release of their live action Cinderella (2015) on 6/25. Also coming that day are new 70th Anniversary Walt Disney Signature Collection Blu-ray and DVD editions of the original animated Cinderella (with the Digital release due on 6/18, though there’s no indication of the animated film coming to 4K anytime soon). You can see that cover artwork here (all are available for pre-order on Amazon by clicking on the covers)...

Cinderella: 70th Anniversary Edition (Blu-ray Disc) Cinderella (2015) (4K Ultra HD) Apocalypse Now: Final Cut (4K Ultra HD)

Still a little more 4K news to go... Warner’s Batman: 4-Film Collection box set is now available for pre-order on Amazon here (street date 9/17)...

Batman: 4-Film Collection (4K Ultra HD)

And in Blu-ray only news today, Lionsgate has just announced the neo-noir film Under the Silver Lake for release on Blu-ray and DVD on 6/18.

Lionsgate has also changed the street date for The Professor on Blu-ray and DVD to 7/9 (from 7/16, as previously announced). Adjust your plans accordingly.

Finally, the BBC is releasing Killing Eve: Season Two on Blu-ray and DVD on 6/18.

Whew! That’s all for now. Stay tuned...

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