My Two Cents
Wednesday, 14 December 2022 15:33

Strange World, The Fabelmans, Crimes of the Future, The Adventures of Batman & updates on Dragonslayer & Once Upon a Time in the West in 4K

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We start with two more new disc reviews today (and there might be one more from me later this evening, but it should certainly be up by tomorrow morning)...

Tim has reviewed Crane Wilbur’s The Bat (1959), which is available in a fine new Blu-ray edition from our friends at The Film Detective.

And Dennis has offered his thoughts on Lynne Littman’s Testament (1983), a post-apocalyptic drama from PBS’ American Playhouse and Paramount Pictures that includes William Devane, Jane Alexander, Kevin Costner, Rebecca De Mornay, and Lukas Haas. That’s new on Blu-ray from the good folks at Imprint Films.

Now then, the big announcement news today is that Disney has just officially set Don Hall and Qui Nguyen’s animated Strange World for release on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD on 2/14. Look for the Digital and Disney+ streaming release to happen on 12/23. Audio will be Dolby Atmos on the 4K and DTS-HD MA on Blu-ray, as always. Extras will include 4 featurettes (Anatomy of a Scene: Creating A Strange World, Strange Science, Creature Feature, and The Hidden Secrets of Strange World), outtakes, and 4 deleted scenes (The Ballad of Jaeger Clade, Lightning Lynx, Funerals and Promises, and Ethan and Searcher). You can see the cover artwork at left and also below. [Read on here...]

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In other news, retail sources are suggesting that Steven Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical drama The Fabelmans will arrive on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD sometime in February.

Neon is releasing David Cronenberg’s Crimes of the Future (via the distributor Decal) on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD on 1/31/23. Extras will include the Crimes of the Future (1970) and The Death of David Cronenberg (2021) short films, 6 featurettes (David Cronenberg on Making Crimes of the Future, Behind-the-Scenes Footage, Cast Interviews, Production Design Photos and Animated Renders, Location Photos and Studio Concept Drawings, and David Cronenberg & Cast React to Crimes of the Future: The Board Game), trailers, and more.

Universal has set Todd Field’s Tár for release on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD on 12/20.

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment and DC have set the animated DC Universe movie Legion of Super-Heroes for release on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD on 2/7/23.

They’ve also just set The Adventures of Batman: The Complete Collection for release on Blu-ray on 2/28. The 2-disc package will include all 34 animated adventures produced by Lou Scheimer’s Filmmation Studios for CBS Television in the 1960s and 70s.

Also today, Arrow Video is releasing The Dunwich Horror (1970) on Blu-ray on 1/10/23.

Kino Lorber Studio Classics has revealed that Dick Richards’ Heat (1986) and Ernst Lubitsch’s If I Had a Million (1932) are both “coming soon” to Blu-ray, as is Jerry Hopper’s Secret of the Incas (1954) on 2/28/23.

And we have a couple more pieces of Paramount news today as well...

First, a number of Bits readers have reported that their Digital copies of Matthew Robbins’s Dragonslayer (1981) have quietly been upgraded to 4K on iTunes and Apple TV. If you don’t already own the film Digitally, you can’t yet buy it in 4K, but this is another indication that a proper 4K release is impending (both on Digital and physical 4K Ultra HD).

And I’ve been able to confirm with sources here in SoCal and also in Italy that Sergio Leone’s western masterpiece Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) has indeed been remastered in 4K. The work was apparently completed in 2016 (running time is the original 166 minutes), which means all that’s required for a physical Ultra HD release now is a bit of additional digital remastering and HDR grading. And in fact, this restoration has been showing on the festival circuit over the past couple years as a 4K DCP (see links here and here). Good news indeed. If there’s any film that deserves a great 4K Ultra HD release, it’s this one.

[Editor’s Note: We’ve just learned that both Matthew Robbins’ Dragonslayer (1981) and Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) are now available for purchase Digitally in 4K HDR on Vudu. Thanks to Bits reader Andrew P. for the heads-up!]

We’ll leave you with a look at the cover artwork for a few of the titles mentioned above and more, with Amazon pre-order links if available...

Strange World (4K Ultra HD) Black Adam (4K Ultra HD) The Adventures of Batman (Blu-ray Disc)

Tar (4K Ultra HD) Crimes of the Future (4K Ultra HD) Legion of Super-Heroes (4K Ultra HD)

Stay tuned!

(You can follow Bill on social media at these links: Twitter and Facebook)

 

 

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