Items filtered by date: May 2018

Let’s start with the big news today... Lucasfilm and Walt Disney Studios have just officially set Star Wars Rebels: The Complete Fourth Season for release on Blu-ray and DVD on 7/31. The Disney XD series, which just won a Saturn Award last night for this its final season, wraps up with all 15 episodes in 1080p HD and Dolby Digital 5.1 audio.

Extras on the Blu-ray set will include six audio commentaries with executive producer Dave Filoni, 3 featurettes (Ghosts of Legend, Force of Rebellion, and Kevin Kiner: The Rebel Symphony), plus 8 Rebels Recon segments. You can see the cover artwork at left and also below.

Before we continue, a quick note: We’ve just updated the Release Dates & Artwork section once more here at the site with all the latest Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD cover artwork and Amazon.com pre-orders. As always, any time you order literally anything from Amazon or Amazon.co.uk (click here) through our links it goes to help support our ongoing work on The Bits and we appreciate it. [Read on here...]

First things first today...

No sooner did we post word from retail sources yesterday that Jurassic Park: Fallen Kingdom is expected to street on Blu-ray, DVD, Blu-ray 3D, and 4K Ultra HD on 9/18 (pending Universal’s official announcement), we learned this...

20th Century Fox Home Entetainment is now expected to release John McTiernan’s original Predator (1987) on 4K Ultra HD on 8/7. And we know this because the title is now available for pre-order on Amazon.com for that date (SRP $39.99, but Amazon has it for $34.19). You can see the official cover artwork at left and also below the break.

We’re awaiting Fox’s official announcement, which we expect at any time now, but this should be a full new native 4K film scan and restoration from the original camera negative and it should finally rid the film of the godawful DNR scrubbing it’s been given on past Blu-ray editions.

The disc will also include a Blu-ray copy in the package, and we suspect that this will be mastered from the same 4K scan too (but we’ll have to wait for the press release to confirm that officially, along with other details). [Read on here...]

This is just a quick update with word we’ve gotten overnight from our retail sources.

It currently appears that Universal’s Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom will street on Blu-ray, DVD, 3D, and 4K Ultra HD on 9/18.

To be very clear, this is not official. It’s simply the street date the studio has been giving to retailers.

The date is still subject to change, and shouldn’t be considered set until Universal makes their official announcement.

But in the interest of those who may be wondering, that’s the current time frame to look for it, per our best available information.

One other note: We posted our review of Paramount’s Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol in 4K Ultra HD here on The Bits last night, as planned. Turns out, it’s the best of the lot as far as image quality goes. Do give it a look.

That’s all for now. Stay tuned…

- Bill Hunt

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

All right, we’re starting off the new week here at The Bits this afternoon with a whole mess of new Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD reviews...

First up, I’ve spent the weekend going over Paramount’s Mission: Impossible, Mission: Impossible 2, Mission: Impossible III, and Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, all in 4K, with a fine-tooth comb. Those reviews are all up now (just click on the title links), and by the end of the day look for my review of Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol in 4K as well. All are worthy upgrades and they street tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Tim has gone in-depth on Arrow Video’s outstanding new The Complete Sartana 5-film Blu-ray box set. So be sure to give that a look as well. [Read on here...]

It’s official. Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has just set Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey for release on 4K Ultra HD on 10/30 (SRP $41.99).

The new 4K UHD presentation will feature high dynamic range in both HDR10 and Dolby Vision, with an image newly mastered from the original 65mm camera negative.

The 4K disc will also include both a remixed and restored 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack, as well as the original 1968 6-track 70mm theatrical audio mix (also in 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio format).

This will be a 3-disc set, with the film in 4K UHD, a movie Blu-ray Disc of the film (also remastered from the new 4K presentation), a special features Blu-ray Disc, and a Digital Copy. The packaging will include a collectible booklet and art cards featuring iconic images from the film. [Read on here...]

Today’s is a quick update here at The Bits as I have my mother visiting from North Dakota until tomorrow afternoon. Thanks for your patience!

Note, however, that I’m going to start posting my reviews of Paramount’s Mission: Impossible films in 4K Ultra HD tomorrow night and I should have them all up by the end of the week. We’ll have more new Blu-ray reviews from Tim as well.

Okay, with that out of the way…

In announcement news today, Studio Canal has just announced the UK release of a new 4K restoration of Michael Cimino’s The Deer Hunter that’s set for Blu-ray and Digital release on 8/20 and 4K Ultra HD on 10/15, both in the UK. It will also be released in theaters in the UK on 7/4. [Read on here...]

All right, we’ve got a few interesting things for you today...

First up, be sure you check out the reviews we’ve posted over the last couple days. To recap, my take on Sony’s Fury and Universal’s Pacific Rim: Uprising in 4K, plus Tim’s look at A Pistol for Ringo/The Return of Ringo from Arrow and Zombie 4: After Death from Severin. Enjoy!

Also here today, we’ve updated the Release Dates & Artwork section with all kinds of new Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD cover artwork and Amazon.com links. Shopping through our links helps us keep going here at The Bits, so please do (and we appreciate it)!

And we have a couple of 4K Ultra HD title updates for you. First, it looks like 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment is releasing the original Predator in 4K on 8/7. Zavvi currently has it available for pre-order in the UK on 8/6, and Amazon US has a new Predator Trilogy Blu-ray box set listed for 8/7, so it’s likely that the 4K disc will be available then as well. Zavvi is also listing a Predator 3-Movie Collection 4K set that would include Predator, Predator 2, and Predators for release that same day. We’ll have to wait and see if Fox announces this officially. [Read on here...]

We’re working on a bunch of new reviews here at The Bits, so today’s update is going to be a quick one. But this morning we do have two reviews to start with for you...

First up, we have my thoughts on Steven DeKnight’s Pacific Rim: Uprising in 4K Ultra HD, which streets on 6/19 from Universal.

We’ve also got Tim’s take on Duccio Tessari’s 1965 spaghetti westerns A Pistol for Ringo and The Return of Ringo, both of which are now available together in a new double-feature Blu-ray from our friends at Arrow Video.

And if you check back early tomorrow morning, we’ll have my thoughts on David Ayer’s Fury in 4K Ultra HD from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, as well as Tim’s review of Claudio Fragasso’s Zombie 4: After Death on Blu-ray from Severin Films. Both of those titles are now available in stores.

Rest assured, we’ll catch up on new announcements tomorrow afternoon or Friday morning.

Stay tuned…

- Bill Hunt

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

All right, we’ve got a LOT of ground to cover here on The Bits today. There’s lots of news to catch up on.

First though, I posted my reviews of Warner’s Tomb Raider (2018) and Disney’s A Wrinkle in Time in 4K Ultra HD here on The Bits on Friday.

Also, Tim has posted a review of Scream Factory’s new Ninja III: The Domination – Collector’s Edition on Blu-ray.

And in case you missed it when we posted it on Thursday, Michael Coate has turned in a new retrospective History, Legacy & Showmanship column looking back at the 007 film Octopussy in honor of its 35th anniversary.

So do give all of those a look. [Read on here...]

We’ve got another new Blu-ray review for you today... Tim has taken a look at Severin Film’s Zombie 3 on Blu-ray Disc. Do give it a look.

Also today, I’m working on a bunch more reviews. On deck are A Wrinkle in Time, Tomb Raider (2018), Pacific Rim Uprising, Fury, and Escape Plan. Then I’m got a nice little batch of great Blu-ray 3D titles I want to take a look for you from the 3-D Film Archive.

And yes, I’ve heard you. After my post yesterday, I got about 100 emails and messages from Bits readers asking me NOT to skip reviewing Disney and Pixar’s The Incredibles in 4K Ultra HD. So for you guys, I’ll make an exception and try to get it posted as soon as I can.

If news posts this week get a little slim, that’s why. I’m really going to try and crank some of these reviews out as quickly as I can. And I want to spend some time with these 3-D titles. So keep checking back. [Read on here...]