As the title suggests, I survived Walletmageddon, how did you fare? Yeah, I probably bought a 'few' more things than I should have, but I did so knowing this week wasn't as crazy, so it all balances out I suppose. Or at least that's what I keep telling myself.
Welcome to Volume 3 Episode 44 of our weekly release guide. A look at the highlights of what's coming to disc the week of April 2nd - April 8th, as well as a look at announcements from last week.
Import Monday has one title of great interest, well, it is if you want all the Warner Classics SteelBooks coming out in the batch. Annoyingly they opted to not do The Maltese Falcon as a Best Buy Exclusive, so ya gotta import it. Remind you of something that Universal did with a certain Monsters set?
Domestic Tuesday has no new releases. Pairing with import Monday though here's what we got stateside. The Maltese Falcon gets a standard release. Cool Hand Luke comes as a standard edition and a Best Buy Exclusive SteelBook. Delayed until April 18th, we would have also had a standard edition and a Best Buy SteelBook for Rebel Without a Cause this week. That all sort of fell apart a wee bit at the last minute.
Midnight Run gets a Shout Select release. Been awhile since I've seen this one, loads of fun!
One of Paramount's biggest money maker franchises finally gets the gaps filled in, I'm referring to the Star Trek: The Next Generation films. Each film gets a single title release, which include Star Trek: Generations, Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Insurrection and Star Trek: Nemesis. As like the previous films, you can also get all of these in a single box set as well.
Next week is all but a trickle of releases, Flashdance and The Fisher King.
Blu-ray counterparts of Star Trek: Generations, Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Insurrection and Star Trek: Nemesis are available this week. It is not entirely clear if these are just repackaged discs or if they're new masters.
Not exactly counterparts of the above releases, but some are contained here, WB100 packaged box sets are here. They include WB 100th 25-Film Collection: Volume One - Award Winners, WB 100th 25-Film Collection: Volume Two - Comedies, Dramas & Musicals, WB 100th 25-Film Collection: Volume Three - Fantasy, Action & Adventure and WB 100th 25-Film Collection: Volume Four - Thrillers, Sci-Fi & Horror. These sets look nice, I feel they're just part of a limited market, is it for you?
From Paramount, 2022 comedy/crime film Confess, Fletch.
Anime highlights include Cowboy Bebop: The Complete Series (25th Anniversary), available as a standard edition and as a Limited Edition, and Record of Ragnarok: Season 1.
TV on disc includes Masterpiece Sanditon: Season 3 and South Park: The Complete Twenty-Fifth Season.
File this one under special interest, Intervision/Severin Films releases Birdemic 3: Sea Eagle. Blockbuster, this is not, but it has grown a following. Not enough Birdemic, how about Wings of Disaster: The Birdemic Trilogy, which has a snazzy lenticular cover.
Honorable Mention: Kino Lorber has Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema XII available this week. It seems like only yesterday we had Volume I released.
Imprint Films' March slate will be available at Amazon U.S. Friday, titles include:
With a negative zero street date notice, Turbine Media Group has announced (and released) four Pitch Black Director's Cut 4K UHD Mediabooks last week Friday. Check out the article (with links) here.
Arrow Video has revealed their June titles. Highlights include Waterworld 4K, The Lighthouse 4K (UK import only) and Mallrats 4K.
Creed III's release date for blu-ray and 4K is May 23rd.
Which titles are you buying this week? Which ones are on your wishlist, be it to buy as an impulse buy or to wait for the right price?
At long last, James Cameron's 1989 aquatic science fiction adventure The Abyss: Special Edition is set to make a splashy return to physical media on July 4th, 2023.
With new generations of home video enthusiasts on social media accounts like YouTube and TicTok discovering retro home video formats, The Abyss will come home with a massive 14-Disc Laserdisc set remastered from a brand new 4K Ultra HD Dolby Vision Transfer in vivid 420i with an immersive Dolby Atmos track presented in Dolby Digital Stereo.
Here's the full press release:
James Cameron’s
Coming to 4K Ultra SD Laserdisc July 4th, 2023!
Burbank, CA (April 1, 2023)
James Cameron’s 1989 special effects science fiction extravaganza The Abyss: Special Edition makes a glorious return to physical media with a brand new deluxe 14-Disc 4K Ultra SD Laserdisc set on July 4th, 2023. The last time The Abyss was seen on physical media was over twenty years ago on DVD.
After an extensive scanning, restoration, and color-grading process, The Abyss is finally ready to make its glorious return to disc-based media on the biggest and best format available. With the re-release of Avatar and Titanic to theaters and the colossal box-office haul of Avatar: The Way of Water - fans have eagerly anticipated the return of James Cameron’s most complicated and strenuous production.
Instead of more modern formats like Blu-ray or 4K Ultra HD, it was decided to resurrect the long-dormant Laserdisc format for the ultimate home video release of this fan-favorite science fiction epic. After surveying several thrift stores and reaching out to A/V enthusiasts, we shockingly discovered that there were more people with Laserdisc players than there were currently utilizing higher resolution formats like Blu-ray or 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray. More people enjoy the 4:3 Letterboxed visual experience on their 4K televisions - and this set is designed for them.
To those who may be disappointed by this news, Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray editions will be available someday. The new masters are ready and have been approved, discs have been replicated, packaged, boxed up, paletted, and are ready to ship to retailers. We just don’t intend to release them at this time. To bring The Abyss: Special Edition back to physical media, we really wanted to make a splash by offering a unique viewing opportunity that only a select few will actually be able to enjoy.
The Laserdiscs will be housed in a glorious box set. Spread between seven beautiful gatefold sleeves featuring original artwork, newly commissioned artwork, and stills from the film. Also included will be reproduction posters, reproduction lobby cards, and a copy of the film’s third draft screenplay.
Transfer: NEW 4K Restoration and Dolby Vision HDR grading presented in 420i SDR NTSC For maximum picture quality
Each disc side offers approximately 10 minutes of the film.
Aspect Ratio: 4:3 Widescreen Letterbox replicating the 2.35:1 theatrical experience
Audio Format: NEW Dolby Atmos audio mix presented in AC3 Dolby Digital Stereo
Bonus Features: Four Discs of New and Archival Bonus Features Including:
Basics:
Aspect Ratio: 4:3 2.35:1 Widescreen Letterbox
Audio: English AC3 Dolby Digital Stereo
Subtitles: English
SRP: $229.99
Happy April Fools Everyone - we hope you had a good laugh with this as we endure the ongoing frustrations of not having a genuine quality release of The Abyss or True Lies for almost two decades now. We've been hearing for ages now that these films are coming, but it's starting to become the "James Cameron Who Cried Restoration" these days. Maybe this will be like last year with our fake Criterion Collection announcement of Roadhouse in 4K and we'll actually get these great flicks on Blu-ray or 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray?
The third film in the Rocky franchise spinoff marking the directorial debut of star Michael B. Jordan is headed for 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray and Blu-ray on May 23.
Read our film review here.
After dominating the boxing world, Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan) has been thriving in both his career and family life. When a childhood friend and former boxing prodigy, Damian (Jonathan Majors), resurfaces after serving a long sentence in prison, he is eager to prove that he deserves his shot in the ring. The face off between former friends is more than just a fight. To settle the score, Adonis must put his future on the line to battle Damian – a fighter who has nothing to lose.
The press release doesn't specify if the 4K Blu-ray will include Dolby Vision or if either Blu-ray edition will have Dolby Atmos, but it does reveal the bonus features:
Preorders are live for the 4K UHD Blu-ray and Blu-ray and a 3-Film Collection on Blu-ray will also apparently be available on the same day. Here is the full press release:
ARRIVES ON 4K UHD, BLU-RAY AND DVD
ON MAY 23
Burbank, CA, March 31 – Michael B. Jordan’s box office record-breaking directorial debut Creed III, from Metro-Goldwyn Mayer will be released on 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD on May 23.
Directed by Jordan, from a screenplay by Keegan Coogler and Zach Baylin, the film recently set a franchise record and scored the biggest domestic box office opening for a sports film in history. The film is produced by Irwin Winkler, Charles Winkler, William Chartoff, David Winkler, Ryan Coogler, Michael B. Jordan, Elizabeth Raposo, Jonathan Glickman and Sylvester Stallone.
Creed III stars Michael B. Jordan (“Just Mercy”, “Black Panther”), Tessa Thompson (“Thor: Love and Thunder”, TV’s “Westworld”), Jonathan Majors (“Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania”, “Devotion”), Wood Harris (TV’s “Winning Time”), Mila Davis-Kent, Florian Munteanu, and Phylicia Rashad.
Additionally, a three-film collection featuring Creed, Creed II and Creed III will also be available on Blu-ray and DVD on May 23.
SYNOPSIS
After dominating the boxing world, Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan) has been thriving in both his career and family life. When a childhood friend and former boxing prodigy, Damian (Jonathan Majors), resurfaces after serving a long sentence in prison, he is eager to prove that he deserves his shot in the ring. The face off between former friends is more than just a fight. To settle the score, Adonis must put his future on the line to battle Damian – a fighter who has nothing to lose.
Creed III is the third installment in the successful franchise and is Michael B. Jordan’s directorial debut.
Directed by: Michael B. Jordan
Screenplay by: Keenan Coogler & Zach Baylin
Story by: Ryan Coogler and Keenan Coogler & Zach Baylin
Produced by: Irwin Winkler, p.g.a., Charles Winkler, William Chartoff, David Winkler, Ryan Coogler, p.g.a., Michael B. Jordan, p.g.a., Elizabeth Raposo, p.g.a., Jonathan Glickman, Sylvester Stallone
Executive Producers: Sev Ohanian, Zinzi Coogler, Nicolas Stern, Adam Rosenberg
Cast: Michael B. Jordan, Tessa Thompson, Jonathan Majors, Wood Harris, Mila Davis-Kent, Florian Munteanu, and Phylicia Rashad
4K UHD and BLU-RAY ELEMENTS
Creed III 4K UHD and Blu-ray combo packs contains the following special features:
BASICS
PRODUCT SRP
4K UHD $49.98
Blu-ray $39.98
DVD $34.98
DVD Languages: English, Canadian French, Latin Spanish
Blu-ray Languages: English, Canadian French, Latin Spanish
4K UHD Languages: English, Canadian French, Latin Spanish, German, Italian
DVD Subtitles: English SDH, Canadian French, Parisian French, Latin Spanish
Blu-ray Subtitles: English SDH, Canadian French, Parisian French, Latin Spanish
4K UHD Subtitles: English SDH, Canadian French, Parisian French, Latin Spanish, German, Italian
Running Time: 116 minutes
Rating: PG-13 for intense sports action, violence, and some strong language
THE CREDITS
About Metro Goldwyn Mayer
Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM) is a leading entertainment company focused on the production and global distribution of film and television content across all platforms. The company owns one of the world's deepest libraries of premium film and television content as well as the premium pay television network EPIX, which is available throughout the U.S. via cable, satellite, telco and digital distributors. In addition, MGM has investments in numerous other television channels, digital platforms and interactive ventures and is producing premium short-form content for distribution. For more information, visit www.mgm.com.
About Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment
Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment (WBDHE) distributes the award-winning movies, television, animation, and digital content produced by Warner Bros. Discovery to the homes and screens of millions through physical Blu-ray Disc™ and DVD retail sales and digital transactions on major streaming, video-on-demand cable, satellite, digital, and mobile channels. WBDHE is part of Warner Bros. Discovery Content Sales, one of the world’s largest distributors of entertainment programming.
Jason Statham's Chev Chelios is back in a Crank Best Buy exclusive 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray + Blu-ray + SteelBook on May 23.
It appears the Best Buy exclusive Crank 4K UHD Blu-ray + Blu-ray + SteelBook is just a collectible packaging upgrade. This has been the case with Lionsgate reissues so don't expect anything new in the overall package. For those who haven't picked it up, the SteelBook is damned slick looking and at that price point it's a bargain for stylish artwork.
There are a thousand ways to raise your adrenaline, and today hit man Chev Chelios (Jason Statham) will need every one! He has one hour to settle the score and say goodbye to his girl and go out with a little style. The only question is, will he stay alive long enough to see it happen.
Here's the bonus features:
As with the previous release, the 4K UHD will also include Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos. The suggested retail price is $27.99 although it's currently running on sale for $21.99
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Paramount's hit comedy crime-drama starring Sylvester Stallone will be available on Blu-ray on June 6. A Limited-Edition SteelBook is also in the works.
Tulsa King follows New York mafia capo Dwight “The General” Manfredi, (Stallone) as he’s released from prison after 25 years and unceremoniously exiled by his boss to set up shop in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Realizing that his mob family may not have his best interests in mind, Dwight slowly builds a crew from a group of unlikely characters to help him establish a new criminal empire in a place that to him might as well be another planet.
The Season One Blu-ray includes all nine episodes and several bonus features:
Includes over 90 minutes of bonus content in 6 never-before-seen featurettes where the cast and crew discuss the different dynamics of the show’s plot and setting and working with Sylvester Stallone. Plus, take a closer look at how costume design enhances the characters, planning action-packed and safe stunts, and the differences between shooting in Brooklyn and Tulsa.
The standard Blu-ray is up for pre-order now, the SteelBook should be up for pre-order any time now.
Warning! The following article contains wallet-busting content of biblical proportions. Proceed with caution.
Welcome to Volume 3 Episode 43 of our weekly release guide. A look at the highlights of what's coming to disc the week of March 26th - April 1st, as well as a look at announcements from last week.
Import Monday is pretty busy as well. Second Sight has George A. Romero's Martin, which is available as a standard release or as a Limited Edition release. We've provided Amazon UK alternate links for these titles, and last I checked, they were still available at Diabolik DVD.
Now available with an English cover and English menus, Pirates of The Caribbean 1-5 4K box set comes to the UK. If I decide to import this, you can guarantee it will get a US announcement. Should I take one for the team?
Closing out import Monday, Two Japanese Artwork Steelbooks will be available, Rampage and Ready Player One. They're not Zavvi exclusives, so if you are locked out from ordering due to Zavvi's current shipping policies, use the alternate links to Amazon UK instead.
Alright, now on to domestic Tuesday with new releases first. From Netflix via MPI, All Quiet on the Western Front gets a media-book style release. While it does have an English dub in DTS-HD MA 5.1, the Atmos mix is exclusively German. With all that, I've still got it on preorder. Here's to hoping for considerably higher bitrates than the streaming version.
From Warner Bros. and DC animation, Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham.
The next BBC nature feature, Frozen Planet II comes to us via Warner Bros/BBC.
LionsGate's best known genre is the action/thriller and they usually include Bruce Willis, but this go round we have Gerard Butler in Plane.
And now on to catalog titles. If you are a member of the Disney Movie Club, the animated classic Cinderella (1950) is available and shipping. The general release will be August 1st elsewhere. Bippity-boppety-boo!
The killer doll genre Dead Silence (James Wan) gets a 4K release via Scream Factory. Will this be the last time I express frustration for M3GAN only getting a blu-ray and not 4K disc? Probably not.
Sticking with Scream Factory, The Exorcist III gets a release too. The rumor mill says the original Exorcist film is being prepped for some time this summer. I've seen a SteelBook cover art that seemed real, so it's likely.
And via the Shout Factory label, another semi-recent Universal film gets a 4K upgrade, I'm referring to Wanted (2008).
Kino Lorber has upgraded Rawhead Rex to 4K, making triple-dippers like me happy everywhere. But seriously, I'm sure it is going to be an excellent release, maybe we can move our 4K disc to our SteelBooks.
The general release for Sidekicks (Chuck Norris) debuts this week. The original deluxe version is still available direct from Vinegar Syndrome's site. Site exclusives for this week include Freeway II: Confessions of a Trickbaby and Primal Rage, with general releases usually 2 months out.
Severin Films has Dario Argento's The Five Days available this week.
Closing the category out, G.I. Joe: Retaliation gets a SteelBook from Paramount.
Next week offers up a little reprieve, Star Trek:TNG movies, go for a Midnight Run, Cool Hand Luke and two other Warner Classics.
Blu-ray counterparts of the above titles, the import of George A. Romero's Martin, domestic titles Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham and Plane each get their respective release. If you want Frozen Planet II you will need to get the combo pack above.
New drama/thriller from Sony titled Missing. Keeping with Sony, under the Sony Pictures Classics line, new drama titled The Son.
Anime highlights include Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest: Season 2, available as a standard edition and a limited edition, Attack on Titan - Final Season - Part 2, available as a standard edition and a limited edition, Deemo: Memorial Keys, Mieruko-chan - The Complete Season, available as a standard edition and a limited edition and Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon - Season 2, Part 1, available as a standard edition and a limited edition.
Arrow Video has Black Sunday, the 1977 crime/drama. For Shawscope style action/comedy, Knockabout.
TV on disc this week includes Chucky: Season Two, Dawson's Creek: The Complete Series, Doctor Who: William Hartnell - Complete Season Two, Gaslit: The Complete Limited Series, Maigret: Season Four, and lastly, Rick and Morty: Season 6, available as a standard edition and a SteelBook edition. Just kidding on the 'lastly' part, import Friday you can also scoop up Rawhide: The Complete First Season, a Via Vision AU release.
Warner Bros. animated Duck Dodgers: The Complete Series comes out this week.
Here's a new genre, Anti-Romantic Comedy, the film is Chilly Scenes of Winter and it's from Criterion. Intriguing.
Honorable mention - Severin Films has their next box-set ready for purchase, titled Violent Streets: The Umberto Lenzi/Tomas Milian Collection, our own Sam Cohen says it's recommended.
Too late to be included in this week's releases category, A24 has announced The Lighthouse [Collector's Edition] for blu-ray and 4K THIS WEEK from the A24 shop. Still waiting for "X", "Pearl" and "Fall" to hit 4K, but hey, do check it out.
Kino Lorber has detailed The Longest Yard (1974) for blu-ray and 4K release, with a May 16th street date.
Which titles are you buying this week? Which ones are on your wishlist, be it to buy as an impulse buy or to wait for the right price?
Just in time for the new movie, this set includes Transformers, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Transformers: Age of Extinction, Transformers: The Last Knight and Bumblebee on 4K UHD Blu-ray as well as Blu-ray. Each film features its own SteelBook packaging with a magnetic slipcase and collectible decal plus digital copies.
Aside from the new SteelBooks, the discs don't seem to be any different than what has previously been released. You still get Shia doing what he did for three movies. You still get those two very rough Mark Wahlberg movies as well as the rather kick-ass soft relaunch Bumblebee. On 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray. This one really is for fans who either don't have any of the films on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray or really like the new SteelBook offerings.
Here's what you're getting in the bonus features
TRANSFORMERS
Disc 1 - 4K Ultra HD
Disc 2 – Blu-ray
TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN
Disc 1 - 4K Ultra HD
Disc 2 – Blu-ray
TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON
Disc 1 - 4K Ultra HD
Disc 2 – Blu-ray
TRANSFORMERS: AGE OF EXTINCTION
Disc 1 - 4K Ultra HD
Disc 2 – Blu-ray
TRANSFORMERS: THE LAST KNIGHT
Disc 1 - 4K Ultra HD
Disc 2 – Blu-ray
BUMBLEBEE
Disc 1 - 4K Ultra HD
Disc 2 – Blu-ray
This set is up and ready for pre-order!
Rick Rosenthal's (Halloween II, Halloween: Resurrection) Bad Boys (1983) celebrates its 40th Anniversary with four slick new three-disc Mediabooks offering multiple cuts of the film with Bill Conti's soundtrack on CD.
No this is not the Will Smith / Martin Laurence / Michael Bay actioner, but it's still one of the best 80s prison thrillers featuring an up-and-coming Sean Penn delivering one of his best performances with an awesome cast including Clancy Brown, Esai Morales, Jim Moody, Alan Ruck, and Reni Santoni. This Chicago-set thriller gets to celebrate its 40th Anniversary with four new three-disc Mediabook releases from German label Turbine Medien. While it'd be great to just have the film on disc with slick packaging, Turbine is throwing in four cuts of the film!
For the first time on Blu-ray - the edition includes:
Uncut-US-Kinofassung (HD ca. 124 Min.)
Extended German theatrical version (HD approx. 112 min.)
German theatrical version/US video version (HD approx. 109 min.)
Retroversion (Open Matte 4:3) (SD-NTSC ca. 109 Min.)
Features: US trailer, director's audio commentary (optional German + English subtitles), soundtrack CD by Bill Conti (ROCKY, KARATE KID), 12-page book section on the history of the film by Tobias Hohmann
Each Mediabook is limited to a certain number of units so if you're looking to pick this up, you'll have to act fast.
These Mediabooks are up for pre-order right now - they're due to ship out on March 31st.
If you missed out on the massive Pitch Black: Director's Cut 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray set, Turbine slims things down with four new limited edition three-disc Mediabook sets.
While some folks love the big giant Ultimate Editions loaded with swag, posters, and 180-page books, they're understandably not for everyone... and can be a bit expensive. German label Turbine Medien is taking the opportunity to offer a slick alternative for fans of Vin Diesel and David Towhy's sci-fi/horror opus with four unique limited edition three-disc Mediabooks.
You're going to pick up the same three discs as the Ultimate Edition we reviewed last year but without all of the extra posters, ID cards, lobby cards, iron-on patch, core sample card, or the 180-page book. Being a Mediabook release, there is still a 28-page book (in German) included but it obviously won't be as expansive as what was included in the Ultimate Edition sets. However, you will still get the same great Dolby Vision transfer, the excellent Atmos audio mix, and over six hours of recent and archival bonus content. Compared to Arrow's release, the only thing you don't get is the Theatrical Cut, but I mean, come on... who watches the Theatrical Cut of Pitch Black when the Director's Cut is so much better anyway?
Here are your four Mediabook cover options:
Here are all of the gory disc details:
3-Disc Mediabook-Edition:
Director's Cut on UHD and Blu-ray with complete dubbing and world-exclusive sound in Dolby Atmos. UHD with HDR and Dolby Vision.
Bonus Blu-ray with mostly world-exclusive interviews, the TV prequel INTO PITCH BLACK, the animated film RIDDICK: KRIEGER DER DARKNSTERNIS and much more. 6 hours of features, including two audio comments, with optional subtitles in German and English.
28-page book section on the history of the film by Christoph N. Kellerbach.
Technical specifications:
Language / sound: German Dolby Atmos, English Dolby Atmos, German DTS 2.0, English DTS 2.0
Bildformat: 2,35:1 (2160p24) 4K Ultra-HD mit HDR / Dolby Vision, 2,35:1 (1080p24 Full HD)
Subtitles: German, English
Running time: 112 minutes
Bonus Material:
Universal Archive (SD, over 2 hours):
All bonus material with optional German & English subtitles
Each of these slick-looking Mediabooks are now up for pre-order - and you won't have to get sent to a slammer with no light and 20 menthol Kools to get them!
For those of ye patient enough to have waited, you get ye lobster with the A24 Shop Exclusive Collector's Edition of Robert Egger's The Lighthouse on Blu-ray or 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray with deluxe packaging and 64-page booklet
Special collector's edition of Robert Eggers' The Lighthouse, available in Standard Blu-ray and—for the very first time!—4K UHD with a new HDR master. Featuring original artwork by Tobias Kaspar and a 64-page interior booklet, the printed discpack comes enclosed in an embossed wave-textured slipcase - now ready to order exclusive from the A24 Shop.
The Blu-ray Collector's Edition is virtually identical, just obviously a different format.
Disc Details:
Standard Blu-ray
4K HDR Blu-ray
Disc extras include:
Book contents include:
Now if that wasn't enough Lighthouse news for you, Arrow is teasing the announcement of their own release sometime next week - while we figure most of the specs to be identical, we'll just have to wait and see what they have to offer besides different packaging.
As we learn more about this release we'll add it to our listings and dig deep into those bonus features and disc spec details ASAP.
