The 2005 infamous Ozploitation terror flick Wolf Creek scores a two-disc Blu-ray release from Via Vision Entertainment with a lenticular cover and is limited to a shockingly slim 1000 units!
Based on true crimes within the Australian Outback (not the steakhouse chain), the film rode the wave of body horror "torture porn" terror flicks like Hostel, High Tension, and the remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Only this one was pretty good and genuinely terrifying without completely diving deep into the depictions of mutilation and pain. Directed by Greg McLean and starring Kestie Morassi, Cassandra Magrath, and Snakes On A Plane's Nathan Phillips with John Jarratt turning in a particularly scary performance as Mick Taylor.
Absent a proper Blu-ray release in the United States after HD-DVD went defunct, Wolf Creek has been around the block in other markets and territories on the format for several years now. While we await a domestic release, ViaVision is delivering an exciting 2-Disc 2-Version Limited Edition with a lenticular cover and six art cards. $40+ shipping (U.S) may be a bit steep for some but it'd be great to finally have both cuts of the film in the same package. I'm tired of waiting for someone to deliver the first and best of the series while Wolf Creek 2 has been available here stateside for years, so I think I'm going to take the plunge and jump for this edition.
Again, this set is limited to only 1000 units so get those pre-orders in fast! You can only purchase this direct from ViaVision
This week's 4K calendar is basically owned by Paramount. Excluding the last staggered Rocky steel, names like Wes Craven, Brad Pitt, and a recognizable movie from the 80s with a dragon in it are all brought to you by the same studio. And of course there are a few blu-rays worthy of checking out too. And yes, Spring begins officially on Monday, YAY!
Welcome to Volume 3 Episode 42 of our weekly release guide. A look at the highlights of what's coming to disc the week of March 19th - March 25th, as well as a look at announcements from last week.
New release of the week is that other film about Hollywood, titled Babylon. This one is available as a standard edition and as a SteelBook edition. (If you haven't followed, The Fabelmans might easily be confused to those that have not seen either film yet as the descriptions of each talk about early Hollywood film.)
Moving on to catalog titles, Dragonslayer also gets the same release structure, a standard edition and a SteelBook edition. The toughest choice here will be which one do you want most, they've both got some pretty iconic 80s poster/cover art. If you can't decide, get one of each! (Maybe that's the 80's geek in me talking right there!)
Wes Craven gets the 'Paramount Presents' treatment this week with Red Eye. Wes Craven, 4K, thriller, yes please!
The 4th and final (for now) staggered 4K SteelBook of the Rocky Collection comes out this week, Rocky IV.
Walletmageddon is coming next week! Netflix's All Quiet on the Western Front, Gerard Butler's Plane, Chuck Norris is a Sidekick, several boutique releases, and so much more. Consider the imports on the calender too and it is going to be a wallet-buster, prepare yourself!
The Paramount blu-ray counterparts of the above titles this week include Babylon and Dragonslayer, both as standard editons.
Overall, the blu-ray category is pretty light this week, but there's plenty to ponder.
From Criterion, David Lynch's Inland Empire.
From Universal and Blumhouse, M3GAN. This release has a gorier cut, and according to Bryan's review, though it is more enjoyable, it is not the ultimate cut we are thinking of. The only other thing missing is a 4K disc option.
TV on disc includes Doc Martin: Series 10 and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds - Season One, which is available as a standard editon and a SteelBook Edition. Keep in mind that 4K has been announced for Trek with a May 16th street date.
How about a horror movie from Vertical Entertainment titled Lullaby?
Comedy from LionsGate titled Seriously Red, a story about a Dolly Parton impersonator.
Anime highlights include Final Examination Kujira, Jujutsu Kaisen 0 The Movie, which is available as a standard edition, a Best Buy Exclusive SteelBook and a Lenticular/Rightstuf Exclusive edition, Kill Me Baby - Complete Collection, Levius, One Piece: Season Twelve - Voyage Three and SAIYUKI RELOAD -ZEROIN- Complete Collection.
Worthy of mentioning, Shout Factory has classic comedy this week with Crazy People (Dudley Moore, Daryl Hannah) and Critical Condition (Richard Pryor). Add a dash of horror to your comedy and you get Dr. Giggles.
Don't feel left out of the upcoming 4K typhoon, next week is walletmageddon for blu-ray releases as well.
Criterion Collection's June slate has been revealed. Look for The Rules of the Game 4K, Time Bandits 4K and more. Check out the news story for all the deets.
HBO's The Last of Us Season One gets a 4K and blu-ray release July 18th. There have been images of overseas SteelBooks spotted, so one would expect the same here.
Another James Wan film that's not M3GAN will be getting a 4K/SteelBook, Insidious will be available on June 20th from Sony Pictures.
M. Night Shyamalan's Knock at the Cabin Arrives on 4K UHD Blu-ray and Blu-ray May 9th.
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?
The apocalyptic thriller from M. Night Shyamalan based on the book “The Cabin at the End of the World” by Paul Tremblay will hit 4K UHD Blu-ray and Blu-ray on May 9. Digital will be available on March 24.
KNOCK AT THE CABIN is a thriller about a tight-knit family who are taken hostage by four armed strangers while vacationing at a remote cabin. The visitors, led by Dave Bautista (Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, Dune), demand that the young girl and her parents make an unthinkable choice: to save their family or save humanity.
Both the 4K UHD Blu-ray and Blu-ray will include a Dolby Atmos soundtrack and several bonus features:
BONUS FEATURES ON 4K ULTRA HD, BLU-RAYTM, DVD AND DIGITAL:
Knock at the Cabin - 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Best Buy SteelBook
Order your copy today and here is the full press release:
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Universal City, California, March 17, 2023 – Critically acclaimed filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan returns with his seventh #1 movie debut, KNOCK AT THE CABIN, yours to own on Digital March 24 and 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray™ and DVD on May 9 from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment. Based on the book “The Cabin at the End of the World” by Paul Tremblay, the suspenseful apocalyptic thriller is “a relentlessly gripping winner” (The Playlist) that “commands your attention at every reveal” (Comicbook). KNOCK AT THE CABIN comes home with more than 40 minutes of exclusive bonus content, including deleted scenes and featurettes that dives deep into the film’s layered and multi-dimensional themes, Shyamalan’s visionary filmmaking process, and more.
KNOCK AT THE CABIN is a thriller about a tight-knit family who are taken hostage by four armed strangers while vacationing at a remote cabin. The visitors, led by Dave Bautista (Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, Dune), demand that the young girl and her parents make an unthinkable choice: to save their family or save humanity.
Showcasing outstanding performances from a talented and diverse ensemble cast alongside Bautista, KNOCK AT THE CABIN stars Jonathan Groff (Hamilton, “Mindhunter”), Ben Aldridge (“Fleabag,” “Our Girl”), Nikki Amuka-Bird (Old, “Avenue 5”), Abby Quinn (Little Women, “Mad About You”), Rupert Grint (Harry Potter franchise, “Servant”), and Kristen Cui in her feature film debut.
With the purchase of KNOCK AT THE CABIN on disc or digital, fans are eligible to earn points towards digital movies via the Universal All-Access Rewards program. Members can redeem their points for digital movies, swag and more! For registration and details please visit www.MyUniversalRewards.com.
The film is also available to stream on Peacock on March 24, 2023.
BONUS FEATURES ON 4K ULTRA HD, BLU-RAYTM, DVD AND DIGITAL:
FILMMAKERS:
Cast: Dave Bautista, Jonathan Groff, Ben Aldridge, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Kristen Cui, Abbey Quinn and Rupert Grint
Casting By: Douglas Aibel CSA
Costume Designer: Caroline Duncan
Music Supervisor: Susan Jacobs
Music By: Herdís Stefánsdóttir
Edited by: Noëmi Preiswerk
Production Designer: Naaman Marshall
Directors of Photography: Jarin Blaschke, Lowell A. Meyer
Executive Producers: Christos V. Konstantakopoulos, Ashley Fox, Steven Schneider
Produced By: Ashwin Rajan, Marc Bienstock, M. Night Shyamalan
Based on the Book “The Cabin at the End of the World” Written By: Paul Tremblay
Screenplay By: M. Night Shyamalan and Steve Desmond & Michael Sherman
Directed By: M. Night Shyamalan
TECHNICAL INFORMATION 4K ULTRA HD:
Street Date: May 9, 2023
Selection Number: 191329242353
Layers: BD 100
Aspect Ratio: 16:9 2.39:1 Widescreen
Rating: R for violence and language
Subtitles: English SDH, French Canadian and Latin American Spanish
Languages/Sound: English (Dolby Atmos, Dolby Digital 2.0 for Bonus Content), French Canadian (Dolby Digital 5.1), and Latin American Spanish (Dolby Digital 5.1)
Run Time: 1 hour, 40 minutes
TECHNICAL INFORMATION BLU-RAY™:
Street Date: May 9, 2023
Selection Number: 191329239148
Layers: BD 50
Aspect Ratio: 16:9 2.39:1 Widescreen
Rating: R for violence and language
Subtitles: English SDH, French Canadian and Latin American Spanish
Languages/Sound: English (Dolby Atmos, Dolby Digital 2.0 for Bonus Content), French Canadian (Dolby Digital 5.1), and Latin American Spanish (Dolby Digital 5.1)
Run Time: 1 hour, 40 minutes
TECHNICAL INFORMATION DVD:
Street Date: May 9, 2023
Selection Number: 191329239131
Layers: DVD 9
Aspect Ratio: 16:9 2.39:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
Rating: R for violence and language
Subtitles: English SDH, Complex Mandarin, French Canadian, Korean and Latin American Spanish
Languages/Sound: English (Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Digital 2.0 for Bonus Content), French Canadian (Dolby Digital 5.1), and Latin American Spanish (Dolby Digital 5.1)
Run Time: 1 hour, 40 minutes
Coming this summer are The Rules of the Game and Time Bandits on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray, as well as The Servant, Medicine for Melancholy, and Pasolini 101 on Blu-ray.
Coming in June: Medicine for Melancholy, the sublime San Francisco–set feature debut of love and connection by Barry Jenkins, rubs shoulders with The Servant, Joseph Losey's savagely witty British class-war classic, while two favorites—The Rules of the Game, Jean Renoir's merciless critique of French society, and Time Bandits, Terry Gilliam's fantastic odyssey to the limits of the imagination—arrive on 4K UHD. Plus, our recently announced nine-film box set Pasolini 101!
First up on June 6 is a 4K UHD upgrade of Jean Renoir’s The Rules of the Game coming June 6th
Considered one of the greatest films ever made, Jean Renoir’s The Rules of the Game is a scathing critique of corrupt French society cloaked in a comedy of manners in which a weekend at a marquis’s country château lays bare some ugly truths about a group of haut bourgeois acquaintances. The film has had a tumultuous history: it was subjected to cuts after the violent response of the audience at its 1939 premiere, and the original negative was destroyed during World War II; it wasn’t reconstructed until 1959. That version, which has stunned viewers for decades, is presented here.
1939 • 106 minutes • Black & White • Monaural • In French with English subtitles • 1.37:1 aspect ratio
4K UHD + BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
Following that is a 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray edition of Terry Gilliam's Time Bandits on June 13.
In this fantastic voyage through time and space from Terry Gilliam, a boy named Kevin (Craig Warnock) escapes his gadget-obsessed parents to join a band of time travelers. Armed with a map stolen from the Supreme Being (Ralph Richardson), they plunder treasure from Napoleon (Ian Holm) and Agamemnon (Sean Connery)—but the Evil Genius (David Warner) is watching their every move. Featuring a darkly playful script by Gilliam and his Monty Python cohort Michael Palin (who also appears in the film), Time Bandits is at once a giddy fairy tale, a revisionist history lesson, and a satire of technology gone awry.
1981 • 116 minutes • Color • Stereo • 1.85:1 aspect ratio
DIRECTOR-APPROVED 4K UHD + BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
On June 20 is a Blu-ray release of Joseph Losey's The Servant.
The prolific, ever provocative Joseph Losey, blacklisted from Hollywood and living in England, delivered a coolly modernist shock to the system of that nation’s cinema with this mesmerizing dissection of class, sexuality, and power. A dissolute scion of the upper crust (James Fox) finds the seemingly perfect manservant (a diabolical Dirk Bogarde, during his transition from matinee idol to art-house icon) to oversee his new London town house. But not all is as it seems, as traditional social hierarchies are gradually, disturbingly destabilized. Lustrously disorienting cinematography and a masterful script by playwright Harold Pinter merge in The Servant, a tour de force of mounting psychosexual menace.
1963 • 115 minutes • Black & White • Monaural • 1.66:1 aspect ratio
BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
Also on June 20 comes Medicine for Melancholy from filmmaker Barry Jenkins on Blu-ray.
One of the great debut features of the twenty-first century, Barry Jenkins’s captivating, lo-fi romance Medicine for Melancholy unfolds against the backdrop of a rapidly gentrifying San Francisco, where a one-night stand between two young bohemians, Micah (Wyatt Cenac) and Jo’ (Tracey Heggins), spins off into a woozy daylong affair marked by moments of tenderness, friction, joy, and intellectual sparring as they explore their relationships to each other, the city, and their own Blackness. Shooting on desaturated video, Jenkins crafts an intimate exploration of alienation and connection graced with the evocative visual palette and empathetic emotional charge that has come to define his work.
2008 • 88 minutes • Color • 5.1 surround • 1.78:1 aspect ratio
DIRECTOR-APPROVED BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
And finally at the end of the month on June 27 arrives the Blu-ray boxed set, Pasolini 101, in celebration of the 101th anniversary of Pier Paolo Pasolini's birth.
We've already covered Pasolini 101 in this article and as always, we will update with preorder links as soon as they are available.
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The first film in the Insidious franchise directed by James Wan is getting a 4K UHD Blu-ray housed inside a limited edition SteelBook this summer. The release will be available on June 20.
INSIDIOUS is the terrifying story of a family who, shortly after moving, discovers that dark spirits have possessed their home and that their son has inexplicably fallen into a coma. Trying to escape the haunting and save their son, they move again only to realize that it was not their house that was haunted.
Insidious - 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray SteelBook
The 4K UHD Blu-ray/Blu-ray/Digital SteelBook will feature a 4K Dolby Vision presentation approved by director James Wan and a Dolby Atmos soundtrack.
Special Features:
Preorders should be available soon and the full press release is listed below
Directed By: James Wan
Written By: Leigh Whannell
Produced By: Jason Blum, Steven Schneider, Oren Peli
Executive Producer: Brain Kavanaugh-Jones
Cast: Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Lin Shaye, Leigh Whannell and Barbara Hershey
Run Time: Approx. 103 minutes
Rating: PG-13 for thematic material, violence, terror and frightening images, and brief strong language
4K UHD Feature Picture: 2160p Ultra High Definition, 2.35:1
4K UHD Feature Audio: English Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 Compatible) | English 5.1 DTS-HD MA
A collection of 10 more classic Disney animated shorts is on the way to DVD and Blu-ray on June 27. Digital will be available on April 4.
Celebrate 100 magical years of Disney with this collectible compilation of animated shorts! Join Mickey and his friends in these 10 hilarious, madcap adventures which have entertained generations of children and adults alike. Highlights include The Band Concert, where Maestro Mickey and his friends face wild challenges while performing outdoors. Then see what happens when Goofy is in the driver’s seat pulling Mickey’s Trailer. In Pluto’s Sweater, Pluto gets hot under the collar when Minnie knits him a warm turtleneck, and in Pluto and the Gopher, Pluto stops to smell the flowers, but finds himself outwitted by a mischievous rodent. And there’s no stopping Donald’s nephews from coming between their uncle and the lovely Daisy Duck when Mr. Duck Steps Out. Five more charming, funny stories complete this legacy collection that’s sure to delight.
The Blu-ray/DVD/Digital Copy combo pack will include stereo audio and 10 classic animated shorts:
Order the Blu-ray now and here is the full press release:
CELEBRATE 100 MAGICAL YEARS WITH MICKEY & FRIENDS!
Collect Another Piece Of Animation History When
Mickey & Friends 10 Classic Shorts – Volume 2
Arrives On Digital on April 4 and Blu-ray™ & DVD on June 27
BURBANK, CA (March 14, 2023) – Walt Disney Animation Studios announces the release of a second highly-collectible volume of ten classic animated short films, in a new collection, Mickey & Friends 10 Classic Shorts – Volume 2. Available together for the first time for audiences to enjoy at home, the exciting new collection combines hilarious animated classics, including favorites ‘The Band Concert,’ ‘Pluto’s Sweater’ and ‘Mickey’s Trailer.’ They are combined with a fun all-new animated interstitials introduction featuring Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald, Goofy and Pluto, as the beloved Disney characters gather together to watch a slideshow on some of their hilarious past adventures.
Mickey & Friends 10 Classic Shorts – Volume 2 debuts as part of the expansive celebration of Disney's 100th anniversary.
It will be available to purchase on Digital on April 4 and on Blu-ray and DVD on June 27.
Shorts Included:
Synopsis
Celebrate 100 magical years of Disney with this collectible compilation of animated shorts! Join Mickey and his friends in these 10 hilarious, madcap adventures which have entertained generations of children and adults alike. Highlights include The Band Concert, where Maestro Mickey and his friends face wild challenges while performing outdoors. Then see what happens when Goofy is in the driver’s seat pulling Mickey’s Trailer. In Pluto’s Sweater, Pluto gets hot under the collar when Minnie knits him a warm turtleneck, and in Pluto and the Gopher, Pluto stops to smell the flowers, but finds himself outwitted by a mischievous rodent. And there’s no stopping Donald’s nephews from coming between their uncle and the lovely Daisy Duck when Mr. Duck Steps Out. Five more charming, funny stories complete this legacy collection that’s sure to delight.
Product Specifications
Street Date
Digital: April 4, 2023
Physical: June 27, 2023
Product SKUs
Physical: Blu-ray Combo Pack (Blu-ray + DVD & Digital Code)
Run Time - Approx. 82 Minutes
Rating - Not rated
Aspect Ratios:
Digital: 1.78:1
Physical: 1.78:1
U.S. Audio:
Digital: English 2.0 Dolby Digital, Spanish 2.0 Dolby Digital, French 2.0 Dolby Digital
Blu-ray: English 2.0 Dolby Digital, Spanish 2.0 Dolby Digital, French 2.0 Dolby Digital
DVD: English 2.0 Dolby Digital, Spanish 2.0 Dolby Digital, French 2.0 Dolby Digital
Digital: English SDH, Spanish, French (some platforms)
Blu-ray: English SDH, Spanish, French
DVD: English SDH, Spanish, French
One of the rare excellent video game adaptations, HBO's The Last of Us is coming to 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray and Blu-ray July 18th, 2023 - Digital on April 11th.
Remember when video game adaptations were universally bad? Well, that bad luck has been changing after two successful Sonic the Hedgehog films and now HBO's smash hit The Last of Us. Maybe we can get a genuinely good Resident Evil movie or television series one day? In the meantime, we'll just have to wait for The Last of Us to return to television screens. The series stayed true to the video game's roots focusing on the human conflict of surviving the zombie apocalypse, but rather than retread the same ground of The Walking Dead, Neil Druckmann and showrunner Craig Mazin wisely found a way to push the fungal-infected horrors to the sidelines, focus on the humans, and still craft a compelling and often terrifying show. Now we all get to wait four long months to own the show on 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray
Now we've seen images of a 4K SteelBook offering due to hit the U.K. markets, and it's a safe assumption that it'll come here. But until we see that it's coming to our shores for sure, I'm going to hold off adding it to our listings. Mind you, full specs and A/V details aren't available yet, the press release included a list of bonus features that will be available with the digital purchase.
SPECIAL FEATURES ON DIGITAL INCLUDE:
The 4k UHD and Blu-ray releases aren't up for pre-order yet, but when they are we'll update our listings ASAP.
Here's the full press release for you to take a gander at:
THE HBO® ORIGINAL HIT SERIES
THE LAST OF US:
THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON
AVAILABLE PURCHASE DIGITALLY ON APRIL 11, 2023
AND ON 4K ULTRA HDTM, BLU-RAYTM AND DVD JULY 18, 2023
#TheLastOfUS
BURBANK, CA (March, 14, 2023) – Millions of viewers know now why loyal gamers have been clamoring for a worthy adaptation of The Last of Us. Based on the famed video game of the same name, the HBO original drama series marked HBO’s second largest debut, behind only “House of the Dragon,” and has shown consistent growth throughout its first season culminating in a 75% increase in Sunday night’s finale audience. Recently renewed for a second season, fans can own all nine episodes of the critically-acclaimed first season along with nearly 3 hours of special features including 3 all-new featurettes, when The Last of Us: The Complete First Season comes to 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD on July 18, 2023 and will be available to purchase Digitally* on April 11, 2023.
The Last of Us takes place 20 years after modern civilization has been destroyed. Joel, a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle Ellie, a 14-year-old girl, out of an oppressive quarantine zone. What starts as a small job soon becomes a brutal and heartbreaking journey as they both must traverse the U.S. and depend on each other for survival.
Season one stars Pedro Pascal as Joel, Bella Ramsey as Ellie, Gabriel Luna as Tommy, Anna Torv as Tess, Nico Parker as Sarah, Murray Bartlett as Frank, Nick Offerman as Bill, Melanie Lynskey as Kathleen, Storm Reid as Riley, Merle Dandridge as Marlene, Jeffrey Pierce as Perry, Lamar Johnson as Henry, Keivonn Woodard as Sam, Graham Greene as Marlon, and Elaine Miles as Florence. Ashley Johnson and Troy Baker also star.
With a 96% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, The Last of Us has been declared “HBO’s next big hit” by Rolling Stone, with Variety noting, “one sees the near future in which the show winds up among television’s best.” IndieWire declared the new series “better than every video game adaptation that comes to mind,” with IGN hailing it as “a brilliant retelling of one of video games’ most beloved stories” and adding that it “delivers an enriching show for fans of the PlayStation hit, while also managing to stay welcomingly thrilling to newcomers.” CNN called the storytelling “absolutely fearless and unflinching, creating horrifying scenarios and moments that can be alternately touching and utterly tragic.”
The Last of Us, based on the critically acclaimed video game of the same name developed by Naughty Dog for the PlayStation® platforms, is written and executive produced by Craig Mazin (Emmy® Award-winning creator of HBO’s “Chernobyl”) and Neil Druckmann (creator and writer of the award-winning “The Last of Us” franchise and Naughty Dog Co-President). The series is a co-production with Sony Pictures Television and is executive produced by Carolyn Strauss, Evan Wells, Asad Qizilbash, Carter Swan, and Rose Lam. Production companies: PlayStation Productions, Word Games, The Mighty Mint, and Naughty Dog.
The soundtrack to The Last of Us is available everywhere now, and features an original score by 2-time Academy Award winner Gustavo Santaolalla and David Fleming. Having scored both the original video game and its 2020 sequel, Gustavo Santaolalla builds on his previous work, expanding the intimate, guitar-driven soundscape to deliver a score as emotionally laden as the story itself. In addition to the score, the album also includes Nick Offerman's cover of Linda Ronstadt's "Long Long Time" and Jessica Mazin's cover of Depeche Mode's "Never Let Me Down Again."
The Last of Us: The Complete First Season will be available to purchase Digitally* on April 11, 2023 from Amazon Prime Video, AppleTV, Google Play, Vudu and more. 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD will be available July 18, 2023 to purchase online and in-store at major retailers.
*Digital Purchase is available now in Canada.
SPECIAL FEATURES ON DIGITAL INCLUDE:
Pricing and series information:
The Last of Us: The Complete First Season
Includes 9 one-hour episodes:
PRODUCT
Digital Purchase $19.99 SD / $24.99 HD US
$24.99 SD / $29.99 HD Canada
4K Ultra HD $49.99 US/ $54.97 Canada
Blu-ray
DVD
Languages: English, French, and Spanish
Subtitles: English, French, and Spanish
Episode Run Time: approx. 474 minutes
Whether you're looking for a classic Dreamworks animated release, a sci-fi disaster movie, one of Walter Hill's best works, or more Rocky steel, this week has a bit for everyone, and just like last week, it's at a moderate pace. Two weeks to prepare ourselves for another case of walletmageddon.
Welcome to Volume 3 Episode 41 of our weekly release guide. A look at the highlights of what's coming to disc the week of March 12th - March 18th, as well as a look at announcements from last week.
So there are no new release 4K titles this week, but there are a few catalog titles to snag up.
First, from Dreamworks animation, The Prince of Egypt gets a 4K release. Little by little we are seeing their catalog from that era come out. What's next, Shrek 3 or Road to El Dorado?
The sci-fi disaster mentioned above is in the form of The Core, brought to us by Paramount. What a perfect time, the earth's core has been in the news very recently, which in reality will not result in what we are seeing in this film.
One of Walter Hill's best known works, Streets of Fire gets a Shout Select release this week with a 3-disc combo pack.
Rocky III is the next SteelBook to be released in Best Buy's spaced out Rocky releases, this means that Rocky IV will be next week.
Phenomena gets a special edition release this week, just in case you missed out on the limited edition.
Next week is almost exclusively owned by Paramount, the last of the initial batch of Rocky SteelBooks, that other movie (Babylon) that I keep confusing with The Fabelmans, Wes Craven's Red Eye gets the 'Paramount Presents' treatment and the long awaited Dragonslayer with two hard to decide choices (get em both!)
There are no blu-ray counterparts of the above releases. There are twice as many titles in this category compared to last week to pick from though, here are the highlights.
If there are two single titles in the blu-ray category that get title of the week (or at least, the most attention), it's got to be A Man Called Otto starring Tom Hanks, brought to us by Sony Pictures,
and The Whale from LionsGate. With neither getting a 4K disc release, it has me scratching my head a bit.
Drama/thriller this week from LionsGate titled Alice, Darling.
TV on disc includes All Creatures Great and Small - Season 3, Highway to Heaven: The Complete Series, The Lost Symbol: The Complete Series and The Walking Dead: The Complete Eleventh Season.
John Woo directed Last Hurrah for Chivalry is available from Criterion Collection.
Anime highlights include Blue Thermal, Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero and Sing a Bit of Harmony - Movie and WATAMOTE: No Matter How I Look At It, It's You Guys' Fault I'm Not Popular!.
Busy week for the Warner Archive Collection, Confessions of a Nazi Spy, Flamingo Road, Neptune's Daughter and The Prince and the Showgirl.
Honorable Mention: Ronin Flix is now offering the general release of Jet Li Double Feature: The Legend of Fong Sai Yuk 1 & 2. This was previously available direct from their own store front.
Friday import releases include Hammer Horror Vol. 1 and Pumping Iron.
No major activity this past week, but we didn't say no activity at all. Creed III already has preorder links for the 4K and blu-ray releases, and I have spotted artwork for an import SteelBook, which is done in the same style as the Rocky steels at Best Buy. So it is probable to see the same one offered at Best Buy shortly.
Kino Lorber will be offering Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) to 4K this year, guessing late May.
James Cameron's Avatar: The Way of Water has a streaming date of March 28th. This is a sign that a physical announcement is coming soon. Disney and Universal have both announced titles literally two weeks before street date. Sometimes retailers are receiving product with street dates on the box and the announcement has yet to be made. Will it be 4K, will it have Dolby Vision, will it be on a BD100 disc? How much closer are we to those other two movies we have seen hinted at over the past 10 years?
Sony Pictures' next Dolby Vision/SteelBook upgrade will be Cliffhanger, with a street date of May 30th.
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?
Sylvester Stallone's 1993 high altitude "Die Hard on a Mountain" action-adventure epic Cliffhanger picks up a new Dolby Vision HDR grade and deluxe SteelBook packaging to celebrate its 30th Anniversary.
This has been a busy year for Stallone fans and their growing 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray collections and it's going to get even busier this May. It's wild to realize Cliffhanger turns 30 years old this year!I spent days of my valuable childhood time watching this movie and desperately trying to master the impossible snowboarding sequences on the Sega CD game. Now after an already solid 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release, Sony is doing what Sony does and reissuing the film on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray for a new Anniversary release complete with Dolby Vision HDR upgrade and deluxe StreelBook packaging. To sweeten the pot, it looks like they're also tossing in a bunch of new never-before-seen deleted scenes into the mix! I heard this one was heavily edited for the numerous bloody kills so I'm curious to see if those make an appearance this go around.
Not yet up for pre-order, the set should hit store shelves and online retailers May 30th, 2023. Here are all the details:
SYNOPSIS
Sylvester Stallone, John Lithgow, Michael Rooker, Janine Turner and Ralph Waite star in this high-altitude avalanche of action: a non-stop adventure peak with suspense and capped with heart-quaking terror. For Rocky Mountain Rescue, the mission is almost routine: locate five climbers. With the woman he loves (Turner) and his best friend (Rooker), Gabe Walker (Stallone) braves the icy peaks only to discover that the distress call is really a trap set by merciless international terrorist Eric Qualen (Lithgow). Now millions of dollars and their own lives hang in the balance. Against explosive firepower, bitter cold, and dizzying heights, Walker must outwit Qualen in a deadly game of hide-and-seek.
DISC DETAILS & BONUS MATERIALS
4K ULTRA HD DISC
Feature presented in 4K resolution with Dolby Vision, approved by director Renny Harlin
Dolby Atmos + 5.1 audio
Special Feature:
17 Never-Before-Seen and Previously Available Deleted Scenes
BLU-RAY DISC
Feature presented in high definition
5.1 audio
Special Features:
Commentary with Director Renny Harlin and Sylvester Stallone
Technical Crew Commentary
A Personal Introduction from Renny Harlin
Deleted Scenes with Director Intro
Stallone on the Edge: The Making of Cliffhanger
Special Effects Featurette
Storyboard Comparisons
Theatrical Trailer
CREDITS
Directed By: Renny Harlin
Produced By: Alan Marshall and Renny Harlin
Based on a Premise By: John Long
Screen Story By: Michael France
Screenplay By: Michael France and Sylvester Stallone
Executive Producer: Mario Kassar
Cast: Sylvester Stallone, John Lithgow, Michael Rooker, Janine Turner, Leon, Paul Winfield and Ralph Waite
SPECS
Run Time: Approx. 112 minutes
Rating: R for violence and language
4K UHD Feature Picture: 2160p Ultra High Definition, 2.40:1
4K UHD Feature Audio: English Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 Compatible) | English 5.1 DTS-HD MA
Nine films from controversial Italian filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini will be available in a Blu-ray boxed set from the Criterion Collection on June 27.
One of the most original and controversial thinkers of the twentieth century, Italian polymath Pier Paolo Pasolini embodied a multitude of often seemingly contradictory ideologies and identities—and he expressed them all in his provocative, lyrical, and indelible films. Relentlessly concerned with society’s downtrodden and marginalized, he elevated pimps, hustlers, sex workers, and vagabonds to the realm of saints, while depicting actual saints with a radical earthiness. Traversing the sacred and the profane, the ancient and the modern, the mythic and the personal, the nine uncompromising, often scandal-inciting features he made in the 1960s still stand—on this, the 101st anniversary of his birth—as a monument to his daring vision of cinema as a form of resistance.
Featuring
Accatone, 1961
Mamma Roma, 1962
Love Meetings, 1964
The Gospel According to Matthew, 1964
The Hawks and the Sparrows, 1966
Oedipus Rex, 1967
Teorema, 1968*
Porcile, 1969
Madea, 1969
*All discs are new to Blu-Ray with the exception of this title
NINE-BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION COLLECTOR’S SET FEATURES
ACCATTONE
Poet and painter turned filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini courted controversy with his very first feature by using Catholic iconography and liturgical music to render a plaintive, brutally beautiful portrait of a shiftless Roman pimp and thief (then-nonprofessional Franco Citti, in a revelatory performance) whose life of petty crime turns increasingly desperate when the woman who supports him is imprisoned. Melding a hardscrabble neorealist milieu with classical influences, Pasolini offers a vision of underclass struggle as a kind of modern sainthood.
1961 • 117 minutes • Black & White • Monaural • In Italian with English subtitles • 1.37:1 aspect ratio
MAMMA ROMA
Anna Magnani is Mamma Roma, a middle-aged prostitute who attempts to extricate herself from her sordid past for the sake of her son. Highlighting director Pier Paolo Pasolini’s lifelong fascination with the marginalized and dispossessed, Mamma Roma offers an unflinching, neorealistic look at the struggle for survival in postwar Italy. Though initially banned in the country for obscenity, today the film remains a classic, featuring a powerhouse performance by one of cinema’s greatest actors and offering a glimpse at Pasolini in the process of finding his style.
1962 • 106 minutes • Black & White • Monaural • In Italian with English subtitles • 1.85:1 aspect ratio
LOVE MEETINGS
Let’s talk about sex. In this radically engaged and engaging documentary, Pier Paolo Pasolini takes to the streets, town squares, beaches, factories, and universities of 1960s Italy to solicit everyday citizens’ thoughts on a host of hot-button subjects, including sex work, gender equality, homosexuality, and divorce (then illegal in Italy). What emerges is both a kaleidoscopic cross section of faces and places—from the industrialized cities of the North to the rural villages of the South—and an incisive portrait of a society where, despite the rapid modernization brought on by the postwar “economic miracle,” hypocrisy, repression, and conformism still hold sway.
1964 • 92 minutes • Black & White • Monaural • In Italian with English subtitles • 1.85:1 aspect ratio
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW
A biblical epic that only the Marxist dissident Pier Paolo Pasolini could make, this intensely faithful adaptation of Saint Matthew’s Gospel depicts the life and teachings of Jesus Christ (Enrique Irazoqui, a Spanish economics student and Communist activist), whose unwavering compassion for the poor and defiant condemnation of moral hypocrisy make him a perhaps unexpected embodiment of the director’s own worldview. Stunningly shot amid the timeless landscapes of southern Italy and set to a soundtrack that encompasses everything from Bach to Black spirituals, The Gospel According to Matthew cuts past dogma and straight to the core of Jesus’s radical humanism.
1964 • 137 minutes • Black & White • Monaural • In Italian with English subtitles • 1.85:1 aspect ratio
THE HAWKS AND THE SPARROWS
While wandering the countryside, a pair of father-and-son vagabonds (played respectively by Italian cinema legend Totò, in his final major film role, and Ninetto Davoli) happen upon a talking crow who spouts philosophy and launches them on a freewheeling picaresque through time, space, and the margins of a rapidly modernizing Italy. A comic Marxist fable that balances heady ideas about religion, poverty, and class struggle with irreverent slapstick sight gags, The Hawks and the Sparrows finds Pasolini at his lightest yet as stingingly subversive as ever.
1966 • 89 minutes • Black & White • Monaural • In Italian with English subtitles • 1.85:1 aspect ratio
OEDIPUS REX
Pier Paolo Pasolini’s powerfully iconoclastic take on Sophocles’s tragedy blends eras and cultures to create a searing exploration of fate, free will, and the things we fear most in ourselves. Shot amid the stark, elemental landscapes of the Moroccan desert, and set in an indefinable ancient past, this bold reimagining casts the filmmaker’s frequent collaborator Franco Citti as the eponymous foundling, whose willful blindness to his own nature unleashes a cataclysmic reckoning. With a prologue and epilogue set in twentieth-century Italy, Pasolini connects the story to his own upbringing, daring to bare his soul on-screen.
1967 • 104 minutes • Color • Monaural • In Italian with English subtitles • 1.85:1 aspect ratio
TEOREMA
With Teorema, a coolly cryptic exploration of bourgeois spiritual emptiness, Pier Paolo Pasolini moved beyond the poetic, proletarian earthiness that first won him renown. Terence Stamp stars as the mysterious stranger—perhaps an angel, perhaps a devil—who, one by one, seduces the members of a wealthy Milanese family (including European cinema icons Silvana Mangano, Massimo Girotti, Laura Betti, and Anne Wiazemsky), precipitating an existential crisis in each of their lives. Unfolding nearly wordlessly, this tantalizing metaphysical riddle—blocked from exhibition by the Catholic Church for degeneracy—is at once a blistering Marxist treatise on sex, religion, and art and a primal scream into the void.
1968 • 98 minutes • Color • Monaural • In Italian with English subtitles • 1.85:1 aspect ratio
PORCILE
“I killed my father. I ate human flesh. I quiver with joy.” Provocateur Pier Paolo Pasolini is at his most incendiary in this double-edged allegory on fascism, consumerism, and resistance. In one story, a defiant man (Pierre Clémenti) perpetrates increasingly barbaric acts while wandering a mythic, volcanic landscape. In the other, the scion (Jean-Pierre Léaud) of a wealthy, ex-Nazi industrial family conceals a shocking proclivity. Taken together, these stories of transgression form a scathing commentary on postwar European moral rot and the meaning of rebellion in the face of a corrupt world.
1969 • 98 minutes • Color • Monaural • In Italian with English subtitles • 1.85:1 aspect ratio
MEDEA
In this hypnotic adaptation of Euripides’s immortal tragedy, Pier Paolo Pasolini casts opera diva Maria Callas (utterly arresting in her only film role) as the sorceress of Greek legend, whose separation from her homeland of Colchis and betrayal by her lover, Jason, lead her down a path of shocking vengeance. Melding Western myth with aesthetic and musical influences from numerous world cultures, Pasolini fashions a mesmerizing cinematic pageant that gathers in force until it explodes in rage and a stunningly nihilistic condemnation of injustice.
1969 • 110 minutes • Color • Monaural • In Italian with English subtitles • 1:85:1 aspect ratio
SRP for this Special Edition Collector's Set is $249.95.
Preorders should be available in the coming days
