Many of us are celebrating Christmas this week. Have you been nice? What will Santa be bringing you? Welcome to Episode 31 of our weekly look at what's new to home video. Overall a slow week, as to be expected with the Christmas holiday.
4K Ultra HD Blu-ray/Digital Releases-
Akira fans look for the 4K release this week, it includes a fair amount of extras. Beastmaster (1982) is supposed to get a 4K general release this week, but order links from Amazon are still not available, probably next month.
HD Blu-ray/Digital releases-
Warner Archive offers The Best Years of Our Lives, a post-war classic movie about, post-war, this movie won seven Oscars including best picture, so definitely check it out. Warner Archive also brings you a James Stewart holiday classic, The Shop Around the Corner.
Just in time for the Christmas spirit, It Happened on 5th Avenue, read David's review, buy the disc.
If you've been itching for the follow-up movie to The Craft to hit Blu-ray, Sony Pictures brings you The Craft: Legacy. Bryan's review of the digital release gave it 4 out of 5 stars. Maybe not 5-star material, but what is it about Blumhouse movies not even being considered for 4K?
In the anime category, Fairy Tail Part 25 arrives this week, the final season is coming to an end soon!
In what could be considered a Love or Hate movie, The War With Grandpa, with an all star cast of Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, Uma Thurman, Rob Riggle, Cheech Marin, Laura Marano and Jane Seymour. I'm on the fence and look forward to a review.
Notable announcements from last week:
The Crocodile Dundee character gets another movie, this time from Lionsgate, it's titled The Very Excellent Mr. Dundee and is due Feb 16. Other LionsGate announcements include Love, Weddings & Other Disaster, The Right One and Skylines. As expected, Criterion Collection has announced the rest of their March 2021 titles, none of which I am familiar with, and it looks like March is NOT the month Criterion hops on to the 4K disc bandwagon. Anyway, the titles (with links) are Céline and Julie Go Boating, Defending Your Life, Secrets & Lies and Touki Bouki.
For Anime, Sentai Filmworks has their March titles listed, Viz Video has Nauruto Set 2 listed, Discotek has got their February 23rd titles listed, the one I have been waiting for is KonoSuba: God's Blessing on This Wonderful World!: The Complete Second Season. Hopefully Kemono Friends Season 2 is coming soon.
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? Myself, already ordered is Akira 4K. Interested in The Craft: Legacy and eventually Fairy Tail Part 25 once I decide to get the collection, maybe a complete series box set later? Watching for The War With Grandpa to see if I like it.
Alas, the year is nearing the end and Christmas is just arount the corner. Anything exciting on your list, be it material or otherwise? Have you looked at our Holiday Gift Guide yet?
Welcome to Episode 30 of our weekly look at what's coming to home video.
4K Ultra HD Blu-ray/Digital Releases-
Just a little blurb here, color me shocked to find out the English/UK release of Crash from Arrow Video got delayed to this week from Nov 30. I did take one for the team and order it so you can bet Arrow (or other entity) will announce a USA release about the time I receive my import.
Let's kick off the 4K disc list alphabetically, starting with IP Man Complete Collection. Well, the collection is "complete" until they make a 5th one, but that remains to be seen.
Next on the list is Christopher Nolan's Tenet. Let's face it, Nolan is a good director that makes great films, but just like so many of the greats, there always seems to be something about them that annoys nearly everyone, in this case, it's his unwillingness to embrace directional audio, or hell, even 7.1 for that matter.
Have you enjoyed Arrow Video's presence in the 4K market yet? This week they're releasing Tremors on 4K disc. I would have figured this to be a major enough film that Universal would have done it like they seem to in every format, but apparently not.
Lastly in the 4K disc release list for the week, Blue Underground brings us Vigilante. Thus far they've also made quite a showing for 4K discs!
HD Blu-ray/Digital releases-
For Blu-ray releases this is a somewhat busy week. Maybe that last push for Christmas sales.
Anime has a few noteworthy releases and like previous weeks, let's tackle the list alphabetically. First is Ahiru no Sora - Collection One from Sentai Filmworks. FUNimation offers Ace Attorney: Season Two as a complete set. If you held off on Black Clover, there is an Amazon Exclusive that includes Seasons 1 & 2 in one set, which includes a little swag too. If you've been collectiong the Dragon Ball Z SteelBooks, Season 4 and Season 5 come out this week. Paranoia Agent: The Complete Series is available as a standard edition and as a SteelBook.
Media Blasters is offering Blood Sisters, Devilman and Shrine of the Morning Mist. Studio Ghibli titles seem to keep coming from the woodwork, I really thought GKids had released them all, but nope, this week look for From Up on Poppy Hill.
Criterion Collection continues to release mainstream and obscure titles in HD, this week look for Amores Perros.
UPHE brings us The Expanse: Season Four, this is one of those shows I wish I had time to follow but I always seem to redirect my priorities.
Warner Bros brings us the 2020 film The Wolf of Snow Hollow this week, more werewolf action.
If the 4K versions are not for you this week, Tenet and Tremors get released on Blu-ray as well.
Notable announcements from last week:
Somewhat slow week in the announcements topic, as to be expected during this time of year. Criterion Collection announced World of Wong Kar Wai for a March 23 release date. This of course means the rest of their March announcements will be coming in a day or two. Warner Archive has announced After the Thin Man, Good News, The Man Who Would Be King, The Pajama Game and Room for One More for January 2021.
Universal Pictures has announced a 4K disc release of Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing for Feb 2.
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? I preordered Tremors 4K, Blood Sisters, Devilman, DBZ 4 & 5 and Wolf of Snow Hollow. IP Man Collection 4K and Tenet 4K interest me. Also on the wishlist are the Black Clover set, From Up on Poppy Hill, Paranoia Agent and Shrine of Morning Mist.
You're strolling around the shop browsing the physical media section, you stop see a favorite movie on 4K UHD Blu-ray and you wonder - "Is this worth buying again? Is there a review available? Will this blow out my new Atmos/DTS:X setup?" While you could go through our search system, we wanted to create this living document for quick easy access to every 4K UHD Blu-ray title we've reviewed - domestic U.S. releases and imports. We'll be including links to the review, cover image, and some quick tech specs about HDR grade and Audio format available.
As we have around 1200 titles in our UHD database at the moment, this will be an ongoing effort, so bear with us as this unfolds.
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December is upon us and so many have already seen snow in Northern Hemisphere, have fun with that. Snuggle up under those blankets or throws and enjoy a movie or binge-watching session.
Welcome to Episode 29 of our weekly look at the highlights if what's coming to home video.
4K Ultra HD Blu-ray/Digital Releases-
Somewhat mixed bag on 4K disc releases this week, perhaps something for everyone.
Kicking off this week, the recently restored by StudioCanal UK, Total Recall (1990). If you didn't order the over the top import, you can order the three-disc standard edition or the Best Buy Exclusive SteelBook that is similar to the UK SteelBook release.
A catalog release by Paramount to ponder, that release being the 2004 action/thriller Collateral.
A recent 2020 film, Possessor comes to you by Well Go USA. Sounds to me like a high-tech for-profit evil-company version of a body snatcher type of movie, could be interesting.
If you opted to wait for the SteelBook release of WestWorld: Season Three, Best Buy's got you covered.
I save this one for last and cautiously say it's finally due this week, after what seems like half a dozen missed release dates, Arrow Academy's first 4K title, Cinema Paradiso. I wouldn't be surprised to see a new date next week.
HD Blu-ray/Digital releases-
Highlights in the Anime category include 7 Seeds - Part One, a complete Season 2 collection of Black Clover, Bleach: Set 9 and Violet Evergarden: The Complete Series, available in a standard release and a Limited Edition release.
A cautiously optimistic insertion of Cinema Paradiso on Blu-ray goes here.
Also available on Blu-ray if the 4K disc is not for you, Possessor.
Kino Lorber brings us Fellini's Casanova after a delay or three. My previous years of growing up with HBO in the house remembers My Science Project playing late night, not a bad movie actually.
Producing lots of movies and still offering something nearly every week, LionsGate releases Smiley Face Killers this week on Blu-ray.
Some week previously I had mentioned that a bunch of Jack Lemmon movies were coming soon. This week starts them with Good Neighbor Sam, Mister Roberts, The Notorious Landlady, Operation Mad Ball, Phffft & Under the Yum-Yum Tree. Tell you what, the film I am still waiting for to hit Blu-ray is the comedy My Fellow Americans, (Kino or Warner Archive, you hear me?) My last updated purchase of that one was on Laserdisc. There is a mismatch between the studio and Amazon regarding the Warner Archive release for Mister Roberts, Amazon indicates next week, WA indicates this week.
Criterion Collection offers two releases this week, foreign film drama Mouchette. and Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Two Takes by William Greaves.
Notable announcements from last week:
The week really had no major announcements. Some RLJ titles, some Kino Lorber and other independent label items. If you count The Little Prince and The Kid Detective as announcements, then there were a couple.
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?My list is short this week. I ordered Total Recall 4K standard edition, the $15 price is very nice, and from the sounds of it this will be a good release anyway. Everything else is on a wishlist, Collateral 4K, Possessor 4K, Westworld Season 3 4K SteelBook, 7 Seeds Part One, My Science Project, Mister Roberts and Violet Evergarden Complete Series Limited Edition.
Welcome to Episode 28 of our weekly look at what's new in Home Video entertainment.
This month being the last month of what many of us would call a difficult and trying year. On a plus note though, the studios are still cranking out physical media at a rather steady pace.
4K Ultra HD Blu-ray/Digital Releases-
This week you might feel your wallets burn if you're looking to get 4K discs.
Filtering out the eleven "PS5 4K Movie Essentials" reissue releases, the slate is still rather large. It's good to see Sony come to their senses and embrace the fact its gamers want 4K drives in their systems, gamers generally enjoy movies too.
Let's start ou tthe week first with a 4K import offered by Arrow Video, with a Monday street date, David Cronenberg's Crash. Before this year, this movie was not even available on Blu-ray. You might have to visit Zavvi if Amazon doesn't open up ordering for this one.
For domestic 4K discs this week, let's start out with Wesley Snipes' vampire killer epic Blade, available as a standard edition and as a Best Buy Exclusive SteelBook. The sequels have not been announced to 4K, hard to predict if they ever will be, I would guess NO, but if there's enough interest in this one, it's possible. Up next, the HBO mini-series, Chernobyl, and this one is also available as a standard edition and as a Best Buy Exclusive SteelBook. The cover art on the SteelBook is a little too Pop Artsy to me. Keeping the trend, Eddie Murphy's comedy Coming to America, also offered as a standard edition and a SteelBook Edition, this time though the SteelBook is not a Best Buy Exclusive.
Continuing with Eddie Murphy, in a move that made sense, Bevery Hills Cop gets a 4K release. Just like Blade, sequel(s) getting a 4K release probably depends on interest in this one.
Random oddities, two 4K reissues, this time as SteelBooks, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Léon: The Professional. Previously delayed to December 8, but somehow at the last minute now available December 1st, Top Gun is now available in a SteelBook package too. All three Jumanji movies in a Jumanji 3-Film Collection, and lastly in this category, The Equalizer and The Equalizer 2 in a 2-Film Collection.
This week's biggest releases have got Peter Jackson's name attached. I'm referring to his Middle Earth double trilogies. Chronologically (by production date) let's start out with The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Much like two paragraphs ago, the common theme is that it will be available as a standard edition and as a Best Buy Exclusive SteelBook collection. This one was originally slated to get a Limited Edition Giftset, Amazon seems to no longer have it availabe, but Best Buy still does. The other Peter Jackson trilogy, The Hobbit is also available as a standard edition and as a Best Buy Exclusive SteelBook edition. The trend lately with a lot of Warner Bros. catalog 4K releases is that they do not include the Blu-rays, but at least in the case of these two, you have both the theatrical releases and the extended editions. How many of us bought these movies multiple times over the years, first as a theatrical, then as an extended release?
HD Blu-ray/Digital releases-
Fortunately for our wallets, this week's Blu-ray selection is below average.
In the anime category, FUNimation has some 'essentials' releases and Sentai Filmworks has more non-English dubbed releases. What's new from FUNimation though? Dr. Stone: Season One - Part Two, being offered as a standard edition release and as a limited edition release. As a primer for next week, you can get Violet Evergarden I - Eternity and the Auto Memory Doll feature film, in advance of the complete series.
Warner Bros./HBO brings us the reboot of Perry Mason, Perry Mason, The Complete First Season. The Warner Archive Collection releases the Bugs Bunny 80th Anniversary Collection this week, offering 60 Bugs Bunny cartoons, plus 10 more Looney Tunes feature cartoons as an added bonus. I don't think we will ever see War Time Bugs in HD, but I will never say never. Tex Avery Screwball Classics Volume 2 comes out this week according to the studio, but according to Amazon, December 15th. Either way, order from our link and it will show up eventually, <g>.
Criterion Collection this week, they missed the 4K boat on this one, Crash is offered as a Criterion Edition Blu-ray, if it suits you, by all means buy it.
I pity the fool that doesn't remember D.C. Cab, starring Mr. T, offered this week from Kino. I guess you're excused if you're a millennial or later, but it is a memorable film. Kino is offering other titles this week too, check out the listings.
Paramount and CBS TV is releasing Mission Impossible - The Original TV Series this week, the magnitude of this series is huge. Read our review, order the collection.
Also don't forget Popeye, and as I recall this one made it to HD DVD but not to Blu-ray all those years in between.
The Paramount Presents label is offering The Golden Child and Trading Places this week.
Notable announcements from last week:
Paramount has added a few catalog titles to Feb 2. I am pretty stoked to see Mouse Hunt and Small Soldiers on the list. Also added are Lassie, Yours, Mine & Ours and Ladybugs.
Warner Bros. has added season 15, the final season of Supernatural, release date is pending.
Arrow Video announced their February titles late in the week. For the U.S. & UK expect to see The El Duce Tapes and Shogun’s Joy of Torture. For UK only they also are offering Demons 1 & 2 4K, Demons 1 & 2 Limited Edition (fat pack) and Beyond Re-animator. I have no idea if they're negotiating U.S. rights to any of the latter films or if it is a lost cause, sit back and see, if even just until February. Here's a peek at the Demons 4K fat-pack:
Closing out the week's new title announcements, Vinegar Syndrome accounes their January titles. I am not sure if this means January at their own store front and February everywhere else, stay tuned for updates. Currently they're listed for January 19th.
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? First of all, I want to throw out there a "You're welcome!," I'm taking one for the team by importing Crash 4k. Although Criterion seems to have missed the 4K boat by releasing a regular HD Blu-ray this week, my action of importing the 4K means you can probably expext an Arrow Video 4K announcement in a matter of weeks! I also ordered Beverly Hills Cop 4K, Coming to America 4K, Best Buy editions of Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies. Mission Impossible TV series is also en route. High on the wishlist, The Golden Child, DC Cab and Violet Evergarden. Blade 4K is also on the wishlist.
Welcome to Episode 27, or weekly look at the highlights of what's coming to the home video market.
Happy Thanksgiving! At least, to our readers in the USA. This week's release calendar has a fair amount of titles on it, but with possible Black Friday deals, followed up by Cyber Monday, many of us will be pretty selective this week, at least on new releases. Anyone secure their new Xbox or Playstation system last week? Shopped any Criterion or Arrow Video sale titles this month?
4K Ultra HD Blu-ray/Digital Releases-
First on the agenda, if you want what appears to be the most extensive release for Total Recall (1990) in 4K, you will have to import it, it has a Monday release date. You might have to find it on Zavvi if Amazon doesn't have it available. Also available, as a SteelBook but without all the extras, but keep in mind that a domestic release SteelBook is in a couple of weeks that appears identical.
Domestic 4K titles releasing on Tuesday comprises of Deadly Games (Dial Code Santa Claus,) Kino's release of Mad Max and Peninsula. The general release of The Beastmaster was pused back a month as this week's release appears to be a Black Friday Vinegar Syndrome shop release.
HD Blu-ray/Digital releases-
The digital release of Fatman is available this week. I love the premise, it sounds pretty original. Check out Matthew's review. I hope this comes to disc by Christmas, Paramount does have a pre-order for the disc available here.
Where to begin with this week's Blu-ray releases? I guess alphabetically til we see a highlight.
Looks like Anime has the first highlight, with the letter "A". From Sentai Filmworks, Assassins Pride: Complete Collection. Ef: A Tale of Memories - Complete Collection gets a SteelBook release this week. Another letter A, FUNimation releases Azur Lane: The Complete Series on disc this week. Discotek's contributions this week all appear to be in their native Japanese language, no English dubs, except for the Lupin the 3rd movie.
LionsGate brings another Action themed movie titled Ava, this doesn't sound like a unique plot but still could be 96 minutes of decent entertainment. Delayed from last week, a film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Iron Mask. Good to see Ahnold is still making films, I actually thought of him after watching Clint Eastwood's The Mule the other night, what are some of the older film icons doing today?
The wait for Season Five of Better Call Saul is over this week, presented by Sony Home Entertainment.
I have total respect for the independent studios that license and bring us movies and TV we may never see without their efforts. Kino Lorber is one such company, and if I omit them week to week, it's not from disrespect, it's that the releases of the week might have more limited appeal. This week though, Kino is bringing you Buck Rogers in the 25th Century: The Complete Collection as well as a single disc release of the movie titled Awakening, which launched the TV series. Babylon Berlin: Season 3 releases this week as well. If you're not equipped for 4K, Kino has a new Blu-ray release for Mad Max to appease you instead.
Criterion Collection fans look for Essential Fellini, and right now Amazon is trying to be competitive on the price of these releases. In what would have probably been a good 4K release, The Irishman, starring Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci. I am grateful to see this release nevertheless, why the originating studio didn't release it is beyond me.
Now, for something completely different, Arrow's releasing He Came from the Swamp: The William Grefé Collection. Again, very competitive price for this right now, go for it!
If you had never imported the Monty Python's Flying Circus mega-set from Network TV, Universal offers a domestic release instead to consider.
Notable announcements from last week:
Cinema Paradiso 4K & Blu-ray versions have been delayed yet again, the new date is December 8th. Greatness takes patience, hope it is worth the wait.
Speaking of Arrow Video, they have completed a deal with Blue Underground to release Django and Texas Adios movies. The Blu-rays were listed previously but pulled. The bigger news is that they will be offering Django on 4K disc, slated for April 27th. No word on Texas Adios in 4K.
Final details and dates have been set for the Warner Archive December 2020 slate.
Sony Pictures has announced 2020 comedy/drama The Last Shift for December 29th. Order link coming very soon.
Order Links from last week's Criterion title announcement are live.
FUNimation has announced their February 2021 titles. Somewhat tepid list, some titles might interest you so check em out any way.
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? For sure am getting the Mad Max 4K release and Criterion Release of The Irishman. If Iron Mask appears at my local Walmart for around $15 (very probable) I will likely get it. I am interested in the Buck Rogers Complete Collection, but with all the box sets I have gotten recently though, it will go somewhere near the top of my wish list. Anime interests this week, Assassins Pride, Azur Lane and the Ef releases.
Although next week is Thanksgiving (USA), retailers across the world have dubbed the day after as Black Friday. This year seems different though, so many retailers are offering deals all month long, some of them are even dubbing it as Black November. Either way, it's a win for consumers, have you bought into any deals this month? Welcome to Episode 26 of our weekly look at the highlights of what's coming out in the home video market.
4K Ultra HD Blu-ray/Digital Releases-
Delayed from a couple weeks ago, but on track for a release this week, as an import with a Monday street date, Dawn of the Dead (1978). Another noteable import, King of New York (1990) also releases Monday. At this time it is impossible to predict if U.S. releases will ever happen on either title.
Domestic releases this week are a bit busy, The Croods, It's a Wonderful Life in a SteelBook package, The New Mutants, as a standard edition and as a SteelBook release, Resident Evil Collection, Weathering With You (Collector's Edition) and lastly, Westworld: Season 3. If you want Westworld in a SteelBook, you need to wait until December 8th.
For a Friday release, this one falls in the Arts/Opera category, Verdi: IlTrovatore. Perhaps any of the Arts releases going to 4K is a huge positive, the Blu-ray releases are always in 1080i instead of 1080p, slightly annoying.
HD Blu-ray/Digital releases-
For Blu-ray discs this week, above average volume.
Sony brings us the 2020 Comedy/Romance The Broken Hearts Gallery this week.
Just in time to save you $80, Arrow Video brings us Beyond the Door. Previous release is listed around the $100 range.
Previously delayed but coming this week, the Shout Select version of Twins. Classic Schwarzenegger/DeVito comedy right there.
LionsGate's appearance in the weekly releases, this week they bring Death of Me. Need some star power? How about Russell Crowe in Unhinged? Lastly, if you visit The Broken Hearts Gallery product page, Amazon will likely suggest this week's Words on Bathroom Walls as an add on purchase.
Warner Archive has an Alfred Hitchcock Collection this week, these 4 movies were previously available individually, to get them as a set meant importing them. If you need Westworld: Season Three on Blu-ray, it's available this week as well.
From The Criterion Collection this week, look for Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai as well as Moonstruck. The latter is getting favorable reviews, click the link, check out our review, buy the disc.
If you like the 1950 movie Rio Grande, you will be please to see it get an Olive Signature treatment this week.
The weekly dose of Anime includes a few gems. Apart from the abovementioned Weathering With You 4K, FUNimation has The Ancient Magus' Bride as a complete series instead of a split set. From Viz Video, what is touted as the 22nd Pokémon movie, which is really a CG remake of the first Pokémon movie from 21 years ago, this one is titled Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back - Evolution.
They might actually arrive this week!!! I am referring to Mill Creek's Hammer Films - Ultimate Collection and the Inner Sanctum Mysteries. I think these were delayed half a dozen times. I would guess disc replication delays were the culprit.
The New Mutants also arrives this week as a Blu-ray + Digital combo in case the 4K set is not for you.
If you've bought a fair share of TV Series complete collections the past few weeks, save room for Mission Impossible: The Original TV Series from Paramount. This one is huge and amounts to around $2 per disc, WOW!
For Friday releases this week, there's quite an assortment of music and arts titles.
Notable announcements from last week:
Ummmm, Disney gave us zero notice about Mulan (2020) and Mulan (1998) coming to 4K disc, and leaked retailer links were quickly removed, only to find out that both these titles were coming on November 10th. Read the news story HERE. Disney's appearance of purposely trying to sabotage physical media is more than annoying. Sorry, but this guy is not buying into streaming for his only source of entertainment, it's still too unreliable and is not as good in quality as a disc. While on the subject, when was the last time you heard about a catalog title announcement from Disney / Fox, 4K or even Blu-ray? [Edit] Guess whose internet was down for 2.5 days after writing the draft of this story? I love telling the provider the problem is in their NOC, for them to schedule a service call any way, to find out the outage affects the entire area the next day.
Delayed to next week, Schwarzenegger's Iron Mask.
Jack Lemmon fan? Sony's got five titles coming and Warner Archive has one. Good Neighbor Sam, The Notorious Landlady, Operation Mad Ball, Phffft and Under the Yum-Yum Tree arrive from Sony on Dec. 8, Mister Roberts arrives from Warner Archive Collection on Dec. 29.
Christopher Nolan's Tenet will be coming on December 15th to 4K disc. A Blu-ray is also announced. Hooray for another 4K disc, Booooooo for Nolan not embracing, or even allowing directional audio, so expect DTS-HD MA 5.1 on that one. Much like Lucas not leaving his films alone (tinkering) or Cameron releasing 25 iterations of Terminator 2, but zero HD or 4K versions of The Abyss or True Lies.
Criterion Collection's February 2021 titles will include Chop Shop, Man Push Cart, Mandabi, The Parallax View and Smooth Talk. I am not familiar with this batch of titles and looks like this month is not the month to announce Criterion's 4K adoption.
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? Pretty much all the 4K releases I want this week, minus the imports. For New Mutants, I prefer the standard edition cover art. I will probably get Moonstruck and Monstrum. Mission Impossible TV series was already ordered weeks ago. I think I will also give the Pokemon movie an order as well, when I had seen The First Movie, I thought it was well done, I hope the story itself wasn't changed much with the new one.
It's time to hunker in your bunker this holiday season and do your best to spread some holiday cheer - while you try not to spread anything else. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic obviously has put a damper on the traditional holiday get-together where everyone travels from miles around to gorge themselves on an impressive spread.
While delivering a full turkey dinner complete with trimmings isn't feasible for everyone; if you're looking to send someone something special - or treat-yo-self for getting through an incredibly tough year, there are options. With most movie theaters across the country closed or only showing a scant few films, the big studios dug deep into their catalogs and pull out a lot of hits for new 4K UHD Blu-rays or give fan favorites their first outing on Blu-ray. And with that, let's dig into our list
While 2020 may have been a bit of a challenge for movie theaters to get hot new titles, 4K UHD Blu-ray fans were treated to a number of in-demand fan-favorite franchises all conveniently packaged in deluxe box sets. If you have someone on your list needing the latest and greatest release of their favorite movies, here's a list of the essential 4K UHD box sets that came out in 2020:
Pre-Order The Lord of the Rings Motion Picture Trilogy 4K UHD Blu-ray
Pre-Order The Lord of the Rings Motion Picture Trilogy 4K UHD Blu-ray SteelBook
Pre-Order The Lord of the Rings Motion Picture Trilogy 4KUHD Blu-ray Gift Set
Pre-Order The Hobbit Motion Picture Trilogy 4K UHD Blu-ray
Pre-Order The Hobbit Motion Picture Trilogy 4K UHD Blu-ray SteelBook
Buy the Back to the Future: Ultimate Trilogy 4K UHD Blu-ray
Buy the Back to the Future: Ultimate Trilogy 4K UHD Blu-ray SteelBook
Buy the Alfred Hitchcock Classics Collection 4K UHD Blu-ray
Buy Game Of Thrones: The Complete Collection 4K UHD Blu-ray
Buy Game of Thrones: The Complete Collection 4K UHD Blu-ray SteelBook
Buy the Columbia Classics 4K UHD Blu-ray Collection: Volume 1
Buy the Resident Evil Collection 4K UHD Blu-ray
Buy the Rambo The Complete SteelBook Collection 4K UHD Blu-ray
Buy the Stanley Kubrick 3-Film 4K Collection
Pre-Order the Ip Man 4-Film Collection 4K UHD Blu-ray
Buy Star Wars The Skywalker Saga 4K UHD Blu-ray
With a lot of extra time spent in the home theater, 4K UHD Blu-ray fans have had a great year for catalog releases. While the franchise box sets were terrific, there were some amazing individual releases that 4K UHD adopters gobbled up and would make great gifts.
Buy Jaws 45th Anniversary 4K UHD Blu-ray
Buy Jaws 45th Anniversary 4K UHD Blu-ray SteelBook
Buy 1917 4K UHD Blu-ray
Buy the 1917 4K UHD Blu-ray SteelBook
Buy the Parasite 4K UHD Blu-ray
Buy Knives Out 4K UHD Blu-ray
Buy the Knives Out 4K UHD Blu-ray SteelBook
Buy the Spartacus 4K UHD Blu-ray
Buy Ford V. Ferrari 4K UHD Blu-ray
Buy Beetlejuice 4K UHD Blu-ray
Buy the Beetlejuice 4K UHD Blu-ray Gift Set
Buy the Beetlejuice 4K UHD Blu-ray SteelBook
Buy Top Gun 4K UHD Blu-ray
Pre-Order Top Gun 4K UHD Blu-ray SteelBook
Buy The Deer Hunter 4K UHD Blu-ray
Buy It's A Wonder Life 4K UHD Blu-ray SteelBook
Buy Ghost in the Shell 4K UHD Blu-ray
Buy Ghost in the Shell 4K UHD Blu-ray SteelBook
Buy Sonic The Hedgehog 4K UHD Blu-ray
Buy the Flash Gordon Limited Edition 4K UHD Blu-ray
Buy Home Alone 4K UHD Blu-ray
Buy the Home Alone 4K UHD Blu-ray SteelBook
Tenet - 4K UHD Blu-ray
Blade - 4K UHD Blu-ray
Coming to America - 4K UHD Blu-ray
Akira - 4K UHD Blu-ray
Tremors - 4K UHD Blu-ray
Cinema Paradiso - 4K UHD Blu-ray
Possessor - 4K UHD Blu-ray
Vigilante - 4K UHD Blu-ray
Total Recall - 4K UHD Blu-ray
Collateral - 4K UHD Blu-ray
Beverly Hills Cop - 4K UHD Blu-ray
Chernobyl - 4K UHD Blu-ray
Léon The Professional - 4K UHD Blu-ray SteelBook
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon - 4K UHD Blu-ray SteelBook
Buy Mission: Impossible The Original TV Series
Buy the Friday the 13th: The Complete Collection Deluxe Edition
Buy Watchmen: An HBO Limited Series
Buy The Barbara Stanwyck Collection
Buy the Sergio Leone Westerns - Five Film Collection
Buy the Buck Rogers in the 25th Century Complete Collection
Buy the One Missed Call Trilogy
Buy The Good Place: The Complete Series
Buy The Outsider: The HBO Series
Buy the Warner Archive Film Noir 4-Film Collection
Buy the Warner Archive Horror Thrillers 4-Film Collection
Buy the Warner Archive Alfred Hitchcock 4-Film Collection
Buy Fail Safe - Criterion Collection
Buy The War of the Worlds (1953) - Criterion Collection
Buy Moonstruck - Criterion Collection
Buy Bruce Lee: His Greatest Hits - Criterion Collection
Buy The Great Escape - Criterion Collection
Buy The Elephant Man - Criterion Collection
Buy The Grand Budapest Hotel - Criterion Collection
Buy Leave Her to Heaven - Criterion Collection
Buy Come and See - Criterion Collection
Buy Show Boat (1936) - Criterion Collection
Buy The Invisible Man 4K UHD Blu-ray
Buy the V for Vendetta 4K UHD Blu-ray
Buy The New York Ripper 4K UHD Blu-ray
Buy The Day the Earth Caught Fire
Maniac 4K UHD Blu-ray
Pitch Black 4K UHD Blu-ray
Doctor Sleep 4K UHD Blu-ray
House by the Cemetary 4K UHD Blu-ray
The Nightingale
Graveyard Shift
Mystery of the Wax Museum
Shivers
Split Second
Horrors of Spider Island
Tales From The Darkside: The Movie
Buy Play Misty For Me - Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Buy The Wizard Collector's Edition
Buy Pretty In Pink - Paramount Presents
Buy Airplane! 40th Anniversary SteelBook
Buy Kill Them All, And Come Back Alone
Ghost - Paramount Presents
Reflections in a Golden Eye
Sixteen Candles
The Hellbenders
Fatal Attraction - Paramount Presents
The Ten Commandments
Superman: Red Son
King Creole - Paramount Presents
SteelBooks make collecting Blu-rays and 4K UHD Blu-rays a lot of fun as they usually offer much more interesting custom artwork - but you have to take care of them! You don't want other titles rubbing alongside them or dinging into them. G2-size protective cases should fit just about every SteelBook - even ones with an extra plastic slipcover. Tell that collector you care about them and their collection.
Slipcovers not only look great, keep your movie's safe, but they can also increase in value if it's a rare title. Protective cases are essential for any collector.
If you have a movie fan in your home, chances are pretty good they know all about Mondo. On top of amazing limited edition custom posters, Mondo has been churning out high-end collectibles and action figures. The Creature is a recent addition to their shop. Also available in a full-color version. Other figures include Iron Giant, Kratos from God of War, Catwoman, Mr. Freeze, and Rick and Morty to name a few.
So this isn't on Blu-ray, sadly, but it's such a great show and with Netflix's overall video quality being so hit and miss lately - this Complete Series is a great set and a great gift for anyone with a spotty internet connection.
While an Amazon gift card isn't the world's greatest gift, but if you're stuck and you don't know what that movie collector on your list has or needs - this at least lets them get something they know they need on the collection shelf - or help them pre-order a new upcoming release scheduled for after the holidays.
Holidays are normally a great time to get together with family to celebrate, have a great time, and exchange some gifts while eating massive amounts of food and tasty treats. 2020 hasn't been a normal year - not by a long shot. Hopefully, everyone out there is able to have a safe and fun Holiday season - even if you have to celebrate with family virtually or within your closely-knit little pod.
The team here at High-Def Digest wants to wish you all the best and hope you're still able to enjoy yourselves. Thanks for reading and being an awesome group of folks to interact with and enjoy the love of movies and collecting. We hope this list helps make your holiday shopping a little easier - whether you're buying for someone on your list or snagging something fun for yourself.
Happy Holidays Everyone!
- High-Def Digest Team
Looks like we survived last week in more ways than one, did you get your copy of Game of Thrones 4K? Let's now look at this week's highlights in home video releases and how to part some more of your hard earned cash. Welcome to what I dub Episode 25.
4K Ultra HD Blu-ray/Digital Releases-
Very slow week for 4K disc releases. There are no domestic titles on the list, and the import that is currently on it could change dates in a flash like Dawn of the Dead did. The import, The Ladykillers (1955) has a Monday release date. Hopefully by the time this article is live, Amazon will offer it to ship to the U.S. I enjoyed the trailer that StudioCanal put together for this, I could certainly consider buying it someday.
HD Blu-ray/Digital releases-
Pretty average volume week for Blu-rays though.
Kino Lorber's got its weekly assortment of titles. The one I want on Day One is Amazon Women on the Moon. It's a non-stop load of laughs and has a huge all star cast. This week's fill of Clint Eastwood from Kino offers The Eiger Sanction and Play Misty For Me.
Warner Bros is releasing Bill & Ted Face the Music on Blu-ray, but not on 4K disc. There is a 4K pre-announcement in the UK, but I doubt there will be in the U.S..
Hopefully after you heard that The Office: The Complete Series was coming out on Blu-ray you binge watched it a little bit for nostalgia purposes, and to remember it is a pretty good show. Universal releases the mega-set this week.
LionsGate's presence this week brings us Guest House, it stars Pauly Shore and Steve-O, might be fun. Also this week, Mortal, a film that somewhat skipped the cinema due to the pandemic that I am still trying to grasp the plot, in a way, sounds like a Shyamalan plot.
Arrow Video is offering a new edition of American Horror Project Vol. 1, no more paying $130+ for a copy. In the exact same situation, The Herschell Gordon Lewis Feast. The previous offering is nearly $400, that's some crazy money.
Criterion Collector? This week, look for Girlfriends. Criterion appears to be more selective these days in their titles so there are fewer releases each month. I still say if they hit the 4K disc market that their options would open immensely.
Shout Factory's Scream Factory label is releasing The Brides of Dracula. Read the review, buy the disc.
Our weekly dose of Anime includes a few highlights. FUNimation brings us a longly named title, but the short one as I call it is Cautious Hero, available as a standard edition and as a limited edition. Also look for My Hero Academia: Season 3 Complete Collection as well. InuYasha Set 3 comes out this week from Viz Video. One-Punch Man: Season 2 comes to you as a standard edition and as a Limited Edition.
For other than Tuesday releases, don't forget the box set for I Spit on Your Grave is coming from Ronin Flix's store web site. This one looks like it could be quite the collectable item.
Notable announcements from last week:
As mentioned, the UK import for Dawn of the Dead 4K was delayed to November 16th, but at least Amazon UK now shows it available to ship to the U.S.. Likely Covid related, but any guess is good I suppose. Event Horizon has been pushed out again, this time to March 23rd, Shout Factory must be having some major issues with this title, no doubt the final product will be great.
Warner Archive has announced 9 titles (so far) for December. Ones with some familiarity are Tex Avery Screwball Classics: Volume 2, The Curse of Frankenstein, Mister Roberts and Lovecraft Country: The Complete First Season. Order links and (likely) corrected dates will come shortly.
My mom will be excited to see The Other Side of the Mountain (Double Feature) coming to Blu-ray finally, from Kino. Also from Kino, Jetsons: The Movie.
Discotek has announced their January titles, and honestly, I don't think I really know any of them except maybe the Symphogear title, and even then it's Japanese language only. Check January 26th for the list.
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? I have a pretty short list this week. Amazon Women on the Moon was preordered way back when. Anime wants, the InuYasha release as well as the Cautious Hero title. I want to get The Office but last week's GOT purchase might make me wait a week or three. It never gets easy to save money for a rainy day with all the great releases coming out.
Without much word or fanfare - or even much of a proper press release for that matter - Disney is releasing both the animated original and the live-action remake of Mulan to 4K UHD Blu-ray with the new Mulan also getting a standard Blu-ray release with an estimated release date of 11/10/2020... or 11/22/2020 there seems to be some confusion on that point. Best Buy briefly had 11/22/2020 listed for their releases before setting the date to "Not Announced" while Target is holding to 11/10/202 for their releases, so until we see different we're going with the very sudden 11/10 date. As of this writing, Amazon doesn't appear to have either disc releases listed. If/when that changes we'll amend our listings accordingly. But for now, you can pre-order these at Best Buy.
Both 4K UHD Blu-ray releases will be getting the standard HDR10 treatment with Dolby Atmos audio mixes, while the standard 1080p Blu-ray of the 2020 Mulan will only be getting a DTS-HD MA 7.1 track.
If you didn't spend the extra $30 to get early access on Disney+ for the remake or if you didn't already own the original, you have a few different purchase options:
Mulan (1998) 4K UHD Blu-ray - Standard Edition
Mulan (1998) 4K UHD Blu-ray - Best Buy Exclusive SteelBook
Mulan (2020) - 4K UHD Blu-ray - Standard Edition
Mulan (2020) - 4K UHD Blu-ray - Best Buy Exclusive SteelBook
and if you're not on the 4K train yet...
Mulan 2020 - Blu-ray
As soon as we acquire copies of these titles we'll cook up some reviews and roll out our thoughts. Hopefully, the Atmos tracks hold up and don't follow down Disney's usual track for being overly soft sounding. We'll just have to wait and see.
What do you think folks? Are these on your shopping list or are you just going to stick with your Disney+ subscription for now?
