And the time keeps changing and the calendar keeps flipping. October 2020 is upon us, pumpkin spice everything is invading our senses, the title releases (thankfully) keep coming. Welcome to Episode 20 of our weekly highlights on what to expect in the home video market. To those that bought a handful of Miramax titles a couple of weeks ago, by now you have a couple in your hand and Amazon notices of shipping dates as late as December 15th. If there was an Epic Fail, this one qualifies. Even though they're supposed to have new printed sleeves to reflect Paramount as the distributor, some simply have UPC stickers pasted over the old ones.
4K Ultra HD Blu-ray/Digital Releases-
There are no 4K digital releases slated for this week.
On the 4K disc front though, let's get right to it. First, Frank Miller's epic 300, available as a standard edition and a Best Buy SteelBook edition. As this movie has CGI, we can expect the largest gain to be from the HDR.
Shutter Island sees a standard edition (non-SteelBook) release this week. Also in the same think 'lower cost' category, Jaws is getting reissued as well, without the swag and fancy cover.
Next in the 4K disc category, a new(er) title, The Tax Collector. When I heard this title, I immediately thought crime family, not IRS. The 4K of this title can currently only be bought from Best Buy. And on the Best Buy front, Christopher Nolan's Interstellar gets an exclusive 4K SteelBook this week as well. Nolan is a great director, but I am a bit annoyed by his lack of allowing/adopting direcional audio (Atmos or DTS:X.) Also, looks like Saving Private Ryan is getting another SteelBook release too, not sure what is different about this one.
HD Blu-ray/Digital releases-
There are no digital HD releases slated for this week.
Universal's 2020 releases coming to Blu-ray this week is titled The 2nd, Save Yourselves!, The Secret Garden, direct to video Tales From the Hood 3, Season Four of The Last Kingdom also streets this week. I feel as though I should have caught that series, there is still time to do so.
From Warner Bros, debuting on Blu-ray via the Warner Archive, Drop Dead Gorgeous. From Warner's regular label, the 2020 reboot of Valley Girl is expected to street this week.
From CBS/Paramount, the long awaited Star Trek: Picard Season One comes out this week, available as a standard edition and as a SteelBook Edition.
Mill Creek's delayed September titles are out this week, Battlefield Earth, Big Bully/Wrongfully Accused, The King and I (animated) & Snow White: A Tale of Terror,
Michael J Fox fans should be delighted to know Kino is releasing two of his films this week, The Hard Way & The Secret of My Success. And as usual, they have a bunch of older classics to ponder as well.
The above mentioned film, The Tax Collector also gets a non-retailer-exclusive Blu-ray release.
Anime this week, FUNimation has got After School Dice Club, Fairy Tail Part 24 & One Piece: Stampede (SteelBook). Sentai Filmworks has one, in the no English dub category, Beautiful Bones Sakurako's Investigation. Shout Factory releases B: The Beginning Season One as a standard edition and as an 'Ultimate Edition.' I like the latter, but it would be a large investment for a blind buy. Shout also releases Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna this week, and a reissue of The Wonderland. From Viz, the Naruto Triple Feature, available in a standard collector's edition and as a SteelBook collector's edition.
There are three music/concert titles scheduled for a Friday release.
Notable announcements from last week:
Newcomer to the Blu-ray market, Wild East Productions seems to have their expected titles this week on delay. Updates will happen as we get them. Also delayed, the touted 2016 movie The Veil, from Kino Lorber got pushed back a month to November 3.
For new announcements though, this past week was pretty slow. We can confirm that Blade will be coming to 4K disc, as a standard edition and as a Best Buy SteelBook. Your guess is as good as mine on a trilogy in 4K or the Amazon Exclusive Gift Sets that Warner Bros seems to be doing a lot of.
Blue Underground has announced Fire & Ice on 4K disc, expect it to come probably around Dec/Jan.
Collateral 4K disc (2004) also has been announced with a Dec 8 street date.
In the works with an announcement any time soon, Warner is preparing 4K discs of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and The Hobbit Trilogy. Expected are the theatrical and extended versions. Serpico is coming soon as well in 4K, but maybe only as an import, it is currently listed on Amazon Germany's site, and Three Days of the Condor is on Amazon France's site.
Next Week, October 13 & 14 Amazon Prime Day is on!
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 am pretty sure I will buy Picard - Season One, The Secret Garden, The King & I, and Pale Door. I have a mild interest in 300 4K and Tax Collector 4K. Wishlist, B: Ultimate Edition, Big Bully/Wrongfully Accused, Naruto SteelBook, One Piece SteelBook & Snow White Tale of Terror.
Our own Bryan Kluger took a deep dive into his collection to find us the 10 Best Horror Movies in the Criterion Collection. It's always hard to narrow down a definitive list like this but you can't go wrong with any of these. Take a look:
Order Eyes Without A Face on Blu-ray
Order The Devil's Backbone on Blu-ray
Order Rosemary's Baby on Blu-ray
Order Night of the Living Dead on Blu-ray
Are you tired of your old Blu-ray of 300? Are you eager to see Zack Snyder’s burly opus in HDR with the new Dolby Atmos Audio mix? High-Def Digest and Warner Bros. have teamed up to give away ONE copy of 300 on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray! Contest starts today 9/29/2020 and ends Friday 10/4/2020 at 12:00 noon – from there I will select the winner of the contest using the scientific methods of dice rolls and coin tosses. The winner will then be notified and if all goes to well the disc will be in the mail that afternoon. If the winner has not responded within 24 hours of notification I will select the runner-up.
Here’s what you have to do to enter:
1: Share our 300 4K UHD Blu-ray review on your Facebook by copying and pasting this:
I’m entering @highdefdigest contest to win #300 on 4K UHD Blu-ray
https://ultrahd.highdefdigest.com/86883/3004kultrahdbluray.html
2: In the comments of our Facebook post about this contest - https://www.facebook.com/highdefdigest/posts/10157787540517099 - give us your best SPARTAN! This can be a picture of you flexing, grimacing, wrapped up in a red sheet with a stick – you decked out in Michigan State University gear, whatever says “300” in your mind – post it in the comments… keep it all-ages appropriate please, that’s the only requirement!
This contest is open to all U.S. residents. We can’t send to a P.O. box but homes, offices, apartments – no problem.
Have you got any free cash or available credit after last week? This week is also an above average week for home video releases too. Although it's primarily a catalog title/reissue kind of week, there still are a handful of titles that might merit a purchase. Welcome to Episode 19 of our weekly look at the highlights of the home video releases for the week. Just a tidbit about the Miramax releases --- apparently there is a delay for most of them, and I am speculating it is likely related to COVID, be it people to ship the product, or if they're pressing new discs for some of them, the facility that manufactures is behind. And another supply issue, anyone that had ordered the Gamera collection from Arrow Video, feel lucky if you've received your copy. Either they simply did a small run or demand was very high, in either case, this is out of stock just about everywhere and 3rd party listings have crazy insane prices.
4K Ultra HD Blu-ray/Digital Releases-
There are no 4K digital releases slated for this week.
The 4K disc front is owned by Best Buy and its SteelBooks. Offered this week are Evil Dead Double Feature, Halloween (1978) and Mad Max Fury Road.
HD Blu-ray/Digital releases-
There is one digital HD release slated for this week, on October 2 titled Death of Me.
Criterion Collection's HD/Blu-ray release for The Elephant Man streets this week. You've heard my rants, you know I imported the 4K, but if this release covers your needs, you can bet it's the usual excellent Criterion quality. Also look for Martin Scorsese's World Cinema Project No. 3 this week.
A different version of Agatha Christies's Death on the Nile comes this week from Acorn media. It appears to be a segment from the series Poirot.
Universal is flooding us with 10-Movie pack editions. If you don't own half of them, these releases could be a way to save a few bucks. The collections are Blumhouse of Horrors, Dreamworks Collection, Focus Features Spotlights, Illumination Collection, Universal Action Collection & Universal Sci-Fi Collection. There appear to be a few others but are DVD only, despite those movies being released on Blu-ray. Also a Jaws 3-movie collection, which includes Jaws 2, 3 & 4. Not a Universal release, but a title dubbed Jaws 5, Cruel Jaws comes to us from Severin Films.
Slow week for Warner Bros, but they are releasing Stargirl: The Complete First Season this week.
Ghost Ship from Shout Factory finally comes out this week after a delay or two, finally I can replace my DVD of this film.
In the weekly dose of anime, Bleach: Set 8 arrives from Viz Media. Discotek is releasing their September titles this week, they include Case Closed: Zero the Enforcer, Galaxy Express 999 TV Series Vol. 3, Wicked City & Space Adventure Cobra - Complete Series.
FUNimation highlights include Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba - Part One, Fire Force Season One Part Two as a standard edition and a limited edition, Kemono Michi: Rise Up - Complete Series and My Hero Academia Season Four Part One. Sentai Filmworks releases Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit this week.
Notable announcements from last week:
The Arrow Video release of Mallrats has been pushed to October 13.
On the Arrow Video topic, they just announced Tremors on 4K disc for December 15th. As with so many of their releases, it's loaded with extras, and some swag as well. I sort of expect to see a single disc with no swag listed shortly as well, but I'm going for the loaded one. A 2 disc Blu-ray edition is available as well.
Kino Lorber has announced they are releasing Spaceballs on 4K disc. I am a fan of this movie and have bought it each time it has come to a new format, I look forward to this edition as well. I laugh every time I see Michael Winslow's "jammed radar" scene.
Sentai Filmworks has revealed their December 2020 titles. Most of them do not have an English dub, but they still might interest you. Check em out, the titles are 7 Seeds - Part 1, About Ahiru no Sora - Collection One, Ajin: Demi-Human - The OADS Collection, Chidori RSC - Complete Collection, The Garden of Words (reissue), Outburst Dreamer Boys & When Supernatural Battles Became Commonplace - Complete Collection.
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 myself, there are a couple of anime titles on order. The Kemoni Michi Rise Up synopsis sounds amusing. I'm reluctant to buy Demon Slayer Part One because FUNimation listed it as "Standard Edition" which implies there will be a limited edition soon, maybe not. Sentai usually does the split releases, not FUNimation, so I will likely buy it. Like I mentioned above, replacing my DVD of Ghost Ship would be nice, but the wallet fatigue of last week might put me on hold, but not for that long. The Penny Dreadful release interests me, but not enough for a blind buy.
Hope your wallet recovered after September!
After a blisteringly expensive September on the 4K UHD Blu-ray release calendar - October gives your wallet a little room to breathe. While not as big a slate - there are still some fan favorites in store. Sadly Second Sight's exciting restoration of Dawn of the Dead was delayed into November so that's no longer part of this list, but there's still some great stuff. We have everything from the soul-sucking and intense Requiem for a Dream to the iconic time-traveling Back to the Future Trilogy. As usual a number of these releases are getting special retailer exclusives you get a choice between the standard packaging or something a little more exciting.
Zack Snyder's 300
THIS IS 4K!!! Kick your old Blu-ray's down the giant bottomless pit in the middle of the city without any guardrails! Zack Snyder's visually amazing adaptation of Frank Miller's interesting take on real-life Greek historical events gets a new 4K UHD Blu-ray release with a new Dolby Atmos audio mix and some new bonus features tossed in for good measure. Available in a standard edition or Best Buy SteelBook
Pre-order the standard 4K UHD Blu-ray
Pre-order the Best Buy Exclusive 4K UHD Blu-ray SteelBook
Already previously released on 4K UHD Blu-ray from Paramount in a SteelBook edition, Shutter Island is toning things down for a general release. From all reports, there's nothing new about this set beyond the packaging changes.
The Tax Collector
Currently, the 4K UHD Blu-ray release of David Ayer's most recent thriller is coming in the form of a Best Buy Exclusive SteelBook release. No other retailer to-date has announced a general release for this one, but if that changes we'll keep you posted.
Pre-order the Best Buy Exclusive 4K UHD Blu-ray SteelBook
Requiem for a Dream
Nothing like a bleak look at addiction and the ravages of the mind, body, and soul to get you in the mood for Halloween! Darren Aronofsky's hypnotic deep dive into despair gets a new 4K restoration from Lionsgate. Already visually arresting on Blu-ray, this release should be gorgeous and a standout for the format. Apparently this disc will include both the R-rated Theatrical and Unrated Director's Cut.
District 9
Neil Blomkamp's intense 2009 sci-fi classic kickstarted the director's career and was a showstopper on Blu-ray. With an upsampled 4k transfer with HDR10 and a new Dolby Atmos audio mix, there's every chance this one could be a stunner on the format. Maybe one day we'll get that sequel they keep bringing up every couple of years. Also available as a Best Buy Exclusive SteelBook - which looks pretty damn good!
Pre-order the standard 4K UHD Blu-ray
Pre-order the Best Buy Exclusive 4K UHD Blu-ray SteelBook
Back to the Future Trilogy
Doubtful anyone out there is actually excited for this one… The iconic time-traveling adventure movie trilogy is getting its long-awaited 4K restoration complete with Dolby Vision, HDR10+, as well as new Atmos audio mixes! Not content to make like a screen door on a battleship, there are three options for fans - the standard release, a slick Amazon Exclusive Gift Set with floating model hoverboard, or you can choose a snazzy Best Buy Exclusive trilogy box set!
Pre-order the standard 4K UHD Blu-ray
Pre-order the Amazon Exclusive 4K UHD Gift Set
Pre-order the Best Buy Exclusive 4K UHD Blu-ray SteelBook
Daughters of Darkness
Blue Underground hit the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray market swinging for the bleachers and every release they've punched out so far have been absolute home runs. There's no reason this sultry Harry Kümel grindhouse classic should be any different with a new Native 4K transfer with Dolby Vision HDR along with a bunch of bonus features and the film's soundtrack on CD!
Rambo: The Complete SteelBook Collection
Sadly not available when the final fifth film arrived on 4K UHD, Best Buy is now releasing a complete 5-film SteelBook set with each film getting new artwork. Disc content hasn't changed so if you've been waiting to buy the series on 4K, this is the time to do it. If you already own the series, this may not be worth the added cost.
Pre-order the Best Buy Exclusive 4K UHD Blu-ray SteelBook
As we saw with Second Sight's release of Dawn of the Dead 4K UHD Blu-ray set - release dates are subject to change. As soon as we hear of any release date changes or any last-minute release additions, we'll let you know. Check back for full reviews of these upcoming 4K UHD Blu-ray titles.
December 1st 2020 – after the year to end all years with one WTF moment after another – the nation can come together and heal thanks to Paramount Pictures Home Entertainment and their decision to unleash a barrage of new Eddie Murphy releases to 4K UHD and Blu-ray! Just when we all could really use a laugh – Murphy and Paramount are going to deliver the goods with some classics and one that’s been on a lot of wish lists for years.
Not only are we getting 4K UHD Blu-ray releases of Coming to America and Beverly Hills Cop – we’re also getting new prestige Paramount Presents releases of the holiday classic Trading Places and the bizarrely amazing action/adventure/comedy The Golden Child! An eclectic collection
These aren’t yet up for pre-order, Amazon has some placeholders for Coming to America 4K and Beverly Hills Cop 4K, but we expect these to be available soon. Also, no word if the Coming to America 4K SteelBook will be a retailer exclusive or not, or what HDR grade or if a new Atmos/DTS:X mix will be available. We’ve reached out for clarification AND to possibly participate in a giveaway for these releases so as soon as we’ve got that info, we’ll let you know!
Beverly Hills Cop 4K UHD Blu-ray
Coming to America 4K UHD Blu-ray
Coming to America 4K UHD Blu-ray SteelBook
Trading Places (Paramount Presents)
Not sure how your month has been going thus far with regards to wallet fatique, but if ever there was a week for me to go overboard with purchases, this week certainly qualifies as being a very expensive week. For quantity of releases, we have not seen a week like this in years. Fortunately many of them are in the sub-$10 range, so you get a lot of bang for the buck. Welcome to Episode 18 of our weekly look at the highlights of the home video market.
4K Ultra HD Blu-ray/Digital Releases-
There are no 4K digital releases slated for this week.
This week offers a couple of 4K disc releases, available in different SKUs. Let's get to it. Stanley Kubrick fans are up first --- Full Metal Jacket debuts on 4K disc this week, as a standard ediion, a Best Buy SteelBook edition, and lastly as part of a three pack, Stanley Kubrick 3 Film Collection, which also includes 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Shining. It probably was hard to predict there would be a 3-movie collection, so most of us are likely going to get Full Metal Jacket this week as we already own the other two. And the other 4K disc title this week, Whiplash, available as a standard edition and as a Best Buy SteelBook edition.
HD Blu-ray/Digital releases-
There are no Digital HD releases for this week.
As far as physical disc releases, Paramount dominates the listings with 40+ releases. It should be obvious they have acquired the distribution rights to Miramax titles, and oh boy, the flood gates have opened. On a positive note though, if you held off on some of them, the street price for a lot of them is around $10, considerably less than the $20-25 price they were selling for under previous distributorships. You also get to skip paying $80 in the secondary market for a catalog release, so this week could be considered a win:win. Just look for the (reissue) in the title names and you've found the Miramax releases (of course there's ALWAYS an exception, this week it's the Ghostbusters reissue.) Under the Paramont label that is new this week though, Most Wanted, another one of those movies that skipped the theaters due to the COVID pandemic, priced to sell.
Criterion Collectors look for Christ Stopped at Eboli this week.
From Warner Bros, DC's Legends of Tomorrow: The Complete Fifth Season. I've not been following this series, but to see a fifth season tells me I should. Also from Warner, Rick and Morty: Season 4, available in a standard edition and a SteelBook release.
What's a week without anime in some shape or form? FUNimation brings us Dr. Stone: Season One, Part One. Also Part Two of Season One for the series Fairy gone. I seriously thought there would be a deluxe edition in here somewhere, it's FUNimation's style. Discotek's Jungle De Ikou comes out this week. Sentai brings us Wasteful Days of High School Girls: Complete Collection. And closing out the Anime highlights for the week, Shout Factory GKIDS brings us The Wind Rises. I seriously thought GKIDS had released all of the Studio Ghibli titles that Disney previously did already, did not look hard enough to realize this one was missed.
LionsGate is releasing Red Shoes and Seven Dwarfs on Blu-ray, a different take on the Snow White story. I got to mention this because those "Dove Approved" releases are hit and miss with Blu-ray releases. For a live action release, The Secret: Dare To Dream, probably another release that skipped the theaters due to current events. The plot sounds like one of those feel good movies.
The reissued release of The Vincent Price Collection comes to you from Scream/Shout Factory, this one has had a delay or two as well. This one is a perfect example of how petty the home video market can be sometimes, this reissue had to revise its extras due to licensing rights. Like it's going to be a huge deal if a behind the scenes featurette or deleted scene is so sacred that a reissue cannot contain it. This release is still quite extensive so don't let the new package scare you away.
For Friday releases, this week is above average for that as well. There are five releases in the arts category, and three different versions of The Rolling Stones: Steel Wheels Live.
Notable announcements from last week:
Delayed for the second time, Inner Sanctum Mysteries. Making a guess here, probably due to reduced manufacturing capacity related delays.
Warner Archive has announced that Space Ghost and Dino Boy: The Complete Series will hit retailers on October 13th. I don't ever recall "and Dino Boy" being in the title of the series, no matter, it's the same series many of us watched in our childhoods.
FUNimation has announced their December releases. I see a few maybes in there, but nothing really jumps out at me. Azur Lane and the next volume of Dr. STONE are on my list. Also, Akira is getting a 4K disc release on 12/22. Also the next two SteelBook releases of Dragon Ball Z are coming as well in December.
Another Studio Ghibli title I had thought was released by GKIDS/Shout Factory already, but not, From Up on Poppy Hill. OK, seriously, are all the Disney releases now out or announced from GKIDS?
When we had our forums running, there was a thread on HD DVD titles not yet released on Blu-ray, I think Popeye was on it, well, now it's got a street date of Dec 1.
Criterion has announced their December titles as well, and guess what, they're releasing another BD/HD title that was announced to get a 4K release overseas, I'm referring to Cronenberg's Crash (1996) which actually never made it to Blu-ray. Again, Criterion, please, why are you not offering 4K releases? Practically every studio on the planet except you are now offering these. The other titles announced for December are Amores Perros, Mouchette and Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Two Takes by William Greaves.
Lastly on the announcements front, Vinegar Syndrome has announced its October slate, which are all due 10/27, which I must note, includes a 4K disc release, Dial Code Santa Claus.
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 possibly have half of the Miramax titles on order, I never did get em back then. I will likely be picking up Full Metal Jacket 4K, just not sure of which release(leaning towards standard release.) Anime titles, the Dr. Stone, Fairy gone, Jungle De Ikou, KITE Liberator, Wasteful Days & The Wind Rises releases interest me, the latter is on order. Rick & Morty also could be an impulse buy, alas, which version? I like the SteelBook look better. Red Shoes & 7 Dwarfs could also be an impulse buy as well.
Optoma has just announced and unveiled the first look for the brand new Cinema X P2 Short Throw Projector which should be available soon. Retail is $4999.99, but will most likely sell at online retailers for $3299.99. There are quite a few upgrades from the recent Cinema X P1 that are detailed below.
Via the press release:
Optoma, the number-one selling home theater projector brand in retail and the leading brand worldwide in 4K UHD projection technology, launched today its next-generation true 4K UHD cinema experience with the CinemaX P2. Featuring 3,000 lumens of brightness, premium laser technology, and an ultra-short-throw lens, the CinemaX P2 delivers breathtaking images and stunning picture quality from only inches away from the screen.
Leveraging customer feedback on its award-winning CinemaX P1, Optoma engineered the CinemaX P2 to deliver 25% more contrast and vibrant color performance than its top-selling predecessor, an integrated Enhanced Gaming Mode, and a state-of-the-art digital exhibit feature – all encompassed in a sleek, white, space-saving design.
Optoma’s CinemaX P2 brings the cinematic experience home with a wide color gamut and six-segment RGBRGB color wheel for accurate color reproduction to deliver rich, detailed, and true-to-life pictures for movies, TV and games the way directors envisioned. With a built-in premium 40W Dolby Digital 2.0 soundbar, as well as an impressive ultra-short-throw glass lens that casts up to 120-inch images from only inches away, this smart true 4K UHD laser projector is an ideal option for any home entertainment activity: home theater, sports, photo sharing, gaming, distance learning and even work-from-home (WFH).
The CinemaX P2 features smart tech integration features throughout. Kids and parents alike can turn the CinemaX P2 into a productivity tool for distance learning and WFH with the Tap Cast app and screen mirroring. The built-in SmartFit app ensures hassle-free image alignment through users’ smartphones, and the powerhouse projector also delivers seamless integration into smart homes with Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and IFTTT support via Smart+ technology.
Users can also bring incredible creative expression to their homes by turning the CinemaX P2 into an art-exhibiting masterpiece, that’s brought to life with curated artworks from renowned digital artists, by FRAMED – a digital art showcasing platform.
Optoma CinemaX P2 Smart 4K UHD Laser Features:
You got a war face, right? ARRRRRGH! That’s a war face! Warner Brothers and High-Def Digest are teaming up to give away ONE copy of Stanley Kubrick’s classic Full Metal Jacket on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray. The contest has some simple rules – with one key component so pay attention!
The contest runs from Tuesday, September 15th until Friday, September 18th at 12:00 Noon EST.
THE RULES
1. Share the Facebook post about this contest – include the hashtag #FullMetal4KUHD
https://www.facebook.com/highdefdigest/photos/a.158571777098/10157755854802099/
2. In the comment section of the Facebook post include a picture of your war face! “Arrrgh! That’s your war face!” Take a picture of your war face, your cat’s – whatever works as long as it’s appropriate (that should go without saying but no nudity or suggestive images). If you have difficulty uploading include a link or pop in a gif!
At 12:00 Noon on Friday, September 18th the contest will close and we'll parse through the valid entries and select a winner at random through the scientific process of rolling dice and flipping coins. The contest is open to contestants in the United States – sorry can’t ship outside the U.S. – no P.O. Boxes, apartments, businesses, houses are all good.
Have fun!
September disc releases are sort of like a hill, this week we are on the climb, next week we are at the summit, or as I could call it, a wallet-buster of a week. The week after is almost identical to this week but we are going back down.
Welcome to Episode 17, a look at some of the highlights for the week in the home video releases market.
4K Ultra HD Blu-ray/Digital Releases-
There are no digital 4K releases slated for this week.
For 4K discs though, that's a different story. Where to begin?
I guess I will get the reissue out of the way first. Although a reissue, it's a Best Buy Exclusive SteelBook and available at a lower price point, so if you've been on the fence solely for price, this might be your sweet spot. First up, Goodfellas, known to me as one of the more modern mob movies that set a bar for others to meet or beat. Delayed two weeks to 9/29, Mad Max: Fury Road, which I am not a fan of this cover art at all. There have been a fair amount of recent SteelBooks with an overly orange cover art, I guess it is to match the red standard editions or something.
The remainder of the 4K releases this week debut on 4K disc for the first time. Alphabetically, they are 21 Jump Street, 22 Jump Street, Hocus Pocus (Standard Edition or Best Buy SteelBook) and Home Alone (Standard Edition or Best Buy SteelBook). The latter two were announced before the Covid pandemic and pre-date the rumored news of Disney no longer producing 4K discs of catalog releases so this point going forward I am watching Disney's actions to see if their rebuttal to the news holds water. Also keep in mind that Disney and Amazon's dispute is in its third year so we have provided Best Buy links if you are wanting to pre-order the standard editions. If you don't mind a sort of 'meh' cover art, Best Buy is also offering a SteelBook for 21 Jump Street / 22 Jump Street.
HD Blu-ray/Digital releases-
There are no standalone digital releases this week. A handful of day and date releases with the disc versions are available though.
For disc releases there are a few noteworthy titles.
Criterion Collection brings us one title, Beau Travail. A semi-recent French film based on Herman Melville's Billy Budd.
Warner Archive has bundled 4 previous film noir releases into one package for this week, titled 4-Film Collection: Film Noir which includes Gun Crazy / Murder, My Sweet / Out of the Past / The Set-up. John Wayne's Flying Leathernecks gets its Blu-ray debut as well.
Kino Lorber is offering a handful of titles this week, Bob Hope fans will be happy to see The Cat and the Canary and The Ghost Breakers.
LionsGate's Vestron Video offerings present us with two releases this week, Little Monsters and Shivers. These two are priced to sell, hopefully this low-price model fares better than the $30 MSRP seen on previous Vestron releases and enough people buy these, so we can continue to go deeper into the Vestron library.
Would a week go by without anime releases? This week is not a big week, but Sentai Filmworks brings Bodacious Space Pirates: Complete Collection to Blu-ray Disc. Also from Sentai this week, Z/X Code Reunion: Complete Collection, if only it had an English dub. FUNimation's general release of Cowboy Bebop: The Complete Series SteelBook streets this week. Shout Factory's GKIDS line has two versions of Weathering With You this week, a standard edition and a SteelBook edition. A 4K four-disc Collector's Set loaded with extras and swag is coming November 17th, so choose wisely.
Shout Factory's 'Shout Select' line brings us The TV Set this week. Most everything that Duchovny has been in has done fairly well, for Shout to invest in making this a Select title probably reinforces that statement.
Season Five of Outlander will be available this week as a standard edition and as a collector's edition. Sony has been pretty consistent with the dual offerings on this series, that's a nice touch.
Under the Paramount Presents label, Roman Holiday debuts this week in a 'Highly Recommended" release, follow the link, read our review, buy a copy for yourself. The only thing that would make this release better is if it was offered on a 4K disc, but don't let that detract you from a well produced HD release. Paramount also has a couple of budget priced titles this week, currently $9.99, they are Barefoot in the Park, The Phantom, Private Parts, The Sons of Katie Elder, Timeline, The Two Jakes, Uncommon Valor and Vampire in Brooklyn. These wallet friendly releases have a commonality in that they've got star power but maybe not that star's best movies, I would say they're certainly worth the $10 price tag.
There are a hanful of Friday releases, all special interest. Do take a look in case this means you.
Notable announcements from last week:
Mill Creek's September 15th titles got pushed to October 6th.
Scream Factory (Shout! Factory) has given a pre-lim announcement that they will be bringing us John Carpenter's They Live to 4K disc this fall. This a great news for those that held out importing it. Maybe they can secure the rights to the rest of the Carpenter 4K releases, or the originating studio will make an announcement soon. Back in 2018 StudioCanal had released Escape From New York, Prince of Darkness, The Fog and They Live, which were released as collectable digipaks and SteelBook editions. At the time you could buy them for around $45, now they're reselling for over $200.
Also, LionsGate, has officially announced (with a pre-order page) Total Recall (1990) in 4K. This is the same new transfer that StudioCanal is releasing in the UK. This promises to be quite the set, and the price is nice as well. Check out or recent news story on the topic.
Sentai Filmworks has announced their November titles, they are Assassins Pride: Complete Collection, The Garden of Words (SteelBook), Granbelm: Complete Collection, Hayate the Combat Butler: Ultimate Collection, Locke the Superman and Val X Love: Complete Collection.
RLJ Entertainment has added a 4K release for The Tax Collector, this one will be a SteelBook.
Universal has announced a 4K disc release for The Croods, slated for November 17th.
A Standard Edition and a Best Buy SteelBook have been announced for V For Vendetta. Also from Warner Bros/HBO, the series Chernobyl will be getting a 4K disc release on December 1st.
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've got Hocus Pocus 4K (both releases) on order, Home Alone SteelBook on order, and the SteelBook of GoodFellas on order as well. I also am picking up both Vestron releases as well. Wishlist items include Bodacious Space Pirates, Roman Holiday, The TV Set and a majority of the Paramount value priced releases. If next week were not such a huge wallet buster week I probably would have already had the Paramount releases on order. The Z/X Code Reunion would also be on order if there were an English dub, maybe next time. As far as Weathering With You, I have the 4K set on order for November so I will pass on this week's versions.
