Archive for the 'Blu-ray Reviews' Category
May 1st, 2025 by Gerard Iribe
Trapped Ashes is a twisted homage to classic horror anthologies like Tales from the Crypt and Creepshow, featuring four surreal and macabre tales directed by genre legends Joe Dante, Ken Russell, Monte Hellman, Sean Cunningham, and Oscar-winner John “Gaeta-Tron” Gaeta. When seven strangers — including John Saxon and Henry Gibson — become trapped in a haunted Hollywood studio house, they’re forced to reveal their darkest memories to survive. The stories include a cadaver-implant nightmare (The Girl With The Golden Breasts), a ghostly encounter in Japan (Jibaku), a seductive muse entangling young Kubrick (Stanley’s Girlfriend), and a grotesque womb-bound twin (My Twin the Worm). With striking visuals by FX legend Robert Skotak (Aliens, T2) and an eerie score by Kenji Kawai (Ghost in the Shell), the film is a visually rich, darkly surreal tribute to horror cinema. Trapped Ashes is now fully restored in 4K UHD Blu-ray! Continue reading ‘Trapped Ashes (4K UHD Blu-ray Review)’
April 30th, 2025 by Gerard Iribe
Show Aikawa is back as the superhero like no other in maverick director Takashi Miike (Audition, One Missed Call) and screenwriter Kankuro Kudo’s (Go, Ping Pong) subversive and darkly satirical sequel to their 2004 homage to the golden era of Japan’s tokusatsu TV shows. It’s 2025, and our hero Shinichi finds himself waking up minus memory, zebra stripes and zebra powers in an authoritarian dystopian future. Tokyo has been taken over by a sinister ultra right-wing governor named Kozo, who has reconstructed and rechristened the capital as Zebra City and mandated a twice-daily five-minute purge called Zebra Time in which all crime is legal and his Zebra Police readily pitch themselves into the resulting free-for-all. It’s a society dominated by screens, and the screens dominated by a sultry pop diva named Zebra Queen, who just happens to be Kozo’s daughter. Can Shinichi regain his Zebraman powers to thwart the Kozo and the Zebra Queen’s plans to export their dark vision across the world? Zebraman 2 is released on Blu-ray in the UK May 19, 2025! Continue reading ‘Zebraman 2: Attack on Zebra City (Blu-ray Review)’
April 29th, 2025 by Gerard Iribe
Plane is scheduled for re-departure with a brand-new look, arriving April 29 on 4K UHD SteelBook + Blu-ray + Digital from Lionsgate. Gerard Butler and Mike Colter return for this nail-biting action-thriller, now packaged in an all-new SteelBook exclusively at Amazon. Plane will be available on 4K Ultra HD SteelBook April 29th for the suggested retail price of $34.99. Order Plane on 4K UHD Blu-ray Steelbook now! Continue reading ‘Plane (4K UHD SteelBook Blu-ray Review)’
April 28th, 2025 by Adam Toroni-Byrne
25 years ago, I was 13 years old and getting into my cinema exploration. I’d loved movies forever of course. Now, though, was my time to really get into my own types of films. I found myself really drawn to thrillers and mysteries. Things that challenged me always got to the front of my movie queue. When I saw the trailer for What Lies Beneath way back when, I was sold based on the star power of Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer, and the creepy way the trailer toyed with my senses. Now, after what feels like a lifetime, What Lies Beneath lands on 4K UHD Blu-ray, and I’ve had quite an education on thrillers. So, how does the film stand up today? And how does Robert Zemeckis’ creep-fest look and sound in a new format?
Continue reading ‘What Lies Beneath (4K UHD Blu-ray Review)’
April 27th, 2025 by Adam Toroni-Byrne
This spring is the spring of the Clint Eastwood 4K disc! Debuting April 29th is not one but three classic Eastwood films. I’m excited to share with you my reviews of them all, but not as excited as I am first and foremost to write about Dirty Harry. A film loosely based on the infamous Zodiac killer that terrorized the Bay Area in the 60’s, Eastwood’s Harry Callahan was someone who either made you cheer or repulsed you. For me, he was a bad man in the best of ways. Now, 54 years removed from this first outing, a 4K disc is finally arriving. Here, I’ll dive into my thoughts on the legendary character and film and of course go over how the new transfer and Atmos mix are too!
Continue reading ‘Dirty Harry (4K UHD Blu-ray Review)’
April 27th, 2025 by Adam Toroni-Byrne
Does anyone else ever feel like the time has been more fleeting than ever lately? It feels like just yesterday I was running into Walmart to purchase a copy of Lilo & Stitch on DVD for my mother. Then I get out of my own delusional head and realize that was way back in 2002. Now, here in real life, it’s 2025 and Lilo & Stitchis making its way back into cinemas for a live-action revival. Disney has been riding the wave, so to speak, and decided to re-release the original animated feature on 4K UHD Blu-ray, just in time for the new film’s theatrical release! So how does that gorgeous hand-drawn animation hold up in 4K you ask? Find out more and always remember: “Ohana means family, and family means no one gets left behind…”
Continue reading ‘Lilo & Stitch (Ultimate Collector’s Edition) (4K UHD Blu-ray Review)’
April 23rd, 2025 by Gerard Iribe
An affectionate homage to the heyday of Japan’s tokusatsu superhero TV shows, directed by Takashi Miike (Audition, 13 Assassins) and written by Kankuro Kudo (Go, Ping Pong), Zebraman stars the legendary Show Aikawa as Shinichi, a teacher facing a midlife crisis, as his family collapses around him. To escape from the bitter reality of his daily he existence, Shinichi takes to secretly dressing up as Zebraman, the eponymous hero of an obscure 1970s TV series from when he was a kid that was cancelled after just seven episodes. Meanwhile, as his life collapses around him, aliens are at large and readying themselves to take over planet Earth. Can Shinichi overcome his lack of confidence to channel his childhood fantasies into saving the world? Zebraman is released in the UK on Blu-ray May 19, 2025! Continue reading ‘Zebraman (Blu-ray Review)’
April 19th, 2025 by Gerard Iribe
A dangerous criminal escapes captivity – but luckily crime-busting super-swordswoman Leng Rushuang (Shih Szu, Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires) is on his trail. However, she has doubts about his guilt, and she’s not going to stop fighting until she’s sure the right man is being punished. Co-starring Lo Lieh (Dragons Forever) and the unmistakable Dean Shek (Drunken Master), Lady of the Law is a choice cut from the golden age of Hong Kong swordplay. 88 Films are proud to present this slice-and-dice classic on Blu-ray for the first time in the UK May 19, 2025! Continue reading ‘Lady of the Law (Blu-ray Review)’
April 17th, 2025 by Gerard Iribe
WHAT’S GOING ON IN COMET VALLEY? Something’s brewing in this quiet rural community: things are falling from the skies, people are acting strangely and there’s something very nasty waiting in the orchard… It’s up to visiting geologist Tom Baines (Sam Hennings – Drop Zone) to figure out the mystery: if he can’t, then the whole world is in trouble. From executive producer Charles Band (Trancers), Seedpeople is a smart update on Invasion of the Body Snatchers (and other old-skool sci-fi movies), complete with fearsome aliens and rubbery special effects. 88 Films are proud to present this enthralling extraterrestrial extravaganza on Blu-ray in the UK for the very first time!
Continue reading ‘Seedpeople (Blu-ray Review)’
April 16th, 2025 by Gerard Iribe
Wai Lok-yan (Lau) was just eight years old when his parents were killed before his eyes in Cambodia, where his father had been working for the CIA during Pol Pot’s ascent to power in the latter days of the Cambodian Civil War. Taken to Thailand by his father’s colleague Seung (Chiang), Yan grows up to join the Thai Air Force and comes to discover that his father’s murderer – Ray Liu (Paul Chun, Royal Tramp), once a double agent – has now become a wealthy arms dealer based in the United States. With the help of the CIA, Yan intends to get close to Liu and have his revenge by taking on an assumed identity and gaining the trust of Liu’s daughter, Crystal (Jacklyn Wu, A Moment of Romance) – but first he will need to go undercover in San Francisco’s criminal underworld to rescue her from the clutches of the Vietnamese Black Tiger Gang. The Adventurers is a hidden gem amongst the many heroic bloodshed films produced in Hong Kong during the 1990s. Eureka Classics is proud to present the film on Blu-ray for the first time in North America from a brand new 2K restoration. The Adventurers is released on Blu-ray April 29th,2025! Continue reading ‘The Adventurers (Blu-ray Review)’
April 16th, 2025 by Gerard Iribe
In this sequel to Batman Ninja, the Batman family has returned to the present to discover that Japan has disappeared, and a giant island – Hinomoto – is now in the sky over Gotham City. At the top sit the Yakuza, a group of superpowered individuals who reign without honor or humanity and look suspiciously like the Justice League. Now, it’s up to Batman and his allies to save Gotham! Batman Ninja vs. Yakuza League is now available on 4K UHD Blu-ray! Continue reading ‘Batman Ninja vs. Yakuza League (4K UHD Blu-ray Review)’
April 12th, 2025 by Adam Toroni-Byrne
The beauty of Westerns is that you always know what you’re going to get. There’s just something about them. Gunslingers, horses, dusty towns that are usually about one street deep. It’s a simple setup but one that usually sets up for some seriously good cinema. When Tombstone was initially released in 1993, Disney had no idea how to market the film. For some reason, even though Unforgiven had just wowed audiences and won Oscars, Tombstone was very quietly released. Critics couldn’t get advanced screenings, and it was a mess. Thankfully, word of mouth prevailed, and those critics went and saw the film itself. Now, the masterpiece we know is an icon in the genre. We’ve been waiting a long time for Tombstone to arrive on the 4K format. Now we’ve got a handsome Steelbook! Was it worth the wait? Read more on that, plus more about the film and a little something about Mr. Val Kilmer too… Forever our Huckleberry.
Continue reading ‘Tombstone (4K UHD Blu-ray Steelbook Review)’
April 2nd, 2025 by Adam Toroni-Byrne
2025 already feels like a revival of the exploitation film. We’ve seen one with a superhero and one about a crazy pilot. Now we have one about a former assassin trying to do good. Love Hurts debuted just in time for Valentine’s Day this year and was poised to continue Ke Huy Quan’s comeback after his historic Oscar win. When the film failed to recoup its budget and went quickly to PVOD, it was fast tracked to physical media. So now, making its way to 4K and Blu-ray, how painful is Love Hurts?
Continue reading ‘Love Hurts (4K UHD Blu-ray Review)’
April 1st, 2025 by Adam Toroni-Byrne
In this crazy time for America, artificial intelligence is a huge topic of debate. The use of AI has made things just a bit too creepy for some. When used for good of course AI is wonderful. We know though that that’s not always going to be the case. Now imagine a world where AI is used in those ways we would rather it not be used. Some of those nightmares are realized within the film Companion. Disguised as a romantic comedy at first, Companion turns into a nightmarish thriller that just so happens to be full of laughs too. Read on more about the Sophie Thatcher and Jack Quaid meet-cute shocker and don’t be fooled by its outward appearance because things are not as they seem.
Continue reading ‘Companion (4K UHD Blu-ray Review)’
March 31st, 2025 by Adam Toroni-Byrne
Bob Dylan has been a source of incredible music since the early 60’s. His folk-inspired sound was original even when his debut was nothing but covers. He skated tremendous controversy upon his attempt to explore electric instrumentation with his now indispensable “Highway 61 Revisited” album. The music outraged the folk music fandom but led to the influencing of a generation and for many artist and music fans to come became a milestone in music history. Dylan’s career from the beginnings to the moment he “goes electric” are covered in James Mangold’s A Complete Unknown. Taking a quick line from the classic “Like A Rolling Stone” the film offers a sumptuous glimpse into the life of the reclusive music legend. So how, you ask, is the film and its 4K presentation? Find out within the review, and know the answer is not just blowin’ in the wind.
Continue reading ‘A Complete Unknown (4K UHD Blu-ray Review)’
March 30th, 2025 by Adam Toroni-Byrne
2019’s The Lion King was a technical marvel for the time. It’s lip-sync was a little creepy with talking animals looking a bit off, but the CGI otherwise was undeniable. The billion dollars the film made was no slouch either. When Barry Jenkins signed on for the inevitable follow-up, this time a prequel, I know I wasn’t the only one that was curious to see what would happen. Cue Mufasa: The Lion King. Much to my surprise, the visual flare of Jenkins works well with a mega budget and a bevy of stars. Read more about the “live-action” prequel inside the review and find out more about the once and future Lion King.
Continue reading ‘Mufasa: The Lion King (4K UHD Steelbook Review)’
March 29th, 2025 by Gerard Iribe
A Japanese box-office sensation directed by the revered Kinji Fukasaku (Battle Royale), Legend of the Eight Samurai brings together an impressive ensemble cast, including Hiroko Yakushimaru (Sailor Suit and Machine Gun), Hiroyuki Sanada (Ring), Sonny Chiba (Message from Space) and Etsuko Shihomi (The Street Fighter), in a sweeping epic that blends fantasy with historical drama. Following Message from Space, which transported the story to a science fiction setting, Legend of the Eight Samurai is Fukasaku’s second loose adaptation of Toshio Kamata’s Shin Satomi Hakkenden, itself an adaptation of Kyokutei Bakin’s earlier epic novel Nanso Satomi Hakkenden. The Masters of Cinema series is proud to present Legend of the Eight Samurai on Blu-ray for the first time in the UK from a new 4K restoration! Legend of the Eight Samurai is now available on Blu-ray! Continue reading ‘Legend of the Eight Samurai (Blu-ray Review)’
March 28th, 2025 by Adam Toroni-Byrne
Did any of us have it on our 2025 bingo cards that Mark Wahlberg or Mel Gibson would be returning to theaters with a B-grade exploitation actioner? I definitely did not. Flight Risk, however, is just that. A quick and dirty 90 minutes, is Flight Risk worth all the hatred it received from critics and audiences? Will it work better at home? Find out in the review. Don’t forget to buckle up, there may be some turbulence ahead.
Continue reading ‘Flight Risk (4K UHD Blu-ray Review)’
