007 The Daniel Craig Collection (4K UHD Blu-ray Review)
I have something shameful to admit. I’ve been living with this secret for the longest time and I need to get this off my chest once and for all. Why So Blu writer Brandon Peters is going to be so disappointed in me, but here goes nothing. Up until the point when Daniel Craig took the reins of the James Bond role I had little interest in the legendary franchise. Blasphemy! I know. I always respected them and all the pop culture references and nostalgia that popped up in Austin Powers and whatnot, but I never truly got into them whole-heartedly. It’s ironic too as I once was known as a Ford Mustang guy and low and behold that car made its initial debut in a 007 film. However, then the unthinkable happened. Sony’s Blu-ray format emerged on the scene and I blind bought Casino Royale (it came with a toy Astro Martin). That’s all it took. I became an instant fan of not only this Bond series, but I’m also a proud papa of the former 22-film collection on Blu-ray too. And now I’m so honored to go back full circle and pay homage to the film where it all started for me. Casino flipping’ Royale is now available on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray and I’m like a pig rolling around in mud! Continue reading ‘007 The Daniel Craig Collection (4K UHD Blu-ray Review)’
One of the most anticipated films in any format or technology advancement will forever 1939’s The Wizard of Oz. And finally, it has come to the 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray format. Celebrating its 80th year, it certainly was time to introduce it in the best of ways possible. The poster child for the most fabled year in cinema history, the film luckily is a part of the Warner Bros library, who takes care of their catalog titles. Though, I’d imagine anyone with rights to this masterpiece would take good care, but you never know. In fact, this one was restored and transferred with an 8K 16-bit scan for this release from the original Technicolor negative. The 4K disc of the set also carries along the 1990 CBS special about making the film, which is a nifty bonus. You’ll be able to own the film in its best presentation yet, when it hits store shelves, both physically and virtually (Well, warehouses, am I right?) on October 29th (Witches=Halloween). You can pre-order from the Amazon link below which, of course helps me out.
If it wasn’t for Studio Canal restoring and releasing catalog titles on 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray overseas in the United Kingdom and elsewhere, I don’t know if Lionsgate would have much interest in doing it at all. They are getting some solid free ports over here with the likes of Rambo, the upcoming Universal Soldier and this one in the review here, Red Heat. One of the film’s on Arnold Schwarzenegger’s climb to massive superstardom, its notable paired him with director Walter Hill and tried to buddy cop him with James Belushi. The release comes with all the special features that were on the Studio Canal release overseas and the Lionsgate standard Blu-ray that was originally out here in the United States. For those interested in the film (Or us Schwarzenegger collectors), the film will be available for purchase on October 29th. But, you can pre-order now, and using the the Amazon link below will lock it up for you and have it there by release day (And also helps me out, as I earn from being an Associate as I’m now supposed to tell you every time I post that link. FUN!).
Stuber, by definition, should not have been the failure it ended up being theatrically. The film has all the elements of a classic summer blockbuster — fights, gunfire, humor and an engaging overall story that isn’t hard to follow or boring. The pace is pitch perfect for multiple viewings at the theater too! But then, it just didn’t happen. As I sit baffled trying to ponder what might have been, take a moment to read on about the film below, which graced 4K fans with a great disc earlier this month.
Back in September of 2011 we did an experiment here on the site.
Sam Liu and Justin Copeland bring Wonder Woman to the animated side of the DC Universe in her very own Bloodlines. The film is deftly animated, paced quickly and the voice acting is stellar. But is that enough to make it a DC Cartoon classic? Read on below about Wonder Woman: Bloodlines which is available on 10/22!
Woody, Buzz, Jesse and the rest of Bonnie’s toys are back and ready to reacquaint with old friend Bo Peep and find help from newbie daredevil Duke Kaboom! Toy Story made its fourth outing in cinemas a big deal, cracking the billion-dollar mark worldwide. Surprisingly, just usurping Aladdin but still falling well behind The Lion King in the fight to be Disney’s 2nd place movie behind Avengers: Endgame. The film will be arriving on 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray on October 8, with all-new bonus features and some digital exclusives. Disney had previously issued new 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray editions of the original three films earlier in the summer, so this fourth one will sit neatly next to those in your collection. Once the pre-order link goes active you can order from it below.
Following last year’s well-received and highly lauded debut of the first Stanley Kubrick film on 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray with 2001: A Space Odyssey, Warner Bros is returning to the well (Or hotel) for more. Coming this year will be probably the next likely choice in his adaptation of Stephen King’s The Shining. Largely looked upon as one of the crowning achievements of not only Kubrick’s career but the entire horror genre, it is getting a brand new 4K transfer and I’m sure is going to look stunning on the format (Keep on reading to find out). Unfortunately, no new extras have been commissioned for this release. BUT, as I’ve become accustomed to, the important thing is just getting the film itself upgraded. And in all honesty, the DVD and Blu-ray formats have already put out much of what we would want already in these films for bonus features (Though, I don’t think a couple more on The Shining would hurt, wink wink). You can return to the Overlook on 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray on October 1st.
The incredible success Steven Spielberg had in the late 70s and 80s was in a word: unprecedented. Only his pal George Lucas could claim similar blockbuster status in the same era. Beyond Spielberg’s great achievements in directing, he also had a knack for spotting budding talent to take on more ideas that would feel “Spielbergian.” After the release of the biggest domestic film of all time, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Spielberg produced many 80s hits like Poltergeist, Back to the Future and Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Smack dab in the middle of the Reagan era is Joe Dante’s 1984 horror-comedy hybrid Gremlins. Fans of the tiny creatures that ought never to be fed at night can scream, “Bright light!” as they should order this new 4K package set for release on October 1. As someone old enough to have seen this on the big screen, I can attest this is the best Gizmo’s adventure has ever looked. But first, the film itself….
One of Guillermo del Toro’s many masterpieces, Pan’s Labyrinth, is wandering on over to 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray on October 1st. For us collector’s, this is a fun problem to have. It feels like yesterday that we just traded it in for the upgraded Criterion Collection edition of the film. Now it feels we are going to bump up the presentation quality but sacrifice some extras. Though, I’m A-okay with holding onto both as the solution, though for some fellow fans, it might not be that simple. Nonetheless, this is an exciting new release from Warner Bros and we can only hope that more surprises like this one are around the corner as 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray continues to be a curious place where not everything is going to be expectedly hitting the format (Midsommar-damnit Lionsgate!). Speak with your wallet, merely based on the title not whether the edition is nit picky perfect or not, and that’s really all we are able to do. Anyway, pre-order this one through the link available below.
Yesterday was a film I went into viewing with a very vague familiarity for the storyline. I knew it was something of a “what-if” story and involved the marvelous music of The Beatles. Leaving my knowledge at that, it doesn’t sound like much. I am very glad that I hadn’t been given too much of the storyline before viewing, as Yesterday proved to be my kind of movie to a T! Comedy, music, mild romance, and really engaging performances proved to be just the right medicine for me this past weekend. Below, I go in-depth on Yesterday which is hitting shelves September 24th!
Dark Phoenix, the end of Fox’s long running X-Men franchise, can’t come and go quick enough in my opinion.
Daybreakers is a genre film that entices with a fairly interesting concept. What if somehow the world became a place where vampirism somehow became the norm and humans were the mythical beings that we never really saw. The concept is intriguing. The execution might be where the sum of its parts begin to crumble. Celebrating it’s tenth anniversary, Daybreakers made it’s 4K debut on September 10th.
Disney’s remake of its 1992 animated film Aladdin is just another in the long line (and still moving down that line) of reimaginations from its vault of fairy tale classics. This year alone has 3 of them and then a sequel to one of their previous efforts still to go. Aladdin was a smashing success, earning over 1 billion dollars at the box office this summer and over $350 million in the US alone. It continued the trend of the critics and general audiences not seeing eye to eye in terms of quality either. Film writers loathe these things, while audiences are just eating them up and loving every second of it. The new Aladdin will be arriving from Disney on the 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray format alonside its predecessor, the 1992 animated Aladdin, on September 10th.
Disney’s Aladdin took the longest time to arrive on Blu-ray (in the United States). But come the 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray format, it’s making the jump as one of the earliest jumps of all the Disney animated epics from the 1990s. That’s thanks mostly to having its live-action remake debuting this past summer and making a boatload of money at the box office that even the Genie couldn’t have granted a wish for. And it will also be debuting on 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray alongside its real people counterpart on September 10th. This new release will contain an Atmos track to go with a nice wave of new bonus features. Some old features are included, but for the rest, you’ll only be able to access and watch them if you redeem your Movies Anywhere digital copy code that comes inside the case. So, if you’re needing a hard copy of those past featurettes, you’ll have to hang onto your Diamond Edition Blu-ray. Pretty lame, I agree, but I guess I’ll take the compromise.
While Warner Bros has some more high profile cinematic shared universes in the obvious DC comics one and the Conjuring movies and their various spin-offs, one that hasn’t quite hit in the ways they’ve wanted it to (Despite delivering quality films) is the Godzilla/King Kong shared universe. Three films in now and the successes, buzz and pop culture relevancy haven’t increased or been at a level I’m sure the studio was hoping it would be growing towards. Its every likely the Godzilla vs King Kong movie will close out this short series at 4 films, but then again maybe it goes on. The 3rd film, Godzilla: King of the Monsters opened this past summer and took in only $110 million on a $170 million budget in the US. Worldwide it did $385 million, but I’m sure they were hoping (And needing) it to do probably another $100 million. And its not like this film wasn’t trying to give people what they wanted either. If you missed it, you’ll be able to check it out on Blu-ray Tuesday, August 27th.
Apocalypse Now is one of those films that you don’t even have to see to know what it’s about. Scenes are quoted and recalled all the time. It’s a feature that has yet to become a classic unmentioned. The behind-the-scenes story is just as known and fascinating as the film itself. Francis Ford Coppola nearly went insane to bring this project to life. The efforts therein are even more admirable. Apocalypse Now is a truly stunning piece of film history. The story of an Army Captain not far from his own breakdown heading up a Vietnamese river to assassinate a cult-like former Colonel is engrained in popular culture. “The horror…” of a hellish war story is on full display. This new 40th Anniversary Final Cut edition of Apocalypse Now will stand as the definitive way to experience the film at home and the presentation of this collection is a huge achievement in how to present physical media.
