Archive Page 4
May 7th, 2025 by Gerard Iribe
In this The Outcasts Blu-ray review, we look at Robert Wynne-Simmons’ long-lost 1982 folk horror gem about suspicion, magic, and madness in rural Ireland. Recently restored by the Irish Film Institute and brought to the U.S. for the first time by Deaf Crocodile, the film captures the essence of folk storytelling with an eerie poetic spirit. This release sheds new light on a forgotten chapter of Irish cinema and features a trove of extras that highlight Wynne-Simmons’ roots in atmospheric storytelling. With its first official U.S. release, The Outcasts Blu-ray finally brings this haunting Irish folk tale to a wider audience. Continue reading ‘The Outcasts (Blu-ray Review)’
May 6th, 2025 by Adam Toroni-Byrne
When Clint Eastwood ventured into directing, he did so with a splash with Play Misty For Me in 1971. Following that thriller, Eastwood took turns in the director’s chair making small films like Breezy before his first western High Plains Drifter. When The Outlaw Josey Wales debuted in 1976, the film became a catapult into the stratosphere, reinvigorating the western genre and naming Clint Eastwood as a directing and acting force. Making his mark in both arenas as a filmmaker and acting auteur, Eastwood struck a chord with audiences enhancing his famous “Man with No Name” character by not only naming him, but adding some major depth to his character, even in deep shadows.
Continue reading ‘The Outlaw Josey Wales (4K UHD Blu-ray Review)’
May 6th, 2025 by Adam Toroni-Byrne
Lethal Weapon, the 1987 action thriller film from director Richard Donner and starring Mel Gibson and Danny Glover, will be available for purchase Digitally in 4K Ultra HD and on 4K UHD Blu-ray Disc on June 24. The box office hit was nominated for the Academy Award® for Best Sound and spawned a franchise that includes three sequels and a television series.
The Digital and 4K UHD disc release includes both the 1987 theatrical version of the film and the 2000 Director’s Cut which features an additional 7 minutes of footage not seen in theaters.
Continue reading ‘Not Too Old For This $#!^! LETHAL WEAPON Finally On 4K UHD June 24th!’
May 6th, 2025 by Adam Toroni-Byrne
April, 1945. As the Allies make their final push in the European Theatre, a battle-hardened army sergeant named Wardaddy (Brad Pitt) commands a Sherman tank and her five-man crew on a deadly mission behind enemy lines. Outnumbered and outgunned, and with a rookie soldier thrust into their platoon, Wardaddy and his men face overwhelming odds in their heroic attempts to strike at the heart of Nazi Germany.
Continue reading ‘FURY Returns to 4K UHD Blu-ray In A Limited Edition Steelbook July 15th!’
May 5th, 2025 by Gerard Iribe
In this Gandhi Steelbook 4K UHD Blu-ray review, we explore Richard Attenborough’s 1982 historical epic in its most visually stunning form to date. This Sony Pictures release offers a gorgeous 4K remaster, a comprehensive suite of special features, and a chance to revisit — or discover for the first time — Ben Kingsley’s career-defining portrayal of the iconic civil rights leader. With Dolby Vision HDR and multiple audio formats including Atmos, this edition brings new life to the film’s sweeping scope and quiet power alike. The limited edition Steelbook packaging is the icing on the cake, making it as much a collector’s item as it is a cinematic milestone.
Continue reading ‘Gandhi (Steelbook 4K UHD Blu-ray Review)’
May 5th, 2025 by Gerard Iribe
In this The Mysterious Castle in the Carpathians Blu-ray review, we dive into a wildly imaginative Czech cult film filled with baroque visuals, Monty Python-style absurdity, and old-school genre magic. Directed by Oldrich Lipský and adapted from a story by Jules Verne, this 1981 film finally gets the high-def restoration it deserves thanks to Deaf Crocodile. If you’re into gothic castles, bizarre gadgets, and theatrical Eastern European humor, you’re in for a treat.
Continue reading ‘The Mysterious Castle in the Carpathians (Blu-ray Review)’
May 4th, 2025 by Gerard Iribe
In this Tamala 2010 Blu-ray review, we explore one of the strangest and most stylish cult anime releases to hit physical media. Part space punk satire, part surrealist fever dream, Tamala 2010: A Punk Cat in Space delivers a genre-defying experience that’s equal parts cute and unsettling. This high-def release from Deaf Crocodile gives the film new life with a clean transfer, solid audio, and a surprisingly deep set of extras. Whether you’re a fan of experimental animation, dystopian sci-fi, or just want something that fries your brain in the best way, this Blu-ray is worth a closer look.
Continue reading ‘Tamala 2010: A Punk Cat in Space (Blu-ray Review)’
May 4th, 2025 by Gerard Iribe
Deeply scarred by what he witnessed on battlefields across Asia, a young war photographer (Yusaku Matsuda, Yokohama BJ Blues) returns to the bustling streets of Tokyo, plotting a series of brutal murders and robberies that are mere warmups for an unprecedented bank heist. Searching for an accomplice, he finds the short-fused and equally disenfranchised Tetsuo (Takeshi Kaga, Death Note). Directed by Toru Murakawa (The Game Trilogy) from a venomous script by Shoichi Maruyama (Yokohama BJ Blues), this unsettling dark thriller was Yusaku Matsuda’s farewell to his 1970s action hero persona. The Beast to Die is released on Blu-ray July 21, 2025! Continue reading ‘The Beast to Die is released on Blu-ray July 21!’
May 4th, 2025 by Gerard Iribe
Polish animation, influenced by jazz, poster design and collage, took off in the late 1950s when artists found creative freedom in the wake of Stalin’s death. Pioneering filmmakers like Walerian Borowczyk and Jan Lenica would change the form and usher in a golden age of filmmaking that would enable this art form to be appreciated around the world including winning prestigious international awards at festivals such as Cannes, Annecy, Oberhausen and an Oscar for Rybczyński’s Tango. This collection of 27 films spans the breakthrough works of the late 1950s to the close of the classic era in the 1980s, capturing some of the form’s essential films. Essential Polish Animation is released on Blu-ray in the UK July 21, 2025! Continue reading ‘Essential Polish Animation is released on Blu-ray July 21!’
May 4th, 2025 by Gerard Iribe
On the streets of Paris, Rosa ‘la rose’ (Marianne Basler, Va savoir) is the belle of Les Halles. With no shortage of clients, she is beloved by her fellow working girls and spoiled by her pimp Gilbert (Jean Sorel, Belle de Jour). For her, this is a charmed life – that is until her 20th birthday arrives. Across the floor, she locks eyes with Julien (Pierre Cosso, An American Werewolf in Paris), a blue-collar worker who sees something deeper beyond her fun-loving façade. Almost Shakespearean in its execution, Paul Vecchiali’s underseen drama explores class consciousness and female sexuality with startling precision. Anchored by a magnetic central performance from the then 20-year-old Marianne Basler, Rosa la rose, fille publique is a true hidden gem. Rosa la rose, fille publique is released in the UK on Blu-ray July 21, 2025! Continue reading ‘Rosa la rose, fille publique is released on Blu-ray July 21!’
May 4th, 2025 by Gerard Iribe
Exploding a seemingly simple premise – a nameless “cowboy” courier (Spencer Nakasako) arrives in pre-Handover Hong Kong to deliver a mysterious briefcase to a mercurial Mob boss whilst becoming entangled with his femme fatale mistress (Cora Miao) – independent filmmaking legend Wayne Wang’s Life is Cheap… But Toilet Paper is Expensive barrels through inspired genre deconstruction, guerrilla docu-fiction and fierce political jeremiad, all with a keen sense of humour and one of the richest visual palettes of the 1990s. Life is Cheap…But Toilet Paper Is Expensive is released on Blu-ray in the UK July 21, 2025! Continue reading ‘Life Is Cheap… But Toilet Paper Is Expensive on Blu-ray July 21!’
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)’
May 1st, 2025 by Gerard Iribe
One of the most influential and iconic Westerns ever made, High Noon is a powerful film about the individual drive to do good in the face of a society that would rather turn a blind eye to evil. Directed by Fred Zinnemann (From Here to Eternity) and produced by Stanley Kramer (The Defiant Ones), it remains just as riveting, nail-bitingly tense and fiercely political as it was in the 1950s. While High Noon is now an acknowledged American masterpiece, its release was controversial. Both John Wayne (who turned down its central role) and Howard Hawks (who made Rio Bravo in response) hated the film for its thinly veiled critical commentary on McCarthyism and the persecution of those accused of having “communist” beliefs. The film has lost none of its political power – or its irrefutable entertainment value. Having brought the film to Blu-ray in 2019, the Masters of Cinema series is now proud to present High Noon in its UK debut on 4K UHD Blu-ray. Continue reading ‘High Noon is released on 4K UHD Blu-ray July 28!’
May 1st, 2025 by Gerard Iribe
By the mid-1960s, Westerns had become extremely popular in West Germany due to a series of films adapted from the novels of Karl May. In response, DEFA – the state-operated studio of East Germany or the GDR – made its own film set in the Old West. But The Sons of Great Bear wasn’t just designed to compete with West German genre films – it was also intended as a pointed corrective to the American frontier myth, pitting its Native American protagonists against violent white settlers in a battle for survival. Followed by the likes of Trail of the Falcon, Ulzana, Blood Brothers and Severino, The Sons of Great Bear made a star of Gojko Mitić and launched an entire series of Westerns at DEFA, known in East Germany as Indianerfilme and historically nicknamed “Red Westerns” due to their socialist politics. The Masters of Cinema series is proud to present The Sons of Great Bear on Blu-ray for the first time ever in the UK from an astonishing 2K restoration by the DEFA Foundation. Continue reading ‘The Sons of Great Bear is released on Blu-ray July 21!’
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 29th, 2025 by Adam Toroni-Byrne
THE SEAN CONNERY COLLECTION from Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM), a collection of six James Bond films starring Sean Connery as 007, will be available to own on June 10 as a 4K UHD collection for the first time for the ultimate at home movie-watching experience. The collection includes Dr. No, From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice and Diamonds Are Forever.
Continue reading ‘It’s Official! THE 6-FILM SEAN CONNERY JAMES BOND COLLECTION Debuts On 4K UHD Blu-ray June 10th!’
April 29th, 2025 by Gerard Iribe
A group of weary travellers, a spooky mansion – and a madman upstairs! The Old Dark House– directed by James Whale, the writer-director of Frankenstein and The Invisible Man – is one of the finest and most entertaining horror films of the 1930s. Dripping with atmosphere and packed to the brim with thrills, chills and gallows humour, it was considered lost for many years before its rediscovery and restoration. One of the last and best films to be produced by the original cycle of “old dark house” films that began in the 1920s (typified by The Cat and the Canary), The Old Dark House boats an incredible cast featuring Melvyn Douglas (Twilight’s Last Gleaming), Gloria Stuart (Titanic) and Charles Laughton (Witness for the Prosecution). Having released the film on Blu-ray in 2018, the Masters of Cinema series is now honoured to present The Old Dark House on 4K UHD. Continue reading ‘The Old Dark House 4K UHD Blu-ray is released July 28!’
