In an early announcement to retailers, Tokyo Shock (Media Blasters) has revealed that it will release the Japanese action/fantasy movie 'Death Trance' on Blu-ray on July 14. No specs have been announced at this time, but it is worth noting that the studio is releasing two editions: a
single-disc edition and a
two-disc set that will also contain the DVD of the movie.
In the past, several other studios have bundled the DVD of a title with the Blu-ray. This practise was spearheaded by Disney, and later adopted by Fox, MGM and Lionsgate. Now some titles come to Blu-ray with as many as three versions: Blu-ray, DVD and digital copy.
However, with 'Death Trance' the customer is being given the option to buy the Blu-ray only or the BD/DVD bundle at an added cost. The two-disc set carries a $10 differential in list price ($34.99 versus $24.99 for the one-disc version), although actual street price differences may vary.
'Tokyo Shock' takes place in an unknown place and unknown time, where a master Samurai known only by the name of Grave searches for the ultimate battle. It was the directorial debut of Yuji Shimomura, who was "action director" for the Japanese action/horror cult movie 'Versus'. It will be the first title from Tokyo Shock to market. '
Ichi the Killer' was supposed to be the first, before it was delayed to August 11.