For the week of October 5th, Paramount will bring Star Trek: Picard - Season One to Blu-ray in standard and SteelBook editions. Featuring Sir Patrick Stewart in his legendary role as Jean-Luc Picard, which he played for seven seasons on Star Trek: The Next Generation, the new series follows this iconic character into the next chapter of his life. Also starring Santiago Cabrera, Alison Pill, Michelle Hurd and Isa Briones, along with guest appearances from such Star Trek alumni as Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner and Marina Sirtis, the Blu-ray includes all 10 episodes from the series' first season, and over two hours of extras, including the Star Trek: Short Treks episode "Children of Mars".
In his Blu-ray review, Martin Liebman writes that "[Star Trek: Picard] works well thanks to a tightly woven story that ties together several key components from the Star Trek universe, investing in the familiar and inventing its own history but doing so strictly within the parameters laid out in past iterations, and mostly The Next Generation. While there are several concepts that are more recognizably borrowed form other places in the Trek universe, Picard mostly focuses on its own, and oftentimes very personal, characters and narrative beats, building on TNG's core, and its periphery, with equal depth and detail. New and returning characters alike benefit from rich characterization, those returning experiencing believable emotional growth while new introductions fit into the current and past narratives with tangible and believable connections to the characters and events around them. The performances are excellent across the board and the visual effects are every bit as seamless as they need to be."
Next, we have another 4K UHD upgrade from Warner Bros. The studio has been mining its vaults for the 4K format pretty steadily this year, and now they have come to Zack Snyder's historical action epic 300. The graphic novel adaptation of the Battle of Thermopylae features a memorable performance from Gerard Butler as King Leonidas, and has always been noted for its impressive visuals. The 4K release will be offered in both standard and Best Buy Exclusive SteelBook editions and in addition to HDR grading, also sports a new Dolby Atmos audio track, too.
In his 4K UHD review, Randy Miller says "300 is one of the most heavily stylized live-action films of the last 20 years: it's absolutely loaded with visual effects and has perhaps more blue-screen than a year's worth of weather forecasts. As such, it can't be judged in line with most other films due to its intentionally boosted contrast, heavily tinted color, added grain (and traditional film grain, as it was shot in 35mm), and dozens more heavy and subtle tweaks that give it a striking, almost otherworldly appearance. Simply put, this transfer just adds a little more of everything: image detail is better refined, colors are more suitably saturated, and black levels run deeper. Many of these improvements are also due to its new HDR10 grading, which brings out all the golden yellows, deep crimsons, steely blues, and every other hue in the film's very specific palette, which clearly pays respect to the original comic's painterly color schemes by Lynn Varley...Even more immediately impressive is the new Dolby Atmos mix which, as always, automatically unfolds to lossless TrueHD 7.1 if you're not equipped for the newer format. In many ways, 300 is just as stylized and ambitious from a sonic perspective as a visual one, with the final stretch exploding into a maelstrom of surround activity and discrete panning efforts, all supported by plenty of LFE and a very strong dynamic range. The additional rear channels, not to mention Atmos' height presence, amplify the battle-driven moments and, occasionally, the original score by Tyler Bates. Highlights include the entirety of hand-to-hand combat sequences, the multiple overhead arrow volleys, rousing speeches by Leonidas, a handful of strong weather-related events and, well, pretty much 75% of the movie overall. It's just an all-out sonic assault more often than not so, if you liked how 300 sounded before, you'll love it now."
But, even though 2020 has been a rough year for new films, we do have a handful coming direct to Blu-ray. The first of two remakes is Orion Pictures' new take on Valley Girl (2020), a musical adaptation of the 1983 film, starring Jessica Rothe, Mae Whitman, Peyton List, Chloe Bennet, and Ashleigh Murray and featuring an 80s new wave soundtrack. Then it's Universal's turn with a new version of the beloved children's classic The Secret Garden (2020). Featuring Colin Firth, Julie Walters, Maeve Dermody, Jemma Powell, and Dixie Egerickx, this time the story has been updated to 1947 England, and follows a young orphan girl who, after being sent to live with her uncle, discovers a magical garden on the grounds of his estate. Also coming from Universal is the sci-fi comedy Save Yourselves!, starring Sunita Mani and John Reynolds.
Finally on Tuesday, RLJ Entertainment will release The Tax Collector in both standard and Best Buy Exclusive 4K UHD Steelbook editions. In this action thriller from director David Ayer, Shia LaBeouf and Booby Soto play "tax collectors" for the crime lord Wizard, collecting his cut from the profits of local gangs' illicit dealings. But when Wizard's old rival returns to Los Angeles from Mexico, the business is upended, and David finds himself desperate to protect what matters more to him than anything else: his family.
Later in the week on Friday, we have a trio of music Blu-rays coming. Mercury's super deluxe box set of Tears for Fears' album The Seeds of Love includes a Blu-ray Audio disc with three versions of the album: a new 5.1 remix by Steven Wilson, the original 1989 master, and a new remaster by Andrew Walter at Abbey Road. Capitol's release of John Lennon: Gimme Some Truth and Eagle Rock's release of the documentary Ronnie Wood - Somebody Up There Likes Me are also out on the same day.