This Week on Blu-ray: December 14-20

For the week of December 14th, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment will release Christopher Nolan's Tenet. The epic action film, starring John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, Dimple Kapadia, and Michael Caine, was supposed to be the blockbuster of the summer, but the coronavirus pandemic halted its release several times. Cinemas around the world waited on tenterhooks to book the film, and everyone hoped that Tenet would be the film that got people back into the movie theater in 2020. Sadly, that didn't turn out to be the case, and when it was eventually released domestically on September 3rd, Tenet made only $20.2 million in its first weekend. Subsequently, as the pandemic has not abated, the film has remained in cinemas and managed to get to about $58 million domestically, but the international box office has been brighter, and it has taken in over $300 million so far overseas. Now, however, fans can enjoy Tenet from the comfort and safety of their homes. Available on Blu-ray, 4K UHD, and Best Buy Exclusive 4K UHD SteelBook editions, Tenet includes DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio and an HDR presentation on the 4K UHD disc, as well as a dedicated Blu-ray with over an hour of extras.

Reviewing the 4K UHD disc, Randy Miller writes that "the disc's HDR enhancement contributes to this intended effect and, when paired with the film's 65/70mm roots, creates an immediate and lasting visual impression. The warm interior of the opening opera house sequence -- a peaceful and inviting atmosphere that's shattered within moments -- sets the bar very high but it's easily cleared soon enough. From there, Tenet continues as a collection of visually stunning moments rather than something that can be described in broad, blanketed terms. The impossibly vivid blue of open waters, combined with sunlit scenes aboard Andrei Sator's luxury yacht. Unparalleled depth in panoramic exteriors, especially cityscapes. Deep blood-red and crimson hues of the mirrored "inversion" room. Glowing amber lights against the darkened backdrop of a plane crash. Everything pops nicely and even the most, well, normal-looking scenes are heightened by its cinematography, creating a palpable level of visual stimulation that, if I'm being perfectly honest, carries the film more capably than its overly twisting narrative. From a purely visual perspective, Tenet is just about as perfect as it gets.".

Also coming this week from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, in association with Metro Goldwyn Mayer's Orion Classics, is Jim Cummings' The Wolf of Snow Hollow. The comedy-horror film about a small-town sheriff tasked with solving a series of brutal murders that are occurring on the full moon, was written and directed by Cummings, who also stars, along with Riki Lindhome, and Robert Forster. The Blu-ray includes several featurettes, such as "The Story and the Genre" and "The Design of the Werewolf".

Then it's over to the Warner Archive Collection, who have no less than six new catalog titles to release this week, including the Judy Garland Technicolor musical comedy The Harvey Girls, the seasonal romantic comedy Holiday Affair with Robert Mitchum and Janet Leigh, Kirk Douglas and Lauren Bacall in Young Man with a Horn and last but not least, Henry Fonda, James Cagney, William Powell and an Oscar-winning performance from Jack Lemmon in Mister Roberts. All have been newly remastered, often from 4K scans, and all have archival extras, such as audio commentaries, radio broadcasts and HD theatrical trailers. But as if that weren't enough, Warner Archive Collection also has Tex Avery Screwball Classics: Volume 2, which features twenty-one more of Avery's dazzling and hilarious theatrical shorts, uncut and newly remastered for the first time, along with a documentary, "Tex Avery: King of Cartoons".

But still, there is more from the Warner Archive Collection, and it's a big one: A two-disc set for the Hammer horror film The Curse of Frankenstein, starring Peter Cushing, Hazel Court, Robert Urquhart and Christopher Lee, this 1957 film from director Terence Fisher would be the first of the long-running series of horror films from Hammer. Presented in a new 4K master from the original Technicolor camera negatives, and presented in the viewer's choice of no less than three aspect ratios (1.66:1, 1.85:1 and open-matte 1.37:1) spread across two Blu-rays, The Curse of Frankenstein also features a new audio commentary by Screenwriter/Film Historian Steve Haberman and Filmmaker/Film Historian Constantine Nasr, as well as several featurettes, including "The Resurrection Men: Hammer, Frankenstein and the Rebirth of the Horror Film" and "Hideous Progeny: The Curse of Frankenstein and the English Gothic Tradition".

Up next is Arrow Video with a brand new remaster for Ron Underwood's classic sci-fi/horror-comedy Tremors, starring Kevin Bacon, Fred Ward, Finn Carter, Michael Gross and Reba McEntire. The original film in the now seven-film Tremors franchise will be available in separate Blu-ray and 4K UHD versions, both of which contain a new 4K remaster from the original negative by Arrow Films, approved by director Ron Underwood and director of photography Alexander Gruszynski, along with DTS-HD MA original theatrical 2.0 stereo, 4.0 surround, and remixed 5.1 surround audio options, and Dolby Vision HDR on the UHD disc. Additionally, a glut of extras are spread across two discs in either edition,including two new audio commentaries new and achival interviews and featurettes, and even Making Perfection, a brand new documentary by Universal Pictures interviewing key cast and crew from the franchise (including Kevin Bacon, Michael Gross, Ariana Richards, Ron Underwood, Brent Maddock & S.S. Wilson, among many others) and revisiting the original locations. To top it off these limited editions also have collectible packaging, with large and small posters featuring new and original artwork, lobby card reproductions, and a 60-page perfect-bound book featuring new writing by Kim Newman and Jonathan Melville and selected archive materials.

Blue Underground also continues to upgrade its library to UHD Blu-ray with Bill Lustig's thriller Vigilante, starring Robert Forster, Fred Williamson, Richard Bright, Rutanya Alda, and Don Blakely. Presented in a new 4K remaster from the original camera negative, and with new Dolby Atmos sound (in addition to original 2.0 and 5.1 options in DTS HD MA) as well as Dolby Vision HDR picture, Vigilante received a rave review from Svet Atanasov, who says in part that the new master "is an absolute stunner. I liked it so much that at the moment I am actually willing to argue it is the best 4K presentation in Blue Underground's catalog. On my system, clarity, sharpens, and depth were simply exceptional, and the visuals were truly some of the very best that I have seen in native 4K. It did not matter whether the footage was darker (like the apartment execution with the black/purple lights) or with plenty of natural light where nuances are typically easier to recognize -- the quality of the visuals remained enormously impressive, boasting depth and finer details that are simply impossible to capture in 1080p. The color scheme is terrific as well. In fact, I have to mention that in 1080p there are actually some primaries that look quite different because the saturation levels and nuances cannot be properly reproduced. In native 4K, with Dolby Vision enabled, the wide spectrum of colors is simply breathtaking. "

Next is Magnolia Home Entertainment with John Hyams' thriller Alone, starring Jules Willcox, Marc Menchaca, and Anthony Heald. The film follows recently widowed Jessica, who is kidnapped and locked away in a mysterious man's cabin. Her escape from the clutches of this murderous captor lands her in the heart of the untamed Pacific Northwest wilderness, with only her wits to rely on for survival as her pursuer closes in.

Finally, RLJ Entertainment have two releases this week, starting with Jeffrey A. Brown's thriller The Beach House (2019), starring Liana Liberato, Noah Le Gros, and Jake Weber. Following that is Bryan Bertino's thriller The Dark and the Wicked, starring Marin Ireland, Michael Abbott Jr., Xander Berkeley, Lynn Andrews, and Julie Oliver-Touchstone. The latter includes a Fantasia Q&A with Marin Ireland and Michael Abbott Jr.