For the week of May 10th, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment will release on 4K Blu-ray and Blu-ray Justice Society: World War II. Featuring an HDR presentation on the 4K disc and several extras on the Blu-ray, including an all-DC Showcase short Kamandi: The Last Boy on Earth!, and a half-hour roundtable discussion with the filmmakers. A Best Buy Exclusive Figurine edition will also be available. Randy Miller's reviews for both the 4K and Blu-ray editions can found here and here, respectively.
Three more new releases this week are coming from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment. starting with Robin Wright's directorial debut Land, starring Robin Wright, Kim Dickens, Warren Christie, and Demián Bichir. Reviewing the Blu-ray, Martin Liebman remarks about the picture quality that "Land was shot digitally and Universal's Blu-ray translates the material to 1080p with firm, reliable clarity, detail, and color. The image captures the majesty of the Wyoming setting with grace and elegance. Viewers will appreciate the fine definition to wilderness terrain -- trees, leaves, grass, snow -- as well as the intricate detailing seen inside the cabin, at first filled with odds and ends, cobwebs, dust, and signs of decay." And about the audio, Liebman says it "is all about the atmosphere. While there are some examples of high clarity and widely spaced music, the track is at its best when it's recreating the Wyoming wilderness, whether light natural background or fierce climate extremes". Universal also includes three featurettes on the Blu-ray. Martin's full review is available here.
Next from Universal is Robert Lorenz's action thriller The Marksman, starring Liam Neeson, Katheryn Winnick, Juan Pablo Raba, Teresa Ruiz, and Antonio Leyba. Released in January, The Marksman, which finds Neeson playing a border town rancher and retired Marine who must defend a boy from a Mexican drug cartel, topped the box office in its first two weekends, on its way to over $15 million at the domestic box office and over $22 million worldwide. Universal presents the film with a DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio track and a featurette, "The Making of 'The Marksman" as an extra. A review of the Blu-ray from Martin Liebman can be found here.
Finally for new releases this week, Universal releases Kevin Macdonald's The Mauritanian, starring Jodie Foster, Tahar Rahim, Shailene Woodley and Benedict Cumberbatch. The film is a legal drama based on the true story of Mohamedou Ould Slahi, a man from the African country of Mauritania who was held without charge in the U.S. camp at Guantanamo Bay for fourteen years, from 2002 to 2016. The film was nominated for two Golden Globes, winning one for Foster's performance, and was nominated for five BAFTA awards in the UK, including Best Film. Universal presents the film with a DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio track and an alternate opening, deleted scenes, making of featurette and more extras.
For catalog titles this week, let's start with the long-awaited domestic release of John Guillermin's King Kong (1976), starring Jeff Bridges, Charles Grodin, Jessica Lange, Rene Auberjonois, and Jack O'Halloran. Arriving courtesy of Shout Factory's Scream Factory imprint, King Kong is presented as a two-disc Blu-ray Collector's Edition, with two cuts of the film, the 134-minute theatrical version and the 192-minute extended television cut, as well as two audio commentaries, over 45 minutes of new cast and crew interviews, and more. A full review from Brian Orndorf, with screenshots from both versions, is available here.
Another major catalog release this week is a Criterion Collection edition of Amy Heckerling's Fast Times at Ridgemont High, starring Sean Penn, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Judge Reinhold, Robert Romanus, Brian Backer, and Phoebe Cates. The classic coming-of-age comedy has finally been remastered, sourced from a new 4K master that was supervised and approved by director Amy Heckerling and presents the film uncensored for the first time, restoring a shot of male frontal nudity that was removed under threat of an X rating. Along with a DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio track, Criterion have included several substantial extras, including an HD version of the television edit of the film, which contains alternate material, a new interview with Amy Heckerling, and Cameron Crowe and aa 1982 audio-only interview with Heckerling at the American Film Institute, as well as the audio commentary and making of featurette that can be found on previous home video editions of the film. In his review of the disc, Svet Atanasov says in part: "The new master boasts very nice delineation, clarity, and depth. Density levels are very strong as well, so if you view your films on a larger screen you will discover all sorts of different fine details and nuances that are lost on the previous release. Also, the new master is very nicely graded. Both the primaries and the supporting nuances look very healthy and nicely balanced...So, the new 4K master delivers the type of solid upgrade Fast Times at Ridgemont High desperately needed and its fans hoped would materialize".
Also this week, two film franchises begin to see 4K UHD upgrades. First off, from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment is Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson's Shrek, starring the voices of Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz and John Lithgow. Presented as a 20th Anniversary Edition, Shrek comes with HDR picture and DTS:X audio on the 4K disc and, in addition to the film on Blu-ray with several extras, also includes a bonus Blu-ray disc with an additional 4+ hours of extras, including ten short films and five episodes of The Adventures of Puss In Boots TV series, all presented in 1080p. In addition to the standard 4K release, a SteelBook edition will also be available. A full review from Martin Liebman is available here.
Finally this week, Lionsgate Home Entertainment has a 4K UHD upgrade for James Wan's horror film Saw, starring Leigh Whannell, Cary Elwes, Danny Glover, Ken Leung, and Dina Meyer. Coming just as the Saw franchise continues this Friday with the opening of Spiral, Lionsgate's 4K UHD release of the original Saw includes Dolby Vision HDR on the 4K UHD disc and Dolby Atmos audio. Additionally, several extras are available for the first time on Blu-ray, including two audio commentaries and the feature-length documentary Game Changer: The Legacy of Saw (which are also on the 4K UHD disc), the original short film, the theatrical trailer and more. In addition to the standard 4K release, a Best Buy Exclusive SteelBook edition will also be available.