For the week of July 19th, Lionsgate Home Entertainment will release Darren Lynn Bousman's Spiral: From the Book of Saw, starring Chris Rock, Max Minghella, Marisol Nichols, and Samuel L. Jackson. The ninth film in the Saw franchise, Spiral stars Rock and Jackson as policeman who must hunt a copycat of the Jigsaw killer. Produced by members of the original creative team, including James Wan and Leigh Whannell, Spiral was originally to be released in May 2020, before it was delayed a year to May 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic. The film made just over $23 million domestically and over $37 million worldwide thus far. Lionsgate's releases include Blu-ray and 4K UHD editions, with the latter also available as a SteelBook edition. All formats have Dolby Atmos audio, while the 4K disc also has HDR and Dolby Vision. Several extras, including two audio commentaries and a lengthy making of documentary, are also included.
In his review of the 4K UHD disc, Jeffrey Kauffman says of the picture: "this 4K UHD version ups the ante [compared to the Blu-ray], at times considerably. While detail levels are definitely improved throughout, what repeatedly struck my eye was the improvement in shadow definition in the many dark scenes...The other huge plus here is the added nuance...that HDR brings to the viewing experience...this is a film that is stylistically almost in John Wick territory in its use of deeply vivid purples, greens and other tones, and the 4K version offers a noticeably wider range of interstitial hues, especially on the blue end of the spectrum". And for the Atmos track, he continues: "There are numerous examples of great surround activity, beginning with the cacophonous carnival setting that quickly becomes claustrophobic in an underground subway tunnel, and some of the trap scenes provide good engagement of all of the surround channels". Additional screenshots can be found in our review of the Blu-ray.
Also coming this week from Lionsgate is another of the Vestron Video Collector's Series, Mike Marvin's The Wraith, starring Charlie Sheen, Nick Cassavetes, Sherilyn Fenn, Randy Quaid, and Matthew Barry. In keeping with previous Vestron releases, several extras will be offered, including two audio commentaries (one with the director), director and cast interviews, featurettes, trailers and more.
Lionsgate will also release a six-disc set for The Walking Dead: The Complete Tenth Season this week. Extras include multiple audio commentaries and an "In Memoriam" featurette.
Another new release this week comes from Paramount Home Media Distribution, with Star Trek: Discovery - Season Three. The four-disc set will also be available in SteelBook packaging, and contains numerous extras, as well as Blu-ray exclusives like deleted scenes, a gag reel and the featurettes "Being Michael Burnham" and "Writer's Log: Michelle Paradise".
But there is more television coming this week, as RLJE Films has a three-disc set for Gangs of London: Season One, starring Lucian Msamati, Joe Cole, Sope Dirisu, Michelle Fairley and Colm Meaney. Label description: For 20 years, Finn Wallace (Meaney) was the most powerful criminal in London. Billions of pounds flowed through his organization each year. But now he's dead – and nobody knows who ordered the hit. With rivals everywhere, it's up to the impulsive Sean Wallace (Cole), with the help of the Dumani family headed by Ed Dumani (Msamati), to take his father's place. If the situation wasn't already dangerous enough, Sean's assumption of power causes ripples in the world of international crime. Perhaps the one man who might be able to help him and be his ally is Elliot Finch (Dìrísù), who up until now, has been one of life's losers, a lowlife chancer with a mysterious interest in the Wallace family. But as the wind of fate blows, Elliot finds himself transported to the inner workings of the largest criminal organization in London. It doesn't end with the Wallaces though, there are shadowy higher powers at play.
RLJE Films' extras for Gangs of London: Season One include several featurettes and"Anatomy of an Action Scene: Pub Fight & Elliot vs Len", which features commentary from co-creator Gareth Evans (The Raid).
Finally for new releases this week, from Shout Factory comes Alexey Nuzhny's film Fire AKA No Escapes, starring Konstantin Khabenskiy, Ivan Yankovsky, Anastasia Miloslavskaya, Andrey Smolyakov, and Irina Gorbacheva. Description: Alexey Sokolov commands a team of Aerial Forest Protection Service firefighters. He is a tough, decisive man who will fight ruthlessly for every last tree in the forest. He is used to controlling everything and everyone around him, including his daughter Katya. Katya is dating Roman, a rookie firefighter from Moscow. Initially disapproving of the newcomer, Alexey takes Roman along with his battle-tested team to the scene of a forest fire deep in the Russian interior. As the inferno engulfs everything in its path, Alexey will have to learn to rely on Roman, as the firefighters all band together to save a village and its residents from total destruction.
Turning to catalog titles, Shout also has three of those this week, including Sean S. Cunningham's thriller A Stranger Is Watching (1982), which is taken from a new 2K master and contains a new audio commentary, as well as a director's interview and introduction. Next up is Andrew Scheinman's Little Big League (1994), which features new cast interviews, and finally, there is Ellory Elkayem's Eight Legged Freaks (2002), which is taken from a new 2K master and includes a new retrospective, as well as archival extras. Reviews for Little Big League and Eight Legged Freaks are here and here, respectively.
We also have three 4K UHD upgrades coming this week. First, from Blue Underground, is Gary Sherman's Dead & Buried, starring James Farentino, Melody Anderson, Jack Albertson, Dennis Redfield, and Nancy Locke. The film is now presented from a new 4K scan, approved by Director of Photography Steven Poster, with HDR, Dolby Vision and both a new Dolby Atmos audio option and original mono audio in lossless DTS-HD MA. A bevy of new and archival extras are included, along with a remastered Blu-ray and a bonus CD of the film's original score by Joe Renzetti. The release is also available with three different cover options: Cover A: Poster, Cover B: Burned and Cover C: Needle.
Reviewer Svet Atanasov is highly impressed with the 4K UHD disc for Dead & Buried, saying in part: "The first thing that immediately makes an impression is how nicely balanced the visuals are...Grain looks very nicely exposed and resolved...The color grading is very convincing. The primaries look very healthy and remain stable, while the supporting nuances are quite a bit better balanced than they are on the previous release." Svet also has high marks for the Dolby Atmos remix and the mono track. For screenshots and a complete breakdown of the extensive extras on the release, see Svet's full review here, respectively.
Finally this week, from Paramount comes 4K UHD upgrades for G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra and G.I. Joe: Retaliation. Both discs contain HDR and Dolby Vision, as well as filmmaker audio commentaries and Blu-ray copies of the films.