Posted September 5, 2021 12:12 AM by Sean Greenwood
For the week of September 6th, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment will release Zack Snyder's Justice League, starring Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Gal Gadot, Ray Fisher, Jason Momoa. The four-hour epic is a director's cut of the 2017 film Justice League, a film which was completed by an uncredited Joss Whedon when Snyder had to leave the production following the death of his daughter. While a Justice League film was considered to be a billion-dollar-plus moneymaker in light of Marvel's success with their Avengers films, the 2017 release of Justice League was a box office bomb, infamously failing to break $100 million in its first weekend and ending up with a global box office total of over $657 million, apparently losing Warner Bros. some $60 million in the process. With the film's mixed reviews and poor box office compared to its competitors, fans began petitioning Warner to "release the Snyder Cut" of the film, or rather the version of the film that Snyder would have completed had he been able to finish the production. While it was initially considered to be a pipe dream, Warner announced in February 2020 that the "Snyder Cut" was indeed moving forward and set to debut in 2021 on their HBO Max streaming service, with some $70 million more being spent on visual effects and re-shoots that took place in October 2020. The film premiered on March 18, 2021 and while there's no box office to speak of so far, critical reaction has been more positive than the 2017 version.
This week, Warner offers multiple formats for Zack Snyder's Justice League: A four-disc 4K UHD combo pack, a two-disc Blu-ray and a four-disc Best Buy Exclusive 4K UHD SteelBook edition. All formats come with Dolby Atmos audio and the 4k discs come with HDR picture enhancement. Both formats also contain the featurette The Road to Justice as an extra. Additionally, Warner will also release Zack Snyder's Justice League Trilogy, a box set that collects Zack Snyder's Justice League with Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice - Ultimate Edition.
Reviewing the 4K UHD disc for Zack Snyder's Justice League, Randy Miller is impressed, saying of the picture quality that " the real benefit of this 4K edition...is the ability to enjoy this 4K-sourced material in a format very close to its original resolution, because it sure looks great here. While Justice League is admittedly not the most colorful production in recent memory, its subtle and occasionally vibrant hues are served well by the 4K disc's HDR10 enhancement, which also brings out more subtle grays and color shades which aren't quite as visible on the Blu-ray edition. Textures look fantastic and fine detail is much improved in costume and other fabric features, complex backgrounds, skin, special effects, and tight close-ups." Read Randy's full review here.
Finally for new releases this week, from Lionsgate Home Entertainment comes Michele Civetta's The Gateway, starring Frank Grillo, Olivia Munn, Bruce Dern, and Taryn Manning. Description: Shea Whigham (American Hustle), Olivia Munn (X-Men: Apocalypse) and Frank Grillo (The Grey) star in this edge of your seat, gritty crime thriller. Whigham is Parker, a down on his luck social worker who finds himself in over his head when he tries to protect his client from her recently paroled husband. Can Parker save the family from the violent threat of the maniacal drug dealer and his crew, desperate to reclaim their priceless stash at any cost?
Turning to catalog titles, we have two big releases this week. First, from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment comes John Carpenter's horror remake The Thing (1982), starring Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley, T.K. Carter, David Clennon, and Keith David. An updated version of the 1951 chiller The Thing from Another World, Carpenter's film tells the story of a group of researchers in Antarctica who stumble upon a parasitic alien frozen in the ice, which once freed begins to assimilate and imitate other living things. Originally released to largely negative reviews and poor box office, home video has turned the film's legacy from failure to one of the finest remakes and indeed horror films, possibly of all time. Universal's 4K UHD release is based off a 4K scan of the original camera negative, and the disc will also have HDR and a DTS:X immersive audio track, as well as several legacy extras. A Best Buy Exclusive 4K UHD SteelBook edition will also be available.
Also coming this week from Universal is The Woody Woodpecker: Screwball Collection. Description: Relive the hilarious, crazy adventures of Woody Woodpecker, everyone's favorite wacky red-headed bird, in The Woody Woodpecker Screwball Collection! Created by renowned cartoonist Walter Lantz, these 25 original theatrical cartoons showcase some of the wildest antics in animation history. Newly remastered in high definition, Woody is joined by his friends including Andy Panda, Wally Walrus and Buzz Buzzard. Featuring rare treasures including archival behind-the-scenes footage of Walter Lantz, this side-splitting collection will keep fans laughing out loud time and time again!
Finally this week, another huge 4K UHD catalog release. Paramount Home Media Distribution will release Star Trek: The Original 4-Movie Collection (1979-1986), featuring Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. All four films have been newly remastered for 4K UHD and Blu-ray (including both the theatrical and director's cuts of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan) with Dolby Vision HDR on the 4K discs, while the included remastered Blu-rays house the majority of the extras. New for this release is an isolated score track for Star Trek: The Motion Picture.