Posted November 29, 2021 12:21 AM by Sean Greenwood
For the week of November 29th, Walt Disney Home Entertainment will release Destin Daniel Cretton's Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, starring Simu Liu, Awkwafina, Michelle Yeoh and Tony Chiu-Wai Leung. The 25th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is based on the character Shang-Chi, who debuted in 1973 in the comics, and is the first MCU film to have an Asian lead and a majority Asian cast, notably being the first role in a Hollywood film for Tony Chiu-Wai Leung, one of Hong Kong's major stars. Originally planned to be released in Febraury 2021, the coronavirus pandemic caused several delays for the film, including halting the film shoot in 2020 and causing the film's release date to shift several times in conjunction with other Marvel films. Eventually, the film was released in September over the Labor Day holiday in the United States, where it received positive reviews and made over $94 million during the holiday weekend, on its way to over $224 million domestically and over $431 million globally so far. Currently, the film stands as Disney's highest-grossing film of 2021. Disney's 4K UHD disc features Dolby Atmos audio and HDR picture, while several extras are on the Blu-ray, including an audio commentary with Director Destin Daniel Cretton and Writer Dave Callaham, deleted scenes, a gag reel and featurettes. Additionally, a Best Buy Exclusive SteelBook edition and a Target Exclusive Art Edition will also be available.
Reviewing the 4K UHD disc of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings Martin Liebman says, in part: "The UHD resolution allows for a sharper, crisper, cleaner looking image overall...Likewise the HDR color grading improves upon a very good SDR Blu-ray. Subtitles and other whites leap off the screen with more luminous and bright intensity while blacks are deeper and more pure without swallowing surrounding detail. The palette is, overall, more vivid and bright, with deeper colors that pop particularly in brightly lit daytime scenes...it's a well worthwhile upgrade and clearly the definitive home video presentation of the film". Read Martin's full review here.
New this week from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment is a Blu-ray for James Wan's Malignant, starring Annabelle Wallis, Maddie Hasson, George Young, Michole Briana White, and Jean Louisa Kelly. Synopsis: Director James Wan returns to his roots with this new original horror thriller. A woman (Annabelle Wallis) is paralyzed by shocking visions of grisly murders, and her torment worsens as she discovers that these waking dreams are in fact terrifying realities.
Warner's Blu-ray for Malignant contains the featurette Malignant: James Wan's Visions as an extra.
Also from Warner is another entry in their Warner Archive Collection: Nicholas Ray's Party Girl (1958), starring Robert Taylor, Cyd Charisse and Lee J. Cobb. Synopsis: Deft lawyer Thomas Farrell (Robert Taylor) has found himself a role successfully defending the crooked goons of crime boss Rico Angelo (Lee J. Cobb). When Thomas meets glamorous dancer Vicki Gaye (Cyd Charisse), he falls in love with her. Vicki makes Thomas realize that he should stop representing criminals, and he tries to break ties with Angelo. However, the mobster will not let Thomas free and kidnaps Vicki in order to keep the lawyer in his employ.
Making its long-awaited domestic debut from Lionsgate Home Entertainment this week is Rose Glass' Saint Maud, starring Jennifer Ehle, Morfydd Clark, Turlough Convery, Lily Knight, and Lily Frazer. Studio description: The debut film from writer-director Rose Glass, Saint Maud is a chilling and boldly original vision of faith, madness, and salvation in a fallen world. Maud, a newly devout hospice nurse, becomes obsessed with saving her dying patient's soul — but sinister forces, and her own sinful past, threaten to put an end to her holy calling.
Lionsgate's Blu-ray for Saint Maud contains an audio commentary by Director Rose Glass and the featurette A Higher Calling: The Rapture of Saint Maud.
Finally this week, Paramount Home Media Distribution brings two Warren Beatty films to Blu-ray. First is Heaven Can Wait (1978), which is making its worldwide Blu-ray debut. The Blu-ray comes from a 4K scan of the original camera negative approved by Warren Beatty and reviewer Martin Liebman is thoroughly impressed, saying the picture quality is "practically without flaw". Then, Paramount re-releases Beatty's Reds, which was one of the studio's earliest releases, back in 2006. Now, the film has been fully remastered in 4K and HDR from the original camera negative, approved by cinematographer Vittorio Storaro. Once again, reviewer Martin Liebman has high praise for the disc, saying of the picture quality: "Many other 40-year-old films will be green with envy after watching Reds on Blu-ray. Paramount has done another world-class job with this restoration, resulting in a sumptuous 1080p transfer that is amongst the best of its kind on Blu-ray". Paramount's new Blu-ray of Reds also includes the feature-length documentary Witness to Reds on a second Blu-ray. Read Martin's full reviews for the two releases here and here.