For the week of March 21st, Paramount Home Media Distribution will release Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather Trilogy (1972-1990). Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the original film, the entire trilogy has been newly remastered in 4K, with Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby TrueHD 5.1 audio, as well as the original mono audio in Dolby Digital. For the third film, which was re-edited in 2020 to become The Godfather, Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone, both the 1991 cut and the original theatrical version are included on a bonus 4K UHD disc. The 4K UHD discs contain audio commentaries (The Godfather also includes a short new introduction from Coppola, in 4K resolution) while additional extras are included on a bonus Blu-ray. In addition to the Deluxe Limited Edition linked above, standard editions will be available on 4K UHD and Newly Remastered Blu-ray, along with standalone Blu-ray releases of The Godfather and The Godfather: Part II.
Reviewing the standard 4K UHD set of The Godfather Trilogy, Martin Liebman is ecstatic, delivering perfect 5/5 scores for the picture quality of all three films and saying in part: "The three Godfather films look beyond amazing and mere words can do little to express the level of work, care, and love that went into bringing this film, and its sequels, to the UHD format... In short: it's the best of both worlds, offering a classic film-like look that has not been "boosted" per se but rather returned to full, original glory for home viewing in a presentation that is certainly befitting of one of cinema's most valued treasures". For full disc breakdowns, read Martin's 4K UHD reviews for The Godfather, The Godfather: Part II, The Godfather, Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone and The Godfather: Part III
Turning to new releases, Walt Disney Home Entertainment and Searchlight Pictures have a 4K UHD and Blu-ray for Guillermo del Toro's Nightmare Alley (2021), starring Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Toni Collette, and David Strathairn.
Description: In Nightmare Alley, Manipulative con artist Stan Carlisle (Bradley Cooper) relies on his smooth-talking ways to make it in the world until his inexorable ambition compels him to seek more. With the aid of the enigmatic Dr. Lilith Ritter (Cate Blanchett), a psychiatrist, Stan amps up his scams to reap substantial rewards. However, as Lilith allows Stan to see her for who she truly is, Stan begins to suspect his new associate may be more powerful than he anticipated. Based on the novel by William Lindsay Gresham. Co-starring Toni Collette and Willem Dafoe.
Disney's 4K UHD of Nightmare Alley (2021) contains Dolby Atmos audio and HDR. The bundled Blu-ray, which has a DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio track, includes three featurettes as extras. In addition to standard packaging, a a Best Buy Exclusive SteelBook edition will also be available. Reviewer Jeffrey Kauffman gave perfect 5/5 scores for the 4K UHD disc's picture and sound quality, for full disc breakdowns, read Jeffrey's 4K UHD review and Blu-ray review.
In TV releases, Paramount Home Media Distribution has a Blu-ray for Dexter: New Blood (2021-2022), starring Michael C. Hall, Julia Jones, Johnny Sequoyah, Alano Miller, and Clancy Brown. Set ten years after the controversial finale of the original series, Dexter: New Blood finds Dexter Morgan living a quiet, unassuming new life in a the fictional town of Iron Lake, New York. When he gets caught up in a violent act, Dexter's Dark Passenger awakens, and the demons of his past come back to haunt him. The limited series, which ran for ten episodes From November 2021 to January 2022, became Showtime's most-watched series, with 8 million viewers across all episodes. Once again, however, the finale proved divisive amongst fans.
Paramount's Blu-ray for Dexter: New Blood is a four-disc set, with four featurettes as extras. In addition to standard packaging, a Limited Edition SteelBook will also be available.
There's more TV this week, as Universal Pictures Home Entertainment has a Blu-ray for Dr. Death (2021), starring Joshua Jackson, Grace Gummer, Christian Slater, Alec Baldwin, and AnnaSophia Robb. The two-disc set contains all eight episodes of the miniseries.
In 4K UHD news, Kino Lorber will release David Cronenberg's Eastern Promises, starring Viggo Mortensen, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Vincent Cassel, Naomi Watts, and Sinéad Cusack. Taken from a new 4K master approved and color graded by cinematographer Peter Suschitzky, Kino's 4K UHD disc features Dolby Vision HDR. The bundled Blu-ray, which also uses the new 4K master, contains several archival extras, as well as a new interview with screenwriter Steven Knight and two newly remastered theatrical trailers.
Also coming to 4K UHD from Lionsgate Home Entertainment is Deon Taylor's Fatale, starring Hilary Swank, Mike Colter, and Michael Ealy. The film was preciously released on Blu-ray by Lionsgate in March 2021.
Also this week, there is a trio of classic Hong Kong films coming to Blu-ray. First, from Arrow Video, is King Hu's Come Drink with Me (1966), starring Pei-pei Cheng, Hua Yueh, Siu-Tung Ching, Jackie Chan, Ying-Chieh Han and Hung-Lieh Chen. Arrow's disc includes a 1080p presentation, with unompressed mono audio in Mandarin or English, and both English and English SDH subtitles. A host of extras includes a brand new audio commentary by film critic and historian Tony Rayns, over two hours of archival interviews, and much more. For a full disc breakdown, read Jeffrey Kauffman's Blu-ray review.
Then, from 99 Films comes a Blu-ray for Chia-Liang Liu's Shaolin Mantis (1978), starring David Chiang, Cecilia Wong, and Wilson Tong. 88 Films' disc comes from an HD presentation, with uncompressed 2.0 mono audio in Mandarin (with optional English subtitles) or English. Extras include interviews, two audio commentaries and more, while packaging includes a fold-out mini-poster, lobby cards and reversible cover, as well as a slipcover. For a full disc breakdown, read Jeffrey Kauffman's Blu-ray review.
Also from 88 Films is a Blu-ray for Mar Lo's Monkey Kung Fu (1979), starring Tony Ching Siu-Tung, Hau Chiu-Sing, Lam Fai-Wong, Fong Ping, Shum Lo, and Wong Mei-Mei. 88 Films' disc comes from an HD presentation, with uncompressed 2.0 mono audio in Cantonese (with optional English subtitles) or English. Extras include an audio commentary, an interview with an interview with choreographer Tony Leung Siu-Hung and the film's theatrical trailer, while packaging includes a double-sided fold-out-poster, reversible cover and slipcover, and a booklet. For a full disc breakdown, read Jeffrey Kauffman's Blu-ray review.
Finally this week, Warner Bros. adds another title to their Warner Archive Collection. This time it's a Blu-ray for Michael Curtiz's Captains of the Clouds (1942), starring James Cagney, Dennis Morgan, Brenda Marshall, Alan Hale, George Tobias, Reginald Gardiner and Reginald Denny.
Description: The incomparable James Cagney stars with Dennis Morgan, Brenda Marshall and Alan Hale in his first Technicolor feature, once again reunited with Warner Bros.' legendary Michael Curtiz at the helm. Cagney portrays pilot Brian MacLean, a hot-shot Canadian pilot who is just as adept at stealing flying jobs from his competition as he is at stealing their girlfriend's hearts. But when he hears a speech by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill about the looming Nazi threat, MacLean enlists in the Royal Canadian Air Force . . . only to find his superior is a man from whom he stole both a job and a girl--and to encounter action and adventure in aerial combat over the North Atlantic. This was the first Hollywood production to be filmed almost entirely on location in Canada, and was released right after the U.S. entered WWII.
Warner Archive's Blu-ray of Captains of the Clouds features a new 4K master, taken from a scan of the original nitrate Technicolor negative. Extras include vintage newsreel, a vintage short film and two vintage cartoons, as well as the film's theatrical trailer. Reviewer Randy Miller gave the disc's picture quality a perfect 5/5 rating, saying that "this is yet another sparkling catalog release that flies high on Blu-ray...revealing a staggering amount of fine detail and vivid color true to its three-strip source. Captains of the Clouds is a beautiful film with no shortage of naturally lit location footage in and above the rugged Canadian wilderness, and the Blu-ray follows suit with a nicely saturated 1080p transfer that boasts stunning depth and clarity without sacrificing its original grain structure in the process". Of the film's DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono audio, Miller says: "Dialogue and background effects are carefully balanced with plenty of room left over for both the striking original score by Max Steiner and the title song by Harold Arlen...It's perhaps an even slightly better presentation than expected...with no major issues". For a full disc breakdown and screenshots from the new Blu-ray, read Randy's Blu-ray review.