Posted October 30, 2022 07:09 PM by Sean Greenwood
For the week of October 31st, Paramount Home Media Distribution will release Joseph Kosinski's Top Gun: Maverick, starring Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer, Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly and Bashir Salahuddin. Originally announced in 2010, the sequel to the 1986 action blockbuster Top Gun saw several delays, including the death of director Tony Scott in 2012. When filming finally commenced in 2018, a projected release in June 2019 was delayed a year in order to complete the film's action sequences. That process would be further drawn out by the arrival of the coronavirus pandemic, which would see the film's release date moved several more times, before it finally opened in May 2022. After a 36-year wait, the result was an enormous success. Top Gun: Maverick opened to rave reviews and over $160 million over the Memorial Day holiday weekend, going on to make over $716 million domestically (so far) and even more internationally at over $768 million and counting, for a running total of over $1.4 billion worldwide. In June, the film passed $800 million to become the highest-grossing film in Tom Cruise's career, while later that month, it became only the second film since 2019 to cross the $1 billion mark, following Sony's Spider-Man: No Way Home. Currently, Top Gun: Maverick stands as the highest-grossing film of the year.
Paramount's Blu-ray and 4K UHD releases of Top Gun: Maverick include the film's Dolby Atmos audio, while the 4K UHD disc also includes Dolby Vision HDR. Extras include four featurettes and two music videos, but the 4K UHD disc also includes a lengthy masterclass with Tom Cruise from the Cannes Film Festival. In addition to standard packaging, a Dual Format SteelBook and a Walmart Exclusive Dual Format SteelBook with Exclusive Art on a Lenticular Magnet will also be available. Reviewer Martin Liebman is hugely impressed, giving perfect scores to the 4K UHD picture and sound quality and saying in part: "The picture is particularly bold and sharp, more so than the companion Blu-ray, which is itself a master class for that format. Here, however, there is no mistaking a fairly sizeable boost to sharpness and there is no missing the gains to object clarity...The picture is a dazzling display of intricate, clear detailing". Of the Atmos audio, Liebman goes on to say that "The entire thing is a marvel, and it nearly defies review. It's simply perfectly balanced through the full range, from subtle sound cues to thunderous bass...Jets scream across the stage with pinpoint placement and seamless movement one end to another. Gunfire late in the film is terrifyingly and dangerously intense...It just doesn't get better than this". For full disc breakdowns, read Martin's 4K UHD review and Blu-ray review.
Also coming this week from Paramount is a 4K UHD upgrade for Paul Michael Glaser's The Running Man (1987), starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Maria Conchita Alonso, Yaphet Kotto, Jim Brown, Jesse Ventura and Erland van Lidth. Released in SteelBook packaging and in time to commemorate the film's 35th anniversary, Paramount's 4K UHD release features Dolby Vision HDR and DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio.
New this week on Blu-ray from GKIDS and Shout Factory is a Blu-ray for loundraw's animated short film Summer Ghost (サマーゴースト), starring the voices of Chiaki Kobayashi, Miyuri Shimabukuro, Nobunaga Shimazaki and Rina Kawaei.
Official description: An urban legend says that lighting fireworks at an abandoned airfield will beckon the "summer ghost," a spirit that can answer any question. Three teenagers, Tomoya, Aoi, and Ryo, each have their own reason to show up one day. When a ghost named Ayane appears, she reveals she is only visible to those "who are about to touch their death." Compelled by the ghost and her message, Tomoya begins regularly visiting the airfield to uncover the true purpose of her visits.
Shout's Blu-ray of Summer Ghost includes both the original Japanese (with optional English subtitles) and English dubbed audio, the documentary To You Before Dawn, a feature animatic and an interview with loundraw.
Also coming from Shout this week is a 4K UHD upgrade for Joe Dante's Piranha (1978), starring Bradford Dillman, Heather Menzies-Urich, Kevin McCarthy, Keenan Wynn and Dick Miller. Sourced from a 4K scan of the original camera negative, Shout's 4K UHD release features lossless original DTS-HD MA Mono audio and Dolby Vision HDR on the 4K UHD disc. Both discs feature two legacy audio commentaries, while the included remastered Blu-ray features a new interview with Dante and other legacy extras, including a making of, bloopers and outtakes, behind-the-scenes footage and more.
New this week from AMC Studios is a Blu-ray for Dark Winds: Season One (2022), starring Zahn McClarnon, Kiowa Gordon, Jessica Matten, Deanna Allison and Rainn Wilson.
Official description: The year is 1971. Joe Leaphorn of the Navajo Tribal Police must solve a series of unrelated crimes. He is joined by his new deputy, Jim Chee. Together, the two men battle the forces of evil and their own personal demons on the path to salvation. Starring Zahn McClarnon, Kiowa Gordon, Jessica Matten, Deanna Allison and Rainn Wilson
New on Blu-ray this week from Cohen Media Group is Fernando León de Aranoa's The Good Boss (El buen patrón), starring Javier Bardem, Manolo Solo and Almudena Amor.
Label description: Academy Award Winner Javier Bardem stars as Blanco, proprietor of Básculas Blanco, a Spanish company producing industrial scales in a provincial Spanish town, which awaits the imminent visit from a committee that will decide if they merit a local Business Excellence award: everything has to be perfect when the time comes. Working against the clock, Blanco pulls out all the stops to address and resolve issues with his employees, crossing every imaginable line in the process.
Cohen's Blu-ray of The Good Boss features interviews with Fernando León de Aranoa and Javier Bardem, as well as the film's trailer.
Also coming from Cohen is a Blu-ray of Felix and Lola / Love Street: Two Films Directed by Patrice Leconte (2001-2002). Both films come with new audio commentaries by Wade Majo, (producer/host of the DigiGods podcast, film critic for CineGods.com and KPCC FilmWeek), as well as original trailers.
Finally for new releases this week, Universal Pictures Home Entertainment has a Blu-ray for Adamma Ebo's Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul., starring Regina Hall, Sterling K. Brown, Nicole Beharie, Milli M. and Conphidance.
Description: Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. is a satirical comedy starring Regina Hall as Trinitie Childs - the proud first lady of a Southern Baptist megachurch, who together with her husband Pastor Lee-Curtis Childs (Sterling K. Brown), once served a congregation in the tens of thousands. But after a scandal forces their church to temporarily close, Trinitie and Lee-Curtis must reopen their church and rebuild their congregation to make the biggest comeback that commodified religion has ever seen.
Universal's Blu-ray of Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. contains an alternate ending, deleted scenes and a gag reel.
Also coming from Universal is the first of several holiday-themed 4K UHD upgrades this week: Mark Sandrich's Holiday Inn (1942), starring Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, Marjorie Reynolds, Virginia Dale and Walter Abel. Sourced from a new 4K master and presented with HDR and lossless original mono audio in DTS-HD MA 2.0, Holiday Inn includes several legacy extras, such as audio commentary with historian Ken Barnes, a 45-minute documentary about Crosby and Astaire, two featurettes and the film's theatrical trailer.
But there's more 4K UHD holiday cheer from Universal, as they release The Classic Christmas Specials Collection (1964-1970), a six-disc box set that contains the 4K UHD premieres of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964), Frosty the Snowman (1969) and Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town (1970). All three classic specials will be presented from new 4K masters and have HDR and DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio. Extras include audio commentaries, the documentary The Animagic World of Rankin/Bass, a Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Attraction Film and more. In addition to the box set, the three specials will also be available individually.
Not to be outdone, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has four of their own holiday 4K UHD upgrades this week. First is Bob Clark's A Christmas Story (1983), starring Melinda Dillon, Darren McGavin, Peter Billingsley, Ian Petrella and Scott Schwartz. The 4K UHD disc features audio commentary with Peter Billingsley, while the Blu-ray additionally includes featurettes, script pages and more.
Then from Warner its a 4K UHD upgrade for Jeremiah S. Chechik's National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989), starring Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo, Juliette Lewis, Johnny Galecki and John Randolph. The 4K UHD disc features both original DTS-HD MA 2.0 and a DTS-HD MA 5.1 mix, in addition to cast and crew audio commentary, while the Blu-ray includes the commentary and the film's theatrical trailer.
Also from Warner is a 4K UHD upgrade for Jon Favreau's Elf (2003), starring Will Ferrell, James Caan, Bob Newhart, Edward Asner and Mary Steenburgen. Newly remastered in 4K and with HDR, The Elf 4K UHD disc features DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio and audio commentaries with Will Ferrell and Jon Favreau. Additional extras on the Blu-ray include deleted and extended scenes, behind-the-scenes featurettes, a Focus Points fact track and more.
Finally from Warner is a 4K UHD upgrade for Robert Zemeckis' The Polar Express (2004), featuring the voices of Tom Hanks, Michael Jeter, Nona Gaye, Peter Scolari and Eddie Deezen. Legacy extras on the Blu-ray include several featurettes, a making of and the film's theatrical trailer.