Arrow Video Announces June Releases

Home

Arrow Video Announces June Releases

Posted March 31, 2023 07:13 PM by Webmaster

Arrow Video has announced its June batch of 4K Blu-ray and Blu-ray releases. They are: The Game Trilogy (1978-1979), Waterworld (1995), The Lighthouse (2019), Mallrats (1995), Warriors Two (1978), and Enter the Video Store: Empire of Screams (1984-1989).

The Game Trilogy

Description: Made at the end of the 1970s, Toru Murakawa's Game Trilogy launched actor Yusaku Matsuda as the Toei tough guy for a new generation. Matsuda was the definitive screen icon of 1980s until his career was tragically cut short by cancer at the age of 40, following his Hollywood debut in Ridley Scott's Black Rain.

In this career-defining triptych, Matsuda is Shohei Narumi, an ice cool hitman of few words, a steely trigger finger, and a heart of stone, hired in The Most Dangerous Game by a company bidding for a lucrative government air defence contract to take out the competition. In The Killing Game, Narumi finds himself caught in the midst of violent yakuza gang warfare, while his own brutal past catches up with him in the form of two beautiful women still bearing the emotional scars of his past assignments. In The Execution Game, Narumi falls for a mysterious saloon bar chanteuse who may or may not be part of the same, shadowy underworld organisation as the rival hitmen he is employed to rub out.

Released for the very first time outside Japan, with their cool blue cinematography by Nagisa Oshima collaborator Seizo Sengen and a sultry score by jazz legend Yuji Ohno, Murakawa's masterful set of films raised the bar for the Japanese action movie to new heights.

Special Features and Technical Specs:
  • High Definition presentations of all films
  • Original lossless mono Japanese soundtracks
  • Optional newly translated English subtitles
  • Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Tony Stella
  • Double-sided fold-out poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Tony Stella
  • Illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing on the films by Hayley Scanlon and Dimitri Ianni
DISC ONE: THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME
  • Brand new audio commentary by Chris Poggiali and Marc Walkow
  • The Action Man, a 30-minute interview with director Toru Murakawa
  • Original Japanese theatrical trailer
  • Image gallery
DISC TWO: THE KILLING GAME & THE EXECUTION GAME
  • Brand new audio commentary on The Killing Game by Earl Jackson and Jasper Sharp
  • Brand new audio commentary on The Execution Game by Tom Mes
  • Remembering Yusaku Matsuda, an interview with Yutaka Oki, film critic and personal friend of Yusaku Matsuda
  • Game Changer, an interview with The Execution Game screenwriter Shoichi Maruyama
  • Original Japanese theatrical trailers for both films
  • Image galleries for both films
U.S. STREET DATE: JUNE 20.
UK STREET DATE: JUNE 19.

Waterworld 4K Bu-ray

Description: The most expensive film ever made at the time of its release, Waterworld has thrilled audiences through the years with its awe-inspiring Action & Adventure scenes, gargantuan maritime sets and ground-breaking special effects.

A definitive post-apocalypse blockbuster, Waterworld stars Kevin Costner (The Untouchables) as The Mariner – a mutant trader, adrift in a dystopian future where Earth is submerged under water and humankind struggles to survive on boats and in ramshackle floating cities. The Mariner becomes embroiled with the Smokers, a gang of pirates who, led by villainous leader Deacon (Dennis Hopper, Blue Velvet), are seeking Enola (Tina Majorino, Napoleon Dynamite), a girl with a map to the mythical realm of Dryland tattooed on her back.

Famous for both its epic scale and the controversy that swirled around its production, Waterworld is a key cult film of the 1990s, and an essential entry into the subgenre of ecologically-minded blockbusters. Presented here in an exclusive new restoration of the theatrical cut in 4K Ultra HD, alongside Blu-ray presentations of the TV and Ulysses cuts, and with a wealth of extra material, this high-water mark of high-concept Hollywood can now be enjoyed as never before.

Special Features and Technical Specs:
  • Three cuts of the film newly restored from original film elements by Arrow Films
  • Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • Six collector's postcards
  • Double-sided fold-out poster
  • Limited edition 60-page perfect bound book featuring writing on the film by David J. Moore and Daniel Griffith, and archival articles
  • Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Paul Shipper
DISC ONE – THE THEATRICAL CUT (4K BLU-RAY)
  • DOLBY VISION/HDR PRESENTATION
  • Dolby Atmos, 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and 2.0 stereo audio options
  • Maelstrom: The Odyssey of Waterworld – feature-length making-of documentary including extensive cast and crew interviews and behind the scenes footage
  • Dances With Waves – original archival featurette capturing the film's production
  • Global Warnings – film critic Glenn Kenny explores the subgenre of ecologically themed end-of-the-world films
  • Production and promotional still gallery
  • Visual effects still gallery
  • Original trailers and TV spots
DISC TWO – THE TV CUT (BLU-RAY) [LIMITED EDITION EXCLUSIVE]
  • High Definition presentation of the extended US TV cut, which runs over 40 minutes longer than the theatrical cut
  • Original 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and 2.0 stereo audio options
DISC THREE – THE ULYSSES CUT (BLU-RAY) [LIMITED EDITION EXCLUSIVE]
  • High Definition presentation of the extended European Ulysses cut, which include previously censored shots and dialogue
  • Original 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and 2.0 stereo audio options
U.S. STREET DATE: JANE 27.
UK STREET DATE: JUNE 26.

The Lighthouse 4K Blu-ray

Description: From Robert Eggers, the visionary director of The Witch and The Northman, comes The Lighthouse, a hypnotic and hallucinatory tale of two men teetering on the edge of sanity.

Two "wickies" – one inexperienced (Robert Pattinson, Tenet), the other a grizzled veteran (Willem Dafoe, To Live and Die in LA) – arrive on a remote New England island in the 1890s for a four-week stint maintaining the local lighthouse. But as isolation and personal differences take their toll, both men slowly succumb to their inner demons and to the strange, otherworldly allure of the lighthouse itself…

Featuring virtuoso performances by its two leads, striking and period-authentic monochrome photography, and shot through with wickedly dark humour, The Lighthouse is an intense, claustrophobic experience like no other that cements Eggers' status as one of the most exciting filmmakers of our time.

Special Features and Technical Specs:
  • DOLBY VISION/HDR PRESENTATION OF THE FILM approved by director Robert Eggers
  • Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • Brand new audio commentary by authors Guy Adams and Alexandra Benedict
  • Audio commentary by co-writer/director Robert Eggers
  • Art of Darkness: Making The Lighthouse – a brand new, in-depth documentary on the film, its production, themes and influences, featuring new interviews with co-writer/director Robert Eggers, director of photography Jarin Blaschke, production designer Craig Lathrop, costume designer Linda Muir and authors Guy Adams and Alexandra Benedict
  • The Lighthouse Next Door: The Consuming House Tale of Robert Eggers' The Lighthouse – a brand new visual essay on the film and its folklore influences by author and critic Kat Ellinger
  • The Lighthouse: A Dark & Stormy Tale – a three-part documentary on the making of the film
  • Deleted scenes
  • Two theatrical trailers
  • Image gallery
  • Limited edition packaging with reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Jeffrey Alan Love
  • Limited edition 60-page perfect bound book featuring new writing on the film by Simon Abrams, Wickham Clayton, Martyn Conterio and Alexandra Heller-Nicholas
  • Fold-out double-sided poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Jeffrey Alan Love
  • Six double-sided collector's postcards
UK STREET DATE: JUNE 12.

The Lighthouse

Special Features and Technical Specs:
  • 1080p PRESENTATION OF THE FILM approved by director Robert Eggers
  • Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • Brand new audio commentary by authors Guy Adams and Alexandra Benedict
  • Audio commentary by co-writer/director Robert Eggers
  • Art of Darkness: Making The Lighthouse – a brand new, in-depth documentary on the film, its production, themes and influences, featuring new interviews with co-writer/director Robert Eggers, director of photography Jarin Blaschke, production designer Craig Lathrop, costume designer Linda Muir and authors Guy Adams and Alexandra Benedict
  • The Lighthouse Next Door: The Consuming House Tale of Robert Eggers' The Lighthouse – a brand new visual essay on the film and its folklore influences by author and critic Kat Ellinger
  • The Lighthouse: A Dark & Stormy Tale – a three-part documentary on the making of the film
  • Deleted scenes
  • Two theatrical trailers
  • Image gallery
  • Limited edition packaging with reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Jeffrey Alan Love
  • Limited edition 60-page perfect bound book featuring new writing on the film by Simon Abrams, Wickham Clayton, Martyn Conterio and Alexandra Heller-Nicholas
  • Fold-out double-sided poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Jeffrey Alan Love
  • Six double-sided collector's postcards
UK STREET DATE: JUNE 12.

Mallrats 4K Bu-ray

Description: Following the smash success of his first feature, Clerks, Kevin Smith returned with Mallrats. Spawning a raft of characters and in-jokes that Smith would carry throughout his career, the film continued the one-of-a-kind comedic world known as the View Askewniverse.

Simultaneously dumped by their girlfriends, comic book obsessive Brodie (Jason Lee) and best friend TS (Jeremy London) plan to ease the pain of their losses by taking take a trip to the local mall. Amongst shoppers, they discover the mall is being used as the venue for a dating show, in which TS's girlfriend Brandi is the star. Hatching a plan to win back their significant others, Brodie and TS enlist the help of professional delinquents Jay and Silent Bob to hijack the gameshow in a bid to win back Brandi. Meanwhile, Brodie carries out his own mission to make good his relationship with Rene (Shannen Doherty), who has attracted the attentions of his nemesis Shannon (Ben Affleck).

Featuring a cast including Joey Lauren Adams, Ben Affleck, who would go on to be recurring collaborators in Smith's movies, Mallrats can now be rediscovered in this 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray edition boasting a beautiful restoration and hours of bonus content.

Special Features and Technical Specs:
  • 4K RESTORATION by Arrow Films of both the Theatrical and Extended cuts of the film, approved by director Kevin Smith and cinematographer David Klein
  • DOLBY VISION/HDR PRESENTATION OF THE FILM
  • Original DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround audio
  • Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing on all cuts
  • Audio commentary on the Theatrical version and and other cut with director Kevin Smith, producer Scott Mosier, archivist Vincent Pereira, and actors Jason Lee, Ben Affleck, and Jason Mewes
  • Introduction to the film by Kevin Smith
  • My Mallrat Memories, an interview with Kevin Smith
  • Tribute to producer Jim Jacks by Kevin Smith
  • Interview with actor Jason Mewes
  • Interview with Cinematographer David Klein
  • Hollywood of the North, an animated making-of documentary featuring Minnesota crew members who worked on the film
  • Deleted Scenes, Kevin Smith and Vincent Pereira discuss deleted scenes and sequences originally cut from the film
  • Outtakes and behind the scenes footage
  • Cast interviews from the original set
  • Erection of an Epic: The making of Mallrats, an archival retrospective with cast and crew looking at the making and release of the film
  • Q&A with Kevin Smith, archival Q&A filmed for the 10th anniversary
  • 'Build Me Up Buttercup' music video
  • Still galleries
  • Archival introduction to the extended cut by Kevin Smith and Scott Mossier
  • Soundtrack EPK
  • Dailies
  • Theatrical trailer
  • Easter eggs
  • Illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing by Philip Kemp
  • Fold out poster featuring replica blueprints for 'Operation Drive-by' and 'Operation Dark Knight'
  • Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Robert Sammelin
U.S STREET DATE: JUNE 27.

Warriors Two

After making his directorial debut with the intense The Iron-Fisted Monk and firmly solidifying his worth at Golden Harvest, Sammo Hung would be given more creative control behind the camera. Now able to inject more of his own personality, Hung would bring to life the more upbeat (yet only slightly less violent) Wing Chun cult classic: Warriors Two!

Cashier Hua (Casanova Wong, The Shaolin Plot) leads a simple life working for a local bank, the only complications resulting from trying to give life advice to his friend Fat Chun (Hung). When Hua discovers a murderous plot to overthrow the mayor and is left for dead, Chun urges him to protect himself by learning the formidable style of Wing Chun from master Leung Tsan (Knockabout's "Beardy" Leung Kar-Yan). As Hua's skill set grows, his proximity to Leung unknowingly lands him in the crosshairs of the treacherous scoundrels who previously sought to kill him…

Predating the Ip Man quadrilogy by three decades – as well as Hung's own The Prodigal Son (starring Yuen Biao as the younger incarnation of Leung Tsan) by a few years – Warriors Two is one of the earliest films to authentically portray the teachings of Wing Chun while also delivering the kind of kinetic and pulse-pounding fights synonymous with the name Sammo Hung!

Special Features and Technical Specs:
  • 2K RESTORATIONS from the original elements by Fortune Star of both the original HK Theatrical Cut and the shorter Export Cut
  • Original lossless Cantonese and Mandarin mono audio for the HK Theatrical Cut, plus lossless English mono for the export cut
  • Two choices of English dubbed audio for the HK Theatrical Cut: the original export dub mono (with Cantonese patches for missing scenes) and the newer 5.1 dub created for international DVD presentations
  • Optional English subtitles for the HK Theatrical Cut and English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing on the Export Cut
  • Commentary on the HK Theatrical Cut by martial arts cinema expert Frank Djeng & actor Bobby Samuels
  • Commentary on the Export Cut by action cinema experts Mike Leeder & Arne Venema
  • Archival documentary The Way of the Warrior: The Making of Warriors Two, featuring interviews with stars Sammo Hung, Bryan "Beardy" Leung Ka-Yan, Feng Hak-An, Casanova Wong and Wing Chun master Guy Lai
  • Archival interview with Bryan "Beardy" Leung Ka-Yan
  • Original theatrical trailers
  • Double-sided fold-out poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Joe Kim
  • Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Joe Kim
  • Illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing by Jonathan Clements and original press materials
U.S. STREET DATE: JUNE 6.

Enter the Video Store: Empire of Screams

Description: Remember the shelves of your local video store? Those days aren't gone! Reject reality and substitute your own with Arrow Video! In 1983, entrepreneurial producer and director Charles Band founded Empire International Pictures, which would go on to make some of the most memorable and beloved genre movies of the 1980s. Empire became a mainstay of video stores across the world with their catchy titles, outlandish art and Band's wholehearted belief in giving audiences a good time.

In The Dungeonmaster (AKA Ragewar), computer programmer Paul Bradford is sucked into a fantasy world by Mestema, a demonic sorcerer in search of a worthy opponent. Meanwhile, fresh from the one-two punch of Re-Animator and From Beyond, director Stuart Gordon takes a turn toward fairytale gothic in Dolls, in which a group of strangers find themselves forced to seek shelter at the isolated home of an old toymaker and his wife, only to find that the puppets and dolls have a vicious life of their own. In Cellar Dweller, a comic book artist (Jeffrey Combs) with a penchant for the macabre takes inspiration from an ancient tome and unleashes an ancient evil. Arena presents the ultimate fight night event: man vs monster! In the far future of 4038, a short order cook becomes the first human in fifty years to compete in an intergalactic boxing event on the far side of the universe. Finally in Robot Jox, Stuart Gordon directs Empire Pictures' most ambitious movie yet, as men and women pilot giant machines in gladiatorial battle to settle international disputes over territory.

Freshly restored for the digital era with a wealth of new and archival extras, these films have never looked better. No need for a time machine, these golden age video classics will send you back to the 80s!

Special Features and Technical Specs:
  • High Definition presentations of all five films
  • Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • Limited edition packaging featuring newly commissioned artwork by Laurie Greasley
  • Reversible sleeves featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Ilan Sheady
  • Double sided posters for each film featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Ilan Sheady
  • 15 postcard-sized reproduction artcards
  • Arrow Video store "membership card"
  • 80-page perfect bound book featuring new writing on the films by Lee Gambin, Dave Jay, Megan Navarro, and John Harrison plus select archival material
DISC ONE - THE DUNGEONMASTER
  • New 2K restoration by Arrow Films from the original negative
  • Three different versions of the film via seamless branching: the US theatrical version (The Dungeonmaster), the pre-release version and the international version (Ragewar)
  • Original lossless mono audio
  • New audio commentary with star Jeffrey Byron, moderated by film critics Matty Budrewicz and Dave Wain
  • I Reject Your Reality and Substitute My Own, a new interview with star Jeffrey Byron
  • Theatrical trailers
  • Image gallery
DISC TWO - DOLLS
  • New 2K restoration by Arrow Films from the original interpositive
  • Original lossless stereo audio
  • New audio commentary by David Decoteau, Empire alumnus and friend of Stuart Gordon
  • Archive audio commentary with director Stuart Gordon and writer Ed Naha
  • Archive audio commentary with cast members Carolyn Purdy-Gordon, Stephen Lee, Carrie Lorraine, and Ian Patrick Williams
  • Assembling Dolls, a new interview with Lee Percy, editor of Dolls, Re-Animator and From Beyond
  • Toys of Terror: The Making of Dolls, an archive featurette with Gordon, Yuzna, Purdy-Gordon, Williams, Brian Yuzna, Charles Band and Gabe Bartalos
  • Film-to-storyboard comparison
  • Theatrical trailers
  • Image gallery
DISC THREE - CELLAR DWELLER
  • Additional picture restoration by Arrow Films
  • Original lossless stereo audio
  • New audio commentary by special make-up effects artist Michael Deak who inhabited the Cellar Dweller creature suit, moderated by film critics Matty Budrewicz and Dave Wain
  • Grabbed by the Ghoulies, a new appreciation of John Carl Buechler, special make-up effects artist of many Empire Pictures films and director of Cellar Dweller, by film critics Matty Budrewicz and Dave Wain
  • Inside the Cellar, a new interview with special make-up effects artist Michael Deak
  • Original sales sheet
  • Original production notes
  • VHS trailer
  • Empire Pictures trailer reel
  • Image galleries, including behind the scenes photos courtesy of special make-up effects artist Michael Deak
DISC FOUR - ARENA
  • New 2K restoration by Arrow Films from the last known surviving 35mm elements
  • Original lossless stereo audio
  • New audio commentary with director Peter Manoogian, moderated by film critics Matty Budrewicz and Dave Wain
  • Alternative fullframe presentation
  • Not His Arena, a new interview with co-screenwriter Danny Bilson
  • Empire of Creatures, a new interview with special make-up effects artist Michael Deak
  • Theatrical trailer
  • Image gallery
DISC FIVE - ROBOT JOX
  • New 2K restoration by Arrow Films from the original negative
  • Original lossless stereo audio
  • Archive audio commentary with director Stuart Gordon
  • Archive audio commentary with associate effects director Paul Gentry, mechanical effects artist Mark Rappaport, and stop-motion animator Paul Jessell
  • Crash and Burn, a new interview with actor Gary Graham
  • Her Name is Athena, a new Interview with actor Anne-Marie Johnson
  • The Scale of Battle: David Allen and the FX of Robot Jox, a new appreciation of stop motion animator David Allen by those who knew him, featuring contributions from fellow visual effects artists Steve Burg, Yancy Calzeda, Paul Gentry, Kevin Kutchaver, Dennis Muren and John Vincent
  • Looking Back, an archival interview with actor Paul Koslo
  • Original sales sheet
  • Original production notes
  • Theatrical trailer
  • Image galleries, including behind the scenes stills courtesy of associate effects director Paul Gentry
U.S. STREET DATE: JUNE 27.
UK STREET DATE: JUNE 26.