For the week of April 3rd, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has a 4K UHD upgrade for John Huston's The Maltese Falcon (1941), starring Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Gladys George, Peter Lorre, Barton MacLane and Lee Patrick. Sourced from a new 4K master, Warner presents The Maltese Falcon with HDR and DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono audio. Extras include legacy audio commentary with Eric Lax, while the bundled Blu-ray matches the original 2010 release and also includes featurettes, documentaries, three radio show adaptations and more. Reviewer Randy Miller highly recommends the new 4K UHD release, calling the picture "a sight to behold" and saying the disc "proves itself consistently up to the challenge of presenting this film in a near-definitive presentation". For a full release breakdown, read Randy's 4K UHD review.
Also coming to 4K UHD from Warner is Stuart Rosenberg's Cool Hand Luke (1967), starring Paul Newman, George Kennedy, J.D. Cannon, Lou Antonio, Robert Drivas and Strother Martin. Sourced from a new 4K master, Warner presents Cool Hand Luke with HDR and DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono audio. Extras include legacy audio commentary with Eric Lax, the featurette A Natural-Born World-Shaker: Making Cool Hand Luke, and the film's theatrical trailer. In addition to standard packaging, a Best Buy Exclusive SteelBook edition will also be available. For a full release breakdown, read Randy's 4K UHD review.
Coming to 4K UHD from Shout Factory this week is Martin Brest's Midnight Run (1988), starring Robert De Niro, Charles Grodin, Yaphet Kotto, John Ashton, Dennis Farina and Joe Pantoliano. Sourced from a new 4K scan of the film's original camera negative, Shout presents Midnight Run with Dolby Vision HDR and DTS-HD MA 5.1 and 2.0 audio. A newly remastered Blu-ray is also included and features the same extras as Shout's 2016 Blu-ray which are several then-new cast and crew interviews,a vintage featurette and the film's theatrical trailer.
Also coming from Shout is the Blu-ray premiere of Barry Levinson's Envy (2004), starring Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Rachel Weisz, Amy Poehler, and Christopher Walken. The release includes DTS-HD MA 5.1 and 2.0 audio, while extras include a theatrical trailer, TV spot and stills gallery.
Paramount Home Media Distribution are also bringing several titles to 4K UHD in the form of the Star Trek: The Next Generation Motion Picture Collection (1994-2002), an eight-disc box set that contains the 4K UHD premieres of Star Trek: Generations (1994), Star Trek: First Contact (1996), Star Trek: Insurrection (1998) and Star Trek: Nemesis (2002). All four films are presented with Dolby Vision HDR and remastered Blu-rays are also included, with each film having Dolby TrueHD 7.1 sound. Extras on the Blu-rays duplicate the bonus content of previous editions, with multiple audio commentaries, text commentaries, documentaries, featurettes and much more. In addition to the box set, the four films will also be available as standalone releases, which can be accessed by clicking on the films linked above. Remastered Blu-ray-only editions will also be available.
New this week from Paramount is a Blu-ray for Greg Mottola's Confess, Fletch, starring Jon Hamm, Roy Wood Jr., Annie Mumolo, Ayden Mayeri, Lorenza Izzo and John Slattery.
Studio description: In this delightful comedy romp, Jon Hamm stars as the roguishly charming and endlessly troublesome Fletch, who becomes the prime suspect in a murder case while searching for a stolen art collection. The only way to prove his innocence? Find out which of the long list of suspects is the culprit - from the eccentric art dealer and a missing playboy to a crazy neighbor and Fletch's Italian girlfriend. Crime, in fact, has never been this disorganized.
New this week from Artsploitation Films is a Blu-ray for Hernán Findling's Virtual Reality (Realidad Virtual). starring Vanesa González, Federico Bal, Christian Sancho, Guillermo Berthold and César Bordón.
Description: A film director agrees to a dark pact to help his career take off. When he summons the cast and crew to his house for a first-cut screening, they will have to survive a reality they never saw coming.
Artsploitation Films' Blu-ray of Virtual Reality contains a trailer.
William Castle's Undertow (1949), starring Scott Brady, John Russell, Dorothy Hart, Peggy Dow, Bruce Bennett and Gregg Martell. Presented from a new 2K master, with a new audio commentary by Scott Brady's son Tim Tierney and professor/film scholar Jason A. Ney.
Crane Wilbur's Outside the Wall (1950), starring Richard Basehart, Marilyn Maxwell, Signe Hasso, Dorothy Hart, Joseph Pevney and Lloyd Gough. Presented from a new 2K master, with a new audio commentary by author/film historian Alan K. Rode.
Hugo Haas' Hold Back Tomorrow (1955), starring John Agar, Cleo Moore, Frank DeKova, Dallas Boyd, Steffi Sidney and Mel Welles. Presented from a new 2K master, with a newly remastered theatrical trailer.
Also coming to Blu-ray from Kino is Jim McBride's The Big Easy (1986), starring Dennis Quaid, Ellen Barkin, Ned Beatty, John Goodman, Lisa Jane Persky and Ebbe Roe Smith. Sourced from a 2021 HD master by Lionsgate, Kino presents The Big Easy with a new audio commentary by director Jim McBride, moderated by filmmaker Douglas Hosdale, as well as the film's theatrical trailer. Limited edition packaging includes a slipcover.
Finally this week, Grasshopper Films has a Blu-ray for Lodge Kerrigan's Keane (2004), starring Damian Lewis, Abigail Breslin, Amy Ryan, Christopher Evan Welch and Tina Holmes. Grasshopper Films presents Keane from a new 4K scan of the original camera negative, which was supervised by Lodge Kerrigan and Kristina Boden. Extras include Steven Soderbergh's alternate cut of the film, and a theatrical trailer.