Note: Last Friday, June 9th, Lionsgate Home Entertainment released John Wick: Chapter 4 on Blu-ray and 4K UHD. You can view the Blu-ray releases in our previous article, which has been updated and can be found here.
For the week of June 12th, Universal Pictures Home Entertainment will release Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic's The Super Mario Bros. Movie, starring Chris Pratt, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Day, Jack Black, Keegan-Michael Key and Seth Rogen. Released in April 2023, the animated adaptation of the hugely popular Nintendo video game series received mixed reviews, but smashed several box office records, including taking only a week to become the highest-grossing film based on a video game and becoming the highest-grossing film of 2023, with over $570 million domestically and a staggering $1.3 billion worldwide, so far.
Universal's Blu-ray releases of The Super Mario Bros. Movie contain the film's Dolby Atmos audio, with Dolby Vision HDR on the 4K UHD disc. Extras include a making of featurette, three shorter featurettes and a lyric video. In addition to standard packaging, a Best Buy Exclusive 4K UHD SteelBook, a Target Exclusive Blu-ray with Lenticular Artwork and both a Walmart Exclusive 4K UHD Gift Set and a Walmart Exclusive Blu-ray Gift Set will also be available. Reviewer Martin Liebman gives the discs perfect scores for A/V quality and says the 4K UHD image: "is stout and stellar, here with amplified colors that deepen the Blu-ray's SDR grading for a richer, more robust experience...the Dolby Vision grading leaps off the screen with remarkable intensity and contrast perfection". For full disc breakdowns, read Martin's 4K UHD review, 4K UHD SteelBook review and Blu-ray review.
Also coming from Universal is a Blu-ray for Martin Guigui's Sweetwater (2023), starring Everett Osborne, Cary Elwes, Jeremy Piven, Kevin Pollak, Richard Dreyfuss and Jim Caviezel.
Description: Inspired by true events, witness the extraordinary journey of Nat "Sweetwater" Clifton (Everett Osborne), who made history as the first Black player to sign an NBA contract. At a time when segregation divided sports, New York Knicks coach Joe Lapchick (Jeremy Piven) and team executive Ned Irish (Cary Elwes) see the future of basketball in Sweetwater's dazzling and unorthodox displays of entertaining athleticism. Together, they challenge convention and break through barriers that would change the game forever.
Then from Universal is a Blu-ray for Quantum Leap: Season One (2022-2023), starring Raymond Lee, Caitlin Bassett, Mason Alexander Park, Nanrisa Lee, Ernie Hudson and Georgina Reilly.
Description: It's been nearly 30 years since Dr. Sam Beckett stepped into the Quantum Leap accelerator and vanished. Now, a new team, led by physicist Ben Song (Raymond Lee), has been assembled to restart the project in hope of understanding the mysteries behind the machine and the man who created it. Everything changes, however, when Ben makes an unauthorized leap into the past, leaving the team behind to solve the mystery of why he did it. At Ben's side throughout his leaps is Addison (Caitlin Basset), who appears in the form of a hologram only Ben can see and hear. She's a decorated Army veteran who brings level-headed precision to her job. At the helm of the highly confidential operation is Herbert "Magic" Williams (Ernie Hudson), a no-nonsense career military man who has to answer to his bosses who won't be happy once they learn about the breach of protocol. As Ben leaps from life to life, putting right what once went wrong, it becomes clear that he and the team are on a thrilling journey.
Finally from Universal is a Blu-ray box set for Parenthood: The Complete Series (2010-2015), starring Peter Krause, Lauren Graham, Dax Shepard, Monica Potter, Craig T. Nelson and Bonnie Bedelia.
Description: Family always comes first with the Braverman's in this stunning collection that captures every wise, warm and witty moment from the critically lauded series. From executive producers Ron Howard, Brian Grazer and Jason Katims comes all six seasons of Parenthood, the dramatic series that touches on all the rewarding and real aspects of being a parent, child or sibling. Join an all-star cast, including Peter Krause, Lauren Graham, Dax Shepard and Erika Christensen, as they take on raising babies, toddlers, tweens, teens and even older parents in this gratifying collection guaranteed to make you nostalgic for memories that aren't even your own (Tierney Bricker, E! Online). It's 103 episodes that prove every family is perfect in its own imperfect way.
New on Blu-ray this week from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is Julius Avery's The Pope's Exorcist, starring Russell Crowe, Daniel Zovatto, Alex Essoe, Franco Nero, Peter DeSouza-Feighoney and Laurel Marsden.
Description: Inspired by the actual files of Father Gabriele Amorth, Chief Exorcist of the Vatican (Academy Award®-winner Russell Crowe; 2000, Best Actor, Gladiator), The Pope's Exorcist follows Amorth as he investigates a young boy's terrifying possession and ends up uncovering a centuries-old conspiracy the Vatican has desperately tried to keep hidden.
Sony's Blu-ray of The Pope's Exorcist contains two featurettes: Introducing Father Amorth and What Possessed You?.
Also new on Blu-ray from Sony is Patrick Hughes' The Man From Toronto, starring Woody Harrelson, Kevin Hart, Kaley Cuoco, Pierson Fode, Ellen Barkin and Lela Loren.
Description: Teddy Jackson (Kevin Hart) is a bumbling entrepreneur who can't make any of his ideas work. Taking his wife on a vacation getaway, Teddy ends up at the wrong Airbnb and is mistaken for a vicious assassin known as The Man From Toronto. When the real assassin (Woody Harrelson) arrives, the two realize that they have to work together to escape tenacious FBI agents, bloodthirsty hired killers and a handler (Ellen Barkin) who wants her money back. THE MAN FROM TORONTO is an explosive comedy with wall-to-wall action.
Sony's Blu-ray of The Man From Toronto contains six deleted scenes and an original trailer.
Finally from Sony is a 4K UHD upgrade for James Wan's Insidious (2010), starring Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Ty Simpkins, Lin Shaye, Leigh Whannell and Angus Sampson. The feature has been given a new Dolby Vision HDR grade approved by James Wan and comes with a Dolby Atmos track or 5.1 audio. The 4K UHD disc includes a theatrical trailer, while a bundled Blu-ray contains three featurettes.
New on Blu-ray from Well Go USA is Donnie Yen's Sakra, starring Donnie Yen, Yuqi Chen, Kara Wai, Yue Wu, Eddie Cheung and Grace Kwan-Hing Wong.
Description: Based on the classic wuxia novel Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils by Louis Cha (known worldwide by his pen name Jin Yong), SAKRA stars Donnie Yen as Qiao Feng, the respected leader of a roving band of martial artists. After he is wrongfully accused of murder and subsequently exiled, Qiao Feng goes on the run in search of answers about his own mysterious origin story—and the unknown enemies working to destroy him from the shadows.
Well Go USA's Blu-ray of Sakra contains Cantonese: Dolby Atmos audio, with Mandarin or English: DTS-HD MA 5.1 tracks as well as Dolby Digital 2.0 options in all three languages. Extras include a short making of featurette and a trailer. For a full disc breakdown, read Jeffrey Kauffman's Blu-ray review.
New on Blu-ray from Lionsgate Home Entertainment is Jesse V. Johnson's One Ranger, starring Thomas Jane, John Malkovich, Dominique Tipper, Patrick Bergin, Nick Moran and Dean Jagger.
Description: British Intelligence meets Texas Justice in this white-knuckle action-thriller. A gunslinging Texas ranger (Thomas Jane) tracks a bank robber (Dean Jagger) across the desert— only to discover he's an international terrorist set on detonating a bomb in the heart of London. When the lawman's partner is killed, he is drawn into partnership with a British intelligence agent (Dominique Tipper) and her boss (John Malkovich) to bring the outlaw to justice — dead or alive.
Lionsgate's Blu-ray of One Ranger contains filmmaker audio commentary, a featurette and three deleted scenes.
Finally for new releases this week, Kino Lorber have a Blu-ray for Carlos Conceição's Tommy Guns (Nação Valente), starring João Arrais, Anabela Moreira, Miguel Amorim and Ivo Arroja.
Description:Angolan-Portuguese director Carlos Conceição's audacious and enigmatic Tommy Guns invokes the ghosts of Angola's colonial past while embracing the symbolic power of genre filmmaking. The story begins in 1974, just one year before the country's independence from decades of Portuguese rule. Wealthy colonists are fleeing the country as Angolan revolutionaries gradually claim their land back. A tribal girl discovers love and danger when her path crosses that of a Portuguese soldier. Another group of soldiers, completely cut off from the outside world, blindly follow the brutal orders of their commander in the name of serving their country. But nothing stays fixed in this genre-shifting cinematic puzzle, which playfully swerves from art house drama to war film to zombie flick to escape thriller with exhilarating control. Winner of Best European Film and the Youth Jury Award at the Locarno Film Festival, Tommy Guns has elicited comparisons to the work of Claire Denis, Miguel Gomes, and even M. Night Shyamalan, and announces a bold and exciting new voice in Portuguese and Angolan filmmaking.
Kino's Blu-ray of Tommy Guns features filmmaker audio commentary, deleted scenes and a theatrical trailer.
Coming to 4K UHD this week from the Criterion Collection is Terry Gilliam's Time Bandits (1981), starring Michael Palin, Sean Connery, John Cleese, Shelley Duvall, Katherine Helmond and Ian Holm. Sourced from a new 4K master, Criterion presents Time Bandits with LPCM 2.0 audio and Dolby Vision HDR. Extras include audio commentary, while video extras are included on a legacy Blu-ray, such as Creating the Worlds of Time Bandits, an 80-minute conversation between Gilliam and film scholar Peter von Bagh, Shelley Duvall's appearance on Tom Snyder's The Tomorrow Show (1981) and more. For a full release breakdown, read Svet Atanasov's 4K UHD review.
New on Blu-ray from Cult Epics is Marleen Gorris' A Question of Silence (De stilte rond Christine M.) (1982), starring Edda Barends, Nelly Frijda, Henriëtte Tol, Cox Habbema, Eddie Brugman and Hans Croiset. Sourced from a new 2K master, Cult Epics presents A Question of Silence with a choice of Dutch: LPCM 2.0 Mono or DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono audio and optional English subtitles. Extras include audio commentary by film scholar Patricia Pisters, interviews with Marleen Gorris and Cox Habbema from 1982, a Polygoon Journal newsreel from 1982, the film's theatrical trailer and a promotional gallery.
Coming to Blu-ray from Zeigeist Films is Peter Greenaway's The Draughtsman's Contract (1982), starring Anthony Higgins, Janet Suzman, Anne-Louise Lambert, Hugh Fraser, Neil Cunningham and Dave Hill. Sourced from a new 4K master prepared by the BFI, Zeigeist's Blu-ray contains a short commentary and introduction to the film by Greenaway, four deleted scenes, behind-the-scenes footage and on-set interviews, an interview with composer Michael Nyman, four short films by Greenaway: Intervals (1969), Windows (1974), Dear Phone (1976) and Water Wrackets (1978) and a re-release trailer.
Finally this week, MVD Visual have a 4K UHD upgrade for Barry Levinson's Rain Man (1988), starring Dustin Hoffman, Tom Cruise, Valeria Golino, Gerald R. Molen, Jack Murdock and Michael D. Roberts. Sourced from MGM's director-approved 4K master, MVD Visual presents Rain Man with DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio and Dolby Vision HDR on the 4K UHD disc. Legacy extras include three audio commentaries, two featurettes, a deleted scene and the film's original theatrical trailer. For a full release breakdown, read Jeffrey Kauffman's 4K UHD review and Blu-ray review.