For the week of August 7th, Universal Pictures Home Entertainment will release a Blu-ray and 4K UHD for Louis Leterrier's Fast X, starring Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Chris Bridges, Brie Larson and Jason Momoa.
Studio description: Ever since their saga started on the streets of L.A.'s underground racing scene, Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his family have overcome impossible odds to outsmart, out-nerve and outdrive every foe. Yet when the team took down a nefarious kingpin back in Brazil, they had no idea his son Dante (Jason Momoa) was watching from the shadows. More lethal than any other enemy they've faced, Dante now rises as a terrifying new nemesis who's fueled by revenge and determined to shatter their family and destroy everything and everyone that Dom loves. From London and Brazil to Antarctica and Rome, new alliances are forged and old enemies resurface. But everything changes after Dom discovers his eight-year-old son is Dante's ultimate target.
New this week from Paramount Home Media Distribution is a Blu-ray for 1923: Season One (2023), starring Harrison Ford, Helen Mirren, Brandon Sklenar, Julia Schlaepfer, Jerome Flynn and Darren Mann.
Studio description: From a whirlwind romance out of Africa to the rugged mountain frontier of Montana, the sweeping series 1923 chronicles the unhindered passion and the shocking truths of the American West. Against the backdrop of a rapidly changing post-war world, Western Expansion reveals the depths of human greed and the forced assimilation of Indigenous Peoples. The critically-acclaimed drama recounts the journeys of a multi-generational ensemble as they fight for their legacies to endure and hope that those they depend on will return to the places and people they call home.
Paramount;s Blu-ray of 1923: Season One is a three-disc set with all eight episodes and over two hours of extras, including Unstoppable Change: The Adventure of 1923, I am the Land: Teonna Rainwater, Reflecting Humanity: The Art & Craft of Editing 1923, Behind the Story for each episode and more.
New this week from RLJE Films is a Blu-ray for Bomani J. Story's The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster, starring Laya DeLeon Hayes, Denzel Whitaker, Chad L. Coleman, Reilly Brooke Stith, Keith Holliday and Amani Summer.
Label description: Vicaria is a brilliant teenager who believes death is a disease that can be cured. After the brutal and sudden murder of her brother, she embarks on a dangerous journey to bring him back to life. Inspired by Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, THE ANGRY BLACK GIRL AND HER MONSTER thematically challenges our ideas of life and death. Bomani J. Story, the film's writer and director, crafts a thrilling tale about a family that, despite the terrors of systemic pressure, will survive and be reborn again.
New on Blu-ray from Well Go USA is Kwak Jeong-duk's Night of the Assassin (살수), starring Mun-shik Lee, Sung-won Choi, Lee Jung-Min, Byeong-chun Kim, Jae Hoon Park and Hyeon-jun Shin.
Description: After a deadly, long-dormant health condition surfaces during a mission, Joseon's most lethal assassin goes into hiding to seek a cure without revealing his identity. But upon witnessing a ruthless campaign of terror against local villagers, the region's deadliest killer comes out of retirement in order to exact his own brutal brand of vigilante justice.
Well Go USA's Blu-ray of Night of the Assassin contains a trailer. For a full disc breakdown, read Jeffrey Kauffman's Blu-ray review.
New on Blu-ray from Vertical Entertainment is Timo Vuorensola's 97 Minutes, starring Alec Baldwin, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, MyAnna Buring, Anjul Nigam, Slavko Sobin and Michael Sirow.
Description: A hijacked 767 will crash in just 97 minutes when its fuel runs out. Against the strong will of NSA Deputy Toyin, NSA Director Hawkins prepares to have the plane shot down before it does any catastrophic damage on the ground, leaving the fate of the innocent passengers in the hands of Alex, an undercover Interpol agent who has been embedded in the terrorist cell.
New on Blu-ray from Acorn Media comes The Brokenwood Mysteries: Series 9 (2023). The three-disc set contains six feature-length episodes across three discs.
Newx from Music Box Films is a Blu-ray for Rebecca Zlotowski's Other People's Children (Les Enfants des autres), starring Virginie Efira, Roschdy Zem, Chiara Mastroianni, Callie Ferreira-Goncalves and Yamée Couture.
Description: When dedicated high school teacher Rachel (Virginie Efira) falls in love with Ali (Roschdy Zem), it's not long before she also falls for his 4-year-old daughter Leila. The adolescent giddiness of Rachel and Ali's late night rendezvous and secret sleepovers evolves into the familiar warmth of family picnics and after-school pickups. Although she feels like a mother, Rachel is not allowed to forget that Lelia is another woman's daughter. She begins to long for a child of her own, but as a forty-something woman, she is abundantly aware that she has limited time to begin a family. Rachel must decide whether to embrace the inherent entanglements of her current situation, including the looming presence of Ali's ex-wife Alice (Chiara Mastroanni) or strike out again on her own. Other People's Children becomes a soulful, sexy, and resolutely grown-up story of the elusive quest for agency and belonging.
Music Box's Blu-ray of Other People's Children contains a cast and crew interview featurette, a TIFF Originals Q & A with Rebecca Zlotowski and Virginie Efira, TV spots and a trailer. For a full disc breakdown, read Jeffrey Kauffman's Blu-ray review.
Finally for new releases, Kino Lorber has a Blu-ray for Pietro Marcello's Scarlet (L'Envol) (2022), starring Raphaël Thiéry, Juliette Jouan, Louis Garrel, Noémie Lvovsky and Yolande Moreau.
Description: Pietro Marcello, one of contemporary cinema's most versatile talents, follows up his dramatic breakthrough Martin Eden (2019) with this enchanting period fable. Shortly after World War I, veteran Raphaël (Raphaël Thiery) returns home from the frontlines to find himself a widower, and father to an infant daughter. Raised by her father in rural Normandy, the child Juliette (Juliette Jouan) grows into a lonely young woman who dreams of greater possibilities. She seeks refuge in the nearby woods, where she meets a witch who promises scarlet sails will one day take her away from her village. Reckoning with her future and swept away by a rakish young pilot (Louis Garrel) who literally falls from the sky, Juliette never stops believing in the witch's prophecy. Tracing Juliette's journey throughout the 20 years of great invention between the world wars, Scarlet delicately weaves together music and fantasy, history and folklore, realist drama and ethereal romance, to craft a timeless story of a young woman's emancipation.
Kino's Blu-ray of Scarlet contains a Q & A with director Pietro Marcello, a making of documentary and a theatrical trailer.
Turning to catalog titles. Kino has a Blu-ray for Henri Decoin's Strangers in the House (Les Inconnus dans la maison) (1942), starring Raimu, Juliette Faber, Jean Tissier, Jacques Baumer, Noël Roquevert and André Reybaz. Kino's Blu-ray of Strangers in the House is sourced from a 2K master prepared by Gaumont and contains a new audio commentary with film historians Howard S. Berger and Nathaniel Thompson.
Also from Kino is a Blu-ray for Ida Lupino's Outrage (1950), starring Mala Powers, Tod Andrews, Robert Clarke, Raymond Bond, Lillian Hamilton and Rita Lupino. Kino's Blu-ray of Outrage is sourced from a 4K scan of a 35mm fine grain by Paramount Pictures and contains a new audio commentary with film historian Imogen Sara Smith.
Coming to 4K UHD from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment is Robert Clouse's Enter the Dragon (1973), starring Bruce Lee, John Saxon, Jim Kelly, Ahna Capri, Kien Shih and Robert Wall. In celebration of the film's 50th anniversary, Warner has scanned the original camera negative of Enter the Dragon in 4K and provided both the 99-minute original US version and the 103-minute Special Edition, which premiered in 1998. Both versions contain a new Dolby Atmos audio mix, as well as a DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono track, which restores Bruce Lee's own dialogue to a scene in the Special Edition for the first time. Extras on this single-disc 4K UHD release are limited to an archival audio commentary with producer Paul Heller and writer Michael Allin and a short archival video introduction by Linda Lee Cadwell. In addition to standard packaging, a Best Buy Exclusive SteelBook will also be available. For a full disc breakdown, read Randy Miller's 4K UHD review.
Coming to remastered Blu-ray and 4K UHD from MVD Visual is Wes Craven's Swamp Thing (1982), starring Adrienne Barbeau, Louis Jourdan, Ray Wise, David Hess, Nicholas Worth and Al Ruban. MVD Visual presents both the US PG-rated and uncut versions of Swamp Thing in a new 4K master from the original camera negative, with DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono audio and Dolby Vision HDR on the 4K UHD disc. Extras are ported from previous Blu-ray editions and include two legacy audio commentaries (on Blu-ray and 4K UHD), cast and crew interviews, multiple photo galleries and a theatrical trailer. Additionally, collectible packaging features a retro "4K LaserVision" slipcover and mini-poster. For a full disc breakdown, read Jeffrey Kauffman's 4K UHD review and Blu-ray review.
Coming to Blu-ray from Arbelos Films is Wendell B. Harris Jr.'s Chameleon Street (1989), starring Wendell B. Harris Jr., Timothy Alvaro, Renauld Bailleux, William Ballenger, Lynn Barbee and Jerome Barney. Arbelos presents Chameleon Street from a new 4K scan of the original 35mm camera negative. Extras include two new audio commentaries, with Wendell B. Harris Jr. and Ashley Clark and with the cast and crew, as well as legacy extras like Harris' short film Colette Vignette (1986), a making of documentary, featurettes, archive footage and both original and re-release trailers.
Coming to 4K UHD from the Criterion Collection is Akira Kurosawa and Ishiro Honda's Dreams (1990), starring Akira Terao, Martin Scorsese, Mitsuko Baishô, Toshie Negishi, Mieko Harada and Yoshitaka Zushi. Sourced from a 4K master supervised by cinematographer Shoji Ueda, Criterion presents Dreams with DTS-HD MA 2.0 Surround audio and HDR. Extras include audio commentary with film scholar Stephen Prince, while an included legacy Blu-ray disc contains video extras, including filmmaker Nobuhiko Obayashi's 150-minute making of documentary Making of Dreams (1990). Kurosawa's Way (2011), a 52-minute documentary by Kurosawa's translator Catherine Cadou, interviews with production manager Teruyo Nogami and assistant director Takashi Koizumi and a trailer for the film.
Finally this week, Shout Factory has a worldwide Blu-ray premiere for Steven Brill's Little Nicky (2000), starring Adam Sandler, Patricia Arquette, Harvey Keitel, Rhys Ifans, Tommy 'Tiny' Lister and Rodney Dangerfield. Sourced from a new 2K scan of an interpositive, Shout presents Little Nicky with DTS-HD MA 5.1 or 2.0 audio tracks. Extras include two legacy audio commentaries with the cast and crew, the behind-the-scenes documentary Adam Sandler Goes to Hell, the heavy metal documentary Satan's Top 40, and deleted, extended and alternate scenes.