Posted November 26, 2023 09:43 PM by Sean Greenwood
For the week of November 27th, Walt Disney Home Entertainment will release WandaVision: The Complete Series (2021), starring Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany, Kathryn Hahn, Teyonah Parris, Randall Park and Kat Dennings.
Description: Marvel Studios' captivating new series "WandaVision," which premieres in early 2021 on Disney+. Starring Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany, "WandaVision" marks the first series from Marvel Studios streaming exclusively on Disney+. The series is a blend of classic television and the Marvel Cinematic Universe in which Wanda Maximoff and Vision—two super-powered beings living idealized suburban lives—begin to suspect that everything is not as it seems.
Disney's 4K UHD release of WandaVision: The Complete Series contains HDR and Dolby Atmos audio. Extras include Through the Eras, deleted scenes, a gag reel and a making of featurette. Note that this release will be available in separate 4K UHD and Blu-ray SteelBook editions.
Also coming from Disney and 20th Century Studios is a Blu-ray for Kenneth Branagh's A Haunting in Venice, starring Kenneth Branagh, Jamie Dornan, Tina Fey, Kelly Reilly, Michelle Yeoh and Kyle Allen.
Description: A Haunting in Venice is set in eerie, post-World War II Venice on All Hallows' Eve and is a terrifying mystery featuring the return of the celebrated sleuth, Hercule Poirot. Now retired and living in self-imposed exile in the world's most glamorous city, Poirot reluctantly attends a séance at a decaying, haunted palazzo. When one of the guests is murdered, the detective is thrust into a sinister world of shadows and secrets.
Disney's Blu-ray of A Haunting in Venice contains DTS-HD MA 7.1 audio. Extras include the featurette Murder, Death and Haunting and deleted scenes. For a full disc breakdown, read Jeffrey Kauffman's Blu-ray review.
Coming to 4K UHD and Blu-ray from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment is The Sandman: The Complete First Season (2022), starring Tom Sturridge, Boyd Holbrook, Vivienne Acheampong, Patton Oswalt, David Thewlis and Jenna Coleman.
Description: Based on the beloved award-winning DC comic series written by Neil Gaiman (American Gods, Coraline), THE SANDMAN is a rich, character-driven blend of myth and dark fantasy woven together over the course of ten epic chapters following Dream's many adventures (plus a bonus episode featuring two fan-favorite stories). When the Sandman, a.k.a. Dream (Tom Sturridge, Sweetbitter, Velvet Buzzsaw) — the powerful cosmic being who controls all our dreams — is unexpectedly captured and held prisoner for over a century, he must journey across different worlds and timelines to fix the chaos his absence has caused.
Warner's Blu-ray releases of The Sandman: The Complete First Season contain Dolby Atmos audio, with HDR on the 4K UHD edition. Extras include the featurettes The Sandman - Behind the scenes sneak peek and The World of the Endless.
New on Blu-ray from Well Go USA is Yang BingJia's Eye for an Eye: The Blind Swordsman (目中无人), starring Miao Xie, Weiman Gao, Hao Xiang, Ben Liu, Di Zhang and Haosen Zhang.
Description: Blind Cheng, known as the "knife-catcher", is a bounty hunter with great skills. When he meets an abused young girl after her family was massacred, he initially doesn't want to get involved, but driven by rage and guided by justice, he intervenes.
New on Blu-ray from Sentai Filmworks is Hiroshi Ikehata's anime series Management of a Novice Alchemist: Complete Collection (新米錬金術師の店舗経営) (2022), starring Kanon Takao, Hina Kino, Saori Ōnishi, Nanaka Suwa, Hiromichi Tezuka and Mitsuki Saiga.
Description: Orphaned Sarasa Feed just graduated from the Royal Alchemist Academy and is now a full-fledged alchemist! She longs for a life of luxury, but there's only one place Sarasa can afford to set up shop — and her dilapidated new digs are way out in the sticks! Stuck in the middle of nowhere with a business to run and supplies to gather from a very dangerous natural world, Sarasa has her work cut out for her as she transmutes this bad location into a golden opportunity in MANAGEMENT OF A NOVICE ALCHEMIST!
Sentai Filmworks' Blu-ray of Management of a Novice Alchemist: Complete Collection is a two-disc set with both original Japanese (with English subtitles) and English dubbed DTS-HD MA 2.0 tracks. Extras include clean opening and closing animations and several shorts. For a full release breakdown, read Neil Lumbard's Blu-ray review.
Minato's return to archery may have helped Kazemai High's Kyudo Club win a prefectural tournament, but it's a poor bowman who expects an arrow to fly the same flight every time. With the entry of a radical new team, one of whose members is Minato's former upperclassman, the old rivalry between Kazemai and Kirisaki becomes a triangle with the upstart team from Tsujimine as serious contenders. And even as the men's team struggles to adjust to the new paradigm, competition doubles again as the Kazemai women's team of Rika, Yuna, and Noa prepares to enter their first tourney as well! Prepare to be aquiver as each new arrow makes its mark in TSURUNE - THE LINKING SHOT!
Sentai Filmworks' Blu-ray of Tsurune: The Linking Shot - Complete Collection is a two-disc set with Japanese: DTS-HD MA 2.0 audio and English subtitles. Extras include a clean opening animation. For a full release breakdown, read Neil Lumbard's Blu-ray review.
Turning to catalog titles, Radiance Films has a Blu-ray for Alain Cavalier's Le Combat dans l'île (1962), starring Romy Schneider, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Clément Lesser, Henri Serre, Diane Lepvrier, Robert Bousquet and Jacques Berlioz. Sourced from a new 2K scan of the original camera negative, Radiance presents Le Combat dans l'île with French: LPCM 2.0 Mono audio and optional English subtitles. Extras include interviews with Alain Cavalier and Jean-Louis Trintignant, an interview with French critic Philippe Roger, Cavalier's first short film Un américain (1958), a photo gallery and a trailer. Limited edition content includes a booklet of essays. For a full disc breakdown, read Jeffrey Kauffman's Blu-ray review.
Coming to Blu-ray from Kino Lorber is Edward Dmytryk's The Carpetbaggers (1964), starring George Peppard, Carroll Baker, Alan Ladd, Robert Cummings, Martha Hyer and Elizabeth Ashley. Sourced from a 4K scan of the original camera negative, Kino presents The Carpetbaggers with lossless 5.1 and 2.0 audio tracks. Extras include two new audio commentaries: One with film historian and writer Julie Kirgo and another with film historian David Del Valle and filmmaker David DeCoteau, as well as a theatrical trailer for the film.
Also on Blu-ray from Kino is Elia Kazan's The Last Tycoon (1976), starring Robert De Niro, Tony Curtis, Robert Mitchum, Jeanne Moreau, Jack Nicholson and Donald Pleasence. Sourced from a 4K scan of the original camera negative, Kino presents The Last Tycoon with lossless 5.1 and 2.0 audio tracks. Extras include a new audio commentary with film historian / author Joseph McBride.
Then on Blu-ray from Kino is a Special Edition reissue of John Boorman's The Emerald Forest (1985), starring Powers Boothe, Meg Foster, Yara Vaneau, William Rodriguez, Estee Chandler and Charley Boorman. Originally released in 2014, this reissue features a new audio commentary with filmmaker Edgar Pablos and film historian Nathaniel Thompson, as well as a theatrical trailer for the film.
Coming to 4K UHD and remastered Blu-ray Kino is Fred Dekker's The Monster Squad (1987), starring Tom Noonan, Robby Kiger, Jack Gwillim, Jon Gries, Stan Shaw and Leonardo Cimino. Sourced from a 4K scan of the original camera negative, Kino presents The Monster Squad with lossless 5.1 and 2.0 audio tracks and Dolby Vision HDR on the 4K UHD disc. Extras include two audio commentaries by the cast and crew, the five-part documentary Monster Squad Forever, an archival interview with Tom Noonan, deleted scenes and more.
Also on Blu-ray from Kino is Miloš Forman's Valmont (1989), starring Colin Firth, Annette Bening, Meg Tilly, Fairuza Balk, Siân Phillips and Jeffrey Jones. Sourced from a 2K scan of an interpositive, Kino presents Valmont with a new audio commentary by film historian / filmmaker Daniel Kremer. Also included is The Art of Seduction: Director Miloš Forman on Valmont and a theatrical trailer for the film.
Finally from Kino is a Blu-ray for Monk: The Complete First Season (2002), starring Tony Shalhoub. All 13 episodes from the first season have been newly remastered in 4K and the release also comes with five featurettes as extras.
Coming to 4K UHD and Blu-ray this week are three titles from Arrow Video. First up is Roger Vadim's Barbarella (1968), starring Jane Fonda, David Hemmings, John Phillip Law, Anita Pallenberg, Milo O'Shea and Marcel Marceau. Sourced from a 4K scan of the original camera negative, Arrow presents Barbarella with a choice of a new Dolby Atmos remix, and both original English or dubbed French: DTS-HD MA Mono audio tracks and Dolby Vision HDR on the 4K UHD editions. Extras include audio commentary by film critic Tim Lucas, alternative opening and closing credits (in 4K with Dolby Vision HDR) and an isolated score track, while a bonus Blu-ray disc contains an appreciation by film critic Glenn Kenny, the behind-the-scenes featurette Barbarella Forever!, a two-hour discussion between film and cultural historians Tim Lucas and Steve Bissette, interviews with film fashion scholar Elizabeth Castaldo, camera operator Roberto Girometti, Ricky Tognazzi (son of Ugo Tognazzi) and actor and stuntman Fabio Testi, and much more. In addition to standard packaging, an Arrow Store Exclusive with Original Artwork will also be available.
Also coming to 4K UHD and remastered Blu-ray from Arrow is S.S. Wilson's Tremors 2: Aftershocks (1996), starring Fred Ward, Chris Gartin, Helen Shaver, Michael Gross, Marcelo Tubert and Marco Hernandez. Sourced from a 4K master (approved by director S.S. Wilson), Arrow presents Tremors 2: Aftershocks with a choice of lossless 4.0 or 2.0 audio tracks and Dolby Vision HDR on the 4K UHD edition. Extras include new audio commentary by S.S. Wilson and co-producer Nancy Roberts, new audio commentary by author Jonathan Melville (Seeking Perfection: The Unofficial Guide to Tremors), new interviews with special effects designer Peter Chesney and CG supervisor Phil Tippett, a making of featurette and much more. In addition to standard packaging, an Arrow Store Exclusive with Original Artwork will also be available.
Finally from Arrow on 4K UHD and Blu-ray is Michael Mann's Blackhat (2015), starring Chris Hemsworth, Leehom Wang, Tang Wei, Viola Davis, Holt McCallany and Andy On. Arrow's release of Blackhat features three versions of the film: The US and International cuts on 4K UHD, and exclusive to the limited edition, a Blu-ray disc with the home video premiere of the director's cut of the film. All three versions have original lossless 5.1 audio, with Dolby Vision HDR on the 4K UHD disc in the 4K UHD edition. Extras include a new audio commentary by critics Bryan Reesman and Max Evry, new interviews with cinematographer Stuart Dryburgh and production designer Guy Hendrix Dyas, three archival featurettes and an image gallery.
Coming this week from Shout Factory is a Shout Factory Store Exclusive Blu-ray box set: The Ti Lung / David Chiang Collection (1969-1976), a twelve-disc box set (limited to 2500 copies) with twelve Shaw Bros. films starring David Chiang and Ti Lung and directed by Chang Cheh, presented in the following order: Have Sword, Will Travel (1969), The Heroic Ones (1970), Vengeance (1970), The Anonymous Heroes (1971), The Deadly Duo (1971), Duel of Fists (1971), The Duel (1971), The Angry Guest (1972), All Men Are Brothers (1975), The Blood Brothers (1973), The Savage 5 (1974) and 7 Man Army (1976). All twelve films feature Mandarin: DTS-HD MA Mono audio tracks with new English subtitle translations, as well as English: DTS-HD MA dubbed audio with English SDH subtitles. All films except The Heroic Ones feature new audio commentaries and several discs have new featurettes, while trailers and still galleries for each film are also included. For more information and to order a copy, see here.
Also this week from Shout Factory is a 4K UHD and remastered Blu-ray for John Harrison's Tales from the Darkside: The Movie (1990), starring Debbie Harry, Christian Slater, David Johansen, William Hickey, James Remar and Rae Dawn Chong. Sourced from a 4K scan of the original camera negative, Shout presents The Monster Squad with DTS-HD MA 5.1 and 2.0 audio tracks and Dolby Vision HDR on the 4K UHD disc. Extras include a new audio commentary with film critics Emily Higgins And Billy Dunham, as well as the extras from Shout's 2020 Collector's Edition Blu-ray, including two filmmaker commentaries, the six-part documentary Tales Behind The Darkside: The Making of Four Ghoulish Fables, a behind-the-scenes video, theatrical trailer, photo galleries and radio and TV spots.
Finally from Shout is a 4K upgrade for Eli Roth's Death Wish (2018), starring Bruce Willis, Vincent D'Onofrio, Elisabeth Shue, Camila Morrone, Dean Norris and Beau Knapp. Shout presents Death Wish with DTS-HD MA 5.1 and 2.0 audio tracks and Dolby Vision HDR on the 4K UHD disc. Extras include filmmaker commentary and on the Blu-ray, deleted and extended scenes, a featurette, a grindhouse trailer and the film's theatrical trailer.
Finally this week, Paramount Home Media Distribution have a 4K UHD upgrade for David Zucker's The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988), starring Leslie Nielsen, Priscilla Presley, Ricardo Montalban, George Kennedy, O.J. Simpson and Susan Beaubian. Paramount presents The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! with DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio and Dolby Vision HDR. An included Blu-ray copy of the film also includes group audio commentary and a theatrical trailer. Note that the film is currently only available on 4K UHD in SteelBook packaging.