For the week of March 3rd, Paramount Home Media Distribution has a Blu-ray and 4K UHD release for Ridley Scott's Gladiator II, starring Paul Mescal, Connie Nielsen, Pedro Pascal, Denzel Washington, Joseph Quinn and Derek Jacobi.
Description: From legendary director Ridley Scott, Gladiator II continues the epic saga of power, intrigue, and vengeance set in Ancient Rome. Years after witnessing the death of the revered hero Maximus at the hands of his uncle, Lucius (Paul Mescal) is forced to enter the Colosseum after his home is conquered by the tyrannical Emperors who now lead Rome with an iron fist. With rage in his heart and the future of the Empire at stake, Lucius must look to his past to find strength and honor to return the glory of Rome to its people.
Paramount's Blu-ray releases of Gladiator II contain the film's Dolby Atmos audio, with Dolby Vision HDR on the 4K UHD disc. Extras on a Blu-ray bonus disc include the featurettes The Making of Gladiator II, A Dream That Was Rome: Origins, Building an Empire: Post-Production, What We Do in Life, Echoes in Eternity: The Cast, In the Arena: Filmmakers and To Those About to Die, We Salute You: Combat as well as deleted scenes. In addition to standard packaging, a SteelBook will also be available.
New on Blu-ray and 4K UHD from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment and MGM is Jake Kasdan's Red One, starring Dwayne Johnson, Chris Evans, Lucy Liu, J.K. Simmons, Bonnie Hunt and Kristofer Hivju.
Description: After a shocking abduction from the North Pole, the Commander of the E.L.F. Task Force must partner with the world's most infamous bounty hunter to save Christmas.
Warner and MGM's Blu-rays of Red One contain the film's Dolby Atmos audio, with Dolby Vision HDR on the 4K UHD disc. For full release breakdowns, read Randy Miller's Blu-ray review and 4K UHD review.
Also coming from Warner is a 4K UHD upgrade for Paul King's Paddington 2 (2017), starring Ben Whishaw, Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Brendan Gleeson, Julie Walters and Jim Broadbent. Sourced from a 4K master, Warner presents Paddington 2 with the film's Dolby Atmos audio and Dolby Vision HDR. Extras include audio commentary by Paul King, the featurettes Paddington: The Bear Truth, How to Make A Marmalade Sandwich, The Magical Mystery of Paddington's Pop-Up Book, The Browns and Paddington: The Special Bond, Knuckles: A Fistful of Marmalade and The (Once) Famous Faces of Phoenix Buchanan, as well as a music video.
New on Blu-ray and 4K UHD from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is J.C. Chandor's Kraven the Hunter, starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Alessandro Nivola, Fred Hechinger, Christopher Abbott, Russell Crowe and Ariana DeBose.
Description: KRAVEN THE HUNTER is the action-packed, R-rated, standalone story of how one of Marvel's most iconic villains came to be. AARON TAYLOR-JOHNSON plays Kraven, a man whose complex relationship with his ruthless gangster father, Nikolai Kravinoff (RUSSELL CROWE), starts him down a path of vengeance with brutal consequences, motivating him to become not only the greatest hunter in the world, but also one of its most feared.
Sony's 4K UHD release of Kraven the Hunter contains Dolby Vision HDR and the film's Dolby Atmos audio. Extras include Becoming Kraven, Kraven's First Hunt: The Direction, Beast Mode: The Stunts of the Huntand Allies & Antagonists: The Killer Cast, as well as outtakes, bloopers and deleted scenes. In addition to standard packaging, a SteelBook will also be available. For full release breakdowns, read Kenneth Brown's Blu-ray review and 4K UHD SteelBook review.
New on Blu-ray and 4k UHD from Lionsgate Home Entertainment is Christian Gudegast's Den of Thieves 2: Pantera, starring Gerard Butler, O'Shea Jackson Jr., Swen Temmel, Jordan Bridges, Salvatore Esposito and Evin Ahmad.
Description: Gerard Butler (Plane, Has Fallen series) and O'Shea Jackson Jr. (Straight Out of Compton, Godzilla: King of the Monsters) return in the sequel to 2018's action-heist hit Den of Thieves. In DEN OF THIEVES: PANTERA, Big Nick (Butler) is back on the hunt in Europe and closing in on Donnie (Jackson), who is embroiled in the treacherous and unpredictable world of diamond thieves and the infamous Panther mafia, as they plot a massive heist of the world's largest diamond exchange.
Lionsgate's Blu-ray releases of Den of Thieves 2: Pantera contain the film's Dolby Atmos audio, with Dolby Vision HDR on the 4K UHD disc. Extras include audio commentary with Christian Gudegast, producer Tucker Tooley, cinematographer Terry Stacey and editor Roberth Nordh, the featurette Flipping the Script: Plotting Den of Thieves 2, deleted scenes and a theatrical trailer. For full release breakdowns, read Jeffrey Kauffman's Blu-ray review and 4K UHD review. On the same date, Lionsgate will also release a Den of Thieves: 2-Film Collection Lionsgate Limited Exclusive 4K SteelBook (2018-2025), which contains a 4K UHD upgrade for the previous film Den of Thieves (2018) in its 149-minute director's cut, with Dolby Atmos audio and Dolby Vision HDR. New extras include Establishing Shot with Christian Gudegast, as well as previously released bonus content.
New on Blu-ray from Shout Factory and GKIDS is Yôko Kuno and Nobuhiro Yamashita's anime film Ghost Cat Anzu (化け猫あんずちゃん), starring Mirai Moriyama, Noa Gotô, Munetaka Aoki, Miwako Ichikawa, Keiichi Suzuki and Shôhei Uno.
Description: Precocious tween Karin finds herself abandoned by her father in rural Japan. Living in a temple with her grandfather, she meets Anzu, a giant "ghost cat" and notorious layabout tasked with looking after her. Distrustful of her new guardian, Karin sabotages Anzu's odd jobs for the townsfolk and befriends the eccentric local forest spirits. In an effort to win Karin over, Anzu accidentally makes a deal with the devil, and all Hell breaks loose.
Shout's Blu-ray of Ghost Cat Anzu contains a choice of original Japanese, dubbed English or French: DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio options and English, English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles. Extras include teasers and trailers. For a full release breakdown, read Brian Orndorf's Blu-ray review.
New on Blu-ray from Samuel Goldwyn Films is Alexandre de La Patellière and Matthieu Delaporte's The Count of Monte Cristo (2024), starring Pierre Niney, Bastien Bouillon, Anaïs Demoustier, Anamaria Vartolomei, Laurent Lafitte and Pierfrancesco Favino.
Description: The target of a sinister plot, young Edmond Dantès is arrested on his wedding day for a crime he did not commit. After fourteen years in the island prison of Château d'If, he manages a daring escape. Now rich beyond his dreams, he assumes the identity of the Count of Monte Cristo and exacts his revenge on the three men who betrayed him.
New on Blu-ray from Well Go USA is Bingjia Yang's Eye for an Eye 2: Blind Vengeance (目中无人2), starring Xie Miao, Huang Tao, Pei Kuishan, Liu Fengchao and Xiao Songyuan.
Description: After her little brother is murdered by a sadistic, well-connected government official, a young girl vows revenge and turns to the Lieutenant, a blind but highly skilled bounty hunter. Though he refuses to help the child exact vengeance and become a murderer herself, the Lieutenant grudgingly lets her stay in exchange for help with daily tasks. But when the girl suddenly vanishes, the bounty hunter goes on a furious rampage through the city in a desperate attempt to locate the child before it's too late.
New on Blu-ray from RLJE Films is Adam Stern's Levels, starring Cara Gee, Peter Mooney, Aaron Abrams, David Hewlett, Amanda Tapping and Adam Hurtig.
Description: Fifty years in the future, Joe watches in horror as his girlfriend Ash is murdered in front of him. The killer walks away, and then disappears seemingly into mid-air. His life shattered, Joe begins a voyage of discovery that slowly leads him to several shocking truths: His reality is not what it appears to be, and he might be the only man that can save it. And Ash is very much alive, and desperately trying to reach him before it's too late.
RLJE Films' Blu-ray of Levels contains a behind-the-scenes featurette and a trailer.
New on Blu-ray from Cohen Media Group is Aurélie Saada's Rose, starring Françoise Fabian, Aure Atika, Grégory Montel, Damien Chapelle and Pascal Elbé.
Description: 78-year-old Rose (Françoise Fabian, My Night at Maud's) has just lost her adored husband. Her grief gives way to a powerful impulse to live, making her realize that she can still redefine herself as a woman. But in doing so the whole balance of her family is upset.
Cohen Media Group's Blu-ray of Rose contains a Q&A with Aurélie Saada moderated by Isil Bagdadi-Sergio, (host & programmer, Preview Club Film Series at Cinema Arts Centre), and a theatrical trailer.
Turning to catalog titles, Kino Lorber have a Blu-ray box set: Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema XXIV (1950-1957), which contains Blu-rays of Rudolph Maté's Union Station (1950), starring William Holden, Nancy Olson, Barry Fitzgerald, Jan Sterling and Lyle Bettger, Joel Newton's Jennifer (1953), starring Ida Lupino, Howard Duff, Robert Nichols, Mary Shipp, Ned Glass and Kitty McHugh, and Joseph Kane's The Crooked Circle (1957), starring John Smith, Fay Spain, Steve Brodie, Don Kelly, Robert Armstrong and John Doucette. All three films are sourced from 4K scans by Paramount Pictures. Extras include audio commentary by author / film historian Alan K. Rode (on Union Station), film historians Kat Ellinger and Martyn Conterio (on Jennifer) and film historian / screenwriter Gary Gerani (on The Crooked Circle), as well as theatrical trailers for Union Station and The Crooked Circle.
Also coming from Kino is a 4K UHD double feature: Peril & Distress: Endless Night / Picture Mommy Dead (1966-1972), which contains Bert I. Gordon's Picture Mommy Dead (1966), starring Don Ameche, Martha Hyer, Susan Gordon, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Maxwell Reed and Wendell Corey, and Sidney Gilliat's Endless Night (1972), starring Hayley Mills, Hywel Bennett, Britt Ekland, Per Oscarsson, George Sanders and Aubrey Richards. Both films are presented from 4K SDR masters by StudioCanal and come with audio commentaries by film historians Howard S. Berger and Nathaniel Thompson. Also included is a theatrical trailer for Endless Night.
Coming to remastered Blu-ray and 4K UHD from the Criterion Collection is Henri-Georges Clouzot's The Wages of Fear (Le Salaire de la peur) (1953), starring Yves Montand, Charles Vanel, Folco Lulli, Peter van Eyck, Véra Clouzot and William Tubbs. Sourced from a new 4K master with a 153-minute version of the film, Criterion presents The Wages of Fear with LPCM Mono audio and in 4K SDR on the 4K UHD disc. Extras on the remastered Blu-ray include interviews from 2005 with assistant director Michel Romanoff and Clouzot biographer Marc Godin, a 1988 interview with Yves Montand, the documentary Henri-Georges Clouzot: The Enlightened Tyrant (2004), an analysis of the portions of the film censored for the 1955 U.S. release, a 2017 featurette on the film's 4K remastering, and both original and remastered trailers. Also included is a booklet with "an essay by novelist Dennis Lehane and a compilation of interviews with the cast and crew of the film". For full release breakdowns, read Svet Atanasov's Blu-ray review and 4K UHD review.
Coming to Blu-ray from Arrow Video is Yasuzô Masumura's Play It Cool (でんきくらげ) (1970), starring Mari Atsumi, Yûsuke Kawazu, Akemi Negishi, Kô Nishimura, Ryôichi Tamagawa and Sanae Nakahara. Sourced from an HD master provided by Kadokawa, Arrow presents Play It Cool with Japanese: LPCM Mono audio and optional English subtitles. Extras include audio commentary by critic and Japanese cinema specialist Jasper Sharp and professor and Japanese literature specialist Anne McKnight, the video essay Too Cool for School by Japanese film scholar Mark Roberts, an image gallery and a theatrical trailer. Also included is a booklet " featuring new writing on the film by Earl Jackson". For a full release breakdown, read Jeffrey Kauffman's Blu-ray review.
Finally this week, coming to Blu-ray from Film Movement is the miniseries The Power of Myth (Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth with Bill Moyers) (1988). The two-disc set also includes the extras Joseph Campbell: Myths to Live By - parts 1 and 2, along with the 55-minute featurette The Mythology of Star Wars with Bill Moyers and George Lucas.