For the week of September 1st, Crunchyroll has three new anime series on Blu-ray. First up is Wistoria: Wand and Sword - Season 1 (杖と剣のウィストリア) (2024), starring Kôhei Amasaki, Akira Sekine, Reiko Suzuki, Atsushi Tamaru, Shinya Takahashi and Tomohiro Ono.
Description: In a world of magic, Will Serfort is looked down upon due to his inability to cast spells. But what he lacks in arcana he makes up for with his sword. Now he's defying the expectations of his peers as he chases a childhood promise - to become a top mage!
Crunchyroll's Blu-ray of Wistoria: Wand and Sword - Season 1 is a two-disc set with 12 episodes. Audio is a choice of Japanese: Dolby TrueHD 2.0 (with English subtitles) or English: Dolby TrueHD 5.1. Extras include promo videos and textless opening and ending songs.
Also new on Blu-ray from Crunchyroll is the anime series Why Does Nobody Remember Me in This World? (なぜ僕の世界を誰も覚えていないのか？) (2024), starring Shôya Chiba, Kana Ichinose, Haruka Shiraishi, Lynn, Hana Hishikawa and Sayumi Suzushiro.
Description: To protect humanity from the remnants of the Great War, Kai dutifully watches over enemy crypts. But when the world is rewritten, he awakens to a reality where humanity lost the war and no one knows who he is. Now he must become the hero that time forgot.
Crunchyroll's Blu-ray of Why Does Nobody Remember Me in This World? is again a two-disc set with 12 episodes. Audio is a choice of Japanese: Dolby TrueHD 2.0 (with English subtitles) or English: Dolby TrueHD 2.0. Extras again include promo videos and textless opening and ending songs.
Then on Blu-ray from Crunchyroll is the anime series A Nobody's Way Up to an Exploration Hero (モブから始まる探索英雄譚) (2024), starring Yuya Hozumi, Azumi Waki, Kana Hanazawa, Kana Hanazawa, Saika Kitamori and Azusa Tsugimori.
Description: As a part-time explorer in the dungeons of Japan, Kaito only slayed low-level slimes. But after a golden slime encounter, he receives a rare servant card - the legendary valkyrie! Now he's going out of his safe zone and dungeon diving with an angelic ally.
Crunchyroll's Blu-ray of A Nobody's Way Up to an Exploration Hero is once again a two-disc set with 12 episodes. Audio is Japanese: Dolby TrueHD 2.0, with English subtitles and once again, extras include promo videos and textless opening and ending songs.
Turning to catalog titles, Kino Lorber has several titles coming to Blu-ray and 4K UHD. They are:
A Blu-ray for Norman Taurog's Huckleberry Finn (1931), starring Jackie Coogan, Mitzi Green, Junior Durkin, Jackie Searl, Clarence Muse, Eugene Pallette, Clara Blandick, Jane Darwell, Warner Richmond and Clarence Muse. Sourced from a new 4K scan, Kino presents Huckleberry Finn with a new audio commentary by film historian / writer Julie Kirgo and writer / filmmaker Peter Hankoff, as well as a theatrical trailer.
A Blu-ray 3D release for Enrique López Eguiluz's Frankenstein's Bloody Terror (La marca del hombre lobo) (1968), starring Paul Naschy, Dyanik Zurakowska, Julián Ugarte, José Nieto, Carlos Casaravilla and Ángel Menéndez. Sourced from a new 3D remaster by the 3-D Film Archive, Kino presents Frankenstein's Bloody Terror in a choice of 2D, anaglyph 3D or Blu-ray 3D presentations. Extras include two audio commentaries: one by novelist and critic Tim Lucas and another by film historians Troy Howarth, Troy Guinn and Rodney Barnett, a featurette on the film's 3D restoration with Tim Lucas, an alternate opening title sequence, deleted scenes, radio spots and a theatrical trailer.
A Blu-ray and 4K UHD release for Franc Roddam's The Lords of Discipline (1983), starring David Keith, Robert Prosky, G.D. Spradlin, Barbara Babcock, Michael Biehn and Rick Rossovich. Sourced from a new 4K scan of the film's original camera negative, Kino presents The Lords of Discipline with a choice of lossless 5.1 or 2.0 audio tracks and Dolby Vision HDR on the 4K UHD disc. Extras include a new audio commentary by film historians Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson with Pat Conroy historian Lynn Smith, as well as new interviews with Franc Roddam and David Keith.
A remastered Blu-ray and 4K UHD release for Jack Nicholson's The Two Jakes (1990), starring Jack Nicholson, Harvey Keitel, Meg Tilly, Madeleine Stowe, Eli Wallach and Rubén Blades. Sourced from a new 4K scan of the film's original camera negative, Kino presents The Two Jakes with a choice of lossless 5.1 or 2.0 audio tracks and Dolby Vision HDR on the 4K UHD disc. Extras include a new audio commentary by myster writer and filmmaker Max Alan Collins and film historian Heath Holland (host of the Cereal at Midnight podcast), as well as new interviews with David Keith and editor Anne Goursaud, an archival interview with Jack Nicholson and a theatrical trailer.
A Blu-ray release for Wayne Wang's Smoke (1995), starring Giancarlo Esposito, José Zúńiga, Stephen Gevedon, Harvey Keitel, William Hurt and Jared Harris. Sourced from a 2K master by Zoetrope Aubry Productions, Kino presents Smoke with an interview with Wayne Wang moderated by Kate MacKay (Associate Film Curator at Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive), an interview with writer Paul Auster (taken from Running Away to the Circus: Paul Auster On Film), a behind-the-scenes featurette and a press conference from the 1995 Berlin Film Festival.
A Blu-ray release for Wayne Wang's Blue in the Face (1995), starring Harvey Keitel, Victor Argo, Keith David, Giancarlo Esposito, Michael J. Fox and Jared Harris. Sourced from a 4K scan by Zoetrope Aubry Productions, Kino presents Blue in the Face with another interview with Wayne Wang moderated by Kate MacKay, another interview with writer Paul Auster (again from Running Away to the Circus: Paul Auster On Film), a behind-the-scenes featurette and an "archival conversation with Lou Reed".
A Blu-ray and 4K UHD release for Walter Hill's Undisputed (2002), starring Wesley Snipes, Ving Rhames, Peter Falk, Michael Rooker, Jon Seda and Wes Studi. Sourced from a new 4K scan of the film's original camera negative, Kino presents Undisputed with a choice of lossless 5.1 or 2.0 audio tracks and Dolby Vision HDR on the 4K UHD disc. Extras include a new audio commentary by action film historian Mike Leeder and filmmaker Matt Routledge, as well as a new interviews with Walter Hill, archival interviews with Wesley Snipes and Ving Rhames and a theatrical trailer. For full release breakdowns, read Svet Atanasov's Blu-ray review and 4K UHD review.
Note: The single-disc Blu-ray editions are set to be released this Tuesday, September 2nd, but Amazon currently shows the 4K UHD combo pack editions of The Lords of Discipline and Undisputed as being in stock as of August 26th.
Coming to 4K UHD from Shout Factory is Oliver Stone's Salvador (1986), starring James Woods, Jim Belushi, Michael Murphy, John Savage, Elpidia Carrillo and Tony Plana. Sourced from a new 4K master (supervised and approved by Oliver Stone), Shout presents Salvador with Dolby Vision HDR and a choice of DTS-HD MA 2.0, 5.1 or a new Dolby Atmos remix. Extras include audio commentary with Oliver Stone, while an included special features Blu-ray contains new interviews with Stone, actors James Woods, John Savage, Michael Murphy and Tony Plana, costume designer Kathryn Morrison and prosthetic makeup artist Gordon J. Smith. Also included is the making of documentary Into the Valley of Death, deleted scenes and an original theatrical trailer.
Finally this week, Arrow Video has a 4K UHD release for Stephen Hopkins' Lost in Space (1998), starring William Hurt, Mimi Rogers, Heather Graham, Lacey Chabert, Jack Johnson and Gary Oldman. Sourced from a new 4K master, Arrow presents Lost in Space with Dolby Vision HDR and a choice of DTS-HD MA 5.1 or lossless 2.0 audio options. Extras include two archival audio commentaries: one with Stephen Hopkins and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman and another with visual effects supervisors Angus Bickerton and Lauren Ritchie, director of photography Peter Levy, editor Ray Lovejoy, and producer Carla Fry. New extras include interviews with Hopkins, Levy, Goldsman, supervising art director Keith Pain, Kenny Wilson (former mould shop supervisor at Jim Henson's Creature Shop), sound mixer Simon Kaye and re-recording mixer Robin O'Donohue, as well as a new video essay by film critic Matt Donato. Also included are deleted scenes, the featurettes Building the Special Effects, The Future of Space Travel, a Q&A with the cast of the original TV series and bloopers. Limited edition content includes an "illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing by critic Neil Sinyard, articles from American Cinematographer and an excerpt from the original production notes".