Home Video (VHS, DVD, Blu-ray, 4k)

I got extremely lucky with the charity shop gods today. A sealed copy of Jurassic World and Jurassic World: Forbidden Kingdom 4K double pack for just £3!

This does mean I won't find anything good in any charity shop for several months now. 😁

THIEF. WARRIOR. GLADIATOR. KING.

Ripped from the pages of Robert E. Howard's beloved pulp stories, 1982's Conan the Barbarian and its sequel, 1984's Conan the Destroyer, not only popularized a new subgenre - the sword-and-sorcery film - but also made a cinematic icon of the star playing the titular hero, former bodybuilding sensation Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Conan the Barbarian, from maverick filmmaker John Milius, sees the Cimmerian thief and future king rise up from slavery to become an unparalleled and fearsome warrior, intent on vengeance against the evil snake cult that slaughtered his family long ago, led by the shape-shifting sorcerer Thulsa Doom (James Earl Jones). In the sequel, helmed by action veteran Richard Fleischer, Conan finds himself escorting a young princess on a quest for a mythical horn that will awaken a slumbering god, battling an onslaught of evil beasts, wizards and cannibals along the way.

At long last, these glorious odes to the days of high adventure have been restored in stunning 4K with hours of bonus features and heart-racing Atmos remixes that immerse you in the action, accompanied throughout by electrifying music scores by the late Basil Poledouris (RoboCop). If you do not listen... then to hell with you!

Product Features

Brand new 4K restorations of both films from the original negatives by Arrow Films
4K (2160p) UHD Blu-ray presentations of both films in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible)
Three versions of Conan the Barbarian via seamless branching: Theatrical Cut (127 mins), International Cut (129 mins) and Extended Cut (130 mins)
Newly restored original mono audio and remixed Dolby Atmos surround audio for both films
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing on both films
Archive commentary for Conan the Barbarian by John Milius and Arnold Schwarzenegger
Archive commentaries for Conan the Destroyer by Richard Fleischer and actors Olivia d'Abo, Tracey Walter and Sarah Douglas
Brand new commentaries for both films by genre historian Paul M. Sammon
Newly assembled isolated score tracks in lossless stereo for both films
Newly filmed interviews for Conan the Barbarian with production artist William Stout, costume designer John Bloomfield, special effects crew members Colin Arthur and Ron Hone, actors Jorge Sanz and Jack Taylor, assistant editor Peck Prior, visual effects animators Peter Kuran and Katherine Kean, filmmaker Robert Eggers (The Northman) and authors John Walsh and Alfio Leotto
Newly filmed interviews for Conan the Destroyer with Bloomfield and Walsh, casting director Johanna Ray, art director Kevin Phipps and stunt coordinator Vic Armstrong
Conan Unchained: The Making of Conan, an archive documentary from 2000 featuring interviews with Schwarzenegger, Milius, Stone, Jones, Lopez, Bergman, Poledouris and several others
Archive bonus features for both films, including interviews with sword master Kiyoshi Yamasaki, writers Roy Thomas & Gerry Conway and Poledouris, outtakes and more
A Tribute to Basil Poledouris, a series of videos produced by the Úbeda Film Music Festival, including video of Poledouris conducting a concert of music from Conan the Barbarian in 2006 (remixed in 5.1 surround)
Theatrical trailers and image galleries for both films
Double-sided fold-out posters for both films
Twelve double-sided collectors' postcards
Illustrated collectors' booklet featuring new writing by Walter Chaw and John Walsh, and archive set reports for both films by Paul M. Sammon

As a fan of the UHD format, this is kinda sad to see.

Source: MediaPlayNews.com

Tim Burton’s Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is the fifth film in the Scares 4K set

Last month, we learned that Paramount Home Entertainment would be releasing a five film 4K box set called Paramount Scares Vol. 1, which would include Rosemary’s Baby (1968) and Pet Sematary (1989), plus a pair of recent box office successes, Crawl (2019) and Smile (2022). Intriguingly, Paramount chose to keep the fifth film in the set a mystery… But now that we’ve reached the set’s October 24th release date, it has been revealed that the fifth movie in the set is Tim Burton’s 2007 film Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, making its 4K debut! If you’re interested in adding the Paramount Scares Vol. 1 set to your collection, copies can be purchased at THIS LINK.

Directed by Burton from a screenplay by John Logan, Sweeney Todd is based on the stage musical by Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler. The stage musical was itself based on the play Sweeney Todd by Christopher Bond. The film has the following synopsis: Evil Judge Turpin lusts for the beautiful wife of a London barber and transports him to Australia for a crime he did not commit. Returning after 15 years and calling himself Sweeney Todd, the now-mad man vows revenge, applying his razor to unlucky customers and shuttling the bodies down to Mrs. Lovett, who uses them in her meat-pie shop. Though many fall to his blade, he will not be satisfied until he slits Turpin’s throat.

Johnny Depp plays the title character and is joined in the cast by Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, Timothy Spall, Sacha Baron Cohen, Jamie Campbell Bower, Laura Michelle Kelly, Jayne Wisener, and Ed Sanders.

Sweeney Todd reaches 4K with the following special features (with thanks to Movieweb for the list):

Burton + Depp + Carter = Todd: Behind the Scenes Look

Sweeney Todd Press Conference

The Real History of the Demon Barber

Musical Mayhem: Stephen Sondheim’s

Sweeney Todd

Sweeney’s London

Grand Guignol: A Theatrical Tradition

Moviefone Unscripted with Tim Burton and Johnny Depp

4K UHD, BLU-RAY™ AND DIGITAL EXTRAS

Special Features:

Deleted & Extended Scenes

The Engine: Driving the Visuals

The Pit Crew: Action and Stunts

The Garage: The Amazing Automobiles

The Plan: The True Story of Jann Mardenborough

The Wheels: The Fast-Acting Cast

DVD Special Features

The Plan: The True Story of Jann Mardenborough

The Wheels: The Fast-Acting Cast

An interesting piece about physical media and how the Best Buy news isn't as bad as we think.

Transformers, Mario and Spider-Verse were in the top three highest selling Blu-rays for Oct. 8-14.

Pictured is the market share chart from the same week featuring the three home video formats (DVD, Blu-ray, and UHD Blu-ray). UHD sales are down from the previous week, while Blu-ray continues to grow slowly.

Source: MediaPlayNews.com

I'm always posting the latest press releases for Blu-rays and 4K discs, so here's something a little different.

Earlier this year I wrote about the emergence of the release of films in wide-screen on VHS tapes in the UK, for the website Film Stories, in the early 1990s.

The Saw X Blu-ray release date is set for November 21, 2023, when the film will release on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD, and on digital storefronts.

For those looking to watch the film a bit earlier, it will be available this weekend on premium video-on-demand services, as well as premium electronic sell-through, which allows users to buy the film for a one-time fee and have access to it for a fixed time.

The 4K transfer of the film will support HDR10 along with a Dolby Atmost studio mix and will also include a special making of documentary called Reawakening. The full list of bonus features for the Saw X Blu-ray release are as follows:

• Audio Commentary with Director-Editor Kevin Greutert, Cinematographer Nick Matthews, and Production Designer Anthony Stabley
• Reawakening Multipart Making-of Documentary:
• I Want to Play a Game: Bleeding New Life into the Saga
• This Time It’s Personal: Characters and Casting
• Another Time, Another Place: Locations and Cinematography
• There Will Be Blood: Production Design and Make-up
• Leave Nothing to Chance: Post-Production
• Live or Die: Release and Legacy
• Drawing Inspiration: Illustrated Scene Breakdowns with Director-Editor Kevin Greutert
• Make-Up Department Trap Tests
• Deleted Scenes
• Theatrical Trailer

This hasn't been officially announced but the pages and artwork with dates now appear on Amazon.

The film is on a 100 GB disc for the best picture quality with HDR and Dolby Vision.

Over 15 hours of extras, mostly legacy content on the bluray but the 4K disc does have three audio commentaries, a new documentary, Titanic: Stories from the Heart, featuring new interviews with James Cameron, Jon Landau, and Kate Winslet, as well as a new fan art gallery.

Source: https://www.mediaplaynews.com/

Looks like Blu-ray and 4K UHD are slowly increasing from the previous week!

This is why I love my physical discs. You can't take them away from me!

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/6670112

OLDBOY: DELUXE ULTRA 4K LIMITED EDITION [PRE-ORDER]

$50.00

NOTE, THIS IS A PRE-ORDER THAT IS DUE TO BE RELEASED ON OR ABOUT 12/12/23.

THE TWO-DISC LIMITED EDITION OF PARK CHAN-WOOK’S MASTERPIECE INCLUDES OLDBOY ON 4K UHD BLU-RAY, THE MAKING-OF DOCUMENTARY OLD DAYS, AND MORE THAN 10 HOURS OF BONUS MATERIAL

FEATURING:

A 68-PAGE CASEBOUND BOOK.
THREE NEW ESSAYS BY STEPHANIE ZACHAREK, DAVID SIMS AND PHOEBE CHEN. 
SIX GIFT-WRAPPED COLLECTOR CARDS.

https://cinema.neonrated.com/product/oldboy-deluxe-ultra-4k-limited-edition/

Universal has announced that their horror film The Last Voyage of the Demeter will arrive on digital, Blu-ray and DVD on October 17. The home release of the film boasts over 30 minutes of previously unseen bonus material, including an alternate opening, deleted scenes, and exclusive behind-the-scenes featurettes offering an in-depth look into the film's creation.

...

The film failed to make waves at the box office, not helped by the fact it failed to secure a release in the United Kingdom

Well, to be honest, those covers are pretty terrible. The Best Buy steel book comes out the best.

The 'making of' documentary is the same that was released digitally and by all accounts it's rather very good. The only other extra is an audio only track of John Williams score.

This may not be the correct place for this, if so please point me elsewhere.

My other half doesn't have broadband, so I'm looking to write dvds so we can watch then on a dvd player.

To this end I've gotten a copy of ashampoo and downloaded some films (.mkv files) and I'm now looking to copy them onto dvds. Now I know I can't just copy the files on, and the software's asking for mpeg files only.

Has anyone come across - or know how to actually convert and write properly? A guide perhaps?

I know it's old technology, but it's gotta be better than just watching the crap on free tv. TIA.

Edit: many thanks to all for the great - and varied answers. Certainly lots of info to 'chew' on.

Yesterday, I discovered one of my favourite films, Guest House Paradiso, a British comedy film from 1999, got its first-ever Blu-ray release last month in the US. Unfortunately, once you factor in import fees, it works out to £50!!

So, while I sit around waiting for someone in the UK to publish it and for the official The Abyss announcement, share with us what you've picked up this month.

They are:

• Chucky boxset most in 4k (UK)
• The Day of the Locust (US and CA)
• Savage Guns: 4 Classic Westerns (UK, US and CA)
• The Warriors (US)
• The Warriors 4k (US)

Tech specs from blu-ray.com

cross-posted from: https://narwhal.city/posts/50310

The company shipped its first disc ('Beetlejuice') way back in 1998.

https://www.engadget.com/netflix-mails-its-final-dvds-to-subscribers-113557572.html