Cinematographer Dariusz Wolski shot The Crow on 35mm film using Arriflex 35 BL4 cameras with spherical lenses, framed at 1.85:1 for its theatrical release. Proyas and Wolski would have preferred to shoot the main sequences in black-and-white with only the flashbacks in full color, but that option was never even on the table with the studio, so they opted to desaturate the image instead. The low budget for the film precluded the use of anything like the ENR bleach bypass process, so Wolski devised a bargain basement alternative by shooting the main sequences with a sepia filter on the camera, and then timing out the browns during the printing stages. That ended up desaturating the image and strengthening the contrast, although since blues would have been exaggerated at the same time, they had to be careful to avoid the color in any of the art direction and costume design. To achieve the reverse effect for the flashbacks, Wolski shot them on slow stock and then pushed the exposure two steps in order to increase the saturation. The look of The Crow has been much imitated but rarely equaled, and part of that comes down to the unique way that Proyas and Wolski created it.

All of that makes it a challenging film to reproduce accurately on home video, and while the original 2011 Blu-ray release from Lionsgate was fine, it still offered plenty of room for improvement. Paramount hasn’t provided any information about the work that was done to create this 4K master, describing it simply as a “New 4K restoration of the film,” one that’s been graded in High Dynamic Range for both Dolby Vision and HDR10. That leaves plenty of room for speculation, and we’ll get to that in a moment. In any event, it does seem to have been based on a 4K scan of the original camera negative, carefully color corrected to replicate Proyas and Wolski’s intended look. The contrast range has been enhanced, both in terms of the colors and the brightness. The bright reds and oranges of the explosions now really stand out against the black backgrounds, the reds and golden hues of the flashbacks are more vivid, and the strobe effects like the one during the shootout in Top Dollar’s conference room have been pushed so far that Brandon Lee’s face tends to blow out during the brightest moments—but that effect seems entirely appropriate in this instance. The blacks do tend to look a little flat during some of the darkest sequences where there was little inherent contrast in the first place, but that’s likely unavoidable due to the way that they were shot.

In terms of fine detail, the dupe footage for the optical and digital composite work throughout The Crow still looks as rough as it always has, and all the grain and grit from the original camera negative has been preserved. Or has it? Aye, there’s the rub. The textures are sometimes astonishingly sharp in this new version—Jon Polito’s ribbed sweater, Ernie Hudson’s white T-shirt, Tony Todd and Marco Rodríguez’s craggy skin, etc.—almost impossibly sharp at times. That means it’s possible that some AI sharpening has been applied here, and if so, it was done with a great deal of skill. The image would have likely been degrained first, sharpened, and then a had layer of artificial grain re-applied at the end. The clarity of the facial textures in particular is somewhat reminiscent of how they look on Paramount’s 4K release of Titanic, but it’s much improved in this case. If AI sharpening was used, it was only where the image stood to benefit the most. The rough-looking composite footage was left untouched, as were most of the medium or long shots. It’s just the closeups that might have been processed that way, and the results integrate with the surrounding footage just as well as they always have.

...

Primary audio is offered in English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio. As an early digital 5.1 production, The Crow was originally released in both DTS and optical Dolby Stereo, but the latter hasn’t been included on any home video versions outside of the original VHS and LaserDisc releases, and it’s safe to consider 5.1 as the intended format for the film. Early DTS mixes tended to fall into two broad categories: either extremely aggressive ones like Jurassic Park or Hard Target, or else mild updates of the 4-channel Dolby Stereo matrix, and The Crow falls into the latter category. It’s still immersive, but the immersion is more in the form of general ambience than it is in terms of directionality. Environmental sounds like the constant rain, thunder, and dripping water form the bulk of the surround activity, with action sounds like the gunfire remaining anchored to the front of the soundstage. The ADR varies in quality, so the dialogue sometimes sounds inconsistent, but it’s still clear enough to be understood. Of course, it’s the music that matters the most in creating the world of The Crow, and both the score and the songs are well-supported in the mix. It’s the music that really rains all the time in The Crow.

...

Paramount’s 30th Anniversary Edition 4K Ultra HD release of The Crow is UHD only, with no Blu-ray copy included, although there is a Digital code on a paper insert tucked inside the case, as well as a slipcover. There are also multiple Limited Edition Steelbook versions available, including one from Amazon and a different exclusive version from Walmart, although the disc-based content is identical.

Top 20 Selling Blu-ray Discs

1. The Crow
2. Madame Web
3. Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi
4. The Beekeeper
5. Star Wars: Andor - The Complete First Season
6. Ordinary Angels
7. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom
8. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier: The Complete First Season
9. Moon Knight: The Complete First Season
10. The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
11. Dune: Part One
12. Oppenheimer
13. High Noon
14. The Iron Claw
15. Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths, Part Two
16. Wonka
17. Ocean's Trilogy
18. Killer Klowns From Outer Space
19. Mean Girls (2024)
20. The Marvels

Source: Circana VideoScan First Alert (based on unit sales from reporting retailers)

Top 20 Selling 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Discs

1. The Crow
2. Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi
3. Star Wars: Andor - The Complete First Season
4. High Noon
5. Madame Web
6. Ocean's Trilogy
7. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier: The Complete First Season
8. Dune: Part One
9. Moon Knight: The Complete First Season
10. Oppenheimer
11. Ocean's Eleven
12. Starship Troopers
13. The Abyss
14. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom
15. Mad Max: Fury Road
16. One From the Heart: Reprise
17. Ocean's Twelve
18. The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
19. True Lies
20. Planet Earth III

Source: Circana VideoScan First Alert (based on unit sales from reporting retailers)

https://www.mediaplaynews.com/research/top-20-selling-blu-ray-and-4k-discs-for-week-ended-5-11-24/

From theatrical to streaming and physical media, chairman Richard  Lorber is one of the industry’s foremost champions of art-house cinema – just ask Christopher Nolan and Quentin Tarantino.

Kino Lorber releases a lot of films on DVD. Why are you still betting on physical media?

The physical media business is still an important part of our business, even if it’s in a transitional phase right now. When we entered, it was a $7 billion to $10 billion business; now it’s struggling to be a $1 billion business, but it’s still a $1 billion business. And we see opportunity there, particularly in a world where there’s a rapid deterioration of the availability of titles online. When Netflix had a rental-by-mail business, I did some of their first deals, back in the early [2000s]. Back then, there were about 100,000 titles available from Netflix for rental by mail. As of the latest report, there are probably 3,000 titles film titles available to stream on Netflix and probably, in total, no more than 7,000 or 8,000 to stream across all of the services.

For collectors who love cinema, and I’m not just talking about the extreme cinephiles, I’m talking about film lovers who recognize the fact that physical media is a way for them to have the films that they love in the best possible versions — we release in 4K UHD — and have them forever. Those little plastic discs will probably outlive all of us. So we’ve cultivated those customers and they sustain our business, even as we recognize the deterioration of that business on a macro level. It’s a curated approach, a targeted approach, but there are many, many really good titles out there, even with the strictest curation standards. Films that really deserve to be made available again.

I’ve heard you say that DVD is the new vinyl, that physical media is set for a revival. Where do you see evidence of that?

You’re using DVD generically, of course, but what we’re really talking about is the newest standard, which is 4K UHD. You won’t see anything in as good a quality as you can see on a 4K UHD copy now. And it allows for including a range of material beyond what you could put on a DVD or even a Blu-ray. It is going to become the collectible of record. People who really care about preserving their own cultural collections are going to be embracing 4K. We heard that at the Oscars. I had a great chat with Christopher Nolan, who has been a big champion of physical media. He loves our stuff and maybe we’ll do some things with him from his library, but he’s embraced the physical media business. [Quentin] Tarantino was certainly one of them who raves about the importance of preserving cinema culture in physical media. Whether the comparison with vinyl is exactly on target or not, it’s close enough.

Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension is a TV movie that was broadcast on Disney Channel on August 5, 2011. It was only released on DVD in the United States, then later released on Disney+ in 1080p. Unrelated, but in Spain, the movie actually got a theatrical release!

Anyway, Across the 2nd Dimension was released in Japan on Blu-ray, the only country to get a Blu-ray release. The Blu-ray was never released outside of Japan for some reason. While the DVD and digital versions of the movie both have lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 audio, thankfully, the Blu-ray has lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 in both Japanese and English. I was expecting to pay a high price to import it to the US, but it was ~$30, the same price as a brand new Blu-ray release today.

I haven't watched Across the 2nd Dimension in a long time, and I haven't actually watched the Blu-ray yet, but according to this user review, it looks and sounds amazing.

It's time to kick it up a notch!

No special features, either. They'll probably wait until 2025 to unveil a limited edition 4K SteelBook or something.

Pre-order: Amazon · GRUV

Top 20 Selling Blu-ray Discs

1. Madame Web
2. Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi
3. Star Wars: Andor - The Complete First Season
4. Moon Knight: The Complete First Season
5. The Beekeeper
6. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier: The Complete First Season
7. Ordigary Angels
8. Mean Girls
9. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom
10. Mean Girls (2024)
11. Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths, Part Two
12. The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
13. Oppenheimer
14. The Iron Claw
15. The Abyss
16. Dune: Part One
17. The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy
18. Wonka
19. The Marvels
20. Migration

Source: NPD VideoScan First Alert (based on unit sales from reporting retailers)

Top 20 Selling 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Discs

1. Star Wars: Andor - The Complete First Season
2. Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi
3. Madame Web
4. Moon Knight: The Complete First Season
5. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier: The Complete First Season
6. Mean Girls
7. The Abyss
8. Oppenheimer
9. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom
10. The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy
11. Ocean's Trilogy
12. Mean Girls (2024)
13. Planet Earth III
14. Dune: Part One
15. True Lies
16. Ocean's Thirteen
17. Ocean's Eleven
18. Terminator 2: Judgement Day
19. The Departed
20. Spider-Verse 2-Movie Collection

Source: NPD VideoScan First Alert (based on unit sales from reporting retailers)

https://www.mediaplaynews.com/research/top-20-selling-blu-ray-and-4k-discs-for-week-ended-5-4-24/

“Death of the what? DVD is not dead, at all,” Kevin Costner said. “That’s what they’d have you believe. Maybe it’s not making the same amount of money, but just try to go ask for that from the studio. They won’t give that up. A lot of people that like my movies, they can’t get to a theater, and they’re waiting for that moment. You can’t make your film for the opening weekend. You have to make it for its life.“

There doesn't appear to be any new special features. It has Dolby Vision, but no Atmos.

Pre-order: Amazon · Barnes & Noble · Deep Discount · Walmart

The Life and Deaths of Christopher Lee features interviews with friends, family members and famous directors.

Jon Spira, from Headington, Oxford, had access to Lee's scrapbooks and 100 interviews from the British Film Institute's library.

The filmmaker tells the BBC the actor's life was an "incredible story" waiting to be told.

Lee starred in more than 250 films across eight decades, including the Hammer Horror, James Bond, Lord of the Rings, and Star Wars franchises.

But as Spira's film explains, he had a military career during World War Two still shrouded in mystery, and helped track down Nazi war criminals.

"Because he could speak fluently a range of different languages he got pulled into the secret service doing missions of which the facts have never fully come out," Spira explains.

"His cousin was Ian Fleming and a lot of people think the character of James Bond was based on him.

"He certainly didn't do anything to disavow people of that.

"You could almost do this as two films. That's why we called it The Life and Deaths of Christopher Lee, because his life is one story and his career is another."

...

The documentary also takes some flights of fantasy.

It is narrated by a string puppet of Christopher Lee made by the team behind Wes Anderson's animated movies, and voiced by Peter Serafinowicz.

A stop-motion sequence is directed by Sandman illustrator Dave McKean.

Spira is crowdfunding for its Blu-ray release because he believes less effort has been made with physical media of late.

He said: "There's a whole market of people who are being forgotten that really love film, want to own it, and maybe don't trust that these things will always be streaming."

He has launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise £40,000 "to do something really special" for collectors.

Kickstarter

The Guyver is a 1991 flick loosely based on a Japanese Manga, which was initially put out (in a heavily truncated version) by New Line Cinema on home video. It did well enough to get a sequel, Guyver: Dark Hero, but it’s a movie that hasn’t been super easy to see over the years – until now that is.

Unearthed Films, the same that rescued Martin Campbell’s awesome No Escape, is putting out The Guyver in fresh 4K edition packed with extras. Here’s the details:

...

The 4K UHD + Blu-ray + CD Soundtrack Limited Collector’s Edition includes new commentary with co-directors Screaming Mad George and Steve Wang, a new interview with producer Brian Yuzna and co-director Screaming Mad George, outtakes with commentary by co-directors Screaming Mad George and Steve Wang, a new gag reel, a new production and artwork gallery, an alternate title sequence, trailers, and The Guyver soundtrack, composed by Matthew Morse.

The Guyver hits 4K disc on June 25th.

NOTE: The picture above is of the Walmart-exclusive SteelBook. The regular 4K release will not look like this.

Special Features

Extras include commentary by director Adam Wingard and multiple featurettes that delve into the histories and origins of these Titans. Journey deep into the heart of our world to discover the spectacular Hollow Earth and meet the new characters, get an inside look at the film's epic battles, and go behind the scenes with Wingard and the cast and crew.

And yes, the disc will have Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos, but there will be no IMAX aspect ratio.

Pre-order: Amazon (US) · Amazon (UK) · GRUV · Walmart

My The Abyss upgrade arrived and i’m very happy with it!

Top 20 Selling Blu-ray Discs

1. The Beekeeper
2. Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths, Part Two
3. The Departed
4. The Abyss
5. Nostalghia
6. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom
7. The Iron Claw
8. The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
9. Oppenheimer
10. Dune: Part One
11. Wonka
12. The Marvels
13. Migration
14. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
15. Lisa Frankenstein
16. Wish
17. Lars Von Trier's The Kingdom Trilogy
18. Avatar: The Way of Water
19. The Cat and the Canary
20. Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths, Part One

Source: NPD VideoScan First Alert (based on unit sales from reporting retailers)

Top 20 Selling 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Discs

1. The Departed
2. The Abyss
3. Nostalghia
4. The Beekeeper
5. Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths, Part Two
6. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom
7. Oppenheimer
8. Rolling Thunder
9. Steel Magnolias
10. Dune: Part One
11. True Lies
12. Major League
13. The Marvels
14. The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
15. Prey
16. I Am Cuba
17. Planet Earth III
18. Wonka
19. Goodbye Uncle Tom
20. Blade Runner 2049

Source: NPD VideoScan First Alert (based on unit sales from reporting retailers)

https://www.mediaplaynews.com/research/top-20-selling-blu-ray-and-4k-discs-for-week-ended-4-27-24/

I find this decision strange and confusing. Hoprfully this won't impact the box office too much.

Pre-order: Amazon (US) • Amazon (UK) • GRUV • Zavvi

So, I’ve just started looking at @ParamountMovies ’ ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST #4K #UltraHD disc, and I can tell right away (and I’m sad to report) that it’s going to be divisive. And if you’ve seen the film in 4K Digital version on Vudu, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. (It’s been available there since mid-2022.)

I believe the most recent work was done in 2018 by Paramount’s remastering team, working with L’Immagine Ritrovata and The Film Foundation. The 4K disc includes the 165-minute extended edition of the film, reportedly sourced from the original 35m Techniscope camera negative, and its supposedly been graded to honor “the 2007 Film Foundation photochemical restoration overseen by legendary director Martin Scorsese by matching its build and color palette.” But this 4K HDR grade looks a good deal warmer to me than the 2011 Blu-ray sourced from that work. Highlights are more natural here and shadows are deeper, as you’d expect from HDR, but some fine detail has definitely been lost to noise reduction that’s obviously been employed to reduce grain. What grain remains is a vague digital swirl, and the underlying image looks softer now overall compared to the previous Blu-ray. The 4K image is obviously “cleaner” in its appearance, and to some novice cinephiles that will automatically mean “better.” (You know the type: The folks who write breathless reviews on Amazon and social media saying: “Don’t trust the haters!”)

But this is a film that should look a little gritty and it doesn’t. (Note that the new Blu-ray included in this package is based on the 4K remaster—it’s not the same disc as before.) Some additional notes: The 4K disc is a UHD-66, with video data rates around 35-40Mbps. Audio options are 5.1 DTS-HD MA and original mono in lossy Dolby Digital.

Personally, I would love to see what Paramount’s 2018 raw scan looks like. Because had someone had a lighter touch on the remastering, this might be a very nice UHD release. As it is, if you’re on the fence I would suggest spending $14.99 on the 4K Digital version first, to see if you’re okay with the image enough to spend $40 on the disc. That’s not a recommendation you’ll hear me make often, but there it is.

I’ll share my full review of this title on @TheDigitalBits website in the next day or two.

https://twitter.com/billhuntbits/status/1785867281496760417

If you want to jump straight to the picture, here ya go.

SPECIAL FEAUTERES:

• Dolby Atmos soundtrack
• The Legacy of Twister - Taken by the Wind: Director Jan de Bont discusses the groundbreaking film.
• Commentary by Director Jan de Bont and Visual Effects Supervisor Stefen Fangmeier
• Featurettes:
  • Chasing the Storm: Twister Revisited
  • Anatomy of a Twister
  • HBO® First Look: The Making of Twister
• Van Halen "Humans Being" Music Video

Pre-order: Amazon · GRUV.com

I love this film, but I really don't want pointless gubbins, just the film. Long story short, no word on what the extras are, and it's listed at $130! FFS!

Flip to Channel 62: UHF gets 4K release for 35th anniversary

Shout! Factory is giving UHF all the 4K bells, whistles and scratch and sniff cards it deserves later this year.

By Mathew Plale

April 30th 2024, 8:29am

This means something...This is important. That's right, a beloved favorite of decades past is coming to 4K -- no, not Close Encounters of the Third Kind but Weird Al's UHF, the cult staple that marked Yankovic's first major big screen appearance and writing credit. And to celebrate the 35th anniversary of UHF, Shout! Factory has put together one of the most fun releases in recent memory. So grab your mop and head on over to Uncle Nutzy's Clubhouse!

This UHF 4K comes with two 18" x 24" posters (one for the original artwork and another with an exclusive design); a retro prism sticker modeled after vending machine stickers of the '80s and '90s; a Spatula City fridge magnet; a stress relief toy modeled after an old school remote; and a Smell-O-Vision sticker set, with scents timed to match with sizzling burgers, Stanley's mop and, yes, the Wheel of Fish.

While the magnet and stress remote are capped at 1,000 units, things get more limited when it comes to other goodies that Shout! Factory has lined up for this UHF 4K release. Shout! has teamed up with the great Gutter Garbs for a set of five collectible pins and keepsake box which is limited to just 500 units -- well, 499 at most as of publication...

"Weird Al" Yankovic has seen a major resurgence in his popularity over the past few years, which is pretty impressive since he hasn't put out a new album in close to a decade. But his social media presence, legion of fans and biopic spoof -- which you could see on Roku or anywhere you illegally download movies -- have further cemented him as an icon whose appeal knows no limits. Certainly this UHF 4K release will be one that's snatched up by fans faster than George Newman's Oscar.

UHF stars Yankovic as Newman, "a daydreamer who becomes the manager of a small TV station that's losing money as quickly as it's losing viewers. Before long, he's programming shows like "Stanley Spadowski's Clubhouse," "Wheel Of Fish" and "Raul's Wild Kingdom." But can Channel 62's new popularity save it from sinister forces? To find out ... don't touch that dial!" UHF flips to 4K on July 2nd.

THIS JUST IN - Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy 20th Anniversary 4K UHD Arriving July 2

Posted Mon Apr 29, 2024 at 10:46 AM PDT by Tom Landy

Adam McKay's hilarious directorial debut featuring an all-star cast including Will Ferrell, Christina Applegate, Paul Rudd, Steve Carell, David Koechner, and Fred Willard will be making its 4K UHD Blu-ray debut in a 20th Anniversary Edition on July 2.

Paramount's 4K Blu-ray edition presents the Theatrical and Extended versions of the film branched, plus loads of legacy bonus content.

There was a time before cable when the local anchorman reigned supreme....Enter the hard-hitting world of the 1970s local TV news, where Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell) and his loyal Channel 3 News Team (Paul Rudd, Steve Carell, David Koechner) are San Diego's #1 rated news source. All is well in their male-dominated world of news until beautiful, rising-star reporter Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate) turns it all upside down. Sparks don't just fly, they ignite an all-out war between the two perfectly coiffed anchorpersons. In a job where it pays to keep a straight face, Anchorman is the comedy that makes it almost impossible to stop laughing.

***Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy - 20th Anniversary 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray ***

Blu-ray Disc 1

• Theatrical and Extended versions of the film branched
• Commentary by Adam McKay, Will Ferrell, Lou Rawls, Andy Richter, Kyle Gass, Paul Rudd, David Koechner, and Christina Applegate
• Deleted & Extended Scenes
• Bloopers
• "Afternoon Delight" Music Video
• ESPN SportsCenter Audition -- Ron Burgundy

Blu-ray Disc 2

• Wake Up Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie
• Intro-Commentary with Will Ferrell and Aaron Zimmerman
• PSA
• Award Speech
• Raw Footage "Good Takes"
• "Afternoon Delight" Recording Session
• Interviews
• Specials
• Cast Auditions
• Table Read 6/2/03
• Rehearsals
• Playback Video
• Commercial Break
• Trailers

I first saw The Abyss on Sunday, 24th January 1993 on Channel 4 in the UK. They mistakenly broadcast the film uncut for which the governing body, OFCOM, slapped their wrists.

Not long after, the Special Edition had a UK release on VHS, which I would snap up instantly. Although, I would be amazed at the terrible editing used to hide the rat in the infamous scene where they force it to breathe oxygenated liquid.

In 2000, I would import the two disc DVD from the US which was fantastic, but the only setback was the picture was non-anamorphic. This didn't worry me too much at the time because I was watching on a 14-inch portable.

Finally, after waiting over two decades, I finally have the film in HD and 4K! It's been so long, it's skipped a generation. 😁 Plus, I had to import the film from the Netherlands as it isn't getting a release here in the UK!

Your presence is requested.

SPECIAL FEATURES

• English and Japanese Dolby Atmos soundtrack
• Feature-Length Storyboards
• Interview with Composer Joe Hisaishi
• Interview with Producer Toshio Suzuki
• Interview with Supervising Animator Takeshi Honda
• Drawing with Takeshia Honda
• “Spinning Globe” Music Video
• Teasers & Trailers

Pre-order: Amazon · Crunchyroll Store