Even as Best Buy’s brick-and-mortar stores scale back physical media, the corporation continues to cater to SteelBook fans. The retailer’s latest batch of exclusives put an interesting emphasis on spaceships named Discovery.
2001: A Space Odyssey
Video Formats: Blu-ray/UHD
Available at: Best Buy (ORDER HERE)
Release date: October 30, 2018
Price: $32.99
The so-called “Unrestored” 70mm theatrical re-release this year was met with some controversy, but the upcoming Ultra HD edition will supposedly feature a proper restoration on par with the 4k DCP that made the rounds afterwards. (Before you fret, most reports claim that the weirdly miscolored trailer that circulated on the web is not representative of the actual product.)
The SteelBook is perhaps an overly familiar image, but with a movie this famous it’s difficult to come up with something original that doesn’t go the ghastly Pop Art route. This looks nice, and I will happily add it to my collection.
That “4K ULTRA HD” banner at the top of the cover is most likely a cardboard wrapper. I expect the case to look identical to the one Zavvi offered a little while ago (which is now sold out).
Star Trek: Discovery – Season One
Video Format: Blu-ray
Available at: Best Buy (ORDER HERE)
Release date: November 13, 2018
Price: $44.99
I liked what I saw of the new Star Trek spinoff’s pilot episode, but it wasn’t quite enough to get me to subscribe to CBS All Access. I may take the opportunity to catch up with the show on disc. The SteelBook has better art than the regular Blu-ray, but I’m surprised this series wasn’t prepped for 4k.
Westworld: Season 2
Video Format: Blu-ray (no UHD)
Available at: Best Buy (ORDER HERE)
Release date: December 4, 2018
Price: $44.99
I was far too frustrated with the second season of Westworld to want to buy a copy for permanent ownership. For those more invested than I am, the SteelBook design is reasonably clever. However, the lack of Ultra HD seems like a major failing when the show is definitely being released on that format.
Update: It appears that Best Buy has a UHD SteelBook for this after all.
Video Format: UHD (no Blu-ray)
Available at: Best Buy (ORDER HERE)
Release date: December 4, 2018
Price: $54.99
Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again
Video Formats: Blu-ray/DVD (no UHD)
Available at: Best Buy (ORDER HERE)
Release date: October 23, 2018
Price: $29.99
Here we go again, indeed. Even the movie’s title feels sarcastic and defeatist. (Yes, I get that it’s named after another ABBA song. It’s still lame.)
It took me a minute of staring at this SteelBook before I was even sure what I was looking at. I guess it’s supposed to be a pair of overalls slung on top of a dock piling. That seems kind of inane to me, but I’m not the audience for this movie.
Julian
‘Yes, I get that it’s named after another ABBA song’
Technically, the same ABBA song? The lyrics go: ‘Mamma Mia/Here I go again/…’
Josh Zyber
AuthorI’ll take your word for it. Every ABBA song sounds the same to me.
Julian
Haha. Check out ‘The Day Before You Came’, their best. Nothing like ‘Mamma Mia’.
Al
Josh, you must have missed it. There is also a 4K Steelbook of Westworld: Season 2, available at Best Buy. I purchased (pre-ordered it, about six weeks ago).
Josh Zyber
AuthorArgh, the Best Buy web site sucks. There’s no mention of a 4k version in the SteelBook section of the site when you sort by release date. You have to search specifically for “Westworld SteelBook” for it to show up. I will update the post and create a listing on our site’s release calendar. Thanks.
William Henley
I haven’t seen the second Mamma Mia yet, but knowing what the movie is supposedly about, and having seen the first one, I get what they were going for with the cover art. I got a feeling, though, that this won’t be one of the better selling steelbooks – Mamma Mia just seems like a strange movie to issue a steelbook for.
That 2001 steelbook is tempting, though.
Does CBS All Access offer 4k streaming? I have a feeling that the only people who have been able to see Discovery in 4k would be those outside the US watching it on Netflix.
Dave S
The Best Buy description for Mamma Mia is “Blu-ray/DVD”, but the picture shows a 4K disc and a Blu-ray disc. I guess we’ll find out what the deal is soon enough.