SteelBook Alert: Prime Movers

You got the touch! You got the power! A monumental classic from my childhood will get a SteelBook Blu-ray release later this year. This hits all my nostalgia buttons. I suspect that a lot of kids who grew up in the 1980s will feel the same.

‘Transformers: The Movie’ (1986)

Available at: Amazon (USA) or Zavvi (UK)
Release date: Sept. 13th, 2016 (USA) / Dec. 12th, 2016 (UK)
Price: $19.99 (USA) / £22.99 (UK)
Region code: TBD, Likely region-locked in each country

Funnily, I just mentioned ‘Transformers: The Movie’ recently in our Roundtable topic about Movies from Your Childhood That Don’t Hold Up. Goofy and flawed though it may be, I love it all the same.

In North America, Shout! Factory will release a 30th Anniversary Edition featuring a new video remaster and some new supplements next month. Fans in the UK will have to wait until the end of the year when Manga Entertainment licenses it for that market. With a change in distributor, I assume that the disc will probably get region-locked in each territory as a result.

Transformers The Movie 1986 SteelBook

The artwork is perhaps nothing too original or spectacular, but it’s fitting for the movie and looks nice. I have happily already placed my preorder.

‘Game of Thrones: Season 5’

Available at: Best Buy
Release date: Nov. 15th, 2016
Price: $59.99

HBO remastered the first two seasons of ‘Game of Thrones’ for Dolby Atmos audio and reissued them in SteelBook cases last November. The third and fourth seasons followed suit a few months later. However, when the initial Blu-ray release of the fifth season (in standard box set packaging) got Dolby Atmos from the beginning, it was unclear if SteelBooks would continue for future seasons.

As it turns out, more Steelbooks are coming after all, but will be relegated to Best Buy exclusivity. I have no idea why Season 5 is more expensive than Season 6 when they have the same number of episodes.

Game of Thrones Season 5 SteelBook

‘Game of Thrones: Season 6’

Available at: Best Buy
Release date: Nov. 15th, 2016
Price: $49.99

Game of Thrones Season 6 SteelBook

‘Snow White and the Huntsman’

Available at: Zavvi
Release date: Sept. 12th, 2016
Price: £15.99

Timed to capitalize on the Blu-ray (and SteelBook) release of the sequel that everybody hated, Universal will reissue ‘Snow White and the Huntsman’ in a new metal case that needlessly also comes in a slipcover box.

Snow White and the Huntsman SteelBook

Snow White and the Huntsman SteelBook with Slipcase

It looks OK, but the movie had a much classier SteelBook when it was originally released on Blu-ray back in 2012.

Snow White and the Huntsman 2012 SteelBook

Sadly, that one was a limited item and is long out of print.

Are there really enough Huntsman fans out there to justify so many SteelBooks for this franchise? Judging by the box office performance for ‘Winter’s War’, I’d guess not.

7 comments

  1. Doth my eyes deceive me or is there something wrong with the photo of that ‘Transformers’ Steelbook? The round edges seem to be much bigger compared to other Steelbooks. Right? Wrong?

    • Josh Zyber
      Author

      I hope that’s just a proportion issue with the mock-up art.

      Turns out that the Transformers SteelBook will also be available in the U.S. for less money. I’ve updated the post.

  2. Patient O.T.

    Amazon Germany and France have steelbook for GOT SEASON 5.
    Best Buy has preorder page for GOT SEASON 5 steelbook with a release date of 11/15/16 at $59.99.

    • Josh Zyber
      Author

      I stand corrected and will update the Game of Thrones section of the post. The listing for the Season 5 SteelBook is called “BD-GAME OF THRONES: SSN 5 STLBK (BD)” and doesn’t show up in the search results for “Complete Fifth Season,” “Season 5” or “SteelBook.” If you search for just “Game of Thrones,” it’s really far down on the list.

    • William Henley

      Never ordered a steelbook from France or Germany – do they have those annoying rating logo on the front of the case like they do on regular DVD and Blu-Rays? While the UK has tons of logos, they are usually small, but, at least with German discs, the ratings are usually huge. Kinda defeats the purpose of paying for a special case

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