Posted Sun Feb 5, 2023 at 12:00 PM PST by D. LaFontaine
With February upon us, we are getting that much closer to the Summer Movie Season. It was rather cold this most recent weekend, were you cooped up with some free screen time? What did you watch?
Welcome to Volume 3 Episode 36 of our weekly release guide. A look at the highlights of what's coming to disc the week of Febrary 5th - February 11th, as well as a look at announcements from last week.
There are two new releases this week in the 4K category. First from Disney's Marvel Studios brand, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. We have got some options with this one, they are the standard edition, a Walmart Exclusive edition and TWO Best Buy Exclusive SteelBooks, a Wakanda Art Cover Edition and a Talokán Art Cover Edition. The swag-induced Zavvi UK Import is scheduled February 15th.
Switching over to the DC Universe, Warner Bros. releases the animated movie Legion Of Super-Heroes.
From Shout Factory, the comedy Bubba Ho-Tep, which stars Bruce Campbell. Check out Bryan's review and then place an order.
From Criterion Collection, a foreign film collection titled Three Colors, which features three films by the director Krzysztof Kieslowski.
A newcomer to the 4K disc category, Lightyear Entertainment has The Return of Swamp Thing, to which Bryan gives pretty good marks. Do check out the review.
LionsGate has another translucent slipcover style SteelBook only @ Best Buy with the comedy/horror/romance Warm Bodies.
Staying with Best Buy exclusives, the first of the 'Disney 100' line is due to come out this week, as an exclusive SteelBook of Encanto. This particular style of artwork has been used elsewhere across the globe, and this set is likely the exact same discs as before, so don't hold your breath for Dolby Vision and BD100 discs any time soon. What you gain from the previous edition is a collectible SteelBook with alternate cover art.
Next week, an Odd Planet, Aesop's guys and how we was.
Blu-ray counterparts of the above category includes Black Panther: Wakanda Forever as a standard edition from Disney/Marvel and Legion Of Super-Heroes from Warner Bros.
The blu-ray category this week is a bit light, here are the highlights...
From Arrow Video, the sci-fi thriller .Com for Murder. And, a little on the lighter side of horror, The Vagrant with Bill Paxton.
New comedy/drama from Universal Studios titled Spoiler Alert.
Doubling back from the topic of Disney 100 (Encanto above), if you didn't get it last month via the Disney Movie Club, it is now available as a general release, Disney 100 labeled release Mickey & Minnie: 10 Classic Shorts - Volume 1. Walmart this week has a few exclusives to offer to blu-ray and the Disney 100 line as well. These editions are similar to the Disney Movie Club exclusives but they also include Collectible Pins. Look for exclusive editions of Beauty and the Beast (1991), Frozen, The Little Mermaid, Mickey & Minnie: 10 Classic Shorts - Volume 1, Moana and Toy Story. The DMC also offers Zootopia to the same line, I wouldn't be surprised to see it offered at Walmart, it's just not listed yet. I wonder if these are going to be online only or perhaps part of the Wakanda Forever display.
Anime highlights include just two titles (3 skus) with Horimiya: The Complete Season, which is available as a standard edition and as a limited edition and How NOT To Summon A Demon Lord: Season 2.
We don't often mention double-dips (this one has had 5 previous releases actually), but Paramount is releasing a SteelBook of the musical Chicago. The artwork is a bit flashier than previous releases, so it might be worth a look. Following their pattern, does this mean a 4K is next? For new stuff from Paramount, TV on disc includes just Joe Pickett: Season One.
Honorable Mention: Specialty label RoninFlix has an action/horror worth peeping out, it's titled Becky. Not done there, also look for the Jet Li 2 Movie Collection, which includes Fist Of Legend & Tai Chi Master. We are getting Jackie Chan from Shout Factory, so why not?
Shout Factory's various labels have announced (most of) their April releases, they are Envy, Flashback (1990), Endangered Species (1982), New Gods: Yang Jian, Bless the Child, The Jackie Chan Collection, Vol. 2 (1983 - 1993), Midnight Run 4K, The Haunting of Julia 4K and The People Under The Stairs 4K.
Kino Lorber will be delivering Kindergarten Cop to 4K soon, likely late April or early May.
It has also been all but confirmed that there are currently no plans on releasing M3GAN to 4K disc. Not sure if it being a Blumhouse release has much to do with it, but a lot of their titles skip the 4K disc route. Wouldn't the R-Rated cut be an awesome treat for 4K? Maybe the studio will see the demand here and add it before an actual announcement is made, they did release The Purge movies after all.
Which titles are you buying this week? Which ones are on your wishlist, be it to buy as an impulse buy or to wait for the right price?
The latest news on all things 4K Ultra HD, blu-ray and Gear.