Terry Gilliam's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray...
In the U.K. from Arrow and Germany from Turbine 

4K Ultra HD Blu-ray has been a boon for physical media collectors. Beyond the razor-sharp picture and excellent audio the discs are Region Free (well 99.98% of the time anyway. That means when the U.S. gets a disc the rest of the world wants - it's importable and will play on virtually every home theater setup. Likewise, when Japan or Europe gets a slick disc release we don't have, we don't have to worry about needing a Region-Free player (even though you should probably have one just in case). A great example of how cool it is to be able to import movies on 4K with ease are the U.K. and German releases of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas from Arrow Video and Turbine Medien respectively. 

Now we've already gone and done the hard part of reviewing both releases which you can read right now - 

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Arrow Limited Edition 4K UHD 

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Turbine Exclusive Mediabook 

Now, the Arrow disc has been on the market for some time with Turnine's Mediabooks coming out only in the last couple of weeks. Now the good news is, between the two releases, there's very little difference. Since it was a mutual effort between the two companies, the Dolby Vision 2160p transfers are essentially identical. Little minute differences in bitrate due to disc encoding is the only thing that separates the two. Both have what sounds to be the same exact DTS-HD MA 5.1 and DTS-HD MA 2.0 audio tracks to complete the A/V experience. 

But when we get into the bonus features we start to see the key differences between the two.

• Audio Commentary featuring Terry Gilliam moderated by Phil Stubbs
• Savage: Finding the American Nightmare with Ian Christie (HD 11:47)
• The Gonzo Papers with Laila Nabulsi (HD 19:50)
• Grim Memories and Bad Flashbacks with Benicio del Toro (HD 12:10)
• Ignore This Terrible Drug: Art and Style (HD 30:28) 
• Deleted Scenes w/ Optional Commentary (4 Scenes SD 11:48 total)
• Electronic Press Kit:
• Spotlight on Location (SD 10:35)
• Behind the Scenes (SD 4:26)
• Interview with Terry Gilliam (SD 2:42)
• Interview with Johnny Depp (SD 4:58)
• Interview with Benicio del Toro (SD 00:33)
• Theatrical Trailers
• TV Spots
• Image Galleries 

Lots of great stuff to dig into there. Arrow's set is a single-disc release so all of the extras are right there on the 4K disc. Arrow's is a three-disc Mediabook, so the 4K only has the audio commentary as an extra leaving the 1080p version of the film to hold all the rest. Which is pretty damn cool that there's no real difference there. However, Turbine's set also has a third disc featuring the two-hour documentary Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson. So that is a huge plus in Turbine's favor. 

Both sets have individual booklets - Arrow has a 44-page booklet with Turbine offering up a 55-page book. Now Turbine's book is in German so if you're an English-dominate individual, you will have to use Google Translate or some other app like it to read the book. It's a slightly cumbersome process but you get used to it. Both are great reads with your morning cup of coffee.

A lot of the important stuff is essentially all the same. Price + shipping (if you don't order from a domestic retailer like DiabolikDVD) is almost the same so there's not really a difference maker there. 

Where I would personally give Turbine the edge over Arrow is the four different Mediabook cover options: 

Each of those would make amazing posters. Whereas Arrow only has the one slipcover option, albeit with reversible insert art, that replicates the classic Ralph Steadman art. With that, I know not everyone likes Mediabooks. I happen to enjoy them a lot and think they make fun accent pieces on the shelf. About the size of an average DVD case, they're not so massive to take up too much room like the A24 Mediabooks, but depending on your shelves they do eat a bit of extra height space. 

So which version of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray do you choose?

Short answer - either one works! Since this is currently an import-only 4K release (watch Criterion announces theirs next month) all you have to decide is which one is more attractive, fits your shelf, and then works with your finances. Arrow and Turbine both did excellent work with their discs so buy with confidence whichever version you order! 

Hope this helped - Happy Collecting!

We've gathered some of the latest title announcement highlights and have digested (pun intended) them for you into a quick read for you here. 

What are your favorites?

The biggest recent news as of late is The Criterion Collection has announced and detailed a creepy quintet of 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray and Blu-ray releases for the month of October. They are Nikyatu Jusu's Nanny and Freaks / The Unknown / The Mystic: Tod Browning’s Sideshow Shockers (both on Blu-ray), David Cronenberg's Videodrome on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray, as well and Nicolas Roeg's Don't Look Now and Alejandro Amenábar's The Others on both formats. For more details, check out our full coverage on those here.

Warner Brothers has announced The Flash starring Ezra Miller and Michael Keaton (bringing his 1989 Batman back out of retirement) on 4K UHD Blu-ray and Blu-ray on August 29.

Warner Archive has also revealed their August Blu-ray slate: Wichita (1955), Spinout (1966), Little Women (1933), The Life of Emile Zola (1937), Gay Purr-ee (1962) and Father's Little Dividend (1951). All six Blu-ray releases arrive at the end of August.

Disney's live-action The Little Mermaid will be swimming to Blu-ray and 4K UHD Blu-ray on September 19. The fantasy/musical starring Halle Bailey as Ariel and Melissa McCarthy as Ursula is from director Rob Marshall. Wal-Mart will be carrying an exclusive edition, and Best Buy will also have an exclusive 4K UHD Blu-ray SteelBook.

Speaking of SteelBooks, Best Buy is set to release Lionsgate's The Expendables, The Expendables 2, and The Expendables 3 in matching 4K UHD Blu-ray SteelBooks on September 5. 

Lionsgate and Tim Story's The Blackening will slaughter home video on 4K UHD Blu-ray as well as Blu-ray on August 22.

Arrow has a few more limited edition releases coming soon that have been added to our release calendar. They are: Ringu - 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray (Arrow Limited Edition), Carlito's Way - 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray (Arrow Limited Edition), Borsalino (Arrow Limited Edition), Blood and Black Lace - 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray (Arrow UK Limited Edition), The Prodigal Son (Arrow Limited Edition) and The Psycho Collection - 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray (Arrow UK Limited Edition). The latter will be a boxed set containing four films starring Anthony Perkins.  Check out the box art below: 

Although there is no official release date yet, Kino is preparing M. Night Shyamalan's The Visit for 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray later this year.

Paramount is working on a 70th anniversary 4K UHD Blu-ray release of William Wyler's classic Roman Holiday starring Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck on August 15. The studio is also prepping Transformers: Rise of the Beasts for Blu-ray and 4K UHD Blu-ray on October 10.

For diehard fans of the Oscar-winning Everything Everywhere All at Once, A24 has a Collector's Edition 4K UHD Blu-ray and Blu-ray up for sale the on their website for $50 and $45, respectively. Both come loaded with features and some swag and they are shipping August 7.

Of course, we didn't cover everything here so be sure to check out our release calendars for the full list of upcoming 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray and Blu-ray releases.

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