Martin Scorsese has Peter Medak’s classic haunter at number six on his list of all time top horror films. And he knows a thing or two about film does our Marty. Second Sight now bring us George C Scott’s masterful chiller on two new 4K editions and while maybe not the home run several of their previous horror classics have been this year, it's still a worthwhile addition to any horror fan's collection.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania 4K Blu-ray Review
by Simon Crust
Is Small Beautiful? Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania might pursuade you. But another Disney disc that has better presentation on its streaming service might not.
This year’s meme given cinematic life proves to be both better and worse than any sort of expectations one may have coming to a film named ‘Cocaine Bear’. And yes, there will be expectations. The 4K UHD disc from Mediumrare however, a 4K exclusive to the UK, disappoints with a baffling audio track selection and nothing to justify its significant price hike over equally specced digital versions.
We come around from a drug induced stupor to view Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas only to find mesmerising picture and sound, in another delightful package from Arrow.
A brisk, inoffensive bit of silly science fiction that trades purely in the recycling of the movies, TV shows and videogames currently in the zeitgeist. This Chinese post-apocalyptic action flick doesn’t attempt anything new, but boy does it ever rattle along.
The ultimate multi-genre blend, Christophe Gans 2001 period murder mystery action horror thriller - with Mark Dacascos and martial arts - is one of the great underrated gems from the last quarter-century, landing in a stunningly restored 4-disc 4K set from Studiocanal.
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace 4K Blu-ray Review
by Simon Crust
After flying so high we come crashing down with the forth and last outing of Christopher Reeves in his red pants: Superman IV - is there anything that can save this stinker?
Part II of Richard Lester's swashbuckler opus and the second half of Alexandre Dumas’ novel makes it to the screen in an altogether more action-packed and darker affair, which meant a bigger spectacle at the expense of the first film’s joyful exuberance. Sound familiar? Another Studiocanal 4K restoration, after watching the previous film, the only question you really want to know is…what’s the teal like on this one?
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds - Season One 4K Blu-ray Review
by Cas Harlow
One of the best new Trek shows in decades, Strange New Worlds Season 1 earns a glorious 3-disc 4K Dolby Vision release from Paramount just before Season 2 drops on Paramount+ in pretty-damn-far-from-4K.
It’s a battle of the titans in this month’s Blu-ray release schedule: middle-aged, middle-class female British director goes head-to-head with Asian vampires across seven films, with a smattering of psychological bangers, coming of agers and Chow Yun Fat looking seriously cool rounding out the 1080p goodies this merry month of May.
Richard Lester's joyous and irreverent swashbuckler remains the blueprint for so many of Hollywood’s blockbusters. The starriest of starry casts has an absolute blast in the adaptation of Alexandre Dumas’ classic novel that remains the cinematic version to beat. And with Studiocanal producing a brand new 4K restoration to celebrate the film’s half-century, the time is always perfect to revisit this utterly masterful romp.
Indicator interestingly chose French horror psychedelic surrealist Jean Rollin for their first foray into 4K. And this, one of his early vampire classics, is certainly a helluva way to sneak your first taste of Rollin’s brand of exquisite sensuality and playful cinematic poetry…
The late, great Krzysztof Kieslowski's crowning achievement comes to its tremendous conclusion with Three Colours: Red, rounding out Curzon's magnificent 4K Box Set.
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Movies & TV Shows
Three Colours: White 4K Blu-ray Review
by Cas Harlow
The middle chapter in Krzysztof Kieslowski's greatest masterwork is an enigmatic blend of equal parts revenge story and love story, the next chapter in the lavish 4K trilogy set from Curzon with Dolby Vision.
The late, great Krzysztof Kieslowski's magnum opus opens with a heart-wrenching study of loss and grief, and a painful quest for emotional 'liberty', with a career-high Juliette Binoche at its core, the first part of a lavish 4K trilogy set from Curzon with Dolby Vision.
The latest in the now dangerously monotone 'war is bad' rhetoric, All Quiet is a suitably - expectedly - punishing ride, escaping Netflix's clutches for an excellent 4K release.
A perfect companion-piece to Kieslowski's Three Colours opus, the auteur's first foray into international productions is as mysterious and elusive as you might expect, with a radiant young Irène Jacob at its beating heart, gifted a lovely standalone 4K release from Curzon Films, with Dolby Vision HDR.
Gerard Butler's latest continues his recent trend for better-than-expected genre fare, delivering solid survival action thrills and getting a perhaps unexpected 4K release for his troubles.
Peter Weir's hugely influential interpretation of Joan Lindsay's purposefully enigmatic mystery is a stunning exercise in mood and atmosphere and Second Sight launch a massive new 4K release of the film to fully do it such rich justice.
The East reigns supreme this month, with everything from bombs on trains, Wickian assassins, mutants on ships and Sonny Chiba atop a mountain of limbs and innards stuffing April’s blu-ray release schedule, with plenty of mostly genre alternatives also available for those looking for something a little less eastern… NOW UPDATED WITH SEVEN COMPETITIONS!
Concluding our look through the Star Trek Next Generation 4K Blu-ray Box Set we come, kicking and screaming, to the last and final outing on the big screen, Nemesis
Horror-movie royalty and a cinematic game changer that ushered in a new age of grindhouse grot and art-house smarts, Tobe Hooper’s seminal classic gets one of Second Sight’s ultra-lavish 4K UHD sets and delivers one of the likely physical media sets of the year…
Damien Chazelle's brazenly debauched Box Office bomb, Babylon, is an extravagantly excessive exercise in excess, but it cleans up nicely in 4KDV with Atmos.
Wes Craven's 2005 thriller has perhaps dated a little more than many fans might have hoped for, still providing a decent 85 minutes of taut night-in entertainment, and shaping up well in 4K.
Somewhat impossibly shot over 12 years, using the same cast, Richard Linklater's Boyhood is another authentic, moving and compelling piece from the writer/director, reminiscent of his "Before" trilogy, only even more audacious in its ambitions.
Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s fantasy steampunk masterpiece finally comes to disc in a manner that does justice to its sublime art and award-winning production design - UPDATED FOR STUDIOCANAL'S UK RELEASE
Between Night and Dawn, there was Martin. A confused young man who may or may not be a vampire. George A Romero’s haunting character study finds a new lease of life on a lavish new 4K limited edition boxset from boutique superstars Second Sight…and it’s been well worth the wait.
Batman's latest imaginative animated outing adapts the 1920s-esque DC Elseworlds comic by Mike "Hellboy" Mignola for some H.P. Lovecraft-inspired gothic mutant madness.
David Bowie and Nic Roeg dream team on Walter Tevis’ scathing attack on everything from cold war paranoia to existential loneliness to the nihilistic acceptance that to be human is an ever downward spiral of addiction, and deliver a wonderful cult-classic that gets more prescient as time goes on…
‘Family’ is seemingly the theme of March’s Blu-ray release schedule – be they loved (syrupy Sirk melodramas), hated (post-War British social taboo explorations), awkwardly distanced from (elegant remakes of classic humanist introspections) or even just dead (grotty LA revenge jams), there’s something for everyone this month, regardless of how you feel about your own… EDIT - Updated with new competitions!
The best Emmerich disaster flick that Emmerich didn't direct (and better than some of the ones he did), 2003's The Core is blissful so-bad-it's-good hokum.
Antoine Fuqua's 2001 crime thriller earned a powerhouse Denzel Washington his first and only Best Actor Oscar, and remains an intoxicating, tense 24 hours on the violent streets of LA, landing on a stunning native 4K disc with outstanding Atmos.