Our Most Wanted on Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD This Week

Details: By Frank Wilkins; 22 July 2019

Alita: Battle Angel - Movie Review

And another friendly hi-def hello to our fellow blu-ray geeks. Welcome to the weekly look at our most wanted titles coming to blu-ray and/or 4K Ultra HD for the week of July 23, 2019

This week in blu-ray brings us three new films making their home video debuts, two notable catalog title releases from Criterion, several steelbook and 4K editions, and what look to be a couple of fantastic release from Shout Factory.

First, on our most wanted list this week is 20th Century Fox's release the 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray 3D + Blu-ray + Digital HD edition of Alita: Battle Angel which also gets a Blu-ray + DVD + Digital HD, a Best Buy Exclusive SteelBook / 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray 3D + Blu-ray + Digital HD edition and a Target Exclusive / 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray 3D + Blu-ray + Digital HD that comes with a USB Charging Wristband.

Next up is another film making its home video debut. Hellboy comes to us from Lionsgate in several editions including a 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital Copy, a Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy edition, a Best Buy Exclusive SteelBook / 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital Copy edition as well as a Target Exclusive SteelBook / Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy edition

The John Hughes comic sci-fi calssic from 1985, Weird Science is getting a blu-ray edition as well as a blu-ray steelbook edition from Arrow Films, both of which will feature a new restoration from a 4K scan of the original negative, new interviews. Three different cuts of the film will be included in the set. {googleads}

Lionsgate will release its Oliver Stone-directed film The Doors on 4K UHD from a new 4k restoration. The release will include a new Oliver Stone interview as well as an interview from sound engineer Lon Bender. The previously release Stone audio commentary will also accompany the set.

Criterion is making quite the splash this week with a couple of notable releases. Michael Radford's dystopian epic, 1984 is getting a new 4K restoration that was supervised by cinematographer Roger Deakins. Also included will be several new interviews. The company is also putting out on blu-ray a new 4K restoration of Spike Lee's Do The Right Thing which will also include the previously released bonus materials.

Here is what is coming out on blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD This week

Hellboy (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital Copy)

Lionsgate Films

Street Date: July 23, 2019

Hellboy is back, and he's on fire. From the pages of Mike Mignola's seminal work, this action-packed story sees the legendary half-demon superhero (David Harbour) called to the English countryside to battle a trio of rampaging giants. There he discovers The Blood Queen, Nimue (Milla Jovovich), a resurrected ancient sorceress thirsting to avenge a past betrayal. Suddenly caught in a clash between the supernatural and the human, Hellboy is now hell-bent on stopping Nimue without triggering the end of the world.

Tales of the Wild Hunt: Hellboy Reborn" (3-Part Documentary)
Deleted Scenes
Previsualizations

Weird Science (Blu-ray)

Arrow Films

Street Date: July 23, 2019

Perenially picked-on high school nerds Gary (Anthony Michael Hall, Sixteen Candles) and Wyatt (Ilan Mitchell-Smith) are sick of their status at the bottom of the social food chain. Using Wyatt’s computer, the two hatch a plan to create their dream woman – and following a massive power surge, that woman unexpectedly appears in the form of Lisa (Kelly LeBrock). Gorgeous, intelligent, and blessed with limitless magic powers, Lisa makes the boys’ dreams come true… but what about Wyatt’s gun-toting psycho older brother Chet (Bill Paxton), and the two bullies (Robert Downey Jr and Vamp’s Robert Rusler) determined to put them back in their place?

New restoration by Arrow Films from a 4K scan of the original negative
High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray™ presentation of the original Theatrical Version of the film (94 mins), plus seamlessly-branched exclusive Extended Version (97 mins), featuring two additional scenes newly remastered in high-definition
Original lossless stereo audio, plus 5.1 DTS-HD MA surround option (theatrical version only)
Original English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
Edited-for-TV version of the film (SD only, 94 mins), plus comparison featurette highlighting the alternate dubs and edits
Option to watch additional scenes from the Extended Version separately
Casting ‘Weird Science’, an all-new interview with casting director Jackie Burch
Dino The Greek, a newly-filmed interview with supporting actor John Kapelos
Chet Happens, a newly filmed interview with special makeup creator Craig Reardon
Fantasy and Microchips, a newly filmed interview with editor Chris Lebenzon
Ira Newborn Makes The Score, a newly filmed interview with the composer
It’s Alive! Resurrecting Weird Science, an archive documentary featuring interviews with cast, crew and admirers, including star Anthony Michael Hall
Theatrical trailers, TV spots and radio spots
Image galleries
BD-ROM: PDF of the original shooting script
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Tracie Ching

1984 (Blu-ray)

Criterion

Street Date: July 23, 2019

This masterly adaptation of George Orwell's chilling parable about totalitarian oppression gives harrowing cinematic expression to the book's bleak prophetic vision. In a rubble-strewn surveillance state where an endless overseas war props up the repressive regime of the all-seeing Big Brother, and all dissent is promptly squashed, a profoundly alienated citizen, Winston Smith (thrillingly played by John Hurt), risks everything for an illicit affair with the rebellious Julia (Suzanna Hamilton) in a defiant assertion of humanity in the face of soul-crushing conformity. Through vividly grim production design and expressionistically desaturated cinematography by Roger Deakins, Michael Radford's 1984 conjures a dystopian vision of postwar Britain as fascistic nightmare—a world all too recognizable as our own.

Brand new 4K restoration of the film supervised by cinematographer Roger Deakins, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
New interviews with director Michael Radford and cinematographer Roger Deakins
New interview with David Ryan, author of George Orwell on Screen
Behind-the-scenes footage
Trailer
PLUS: An essay by writer and performer A. L. Kennedy

The Doors (The Final Cut / 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital Copy)

Lionsgate

Street Date: July 23, 2019

Discover the stunning new 4K restoration of three-time Academy Award winning director Oliver Stone's psychedelic music biopic The Doors - The Final Cut brought to life with Dolby Atmos, which will take audiences back to the world and sounds of one of the most iconic rock bands in history. Remastered from the original negative that was scanned in 4K 16-bit on ARRISCAN at FotoKem US, the restoration was managed by L'Immagine Ritrovata in Italy with the close support of Oliver Stone who oversaw the color grading. The Dolby Atmos mix was created at Formosa Group under the supervision of Dolby and the original sound editors of the film: Wylie Stateman and Lon Bender. This new mix will offer audiences a unique, immersive experience of the amazing film soundtrack, which includes over twenty-five songs from The Doors back catalogue.

New: Oliver Stone's Interview
New: Sound Engineer Lon Bender's Interview
Audio commentary by director Oliver Stone

Universal Horror Collection: Volume II (Blu-ray)

Shout Factory

Street Date: July 23, 2019

Murders in the Zoo / The Mad Ghoul / The Mad Doctor of Market Street / The Strange Case of Doctor Rx

SPECIAL FEATURES: MURDERS IN THE ZOO

NEW Audio Commentary with author/film historian Greg Mank
Still Gallery

MAD DOCTOR OF MARKET STREET

Theatrical Trailer
Still Gallery

THE STRANGE CASE OF DR. RX

NEW Gloriously Wicked: The Life and Legacy of Lionel Atwill
Still Gallery

THE MAD GHOUL

NEW Audio Commentary by film historian Thomas Reader
Still Gallery

Missing Link (Blu-ray + DVD + Digital HD)

20th Century Fox

Street Date: July 23, 2019

Hugh Jackman, Zoe Saldana and Zach Galifianakis lead an all-star voice cast in this globetrotting adventure from LAIKA, the makers of Coraline and Kubo and the Two Strings. Hugh Jackman is Sir Lionel Frost, a brave and dashing adventurer who considers himself to be the world's foremost investigator of myths and monsters. The trouble is no one else seems to agree. Zach Galifianakis is Mr. Link. As species go, he's as endangered as they get; he's possibly the last of his kind, he's lonely, and he believes that Sir Lionel is the one man alive who can help him. Along with the independent and resourceful Adelina Fortnight (Zoe Saldana), who possesses the only known map to the group's secret destination, the unlikely trio embarks on a riotous rollercoaster ride of a journey to seek out Link's distant relatives in the fabled valley of Shangri-La.

Audio Commentary by Chris Butler
Creating Mr. Link
Bringing the Final Battle on the Ice Bridge to Life
Animation Inspiration w/optional Commentary by Chris Butler
VFX Breakdown Reel – Realizing the Potential of Stop Motion
Oh What a Mystery: Pulling the Camera Back on Missing Link's Magic
Making Faces
Inside the Magic of Laika
Gallery x 24 Images

Pacific Heights (Blu-ray)

Sony

Street Date: July 23, 2019

Unmarried yuppies Patty (Melanie Griffith) and Drake (Matthew Modine) move into an expensive dream home in a high-end neighborhood in San Francisco. As they renovate the house, they look for a tenant for the first floor of their house. Carter Hayes (Michael Keaton) seems like a great fit at first, but it transpires that he is a con artist who plans to swindle them out of their real estate. As Hayes tries to drive them out of their own home, the couple must take drastic measures to fight back.

Do the Right Thing (Blu-ray)

Criterion

Street Date: July 23, 2019

Set on one block of Brooklyn's Bed-Stuy Do or Die neighborhood, at the height of summer, this 1989 masterpiece by Spike Lee confirmed him as a writer and filmmaker of peerless vision and passionate social engagement. Over the course of a single day, the easygoing interactions of a cast of unforgettable characters—Da Mayor, Mother Sister, Mister Señor Love Daddy, Tina, Sweet Dick Willie, Buggin Out, Radio Raheem, Sal, Pino, Vito, and Lee's Mookie among them—give way to heated confrontations as tensions rise along racial fault lines, ultimately exploding into violence. Punctuated by the anthemic refrain of Public Enemy's "Fight the Power," Do the Right Thing is a landmark in American cinema, as politically and emotionally charged and as relevant now as when it first hit the big screen.

New 4K restoration, approved by cinematographer Ernest Dickerson, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray
Audio commentary from 1995 featuring director Spike Lee, Dickerson, production designer Wynn Thomas, and actor Joie Lee
Introductions by Lee
Making "Do the Right Thing," a documentary from 1988 by St. Clair Bourne
New interviews with costume designer Ruth E. Carter, camera assistant Darnell Martin, New York City Council Member Robert Cornegy Jr., and writer Nelson George
Interview with editor Barry Alexander Brown from 2000
Programs from 2000 and 2009 featuring Lee and members of the cast and crew
Music video for Public Enemy's "Fight the Power," directed by Lee, with remarks from rapper Chuck D
Behind-the-scenes footage
Cannes Film Festival press conference from 1989
Deleted and extended scenes
Original storyboards, trailer, and TV spots

Criss Cross (Blu-ray)

Shout Factory!

Street Date: July 23, 2019

Steve Thompson (Burt Lancaster) is a hardworking armored car driver with a fatal attraction to his ex-wife Anna (Yvonne De Carlo), who's now married to notorious hoodlum Slim Dundee (Dan Duryea). Unable to stay away from her, Steve has a secret tryst with Anna ... only to be discovered by Dundee. To cover up their affair, Steve convinces Dundee that he only met with Anna to get Dundee's help in robbing an upcoming payroll shipment he will be driving. The hood falls for the ruse, which triggers a series of harrowing events that ultimately lead to violence and death. Criss Cross is a classic film noir suspense tale from a true master of the genre, director Robert Siodmak (The Killers).

New 4K restoration from the original camera negative
NEW Commentary By Film Historian Jim Hemphill
Theatrical Trailer
Still Gallery
Poster And Lobby Card Still Gallery

And now for our MOST WANTED ON BLU-RAY AND 4K for the week of July 23, 2019

Alita: Battle Angel (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray 3D + Blu-ray + Digital HD)

20th Century Fox

Street Date: July 23, 2019

From Academy Award winners James Cameron & Jon Landau, and visionary filmmaker Robert Rodriguez comes Alita: Battle Angel, an epic adventure of hope and empowerment. When Alita (Rosa Salazar) awakens with no memory of who she is in a future world she does not recognize, she is taken in by Ido (Christoph Waltz), a compassionate doctor who realizes that somewhere in this discarded cyborg shell is the heart and soul of a young woman with an extraordinary past. When deadly and corrupt forces come after Alita, she discovers a clue to her past – she has unique fighting abilities that those in power will stop at nothing to control. If she can stay out of their grasp, she could be the key to saving her friends, her family and the world she's grown to love.

Alita's World – get a deeper look into the world of Alita: Battle Angel with these dynamic motion comics.

The Fall – a look back at the terrible war that almost destroyed two planets and set the stage for the cyborg warrior Alita's return 300 years later.
Iron City – Hugo gives a guided tour of the Iron City he knows, showing off its dark corners and broken-down neighborhoods.
What it Means to be a Cyborg – hunter-warrior Zapan tracks his mark across Iron City while musing about what it means to be a cyborg.
Rules of the Game – A high-octane "crash course" in Motorball, introducing the rules, game-play, and the top-ranked players and their arsenal of weapons.

From Manga to Screen – a behind-the-scenes look into the origins of Yukito Kishiro's beloved manga, "Gunnm," and the long road to bring it to life on the big screen.
Evolution of Alita – how Alita was brought to life, from the casting of Rosa Salazar, to performance capture, and final VFX by WETA Digital.
Motorball – go inside Iron City's favorite pastime, from the origins and evolution of the sport, to rules on how the game is played.
James Cameron, Robert Rodriguez and cast Q&A moderated by Jon Landau.
Robert Rodriguez's 10 Minute Cooking School: Chocolate – a cooking lesson on how to make delicious chocolate like that seen in the movie.
2005 Art Compilation (2019) – James Cameron's original compilation of concept art for the then-titled "Battle Angel: Alita," presented with new voiceover and music.
Scene Deconstruction – view three different stages of the production – the original live-action performance capture, the animation stage, and the final Weta VFX from four different scenes