1. THE EXORCIST

This is it! This is the big one in a week full of amazing releases. William Friedkin‘s The Exorcist, an adaptation of William Peter Blatty‘s novel of the same name, was one of the most terrifying films of the seventies and remains so today. This new Blu-ray editiion features both the original 1973 cut of the film and the updated 2000 extended director’s cut of the film. I’m happy to report that neither have received the revisionist colour-timing that Friedkin inflicted on the Blu-ray release of his film The French Connection. Both versions of The Exorcist remain as pure as they ever were and, in fact, look better than I’ve ever seen them. The new high-def transfers are wonderful!

Between the great audio/visual presentation here and the bevy of bonus features, grabbing up this disc set is a no-brainer, as they say back in my home town. Don’t wait for the holidays for this one, folks. You want to be showing off your HD set-up with this bad boy in the lead-up to Halloween, when The Exorcist has the greatest power to terrify impress!

For more information, including quotes on the disc from Friedkin and WHV, read our previous post here: The Exorcist coming to Blu-ray in October

Special Features:

Disc 1 – Extended Director’s Cut (2000)

• Commentary by William Friedkin
• NEW BD Exclusive: Raising Hell: Filming the Exorcist — set footage produced and photographed by Owen Roizman, camera and makeup tests, and interviews with director William Friedkin, actress Linda Blair, author/screenwriter/producer William Peter Blatty and Owen Roizman.
• NEW BD Exclusive: The Exorcist Locations: GeorgetownThen and Now — Featuring a tour of the iconic locations where the film was shot.
• NEW BD Exclusive: Faces of Evil: The Different Versions of The Exorcist — with director William Friedkin and author/screenwriter/producer William Peter Blatty discussing the different versions of the film and featuring outtakes from the film.
• Trailers, TV Spots & Radio Spots from the film’s 2000 release
• Trailers
  • The Version You’ve Never Seen
  • Our Deepest Fears
• TV Spots
  • Most Electrifying
  • Scariest Ever
  • Returns
• Radio Spots
  • The Devil Himself
  • Our Deepest Fears

Disc 2 – Theatrical Cut (1973)

• Introduction by William Friedkin
• Commentary by William Friedkin
• Commentary by William Peter Blatty with Special Sound Effects Tests
• The Fear of God: 25 Years of The Exorcist [1998 BBC documentary
• Additional Interviews with William Friedkin and William Peter Blatty
  • The Original Cut
  • Stairway to Heaven
  • The Final Reckoning
• Original Ending
• Sketches & Storyboards
• Trailers
  • Nobody Expected It
  • Beyond Comprehension
  • Flash Image
• TV Spots
  • Beyond Comprehension
  • You Too Can See The Exorcist
  • Between Science & Superstition
  • The Movie You’ve Been Waiting For

Amazon: $23.99

2. THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE and THE MALTESE FALCON

Believe me, it was a tough call placing both The Treasure of the Sierra Madre and The Maltese Falcon in the second slot this week but there's just no competing with the deluxe 2-disc, digibook extravaganza that is The Exorcist. That said, these two classic John Huston fliks starring Humphrey Bogart are both must-haves for all film fans, representing the finest presentation either has ever seen on home video, with Treasure actually looking quite spectacular! Both feature enough special features to please any fan or to educate any budding film student. Check it out!

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The Maltese Falcon

• Commentary by Bogart Biographer Eric Lax
• Featurette: The Maltese Falcon: One Magnificent Bird
• Breakdowns of 1941: Studio Blooper Reel
• Makeup tests
• Becoming Attractions: The Trailers of Humphrey Bogart
• Warner Night at the Movies 1941 – Short Subjects Gallery:
  • Newsreel
  • Musical Short: The Gay Parisian
  • Two Classic Cartoons:
    • Hiawatha's Rabbit Hunt
    • Meet John Doughboy
• Trailers
  • The Maltese Falcon
  • Sergeant York
  • Satan Met a Lady (1936 previous Falcon movie adaptation)
• Audio-Only Bonus: Three radio show adaptations – two featuring the movie's original stars, plus another starring Edward G. Robinson

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

• Commentary by Bogart biographer Eric Lax
• Featurette: Discovering Treasure: The Story of The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
• Feature-length documentary profile: John Huston
• Outtakes
• Classic Cartoon: 8 Ball Bunny
• Warner Night at the Movies 1948 – Short Subjects Gallery:
  • Newsreel
  • Joe McDoakes Comedy Short: So You Want to Be a Detective
  • Classic Cartoon: Hot Cross Bunny
• Trailers:
  • The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
  • Key Largo
• Audio-Only Bonus: Radio show adaptation featuring the movie's original stars

Amazon: $17.49 each

3. THE KARATE KID

Okay, honestly, this Karate Kid remake is quite great. That's right. It's not just good. It's great. Nevermind that it's more Kung Fu now than Karate, with the location of the film transplanted from the California, USA of the original 1984 classic film to China 2010. And nevermind that aged Japanese sensei Mr. Miyagi has been replaced by Jackie Chan's far more genuinely skilled, and far more Chinese Mr. Han. This is a faithful representation of the tone and themes of the original with a whole new modern spirit and vastly improved photography and musical score. The Blu-ray disc is damn-near flawless, sporting one of the best transfers we've seen all year. The Karate Kid is a winner on Blu-ray!

Amazon: $22.99

4. THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS

The Last of the Mohicans is probably one of the most long awaited titles to make it to the world of high-def. And this week, it makes its debut on Blu is a fairly strong transfer that should please most fans. It’s a bit on the darker side and has a handful of scenes that border on murky but generally exhibits a great amount of detail and an overall accurate representation of the film. Fans of director Michael Mann won’t want to miss out on his thorough commentary track here. It might not be overly engaging, but if you follow his work or care for the film you’ll be enthralled. There’s also a great 42-minute “Making Of” documentary feature presented in 1080i for those who’d like to delve in a little deeper. The new HD transfer and doc definitely make this Blu-ray disc a worthy upgrade from the DVD!

Amazon: $18.49

5. GRINDHOUSE

FINALLY! How long have we been waiting for this combined Grindhouse release, featuring both Planet Terror and Death Proof? Like, forever?! Well, now you can have that theatrical experience all over again, with shorter cuts of both films and all the fake-trailers you can stomach (including Machete!) There are a lot of special features on this bad boy, but sadly, no lossless audio.

Amazon: $22.99

ANIMATION SPOTLIGHT

DISNEY’S BEAUTY AND THE BEAST: DIAMOND EDITION

Don’t miss out on this incredible Diamond Edition of Disney‘s Beauty and the Beast. I swear, it’s absolutely magnificent. I couldn’t take my eyes off the screen from the moment the film began. This is a truly beautiful Blu-ray that shouldn’t be missed by animation or high-def fans.

Read our full review here: Beauty and the Beast: Diamond Edition Blu-ray Disc Review

Amazon: $24.99

THE SECRET OF KELLS

Incredible. That’s about all I can say about The Secret of Kells. Every frame of this independently created 2D animation film can stand on its own as a stunning frame of art. It was nominated for Best Animated Feature Film at this past years Academy Awards for good reason. I haven’t seen the Blu-ray disc but understand it looks and sounds pretty close to perfect. I’ll be picking this one up as soon as I can!

Amazon: $34.99

ALSO AVAILABLE ON BLU-RAY THIS WEEK
Clicking an image will take you to Amazon.com where you can learn more about and purchase the Blu-ray disc:

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It looks like IGN‘s Blu-ray reporters have nabbed the inside scoop on the layout and special features of the upcoming Complete Grindhouse Collection Blu-ray 2-Disc set. And let me tell you, it looks pretty sweet. But be warned, as “Complete” as the set might claim to be, it is missing one vital piece of the Grindhouse puzzle – Machete is nowhere to be found! That’s right folks, as Machete is no longer only a faux-trailer, and exists outside of the Grindhouse collection as a full-fledged feature film in its own right, Vivendi Entertainment and The Weinstein Company have yanked it from the playlist. Outside of that one glaring omission, everything seems to be in order here. I’m just curious how compressed the films are going to be, now that they’ll be squished together onto one disc. Time and review screeners will tell…

Special Features:

Disc 1 – Theatrical Exhibition:

• Grindhouse Feature (Planet Terror)
• Intermission Cards
• Don’t Trailer
• Werewolf Women of the S.S Trailer
• Thanksgiving Trailer
• Grindhouse Feature (Death Proof)

Disc 2

Planet Terror
• Robert Rodriguez’s 10-Minute Film School
• The Badass Babes of Planet Terror
• The Guys of Planet Terror
• Casting Rebel
• Sickos, Bullets, And Explosions: The Stunts of Planet Terror
• The Friend, The Doctor, and the Real Estate Agent
• Planet Terror Poster Gallery

Death Proof

• Stunts On Wheels: The Legendary Drivers of Death Proof
• Quentin’s Greatest Collaborator: Editor Sally Menke
• The Guys of Death Proof
• Kurt Russell as Stuntman Mike
• Finding Quentin’s Gals
• The Uncut Version of “Baby, It’s You” performed by Mary Elizabeth Winstead
• Introducing Zoe Bell
• Double Dare Trailer
• Death Proof Extended Music
• Death Proof Poster Gallery

Plus these all-new bonus features:

• Robert Rodriguez’s 10-Minute Cooking School
• The Makeup Effects of Planet Terror
• The Hot Rods of Death Proof
• From Texas to Tennessee: The Production Design of Death Proof
• Trailers
• Extended Werewolf Women of The SS Trailer
• View Extended Cut Of Werewolf Women of the SS Trailer with Commentary by Director Rob Zombie
• The Making Of Werewolf Women of the SS Trailer
• Extended Don’t Trailer
• View Extended Cut Of Don’t Trailer with Commentary by Director Edgar Wright
• The Making of Don’t Trailer
• Don’t Storyboard/Trailer Comparison
• View Don’t Storyboard/Trailer Comparison with Commentary by Director Edgar Wright
• Don’t Storyboards Still Gallery
• Don’t Poster
• The Making of Thanksgiving Trailer
• New York Times Talk with Quention Tarantino and Lynn Hirschberg at Comic Con 2006 Featuring the Directors and Cast of Grindhouse
• Grindhouse Trailer Contest Winner Hobo With A Shotgun

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This has been a long, long, long time coming! Those of us who are fans of Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez‘ Grindhouse films have been waiting since the formats inception to finally get our dirty mitts on an Ultimate Collector’s Boxed set of both films and the trailers that originally screened between them during the initial theatrical run. Japan got such a set on DVD a few years back but we, on the other side of the Pacific have had no such luck. Well, it looks like things are finally about to change…

Though there has yet to be an official announcement about such a Blu-ray (or DVD) set, our first clue that this may actually be happening for us came in the form of this tweet from director Edgar Wright,

“So, get this, tomorrow I am doing a commentary on ‘Don’t’. Some of you will know what that means is finally happening.”

Those of you who are fans of the film, will know that “Don’t” is the name of the short faux-trailer that Wright directed for the Grindhouse project. If he’s recording a commentary track for that film then a new, updated release is clearly imminent. And the studio would be foolish not to take advantage of the legion of fans who’d like to own those films on Blu-ray. I’d put my money on a holiday 2010 release. We’ll let you know if we hear any more rumblings from the Grindhouse…

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I hate award shows. I was almost able to avoid the whole Academy Award fiasco last night. Sadly, I caught the opening few minutes of this years self-congratulatory Hollywood travesty, like a stray botox-bullet to the face. I’ll no doubt spend the rest of the week recovering.

I caught up on all the Oscar award winners afterward and I can’t say I was surprised or delighted by much of the news. I am happy to tell you though, that most of the films that took home a statue are either already available on Blu-ray or have been announced to be released on the format soon. Are you more apt to pick up any of the following titles, now that they are Academy Award winners?

AVATAR – ART DIRECTION, CINEMATOGRAPHY, VISUAL EFFECTS

Available now in 2D movie-only Blu-ray and DVD and 4-Disc Special Edition Blu-ray sometime in November (unofficial) from Fox.

THE BLIND SIDE – SANDRA BULLOCK – BEST ACTRESS

Available now from Warner.

THE COVE – DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

Available on Blu-ray only in France and Germany with no domestic release pending from Lionsgate.

CRAZY HEART – JEFF BRIDGES – BEST ACTOR; ORIGINAL SONG – “THE WEARY KIND (Theme from Crazy Heart)”

Available now from Fox.

THE HURT LOCKER – DIRECTING; FILM EDITING; BEST PICTURE; SOUND EDITING; SOUND MIXING; ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Now available on Blu-ray from Summit.

INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS – CHRISTOPH WALTZ – BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Now available on Blu-ray from Universal.

PRECIOUS – MO’NIQUE – BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS; ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Available now from Lionsgate.

EL SECRETO DE SUS OJOS – BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM (Argentina)

Blu-ray announcement pending from Sony. Available in Spain now.

STAR TREK – MAKEUP

Now available on Blu-ray from Paramount.

UP – ANIMATED FEATURE; ORIGINAL SCORE

Now available on Blu-ray from Disney.

THE YOUNG VICTORIA – COSTUME DESIGN

Available now from Sony.

With thanks to Blu-ray.com.

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I’m a day late getting my Blu-ray picks posted. Sorry ’bout that. Yesterday was pretty packed with news and with the limited time I had, I could only squeeze so many posts in. But here we are now, a little light on titles overall but with some quality Blu-ray discs nonetheless. Guess which boxed set I’m most excited about this week…

All right, this isn’t really my top pick. But it’s probably the biggest release of the week so it seemed right to shine the spotlight on it. I still haven’t seen The Hangover yet (WHV sent me the DVD to review…Still trying to explain to them that the site is about the Blu-ray format…sigh…) but I’m really looking forward to it. My pals tell me it’s one of the best comedies they’ve seen in a long while. And I always believe my pals. Read all about the Blu-ray release in our post here: The Hangover Blu-ray announced and detailed

Amazon: $15.99

And yet another film I missed out on in the cinema. Word on the street is that this Blu-ray edition of Tarantino‘s Inglourious Basterds is not to be missed. I’ll be picking up a copy today. I’m pretty excited to finally get a chance to see it. Tarantino doesn’t always knock it out of the park for me but as a fan of the original Inglorious Bastards and the Dirty Dozen, I can’t wait to check out what he does when he sinks his teeth into the genre! Read all about the Blu-ray release in our post here: Inglourious Basterds announced and detailed!

Amazon: $17.99

This is the biggest release of the week for me. I’m constantly amazed at the quality of these Star Trek: The Original Series Blu-ray disc sets. They’re absolutely beautiful! I never thought these old episodes could possibly look or sound this good. Yeah, this set contains the worst episodes of the series but if you’ve picked up the first two seasons (and I really hope you have…they’re some of the best Blu has to offer!) you’ve got to grab this up to complete the set. If you don’t have any of the season sets yet, Paramount is offering a bundle with all three together, the entire series for a slight discount.

Highly recommended!!

Amazon: $52.99

ALSO AVAILABLE ON BLU-RAY THIS WEEK
Clicking an image will take you to Amazon.com where you can learn more about and purchase the Blu-ray disc:

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We told you all about the UK edition of Tarantino‘s Inglourious Basterds, hitting shelves on December 7th. Now we’ve got all the details (except the package art) of the virtually-identical North American edition of the film, to see release just over a week later on December 15th.

Special Features:

• Extended & Alternate Scenes
• Nation’s Pride – The film within the film Inglourious Basterds can be seen it its entirety
• Roundtable Discussion with Quentin Tarantino, Brad Pitt and film historian/critic Elvis Mitchell
• The Making of Nation’s Pride
• The Original Inglorious Bastards – a salute to the original 1978 film
• A Conversation with veteran actor Rod Taylor
• Rod Taylor on Victoria Bitters, the Australian beer
• Quentin Tarantino’s Camera Angel
• Hi Sallys – Gag Reel
• Film Poster Gallery Tour with Elvis Mitchell
• Inglourious Basterds Poster Gallery
• Domestic and International Trailers
• BD-Live
• Digital Copy of Inglourious Basterds

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Quentin Tarantino‘s Inglourious Basterds is beating its way to Blu-ray in the UK this holiday season. Universal Studios Home Entertainment is getting the film into shops on December 7, long before the Weinstein Company will serve it up to us, here on the other side of the Atlantic. Thank goodness for Amazon.co.uk and the power of importing! Disc details below:

Special Features:

• Extended and alternate scenes:

◦ Lunch with Goebbels – Extended Version (7′)
◦ La Louisiane Card Game – Extended Version (2′)
◦ Nation’s Pride Begins – Alternate Version (2′)

• Nation’s Pride – Full Feature (6′)
• Roundtable Discussion with Quentin Tarantino, Brad Pitt and Elvis Mitchell (31′) [BD exclusive, in HD]
• The Making of Nation’s Pride (4′) [BD exclusive, in HD]
• The Original Inglorious Bastards (8′) [BD exclusive]
• A Conversation with Rod Taylor (7′) [BD exclusive, in HD]
• Rod Taylor on Victoria Bitters (3′) [BD exclusive, in HD]
• Quentin Tarantino’s Camera Angel (3′) [BD exclusive]
• Hi Sallys (2′) [BD exclusive]
• Film Poster Gallery Tour with Elvis Mitchell (11′) [BD exclusive]
• Inglourious Basterds Poster Gallery (20+ stills) [BD exclusive]
• Trailers

◦ Teaser (1’43″) [in HD]
◦ Domestic Trailer (2’21″) [in HD]
◦ International Trailer (2’07″) [in HD]
◦ Japanese Trailer (1’15″) [in HD]

Previously on The Blu-ray Blog: Severin Brings The Inglorious Bastards and Eagles Over London to Blu-ray

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EAGLES OVER LONDON
Aka: La battaglia d’Inghilterra / El largo día del águila / Sur ordres du Führer / Battle Command
(July 28, 2009, MSRP $34.95)
Video: 2.35:1 1080p
Audio: English Dolby Surround 2.0

Special Features Include:

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THE INGLORIOUS BASTARDS
Aka: Quel maledetto treno blindato / G.I. Bro / Deadly Mission
(July 28, 2009, MSRP $34.95)
Video: 1.85:1 1080p
Audio: Dolby Digital Mono

Special Features: TBA

NOTE: The sticker on the package art clearly indicates that we’ll be getting another Tarantino/Castellari interview. It’s safe to assume that we’ll also see a commentary track on the disc along with a BD exclusive featurette, as on the Eagles Over London disc.

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Rodriguez’ Planet Terror Blows Up Your Screen In Beautiful 1080p

We mere mortals will have to wait until December 16th to get our hands on The Weinstein Company‘s releases of the Grindhouse films, Planet Terror and Deathproof, but highdefdiscnews.com was fortunate enough to grab some early review copies. While the films receive mixed ratings based on the content alone, the quality of the transfers and collection of extras appear beyond reproach. 

As excited as I am to own these discs, I can’t help but feel the sting of the eventual double-dip. The Weinstein boys know we all want the theatrical versions of these flicks, complete with trailers!

Planet Terror Review: Overall Verdict – Recommended
Deathproof Review: Overall Verdict – Recommended

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