DVDFile

Con Air, Crimson Tide, and The Rock Blu-ray Discs back on track. Plenty of great new BD, HD DVD, and DVD releases!



Some new rescheduled release dates have been announced for three postponed Blu-ray Discs from Buena Vista. The Rock, Con Air and Crimson Tide were all originally slated for a June release, but they were all pushed back late this summer. Now The Rock and Con Air have been scheduled to appear on Blu-ray Disc on 8 January, with Crimson Tide soon to follow in February (final release date is TBD). Tech specs remain the same as originally announced (which, consistent with Disney, includes lossless audio). SRPs for each title are coming soon. We’ll keep you updated.




Another postponement on the high-def front: Joe Kane’s calibration set – Digital Video Essentials – that was originally slated for both HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc release on 30 October from DVD International has been indefinitely pushed back. No explanation has been given for the delay, but insiders say that the discs should hit shelves sometime in early 2008. SRP remains $29.98 for each.



Also on the White Noise front, Universal has announced plans to release the straight-to-HD DVD-and-standard-DVD sequel to the film, entitled White Noise: The Light. Starring Nathan Fillion (Drive, Outing Riley) the film will hit shelves on 8 January (alongside its big brother) and will come with two featurettes and a handful of deleted scenes (tech specs are TBD). SRP is $39.98.






The creepy-crawly White Noise is coming to HD DVD from Universal on 8 January. This Michael Keaton beyond-the-grave thriller will come with a 1080p widescreen transfer, both Dolby TrueHD 5.1 Lossless and Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 sound mixes, a screen-specific audio commentary with director Geoffrey Sax and Keaton, some deleted scenes (with optional commentary), and three featurettes. SRP is $29.98.




MGM has announced a 4 December release of Rocky: The Complete Saga. This collection will house all six Rocky films (the first time they’ve all been available in one set). The good news is that all films will come with their most recent anamorphic widescreen transfers and Dolby Digital 5.1 sounds mixes; the bad news is that the only bonuses included are trailers for Rocky and Rocky V. SRP is $59.98.




Freedom 3 is headed to HD DVD on 11 December from Bandai Visual. This third installment of the wildly popular anime series will arrive on HD DVD in much the same fashion as its two predecessors: It will include a 1080p 1.78:1 widescreen transfer, a Japanese Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 mix as well as its trailer and a few web-enabled features (specs TBD). SRP is $39.98.




The Christian Slater/Patrick Dempsey teenaged-crime movie Mobsters is headed to HD DVD from Universal on 8 January. This look at a group of youths growing up in the 1920s will arrive on high-def with a 1.85:1 1080p widescreen transfer, both Dolby TrueHD 5.1 and Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 sound mixes, and a slate of bonus features that has yet to be determined. SRP is $29.98.




The good news: We have final specs for the MGM Blu-ray release of Red Dawn, scheduled to drop on 20 November (postponed from 6 November). The bad news: No bonus material. After a 2-DVD special edition of the film earlier this year, MGM has decided to make this high-def affair a movie-only event. Hmmm. In any case, the film will appear on Blu-ray with a 1080p widescreen video transfer and a DTS-HD Lossless Master Audio 5.1 Surround mix. SRP is $39.99.




New Line is preparing a 20 November release of a mammoth New Line Cinema: 40th Anniversary Collection DVD set. This coffee-table-sized book will include DVDs of Pink Flamingos, A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Player, The Mask, Se7en, Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, Boogie Nights, Wag the Dog, The Wedding Singer, Rush Hour, Blow, the Lord of the Rings films, Elf, The Notebook, Wedding Crashers, and a new documentary on the studio made exclusively for this collection. SRP is $274.99.




Paramount has announced a 20 November release date for Mission: Impossible: The Third TV Season. This third installment of the hit TV series starring Peter Graves will find all 25 of its season three episodes spread over seven DVDs, with their original full-frame formats and a newly upgraded set of Dolby Digital 5.1 sound mixes (the original mono mixes for the show will also be included). SRP is $49.99.




A new postponement: Sony has shelved its plans to release its Blu-ray Disc edition of Monty Python’s Life of Brian, which was originally being prepped for a 20 November. The title is likely to show up on Sony’s release slate next year, but no official plans have been made. We’ll keep you updated as more information rolls in.




More specs have been made available for the 13 November release of the Ocean’s 11-12-13 box set from Warner. Available on standard DVD, Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD, this is the first time all three films from the wildly successful Ocean’s trilogy have been made available simultaneously. The standard DVD set includes anamorphic widescreen transfers and Dolby Digital 5.1 sound mixes for all three films, while the HD DVD and Blu-ray editions will house not only 1080p widescreen transfers and Dolby Digital 5.1 mixes, but also some never-before-seen footage and deleted scenes (not available on the standard DVD edition). SRP for the standard DVD set is $51.82; the high-def titles carry an SRP of $79.98 each.




12 February will bring the DVD release of Perfect Strangers: The Complete First and Second Season from Warner. This classic ‘80s sitcom starring Mark Linn-Baker and Bronson Pinchot as unlikely cousins and roommates will include 28 episodes from the show’s first two seasons in their original full-frame formats. The set will also house the show’s original stereo sound mixes. SRP is $29.98.




4 December will bring the Paramount release of Touched by an Angel: The Fourth Season. This newest installment of the hit series starring Roma Downey and Della Reese will find its fourth season hitting DVD in full-frame format and with the show’s original stereo sound mixes. SRP is $38.99.

More postponement news: Sony has announced that their 4 December release for Ray Harryhausen in Color has been pushed back to June 2008. The already-announced specs should remain the same – the set includes It Came From Beneath the Sea, Earth vs. the Flying Saucers and the 50th anniversary edition of 20 Million Miles to Earth, all with new bonus features and restored transfers – but sci-fi fans will just have to wait a bit longer for the set. SRP is still $59.95.




The cult classic The Last Man on Earth is headed to DVD on 4 December. This Vincent Price vehicle about apocalypse, zombies and the pursuit of life after death will arrive on DVD with a remastered anamorphic widescreen transfer, and will include the film’s original English mono sound mix. No bonuses will be included. SRP is $14.98.




4 December will bring the DVD release of the Scarlett Johansson drama/comedy The Nanny Diaries from The Weinstein Company and Genius Products. Following the adventures of a young woman (Scarlett) who is thrown into the lion’s den of child-rearing for the super-rich, The Nanny Diaries will arrive on DVD with an anamorphic widescreen transfer, a Dolby Digital 5.1 sound mix, a handful of featurettes and a blooper reel. SRP is $24.98.




20 November will also bring the release of The Wild Wild West: The Third Season. This season-three set of the wildly popular Robert Conrad/Ross Martin series will arrive on DVD with no bonus features to speak of, but its original full-frame color transfers and mono mixes will remain intact. SRP is $49.99.


Anchor Bay/Starz is preparing yet another DVD edition of The Evil Dead for release on 18 December. The Evil Dead: The Ultimate Edition is a 3-DVD set that will include both anamorphic and full-frame presentations of the film (the widescreen edition houses a commentary from director Sam Raimi and producer Robert Tapert; the full-frame edition has a commentary from Bruce Campbell). The widescreen edition of the film will house Dolby Digital 2.0 and Dolby Surround EX mixes as well as a DTS 6.1 ES track; the full-frame version will showcase a Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo mix. We’ll also get a new documentary on the making of the film, seven featurettes, some makeup tests, a handful of stills galleries and the film’s original theatrical trailer. SRP is $34.97.




The controversial Mormon settler film September Dawn is headed to DVD from Sony on 2 January. Starring Jon Voight, Terence Stamp and Trent Ford, this period piece – which was met with relative popularity in its limited release earlier this year – will find its way to DVD with a new anamorphic widescreen transfer, a Dolby Digital 5.1 sound mix, as well as three featurettes. SRP is $26.98.




It got steamrolled during its theatrical release, but Sony is hoping that the Will Forte/Will Arnett comedy The Brothers Solomon will find a bigger audience when it’s released on DVD on 26 December. The film will arrive on DVD with an anamorphic widescreen transfer, a Dolby Digital 5.1 sound mix, a commentary track with Forte, Arnett and director Bob Oedenkirk, two featurettes, some deleted scenes and a blooper reel. SRP is $26.96.




Universal is readying an 8 January HD DVD release of the Oscar-winning drama The Pianist. This Roman Polanski-directed Adrian Brody Holocaust tale will include a 1080p widescreen transfer, both Dolby TrueHD and Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 sound mixes, a featurette, and the film’s original trailer. SRP is $29.98.




4 December will bring the HD DVD release of Arctic Tale from Paramount. This family-oriented documentary about polar bears battling the elements in the far north will arrive on high-def with a 1080p widescreen transfer, a Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 sound mix, as well as two featurettes and the film’s theatrical trailer. SRP is $34.98.




Warner is preparing a 4 December Blu-ray Disc release for Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. This third installment in the notorious Arnold Schwarzenegger series is Warner’s first ‘catch-up’ title slated for Blu-ray release (the film’s HD DVD edition has been out for a while) and will include a 2.35:1 1080p widescreen transfer, a Dolby Digital 5.1 sound mix, an introduction from Arnold, three separate audio commentaries with cast and crew members, four featurettes, a pair of blooper reels, a stills gallery and the film’s theatrical trailer. Also, exclusive to this release is a new BD-Java In-Movie Experience that will include many of the aforementioned bonus features. Sources have confirmed that this “PIP” feature will be achieved via branching (not profile 1.1 software) and work in all existing players. SRP is $28.99.




The Julie Delpy-directed 2 Days in Paris is headed to DVD from Fox on 5 February. This romantic tale starring Delpy and Adam Goldberg will come with an anamorphic widescreen transfer, an English Dolby Digital 5.1 sound mix as well as a handful of deleted scenes and an interview with the director/actress. SRP is $27.98.




Final tech specs have been made available for the 20 November Blu-ray Disc release of Werner Herzog’s Rescue Dawn. This Christian Bale Vietnam film (based on a true story) will arrive on high-def with a 1080p widescreen transfer as well as a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio mix. No word yet as to whether the Blu-ray release will have the same bonuses (commentary, documentary, deleted scenes, stills gallery) as the DVD release. We’ll keep you updated. SRP is $39.98.




The exceptional documentary Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse is headed to DVD on 20 November from Paramount. Following the making of the seminal Francis Ford Coppola film Apocalypse Now, this doc – directed by George Hickenlooper and Coppola’s wife Eleanor – this acclaimed film will arrive on DVD with a full-frame transfer, as well as a commentary with Eleanor and Francis Ford Coppola, and Coda: Thirty Years Later, a follow-up documentary to the film (as well as an Eleanor introduction to that documentary). SRP is $24.98.




Preliminary details about Fox’s 4 December Blu-ray Disc release of the Robert DeNiro actioner Ronin are starting to trickle in. What we know so far is that the film will arrive on high-def with a 2.35:1 1080p widescreen transfer and a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio Mix (no word on bonuses yet). SRP is $29.98.