Ultra HD Blu-ray Movie Reviews

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Chris Chiarella  |  Jul 01, 2025
Seems like only five years ago we were celebrating Jaws’ 45th anniversary, and now it’s officially golden. Yes, we’re still talking about Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of Peter Benchley’s novel half a century later, simply because it’s that good: It still thrills. It still scares. It still makes us laugh. OG fans re-watch it and generations of first-timers are newly enthralled.
Chris Chiarella  |  Jun 29, 2025
Dark City
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There's a pretty nifty mystery at the heart of Dark City so I'll tread lightly in my plot summary. Alex Proyas' film draws largely from science fiction tales before it, most notably The Matrix and Blade Runner, yet giving us something uniquely his. We meet our hero, John Murdoch (if that is his real name) unconscious in a bathtub with no memory of how he got there. He soon finds himself in a world of trouble and on the run in an oddly old-fashioned city where the sun never shines. Everyone he meets in his quest for the truth behind his increasingly bizarre predicament is a little bit sus, making curious little comments that tease the brain but ultimately make sense when all is revealed.

Ralph C. Potts  |  Jun 27, 2025
Drop
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Drop tells the story of Violet, a widowed mother who has worked up the courage to go on her first date in years with a charming photographer named Henry, whom she has never met in person and only known through social media. The couple's instant chemistry is rudely interrupted by a series of anonymous drops to Violet's phone, giving her instructions that she must follow to the letter. The messages make it clear that if Violet fails to do as instructed, her loved ones will die. Her unseen tormentor's final directive? Kill Henry.

Ralph C. Potts  |  Jun 27, 2025
Snow White
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Snow White is a timeless adventure that is once again brought to the big screen in this live‑action retelling of the princess who journeys into magical woods and meets the beloved Bashful, Sleepy, Sneezy, Happy, Dopey, Grumpy, and Doc, who join her quest to restore the kingdom and bring kindness to the land.

Ralph C. Potts  |  Jun 27, 2025
A Minecraft Movie
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A Minecraft Movie follows the adventure of four misfits who find themselves struggling with ordinary problems when they are suddenly pulled through a mysterious portal into the Overworld: a bizarre, cubic wonderland that thrives on imagination. To get back home, they'll have to master this world while embarking on a magical quest with an unexpected expert crafter named Steve. Together, their adventure will challenge all five to be bold and to reconnect with the qualities that make each of them uniquely creative . . . the very skills they need to thrive back in the real world.

Chris Chiarella  |  Jun 24, 2025
Brazil (1985)
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Sorcerer (1977)
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Former Python Terry Gilliam's most notorious motion picture, Brazil, is not in fact set in the largest country on the South American continent, rather the title comes from a 1939 song, evoking romantic fantasies that echo our hero's longing for escape from his oppressive, bureaucratic world. Good-hearted Sam (Jonathan Pryce) is a government stooge whose world gets turned upside-down when he catches a glimpse of the literal woman of his dreams (Kim Greist), drawing him deeper into the authoritarian rabbit hole. What he finds is hilariously absurd, but soon enough he finds himself risking everything to oppose the regime.

Chris Chiarella  |  Jun 18, 2025  |  First Published: Mar 25, 2025

Spring has sprung, which means that a new crop of TV series on Blu-ray, 4K, and humble DVD is ready to harvest. Catch a deep whiff of that fresh-cut grass, then head inside to catch up on old favorites and discover shows that might have flown beneath your radar until now. We’ll also be showcasing an assortment of Japanese animation, starting with…

Chris Chiarella  |  Jun 18, 2025  |  First Published: Apr 26, 2025

The popularity of 4K and HD Blu-rays discs in premium metal packaging is showing no signs of slowing down, and so we proffer this sampling of some of the most interesting drops. Some here are making their stateside 4K debut, some represent alternative packaging or availability (i.e. previously sold in other editions or within larger collections), while a couple bring exclusive upgrades in video quality.

Chris Chiarella  |  May 31, 2025
The Three Musketeers
The Four Musketeers

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As a kid I was more of a Robin Hood guy, first Errol Flynn and then Disney, but by the time I was first asked "What's your favorite movie?" I recall answering, "The Three Musketeers," meaning Richard Lester’s wildly entertaining version from 1973. Alexandre Dumas’ source novel has it all: love, war, friendship, honor, treachery, bravery, betrayal. Few movies have for me ever captured the pure spirit of swashbuckling adventure, a tale too big to fit into a single film and therefore cleaved in twain.

Chris Chiarella  |  May 25, 2025
Lilo & Stitch
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Disney's live-action adaptations of beloved animated movies have met with varying degrees of pushback over the years, but one welcome upside has been the habit of marking the occasion with the 4K release of the originals that spawned them. Such is the case with Lilo & Stitch, its initial popularity only seeming to grow over the past 23 years into a deeply devoted fanbase. (Any seasoned pin trader knows how fast anything with the little blue guy on it disappears from the boards.)

Chris Chiarella  |  May 20, 2025
Two horror franchise entries featuring the iconic Jason Voorhees have received impressive 4K treatment from Arrow. These ninth and tenth installments in the Friday the 13th series showcase the killer's supernatural evolution and eventual space adventure.
Chris Chiarella  |  May 20, 2025
Swept Away
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The world was a very different place when I first saw Swept Away (full title Swept Away... by an Unusual Destiny in the Blue Sea of August, translated from its native Travolti da un insolito destino nell'azzurro mare d'agosto). It

Chris Chiarella  |  May 10, 2025
Pale Rider (1985)
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The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)
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Dirty Harry (1971)
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Threastwood: Dirty Harry, Josey Wales and Pale Rider on 4K

By Chris Chiarella

Studio pushes like the one Warner has done for filmmaker Clint Eastwood—long one of their most bankable stars—are a great opportunity to rediscover what made an icon so iconic. These are not the first Eastwoods in 4K, nor are they the first from Warner, but they certainly represent some of his absolute best work on screen.

Chris Chiarella  |  Apr 17, 2025
The Brutalist
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Filmmaker Brady Corbet seeks to conjure movies of a bygone era in more ways than one with his latest, The Brutalist. Perhaps most notably, he and director of photography Lol Crawley resurrected the defunct large‑format VistaVision process, supplanted years ago by IMAX.

Ralph Potts  |  Apr 14, 2025  |  First Published: Apr 15, 2025
Love Hurts
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Love Hurts is an action thriller that tells the story of Marvin, a mild-mannered Milwaukee realtor that rides his bicycle to work, bakes cookies for his clients, and shares a close relationship with his real estate mentor, Cliff. His idyllic life is thrown into chaos on Valentines Day when he receives a crimson envelope from Rose, a former crime associate, that he left in his past.

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