We’re back with another week of amazing DVD and Blu-ray releases. We really get an idea of the disparity all over the world this week as one title, the Jurassic Park Blu-ray set manages to get an almost simultaneous worldwide release, but Captain America makes Australians wait a few months.
This week, we’ve made it even easier to not only see what is coming out, but to purchase them from Amazon US and UK as well. This benefits you by have one place to get all the dirt on the recommended latest releases, and we benefit every time you purchase something through one of our affiliate links. So if you love The Reel Bits, please think of using any of our links (including banners) when you shop at Amazon. Even film critics have to eat!
Region 1 (DVD) and Region A (Blu-ray) – US
Each week there is at least one title that kind of overshadows the other ones, and this week it is easily Captain America: The First Avenger (Paramount, 25 October). The final chapter in the road to The Avengers comes in both 3D and 2D Blu-ray versions, and contains an audio commentary with director Joe Johnston, cinematographer Shelly Johnson and editor Jeffrey Ford, featurettes, deleted Scenes, Marvel One Shot: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor’s Hammer and The Avengers animated series trailer.
We also can’t recommend enough Joe Cornish’s British alien-invasion-comedy-by-way-of-council-flats flick Attack the Block (Sony, 25 October) which isn’t even due out in Australia at the cinema until December. The retro-release of the week is undoubtedly Jurassic Park: The Ultimate Trilogy (Universal, 25 October) on Blu-ray, marking another major Steven Spielberg work on the hi-def format for the first time. Finally, there’s a genuine Disney animated classic in Winnie the Pooh (Disney, 25 October), which we reviewed locally a few weeks ago.
Titles worth highlighting in in the US this week include:
- Attack the Block [Blu-ray]
(Sony, Blu-ray)
HOT! - Attack the Block
(Sony, DVD)
- Captain America: The First Avenger
(Paramount, Blu-ray) (More Info)
- Captain America: The First Avenger (Two-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo + Digital Copy) (Paramount)HOT!
- Captain America: The First Avenger (Three-Disc Combo: Blu-ray 3D / Blu-ray / DVD / Digital Copy)
(Paramount)
- Jurassic Park Ultimate Trilogy Gift Set (Blu-ray + Digital Copy)
(Universal)
HOT! - Jurassic Park Ultimate Trilogy (Blu-ray + Digital Copy)
(Universal)
- Pearl Jam Twenty [Blu-ray]
(Sony)
- Pearl Jam Twenty (DVD)
(Sony)
- Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (Blu-Ray + DVD)
(Oscilloscope Laboratories)
- Shaolin Collector’s Edition [Blu-ray]
(Well Go USA)
- Shaolin (Bluray + DVD Combo) [Blu-ray]
(Well Go USA)
- Winnie the Pooh (Three-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo + Digital Copy)
(Disney)
HOT! - Winnie The Pooh DVD
(Disney)
Region 2 (DVD) and Region B (Blu-ray) – UK
Our friends in Blighty receive the same great blessing of the Jurassic Park Blu-rays this week (Universal, 24 October), and with the exception of the modern animated classic Rio (Fox, 24 October), its all about the retro in our highlights list this week. The seminal Japanese film The Ballad of Narayama (Eureka Entertainment, 24 October), Shohei Imamura’s chronicle of the lives of the inhabitants of a remote Japanese village where the elderly must be carried up a rugged mountain path and left to die at the age of 70. There’s also the original Straw Dogs(Fremantle Home Entertainment, 24 October), starring Dustin Hoffman, which is staggeringly celebrating its 40th anniversary with this “ultimate” edition that includes a 1971 On location documentary, two commentaries (including one with Sam Peckinpah), interviews, stills, a restoration piece and much more.
- The Ballad of Narayama (1983) (Masters of Cinema) [Dual Format Blu-ray & DVD]
(Eureka Entertainment)
- Jurassic Park Ultimate Trilogy (Blu-ray + Digital Copies)[Region Free]
(Universal)
- Jurassic Park Ultimate Trilogy – Limited Collector’s Edition (Blu-ray + Digital Copies)[Region Free]
(Universal)
HOT! - Rio [DVD]
(Fox)
- Rio – Triple Play (Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy)
(Fox)
- Rio (Blu-ray 3D + Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy)
(Fox)
- Straw Dogs – Ultimate 40th Anniversary Edition [Blu-ray] [1971]
(Fremantle Home Entertainment)
Region 4 (DVD) and Region B (Blu-ray) – Australia
Guess what? Jurassic Park (Universal, 26 October) is also coming out in Australia this week, making this a bona fide global event. It’s 1993 all over again! Unfortunately, we aren’t getting Captain America: The First Avenger until December – which makes sense given that we got it at the cinemas after our Big Brothers in the United States of America.
The other big title Australia is getting this week is Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (Disney, 26 October) on every format imaginable.
