September 18, 2018: Here's what's hitting DVD, Blu-ray and 4K
Solo: A Star Wars Story makes the jump from hyperspace to home video this week. You can catch the early adventures of everyone’s favorite scruffy looking nerf herder on DVD, Blu-ray and 4K. Be on the lookout for some store exclusives, too. Best Buy has a special Solo steelbook while Target offers the film a deluxe package that also includes a 40 page book.
Other recent big screen releases arriving on Blu-ray this week include the crime biopic Gotti, the basketball comedy Uncle Drew and, debuting in 4K, the latest chapter in Full Moon’s cult classic horror franchise, Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich.
There are several catalogue titles making their way to 4K this week, including a 40th anniversary edition of John Carpenter’s original Halloween, just in time for the new big screen sequel. Meanwhile, several Marvel movies arrive on 4K. Look for the original X-Men Trilogy (X-Men, X2, and X-Men: The Last Stand) alongside latter Punisher films The Punisher (2004) and The Punisher: War Zone.
The Criterion Collection this week upgrades Andrei Tarkovsky’s Andrei Rublev to HD with a new two-disc edition that contains both cuts of the 1966 masterpiece. For those keep track, the Criterion Collection now includes HD versions of four of Tarkovsky’s seven features.
Also from Criterion this week is the 1961 adaptation of Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, starring Sidney Poitier and Claudia McNeil.
Just in time for Halloween, Warner Archive is bringing to Blu-ray some classic releases. Look for Lon Chaney Jr. in 1957’s The Cyclops, Zsa Zsa Gabor in 1958’s Queen of Outer Space and Michael Caine and Olivia de Havilland in Irwin Allen’s 1978 creature feature, The Swarm.
In partnership with the Film Noir Foundation and the UCLA Film and Television Archive, Flicker Alley brings to Blu-ray this week the little seen film 1950 film noir tale The Man Who Cheated Himself. Starring Lee J. Cobb and John Dall, the Felix E. Feist film delivers murder, mystery and Jane Wyatt as a memorable femme fatale.
Arrow Video has a double helping of 1973 suspense tales arriving this week. From High Noon director Fred Zinnemann comes The Day of the Jackal, a political thriller that adapts Frederick Forsythe’s bestselling novel. Leaning a bit more to the horror side of things is director Ted Post’s disturbing tale of terror, The Baby.
As always, Shout! Factory’s Scream Factory label is celebrating the season with a diverse selection of horror fare. This week sees the release of both the [REC] Collection and a special edition of Exorcist II : The Heretic. The former set includes the original 2007 [REC] alongside all three sequels: 2009’s [REC] 2, 2012’s [REC] 3: Genesis and 2014’s [REC] 4: Apocalypse. The latter, meanwhile, offers both cuts of John Boorman’s 1977 followup to The Exorcist alongside a host of special features.
The Shout! Select label also continues this week with the addition of the 1990 action adventure Quigley Down Under. Tom Selleck stars in the outback western, which hails from Lonesome Dove director Simon Wincer.
Shout! Factory also has a pair of treats for small screen collectors. Continuing their series of the original Japanese television programs that became Power Rangers, Shout! is releasing Power Rangers: Choujin Sentai Jetman: The Complete Series.
Meanwhile, in the not too distant future (next Sunday A.D.), the Satellite of Love has prepared collection of various Mystery Science Theater 3000 episodes that, due to a variety of licensing restrictions, have been orphaned from their respective volumes. Catch them all in MST3K: The Lost and Found Collection.
Rounding out the week, look for the third season of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow as well as a 4K rerelease of last year’s Christmas Special Doctor Who: Twice Upon a Time. Although she’s only featured for a moment, the episode marks the first appearance of Jodie Whittaker’s 13th Doctor.
Finally, in honor of the series’ 35th anniversary, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is releasing the complete Fraggle Rock, available in HD for the first time anywhere.
Silas Lesnick is the Senior Editor of Moviebill. He has been covering entertainment news out of Los Angeles for more than a decade. You can reach him via e-mail or on Twitter.
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