Two Hollywood classics currently streaming in 4K on Max (formerly HBO Max), are getting 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray releases in HDR on July 18 in celebration of Warner Brothers' 100th anniversary.
Rio Bravo - directed by Honorary Academy Award winner Howard Hawks, and East of Eden - directed by Oscar winner Elia Kazan, have both been restored and remastered in partnership by Martin Scorsese's The Film Foundation and Warner Bros. Post Production Creative Services: Motion Picture Imaging and Post Production Sound.
Rio Bravo
Rio Bravo - 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray
A small-town sheriff in the American West enlists the help of a disabled man, a drunk, and a young gunfighter in his efforts to hold in jail the brother of the local bad guy.
The 1959 American Western film is directed by Howard Hawks. The screenplay is by Jules Furthman and Leigh Brackett and is based on the short story “Rio Bravo” by B.H. McCampbell. The film stars John Wayne, Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson, Angie Dickinson, Walter Brennan, and Ward Bond.
In 2014, Rio Bravo was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”
Rio Bravo Ultra HD Blu-ray contains the following previously released special features:
Rio Bravo
Ultra HD Blu-ray Languages: English, Spanish, French
Ultra HD Blu-ray Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, Parisian French
Run Time: 141 minutes
Rating: Not Rated
Physical Street Date: 7/18
Digital Street Date: 7/18
East of Eden
East of Eden - 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray
In the Salinas Valley in and around World War I, Cal Trask feels he must compete against overwhelming odds with his brother Aron for the love of their father Adam. Carl is frustrated at every turn, from his reaction to the war, to how to get ahead in business and in life, to how to relate to his estranged mother.
The 1955 period drama is directed by Elia Kazan from a screenplay by Paul Osborn and based on the 1952 John Steinbeck novel of the same name. The film stars James Dean, Julie Harris, Raymond Massey, Burl Ives, Richard Davalos, and Jo Van Fleet.
East of Eden was nominated for 3 Academy Awards with Van Fleet winning for Best Supporting Actress. East of Eden was named one of the 400 best American films of all time by the American Film Institute. In 2016, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."
East of Eden Ultra HD Blu-ray contains the following previously released special features:
East of Eden
Ultra HD Blu-ray Languages: English, Spanish, French
Ultra HD Blu-ray Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, Parisian French
Run Time: 117 minutes
Rating: PG
Physical Street Date: 7/18
Digital Street Date: 7/18
The Rio Bravo and East of Eden 4K UHD Blu-rays are now up for preorder with a MSRP of $24.99 each - so far we haven't seen a SteelBook option here in the states or abroad, but we'll keep on the look out in case something pops up.
Warner Brothers/Discovery has just launched Max (formerly HBO Max), an upgraded streaming service with loads of more 4K content including over 1000 films and episodes in 4K HDR (with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos available for certain devices) on May 23rd.
The service provides something for everyone - from HBO, Max Originals, WB movies (such as all eight Harry Potter films, Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, and Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Trilogy), DC Universe, documentaries, family-friendly content and more.
Max has introduced a new Ultimate Ad-Free tier for $19.99 per month ($199.99 a year) allowing four concurrent streams, 100 offline downloads, and as previously mentioned, close to 8x more films and episodes in 4K HDR, as well as Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos for certain content.
The 4K library is quite extensive, including yet-to-be-released films on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray such as classics like East of Eden and Rio Bravo, plus Avatar: The Way of the Water will also be available for streaming on June 7. All Warner Brothers films releasing this year will be available in 4K HDR after their theatrical release windows.
Here is the 4K listing of what is available (subject to change):
“We understand the value of offering our users a cinematic playback experience and to that end, we’ve implemented more advanced technology workflows that allow us to release more 4K content in a faster, more efficient way,” said Sudheer Sirivara, Global Technology Platform, Warner Bros. Discovery. “Max will offer more than 1,000 films and episodes in 4K at launch, and we’ll be adding more every month as we move forward.”
If you have previously subscribed to HBO Max, no worries. The Max app will either update itself or prompt subscribers to do so and previous plans, profiles, avatars, settings, "Continue Watching", and "My List" will be ported over unchanged. Subscribers to HBO Max will also be able to keep their current plans for six months.
However, it does appear that Max is currently not available in some regions, as I am in Canada and the link at the top of this article notified me that that is indeed the case. Hopefully that gets worked out soon.
Source: Warner Bros. Discovery Press Release.
James Cameron's sci-fi fantasy adventures Avatar and Avatar: The Way of Water are finally coming to 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Discs on June 20th. After following the advanced Streeming-only release structure similar to last year's mega-hit Top Gun: Maverick, Avatar: The Way of Water will finally come to disc with new 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray, AND Blu-ray 3D - with retailer exclusives to boot! There's a lot to dig into for each of these releases, but at the start - it's nice to see some effort from Disney in this regard.
Read Bryan's Theatrical Review - Read Matthew's 4K Streaming Review
Now that is A LOT of Avatar to digest! So on top of the remastered original Avatar getting its 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray debut, the sequel charges onto disc with multiple editions and retailer exclusives. Of the retailer exclusives, I'd be into that Best Buy SteelBook if it was actually accurate to the movie with Jake sporting his machine gun and NOT a stupid spear, so I'm giving Walmart the edge on the exclusives. Target once again shows their cards for not really caring about Physical Media with what is basically the standard 4K package... with a decal you can stick on your phone, tablet, or water bottle apparently! Whoohooo! (sarcasm)
Now for the best and most important details - the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray will finally see Disney/20th Century Studios release a BD-100 disc. Our press assets didn't list HDR grade, but I'm assuming they'd simply opt for HDR10 only. Atmos will be included along with an extra Blu-ray disc set for Bonus Features. The standard Blu-ray will only offer DTS-HD MA 5.1 but wildly enough the Blu-ray 3D disc will include DTS-HD 7.1 audio - it's not Atmos, but hey, it's better than the standard Blu-ray! Sadly there doesn't appear to be a 4K UHD + 3D Blu-ray combo pack available, at least here in the states. Other territories like Japan might offer that, they've been the one carrying the Disney 3D torch the last few years with their combo releases, so we'll keep our eyes out for that.
These aren't yet up for pre-order yet - but we expect them to start popping soon and when they wdo we'll update our listings so you can secure those orders ASAP.
Here's the full press release and spec sheet:
4K ULTRA HD, BLU-RAY™ 3D, BLU-RAY, DVD & DIGITAL
PRODUCT AND SPECS FACT SHEET
Product Specifications
Street Date
Digital: March 28
Physical: June 20
Product SKUs
Digital: 4K UHD, HD, SD
Physical: 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack (4K UHD + Blu-ray + Digital Code), Blu-ray 3D Combo Pack (Blu-ray 3D + Blu-ray + Digital Code), Blu-ray Combo Pack (Blu-ray + Digital Code), & DVD
Feature Run Time
Approx. 192 minutes
Rating
U.S. Rated PG-13
**For sequences of strong violence and intense action, partial nudity, and some strong language
Aspect Ratio
Digital: 1.85
Physical: 1.85:1
Disc Size
4K UHD: 100GB
Blu-ray 3D: 50GB
Blu-ray: 50GB
DVD: 8.5GB
Bit Rate Actuals
4K UHD: 45 ABR
Blu-ray 3D: 29.5 ABR
Blu-ray: 23.3 ABR
DVD: 4 ABR
U.S. Audio
Digital: English 5.1/2.0, English Atmos (for some platforms), English 7.1 (for some platforms), English AD, French (for some platforms), Spanish (for some platforms)
Physical:
4K UHD: English 7.1.4 Dolby Atmos, English 5.1 Dolby Digital, English 2.0 DTS-HDMA, English 2.0 Dolby Digital, French 5.1 Dolby Digital, Spanish 7.1 Dolby Digital
3D Blu-ray: English 7.1 DTS-HDMA , English 5.1 Dolby Digital, English 2.0 Dolby Digital French 5.1 Dolby Digital, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital
Blu-ray: English 5.1 DTS-HDMA , English 5.1 Dolby Digital, English 2.0 Dolby Digital Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital
DVD: English 5.1 Dolby Digital, English 2.0 Dolby Digital, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital
U.S. Subtitles
Digital: English SDH, French (for some platforms), Spanish (some platforms)
Physical: English SDH, French, Spanish
Bonus Features*
Inside Pandora's Box (A series of featurettes on the challenges facing cast and crew as filmmakers devise new technologies to push the limits of cinema)
Building the World of Pandora – James Cameron and a team of talented artists combine years of research with their design skills to build the world of Pandora with new characters, creatures, indigenous clans, underwater environments and the take-no-prisoners hard-tech world of the RDA.
Capturing Pandora – James Cameron’s approach to performance capture has the cast performing in a volume rigged with infrared cameras to capture their movement, and head rig cameras to capture emotion on their faces with only the boundaries of imagination to limit them.
The Undersea World of Pandora – Co-production designer Dylan Cole and his team conceive of the marine creatures required for Avatar: The Way of Water while James Cameron and his stunt team devise extraordinary means to bring those creatures to life in a performance capture tank.
The Challenges of Pandora's Waters – James Cameron tackles the “non-trivial challenge” of performance capture above and below the water’s surface, utilizing a wave machine and current generator to reproduce ocean conditions, and underwater vehicles to replicate creature movement.
Pandora’s Returning Characters – James Cameron reunites with his returning cast – Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver and Stephen Lang. Together they discuss the amazing evolution of their characters in Avatar: The Way of Water.
Pandora’s Next Generation – Meet the talented young newcomers who have been cast as the next generation of Na’vi and follow them through the adventure of making Avatar: The Way of Water.
Spider's Web – James Cameron introduced the human character of Spider into the fabric of Pandora – thus creating a host of technological challenges on set…and an incredible journey for the young actor, Jack Champion.
Becoming Na’vi – The Avatar cast is immersed in the culture of the indigenous Na’vi, living off the land in the Hawaiian rainforest and training in a multitude of disciplines in preparation for their roles.
The Reef People of Pandora – In true James Cameron-style, the Metkayina reef clan has been developed with great attention to detail, bearing unique evolutionary traits and a culture – with new dwellings, new clothes and different way of life – all a result of living off the ocean.
Bringing Pandora to Life – Once James Cameron completes his virtual production process, every sequence is turned over to Wētā FX to bring Pandora to life – with unprecedented advancements in facial performance, environments and making CG water look real.
The RDA Returns to Pandora – Co-production designer Ben Procter and his team present an armada of new vehicles and human technologies that the RDA brings to Pandora – in concept design and with practical builds.
The New Characters of Pandora – Meet the important new characters of the Avatar saga played by Kate Winslet, Cliff Curtis, Edie Falco, Brendan Cowell and Jemaine Clement.
The Sounds of Pandora – Hear how James Cameron worked with composer Simon Franglen to create the distinctive music of The Way of Water while building on James Horner’s brilliant score for Avatar, and learn how Chris Boyes created the immersive sounds of Pandora.
New Zealand – Pandora’s Home – The production of the Avatar sequels is so thoroughly ensconced in New Zealand that James Cameron considers The Way of Water a “New Zealand film.” Hear reflections from the cast and crew, including the remarkable New Zealand crew, on making the film.
More from Pandora's Box (Additional featurettes that highlight special teams within the production)
Casting – Discover the screen tests that won the talented young cast their roles in Avatar: The Way of Water.
Stunts – The Avatar stunt team isn’t just creating breathtaking action, they’re driving the story. From racing underwater on ilus, flying the skies on ikrans, to maneuvering RDA speed boats, the stunt team leaves you breathless and wanting more.
The Lab – Explore the Lightstorm Lab, the backbone of virtual production for the Avatar films. Comprised of specialized teams, the Lab builds & supports every aspect of the production – environments, motion edit, Kabuki, sequence, post-viz and software development.
The Troupe – Avatar’s Troupe is the Swiss Army Knife of acting, while playing dozens of roles on set, in the performance capture volume and on live-action sets, they bring life to Na’vi clans and RDA Recoms. They also play Na’vi-scale puppets on the live-action sets.
Marketing Materials & Music Video (Marketing materials used to build audience awareness of the film)
Nothing Is Lost (You Give Me Strength) Music Video – Multi-Grammy-winning, music superstar, The Weeknd, performs his emotionally packed end title song in the official music video for the smash hit “Nothing Is Lost (You Give Me Strength).”
Theatrical Trailers 1 & 2 – Avatar: The Way of Water used two theatrical trailers to engage the audience. The first was a teaser trailer released 7 months before the film. The second was a standard trailer that premiered 5 weeks before the film’s release.
English Family Audio Track – 5.1 Dolby Digital
*Bonus features vary by product and retailer
The 1993 romantic-comedy thriller starring Mike Myers, Nancy Travis, and Anthony LaPaglia is getting a 4K upgrade on July 25.
When it comes to love, poet Charlie MacKenzie (Mike Myers) has had his share of bad luck. But when he meets Harriet (Nancy Travis), he thinks he’s found “the one” – until a series of coincidences lead him to believe that Harriet might be the serial honeymoon killer “Mrs. X.” Charlie and his cop best friend (Anthony LaPaglia) must find out the truth before it’s too late in this madcap comic thriller.
The 4K UHD Blu-ray release will have a new Dolby Vision transfer as well as a new Dolby Atmos soundtrack. The package will also include over 30 minutes of never-before-seen deleted scenes, theatrical trailers, and a digital copy.
So I Married an Axe Murderer - 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray
4K ULTRA HD DISC
Pre-orders should be available soon and here is the full press release:
THE COMIC THRILLER CELEBRATES ITS 30th ANNIVERSARY WITH OVER 30 MINUTES OF NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN DELETED SCENES!
