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Blu-ray

Sweeeeeeeeeeeet!!!

The Lord of the Rings arrives in its extended editions
It has been available for pre-order on Amazonís website for some time but without details and specs, the info was not yet ready to be announced. Now Warner Home Video and New Line Home Entertainment have finally pulled the veil off the upcoming release of the extended versions of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy on Blu-Ray Disc.
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy tells the story of Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood), a hobbit who battles against the Dark Lord Sauron to save his world, Middle-earth, from the grip of evil. In the films, Frodo and his fellowship of friends and allies embark on a desperate journey to rid Middle-earth of the source of Sauron’s greatest strength, The One Ring — a ring that has the power to enslave the inhabitants of Middle-earth. The trilogy tells tales of extraordinary adventures across the treacherous landscape of Middle-earth and reveals how the power of friendship, love and courage can hold the forces of darkness at bay.
Arriving on 15 discs, the Blu-Ray version will feature all three feature films in their extended versions in glorious 1080p high definition, supplemented by 6.1 DTS HD Master Audio tracks. To ensure the best possible quality, each film will be spread across two Blu-Ray discs, allowing for the best possible sound and picture remastered from the original 2k digital files. In addition, each film will feature three Commentary Tracks, by the director and writers, the design team, and one by the post production team.
The set boasts more than 26 hours of additional content, highlighted by the rare behind-the-scenes documentaries created by Costa Botes, the filmmaker given unprecedented access to the set of each production by Peter Jackson. Costa Botes was able to capture raw and riveting behind-the-scenes film footage. His unique approach to storytelling ñ allowing the footage to speak for itself ñ results in an intimate and candid backstage pass to the challenges, preparations and camaraderie that went into shooting one of the greatest cinematic adventures of all time. The feature-length documentaries, with more than four and a half hours of footage, focus on a number of complexities and circumstances that tested the filmmakers, cast and crew during the shoot, as well as a look at some of the comical antics and personal moments on the set. The Costa Botes documentaries accompany acclaimed special features by Michael Pellerin from the original extended cut releases to make this the most comprehensive ìThe Lord of the Ringsî compilation ever.
Countless Featurettes and Vignettes ó too numerous to recount here ó will be included also, along with Introductions, BD Live features, and a whole lot more.
ìThe Lord of the Rings Motion Picture Trilogy: Extended Editionî will arrive in stores on June 28 for $119.99. As of this writing, Amazon has the title on sale for only $83.99, so you may want to head over there really quickly and place your pre-order before the price goes up!

Categories
Blu-ray

Ahhhhhhhhh!!!

Paramount recalls Saving Private Ryan
Paramount Home Entertainment today announced that it is recalling the Sapphire Series Blu-ray edition of Saving Private Ryan recently released in North America, the United Kingdom and the Benelux countries due to an audio synch error that occurred during Technicolorís authoring process. Although Technicolor employs comprehensive quality control measures, in this instance the issue was not detected prior to replication.
ìTechnicolor has been a valuable partner to Paramount Home Entertainment, and both Paramount and Technicolor are committed to providing the highest quality product to consumers,î said Dennis Maguire, President, Paramount Pictures Home Entertainment Worldwide. ìOur Sapphire Series was created to present our greatest films with the finest picture and sound quality available.
Saving Private Ryan is a five time Academy AwardÆ winning film including Best Director from one of Americaís most acclaimed filmmakers so we are recalling this edition to ensure that every Blu-ray disc honors Steven Spielbergís vision.î

Categories
Blu-ray

Start saving now!!

Guide to Summer 2009 Blockbusters on Blu-ray
The summer of 2009 may have come to an end but the films that helped define it are just now making their way to Blu-ray Disc in 1080p high definition.
A couple such as Fox’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Universal’s Land of the Lost snuck out the gate early and are already available in stores. But there are many more on the way between now and year’s end including District 9, Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds, J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek and The Hangover, just to name a few.
I’ve been asked the same question on a few occasions now, “hey Dan, what’s new and good on Blu-ray for this holiday season?” Rather than spew out a lengthy outline full of catalog, music, documentary and other tertiary titles, I have put together the following chronological shopping list, or holiday buying guide if you will, of the more notable and recognizable films from the summer of 2009 debuting on Blu-ray. This way you can easily take stock of what you saw in theaters and want to see again, what you missed and have to see immediately when available, and what you may have been on the fence with but would consider renting.
October 20
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
October 27
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
Orphan
November 3
Aliens in the Attic
GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra
I Love You, Beth Cooper
The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3
November 10
The Ugly Truth
Up
November 17
Bruno
Star Trek
November 24
Angels & Demons
Funny People
Shorts
December 1
Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian
Paper Heart
Terminator Salvation
December 8
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Julie & Julia
Ponyo
Public Enemies
December 15
G-Force
Inglourious Basterds
Taking Woodstock
The Hangover
December 22
(500) Days of Summer
All About Steve
Extract
December 29
District 9
Capitalism: A Love Story
(All release dates are subject to change).

Categories
Blu-ray

AWESOME!!!!

New rules for Fight Club
The 10th Anniversary of Fight Club is here and the Blu-ray will contain some nice extras.
A lonely, isolated thirty-something young professional in an unidentified, semi-stylized city, seeks an escape from his ordinary life with the help of a devious soap salesman. They find their release from the prison of reality through underground fight clubs, where men can be what the world denies them.
The disc contains the new featurettes A Hit in the Ear: Ren Klyce and the Sound Design of Fight Club, Flogging Fight Club and an Insomniac Mode. Returning features include, behind the scenes vignettes, an Edward Norton interview, four commentaries, deleted scenes, trailers (including the eight rules), TV spots, public service announcements, a music video, internet spots a promotional gallery and an art gallery.
The disc arrives on November 17th for $34.99.

Categories
Blu-ray

12492 – Awesome!!

Blu-ray to Attend a Grindhouse Double-Feature
A new listing at Walmart.com has confirmed an ongoing rumor regarding a reissue of Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez’s Grindhouse films on Blu-ray Disc August 11.
Per the listing, the set is titled simply “Grindhouse” and will include the unrated versions of Planet Terror and Death Proof totaling 218 minutes in length.
There are two ways Genius Products could approach this two-disc set. They could simple bundle the previously released single versions of Death Proof and Planet Terror into a single package. Or preferably they could combine the two films with intermission onto a single disc leaving the second disc entirely for supplemental features.
We’ll have more on this upcoming release as information is offered by the studio.

Categories
Blu-ray

Cool!!!

Gone with the Wind gets a big fancy box
Following the upcoming Wizard of Oz Blu-ray box set, Gone with the Wind will also come from Warner in a similar large box filled with goodies.
It’s unknown what those goodies are, but if they’re comparible to The Wizard of Oz, it should be quite a set. The box arrives on November 30th with a suggested retail price of $84.99.

Categories
Blu-ray

Go blu!

Well Done Warners!
Warner Home Video has just launched an online program to help all those of you who many purchased their previously released HD-DVD titles replace them with new Blu-ray versions.
All you have to do is go to www.red2blu.com and select the titles you wish to exchange (1 per HD-DVD title), then you mail the HD-DVD cover artwork only back to Warner along with $4.95 (per disc) to cover shipping and handling.
They’ll send you back the title in question on Blu-ray within 4-6 weeks. This way, you get to keep the HD-DVD disc, but you also get to upgrade to Blu.
Not bad…Universal should do this too!!

Categories
Blu-ray

June 16th, baby!!!

Ghostbusters Blu-ray to Include Making-Of Game!
Sony’s upcoming Ghostbusters Blu-ray will include a making-of featurette for Atari’s upcoming Ghostbusters videogame coming to Xbox 360 and PS3!!
The Blu-ray version of Ghostbusters will arrive in 2.4:1 1080p video and 5.1 Dolby TrueHD lossless audio key for replicating firing up a Proton Accelerator Pack.
Ghostbusters the movie on Blu-ray and Ghostbusters the game are set for a simultaneous June 16 release. The Blu-ray bonus features are as follows.
NEW: Digitally Mastered Audio and Video
NEW: Slimer Mode: Picture-in-Picture Graphical Viewing Experience with an examination of the spook-hunters firehouse headquarters, an in-depth exploration of the creatures in the Ghostbusters mythology, behind-the-scenes discussions of making the movie, new cast, crew and special effects artists interviews and much more! (Blu-ray exclusive)
NEW: Featurette: Ecto-1: Resurrecting the Classic Car (Blu-ray exclusive)
NEW: Ghostbusters Garage: Ecto-1 Gallery (Blu-ray exclusive)
NEW: Making of Ghostbusters The Videogame (Blu-ray exclusive)
Filmmakers’ Commentary with Ivan Reitman, Harold Ramis and Joe Medjuck
Featurette: 1984 – The Making of Ghostbusters – Interviews with the cast and crew
Featurette: Interviews with Cast and Crew
Featurette: SFX Team – Includes Before and After Multi-Angle Explorations
Scene Cemetery – 10 Deleted Scenes
Storyboard Comparisons