Ultra HD Blu-ray (4K/2160p, 60fps, HDR, 100GB) - Apocalypse Now 27/08/2019 | The Shining 04/10/2019

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has officially announced that it will celebrate the 35th anniversary of John G. Avildsen's film The Karate Kid (1984) with a brand new 4K Blu-ray release, which will be available for purchase on April 16th.

Synopsis: Celebrate the 35th anniversary of the coming-of-age classic — from Academy Award®-winning director (1976, Rocky) John G. Avildsen — that will leave you cheering! There is more to karate than fighting. This is the lesson that Daniel (Ralph Macchio), a San Fernando Valley teenager, is about to learn from a most unexpected teacher: Mr. Miyagi (Noriyuki "Pat " Morita in his Academy Award®-nominated performance [Best Supporting Actor, 1984]), an elderly handyman who also happens to be a master of the martial arts. His training and these vital lessons will be called into play when an outmatched Daniel faces Johnny, the skilled leader of the Cobra Kai — a vicious gang of karate school bullies — in a no-holds-barred karate tournament for the championship of the Valley.

Special Features and Technical Specs:
BRAND NEW 4K RESTORATION FROM THE ORIGINAL CAMERA NEGATIVE
NEWLY CREATED DOLBY ATMOS TRACK, plus original stereo and 5.1 audio mixes
ALL-NEW: "Remembering The Karate Kid" – featuring new interviews with Ralph Macchio, William Zabka and Martin Kove (on the 4K Blu-ray disc)
"Blu-Pop™" Pop-Up Track – Activate the Blu-Pop feature to reveal pop-up trivia, interviews and more secrets from the film!
Audio Commentary with Director John G. Avildsen, Writer Robert Mark Kamen and Actors Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita
"The Way of the Karate Kid" Multi-Part Making-of Featurette
"Beyond the Form" Featurette
"East Meets West: A Composer's Notebook"
"Life of Bonsai" Featurette
Theatrical Trailer (on the 4K Blu-ray disc)

Sandy wrote:I wonder how much of a resoration job they will have done or if they'll just take the old 35mm and convert it to a 4K digital image without bothering to tidy up noise etc.

KK wrote:Disappointed that the 4K version of Incredibles 2 hasn’t got a UK release, Disney instead opting to release it in 3D for some bizarre reason.

The Apocalypse Now Final Cut restoration will be brought to life with Dolby Vision® HDR, bringing entertainment to life through ultra-vivid picture quality. When compared to a standard picture, Dolby Vision can deliver spectacular colors never before seen on a screen, highlights that are up to 40 times brighter, and blacks that are 10 times darker. The 4K Combo Pack and Digital 4K release also feature Dolby Atmos® audio mixed specifically for the home, to place and move audio anywhere in the room, including overhead. In addition, the film has been enhanced with Meyer Sound Laboratories' newly developed Sensual Sound™, a technology engineered to output audio below the limits of human hearing. All of these technologies work together to present Coppola's true vision of the film, one that delivers deep, visceral visual and auditory impact. Coppola believes Apocalypse Now Final Cut "looks better than it has ever looked, and sounds better than it has ever sounded," and he is "thrilled beyond measure to present the best version of the film to the world."

KK wrote:There's a few reasons I now opt to purchase 4K movies over streaming, and that's because I can keep recycling my cash by selling them on, and the picture quality is substantially better (particularly with BBC content such as Blue Planet 2, which isn't available in HDR on PS4 or even SkyQ).

Discs still offer that buffer zone for picture enthusiasts who want the best quality, or for those that don't have fast internet. I used to purchase conventional Blu Ray discs because that was the only or easiest way to get HD in the late 2000s, but then stopped when HD became the norm everywhere. The same will happen with 4K.

I'm sure for others it's because they actually want to own a physical collection, not beholden to the vanishing act of rights holders. And for old films such as Die Hard the definitive version now finally exists. It's not like an 8K remaster is going to show up...surely.

Before Stranger Things and IT, there was the original coming of age classic Stand By Me, which is coming to 4K Ultra HD August 27 from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. Directed by Rob Reiner and based on the Stephen King short story, Stand By Me set its incredible young cast, including Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, Jerry O'Connell and Kiefer Sutherland, on the road to stardom. The Academy Award®-nominated (Best Adapted Screenplay, 1986) film follows a quartet of inseparable friends who set out in search of a dead body. During their life-changing adventure, the personal pressures brought on them by the adult world come to the surface and turns the journey into an odyssey of self-discovery. Newly scanned from the original camera negative in 4K and presented with High Dynamic Range on the 4K UHD, Stand By Me also includes an all-new Dolby Atmos immersive audio mix and both the original theatrical mono audio and the 5.1 remix.

In addition to the archival special features on the included Blu-ray-featuring a reunion commentary and making-of featurette-the Stand By Me 4K Ultra HD includes never-before-seen deleted & alternate scenes, and a special limited edition O-ring sleeve, featuring the iconic original theatrical poster art.

KK wrote:Really is incredibly difficult to find new Blu Ray releases on the high street these days, let alone the 4K version. I wanted
Stan and Ollie and I wasn’t able to find it today in Sainsbury’s, Morrison’s or ASDA, though Sainsbury’s did have the DVD (why?!) for £10 at Number 6 on their charts. WrestleMania of all things was at 8.

WHSmith don’t sell things like that anymore, and I was nowhere near a HMV.

So basically it’s online or bust.