We reviewed this Region free UK Ultra HD Blu-ray release on a JVC-DLA N5 Ultra HD 4K projector and a Panasonic DP-UB9000 Dolby Vision/HDR10 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray player. fondly and rightly remembered as something of a genre classic. Although which genre is anyone’s guess. The second documentary, ‘A Kind of Magic: Music of the Immortals’, looks at the music of the movie. Though Michael Kamen is featured and presents some lovely anecdotes, film music expert Neil Brand offers some hugely important insights, not least is to highlight the work done by Kamen, who can often be overshadowed and overlooked due to the genius of Queen. In reality, the band and Kamen worked very closely to create a genuinely important film score; one that somehow is yet to be released in its entirety. ‘Capturing Immortality’ is an interview with photographer David James, and offers a glimpse into a feature of films that is often overlooked: the world of the stills photographer. It’s diverting and interesting, and manages to offer a few unique stories, but is very much a niche extra. Russell Mulcahy’s music video writ large starring a Scot pretending to be a Spanish Egyptian and a Swiss Frenchman pretending to be a Scot transcends every part of its subjectively flawed DNA to become and remain an all-time classic.

All of which is sold brilliantly by his cast, not necessarily for their acting, but for their sheer embodiment of these characters – Lambert’s permanently befuddled look (possibly due to his inability to speak English at the time) gives Nash/Connor MacLeod a real sense of weariness, of the effects of being on his own for so long, of not being able to love or be loved; Clancy Brown is having a complete blast as The Kurgan, completely unhinged but still with a keen sense of purpose and his own honesty within what he’s doing; even the smaller roles of the three women in MacLeod’s life – Beattie Edney, Roxanne Hart and especially Sheila Gish – plug directly into that sense of loss and enduring love, enabling these strange romantic undertones in amongst all the swordfights and beheadings. But it’s Connery doing what Connery so often did that lodges in the memory – steal a film with a just a handful of moments, his Ramirez here having such a devilish twinkle in his eye that his energy, his charisma and his authority just seep into all those around him. STUDIOCANAL owns one of the largest film libraries in the world, boasting nearly 7000 titles from 60 countries. Spanning 100 years of film history. 20 million euros has been invested into the restoration of 700 classic films over the past 5 years. Based on a new restoration done by StudioCanal, the disc will feature Dolby Vision HDR and HDR10 high dynamic range, along with 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio surround sound. I’ve also just spent most of today on the phone with industry sources, gathering information for our big preview of 4K Ultra HD catalog releases that are coming in the second half of 2021. And that’s the crux of today’s post here at The Bits, but more on that in a minute.

Hope you’re all having a great week so far. I was buried in catch-up work yesterday after having a series of family visits here—our first in two years due to the pandemic—so suffice it to say that there was no news post yesterday. And while we still have little in the way of official announcements at the moment, I can confidently report that at least some of titles you’re waiting for are on the way in 2020. The steelbook itself is fantastic with some wonderful artwork from Matt Ferguson, the actual 4k presentation is brilliant and the sound, although it's not Atmos or DTS:X is still great.

One of Highlander’s defining features is that it has always looked terrible. Even the Blu-ray was a muddy, murky affair. Therefore, the UHD transfer is a miracle. While in itself the presentation can be inconsistent, especially in a level of grain occasionally smoothing out, it still looks like a different, fresher film. The opening and subsequent scenes in the underground garage are sharp and full of detail in shadows. All the modern day sequences respond well to a 4K brush up, detail in faces and textures is enhanced beautifully. Effects shots have survived surprisingly well and actual sparks can be appreciated in the sword battles. The solo Clancy Brown interview titled There Can Only Be One Kurgan is especially fun, with Brown talking about how hard the makeup and effects team had to work to cover the massive canvas that is his body. He points out a few gaffes in the film that just add to your appreciation for the production. Plus, the four new featurettes are offered in high-definition with Dolby Vision HDR as well. The information in today’s post should be considered unofficial until the studios in question make their actual announcements. But we believe it to be a reliable gauge of titles currently in the production pipeline or planning stages. The Blu-ray special features will also include an audio commentary with director Mulcahy. The Blu-ray will also feature several other special features, such as an interview with Mulcahy, an interview with Christopher Lambert, a "The Making of Highlander" featurette, deleted scenes, an archival interview with Christopher Lambert, and a trailer for the film. And Dennis has turned in his thoughts on Gordon Hessler’s The Oblong Box (1969), an American International Pictures film on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.Also today, Tim has reviewed the great Carl Reiner’s Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid (1982) a look on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics. As most of you know, this classic comedy stars Steve Martin. This was my first visit into the world of Highlander and while I felt it’s one of those films that everyone has heard about, unless you grew up in a certain era, it was more doubtful whether you’ve seen it. I had a faint recollection of the movie through older siblings and so to mark the 30 th Anniversary of Russell Mulcahy‘s cult favourite, I entered the all-new 4k restoration for the Blu-ray and DVD release. Featuring an unforgettable original score by Michael Kamen and Queen, HIGHLANDER went on to inspire four further sequels and a television series. First of all, this is a title we’ve known is coming for a few months now and while it’s not yet been officially announced by the studio, we do have the final cover artwork from retailers: Universal Studios Home Entertainment is expected to release their Universal Classic Monsters: Icons of Horror Collection – Volume 2 box set in 4K Ultra HD on 10/11.

I'm not expecting a George Lucas styled intervention just fix what they didn't have time to fix in that one scene. Highlander is a dated, over the top, preposterous film. It’s also beautiful, imaginative, and aims to be more than it should be. As an important piece of cultural art, it’s right that it has been been reissued in this cleaner, crisper format. The addition of decent interviews with the people who were there, giving us the opportunity to both learn first-hand what it was like, as well as see the real affection these people have for the film, makes this a well recommended release.Finally, the other star is Queen. Their EP’s worth of songs providing so much of that emotional heart of the film, it's difficult to see how the Highlander we know would work anywhere near as well without their contribution. And credit to all involved for allowing their songs to be an essential part of the narrative, the lyrics literally telling and selling the story in a way that feels part of the very fibre of the film and more effectively than any line of dialogue, not matter how expertly crafted. Bookmarked this to watch on Netflix as its just appeared but think I will wait for a better version. The physical contents of the collectors edition are amazing – the badges, poster, comic, artwork and book are great collectors items and the content on the discs are worth the price of the set on it’s own. There are lots of new material to watch on the discs, not to mention watching the movie itself in 4K.

At one point, Mulcahy himself perfectly encapsulates the mindset which drove the film. Speaking of the difficulty in casting the lead he explains how he finally saw a photo of Lambert from the film Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes. He immediately knew that that was the look he wanted. When someone pointed out that Christopher Lambert didn’t actually speak any English, Mulcahy replied “I guess we’ll work that out”. Who cared? The guy looked right. A certified ‘80s cult classic, the film was directed by Russell Mulcahy ( Swimming Upstream, The Real McCoy) and stars Christopher Lambert ( Mortal Combat, Fortress), Sean Connery ( James Bond), Clancy Brown ( The Shawshank Redemption, Starship Troopers) and Roxanne Hart. IIRC StudionCanal (or Canal+ Image as they were known then) had nothing to do with wire removal around 2000 and that was just some lo-fi DVD releases in the USA.First up, I’ve given Tom Lowe immersive and mesmerizing native 4K documentary Awaken a look on Ultra HD from our friends at Gunpowder & Sky and DUST, via Vinegar Syndrome. Think Samsara and Baraka and you’re in the fight ballpark. The film is really gorgeous and it’s a nice 4K release, so do give it a look if you’re interested. For the very first time I got the subtle hint that the lady who was Nash's secretary was also the little girl he saved in WWII. In fact, I had forgotten all about that scene of him in WWII, but I am a forgetful person.