Tag Archives: Albert Hall

Spike Lee film Malcolm X on Criterion 4K and Blu-ray

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The 1992 biopic “Malcolm X” is officially coming to 4K UHD Blu-ray and Blu-ray via The Criterion Collection on November 22nd.  The film, directed, produced, and co-written by Spike Lee, starred Denzel Washington (in the lead role) as well as Angela Bassett, Delroy Lindo, Al Freeman Jr., Albert Hall, Theresa Randle, Kate Vernon, and the film’s director himself Spike Lee.  It’s most certainly worth noting that this film was nominated for two Academy Awards, including “Best Actor in a Leading Role” for Denzel Washington.

The movie has received a new 4K digital restoration supervised by cinematographer Ernest Dickerson.  The tech specs for the 4K UHD Blu-ray release include a 2160p video presentation in the 1.85:1 aspect ratio with HDR10 and Dolby Vision forms of high dynamic range as well as a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless surround sound mix.  Tech specs for the Blu-ray include a 1080p HD video presentation in the 1.85:1 aspect ratio and DTS-HD MA 5.1 sound.  The 4K release will come in the form of a “combo pack” with it including both the film Blu-ray counterpart as well as a Blu-ray bonus disc, in a 3-disc set.  Whereas the Blu-ray release will be a 2-disc set with an extra disc for the bonus materials.

You can now find the 4K UHD Blu-ray and Blu-ray releases of the film available for preorder over at Amazon or directly via Criterion‘s website.  The bonus materials and details about physical extras set to be included are listed below.

  • Audio commentary from 2005 featuring director Spike Lee, Dickerson, editor Barry Alexander Brown, and costume designer Ruth E. Carter
  • New conversation between Lee and journalist and screenwriter Barry Michael Cooper
  • New interviews with actor Delroy Lindo and composer Terence Blanchard
  • Program about the making of the film, featuring Lee, Dickerson, Brown, Blanchard, Carter, filmmaker Martin Scorsese, actor Ossie Davis, Reverend Al Sharpton, former Warner Bros. executive Lucy Fisher, producers Preston Holmes and Jon Kilik, production designer Wynn Thomas, casting director Robi Reed, and Malcolm X’s daughter Ilyasah Shabazz
  • Malcolm X (1972), a feature-length documentary produced by Marvin Worth and Arnold Perl and directed by Perl, narrated by actor James Earl Jones
  • Deleted scenes with introductions by Lee
  • Trailer
  • PLUS: An essay by Cooper, excerpts from Lee’s 1992 book By Any Means Necessary: The Trials and Tribulations of the Making of “Malcolm X” . . ., and Davis’s eulogy for Malcolm X
  • New cover by Eric Skillman

Apocalypse Now comes to 4K UHD Blu-ray in August

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The 1979 film “Apocalypse Now“ is officially coming to 4K UHD Blu-ray on August 27th via Lionsgate in a “40th Anniversary Edition” with a Final Cut of the film. Not only will that version be included but there will also be the original theatrical cut and “Apocalypse Now Redux” Extended Cut – along with the “Hearts of Darkness“ (96 minutes) documentary from 1991. The film, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, starred Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, Frederic Forrest, Sam Bottoms, Laurence Fishburne, Albert Hall, Harrison Ford, Dennis Hopper, and Scott Glenn.

Tech specs for the 4K release include 2160p video, from a 4K restoration of the original negative, presented in the 2.35:1 aspect ratio with both Dolby Vision and HDR10 forms of High Dynamic Range along with Dolby Atmos sound. The release will come as a “combo pack” and include three Blu-ray Discs along with a digital copy of the film. UPDATE: The 4K UHD Blu-ray is now available for pre-order over at retailers Amazon and Best Buy. Stay tuned for an Amazon pre-order listing when it becomes available. Lionsgate has included what appear to be three screenshots in 1920 width (1080p) from this restoration as promotional material. You can watch the teaser trailer on YouTube (also in 1080p HD) if you’d like a better look at the quality but I’m going to include these for readers anyway.

Bonus materials set to be included on the release are very lengthy and span across a total of the 4K UHD Blu-ray disc and THREE Blu-ray Discs. This is going to run rather lengthy so I’m going to include it below after the break. Also further below, after the break, you can find the official trailer for the upcoming theatrical re-release and 4K release as well as the announcement.

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