4K ANNIVERSARY EDITIONS FROM WARNER BROS

NORTH BY NORTHWEST, BLAZING SADDLES and THE TERMINATOR

(4K UHD)

FROM WARNER BROS

#InPartnershipwithWB

Review by Mr. Paws😻

Three iconic classics, each among the very best of their genres, are celebrating anniversaries this year. And that statement is more than just subjective gushing from Free Kittens. All three of them were selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry. So there.

And speaking of preservation, what better way to acknowledge their anniversaries than releasing them in 4K Ultra HD for the first time? Warner Bros has done right by these classics with excellent transfers. 

When you miss your flight, but your flight doesn't plan to miss you.

NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959/136 min)

Now it is time for a little subjective gushing. Everyone has their favorite Alfred Hitchcock film, and while many will argue the likes of Vertigo, Psycho and Rear Window are his best, we’ll throw our hat in the ring for 1959’s North by Northwest. It’s even number 4 on our list of the greatest movies ever made.

Now 65 years old, the film is as exciting, suspenseful, intriguing and funny as ever. The film also features one of Cary Grant’s best performances as ad-man Roger Thornhill, whose life is thrown into turmoil due to mistaken identity. The stellar supporting cast includes James Mason at his most smoothly sinister, Eva Marie Saint at her most enticing and Martin Landau at his scariest. Everything else about the film - the story, dialogue, cinematography and Bernard Herrmann’s score - is note perfect.  

On 4K, the film has never looked better, and in addition to a big batch of vintage bonus features, a couple of new ones are included. All these years later, North by Northwest remains essential viewing for anyone claiming to be a cinephile.

EXTRA KIBBLES

NEW FEATURES - Cinematography, Score and the Art of the Edit highlights many of the people Hitchcock worked with, on this and other films; A Guided Tour with Alfred Hitchcock isn’t technically new, but hasn’t been included in previous home video releases.

ARCHIVAL FEATURES - Destination Hitchcock: The Making of North by Northwest is hosted by co-star Eva Marie Saint; The Master’s Touch: Hitchcock’s Signature Style features many modern directors discussing Hitch’s techniques; North by Northwest: One for the Ages features even more directors analyzing the film.

AUDIO COMMENTARY - By screenwriter Ernest Lehman.

DIGITAL COPY

Bart spots a roly-poly.

BLAZING SADDLES (1974/93 min)

This Mel Brooks classic is one of those movies that people love to claim “couldn’t be made today.” Some of those same folks like to add that people these days are snowflakes and too easily offended. And in defending those films, they’ll inevitably argue that those movies need to be viewed in the context of when they were made, when cultural norms were different.

But I’ve personally never met anyone who was offended by Blazing Saddles, young or old. Maybe that’s because nobody with even a modicum of intelligence would ever take the film’s racially charged humor at face value. The movie isn’t racist…it’s about the stupidity of racism, played for laughs (which it still largely earns 50 years later). That’s arguably why the film hasn’t been quite as retro-condemned as, say, Breakfast at Tiffany’s. 

As for the notorious campfire scene…we’re living in an age when practically every kids’ movie features fart gags. What’s left in Blazing Saddles to offend? At any rate, this remains Brooks’ funniest film, and as parody, only Airplane! Has surpassed it. 

EXTRA KIBBLES

FEATURES - Inappropriate Inspiration: The Blazing Saddles Effect is an appreciation of the film’s influence and legacy; Blaze of Glory: Mel Brooks’ Wild, Wild West is an interview with Brooks from the 40th Anniversary version; Back in the Saddle is a retrospective doc featuring numerous cast & crew members.

AUDIO COMMENTARY - By director/co-writer Mel Brooks

ADDITIONAL SCENES

DIGITAL COPY

This hotel offers boom service.

THE TERMINATOR (1984/107 min)

Geez, has it really been 40 years? It seems like just yesterday that I went to a theater expecting little more than a couple of hours of dumb thrills. But The Terminator surprised everyone, even its own director, James Cameron. Absolutely nobody was expecting such a “small” movie to be one of the best sci-fi/action films of the decade, or that it would make Arnold Schwarzenegger a household name.

We’ve been seeing its influence ever since, including five sequels of varying quality and ten-times the budget. However, it’s the awesome narrative simplicity of the original Terminator that makes it such a propulsive, gritty thrill ride…no timelines, no alternate realities, no convoluted storylines requiring a slide-rule to figure out. Just a relentless killing machine hunting its quarry. Cameron would never shoot a film this viscerally intense again.

Of these three films, The Terminator features the best transfer. The video and audio quality are substantially better than another other previous DVD or Blu-ray. However, this one falls pretty short on bonus material, just a few short pieces carried over from previous releases. 

EXTRA KIBBLES

FEATURETTES - Unstoppable Force: The Legacy of The Terminator is a retrospective documentary; Creating the Terminator: Visual Effects and Music is self explanatory; The Terminator: Closer to the Real Thing features James Cameron and others talking science.

DELETED SCENES - With optional commentary by James Cameron.

DIGITAL COPY

Obviously, all of these movies are worth owning and revisiting again and again. Previous editions may have included more substantial bonus material, but they don’t compare to the video/audio presentation offered here in 4K (along with digital copies).

Classic CAMERON in 4K: Digital Will Do...For Now

ALIENS, THE ABYSS and TRUE LIES (Digital)

FROM 20TH CENTURY STUDIOS

Review by Mr. Bonnie😺

The Abyss, Aliens and True Lies are available in 4K Ultra UHD for the first time ever on digital and on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray disc March 12, 2024.

The good news is that three of James Cameron’s greatest films are finally available in 4K Ultra HD. This is especially significant for movie fans and collectors because two of the titles (The Abyss & True Lies) have not even gotten a Blu-ray release, which many have been clamoring for since the format was introduced.

The bad news, especially for collectors, is that they aren’t scheduled to be released on physical media until March. However, they are now available digitally and can be viewed as a preview of what to expect, or at least something to tide you over for three months. 

One thing is certain, the video/audio restorations for all three are outstanding, as clear, deep and detailed as Paramount’s recent Titanic 4K disc (which was one of the best physical releases of 2023). Speaking of Titanic, reviewing that title had me thinking it was Cameron’s greatest film. However, my statement should be taken with a grain of salt…

Before he went exclusively into the Avatar business, I was such a James Cameron fan that I was convinced whatever film I was watching at the time was his greatest. So while revisiting Aliens (1986/137 min) in 4K, it once again took the top spot. Decades later, it remains a stunning sequel. Of the three titles reviewed here, this one packs the most bonus material (though all of it is from previous physical editions). Also included is the 1990 Special Edition (154 min), which some fans see as an improvement, but I always preferred the original.

The new neighbors' obnoxious floodlights.

But as soon as I fired-up The Abyss (1989/140 min), that one became my favorite at the moment. Arguably Cameron’s most original film, it’s also his most notoriously troubled production and ended up underperforming at the box office (at least by his standards). Still, it remains a gripping sci-fi epic with breathtaking special effects and some of the most engaging characters he ever created. Like Aliens, this one includes bonus features carried over from previous releases, as well as the 1993 Special Edition (171 min). But unlike Aliens, the longer version is significantly better, with the apocalyptic implications of the tidal wave sequence adding considerable dramatic weight.

Back in the day, I was a little disappointed when I first saw True Lies (1994/141 min) in theaters, much preferring Cameron’s sci-fi excursions. But it grew on me over time, enough that I’m now convinced this is his greatest film (at least until I pop-in The Terminator again). Sure, some themes and comedic elements haven’t aged so well, but it remains slam-bang entertainment and the last truly great film Arnold Schwarzenegger ever starred in (though the late Bill Paxton briefly steals it from him). There’s no special edition, but it does include an excellent new hour-long retrospective documentary featuring Cameron, Schwarzenegger, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tia Carrere and Paxton (interviewed in 2012).

If you’re like me, finally having digital copies of these titles in 4K is nice, but mostly a teaser for the eventual physical releases. They look and sound great, but would ultimately look a lot better on my shelves than stored on an app. But if such tactile trifles aren’t all that important, the long wait is over.