Sleeping Beauty Platinum Edition Blu-ray
DISNEY Street: Oct. 7 Prebook: now > The restored classic is packaged with hours of entertaining, innovative features. Disney is celebrating the 50th anniversary of this animated classic in style, with its high-definition debut and as the inaugural title for the studio’s BD Live features.
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Iron Man Ultimate Two-Disc Edition Blu-ray
PARAMOUNT Street: Sept. 30 Prebook: now > Comic book hero is bigger than life in high-def. Visual effects movies such as Iron Man are perfect for high-definition screening, and this invincible superhero delivers, with his metallic red and gold suit shining and repulsor ray explosions bursting out of the subwoofers.
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Baraka Blu-ray
MPI Street: Oct. 28 Prebook: Sept. 22 > Baraka vividly shows what high-def picture and sound is all about. MPI has lovingly restored this hypnotic documentary from filmmaker Ron Fricke, who also helmed the Imax film Chronos and was cinematographer on the revolutionary Koyaanisqatsi. Baraka takes its influence from the Koyaanisqatsi trilogy, combining stunning visuals with haunting music.
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Kill Bill Vols. 1 and 2 Blu-ray
DISNEY Street: Sept. 9 Prebook: now > Tarantino’s cult favorite looks sharp but preserves stylish grain on Blu-ray. The punches sound thick and heavy in the Blu-ray version of Quentin Tarantino’s two-part homage to comic-styled action movies. The picture quality looks sharp, with great color saturation, but unsavvy viewers might be disappointed by the amount of grain.
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Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas: Collector’s Edition Blu-ray
DISNEY Street: Aug. 26 Prebook: now > High-def brings out every clay-animated detail of this seasonal classic. Jack Skellington, Sally and Oogie Boogie come even more alive in Disney’s Blu-ray version of The Nightmare Before Christmas. The hollows of Jack’s eyes are blacker and Christmas Town sparkles more in high-definition, while the screams of innocent children attacked by th...
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Transformers Blu-ray
PARAMOUNT Street: Sept. 2 Prebook: now > Michael Bay’s Transformers shine on Blu-ray. Bumblebee, Optimus Prime and Megatron are all the more shiny and intimidating in the Blu-ray version of Michael Bay’s adaptation of the ’80s cartoon franchise. The explosions and sound of metal on metal as the Transformers battle us and then each other give sub-woofers a good workout.
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Doomsday Blu-ray
UNIVERSAL Street: July 29 Prebook: now > Doomsday sounds grosser than ever on Blu-ray. There’s no doubt about it—Doomsday is gross, especially when the baddies burn one of the goodies alive and start carving him up for dinner. Blu-ray amplifies the grossness, boosting the wet squelch as bodies are run over and heads are chopped off (which happens quite a lot).
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OPINION: Learning from the past
Samantha Clark is managing editor of VB (smclark@reedbusiness.com). JULY 11 | Warner’s Blu-ray promotion is reminiscent of DVD’s early days
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GREEN REPORT: Sustainable stores make more green
Going green not only is good for the soul, it can be good for the wallet. Dan Butler, VP of retail operations for the National Retail Federation, says that research done by the group's Sustainable Retailing Consortium suggests that environmentally friendly choices often bring down costs while boosting both consumer and employee loyalty.
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The Spiderwick Chronicles Blu-Ray
PARAMOUNT Street: June 24 Prebook: now > Family fantasy is bright and fun on Blu-ray. Fairies come alive in brilliant color in the high-definition version of The Spiderwick Chronicles. Indeed, the pinks and blues of the sprites and the bright red of their berries jump off the screen. Paramount stuffed a lot of extras into its first day-and-date DVD and Blu-ray new release, though none of th...
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Persepolis Blu-ray
SONY Street: June 24 Prebook: now > The story is the biggest asset for this black-and-white animated Blu-ray disc. A mostly black-and-white movie animated simply with hand-drawn characters might not be the best showcase for Blu-ray, but it’s not how this movie looks that will draw in audiences.
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Step Into Liquid Blu-ray
LIONSGATE Street: June 24 Prebook: now > Surfing documentary should make a splash on high-def. This film’s stunning footage of huge curling waves sadly lacks the crispness and color saturation of other Blu-ray releases, with grain dotting many scenes. Perhaps this was by choice, but it’s a shame the film’s amazing shots (filmed in Super 16mm and 24P HD video) are not more ...
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Jumper Blu-ray
FOX Street: June 10 Prebook: now > Sci-fi actioner should leap off shelves. Director Doug Liman says he didn’t want to make a “special effects movie” in the documentary Doug Liman’s Jumper: Uncensored, which is included on this disc. We hate to tell him, but this is a special effects movie.
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The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe Blu-ray
DISNEY Available now > Spectacular family film is even more of a spectacle in high-def. Narnia looks even more stunning and the White Witch even more frightening in this high-definition rendering. And Aslan’s roar fills the surround sound speakers beautifully. Disney did a great job of extending the movie to the menu and special features.
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V for Vendetta Blu-ray
WARNER Street: May 20 Prebook: now > Futuristic fantasy is Blu-ray done right. Warner should be applauded for the user-friendly, movie-fan focus of its Blu-ray releases. Like Twister , Warner’s V for Vendetta starts playing the feature automatically when you put in the disc.
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Twister Blu-ray
WARNER Available now > The roar of the tornado is all the more frightening in high-definition. The opening screech of a tornado will get into viewers' bones in the high-definition version of this hit from the summer of 1996. Warner's remastered picture looks great, with noticeably sharper edges pulling viewers into the movie.
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Porchlight turns on Blu-ray with children's series
MAY 6 | Porchlight Home Entertainment is moving into Blu-ray Disc with Animalia , an international children's series for which the company just acquired DVD rights. About two 11-year-olds who are whisked from their local library to a world with talking animals, Animalia will be releases on DVD and Blu-ray on Sept. 23 (prebook Aug. 20), priced at $16.98 and $29.98, respectively.
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National Treasure: Book of Secrets Blu-ray
DISNEY Street: May 20 Prebook: now > The high-def picture is the treasure of this predictable sequel. Before the menu page on this title launches, there is a featurette extolling the virtues of Blu-ray, which is a little like preaching to the choir as viewers must already own a Blu-ray player to be watching the disc.
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