New to View: May 31
By Bob Bloom
The following titles are being released on Tuesday, May 31, unless otherwise noted:
1776: 50th Anniversary Director’s Cut (4K UHD + Blu-ray + digital)
Details: 1972, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Rated: G, Not rated
The lowdown: As history, “1776” is more fun than fact, but as a musical that examines the founding of the United States by a group of disparate delegates from various colonies, it mostly hits the right notes.
William Daniels is “obnoxious and disliked” as the singularly-minded and fiery John Adams, pushing his fellow representatives to break with England. Howard Da Silva is witty and wily Ben Franklin, using common sense to advance the cause and Ken Howard is idealistic as the lovelorn and lonely Thomas Jefferson who needs the inspiration of his bride, Martha (Blythe Danner), to write the Declaration of Independence.
The majority of the musical numbers are delightful, and some of the differences expressed by members of the Continental Congress still exist between representatives of various states today.
The set includes the G-rated 165-minute theatrical version and unrated 168-minute director’s cut.
Technical aspects: 4K: 2160p ultra high definition, 2.39:1 widescreen picture; English Dolby Atmos (7.1 Dolby TrueHD compatible) and 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH, English and French subtitles; Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 2.39:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH, English and French subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus materials include a commentary track with director Peter H. Hunt, a commentary on the director’s cut with Hunt, Daniels and Howard and a third with Hunt and playwright Peter Stone; deleted and alternate scenes; and screen tests.
A Fistful of Dollars (4K UHD + Blu-ray)
Details: 1964, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: R, violence
The lowdown: Clint Eastwood went from TV stardom to international movie stardom with his breakout role as “The Man with No Name” is Sergio Leone’s breakthrough “spaghetti Western,” inspired by Akira Kurosawa’s “Yojimbo.”
Eastwood’s gunfighter arrives in a grim and dirty border town where two rival bands of smugglers terrorize the poor townsfolk.
Both offer the gunfighter a job — and he accepts both. He then begins a plan to eliminate both gangs by pitting them against each other.
This hard-hitting Western fascinated audiences with its violence, gritty realism and humor. It also helped launch the international career of composer Ennio Morricone.
The movie costars Marianne Koch and Gian Maria Volonté.
Technical aspects: 4K: 2160p ultra high definition, 2.35:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles; Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 2.35:1 widescreen picture English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio monaural; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus offerings include two commentary tracks, an interview with Koch, “A New Kind of Hero” featurette, a featurette with Eastwood talking about his time filming the movie in Spain, a featurette with three friends remembering Leone, outtakes, location comparisons and image galleries.
For a Few Dollars More (4K UHD + Blu-ray)
Details: 1965, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: R, violence
The lowdown: In this follow-up to “A Fistful of Dollars,” Clint Eastwood’s “Man with No Name” teams with a rival bounty hunter, played by Lee Van Cleef, to bring murderous bandit chief El Indio (Gian Marie Volonté) and his vicious gang to justice.
Like its predecessor, director Sergio Leone’s atmospheric Western milieu propels the movie, which is filled with gunbattles, bank robberies, jailbreaks and sardonic humor.
The cast also includes Klaus Kinski, Mario Brega, Luigi Pistilli and Aldo Sambrell.
The byplay between Eastwood and Van Cleef’s character is one of the great delights of the movie, which explodes off your screen.
Technical aspects: 4K: 2160p ultra high definition, 2.35:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles; Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 2.35:1 widescreen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio monaural; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include commentary tracks by novelist and critic Tim Lucas and film historian Sir Christopher Frayling, an on-location featurette with filmmaker Alex Cox, Frayling’s “For a Few Dollars More” archives and Frayling’s “For a Few Dollars More” new standards featurette, Eastwood reminiscing about making the movie, a featurette with three friends remembering Leone and image galleries.
Row 19 (Blu-ray)
Details: 2021, Well Go USA Entertainment
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: This Russian chiller centers on a doctor and her daughter who, during a half empty flight, witness the gruesome, unexplained deaths of several fellow passengers.
The doctor suspects that a terrifying shadowy force, from her own worst childhood nightmare, may be behind the killings.
The movie copies situations from other horror features, yet it still manages to be creepy and loaded with tension.
Alert moviegoers may be able to discern the ending from clues sprinkled throughout the film.
It does not hurt to reiterate, I prefer foreign-language films in their own tongues rather than the distraction of listening to dubbed voices.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.39:1 (16×9 enhanced) widescreen picture; Russian and English (dubbed) DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles.
The Wobblies (DVD)
Details: 1979, Kino Classics
Rated: not rated
The lowdown: This documentary, co-produced and co-directed by Stewart Bird and Deborah Shaffer looks at one of the earliest labor movements in U.S. history — the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), also known as “The Wobblies.”
Founded in Chicago in 1905, the movement organized unskilled and skilled workers into one gigantic union and, in doing so, changed the course of American history.
The movie tells the story of workers in factories, sawmills, wheat fields, mines, forests and the docks as they organized and demanded better wages, health benefits, overtime pay and safer working conditions.
The union was comprised of men and women, blacks and whites, all of whom were outspoken for what they believed they deserved.
The movie includes interviews with former workers many of whom — at the time when this movie was filmed — were in their 80s and 90s, archival footage, cartoons, original art and classic Wobbly songs — many of which were written by Joe Hill — that paid tribute to the legacy of those who risked their lives for the rights of working people.
The movie also is a story of corporate greed — a practice, unfortunately, that continues to manifest itself throughout the nation.
Technical aspects: 1.33:1 (16×9 enhanced) full-screen picture; English LPCM monaural; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Interviews with Bird, Shaffer and historian-author Paul Buble as well as original recordings of IWW songs comprise the main extras.
Yeti: Giant of the 20th Century (Blu-ray)
Details: 1977, Code Red
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: This Italian “King Kong” rip-off is definitely campy fun.
A young woman named Jane discovers a giant Yeti who is captured and put on display.
When the Yeti breaks loose, “Godzilla”-like special effects are utilized to chronicle his rampage through the city, crushing the bad guys along the way, while he searches for his Jane.
The movie’s special effects are truly inept — mostly because of a paltry budget — as the size of the yeti changes throughout.
Still, fans of creature features may find the movie a hoot — as long as you don’t take it seriously.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English monaural audio; English subtitles.
Megadeath: A Night in Buenos Aires (Blu-ray)
Release date: June 3
Details: 2005, Cleopatra Entertainment-MVD Visual Entertainment
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Fans of Megadeath will embrace this Blu-ray that chronicles the heavy-metal band’s 2005 concert in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The concert film includes 18 songs from the Grammy-nominated group. Thousands attended the concert and seeing and hearing their reactions to the music is one of the Blu-ray’s pleasures.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.78:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and 2.0 LPCM.
A Taste of Whale (DVD)
Details: 2022, Greenwich Entertainment
Rated: Not rated, disturbing images
The lowdown: For centuries, the residents of the Faroe Islands, which lies in the North Atlantic about 200 miles north of Scotland, have been hunting pilot whales, which they use for food and other necessities.
The annual hunt, which turns the waters red with blood, is called the “Grind.”
But the practice has been condemned by animal rights activists and it has created tension and division among the Faroe islanders.
This documentary provides an even-handed examination of the issue, giving both of the controversy their say. The movie offers an in-depth examination of the issue as well as questions of where people get their food and how they get it.
Technical aspects: 1.78:1 (16×9 enhanced) widescreen picture; English, French and Farose 5.1 and 2.0 Dolby digital; English subtitles.
Other titles being released on Tuesday, unless otherwise indicated:
The Boys: Seasons 1 & 2 Collection (Blu-ray) (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)
Poupelle of Chimney Town (Blu-ray + DVD) (Shout! Factory)
Strawberry Mansion (Blu-ray & DVD) (Music Box Films)
JUNE 3
Sewer Gators (Blu-ray & DVD & VOD) (By the Horns)
DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, STREAMING or VOD
Father Stu (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)
Jurassic Tale (Lionsgate Home Entertainment)
JUNE 2
The Orville: New Horizons (Hulu)
JUNE 3
Double Threat (VMI Worldwide)
Fire Island (Hulu)
Now & Then: Episode3 (Apple TV+)
Physical: Season Two (Apple TV+)
Tehran: Season 2, Episode 6 (Apple TV+)
We Are the Thousand (Blue Fox Entertainment-Breaking Glass Pictures)
Wolf Hound (Lionsgate Home Entertainment)
I am a founding member of the Indiana Film Journalists Association. I review movies, 4K UHD, Blu-rays and DVDs for ReelBob (ReelBob.com), The Film Yap and other print and online publications. I can be reached by email at bobbloomjc@gmail.com. You also can follow me on Twitter @ReelBobBloom and on Facebook at ReelBob or the Indiana Film Journalists Association. My movie reviews also can be found at Rotten Tomatoes: www.rottentomatoes.com.