July is a stacked month for new steelbooks and 4K releases, because film studios don’t take a summer holiday. And let’s be honest, who needs a beach when you can stay at home and escape the heatwave with a movie marathon or binge watch of your choice?
As always, we must give you the disclaimer that all release dates are subject to change, and to head over to our site for the most up-to-date listings. However, at the time of writing, this is what we’re anticipating arriving in July, and this is your week-by-week guide to the hottest launches.
Monday, 7th July
The three steelbooks released this week couldn’t be more different. There are post-apocalyptic thrills with the first season of Fallout, gross-out slasher horror with Terrifier 3, and endlessly quotable gags with the 30th anniversary Clueless collector’s edition.
From Arrow Video, there’s cult action with Narc and low-budget vampire schlock with the Count Yorga Collection – as well as the standard edition 4K of Deep Blue Sea. Also making their 4K debuts this week are two 2007 bangers, Zodiac and Sweeney Todd, and the Criterion Collection remaster of The Beatles’ energetic comedy A Hard Day’s Night.
Diving deeper into a world of cult cinema, 101 Films have a limited-edition Blu-ray of the 1970s mannequin horror Tourist Trap, Shameless Screen Entertainment have the genre-subverting political giallo What Have They Done To Your Daughters?, and 88 Films have a range of sexploitation films with titles such as Tokyo Emmanuelle and Sex Rider Wet Highway.
For some actual fun the whole family can enjoy, there’s a limited collector’s edition of Thunderbirds Super Space Theatre, a three-disc selection of the feature-length adventures that helped introduce the series to a new generation.
Monday, 14th July
A quieter week for new releases, but one that still has a major new 4K steelbook in the shape of Brad Pitt’s WWII drama Fury, which recently celebrated its 10th anniversary. Also coming to 4K are Hammer StudiosQuatermass 2, and the BFI’s remaster of Ken Russell’s Oscar-winning melodrama Women in Love.
Arriving on Blu-ray this week, the BFI have British indie classic Bhaji On The Beach, Arrow have the riotous home invasion thriller Crumb Catcher, Criterion have the Billy Wilder-scripted screwball comedy Midnight, and 88 Films have Woody Allen’s Best Picture winner Annie Hall.
Monday, 21st July
Three new Arrow titles lead this week’s releases; 4K remasters of 80s horror comedy The Stuff and Sylvester Stallone action classic Cobra, and the Nordic Noir thriller Nightwatch. Also in 4K, Akira Kurosawa’s lavish King Lear adaptation Ran – from Vintage World Classics – and the 90s rave culture comedy Human Traffic, which has been remastered by the BFI.
If you want to see what all the fuss is about with Crunchyroll’s acclaimed animeSolo Levelling, the limited-edition boxset of season one arrives this week, with more vintage anime thrills courtesy of the two-disc collector’s edition of Bubblegum Crisis. From there, there’s a stacked selection of new Indicator and Radiance releases.
The former label is offering a range of films including the psychological backstage theatre drama The Dresser – starring Oscar-nominated Albert Finney and Tom Courtenay – and the classic Taming Of The Shrew adaptation with Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor.
Radiance has venomous social satire from The Beast To Die and Life Is Cheap... But Toilet Paper Is Expensive, a hand-picked selection of Polish animation, and so much more.
Monday, 28th July
This week’s steelbook releases include a 50th anniversary edition of Jaws, the underrated Alfred Hitchcock classic To Catch a Thief, and the delightfully silly Stallone arm-wrestling adventure Over The Top. It’s not all 4K in terms of the week’s most prestigious rereleases either; John Carpenter’s Escape From New York is returning to our screens via a limited-edition VHS run!
Back to Ultra HD for a moment though, and this week’s other 4K titles include Criterion’s remaster of William Friedkin’s Sorcerer – maybe the most intense thriller ever made? - Arrow’s new limited-edition set of giallo classic Zombie Flesh Eaters, and a Collector’s Edition of the notorious Apocalypse Now documentary Hearts Of Darkness.
Rounding out the week (and the month!) are Second Sight’s limited-edition physical release of Argentinian ghost story When Evil Lurks, 88 Films Deluxe Collector’s Edition Blu-rays of American Pie: The Wedding and all the spin-offs, and Second Run’s three-disc set of short films by pioneering Hungarian director Zoltán Huszárik. Something for everyone!
