Pretty slow week for Blu-Ray releases, but the show must go on! Here are the highlights,

Ben-Hur

William Wyler’s monumental epic Ben-Hur arrives on Blu-Ray in an exhaustive Ultimate Collector’s Edition featuring, “a newly minted frame-by-frame restoration created from the original 65mm camera negative at a resolution of 6K; effectively achieving six times the resolution of the previous DVD release,” and possibly the most fascinating of new extras, Charlton Heston & Ben-Hur: A Personal Journey, which is a brand new feature length documentary following Charlton Heston’s work and personal life during the filming.

Warner Brothers. is also including a large amount of print extras (much like their other Ultimate Collector’s Edition’s), one of which being Charlton Heston: The Ben-Hur Diaries. This is an exclusive book featuring reproductions of Heston’s own diary entries and documents from before Ben-Hur started filming to his own Oscar win.

Finally Warner Brothers. is also bringing over the special features from previous DVD releases, including:

• Ben-Hur, A Journey Through Pictures: An audiovisual re-creation assembled using stills, storyboards, sketches, music, dialogue and other archive materials
• Ben Hur: The 1925 Silent Film
• 2005 Documentary, Ben-Hur: The Epic That Changed Cinema
• 1994 Documentary, Ben-Hur: The Making of an Epic
• Original Screen Tests
• Vintage Newsreel Gallery
• Highlights from the 4/4/60 Academy Awards Ceremony
• Theatrical Trailer Gallery

Buy it from Amazon.ca http://www.amazon.ca/Ben-Hur-Anniversary-Ultimate-Collectors-Blu-ray/dp/B0054RFUTU/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1317139950&sr=1-1

Buy it from Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/Ben-Hur-Anniversary-Ultimate-Collectors-Blu-ray/dp/B0013MYB9K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1317140037&sr=8-1

Mimic

A 1997 Guillermo Del Toro flick about a laboratory created insect initially created to destroy an epidemic, which has now targeted its own creators, mankind! Oh snap!

The Blu-Ray edition of Mimic is as close to a director’s cut as we’ll get, with seven minutes of additional footage. The release also features plenty of new special features including:

• Introduction and Audio Commentary from Director Guillermo del Toro
• Reclaiming Mimic- Featurette with Del Toro discussing his vision for the film and how he completed the new version.
• A Leap in Evolution: The Creatures of Mimic- Featurette looking at the creatures in Mimic
• Back into the Tunnels: Shooting Mimic- Behind the scenes featurette.
• Deleted/Alternate Scenes
• Outtakes
• Gag Reel
• Storyboard Animatics
• Theatrical Trailer

Buy it from Amazon.ca http://www.amazon.ca/Mimic-Blu-ray/dp/B005BQTUVI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1317141170&sr=8-1

Buy it from Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/Mimic-Directors-Blu-ray-Digital-Copy/dp/B005BQTUVI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1317141219&sr=8-1

Carlos (Criterion Collection)

Coming from the Criterion Collection is the full five-and-a-half version of the French television mini series about the terrorist Carlos “The Jackal,” who is famous (amongst other things) for his 1975 raid on OPEC headquarters in Vienna.

In addition to including the entire version of the mini-series (a condensed theatrical edition was created as well), the Blu-Ray also includes:

• New digital transfer, supervised and approved by directors of photography Denis Lenoir and Yorick Le Saux, with DTS-HD Master Audio.
• New video interviews with director Olivier Assayas, Lenoir, Le Saux, and actor Édgar Ramírez.
• Twenty-minute making-of documentary on the film’s OPEC raid scene.
• Original theatrical trailer
• Booklet featuring essays by critics Colin MacCabe and Greil Marcus, plus biographies on selected historical figures portrayed in the film, written by the film’s historical adviser, Stephen Smith.

Buy it from Amazon.ca http://www.amazon.ca/Criterion-Collection-Carlos-Blu-ray/dp/B0056ANHP4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1317142032&sr=8-1

Buy it from Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/Carlos-Criterion-Collection-Blu-ray-Ramirez/dp/B0056ANHP4/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1317142202&sr=8-2

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