Via Vision’s Imprint label continues to release a superb array of limited-edition titles, with their on-going (and now genre-spanning) “Tales of Adventure” box-sets going the sci-fi route for the first time with TALES OF ADVENTURE: COLLECTION 5. This five-movie anthology hits squarely within the realm of mid ‘50s outer-space flicks, with both studio and lower-budgeted affairs included for good measure.

Universal’s big color sci-fi spectacular of the mid ‘50s, THIS ISLAND EARTH (86 mins., 1955), will be the most familiar for aficionados here – a memorable genre trip with its giant bug-eyed creature serving as an iconic image of the era. Imprint’s Blu-Ray includes both 1.33 and 1.85 aspect ratios plus the original mono sound, though it does not offer the 4K remaster Shout previously released or the original “Perspecta” stereo sound which the 3-D Film Archive restored for that edition. Included is a new commentary by podcaster/Youtuber Heath Holland and the “Trailers From Hell” segment featuring Joe Dante.

Paired together on a single disc are a pair of compelling, if little-seen, Columbia productions from the era: THE 27TH DAY (76 mins., 1957) offers “War of the Worlds” star Gene Barry in the story of an alien that challenges the human race not to use a series of capsules for 27 days (1.78 B&W, 2.0 PCM mono) while THE NIGHT THE WORLD EXPLODED! (64 mins., 1957) plays like the other half of its drive-in double-bill, sporting a more grounded story of scientists who produce a device that can predict an earthquake striking within 24 hours (1.78 B&W, 2.0 PCM mono). Neither film includes supplements.

Hugh McDermott and Roger Corman fave Hazel Court star in the memorably-titled DEVIL GIRL FROM MARS (77 mins., 1954), an entertaining affair about a Martian woman (Patricia Laffan) who heads to Earth in an effort to find a breeding mate since men are losing the Red Planet’s Battle for the Sexes. This British production was shot at Shepperton Studios and offers an enjoyable alteration of the typical sci-fi formula being utilized in the USA around that time; certainly its extras are by far the most substantive and enjoyable on this set also. Kim Newman and Barry Forshaw’s commentary is highly amusing, with other extras including a Newman interview, talk with writer Jon Towlson, and another commentary with Phillipa Barry. The Studio Canal restoration (1.37 B&W, PCM mono) is also top notch.

Last but not least is another Columbia licensed title, THE GAMMA PEOPLE (79 mins., 1956), the story of a reporter (Paul Douglas) who latches onto an explosive story when he finds out an Iron Curtain dictator has used gamma rays to create brainwashed henchmen. The 1080p (1.78 B&W, PCM mono) transfer on this B-effort is fine and the Columbia-produced, Eastmancolor-shot film “The Underwater City” (78 mins., 1962) is provided as a standard-def bonus, capping this latest “Tales Of Adventure” box.

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Warner Archive New Releases

ELIZABETH TAYLOR 4-FILM COLLECTION Blu-Ray (Warner): Kicking off the latest Warner Archive releases are a pair of affordably-priced, four-movie sets featuring Elizabeth Taylor and Gary Cooper, respectively, each comprised of previously-released (individual) Archive releases. The ELIZABETH TAYLOR package is the most agreeable of the lot, representing Taylor from her MGM stardom to challenging later ‘60s roles and the height of her on-screen (and off-screen) collaboration with Richard Burton.

FATHER OF THE BRIDE (93 mins., 1950) offers Taylor as the Bride with Spencer Tracy as dear o’l Father, who finds out the process of modern-day marriage (circa 1950) isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. This irresistible comedy, directed by Vincente Minnelli and scripted by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett, boasts charming performances from Tracy, Taylor and Joan Bennett (as the family matriarch) in a perfect slice of MGM studio gloss. In addition to a crisp 1080p (1.37) B&W transfer, Warner’s Blu boasts 2.0 DTS MA mono audio and a pair of archival newsreels.

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “Babylon Revisited” was adapted by MGM and director Richard Brooks as THE LAST TIME I SAW PARIS (116 mins., 1954), a glossy soaper with a great cast, led by Taylor as the sister who weds an American serviceman (Van Johnson) in post-WWII Paris. Donna Reed is “the other sister” with Eva Gabor and Walter Pidgeon co-starring along with a young Roger Moore. Another sparkling Archive remaster (1.75, mono) awaits viewers here with extras including the trailer and a Tom & Jerry cartoon “Touche Pussycat.”

A far different Taylor vehicle is on-hand in the daring 1966 filming of WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? (131 mins.), a searing adaptation of Edward Albee’s play from writer-producer Ernest Lehman. Under the direction of Mike Nichols, Taylor and then-husband Richard Burton give stellar performances as the drunken, broken couple who air out their dirty laundry – and then some – in front of a younger couple, played by Sandy Dennis (who, like Taylor, won an Oscar) and George Segal. An important, groundbreaking film that aided in the dissolution of the Hays Code, “Virginia Woolf” has been packaged in a superb Warner Archive Blu-Ray with extras from its prior DVD Special Edition: commentaries from Nichols and Steven Soderbergh, plus another track featuring cinematographer Haskell Wexler; featurettes, screen tests, vintage clips and more. The 1080p (1.85) transfer and DTS MA mono sound are both exemplary, with Wexler’s B&W cinematography benefitting from a high bit-rate.

Author Carson McCullers’ works didn’t really translate to the screen, with “The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter” remembered today primarily for Dave Grusin’s heartfelt score and REFLECTIONS IN A GOLDEN EYE (109 mins., 1967) having served as a footnote in the careers of Brando, co-star Elizabeth Taylor and director John Huston for many years since its 1967 release.

Warner Archive’s two-disc Blu-Ray edition may help rectify that, at least partially, as this sordid tale of repressed sexuality in the deep south offers some bonkers moments and over-the-top performances from its stars — not to mention a bizarre, gold-tinted color scheme which Huston insisted upon. Warner-Seven Arts, however, felt differently at the time, and the movie went into general release with its original Technicolor hues intact.

Huston’s “golden” visual intentions are included in this Archive Blu-Ray, though one may grow tired eventually of the bland visuals. Warner has also included the full color version on a separate disc, allowing viewers to choose whichever color scheme they desire. Both transfers look superb in these high bit-rate AVC encoded (2.35) transfers, while on the supplemental side, some 20 minutes of extensive, silent black-and-white behind the scenes footage is available. The clear DTS MA mono sound offers an eclectic, not altogether satisfying score by Toshiro Mayuzumi.

GARY COOPER: 4-FILM COLLECTION presents a quartet of Cooper classics: or at least a pair of them, highlighted by Warner Archive’s sterling release of “Sergeant York.”

Golden Age fans widely acclaimed that SERGEANT YORK (134 mins., 1941) restoration, which first premiered in a 2020 Archive Blu-Ray. Howard Hawks’ classic needs little introduction as this stirring slice of patriotic big-screen Hollywood – based on the life of Tennessee farmer Alvin York, who became a WWI hero – earned Gary Cooper his first Best Actor Oscar and served as a motivator for legions of Americans who enlisted in WWII thereafter. Warner Archive’s detailed, vividly rendered 1080p (1.37) transfer is superlative with extras including a Making Of, “Porky’s Preview” classic WB cartoon, the short “Lions For Sale,” and Jeanine Basinger’s academic commentary. The DTS MA mono sound does justice to Max Steiner’s score.

THE HANGING TREE Blu-Ray (107 mins., 1959): Interestingly if not completely successful late ‘50s western offers Gary Cooper as a doctor who settles into practice near a Montana gold camp, where he counters types ranging from a shady miner (Karl Malden) to an overzealous preacher (George C. Scott), as well as an immigrant (Maria Schell) blinded in a stagecoach accident. There’s also the issue of Cooper’s own past which comes into play in this Wendell Mayes-Halsted Welles script, effectively directed by Delmer Daves but trapped somewhere between the traditional studio films that preceded it and the more explicit genre exercises that followed. Max Steiner’s score and some lovely cinematography help, not to mention the performances, with Scott hysterically chewing up the scenery and character actor Ben Piazza in an impressive “introductory” role. Warner’s Archive Blu-Ray offers a sterling 1080p (1.78) color transfer and 2.0 DTS MA mono sound.

The package is rounded out with Blu-Rays of Cooper’s 1957 teaming with Audrey Hepburn in Billy Wilder’s disappointing LOVE IN THE AFTERNOON (130 mins., 1957), as well as FRIENDLY PERSUASION (137 mins., 1956), William Wyler’s classic about an Indiana Quaker family in the Civil War, which is debuting on Blu-Ray for the first time (and is also available individually, as are all the films in these sets). This moving and sensitive drama, adapted by Michael Wilson from Jessamyn West’s book, follows family man Cooper as he tries to maintain his religious values in a time of war; Warner’s Blu-Ray sports a beautiful 1080p (1.85, 2.0 mono) transfer and clear mono sound representing Dimitri Tiomkin’s memorable score. Special features are limited to a vintage NBC promotional segment with Dave Garroway and the trailer.

Also new from Warner Archive: Over 12 minutes of footage, cut before the film went into general release, has been restored to RHAPSODY IN BLUE (161 mins., 1945), Warner Bros.’ lavish biopic – largely fictional in nature – of composer George Gershwin. All the pertinent Gershwin tunes make their way into the film, with Robert Alda playing opposite Herbert Ridley (as his brother Ira), Joan Leslie, Alexis Smith and a who’s who of Gershwin collaborators including Oscar Levant, George White, Anne Brown and Al Jolson himself. An entertaining studio concoction with Warner Archive’s Blu-Ray (1.37 B&W, 2.0 DTS MA mono) also including a long-lost overture which only played in NY and Hollywood premiere showings.

Ricardo Montalban stars in John Sturges’ directorial outing MYSTERY STREET (93 mins., 1950), a compelling mystery with Montalban a Cape Cod detective (!) who needs the help of a Harvard forsenic criminologist (Bruce Bennett) in order to catch a killer. The setting is a little unusual for the genre and the plot plays out like CSI’s great-great-grandfather, with Montalaban foreceful, and effective, in the lead. Warner Archive’s remastered Blu-Ray (1.37 B&W, mono) boasts a commentary from Alain Silver and Elizabeth Ward, the featurette “Murder at Havard,” two classic MGM cartoons and the trailer.

Robert Taylor, Robert Young and Franchot Tone essay a trio of German soldiers who open a repair shop post WWI in THREE COMRADES (98 mins., 1938), an MGM production adapting Erich Maria Remarque’s book that became noteworthy for being one of the few screenwriting credits of F. Scott Fitzgerald (who shared credit with Edward Paramore). Margaret Sullavan is the dying girl who touches them all in a well-regarded tragic love story from the late ‘30s, presented on Blu-Ray in another superb looking Warner Archive remaster (1.37 B&W, 2.0 DTS MA mono) with two bonus MGM shorts and the trailer included for good measure.

The classic Looney Tunes vault has been reopened once again for LOONEY TUNES COLLECTOR’S VAULT: VOLUME 1, a double-disc compilation of fan-requested titles that’s due out on June 17^th.

Disc 1 offers 25 shorts unavailable on DVD and Blu-Ray previously: Bars and Stripes Forever, Beauty and the Beast, A Day at the Zoo, The Dixie Fryer, Double or Mutton, Each Dawn I Crow, Easy Peckin’s, Feather Dusted, A Fox in a Fix, Good Night Elmer, The Goofy Gophers, I’d Love to Take Orders From You, A Kiddies Kitty, Let It Be Me, Of Fox and Hounds, Quackodile Tears, Randy Wollen & Able, Robin Hood Makes Good, The Squakin’ Hawk, Terrier-Stricken, Tweet and Lovely, Tweety’s Circus, Two’s a Crowd, Wild About Hurry and Zip n’Short.

Disc 2 rolls out shorts making their Blu-Ray (HD) premieres: Aint She Tweet, Banty Raids, Birth of a Nation, Bye Bye Bluebeard, Cat-Tails For Two, Daffy Dilly, Daffy Duck & Egghead, Gee Whiz-z-z-z-z, Gonzales’ Tomales, Hare Conditioned, Hare Trigger, Hare Trimmed, Horton Hatches The Egg, Little Boy Boo, Much Ado About Nothing, Odor-able Kitty, Past Performance, Porky’s Duck Hunt, Rabbit Punch, Red Riding Hoodwinked, Rhapsody Rabbit, Show Business, Tom Tuck & Daffy, Two Crows From Tacos, and Zoom and Bored.

The HD remastered transfers (1.37, DTS MA mono) are all top-notch, all in color with a single B&W short (“Porky’s Duck Hunt”) the sole exception.

LEAN ON ME Blu-Ray (109 mins., 1989, PG-13; Warner): One of a handful of late ‘80s/early ‘90s films where tough school principals crack down on crime and other elements in their underperforming, urban-set classrooms, “Lean On Me” was one of the best of the lot. Certainly it’s one of the more entertaining, providing Morgan Freeman a showcase playing larger-than-life New Jersey principal Joe Clark, whose unorthodox – and unbending – methods of cleaning up Paterson, NJ’s Eastdale High generated national headlines. How effective Clark actually was is open for debate – the school ended up struggling as much once he left as it was seemingly when he got there – but his attempts to provide every kid an opportunity to learn, and drive crime and drugs out of the classroom, was certainly admirable if nothing else.

Director John G. Avildsen brings an appropriately “Rocky”-esque “rising up” type of tone to this WB Spring ‘89 release, with Michael Schiffer’s script incorporating a few moving moments (Clark visiting the single mother of one of his stronger students) to counterbalance some of the material’s more theatrical passages – like a shouting match between Clark and the district superintendent (Robert Guillaume). Yet it’s Freeman’s standout performance that remains a compelling reason to watch “Lean On Me” – that, and another spectacularly detailed Warner Archive remaster (1.85, 2.0 DTS MA), just released on disc.

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Also New & Noteworthy

Carol Reed’s filming of Lionel Bart’s musical OLIVER! (153 mins., 1968, G; Sony) is one of the best stage-to-screen adaptations of all-time: a faithful, emotional and well-acted filming with outstanding cinematography by Oswald Morris and production design by John Box. Mark Lester makes for an ideal Oliver with Ron Moody recreating his award-winning stage performance as Fagin, Harry Secombe as Mr. Bumble and Oliver Reed as Bill Sikes. While it’s certainly not the grittiest Dickens ever committed to film, as a musical, “Oliver!” works extremely well and Reed’s direction captures what made the original production such a smash on both sides of the Atlantic.

“Oliver” was previously released in one of Sony’s “Columbia Classics” limited-edition UHD box sets, and this month makes its debut as a standalone 4K UHD title, complete with original theatrical artwork adorning its slipcover. The 4K remaster (2.35) is just outstanding here, as Sony’s restorations typically are, with Dolby Vision HDR enhancing Oswald Morris’ beautifully atmospheric scope cinematography. A full array of sound options are also included: a new Dolby Atmos mix plus previously available 5.1 DTS MA and two-channel, original 2.0 stereo tracks. Extras include Steven C. Smith’s commentary plus Jack Wild’s screen test, archival featurettes, the Blu-Ray and a Digital HD copy.

BLACK BAG 4K UHD/Blu-Ray (94 mins., 2025, R; Universal): David Koepp-written spy thriller pits Michael Fassbender’s intelligence agent against his wife and fellow spook Cate Blanchett after she’s accused of treason; alas, all is not what it seems in director Steven Soderbergh’s movie, one which was aimed at the flailing theatrical marketplace for “adult movies” but came up snake eyes in terms of finding an audience. Perhaps it’s no surprise since this talky, plodding affair manages to be slow-going – even with an abbreviated 94-minute run time! Universal’s UHD does offer a superior HDR10 experience (2.39, 5.1 Dolby TrueHD) in 4K compared to the standard Blu-Ray, which is also included here, along with two featurettes, deleted scenes, and a Digital HD copy.

BRIDGET JONES: MAD ABOUT THE BOY Blu-Ray (125 mins., 2025, R; Universal): Fourth (and maybe final?) go-around for Helen Fielding’s harried heroine bypassed a U.S. theatrical window, perhaps no surprise with each of its two immediate predecessors playing to diminishing domestic box-office returns. Here, Renee Zellweger’s heroine has become a widow who’s lost her beloved (Colin Firth) and tries to move forward with a new man (Chiwetel Ejofor) while raising two older kids. Fielding co-wrote the script for “Mad About the Boy” with Dan Mazer and Abi Morgan, which is a little less hectic than the previous three series entries but perhaps too much so – director Michael Morris’ film suffers from slack pacing (with an excessive run time) and a lack of energy compared to its predecessors. Fans still should enjoy it, I’d imagine, with Universal’s Blu-Ray (2.39, 7.1 Dolby TrueHD) offering deleted scenes, three featurettes and a Digital HD copy.

OUTLANDER: The Complete Seventh Season Blu-Ray (933 mins., 2023-2025; Sony): Sprawling seventh season of “Outlander” aired in separate parts on Starz but has been collected into one release from Sony. This time out the series turns its attention to the American Revolution with Jamie, Claire and the Fraser family caught up in the battle for Independence, leading them out of their North Carolina home and into the fray with the British. Exceptional production values and capable performances continue to work with a welcome new historical era in this latest go-round for “Outlander,” and Sony’s Blu-Ray once again features superb 1080p (1.78) transfers with 5.1 DTS MA sound, a Digital HD code, deleted scenes and a blooper reel.

NEXT TIME: MURDER, SHE WROTE and more TV on Disc! Until then, don’t forget to drop in on the official Aisle Seat Message Boards and direct any emails to our email address. Cheers everyone!