The month of May’s home entertainment releases kick off in high gear with several fantastic classic genre titles making their way to high-def this week. Scream Factory is debuting a brand new Collector’s Edition Blu-ray for Mad Max and both Ladyhawke and Steven Spielberg’s Duel are both getting an upgraded release too. The recent horror flick, The Pyramid, is also making its way onto DVD and Blu, and Ryan Gosling’s directorial debut Lost River arrives on Tuesday as well.
Mad Max: Collector’s Edition (Scream Factory, Blu-ray)
Setting Mel Gibson on a sure path to superstardom, this highly acclaimed "crazy collide-o-scope", (Newsweek) of highway mayhem "cinematically defined the postapocalyptic landscape", (TV Guide). Featuring eye-popping stunts that are "electrifying and very convincing", (Variety) and "an authentically nihilistic spirit", (The Village Voice), this unforgettable actioner from director George Miller (The Road Warrior, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome and Mad Max: Fury Road) is "pure cinematic poetry", (Time).
In the ravaged near-future, a savage motorcycle gang rules the road. Terrorizing innocent civilians while tearing up the streets, the ruthless gang laughs in the face of a police force hell-bent on stopping them. But they underestimate one officer: Max (Gibson). And when the bikers brutalize Max’s best friend and family, they send him into a mad frenzy that leaves him with only one thing left in the world to live for: revenge! Also starring Joanne Samuel, Hugh Keays-Byrne (Mad Max: Fury Road) and Steve Bisley (The Great Gatsby, Red Hill), this rugged racecar of a film runs on "comic book volatility… exhilarating rowdiness and visual intensity", (The New York Times)!
Special features include NEW Interviews With Mel Gibson, Joanne Samuel And Director Of Photography David Eggby, Audio Commentary By Art Director Jon Dowding, Director Of Photography David Eggby, Special Effects Artist Chris Murray And Tim Ridge, Mel Gibson: The Birth Of A Superstar featurette, Mad Max: The Film Phenomenon featurette, Original Theatrical Trailers & TV Spots, Photo Galleries and also Contains Both the Original Australian English Audio and the US English Dubbed Audio.
Ladyhawke (Warner Archive Collection, Blu-ray)
Ladyhawke is the enchanting tale of a lady (Michelle Pfeiffer), a knight (Rutger Hauer) and a pickpocket known as the Mouse (Matthew Broderick). Once the knight and the lady were lovers. Now the curse of an evil bishop (John Wood) keeps them “always together, eternally apart.” By day she is a hawk, by night he is a wolf. To end the evil spell, the knight vows to break into the bishop’s stronghold. With help from the Mouse. Directed by Richard Donner and photographed by three-time Academy Award winner" Vittorio Storaro, Ladyhawke is “the most congenial spot for happy ever-aftering since Camelot” (Rita Kempley, The Washington Post).
Duel (Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Blu-ray)
In Steven Spielberg’s first full-length movie, Duel, a traveling salesman (Dennis Weaver) is harassed by a menacing 40-ton truck on a remote desert highway. Brilliant in its simplicity, the cult favorite takes road rage to a dangerous level as the traveler and the mysterious truck-driver are pitted against one another in a motorized duel to the death. Gripping with psychological tension, this desperate battle for survival is hailed by critics as a film that “belongs on the classics shelf reserved for top suspensers” (Daily Variety).
Special features include A Conversation with Director Steven Spielberg, Steven Spielberg and the Small Screen, Richard Matheson: The Writing of Duel, Photograph and Poster Gallery and Trailer.
ALSO AVAILABLE THIS WEEK:
Apparition (Revolver Entertainment, DVD)
The Demon (VCI Entertainment, DVD)
Dollman vs Demonic Toys (Full Moon Features, Blu-ray)
Lost River (Warner Home Video, Blu/Digital HD & DVD/Digital HD)
Mansion of the Doomed (Full Moon Features, DVD)
The Pyramid (20th Century Fox, Blu-ray & DVD)
Road Wars (Asylum/Gaiam, DVD)
The Terminator (MGM Video & DVD, Blu-ray)
Heather A. Wixson was born and raised in the Chicago suburbs, until she followed her dreams and moved to Los Angeles in 2009. A 14-year veteran in the world of horror entertainment journalism, Wixson fell in love with genre films at a very early age, and has spent more than a decade as a writer and supporter of preserving the history of horror and science fiction cinema. Throughout her career, Wixson has contributed to several notable websites, including Fangoria, Dread Central, Terror Tube, and FEARnet, and she currently serves as the Managing Editor for Daily Dead, which has been her home since 2013. She's also written for both Fangoria Magazine & ReMind Magazine, and her latest book project, Monsters, Makeup & Effects: Volume One will be released on October 20, 2021.
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