Columbia Pictures Celebrates Its Birthday With New 4K Brando, Scorsese, ‘King’s Men,’ And ‘Little Women’
by David Lewis
Columbia Pictures continues to celebrate its centennial with the release of a fifth volume in the 4K UHD Blu-ray series
from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. This latest entry features six films from the Columbia PictureslLibrary, all making their 4K debut.
The limited edition set includes an 80-page hardbound book and deluxe packaging, and will be available on October 1st. Here’s what you’ll get:
1949 Best Picture winner All the King’s Men is based on Robert Penn Warren‘s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, and stars Oscar-winner Broderick Crawford as a stubborn, idealistic Southern lawyer caught up in a world of political corruption. All the King’s Men is presented in 4K resolution with Dolby Vision in Mono DTS-HD Master Audio sound. The extras include a new audio commentary with film historians Julie Kirgo and Peter Hankoff, a making of featurette, and the theatrical trailer.
Elia Kazan‘s On the Waterfront, which earned a Best Picture Oscar in 1954, stars Marlon Brando in one of his many iconic performances as a boxer-turned-longshoreman who’s torn between loyalty to his mob enforcer brother (Rod Steiger) and standing up against labor corruption. The film has been restored from the original camera negative in 4K resolution with Dolby Vision. Bonus features include two new featurettes, an audio commentary with experts Richard Schickel and Jeff Young, vintage interviews with Kazan, co-star Eva Marie Saint, super fan Martin Scorsese, and more.
A Man For All Seasons, the Best Picture winner for 1966, features Paul Scofield as Thomas More, who goes head-to-head with King Henry VIII (Robert Shaw) when the latter decides to turn his back on Catholic doctrine and get a divorce. Restored from the original camera negative in 4K resolution with Dolby Vision, the Blu-ray includes an audio commentary featuring Lem Dobbs, Julie Kirgo, and Nick Redman, a new featurette exploring the film’s moral conundrums with real-life Bishop Robert Barron, and more.
Merely nominated for Best Picture, 1982’s Tootsie stars Dustin Hoffman as a struggling actor who dresses as a woman in order to land a juicy role on the stage. Problems ensue. The stellar supporting cast includes Jessica Lange, Teri Garr, Dabney Coleman, Charles Durning, Bill Murray, and Geena Davis. Presented in 4K resolution with Dolby Vision, restored from the original camera negative, the disc includes a new commentary, a three-part documentary, nine deleted scenes, screen tests, and more.
Scorsese takes on Edith Wharton’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about a 19th Century love triangle in New York City. The Age of Innocence stars Daniel Day-Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Winona Ryder. The 4K restoration and High Dynamic Range and Dolby Atmos audio were approved by editor Thelma Schoonmaker. Extras include interviews with Scorsese and co-writer Jay Cocks, the original 1993 making-of doc, and more.
Before Barbie, writer-director Greta Gerwig gave us the Oscar-nominated 2019 adaptation of Louisa May Alcott‘s Little Women, starring Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Timothée Chalamet, Laura Dern, and Meryl Streep. On the new 4K disc, Gerwig also contributes a new audio commentary alongside Ronan. Other extras include featurettes, interviews, make-up tests, and more.
