Writer/director Quentin Tarantino delivered one of the most influential films of the 1990s with the critically acclaimed contemporary classic Pulp Fiction, now about to be issued on 4K Ultra HD Digital, 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray, and in a Limited-Edition Collector’s SteelBook.
Winner of the Palme d’Or at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival, the film also won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Feature and the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. The film features a star-studded cast, including John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Uma Thurman, Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Amanda Plummer, Maria de Medeiros, Ving Rhames, Eric Stoltz, Rosanna Arquette, Christopher Walken and Bruce Willis.
The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray and Limited-Edition Collector’s SteelBook include the feature film in sparkling 4K Ultra HD, access to a Digital copy of the film, as well as the following legacy bonus content:
4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc
Not the Usual Mindless Boring Getting to Know You Chit Chat
Here are Some Facts on the Fiction
Enhanced Trivia Track (subtitle file)
Blu-ray Disc
Not the Usual Mindless Boring Getting to Know You Chit Chat
Here Are Some Facts on the Fiction
Pulp Fiction: The Facts – Documentary
Deleted Scenes
Behind the Scenes Montages
Production Design Featurette
Siskel & Ebert “At the Movies”- The Tarantino Generation
Independent Spirit Awards
Cannes Film Festival – Palme d’Or Acceptance Speech
STUDIO: Criterion | DIRECTOR: Stephen Frears | CAST: Terence Stamp, John Hurt, Tim Roth, Laura del Sol, Bill Hunter, Fernando Rey RELEASE DATE: 10/20/20 | PRICE:DVD $19.99, Blu-ray $27.99 BONUSES: Audio commentary from 2009 featuring director Stephen Frears, actors John Hurt and Tim Roth, screenwriter Peter Prince, and editor Mick Audsley; interview from 1988 with actor Terence Stamp from the television show “Parkinson One-to-One” SPECS: NR | 98 min. | Drama | 1:78 | mono
RATINGS (out of 5 dishes): Movie | Audio | Video | Overall
One of those hybrid films that satisfies on a number of different levels, The Hit is both a great gangster picture and a terrific road movie. Much can be said about the brilliance of the 1984 film’s construction, but all eyes are, as they should be, on the utterly sublime trio of leads.
The plot is the pretext for the road trip. Hitman Braddock (John Hurt, Alien) and his driver Myron (Tim Roth, Meantime) are to take Mob informant Willie Parker (Terence Stamp, The Adjustment Bureau) to their boss for execution, which entails a long drive across Spain to reach the French border. On the way, Willie reveals that he is not only resigned to his date with death but is philosophical about it. Braddock is businesslike but curiously complicates matters by dragging along the girlfriend (Laura del Sol) of a fellow crook (Bill Hunter).
The film moves deftly from drama to dark comedy and then to existential fable, all the while maintaining tension about when Braddock will shoot Willie. (It’s clear that he could kill him at any time and just return to the boss with proof of the hit.)
The desolate Spanish landscapes are intoxicating, as is the flamenco score by Paco de Lucia (with a theme song consisting of Anglo-guitar by Eric Clapton with Roger Waters). But the sure hand of director Stephen Frears (My Beautiful Launderette, Tamara Drewe) aided by scripter Peter Prince allows Stamp, Hurt, and Roth to do some beautifully nuanced work.
Terence Stamp, John Hurt and Tim Roth in The Hit.
The spotlight is on Stamp, whose character is not only resigned to his fate, but is looking forward to it. Hurt incarnates the calm, quiet hitman (whose bouts of unexpected leniency clash with other moments of raw cruelty). Roth, with a blond dye job, is the newcomer of the group, who tries to project certainty but has no idea what he’s in for.
The crisp restoration for Blu-ray highlights the pictorial beauty of the film, while two supplements included in the package offer the reflection of the participants.
A 1988 interview with Stamp on Michael Parkinson’s chat show finds the actor looking back on the time in the Seventies when he took a break from acting. The Hit receives only one cursory mention, but Stamp does offer memories about the glamour of “Swinging London” in the Sixties and his twin blessings at that time: a flourishing acting career and an affair with supermodel Jean Shrimpton.
Stamp discusses his mentor in film acting, Michael Caine, and his favorite director (Fellini), but the best story is most certainly a tale of Brando. In their only scene together in Superman, Stamp watched Brando trying to commit one line of dialogue to memory, so he could pivot around and then look at cue cards. (It took him quite a while.)
An audio commentary recorded in 2009 contains information and anecdotes from Frears, scripter Prince, film editor Mick Audsley, Hurt, and Roth. A key insight into the unusual tone of the film labels it a “good old-fashioned British movie” that is also “a European film” in its sensibility and the way in which the story is told.
Hurt reinforces the road movie element by describing it as a “travel movie” where “nobody knows where they’re going — they’re just going.”
Roth contributes the most interesting anecdotes, noting that he did the film at 22 years old and that the trip to Spain was the first time he’d been out of the U.K. He stresses that he, Stamp, and Hurt all had very different styles of acting but got along very well, and that costar Fernando Rey took him out for drinks. He also notes he wasn’t perfect for the role of Myron, as he couldn’t drive, and at one point in the filming nearly killed Hurt and Stamp when he lost control of the car.
But the biggest trivia nugget is that he was second choice for the role of Myron. It seems Joe Strummer was set to play the part, but the other members of the Clash forbade it. Joe then recommended “that skinhead actor” — Roth, who had recently starred as a bald rebel in Alan Clarke’s Made in Britain (1982).
Digital,Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: March 24, 2020 Price: DVD $17.99, Blu-ray $22.99 Studio: Sony
Tim Roth (Meantime) and Clive Owen (Croupier) star in The Song of Names, an emotional detective story spread over two continents and a half century. Beneath the film’s stunning and pulsing musical revelations burn the horror of a war and the lost souls extinguished from history.
That’s what the Sony Pictures Home Entertainment press release says. Some digging has revealed this plot description:
In Europe, during World War II, Martin, a nine-year-old boy, takes a liking to his new adopted brother, Dovidl. Dovidl is a miracle violin player of his age, and has just arrived in London as a refugee. After a few years, before giving a concert at age 21, Dovidl disappears without a trace, bringing shame and ruin to his adoptive family. Years later, when Martin is 56 years old, a young violinist shows a style that only Dovidl could have taught.
This period drama is directed by François Girard of The Red Violin fame, based on the novel by Norman Lebrecht.
Blu-ray Features:
Behind the Song of Names: Director François Girard and Producer Robert Lantos brought Norman Lebrecht’s acclaimed novel to life with the outstanding performances of Tim Roth and Clive Owen.
Howard Shore: Composing & Scoring:After two years of research, composer Howard Shore conducts and records the score for THE SONG OF NAMES in Montreal.
Howard Shore & Ray Chen:Composer Howard Shore chose virtuoso Ray Chen for the incredible violin playing heard in THE SONG OF NAMES.
The R-rated film zeroes in on the con-artist couple Harriet and Peter (Thurman and Roth), who are cooking up a jewel-theft scam in L.A. to pay off sexy gangster Irina (Maggie Q). Having squandered Irina’s loot one drunken night, Harriet and Peter escape to Hollywood, where they plot to steal a priceless jewel from Peter’s loopy ex-wife (Eve) to repay the debt.
The Con is On, which received a tiny platform release this past May (where it garnered a 0% rating at Rotten Tomatoes) is directed and co-written by James Haslam.
Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: Aug. 15, 2017 Price: DVD $17.49, Blu-ray $25.99 Studio: Criterion
A slow-burning depiction of economic degradation in Thatcher’s England, Mike Leigh’s (Another Year) 1984 black comedy-drama Meantime was the culmination of the writer-director’s pioneering work in television and became his breakthrough theatrical release.
Unemployment is rampant in London’s working-class East End, where a middle-aged couple and their two sons languish in a claustrophobic public housing flat. As the brothers (Quadrophenia‘s Phil Daniels and Tim Roth) grow increasingly disaffected, Leigh punctuates the grinding boredom of their daily existence with tense encounters, including with a priggish aunt (Marion Bailey) who has managed to become middle-class and a blithering skinhead on the verge of psychosis (a scene-stealing Gary Oldman, in his first major role).
Informed by Leigh’s now trademark improvisational process and propelled by the lurching rhythms of its Beckett-like dialogue, Meantime is an unrelenting, often blisteringly funny look at life on the dole.
Criterion’s editions of the movie feature the following:
* New, restored 2K digital transfer, supervised by cinematographer Roger Pratt and director Mike Leigh, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
* New conversation between Leigh and musician Jarvis Cocker
* New conversation between actor Marion Bailey and critic Amy Raphael
* An essay by film scholar Sean O’Sullivan
Robert Miller (Gere) is a New York hedge-fund magnate who appears to have it all: money, power, a loving wife (Sarandon), and a devoted daughter (Marling) working by his side. But behind the gilded wall of his mansion, Miller is running on borrowed time, trying to unload his crippled trading company before his frauds are revealed. A deadly error throws Miller’s seemingly perfect life into a tailspin, raising the suspicions of a detective (Roth) and threatening the future of his financial empire. As the line blurs between what is right and wrong, legal and criminal, Miller is driven to desperate measures to protect the only thing more precious than his considerable fortune: his family.
The feature film debut from writer/director Nicholas Jarecki, Arbitrage received a limited release to theaters in the U.S. in September, 2012 following its launch at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. Well-received by the critics (having earned a 7/10 rating at Rotten Tomatoes based on 106 published reviews), Arbitrage has earned some $6 million at the domestic box office since it’s U.S. premiere.
The DVD and Blu-ray editions of the R-rated Arbitrage contain the following bonus features:
Audio commentary with writer/director Nicholas Jarecki
“Who Is Robert Miller?” featurette
“A Glimpse Into Arbitrage” featurette
Deleted scenes with optional writer/director commentary
Blu-ray Release Date: Nov. 20, 2012 Price: Blu-ray $119.99 Studio: Lionsgate
Reservoir Dogs
It has been 20 years since Reservoir Dogs hit theaters and created a new sub-genre of talky crime movies, and the Tarantino XX: 8-Film Collection gathers all Quentin Tarantino’s films in one high-definition collection.
The 10-disc set boasts films Tarantino wrote as well as wrote and directed, with the exception of the crime-vampire hybrid From Dusk Till Dawn, which he wrote with Robert Rodriguez (Machete) directing.
The Tarantino XX set (get it? XX, 20 years) contains these Tarantino masterpieces:
Reservoir Dogs (1992)
True Romance (1993)
Pulp Fiction (1994)
Jackie Brown (1997)
Kill Bill Vol. 1 (2003)
Kill Bill Vol. 2 (2004)
Death Proof (2007, part of another Robert Rodriguez partnership, Grindhouse)
Inglourious Basterds (2009)
Tarantino wrote and directed all eight films, except True Romance, which was written by Tarantino with the late Tony Scott in the director’s seat.
Like many good filmmakers, Tarantino sticks with an actor when he likes one, and these movies showcase repeat performances by Uma Thurman (Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill), Samuel L. Jackson (Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown, Kill Bill), Tim Roth (Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction) and Steve Buscemi (Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction) and Brad Pitt (True Romance, Inglourious Basterds).
The Blu-ray set also contains two discs with special features, as well as the extras on the movie discs themselves, which have been on disc already. The new bonuses are:
“Critics Corner: The Films of Quentin Tarantino,” with critics discussing the impact of Tarantino’s movies on today’s writers and directors
“20 Years of Filmmaking,” with interviews from co-workers, critics, stars and master filmmakers, as well as a tribute to Tarantino’s greatest collaborator, Sally Menke, who edited all of Tarantino’s movies before she died in 2010.
Here are the rest of the special features in the collection, along with movie descriptions:
Reservoir Dogs
Quentin Tarantino’s directorial debut, nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival (1992) and awarded the International Critics Award at the Toronto International Film Festival (1992), features four perfect strangers who are assembled to pull off the perfect crime, but when a botched robbery reveals a police informant among them, their simple robbery explodes into a bloody ambush.
Blu-ray Special Features
Pulp Factoids Viewer
Playing It Fast and Loose
Profiling the Reservoir Dogs
True Romance Director’s Cut
Runaway lovers Clarence (Christian Slater, Playback) and Alabama (Patricia Arquette, TV’s Medium) play a dangerous game with a stolen suitcase containing $5 million worth of cocaine. They head for Los Angeles, where they’ll sell the goods and begin a new life, but both sides of the law have other ideas.
Blu-ray Special Features
Audio commentary by Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette
Audio commentary by Tony Scott
Audio commentary by Quentin Tarantino
Scene selective commentaries by Val Kilmer (Tombstone), Dennis Hopper (Blue Velvet), Brad Pitt and Michael Rapaport (The 6th Day)
Deleted/Extended Scenes with Optional Director Commentary
Alternate Ending with Optional Director and Writer Commentary
Original 1993 Mini-feature
Behind-the-Scenes Interactive Feature
Animated Photo Gallery
Theatrical Trailer
Pulp Fiction
A burger-loving hit man (John Travolta, From Paris With Love), his philosophical partner (Samuel L. Jackson), a drug-addled gangster’s moll (Uma Thurman) and a washed-up boxer (Bruce Willis, Moonrise Kingdom) converge in four tales of violence and redemption. The film won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and earned seven total nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director.
Blu-ray Special Features
Interviews with Cast
Critics’ Retrospective on the Movie’s Place in Film History
Behind-the-Scenes Footage
Pulp Fiction: The Facts
Production Design Feature
Siskel & Ebert At the Movies – The Tarantino Generation
Independent Spirit Awards Footage
Cannes Film Festival Footage
Charlie Rose – Tarantino Interview
Stills Galleries
Trivia Track
Deleted Scenes
Jackie Brown
Quentin Tarantino’s acclaimed adaptation of Elmore Leonard’s novel Rum Punch follows a cash-smuggling flight attendant (Pam Grier, Just Wright) who is busted by an ATF agent (Michael Keaton, The Other Guys) and a cop (Michael Bowen, TV’s Scoundrels). When pressured to help with their investigation, she agrees to do one last run for a ruthless arms dealer (Samuel L. Jackson). Mistrust and suspicions arise when Jackie plays the opposing forces against each other in an effort to walk away with the dough. Robert Forster (The Decendants) earned a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for his role as Max Cherry, a bail bondsman who falls for Jackie and becomes embroiled in the scheme.
Blu-ray Special Features
Breaking Down Jackie Brown
Jackie Brown: How It Went Down – Retrospective Interviews with Cast and Crew
A Look Back at Jackie Brown – Interview with Quentin Tarantino
Chicks with Guns Video
Siskel & Ebert At the Movies – Jackie Brown Review
Jackie Brown on MTV
Marketing Gallery
Stills Galleries
Trivia Track
Deleted and Alternate Scenes
Kill Bill Vol. 1
In the first volume of this gritty revenge saga, an assassin (Uma Thurman) is shot at the altar by her ruthless employer, Bill (David Carradine, The Long Riders), and other members of his Deadly Vipers Assassination Squad. The Bride sets out to bring justice to all those who wronged her, including a reformed suburban mother (Vivica A. Fox, Miss Nobody) and the Japanese Yakuza crime-lord (Lucy Liu, Charlie’s Angels).
Blu-ray Special Features
The Making of Kill Bill Vol. 1
The 5.6.7.8’s Bonus Musical Performances
Tarantino Trailers
Kill Bill Vol. 2
The murderous Bride continues her vengeance quest against her ex-boss, Bill and his two remaining associates: Bill’s degenerate younger brother (Michael Madsen, The Brazen Bull) and a vicious one-eyed swordswoman (Daryl Hannah, Blade Runner).
Blu-ray Special Features
The Making of Kill Bill Vol. 2
Damoe Deleted Scene
Chingon Musical Performance
Death Proof
Kurt Russell (Soldier) stars as a tough-talking, psychotic serial murderer who transforms his stunt car into an indestructible killing machine, then climbs behind the wheel to stalk and terrorize a group of women on the road. What he doesn’t realize is that he’s picked the wrong babes to mess with.
Blu-ray Special Features
Stunts on Wheels: The Legendary Drivers of Death Proof
Introducing Zoe Bell
Kurt Russell as Stuntman Mike
The Uncut Version of “Baby, It’s You” performed by Mary Elizabeth Winstead
Inglourious Basterds
A Jewish cinema owner in Nazi-occupied Paris is forced to host a movie premiere for the Third Reich, where a radical group of American soldiers, The Basterds, led by Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt), plan to roll out a score-settling scheme. The film won an Academy Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role (2009, Christoph Waltz, Carnage) and earned six other nominations, including Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay.
Blu-ray Special Features
Extended and Alternate Scenes
Roundtable Discussion with Quentin Tarantino, Brad Pitt and Elvis Mitchell
The Making of Nation’s Pride
A Conversation with Rod Taylor
Nation’s Pride – the film within the film* The Original Inglorious Bastards
Quentin Tarantino’s Camera Angel
Film Poster Gallery Tour
Rod Taylor on Victoria Bitter
Hi Sallys
Killin’ Nazis Trivia Challenge
Trailers
All these films have been on Blu-ray before.
The package includes fabulous artwork from Mondo artist Ken Taylor. Mondo creates limited edition posters for classic and contemporary films. Here’s what Taylor did for Tarantino. Nice!
Release Date: Oct. 4, 2011 Price: DVD $49.98 Studio: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
The mystery TV show Lie to Me, starring Tim Roth (Pulp Fiction), lasted only three seasons on Fox.
Roth plays psychologist Dr. Cal Lightman, who heads a team of experts who can interpret clues in people’s expressions to determine whether they’re telling the truth. They use these skills to help law enforcement, government agencies and private individuals.
The drama series also stars Kelli Williams (TV’s The Practice), Brendan Hines (TV’s Deep in the Valley), Monica Raymund, Hayley McFarland (TV’s United States of Tara), Mekhi Phifer (TV’s ER) and Jennifer Beals (Queen to Play).
In the third season, the team investigates a teen beauty pageant, a deadly coal mine explosion, a self-help cult leader and a seemingly heroic paramdedic, all while dealing with their own personal issues.
The Lie to Me: The Complete Third and Final Season DVD comes with special features.
The season is also available on video-on-demand.
Buy or Rent Lie to Me: The Complete Third and Final Season
Jackie Brown
Release Date: Oct. 4, 2011 Price: Blu-ray $19.99 Studio: Lionsgate
Pulp Fiction
Disc Dish is thrilled to see two of Quentin Tarantino’s most celebrated crime films from the 1990s, Pulp Fiction (1994) and Jackie Brown (1997), on Blu-ray.
Each has an all-star cast. In Pulp Fiction are John Travolta (Blow Out), Uma Thurman (Ceremony), Ving Rhames (Piranha), Samuel L. Jackson (Mother and Son), Tim Roth (TV’s Lie to Me), Eric Stoltz (TV’s Caprica), Bruce Willis (Red) and Rosanna Arquette (Repo Chick). And Jackie Brown features Pam Grier (Just Wright), Robert De Niro (Taxi Driver), Bridget Fonda (Point of No Return), Michael Keaton (The Other Guys) and Jackson.
Plus, of course, there’s that signature Tarantino dialog, the brilliant soundtracks, great directing and awesome editing.
The discs mark the movies’ high-definition debuts, remastered under the filmmaker’s supervision with new high definition lossless audio and 1080P video.
The Blu-ray versions contain new bonus materials that, according to Lionsgate’s press release, “delve into each film’s iconic status,” along with other special features that have appeared on previously released DVD editions. Among these extras are featurettes, interviews, deleted scenes, photo galleries and more.
Getting to the truth, and nothing but the truth, Fox TV show Lie to Me returned to DVD on Oct. 12, 2010, in a Season Two set priced at $59.98.
Starring Tim Roth (Pulp Fiction) as Dr. Cal Lightman, Lie to Me follows a team who specialize in interpreting people’s body and facial movements to see whether they’re lying. Lightman and his group use their unique talents to help the police, FBI and corporations to solve problems by getting to the truth.
Lie to Me also stars Kelli Williams (TV’s The Practice), Mekhi Phifer (TV’s ER) and Jennifer Beals (The Book of Eli).
Distributed by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, the DVD set includes all the episodes of the second season of Lie to Me, plus these special features:
deleted scenes
gag reel
“Dr. Ekman/Dr. Lightman Lie Detector Tutorial,” featuring Roth’s character and the show’s scientific advisor, Dr. Paul Ekman
“Eli Loker — An Honest Man,” featuring the character played by Brendan Hines
The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray and Limited-Edition Collector’s SteelBook include the feature film in sparkling 4K Ultra HD, access to a Digital copy of the film, as well as the following legacy bonus content:
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follows a cash-smuggling flight attendant (Pam Grier, 
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priced at $59.98.