Kino Lorber June - 1492, Hell in the Pacific, Pink Panther Sequels

[AndyDursin]

Excellent roster for buffs:

New York, NY -- May 8, 2017 -- Kino Lorber Studio Classics proudly announces its home video releases for June 2017.

Streeting on Blu-ray and DVD June 6th is Ridley Scott's 1492 Conquest of Paradise (1992), which tells the epic story of Christopher Columbus' voyage to the New World, starring Gerard Depardieu and Sigourney Weaver. This edition features audio commentary by film historians Howard S. Berger and Nathaniel Thompson, and includes deleted scenes.

Streeting on DVD June 13th are Brannigan (1975), starring John Wayne as a Chicago policeman sent to London to bring back a crime boss; Sam Peckinpah's action-packed Western classic Bring Me The Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974), featuring audio commentary by film historians Paul Seydor, Garner Simmons, David Wedlle and Nick Redman; the action thriller Runaway Train (1985) starring Jon Voight and Eric Roberts; the Charles Bronson Western From Noon Till Three (1976); and the Hammer classic The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959), starring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee (which also includes a special featurette with Christopher Lee).

Hal Ashby's 8 Million Ways to Die (1986) starring Jeff Bridges and Rosanna Arquette streets on Blu-ray and DVD June 20th, with special features including an interview with star Andy Garcia, an interview with star Rosanna Arquette, an interview with star Alexandra Paul, an interview with writer Lawrence Block, and audio commentary by film historians Howard S. Berger and Nathaniel Thompson.

The complete series of Larry Cohen's TV espionage thriller Coronet Blue (1967) street on DVD June 20th. This series, which starred Frank Converse and Joe Silver, and featured guest stars such as Candice Bergen, David Carradine, Roy Scheider, Jon Voight, and Billy Dee Williams, comes in a four-disc set featuring an interview with show creator Larry Cohen.

Also streeting June 20th is a 2-disc double feature set of the 1960s animated adventure classics Thunderbirds Are Go! (1966) and Thunderbird 6 (1968) on Blu-ray and DVD. Special features on Thunderbirds Are Go! include audio commentary with producer Sylvia Andersion and director David Lane, audio commentary by film historians Jeff Bond and Nick Redman, "History and Appeal" Featurette, "Factory of Dolls and Rockets" Featurette, "Epics in Miniature" Featurette, and the theatrical trailer. Special features on Thunderbird 6 include audio commentary with producer Sylvia Andersion and director David Lane, audio commentary by filmmaker Greg Ford and cartoon writer William Hohauser, "Lady Penelope" Featurette, "Building Better Puppets" Featurette, "Tiger Moth" Featurette, and the theatrical trailer.

On June 27th, Blake Edwards' Curse of the Pink Panther (1983), starring Ted Wass, David Niven and Robert Wagner, including an interview with Ted Wass as a bonus feature; and Son of the Pink Panther (1993), starring Roberto Benigni, with special features including audio commentary by Jason Simos of the Peter Sellers Appreciation Society, two deleted scenes, a making-of featurette, and the extended alternate trailer, will both become available on Blu-ray, along with Inspector Clouseau (1968), directed by Bud Yorkin and starring Alan Arkin in the title role, with audio commentary by film historian William Patrick Maynard as a bonus feature.

Also streeting on Blu-ray and DVD June 27th are the sci-fi musical The Apple (1980), with special features including audio commentary by star Catherine Mary Stewart, moderated by film historian Nathaniel Thompson, an on-camera interview with star Catherine Mary Stewart, deleted scene still gallery, and the original theatrical trailer; and John Boorman's adventure classic Hell in the Pacific (1968), starring Lee Marvin and Toshiro Mifune, with special features including an interview with director John Boorman, an alternate ending, audio commentary by film historians Travis Crawford and Bill Ackerman, and an interview with art director Anthony Pratt.

[Paul MacLean]

I don't suppose the Hell in the Pacific disc will allow you to watch the film with the original ending, as opposed to including it as a special feature?

It's an excellent film -- until you reach the "studio approved" ending, whose abruptness (and use of old stock footage) is almost comical.