Regrettably, the big-screen antics of Remo Williams began and promptly ended with REMO WILLIAMS: THE ADVENTURE BEGINS… (121 mins., 1985, PG-13; Kino Lorber), the big-budget Orion adaptation of the popular “Destroyer” novels by Richard Sapir and Warren Murphy, here adapted by veteran James Bond series writer Christopher Wood (“The Spy Who Loved Me”) and director Guy Hamilton (“Goldfinger”), and which debuts on 4K UHD this month from Kino Lorber.
Fred Ward plays the title character, a NYC cop – left for dead – who undergoes plastic surgery and becomes a super-hero tutored in the ways of the martial arts by Korean master Joel Grey (under lots of make-up in a terrific performance). Remo’s job is to stop a ruthless billionaire bent on taking over the world — in other words, your typical ’80s bad guy – but the real sparks are provided by Grey’s sage, all-knowing combat instructor, who spars with our hero in a handful of memorable training sequences.
Powered by Craig Safan’s thunderous, rousing score, “Remo Williams” is a standard ’80s action movie that remains memorable because of the performances of – and interplay between – Ward and Grey. They fit so perfectly together as a crime-fighting tandem that it’s a shame future installments weren’t made (a failed TV pilot did surface in 1987 with Roddy McDowall in the Grey role), even if its pedigree suggested more of a sensational ride. Moments here and there spark some excitement – such as a chase sequence in and around a Statue of Liberty clone, reproduced in Mexico – but too much of the film feels flabby and undernourished.
Still an entertaining enough piece of mid ’80s escapism and an enduring cult favorite, Kino Lorber brings “Remo” to 4K UHD for the first time with a new, much-improved new Dolby Vision HDR (1.85) master that far outclasses MGM’s muddy looking old HD presentation. There’s lots of grain on-hand with a much clearer focus over the previous transfer that made it out on both a Kino Blu-Ray in 2022 and a Twilight Time disc years prior. The 5.1 and 2.0 DTS MA offerings are both decent though I preferred the 2.0 track as the 5.1 sounded a bit heavy on the low end.
Kino has added two new supplements – an interview with actor Patrick Kilpatrick plus a chatty commentary by Brandon Streussnig – to go along with ample interviews brought over from Arrow’s 2016 Blu-Ray. These include interviews with producers Larry Spiegel and Judy Goldstein (“Unarmed and Dangerous: Producing ‘Remo Williams’”); production designer Jackson DeGovia (“Balance of Power: Designing ‘Remo Williams’”); composer Craig Safan (“Assassin’s Tune: Composing ‘Remo Williams’”); a brief interview with Joel Grey (“Secrets of Sinanju: Training ‘Remo Williams’”); and Devin Murphy, son of the late novelist Warren Murphy, who talks about his father’s books and the resulting film version. Also coming over from the Arrow release is a commentary featuring Spiegel and Goldstein while a radio spot, trailer, and a remastered Blu-Ray sweeten the release for “Remo” fanatics.
An earlier Ward performance highlights John Binder’s cult movie UFORIA (91 mins., 1981/85, PG; Kino Lorber), with the actor playing one of several colorful personalities who populate the American southwest of the early ‘80s. There’s close-to-broke drifter Ward, his on-again/off-again cashier girlfriend Cindy Williams, and “Brother Bud” (Harry Dean Stanton), the revivalist preacher who’s attracted to them both – especially after Williams’ prognostication that a UFO is about to descend from the skies above and take them all away becomes a media phenomenon.
Binder’s movie is very much of its time, and even at the time, “UFOria” had a hard time finding an audience. Melvin Simon Productions financed the movie but its distributor, 20th Century Fox, passed on releasing it back in 1981. Simon was able to sell it to Universal, but even they balked at releasing “UFOria” due to poor test screenings until a basic grass-roots movement began to get the film off the shelf. With even its advertising campaign handled by a third party, “UFOria” received one of those limited releases advocated by critics like Siskel & Ebert which finally put the film out, and on home video, in 1985. “UFOria” has been scarcely seen since, however, and Kino Lorber’s 4K UHD/Blu-Ray remaster provides the first viewing option audiences will have had to sit through the movie in decades.
What they will see in Binder’s film is a peculiar set of characters anchored to time and place, and whose eccentricities are meant to be both funny and moving. There’s a definite charm associated with Ward and Williams’ performances here, but other roles are thinly drawn, and the picture eventually settles on providing a critique of tent revivalists (in the form of Stanton’s opportunist TV preacher, who’s also out stealing cars when he’s not praising the Lord) in a way that feels like something out of Robert Altman, but isn’t as well-observed or (given its 90-minute run time) developed.
Certainly worth a look for the curious, “UFOria” receives a grain-heavy Dolby Vision HDR 4K master (1.85, 2.0 mono) from the 35mm OCN. Colors are natural looking, while the trailer, a Blu-Ray copy, and a commentary by Binder along with associate producer Jeanne Field and historian Daniel Kremer rounds out the extras.
THE PHANTOM 4K UHD/Blu-Ray (108 mins., 1996, PG-13; Kino Lorber): I was hoping the years would have been kind to this 1996 box-office flop — one of several period super-hero films produced during the decade — but alas, the good-natured “The Phantom” still comes across as a bit of a disappointment.
After starring in a ‘40s Saturday Matinee serial, Lee Falk’s hero took years to return to the silver screen, languishing in pre-production hell with one director after another having failed to bring Falk’s source material to life. Credited executive producer Joe Dante came the closest (with the plug having been pulled shortly before his film was to be produced), but alas, the movie ultimately fell into the hands of Australia’s Village Roadshow Pictures, which brought along Aussie director Simon Wincer to helm “The Phantom,” shooting most of it Down Under.
Regrettably, despite working from what appears to be a capable script by Jeffrey Boam (“Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade”), the resulting “Phantom” movie is a B-grade production through and through: Zane boasts a sense of humor but other leads are indifferently cast with bland “road company” heroine Kristy Swanson (quite out of her element in a “period” role) plus Treat Williams serving up less than memorable villainy. As a result, director Wincer’s workmanlike adventure – which, after languishing in turnaround, was quickly rushed into production by Paramount for a Summer ‘96 opening due to “The Saint” being delayed – just never really comes alive.
It’s unfortunate as well, since “The Phantom” aims to tell an old-fashioned tale of derring-do with live-action stunt work a la “Raiders,” a few years before CGI came to dominate genre films. The movie is fun in spots and has a good nature about it – even Jones’ villainess proves to be worthy of redemption — but has a particularly mundane look and feel to it, with Wincer bringing little flair to the material and the actors trying, but mostly failing, to treat the material with the right mix of seriousness and campy humor. Outside of Catherine Zeta-Jones’ turn as Williams’ henchwoman, the movie constantly feels forced — right down to David Newman’s often repetitive score. (Dante had claimed in an interview that while Boam’s script was largely played for laughs, Wincer’s film mostly played it straight, resulting in a movie chock full of “unintentional humor” that was mostly cut out of a reportedly disastrous test screening).
Nevertheless, it’s interesting to go back to “The Phantom” nearly two decades after its original release and witness a decidedly “old school” production that’s a far cry from the hard-edged, hyper-stylized comic book films we see on a routine basis today. Even if it’s not nearly as successful as other period adaptations of the era (“The Rocketeer,” “The Shadow” and “Dick Tracy” are each a great deal more entertaining), genre fans might be interested in giving it another shot, especially now on 4K UHD.
Kino Lorber’s 4K UHD debuts a brand-new Dolby Vision HDR (2.35) transfer of “The Phantom” that is at least livelier than Paramount’s older HD master. It looks and sounds terrific with 5.1/2.0 DTS MA sound offerings and a welcome array of new extras. These include a commentary with Simon Wincer, moderated by Douglas Hosdale, plus an enjoyable, half-hour talk with Billy Zane, who regards this as one of the highlight roles of his career (and a movie which he believes inspires us to act more humanely towards one another; no, I’m not kidding!), another talk with David Newman, the trailer, and a Blu-Ray copy.
HOLD THAT GHOST 4K UHD (86 mins., 1941; Kino Lorber): Before they met up with the Universal monsters, Bud Abbott and Lou Costello starred in their first supernatural comedy (more or less) as a (what else) pair of buddies who score an inheritance – a roadside safehouse that belonged to a recently-departed mobster, whose stash of stolen loot is allegedly still inside the property. Naturally, things go bump in the night after the boys arrive to claim their goods, causing some big laughs in the script by A&C regulars Robert Lees, Fred Rinaldo and John Grant, plus appearances by the Andrews Sisters and bandleader Ted Lewis. It’s a jammin’ good time from A&C’s prime, frequently cited as one of their best features, and presented here in another sterling 4K UHD scan (1.37 B&W, mono) from the 35mm OCN. Like Kino’s previous A&C UHDs there’s added detail and high bit-rates supporting the fine grain included here in the Dolby Vision HDR presentation, with extras including commentaries by Alan K. Rode and Samm Deighan and the trailer.
STONE COLD 4K UHD/Blu-Ray (83 mins., 1991, R; Kino Lorber): College football star Brian Bosworth’s big-screen career was launched with the release of this 1991 programmer, wherein “The Boz” stars as a tough undercover cop charged with infiltrating a southern white supremacist biker gang dubbed The Brotherhood. Lance Henriksen essays the group’s leader in this strictly by-the-numbers – but guilty-pleasure entertaining – B-movie directed by Craig R. Baxley (“I Come in Peace”) that’s content to let Henriksen and William Forsythe do most of the heavy lifting playing opposite the movie’s leading man. Baxley also seasons the movie with sufficient chase sequences, fisticuffs and action that should satisfy genre buffs.
“Stone Cold” must’ve sold well for Kino Lorber as this 4K UHD (1.85) – with a new Dolby Vision HDR master – marks their third release of the picture. As with recent MGM 4K masters there’s lots of grain inherent in the image plus crisp detail compared to the older HD presentation, while the disc also reprises its 2023 interviews including Bosworth himself, plus Arabella Holzbog, Sam McMurray, and Lance Henriksen, all talking about the improvisational nature of the film’s script, Bosworth’s inexperience, and Baxley’s veteran hand leading the action sequences. A full run of trailers and TV spots are also included alongside a commentary with Mike Leeder and Arne Venema and new scene-specific talk with Baxley.
THROW MOMMA FROM THE TRAIN 4K UHD/Blu-Ray (88 mins., 1987, PG-13; Kino Lorber): Hit Orion black comedy from Danny DeVito, here making his feature directorial debut with a tight, memorably shot and brilliantly played concoction involving a would-be novelist (DeVito) who takes a community college class where his teacher (Billy Crystal), a writer’s block-afflicted novelist, suggests he watch classic Hitchcock for ideas on how to get rid of his overbearing mother (Anne Ramsey). DeVito’s Larry takes him far too literally, of course, in Stu Silver’s sharp script which could’ve still been a disaster in hands other than DeVito and cinematographer Barry Sonnenfeld. Thankfully, the duo struck the right notes with this potentially problematic material and turned it into a Christmas ‘87 box-office success.
Kino Lorber’s 4K UHD marks the movie’s first release since a 2012 Blu-Ray, debuting a much improved new Dolby Vision HDR master (1.85, 5.1/2.0) via a 4K scan of the 35mm OCN. Extras include an interview with Sonnenfeld, three archival featurettes and four deleted scenes, the trailer, Blu-Ray, and a new commentary with “Youtube historian” Joe Ramoni.
HOUSE CALLS Blu-Ray (98 mins., 1978, PG; Kino Lorber): Consistently funny vehicle for Walter Matthau, who plays a doctor and recent widower who spars with, then (of course) falls for new fellow hospital employee Glenda Jackson in a popular Universal comedy that was quickly spun off into a successful network TV sitcom with Wayne Rogers and Lynn Redgrave. The movie is snappy and at times hilarious, with Matthau at his best playing off the likes of Richard Benjamin and Art Carney (the increasingly aging head of staff), while Jackson finds just the right note for her single-mother divorcee. The script, credited to Max Schulman and the great Julius J. Epstein along with Alan Mandel and Charles Shyer, moves right along and Howard Zieff, who had a successful couple of years fashioning the likes of this and the Goldie Hawn hit “Private Benjamin,” packages a slick affair complete with a montage set to the Beatles’ “Something” – a track predictably culled from “Rescored for Home Video” versions. For fans, Kino Lorber’s Blu-Ray provides the song intact here along with a serviceable older Universal HD master (1.85, 2.0 mono), the picture sporting a sporadic, and at times barely detectable, Henry Mancini score. The trailer is included plus a commentary by Bryan Reesman and Max Evry where one of them admits they’ve never seen “Charley Varrick” – one of Matthau’s best films.
NIGHTLIFE Blu-Ray (93 mins., 1989, PG-13; Kino Lorber): Made-for-cable film was co-written by veteran SNL writer Anne Beatts though her script was later rewritten bv director Daniel Taplitz, my guess into something more conventional than the vampire rom-com promised by its premise of a beautiful vampiress (fetching-as-always Maryam d’Abo) falling for a doctor (Keith Szarabajka) while still being pursued by a “big bad” (Ben Cross) as old as Drac himself. Set in Mexico City, “Nightlife” is amusing, especially in the early going, and d’Abo and Szarabajka generate enough chemistry to make this a recommended view, even if it grows increasingly conventional as it moves along. The USA cable production, which Universal later released on home video, includes a lovely new HD master (1.33) via a 2K scan of the 35mm interpositive with two commentaries: one from Amanda Reyes, the other with David Del Valle and Peter Sawyer.
New & Noteworthy
THE SUBSTITUTE 4K UHD/Blu-Ray (114 mins., 1996, R; Lionsgate): Spring ‘96 box-office sleeper turned a decent profit on a modest budget, thanks mostly to director Robert Mandel (“F/X”) for fashioning a solid action yarn out of a formulaic story.
Tom Berenger plays a mercenary, newly jettisoned from duty along with his squad mates, who decides to get involved after his girlfriend (Diane Venora) – a teacher at a Miami inner-city high school – is assaulted while on the job. Pretending to be the latest school substitute, Berenger uncovers a gang funneling narcotics through the school, whose leader (music superstar Marc Anthony) has an agenda that extends all the way to the top – and school principal Ernie Hudson.
Eventually, Berenger re-recruits his secret ops entourage including William Forsythe as the Roy Frumkes-Rocco Simonelli-Alan Ormsby script delivers an action climax any viewer has been expecting since its opening minutes – but what’s more surprising about “The Substitute” is how well-crafted it is. The solid performances lend an enormous amount of conviction to the story and the picture – a Live Entertainment production that was theatrically distributed by Orion in its final days – is a solid entertainment as a result.
A special 4K UHD release from Lionsgate’s “Vestron Video Collector’s Series” currently available exclusively at Lionsgate Limited, “The Substitute” offers up a satisfying Dolby Vision HDR (1.85) transfer with Dolby Atmos remixed audio. The movie was shot in appropriately grimy, rundown Miami locales by Bruce Surtees so it’s not exactly eye candy, but the transfer is nicely textured and encoded regardless. New extras include an interview with Mandel, a featurette on color grading, the trailer, the Blu-Ray, and Digital HD code.
MONEYBALL 4K UHD (132 mins., 2011, PG-13; Sony): Brad Pitt’s terrific turn as Oakland A’s manager Billy Beane sells this compelling, if somewhat bland, adaptation of Michael Lewis’ non-fiction bestseller.
As adapted by ace screenwriters Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin, “Moneyball” opens with Beane’s A’s having lost in the 2001 Major League Baseball playoffs and stood by idly as their major superstars (Jason Giambi, Johnny Damon and Jason Isringhausen) departed for more lucrative contracts from teams with more means (i.e. higher payrolls) at their disposal. Looking to shake things up, Beane hires away a Cleveland Indians assistant (Jonah Hill) with the intention of implementing a mathematical model that can find diamonds in the rough – solid ballplayers who don’t cost a fortune, yet can put up numbers comparable to the bigger names they’re replacing.
Director Bennett Miller plays things so straight in “Moneyball” that the film almost feels like a documentary, which adds to its authenticity but also mutes its overall dramatic power. Still, Pitt’s charismatic, sympathetic performance carries the picture, and the occasional scene where Beane spends time with his teenage daughter feels authentic and provides the film with an emotional context that it could’ve used more of. Hill, meanwhile, is perfectly acceptable in a role that offers a bit of comic relief, though Philip Seymour Hoffman is merely serviceable as the A’s manager Art Howe, with little payoff to his adversarial relationship to Beane’s new methodology of building a ball club.
Sony debuts “Moneyball” on 4K UHD this month featuring a new 4K transfer (1.85) transfer and its previously released 5.1 DTS MA soundtrack, enhancing Wally Pfister’s fine cinematography despite its lack of HDR. Extras include some interesting conversations with the real Beane along with Michael Lewis and the filmmakers, plus deleted scenes, behind-the-scenes featurettes, bloopers, and a digital copy.
SLEEPERS 4K UHD (148 mins., 1996, R; Warner): Adaptation of Lorenzo Carcaterra’s novel about four young Hell’s Kitchen boys who end up being abused in an upstate New York juvenile detention center — and, later, shoot one of the guards (Kevin Bacon) responsible after a chance encounter with him as adults — drew big time talent in front of and behind the camera. Barry Levinson quickly came on to write and direct “Sleepers” and assembled a cast including Robert DeNiro, Dustin Hoffman, Brad Pitt, Jason Patric, and Minnie Driver, all of whom give superb performances, while the distinguished pedigree extended to cinematographer Michael Ballhaus and even John Williams who provides a masterful, if dense, score. The resulting movie though feels a little too contrived and calculated for its own good, with the issues surrounding Carcaterra’s book — supposedly autobiographical but with quite a bit fabricated/dramatized for entertainment purposes — a main source of the picture’s shortcomings. Warner’s 4K UHD (2.35, 5.1 DTS MA) is still worth revisiting as this is a good-looking film despite the subject matter and questions over its accuracy; the disc boasts two featurettes and a digital HD copy.
GOOD LUCK HAVE FUN DON’T DIE 4K UHD/Blu-Ray (135 mins., 2025, R; Universal): “Pirates of the Caribbean” director Gore Verbinski spins a wild assault on the senses with an unhinged Sam Rockwell stepping into what years ago would’ve been an ideal Johnny Depp role: a deranged (or is he?) man who claims he’s from the future and has traveled back in time to stop humanity’s end from AI and other tech. Writer Matthew Robinson’s script works if you pay sufficient attention, though at two-plus hours, “Good Luck…” can feel like a bit of a grind — likely why the movie, produced by Germany’s Constantin Film, didn’t receive much play in the U.S. until now. Universal’s 4K UHD (2.35) provides a Dolby Vision HDR transfer, Dolby Atmos audio, digital code and a Making Of featurette.
THE SNOWS OF KILIMANJARO Blu-Ray (113 mins., 1952; Film Masters): Fox adaptation of the Ernest Hemingway novel fell into the public domain at some point — a shame given the star-studded treatment afforded to director Henry King’s picture, including Gregory Peck as the hunter reminiscing about his life and relationships with both Ava Gardner and Susan Heyward. Despite all that, Oscars for cinematography and art direction, and a Bernard Herrmann score, “Snows” has looked mostly dreadful in poor public domain transfers over the years. Film Master’s go at it has a 1080p (1.37, mono) Blu-Ray transfer with decent color but clearly was not mastered from any kind of pristine source as the image is glossy with DNR applied; it’s watchable, but a genuine restoration still awaits.
THE RUNNING MAN 4K UHD/Blu-Ray (133 mins., 2025, R; Paramount): Busted remake of the 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger sci-fi thriller from writer-director Edgar Wright puts Glen Powell through Arnie’s paces as a set-up contestant on a futuristic game show where its participants are hunted down on live TV. The targets are obvious, just as they were in the original film, but while Wright has incorporated a few inspired moments sprinkled throughout this re-do of Stephen King’s story, the movie is also way overlong and doesn’t know when to quit, lacking the overall fun factor of its predecessor. Paramount’s UHD (2.39, Dolby Atmos) hits all the right notes technically and is backed with loads of special features (commentary from Wright, Powell and co-writer Michael Bacall), plus a Blu-Ray and Digital code.
Visual Vengeance New Releases: A pair of dinosaurs are woken up from a prehistoric slumber in Mark Polonia’s fun Super 8-shot SAURIANS (83 mins., 1994), a “grassroots” epic produced a year after “Jurassic Park” and filled with childlike wonder on a decidedly (zero) tech scale. MVD’s Blu-Ray (1.33, 2.0) includes an SD master from tape elements; commentary with Polonia; a Making Of; locations visit; interviews with Todd Carpenter and Kevin Lindenmuth; stop-motion outtakes and raw footage; a bonus feature, “The Dinosaur Chronicles” (2004) with its own commentary and Making Of, a mini-poster and sleek slipcover/reversible cover art…there’s ample comedy on-hand in the spoofy VAMPIRE TIME TRAVELERS (70 mins., 1998), a similarly homespun, low-budget, shot-on-video effort from director Les Sekely which has a good time with its ridiculous story of butt-biting vamps and time traveling. Visual Vengeance’s Blu-Ray (1.33, 2.0) again includes a director-approved SD master, director commentary and interview; interviews with the cast, DP Dennis Devine and others; Sekely’s bonus movie “I Know What You Did in English Class” and plenty more.
CREEPY CREATURE DOUBLE FEATURE: THE SLIME PEOPLE/THE CRAWLING HAND Blu-Ray (VCI/MVD): Two almost-classics from the early ‘60s that would routinely play on “Creature Double Feature” local TV blocks have been restored from 4K scans of their respective 35mm negatives in a double-feature set from VCI. Included here are THE CRAWLING HAND (1963), the Herbert Strock-helmed tale of an astronaut’s alien-infested arm which crashes to Earth after an attempt to blow it up. The wacky THE SLIME PEOPLE (1962), meanwhile, finds reptilian-like extraterrestrials burrowing up and out of the L.A. sewers, causing the remaining human populace to figure out how to defeat them. A Tom Weaver interview with “Slime People”’s Susan Hart is included plus commentary by Rob Kelly on “Crawling Hand,” a featurette, sci-fi drive-in poster gallery and reversible art.
THE UGLY Blu-Ray (93 mins., 1996; Unearthed): New Zealand-lensed take on ‘90s serial killer cinema finds deranged Paolo Rotondo studied by psychologist Rebecca Hobbs in order to see if he’s ever going to be ready to rejoin society. Scott Reynolds’ chiller has been restored in 4K from the original 35mm interpositive with both 2.0 and 4.0 DTS MA sound; an isolated score of Victoria Kelly’s soundtrack; commentary featuring Rotondo, Hobbs and Nathaniel Thompson; vintage interviews with the director and a pair of his short films; and much more.
ABBOTT ELEMENTARY – Fourth Season DVD (476 mins., 2024-25; Warner): Fourth season of the hit ABC comedy finds Janine taking on construction issues, budget disagreements and domestic adjustments having signed up to be Gregory’s girlfriend. The usual mix of laughs, some social satire and fine ensemble performances again make for a superb sitcom back on DVD from Warner in a complete Season 4 package. The 16:9 (1.78) transfers and 5.1 soundtracks are all top notch.
NEXT TIME: BLUE THUNDER Rides High in 4K plus more of the latest releases! 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!