Universal has released Oppenheimer on 4K UHD, standard Blu-ray, and DVD. The 2023 film is a rare intellectual thriller that was also a box-office phenomenon.

Although the biographical film presents an overview of the American theoretical scientist’s life, it concentrates on his time as director of the Manhattan Project’s Los Alamos Laboratory during World War II where he built his reputation as the “father of the atomic bomb,” and his later regrets during the Cold War when he opposed the development of the hydrogen bomb.

One of the most highly anticipated films of the year, it’s one that requires close attention to take it all in. The advantage to seeing it in a theatre is that you can watch the three-hour film without interruption. The disadvantage is that the often-rapid fire dialogue goes by so quickly that you might not be able to catch everything the first time you see it.

The advantage of viewing it at home is that you can turn on the subtitles to catch all the dialogue. You can also pause the lengthy film at intervals of your choosing.

Directed by Christopher Nolan, the film is packed with the kind of spectacle you expect from the director of The Dark Knight Trilogy, Inception, and Dunkirk, but where the film also excels is in its depiction of the historical figures appearing throughout.

The always good Cillian Murphy delivers the performance of his career as Oppenheimer, with outstanding support from Robert Downey Jr. as his nemesis, politician Lewis Strauss; as well as Emily Blunt as Oppenheimer’s wife, Kitty; Matt Damon as the scientist’s wily Army handler; Tom Conti as Albert Einstein; Josh Hartnett, David Krumholtz and Benny Safdie as some of Oppenheimer’s fellow scientists; and a host of other players who weave in and out of the narrative including Kenneth Branagh, Casey Affleck, Rami Malek, James d’Arcy, Jack Quaid, Dane de Haan, Matthew Modine, Florence Pugh, and an unrecognizable Gary Olman as Harry Truman.

Expect the film to dominate year-end film awards up to and including the Oscars.

The 4K UHD release also includes the 2-disc Blu-ray release with the film on the first disc and a host of extras on the second one, including the film’s Meet the Press Q&A panel.

Warner Bros. has released a 4K UHD upgrade of Adrew Davis’ 1993 film, The Fugitive.

Based on the same-named TV series, which was itself based on a real-life murder case, the film starred Harrison Ford in one of his best performances as the innocent doctor accused of murdering his wife and Tommy Lee Jones, who won an Oscar for his portrayal of the U.S. Marshal who leads the pursuit recapturing the escaped doctor.

The film contains some of the best remembered action sequences of all time as Ford, playing a noted physician whose wife is murdered by a “one-arm” man, is arrested and convicted of the crime, only to escape when the transport bus he is on crashes. Using his wits to stay ahead of his pursuers, Ford pursues the real killer and the man who hired him as he himself is being pursued by Jones.

Looking better than ever, extras from the original DVD release have been transported to the 4K UHD disc.

Criterion has released 4k UHD upgrade of Martin Scorsese’s 1973 film, Mean Streets.

Scorsese’s first major film was released with the tag line, “go to Church on Sunday, go to Hell on Monday.” It remains as tough and uncompromising as it did fifty years ago when its stars, Robert De Niro and Harvey Keitel, were at the beginning of their still illustrious careers.

The digital restoration was approved by Scorsese and editor Thelma Schoonmaker,

Extras include an interview with Scorsese from a 2011 Directors Guild of America event and Martin Scorsese: Back on the Block, a promotional video from the film’s original theatrical release.

Kino Lorber has released a 4K UHD Blu-ray upgrade of Billy Wilder’s 1953 film, Stalag 17.

William Holden stars in his Oscar winning role as a jaded American prisoner of war in a notorious German prison camp during World War II who is suspected of colluding with the enemy.

Don Taylor as a fellow prisoner and Otto Preminger as the camp’s commandant shared co-star billing with Holden. Sig Ruman, Robert Strauss, Harvey Lembeck, and Peter Graves lead the supporting cast.

Strauss received an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of a jokester, but his performance falls flat. Preminger and Ruman were the real standouts, aside from Holden, as the nasty commandant and his sergeant.

Extras include three separate commentaries and two featurettes.

Film Masters has released a newly restored version of Robert G. Vignola’s 1934 film of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter.

This was the first talkie version of Hawthorne’s famous novel about Puritan life, following seven silent film versions, the most famous being Victor Sjostrom’s 1926 version starring Lillian Gish as the shamed protagonist, Lars Hanson as the tortured reverend, and Henry B. Walthall as the mad villain. Collen Moore and Hardie Albright star in Gish and Hanson’s roles in the 1934 version with Walthall repeating his earlier role. It may not be a great film but it is vastly superior to Roland Joffé’s 1995 version starring Demi Moore, Gary Oldman, and Robert Duvall.

Extras include commentary by Professor Jason A. Ney with contributions from 96-year-old Cora Sue Collins who played Colleen Moore’s illegitimate daughter in the film at the age of seven.

Happy viewing.