There are a lot of classic movies that are tough to find on physical media, but a huge chunk of them all seem to have been released by 20th Century Fox. Legitimate classics from their catalogue, such as Young Frankenstein, are out of print, while movies like Cocoon and Dutch have never even received Blu-ray releases on disc in 1080p. However, one long-MIA title might finally be making the jump to 4K UHD disc — Kathryn Bigelow’s Strange Days.
A huge flop in 1995, Bigelow’s movie, which takes place in Los Angeles on the then-futuristic eve of the millennium, stars Ralph Fiennes as an ex-cop dealing in an electronic device that allows users to experience other people’s experiences. When he discovers a snuff disc, he tries to solve the crime with his badass bodyguard (a great Angela Bassett). A future noir, it’s since been reevaluated as a classic and has long been a favorite of ours here on JoBlo. Yet, it’s remained frustratingly unavailable on physical media. An HD version has streamed on HBO Max and The Criterion Channel, but in North America, only an old, non-anamorphic DVD is available.
But Disney is apparently ramping up a bunch of fall releases, two of which (starring Robin Williams) we announced earlier today. Yet, our friend Bill Hunt at The Digital Bits is saying that the studio will also be releasing some other hot titles on 4K, including The Rock (yes!), Con Air, National Treasure, Commando, and — yes — Strange Days.
All of those titles will be great to have on disc, although Con Air has been out on 4K digitally for a bit (The Rock is begging for a 4K release, and hopefully Commando will include the unrated version as a bonus). But Strange Days is one of the crown jewels, with it having been unavailable for so long. It deserves a major restoration, and hopefully its increased availability might help it achieve the legit classic status it deserves.
The comment section exists to allow readers to discuss the article constructively and respectfully, focused on the topic at hand.
What’s Not Allowed