Mike Spring
What’s New in Home Video & Pop Culture – April 15th, 2025
It’s the perfect mix of titles this week: a huge blockbuster, some great catalogue classics, a couple of cult classics, and some foreign film love. Something for everyone! Check out the full slate below!
In This Week’s Column:
- Sonic The Hedgehog 3 (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital Steelbook)
- Some Like It Hot (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray)
- The Long Kiss Goodnight (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray)
- Icons Unearthed: James Bond (Blu-ray)
- Blue Sunshine (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + CD)
- Harbin (Blu-ray)
- The Eel (Blu-ray)
Sonic The Hedgehog 3 (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital Steelbook)
The Movie:
I can tell you that I enjoyed Sonic the Hedgehog 3 quite a bit, sure, but what I’d rather do is tell you how much my 18-year-old daughter and her friends enjoyed Sonic the Hedgehog 3.
See she and a group of her friends went to see Sonic 3 on opening night, because they’re right in that age group of kids who still go to the movies and kind of grew up with the first two Sonic movies in their teen/pre-teen years. And she absolutely LOVED it. I mean, like full-on obsessed with the movie. If the point of a movie based on a video game is to not only make box office bank but to sell ancillary merchandise as well, well, trust me, they succeeded here. My house has 200% more Sonic-related merchandise in it now than it did before the movie came out.
This time around, Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails go up against Shadow the Hedgehog, another of Sonic’s race who’s been on earth for the past 50 years but has been in suspended animation in a government facility because he was deemed too dangerous to be free. But Shadow is mourning the loss of his best human friend, a young girl, and falls under the sway of evil forces who may or may not have the name Robotnik.
I really enjoyed the first Sonic movie, thought the second one was okay, and then really enjoyed this one again. The humor is on point, the action scenes are terrific, and the addition of Keanu Reeves as Shadow is a lot of fun. I can see why kids liked this movie so much, even if I didn’t feel the need to decorate my room in Sonic gear.
The 4K Video/Audio:
Sonic 3 looks absolutely beautiful in 4K Ultra HD. Color saturation is terrific, and this is an extremely vibrant and varied color palette to begin with, so you can really feel the pop of the colors come through. The clear imagery is razor sharp, and the print is pristine, with no artifacts or blemishes to catch your attention for even a second. The surround soundtrack has a lot to work with and it makes the most of it, featuring strong directional effects and an immersive soundfield, plus a thumping low-end bass that really gives the action scenes some oomph. It’s a terrific A/V presentation from start to finish.
The Bonus Features:
The extras are mostly short features that all run less than 10 minutes, but there’s a decent amount of them overall so it adds up quickly.
- Enter Shadow (6 minutes)
- For the Love of Sonic: Directing a Trilogy (5 minutes)
- From the Cryo-Tank to London: The World of Sonic (7 minutes)
- Gag Reel (3 minutes)
- Live Action Lunacy: Acting Opposite Puppets (5 minutes)
- Robotnik Family Reunion: Ivo and Gerald (9 minutes)
- Sonic Central (3 minutes)
- Sonic Family Fun (6 minutes)
- Team Sonic vs Shadow (3 minutes)
- The Fox, the Echidna, and the Hedgehog (6 minutes)
- Deleted Scenes – Eight total deleted scenes
Digital Copy Included: Yes
The Wrap-Up:
It’s not hard to see why Sonic the Hedgehog 3 was a massive box office smash, and there are not one but two post-credit sequences that set up the next (inevitable) sequel. And honestly, I’m here for it. Not as much as my daughter is, but I’m still looking forward to it.
Some Like It Hot (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray)
The Movie:
The Criterion Collection brings one of the greatest films of all time back to its hallowed halls with this new 4K Ultra HD (and Blu-ray combo) release of Some Like It Hot, the Billy Wilder-directed classic starring Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, and Marilyn Monroe.
I don’t feel like I really need to tell people what happens in Some Like it Hot, one of the most well-loved and critically-acclaimed movies ever made, but just in case, here’s the breakdown. After witnessing a Mafia murder, a pair of musicians go on the run by disguising themselves as women members of an all-female jazz band and hop a train heading to Florida. While Joe (Tony Curtis) alternates between hiding in drag and pretending to be a millionaire to woo bombshell Sugar (Marilyn Monroe), the hapless Jerry (Jack Lemmon) finds himself pursued by a real millionaire, all while the mob gets closer and closer to finding them.
Some Like it Hot is one of my all time favorite movies, and to see it get a new Criterion treatment is a real treat. The disc also includes a bevy of extra features, and since I can’t get enough of this movie, its nice to dive into some of the bonus material as well as the film.
The 4K Video/Audio:
Criterion releases are always given the utmost care in terms of their audiovisual presentation, and Some Like it Hot is no different. The film has been remastered and restored, and it looks and sounds the best I’ve ever seen it. Of course, the movie is black and white so you don’t get the extra pop of colors that 4K usually brings. However, the grey tones are more subtle, the blacks are deeper, the shadow delineation is much stronger, and the overall image clarity is sharper than previous home video editions. The soundtrack options are working with limited fidelity due to the age of the film, but I certainly don’t hear anything to complain about. There’s the original monaural soundtrack but also an alternate 5.1 surround soundtrack that does a nice job of filling in some atmosphere and ambient sounds while making sure music and dialogue remain clear and present at all times. As always, a top-notch effort from Criterion.
The Bonus Features:
- Audio commentary from 1989 featuring film scholar Howard Suber
- Program on Orry-Kelly’s costumes for the film, featuring costume designer and historian Deborah Nadoolman Landis and costume historian and archivist Larry McQueen
- Three behind-the-scenes documentaries
- Appearances by director Billy Wilder on The Dick Cavett Show from 1982
- Conversation from 2001 between actor Tony Curtis and film critic Leonard Maltin
- French television interview from 1988 with actor Jack Lemmon
- Radio interview from 1955 with actor Marilyn Monroe
- Trailer
- A booklet with an essay by author Sam Wasson
Digital Copy Included: No
The Wrap-Up:
I can’t think of a single Top 10 Best-of Cinema list that doesn’t include Some Like it Hot. It’s an absolute masterpiece and — simply put — this release is a must-have for any film fan.
The Long Kiss Goodnight (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray)
The Movie:
For a while there, it looked like director Renny Harlin was going to become one of the premiere action-movie directors of our time. After starting off with A Nightmare on Elm Street 4, he then brought us no less than five action blockbusters (or would-be blockbusters) between 1990 and 1999. His run started with Die Hard 2 and Cliffhanger, the latter of which especially is a fan favorite. His pirate movie Cutthroat Island is underrated, and his follow-up to A Long Kiss Goodnight, Deep Blue Sea, is one of the most fun shark movies ever made and another well-loved movie. After that, however, he seemed to lose a step and never hit the highs of his 1990s output again. But right in the middle of all those films was 1996’s The Long Kiss Goodnight, which has long been one of those “If You Know, You Know” movies and a cult classic in its own right. Which, of course, explains why Arrow Video is releasing a home video edition of it, as Arrow has become THE premiere label for bringing us amazing versions of cult classic movies like no one else.
Samantha Caine (Geena Davis) is just a regular suburban housewife and mother who happens to have amnesia and can’t remember her life before her daughter’s birth eight years ago. When she starts to remember flashes from the past, she sets out to track down her previous identity with the help of a dubious private detective (Samuel L. Jackson). Unfortunately, her past was actually incredibly dangerous, and pretty soon she’s swept up in a life-threatening espionage adventure.
I was always a big fan of The Long Kiss Goodnight. It’s got tons of action, snappy dialogue, great stunts, and it was made before CGI took over so everything feels real and visceral. I will say that I forgot how brutal some of the more violent scenes are, so just be forewarned that this isn’t a PG-rated flick. But since the movie flopped commercially, there’s a good chance a lot of people still haven’t seen it, so it’s definitely worth a first-time watch or a rewatch.
The 4K Video/Audio:
For an older-ish film, The Long Kiss Goodnight looks and sounds very good in the premium format. The color saturation is quite vibrant, image clarity is sharp, and shadow delineation is very strong, helpful in a film that features many dark moments. You won’t think it’s a brand-new movie, but the usual Arrow restoration and remastering has worked its magic here.The soundtrack isn’t the most immersive ever, but it does a great job of maximizing what it has to work with and extending the sounds of mayhem into your living room.
The Bonus Features:
As always, Arrow Video has packed this release with bonus features as well as a few physical extras that are always a welcome addition.
- Brand new audio commentary by film critic Walter Chaw
- Brand new audio commentary by film critics Drusilla Adeline and Joshua Conkel, co-hosts of the Bloodhaus podcast
- Symphony of Destruction, a new interview with stunt co-ordinator Steve Davidson
- Long Live the New Flesh, a new interview with make-up artist Gordon J. Smith
- Girl Interrupted, a new interview with actress Yvonne Zima
- Amnesia Chick, a new visual essay by film scholar Josh Nelson
- The Mirror Crack’d, a new visual essay by critic and filmmaker Howard S. Berger
- A Woman’s World, a new visual essay by film scholar Alexandra Heller-Nicholas
- Deleted scenes
- Archive promotional interviews with director Renny Harlin and stars Geena Davis, Samuel L. Jackson and Craig Bierko
- Making Of, an archive promotional featurette
- Behind the Scenes, archive EPK footage from the filming of The Long Kiss Goodnight
- Theatrical trailer
- Image gallery
- Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Clem Bastow, Richard Kadrey, Maura McHugh, and Priscilla Page
- Seasonal postcard
- Thin Ice sticker
Digital Copy Included: No
The Wrap-Up:
The Long Kiss Goodnight was a high point in a decade of films that is hard to match by any other director. While Renny Harlin’s career hasn’t returned to the levels of what he put out in the ‘90s, this new 4K Ultra HD release is an absolutely fantastic version of one of his best films.
Icons Unearthed: James Bond (Blu-ray)
The Show:
Created by Brian Volk-Weiss, who made a name for himself with the Netflix series The Toys That Made Us, Icons Unearthed is a show that takes huge pop culture icons and dives into the making of them. The earlier seasons featured subjects such as Star Wars, The Simpsons, and Star Trek, and now Volk-Weiss has turned his lens towards a new pop culture subject: the James Bond film franchise.
This is nothing I haven’t said before, but I am a rabid fan of this franchise. I love every single film, from the classic cool of Sean Connery to the tongue-in-cheek nature of Roger Moore to the short lived steeliness of Timothy Dalton to Pierce Brosnan’s suave sophistication to Daniel Craig’s rough-hewn swagger. Heck, I even love the sole George Lazenby entry, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service!
So I was beyond excited to see Icons Unearthed give the entire 007 filmography (one of the lengthiest in cinema history!) its own multi-episode deep dive. As usual, what makes Icons Unearthed so much fun is not just the sheer number of people involved with the property that the show manages to interview and the great behind the scenes footage they dig up, but the way they put it all together in a light-hearted and zingy way that makes the shows so much fun to watch. Also, I really have to stress how many people the show gets for interviews; from the cast to directors and writers and editors and costumers and drivers and studio executives and editors and special effects people… it’s really impressive
The Bonus Features:
As usual for Icons Unearthed, you get the unedited interviews with several of the key contributors, including an actual Bon, George Lazenby, as well as Bond girls Caroline Monroe and Gloria Hendry, as well as writers and directors John Glen, Martin Campbell, and Jeffrey Caine. All told, you get a whopping thirteen(!) hours of bonus interviews.
Digital Copy Included: No
The Wrap-Up:
While there’s no shortage of making-of material out there on the James Bond franchise, there isn’t anything like Icons Unearthed. This is a treasure trove of material for fans of the greatest spy movie franchise in history!
Blue Sunshine (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + CD)
The Movie:
I get a lot of cult movies from the 1960s through the 1980s to review, and while I can appreciate the value of them and even enjoy a good B-movie, a lot of them don’t do much for me or just aren’t my cup of tea. But there was something about Blue Sunshine that intrigued me. Maybe it was the quality of the packaging by Synapse Films that got me intrigued. I doubt they would create such a gorgeous package for a film that was garbage, you know?
The film starts off with a group of friends having a party, when one of them suddenly loses all his hair and goes on a rampage, violently killing three of them. Unfortunately for Jerry Zipkin, he’s the sole survivor and is blamed for the murders, so he goes on the run, trying to find out what happened, and what the words “blue sunshine” have to do with the murders. Things only get worse when more murders occur, and Jerry — who has a knack for being in the wrong place at the wrong time — becomes the prime suspect for them as well.
I have to say, I really enjoyed Blue Sunshine. Aside from one or two scenes of violence, it isn’t a horror movie so much as a mystery/conspiracy thriller. And while Zalman King (who plays Jerry) might be a familiar face to fans of Red Shoe Diaries, the cast is largely made up of unknowns. That often leads to a string of bad performances, but the acting in Blue Sunshine is pretty impressive across the board. Sure, it’s not high-budget fare, but it feels like a real movie, not a college student film or tax write-off cheapie. This is one of those cult classics that rises above the rest.
The 4K Video/Audio:
Blue Sunshine has been restored and remastered and this release comes with both a 4K Ultra HD disc and a Blu-ray Disc. The 4K Ultra HD adds some punch to the proceedings, notably in terms of the colors taking on more vibrant hues and the image clarity looking as good as a film from the late 1970s could. The audio is presented via either a DTS-HD Master Audio original theatrical mono and a 5.1 surround sound. I opted for the theatrical mono mix and it wisely focuses mostly on dialogue, making sure it remains present in the mix and never sounding too hollow or tinny. All in all, it’s a solid presentation for a film that probably didn’t have the best source material to work with.
The Bonus Features:
I can not stress enough how beautiful the packaging for this release is, with a hard ‘chipboard’ outer sleeve with all-new painted artwork that is truly stunning. Then there’s a slipcover inside of that with even more painted artwork. (Seriously, google this release and see how gorgeous it is!) There are also some physical goodies to be found, including the film’s soundtrack on CD! More on those below.
- Two audio commentaries featuring director Jeff Lieberman
- New introduction to the film by director Jeff Lieberman
- Archival 2003 interview with director Jeff Lieberman
- “Lieberman on Lieberman” video interview
- Channel Z “Fantasy Film Festival” interview with Mick Garris and Jeff Lieberman
- Fantasia Film Festival 4K Premiere Q&A with moderator Michael Gingold and director Jeff Lieberman
- Anti-drug “scare films”: LSD-25 (1967) and LSD: Insight or Insanity? (1968), courtesy of the American Genre Film Archive
- Jeff Lieberman’s first short film The Ringer (Remastered in 4K by Synapse Films from the original camera negative)
- Theatrical trailers
- Still gallery
- Liner notes booklet by Jeff Lieberman, featuring a chapter on the making of Blue Sunshine from his book Day of the Living Me: Adventures of a Subversive Cult Filmmaker from the Golden Age
- Limited edition fold-out poster
- Limited edition remastered CD soundtrack (13 tracks)
Digital Copy Included: No
The Wrap-Up:
There aren’t a ton of these true underground cult movies — the kind that most people haven’t heard of — that I consider a valued part of my collection, but Blue Sunshine will stand out as a real keepsake for me. Definitely track this one down before the limited edition release is gone!
Harbin (Blu-ray)
The Movie:
This Korean release is a war epic set in 1909 as Korea was fighting off the yoke of Japanese occupation. The film’s title comes from a plot by a group of Korean soldiers as they plan to assassinate Japan’s first prime minister, It? Hirobumi, in a Russian-controlled town in China called, you guessed it, Harbin.
And frankly, that’s most of what you need to know about the plot. It’s a war/spy thriller, but unfortunately it’s a bit light in the “thrills” department. This is one of those movies that’s unevenly paced, with long stretches where nothing interesting happens, punctuated by scenes of tension or action. Also unfortunately, the characters are all right out of Central Casting for a war film, meaning there’s no one interesting or memorable to carry the proceedings. There are a few nicely shot scenes when things pick up for some action here or there, but you’ll find yourself counting the minutes until the next sequence before long.
The Bonus Features:
There is one making-of featurette included.
Digital Copy Included: No
The Wrap-Up:
Admittedly, Harbin wasn’t made for American audiences, so maybe it will resonate more with people in Korea than it will in other countries, but sadly I was not terribly impressed with it.
The Eel (Blu-ray)
The Movie:
Radiance Films continues their line of top-notch cult classic and foreign film releases on Blu-ray in limited-edition waves that are reminiscent of Criterion Collection releases with The Eel.
This 1997 movie is from the mind of acclaimed director Shohei Imamura, and it’s a blend of genres including comedy, drama, crime, and thriller. In it, a man who killed his unfaithful wife is released from prison and takes over a rural barber shop with his pet eel. Yep, his pet eel. That’s not a typo. But then, local events casts a pall on him and he starts to find him haunted by his past demons.
The film is clearly a well-loved entry in the director’s filmography, as it went on to share the Palme d’Or at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival (with Abbas Kiarostami’s Taste of Cherry), as well as winning the 1998 Kinema Junpo Award for Best Film of the Year. Personally, I had a little harder time connecting to the material. It’s definitely an odd movie, and it’s clear that it was created that way on purpose, but that made it hard for me to fall in love with it. I can see the talent on display in front of and behind the camera, but I just didn’t connect with it.
The Bonus Features:
This Blu-ray premiere release is limited to 3,000 copies worldwide. It also includes a handful of extras.
- Interview with Tony Rayns
- Interview with writer Daisuke Tongan
- Visual Essay by Tom Mes
- Limited Edition Booklet
Digital Copy Included: No
The Wrap-Up:
I love the quality that Radiance Films has given this release of The Eel, even if it ultimately wasn’t my cup of tea. It’s certainly not a bad movie, and I think there are definitely some film fans who will embrace it, so track it down if it sounds like your kind of thing.
