LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACCIÓN!
ÁLEX DE LA IGLESIA BOX SET, A KINJI FUKASAKU CLASSIC, AND CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK IN 4K
This September, ARROW VIDEO presents Love, Death & Apocalypse: Three Films by Álex de la Iglesia – often hilarious, always stylish, and utterly unpredictable, the films of Spanish director Álex de la Iglesia are an exhilarating shock to the cinematic system, making their UK debut on 4K. Produced by legendary provocateur Pedro Almodóvar, de la Iglesia’s debut feature Acción Mutante is a violent sci-fi black comedy; his second feature, The Day of the Beast (El día de la bestia) is one of the greatest horror comedies of all time; and Perdita Durango, based on a novel by Barry Gifford (author of Wild at Heart), is a twisted tale of love, guns and drugs, starring Rosie Perez (Do the Right Thing), Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men) and James Gandolfini (The Sopranos). The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release (and also available on Limited Edition Blu-ray) comes with a wealth of new and archival extras, the releases feature double-sided fold-out posters, reproduction art cards, an illustrated collector’s booklet, and Limited Edition Deluxe packaging with reversible sleeves.
Arrow Video presents The Threat, a gritty crime drama in the vein of Kurosawa’s High and Low, set against the backdrop of a rapidly modernising Japan that has left many of its citizens behind. Starring Misawa (Rentarō Mikuni, Fugitive from the Past, Vengeance is Mine), this is a little-seen early masterpiece from Kinji Fukasaku, the future director of Battles Without Honour and Humanity and Battle Royale. Presented for the very first time outside of its own country in a stunning new transfer, the Limited Edition Blu-ray includes a reversible sleeve, illustrated collector’s booklet, and a double-sided foldout poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Tony Stella.
Finally in September, on 4K Ultra HD, The Chronicles of Riddick, an expansive and ambitious sequel to the breakthrough sci-fi/horror smash Pitch Black, from writer-director David Twohy and star Vin Diesel. Also starring Keith David (The Thing), Academy Award winner Dame Judi Dench, Colm Feore (Thor) and Karl Urban (The Boys), Twohy and Diesel’s hard-hitting outer-space epic has been restored in glorious 4K, with hours of incisive bonus features exploring every detail of this densely-constructed and masterfully-executed mythology. The three disc Limited Edition set (also available on Blu-ray) includes Theatrical and Director’s cuts of the film, a reversible sleeve featuring newly commissioned artwork, and an illustrated collectors’ booklet.
New Releases
Love, Death & Apocalypse: Three Films by Álex de la Iglesia
Limited Edition 4K UHD 23rd September
Limited Edition Blu-ray 23rd September
Acción Mutante is a violent sci-fi black comedy set in a post-apocalyptic world where attractive people hold all the power and a terrorist group, who see themselves as mutants, take arms to rid the world of their superficial oppressors; in The Day of the Beast (El día de la bestia) a Catholic priest joins forces with a heavy metal fan, and the host of a popular occult TV show to kill the Antichrist on Christmas Eve; Perdita Durango is a twisted tale of love, guns, drugs, voodoo ceremonies, and refrigerated foetuses…
The Threat
Limited Edition Blu-ray 23rd September
Misawa (Rentarō Mikuni, Fugitive from the Past, Vengeance is Mine) appears to lead a charmed life, the very model of Japan’s post-war economic miracle. His position as the account manager of a prestigious advertising agency is enough to pay the mortgage on the spacious modern house he shares with his wife (Masumi Harukawa, Intentions of Murder) and their two young boys, kitted out with all the latest mod-cons. Then one day, the fragility of his existence is revealed when two violent jail-breakers turn up on his doorstep seeking refuge and threatening to embroil Misawa in their criminal activities.
The Chronicles of Riddick
Limited Edition UHD 16th September
Limited Edition Blu-ray 16th September
Riddick (Vin Diesel) is an intergalactic fugitive whose dark past catches up with him when he is lured out of hiding by Imam (Keith David, The Thing), another survivor of the planet of horrors they barely escaped from five years earlier. Now out of the shadows, Riddick is identified by an ethereal emissary (Academy Award winner Dame Judi Dench) as the descendant of an ancient race of warriors who may be the universe’s last hope against the Necromongers, an evil army of fanatics intent on bending the world to their will. As enemies close in on all sides, including the ruthless Lord Marshal (Colm Feore, Thor) and his scheming lieutenant Vaako (Karl Urban, The Boys), Riddick finds himself a reluctant saviour of the cosmos, with only his razor-sharp wits and cunning killer instinct standing in the way of total annihilation.