I could've sworn we had a thread devoted to this Australian label, as they've been around for years now, and relatively recently started reissuing some of their Aussie discs in North America via Vinegar Syndrome / OCN.

If a previous thread exists (beside a rarely updated one in the sales forum), feel free to merge, but I figured their latest releases might be a good opportunity to keep an eye on them here. Like their SUPER MARIO (93) editions, these are way too overpackaged and overpriced for my money, and I can't see whether they're region coded or not, but hopefully it's a sign that THE HITCHER, at least, could finally turn up in North America one of these days.

Also nice to see films from early in the Korean Cinema renaissance being given some overdue appreciation. If it wasn't for a steady stream of great films made there from 1999 onward, by Lee and many others, that caught a lot of western viewers by surprise, we probably wouldn't have global interest in Korean pop culture that we have today, or at least it certainly would've evolved much differently. Cinematically, so many films from that era are ripe for revisitation (beyond the usual suspects like the VENGEANCE trilogy, JSA, TWO SISTERS, etc, but who know what we'll eventually see.



Feb 21, 2024

Standard Edition:
https://shop.umbrellaent.com.au/prod...ction_fallback
Deluxe Edition:
https://shop.umbrellaent.com.au/prod...oster-artcards



Feb 21, 2024

https://shop.umbrellaent.com.au/prod...ction_fallback



Also announced for February, mostly with legacy extras and new stuff YouTubers and Podcasters, for better and for worse, I'm sure, plus gainful employment for various graphic artists. I'm sure the US editions of some of these are probably just fine:

RED CORNER
STIGMATA (regular and deluxe)
FLESH + BLOOD (regular and deluxe)
BLUEBEARD



April Releases. These are the overblown, over-packaged, over-priced limited editions, but there are regular editions as well. Mostly legacy extras with some new bits here and there. Like a lot of Australian releases nowadays, these are expensive (as are the standard editions) but they might provide an idea of titles to expect from UK and US distributors in time. Dex already noted in the 88 Films thread that they've got MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE in the pipeline, so that's one down (although the fact that Umbrella actually increased the amount of Gary Goddard content in theirs make me a bit queasy that these companies are sidestepping his sex abuse scandal, even if it is archival material).




https://shop.umbrellaent.com.au/coll...oster-artcards



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https://shop.umbrellaent.com.au/coll...oster-artcards
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https://shop.umbrellaent.com.au/coll...ts/ransom-1974

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Bully is actually a March release, but wasn't mentioned in my earlier post:

https://shop.umbrellaent.com.au/coll...oster-artcards

Bully is a great movie but damn, it is a hard watch nowdays, almost to the point of gross.

For someone out there, their favorite movie just got massively undeserved fantastic treatment.

If they're doing Bully, I wonder if they would tackle Kids.

COFFY I just got and was not pleased with the quality of the blu-ray.
I should have just stuck with my dvd.

That nice packaging of COFFY got me to buy it.
I mean the slip cover not the poster art.

I’d still like to get the 4K of Super Mario Bros. at some point.

Not a disc announcement (yet) but they’ve done a 4K restoration of Wake in Fright.

There is a youtube review that MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE Umbrella blu-ray which is supposed to be Region B is All Region.
Anybody have a copy to test this out?

I don't own the disc but I've contacted someone who I trust and will confirm the first pressing is indeed all regions instead of the Region B listing found on the backcover. Not sure if it's an intentional mistake or Umbrella's license gave them that leeway. It's very possible the disc was supposed to be Region B. Generally studios have gotten looser on region coding when licensing films out to the Australian labels in the past few years.

Looks like Umbrella is holding a B1G1 Free sale on their website at the moment.

https://shop.umbrellaent.com.au/prod...b88ec021&_ss=r

It’s pretty common for Australian discs to say one thing but be Region Free.

I placed my order then!

Umbrella’s certainly going all-in on the TERRIFIER franchise.



That’s their biggest set with all four movies (yes, four) plus tons of junk, overpriced like most of their releases (especially if you’re shipping to North America), but they have a bunch of combos, singles, and merch here:
https://shop.umbrellaent.com.au/coll...ier-collection

I don't care for the series but that is an awesome looking set!

I just ordered this one:

I wasn't impressed by Umbrella's UHD for Possession (1981). Director-approved supposedly but doesn't look substantially better than the BD.

Just realized this one hasn’t been updated in a while, so here are the releases for May to August. These are all the deluxe versions, as I just pull the images from their announcement emails, but standards are available as well. As always, some of these might end up distributed way down the road in the U.S. by Vinegar Syndrome because of Umbrella’s deal with them.

https://shop.umbrellaent.com.au/

May:










June:





July









August

A new Infernal Affairs trilogy 4K box set from Australia with new bonus features. I already have the Criterion box set and with the Tariffs, I doubt I will get this even though this one of my favorite crime movie movie series.

X - Formerly Twitter

The first movie was very good..The other 2 were terrible..

That Infernal Affairs set is $110 plus shipping and possibly tariffs coming from Australia.

A little too rich for me, especially since I already own the Criterion set.

For the record, I thought 1 was excellent, 2 was good and 3 was unnecessary.

Despite posting Umbrella updates here, I don’t really buy their stuff, in part because the prices are ridiculous, even here in Canada where tariffs are less of an issue (but customs has become way overzealous about dinging every parcel with duties). I tend to think of their releases as bellwethers for stuff that might get released in North America down the road.

These are the other January releases teased in their email alongside INFERNAL AFFAIRS. WASABI is one I wouldn’t mind updating from the old US dvd, but not at down-under prices for excess packaging and only two new bonus items.

I’ve skipped posting a lot of recent Umbrella releases because most of us don’t bother with them (and they’re expensive), but I thought that in light of Vinegar Syndrome’s recent announcement of yet another 4K edition of Hal Needham’s RAD, it was worth noting that Umbrella just announced their deluxe version, which probably gives an idea of what VS’s version will contain:




Umbrella is also releasing a deluxe edition of a far more enjoyable 80’s BMX movie, Brian Trenchard-Smith’s action-adventure BMX BANDITS. This may or may not be up Vinegar Syndrome’s alley – personally I think it is – but I wouldn’t be surprised if a some US boutique picks it up with the additional bonus features.

Both of these Umbrella editions are coming in June, and both are kinda summer-y movies, so perhaps they’ll see North American releases around the same time.







Also coming in June, despite the generally awful reviews it got, here and elsewhere:

Rad actually has a U.S. 4K release with a lot of content. It’s a little expensive hovering close to $35.

I actually saw it for the first time last year on Kanopy. I liked it, but not enough to pay top tier premium prices. It’s a fun little 80s teen flick.

^ And surely that’s a decent package for 4K buffs. I picked up Mill Creek’s Blu-ray version of that from Amazon a couple of years ago for about $10. I sold it onwards after watching it, but it’s a more-than-respectable edition at a justifiable price. I really just wanted to see what the fuss was about after the VS 4K sold out so fast (I had no interest). I just didn’t feel it but I get why others do. I believe the Umbrella and upcoming VS editions now bring the total to four 4K releases (maybe five if you count the VS repeat 4K with a different cover or slip or whatever?). It’s kinda ridiculous. The movie never had so many reissues on VHS or DVD, and few cared about it until VS got the FOMO bandwagon rolling.

Severin’s BMX BANDITS Blu-ray was likewise fine for that one, and it was much more affordably-priced in their sales eventually. It’s OOP now but seems to hover in the $25 to $35 range. However, with Umbrella needlessly upgrading it to 4K – which absolutely won’t make it any better or worse than anyone already thinks it is – it’s probably a given that it’ll be back on Severin’s upcoming slate soon at a premium sticker price. Sigh.