Companion, Career Opportunities, Sneakers, The Hunt and Much More Hit 4K - Viva Physical Media
Plus Complete Series Blu-ray sets for Captain Planet and Cheyenne and more - including freaking Timecop!
John Wayne fighting in World War II, Jean-Claude Van Damme traveling through time, Jennifer Connelly spending the night in a Target store, and Sophie Thatcher getting in touch with her inner robot are just a few of the many recent Blu-ray and 4K UHD releases I’m diving into this time out. So let’s get to it!
Hysteria Season One (and only) Blu-Ray
Debuting this past October, Hysteria! was very much up my alley, but I wasn’t too surprised when it was unfortunately cancelled after only one season. Because while it aired on Peacock, this was the kind of niche genre series that felt like it should have probably been on something like Shudder from the get go. The series had impressive talent both behind the camera and in front of it, with Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley (Game Night, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves) among the EPs and both the pilot and season finale directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts (Kong: Skull Island), along with a great cast that included Julie Bowen, Anna Camp and the legend that is Bruce Campbell.
The final product was a lot of fun too, with its focus on three teenage boys (Emjay Anthony, Chiara Aurelia, Kezii Curtis) in the 1980s who decide to turn themselves into a Satanic metal band, to capitalize on the Satanic Panic of the era. It really got its satirical tone right and proved once more why Satanic Panic is always ripe for a modern movie to look back upon, such as 2020’s We Summon the Darkness.
While it’s a bare bones release, given this screamed cult series from the start — and who knows if it’ll always be on Peacock — I’m just glad Hysteria! got a physical release at all for fans to add to their shelves.
Is There a Commentary?
No commentary and no bonus material at all for this one. Which is too bad, because some very funny and clever people were involved in making this show and it would be great to hear from them about making it.
Timecop 4K + Blu-ray
Jean-Claude Van Damme found a solid collaborator for his specific skill set during the brief era in the 1990s when he worked with director Peter Hyams, giving JCVD a couple of his best movies in the process. And while Sudden Death is the better of the two, there’s still a lot to enjoy if you give yourself over to the goofy charms of Timecop, which still stands as Van Damme’s highest grossing movie where he played the lead.
The plot involves… I mean, you can kind of figure it out from the title, right? Suffice to say, time travel exists and Van Damme’s Agent Max Walker is part of the organization that polices said time travel. Ron Silver is an inspired choice as the film’s villain and the movie has some fun with its concept and how time is altered along the way as Walker travels from the far future of 2004 back to 1994 (the year the movie opened). Plus, it has one of the best “Van Damme does the splits and shows off his butt” moments in that actor’s long career of doing just that!
This new 4K from Shout! is a big upgrade for a film that long needed it (but likely wasn’t a priority for Universal), adding a lot more detail to a film that often looked far too dark in previous home releases.
Is There a Commentary?
There is not. In fact, there is no bonus features at all, which is highly unusual and vexing for a Shout! release.
The Hunt 4K + Blu-ray
Released right before Covid put the world on pause — it was actually the last in-person junket I did before lockdown — The Hunt received a fairly divisive response. But I had a good time with its very broad, satirical take on a “people hunting other people for sport” story, where the big swerve is that it’s a group of liberals organizing this hunt, with the targets coded as Trump supporters - AKA “deplorables.”
The film’s politics are inevitably messy in a way that feels intentional yet also never narrows in enough to feel all that deep. The Hunt is operating at a wacky, heightened level and there isn’t a lot of extra layers to its story beyond flipping who you would think is hunting who in our ridiculously and dangerously splintered modern society, but it is a genuinely entertaining watch and gets tremendous mileage out of the presence of the wonderful Betty Gilpin as its lead. Gilpin and Hilary Swank also have a big final fight scene that is a true crowd-pleasing standout (though seeing Swank looking great in a fight onscreen again just makes me once more lament her not doing a Cobra Kai guest appearance. Sigh…)
Is There a Commentary?
Visually, The Hunt 4K disc isn’t a massive upgrade from Universal’s 2020 Blu-ray, but Scream Factory/Shout! continues to deliver on the bonus features front with their first-ever 4K discs of Universal movies from the recent — or in this case, recent-ish — past. There are three commentaries here, including a solo one from director Craig Zobel and another with Zobel joined by DP Darran Tiernan, Editor Jane Rizzo, Production Designer Matt Munn, and Stunt Coordinator Hank Amos. While it would have been nice for writers Nick Cuse and Damon Lindelof (always a funny and insightful participant) to join them, it’s hard to complain about all the info we get here about the production. On top of that, there’s a third commentary from Film Critic Emily Higgins.
The writing side is at least represented by Cuse, who is among the four new interviews on the Blu-ray Disc, along with composer Nathan Barr and cast members Wayne Duvall and Reed Birney. There are also three featurettes ported over from Universal’s Blu-ray. As someone who felt The Hunt did get unfairly buried due to the timing of its release, it’s definitely nice to see it finally get this type of presentation.
Captain Planet and the Planeteers The Complete Franchise Blu-ray
Captain Planet and the Planeteers has long been ripe for parody thanks to how commendably yet also amusingly big it went with its messaging about helping the planet. There was nothing subtle about Captain Planet, but hey, why should it be? Here was a bright blue superhero and his plucky teen allies ready to save the environment! To revisit the show now is a mixture of nostalgic amusement, admiration for its frequent and widespread life lessons, and acknowledgement of just how cheesy it usually is. I have no idea if someone who wasn’t for it the first time could go with the flow, but for those of us who remember growing up with the series, it’s pretty fun to look back on these episodes.
And if nothing else, it’s hard not to be impressed by the cast they for for this show at the time, who were attracted to the idea of making a kids cartoon that was actually about something important. Though many of the bigger names would fall by the wayside as the series continued, the show’s first season boasted everyone from Meg Ryan to Martin Sheen to Whoopi Goldberg to Jeff Goldblum voicing various heroes and villains.
Following a DVD release last year, this Blu-ray set features every episode of the series across its two distinct eras, including the 4th-6th season, when Hanna-Barbera took over production and the series was rebranded The New Adventures of Captain Planet.
Is There a Commentary?
In his rush to save the planet, Captain Planet skipped any bonus features.
Companion 4K
Still a favorite for me amongst 2025’s movies, Companion is an impressive feature film debut for writer/director Drew Hancock. Sophie Thatcher is incredibly compelling as Iris, a robotic companion who is unaware of her true nature when she’s taken by her “boyfriend” (Jack Quaid) to a weekend getaway with his friends. Though I do wish Iris’ true nature had been kept from marketing, it is only the first secret revealed in a film that has a lot of very entertaining twists and turns throughout its run time. Quaid is great working opposite Thatcher, proving once more that an actor that exudes genuine nice guy energy on and off screen can expertly subvert that perception as well.
Hancock gives the movie a lot of visual pop that stands out on the 4K, from Iris’ throwback 1950s look to the lovely yet ominous greenery surrounding their rich host’s large house. And the film’s mixture of horror and comedy carries you through its story and its themes about power and control and men who wish to dominate someone in their lives, rather than find a true partner.
I was bummed Companion didn’t find a larger audience in theaters but hopefully its afterlife on digital, streaming and its great-looking 4K helps it hook in with more people.
Is There a Commentary?
No, and this feels like a vexing example of how little is often done for modern physical releases from major studios. There are three featurettes, running about five minutes each, which feel like interesting prologues for longer spotlights on the film and its themes we don’t get.
Sands of Iwo Jima 4K + Blu-ray
One of John Wayne’s most notable and acclaimed films, Sands of Iwo Jima stands out for its mythologizing look at a key battle of World War II — the Battle of Iwo Jima — just four years after it occurred, and its use of some real life participants of that battle among the cast. And while the film is definitely made in the midst of “rah-rah” post-war patriotism and pride, it’s more layered than one might expect for a film of this sort of its era, especially when it comes to Wayne’s Sgt. John M. Stryker - a tough as nails hard ass on his men who’s also kind of a mess in his downtime, getting embarrassingly drunk and barely holding it together.
The film takes its time getting to that battle, traveling with Stryker and his men from New Zealand to Tarawa, as we learn more about what makes these men tick. It definitely evokes all the cliches of “old timey” war films of this sort, including the exaggerated, easily identifiable types we meet among the soldiers, but there is an earnestness to it that makes it work, by and large. (Though it does make me laugh whenever they talk about Stryker by name, which is often, because if I hear about an authority figure called Stryker, my mind is going to Robert Stack in Airplane! every single time)
Kino Lorber’s new 4K boasts a phenomenal transfer that is one of those “I never thought this movie could look this good” examples when it comes to a film this old, which has been seen countless times across TV and cable showings for generations, often looking rather terrible in terms of visual damage from the source material. Here, it looks far better and clearer than it ever had on a TV screen.
Is There a Commentary?
There is a rather insightful new commentary by historian Steve Mitchell and author Steven Jay Rubin that big fans of Sands of Iwo Jima should really appreciate, in terms of how it explores both the film’s real life background and the approach of turning it into this classic movie. There’s also featurette that is now 32 years old (!) with critic Leonard Martin, featuring interviews with John Wayne’s son and some of the cast.
Career Opportunities 4K + Blu-ray
Let’s be honest, it’s pretty funny to see Career Opportunities get a fancy 4K release, complete with multiple new special features. Amongst John Hughes’ impressive career as a screenwriter (and sometime director), this is very much a lesser entry, with little of the pop culture impact of most of his films… except for the fact that it left a very big impression on a generation of young men when they saw Jennifer Connelly in it.
Plotwise, Career Opportunities feels like something Hughes did during a time crunch, because it’s basic pitch could be described as “Home Alone + a touch of Breakfast Club… and it’s set inside a Target.” Frank Whaley and Jennifer Connelly’s two college-aged characters get locked inside a Target overnight, begin to bond (and fall for each other) despite their different upbringings, and then… two bumbling burglars show up and our heroes must foil them!
Whaley and Connelly are charming together (and, yeah, Connelly is also incredibly objectified running around, roller skating, and, um, riding a mechanical horse, in that form fitting tank top) while real life brothers Dermot and Kieran Mulroney have fun as the dorky bad guys. But the movie, directed by Bryan Gordon, never feels like anything more than a lark from a writer who delivered much more insightful and far funnier material during his career.
Is There a Commentary?
The 4K of Career Opportunities looks solid, offering a step above the Blu-ray - and obviously a massive jump from the VHS and cable showings most will remember it from. And on the extras front, there are actually two commentaries. A decent commentary from director Gordon — recently recorded for an Australian release that was released earlier this year — offers some solid stories about the production, including Hughes recruiting his pal and frequent collaborator John Candy for his cameo. There’s also a commentary from Chicago Critics Film Festival Producer Erik Childress, who does a commendable job of offering analysis on the conception of characters in movie that feels pretty basic.
On top of that, there’s a fun interview with the Mulroney brothers, plus a more dry chat with director of photography Donald McAlpine. It’s not shocking in the least to not have Jennifer Connelly participate in the bonus features, but what is offered here is way more than one might ever expect Career Opportunities to get.
Cheyenne The Complete Series Blu-ray
While it can’t match the 431 (!!) episodes of Bonanza or the 635 (!!!) episodes of Gunsmoke, the “mere” 108 episodes of Cheyenne, airing from 1955-1962, is still a notable TV success story from the era of the dominance of the Western - starting with the fact that it was the first-ever hour-long Western to air.
Clint Walker makes for a very charismatic leading man as the title character, Cheyenne Bodie - so named because he’s a white man who was raised by the Cheyenne. More nuanced than other Westerns of the time, Cheyenne’s hero declares, of Native Americans, “They’re only fighting for what’s theirs. We pushed them right down into the desert and now we’re even taking that from them.”
Cheyenne was an adventure of the week show, lacking almost zero ongoing story. Walker was the only ongoing cast member, as we simply followed Cheyenne as he wanders the West, helping out those who need it. But for those who enjoy Westerns, it has its enjoyable, old school charms, anchored around Walker’s calm and confident energy.
Boasting new masters from 4K scans of the original camera negatives, WB Archive’s 30-disc Cheyenne: The Complete Series Blu-ray release looks terrific for a TV show of that era, with the 1950s black and white series, and its abundance of real life exterior locations, often feeling impressively cinematic at times.
Is There a Commentary?
No, there’s only one bonus feature - “The Lonely Gunfighter: The Legacy of Cheyenne,” which features an interview with Clint Walker conducted for the release of Cheyenne’s first season on DVD in 2006 (the actor passed away in 2018 at the age of 90). Still, in a time where many classic TV series remain elusive, WB giving this series a new release with high quality new scans like this is something to be grateful for.
Sneakers 4K + Blu-ray
“They don’t make ‘em like they used to” can be an overused phrase but it’s hard not to think it watching Sneakers in 2025. Director Phil Alden Robinson’s follow-up to Field of Dreams is a notably breezy, charming take on a heist/espionage movie that boasts a ridiculously talented and eclectic cast led by Robert Redford and including Ben Kingsley, Sidney Poitier, David Strathairn, Dan Aykroyd, River Phoenix, Mary McDonnell and James Earl Jones. In another reality, maybe we got a whole franchise about Redford’s Martin Bishop and his likable team of hackers, but while that didn’t happen, Sneakers’ reputation has rightfully only grown through the years. The fact that several of these actors generally leaned toward films with far more gravitas only makes it more fun and impressive to see how well they pull off the material here.
Though not a visually striking movie — Robinson has a way with characters and tone but has never been notably stylistic — it’s still gratifying to finally have Sneakers in 4K, given its previous releases had notably weak transfers, and the upgrade in clarity here is very obvious.
Is There a Commentary?
There are two archive commentaries ported over, both featuring Phil Alden Robinson - one with his fellow Sneakers writers, Lawrence Lasker and Walter F. Parkes, and the other with cinematographer John Lindley.
A previously released 40-minute “Making of” documentary produced for the film’s 2003 DVD is also included on the Blu-ray. While it might have been nice to get something more contemporary to explore both how Sneakers’ has stood the test of time and how its story might differ today, given how different technology is, there’s still plenty of great info provided here about how the film came together.