Finally Diving Into A Nightmare on Elm Street's 4K Box Set While Ted Lasso and Peanuts Get New Discs - Viva Physical Media
Please CODA on 4K and Curb Your Enthusiasm's unenthusiastic Blu-ray set.
As the year wraps up, I finally had the time to really dive into my new Nightmare on Elm Street box set I’d had sitting waiting for me since early October. This is such a big deal movie series for me that I had to truly take the time to watch each movie in its new 4K version and a very busy fall necessitated waiting on that front until now.
There’s also some notable recent physical releases from Apple TV to look at this time out, in the form of Ted Lasso and CODA’s 4K - and hell, even Peanuts has been available via Apple in recent years, so that kinda-sorta counts too. Plus, Curb Your Enthusiasm gets a Blu-ray set that should be cause for celebration… except it isn’t, sadly. So I guess that show’s title was appropriate here!
One thing is consistent about this batch of discs though, which is they are very sad on the bonus features front…
A Nightmare on Elm Street: 7-Film Collection 4K UHD
AVAILABLE NOW
It took them forever, but at last, one of the most popular slasher series of all time — and one that has particularly significance to the childhood of one Eric Goldman — has gotten an updated box set, with the sequels finally available in 4K, following the original 1984 film getting its own individual 4K release in 2024. And yes, it’s truly gratifying to get A Nightmare on Elm Street 2-7 getting first-ever 4K discs in this box set… while still wondering what took so long.
When I wrote about the 40th anniversary of A Nightmare on Elm Street, I mentioned what a big role the series played for me growing up and how much I constantly rewatched these films. Some of the Elm Street movies are far better than others, and there are notable high points (1, 3 and 7 being my personal favorites) and notable lows (Sorry, 5 and 6), but ultimately, I have affection for them all, in one way or the other. Watching these 4Ks is really fantastic and is an inarguable upgrade, as these new transfers were clearly done with a lot of love and care and, aside from the late Wes Craven, the directors of the films oversaw their respective installments. The visual difference and improvement from the transfers on the 2012 Blu-ray set is obvious and some cases, rather remarkable.
Along with the first film, A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge and A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master are the most outstanding 4K transfers here, looking more vibrant and detailed than ever. Still, all the movies are the best they’ve ever looked and sounded, accompanied by terrific Dolby Atmos audio.
Still, there are some downsides, the biggest of which for me is not including Freddy vs. Jason in this set. I get that it’s a weird cross-franchise hybrid movie by its nature, but still, it’s in the same continuity as the previous films and it’s the last movie where Robert Englund played Freddy Krueger. It feels odd to leave it out. (Am I hypocrite for not feeling that way about the 2010 remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street also not been included? I would argue no, because again, that’s a different continuity and a different Freddy… besides being really bad).
And while this really doesn’t affect the quality of the actual product, I have to mention the terrible roll out of the coveted limited edition Amazon-exclusive Steelbook version of this Nightmare set. Over the summer, some fans noticed a listing for it, sans artwork, had popped up and it quickly led to it selling out - before it was even actually officially announced! Meaning there was a big press release and trailer promoting a product that was already unavailable. Warner Bros. refusing to produce any more copies was vexing to say the least. It doesn’t affect the quality of the release and the non-Steelbooks are still readily available, but there is some understandable bitterness around how this was handled.
IS THERE A COMMENTARY:
There are three vintage commentaries - two for the original movie, one for Wes Craven’s New Nightmare. Plus, there are many other bonus features from previous releases, including the 50-minute making of for the first film, and various other deleted scenes and featurettes, with many of the latter going back to the first DVD box set of the Freddy movies 1999. It’s great that they’re included here, as they have plenty of still-appreciated insight and fun stories from the likes of Wes Craven, Robert Englund and many other key contributors to the series…
…but man, the newly created bonus features leave a lot to be desired. I suppose, given how the rest of this column will go, I should be happy any new bonus features were made for the Nightmare 4K collection. But still, only getting two seven-minute featurettes for a set that took this long to happen feels lazy. Robert Englund, New Nightmare Director of Photography Mark Irwin, Freddy’s Revenge director Jack Sholder and Dream Warriors director Chuck Russell are the participants, discussing the overall legacy of the series and their favorite scenes.
But if there was ever the chance to finally get commentaries for the rest of the series, this was it! All of the directors were working on the transfers anyway, so why not have them record a commentary too? And yes, we have the vintage interview clips, but those are more than 25 years old. There is definitely a different perspective that could be explored with more of the cast and crew after this long.
Still, all of that griping aside, am I psyched to have this box set? I am. I adore these movies and at the end of the day, the actual video and audio quality of these new 4K version is fantastic. So I’ll lament that they could have done even more with the presentation around it, but still, I’m happy to at last have this set on my shelf.
Ted Lasso: The Richmond Way 4K UHD
AVAILABLE NOW
Apple TV’s first truly buzzed about, breakout show, Ted Lasso had a topsy turvy run over its (initial) three seasons. Pretty much everyone agreed the first season was excellent TV - a deftly done blend of a genuinely funny comedy with a sweet and emotional core. It took what could be a cliche underdog sports story about an American football coach hired for a UK football team (and the owner secretly rooting for him to fail) and made it something much more touching and even poignant than you might expect. The show could never quite recapture the highs of Season 1, though I didn't agree with those who seemed to think it truly wasn’t good anymore. While Season 2 and 3 do have increasingly diminished returns, there was still a lot of really strong material in there as well that made it worth the continued investment.
Apple TV shows have been inconsistent with physical releases, so with a Blu-ray set of Ted Lasso Season 1-3 already coming out the better part of two years ago, it’s a nice surprise that this 4K set even got made at all. Sure, the title is a bit random — with the series now confirmed to be coming back eventually for Season 4, “The Complete Series” wouldn’t work, but couldn’t they just go with “The Complete Season 1-3” and not “The Richmond Way”? But petty title gripes aside, it’s great to have this set available both for pre-existing fans and as a way to gift this show to others who might not be Apple TV subscribers and who would appreciate what Ted Lasso has to offer. It features a very solid 4K transfer that does look better than the previous Blu-ray, though it’s not so mind-blowing I’d necessarily say you have to upgrade if you already have the Blu. But if you held out until now, the 4K is the way to go.
And yeah, there are some frustrating story decisions made as the show progresses — most notably in Season 3 — but still, Ted Lasso remains a charming series, featuring terrific performances from star Jason Sudeikis and supporting cast members like Hannah Waddingham, Brett Goldstein, Nick Mohammed, Juno Temple and many more, many of whom rightfully got big career boosts from their breakout roles here.
IS THERE A COMMENTARY:
The upgrade to 4K didn’t come accompanied by an upgrade in the bonus features department, because Ted Lasso still comes with absolutely nothing in that regard, despite its popularity.
CODA 4K UHD
AVAILABLE NOW
Continuing on the Apple TV side of things, let’s jump from one of their most popular series to one of the most notable movies released so far by the company in the form of 2022’s Best Picture winner at the Academy Awards - which has finally gotten a physical release.
There were some who felt CODA was too slight to get such a prestigious award, but at the end of the day, even if you felt it was just gently great and not standout great, CODA is a very well made, genuinely heartwarming film. The cast are all wonderful, with Emilia Jones giving an empathetic performance as a teenage girl who’s the only one who can hear among a family who are all otherwise deaf. Troy Kotsur and Marlee Matlin are excellent as her parents, with Kotsur very much deserving of the Oscar he received for his role, and I loved the dynamic between Jones and Daniel Durant as her brother. Writer/Director Sian Heder (who won an Oscar herself for her screenplay) clearly has huge affection for her characters and I was happy to find that a revisit to CODA was still a very touching experience.
And man, I’m just glad to see this movie get a physical release (it also was released on Blu-ray and DVD simultaneously), complete with a beautiful transfer, because it feels ridiculous to have any Best Picture winner from the Oscars confined onto a streaming service.
IS THERE A COMMENTARY:
Nope. You sure wouldn’t guess this is a movie that was this acclaimed and awarded based on its bare bones release, which comes with nary a bonus feature. Ultimately I’d rather have CODA get a physical release with zero extras then not get one at all, but still, this is pretty ridiculous.
Curb Your Enthusiasm: The Complete Series Blu-ray
AVAILABLE NOW
Over its 12-season/24-year (!) run, Curb Your Enthusiasm had its ups and downs in the manner most long-running series inevitably will, with some seasons being notably stronger and funnier than others. But along the way, it also delivered some truly hysterical, all time great TV comedy moments and episodes, powered by Larry David and his collaborators, along with some amazing guest stars up for the show’s improvisational style and dark humor. There’s something very special and rare about the show’s production cycle (or lack thereof) too, with David basically allowed free rein to come and go as he pleased by HBO, doing another season whenever it struck his fancy.
All of which is to say, it’s awesome we got a complete series Blu-ray set… except it has some huge flaws that really should never have been allowed to go into production. One reason HBO could be so lax about Curb on the production side was that it was a pretty low budget series, despite the big stars who popped up, and Season 1-6 of the show were made so long that they were presented in 1.33:1 aspect ratio. However, rather than preserving this, the Blu-ray though does a truly atrocious reframing to match Season 7-12 and their 1.78:1 aspect ratio, which is among the more egregious in terms of how obvious it is the show was not meant to look the way it does on these discs.
This includes stuff like the top of actors’ heads frequently cut off and other extremely awkward framing that often undercuts and distracts from the comedy. An attempt to upscale the image also looks terrible, taking what was once a charmingly grainy look and now making it nearly unwatchable. Obviously this isn’t an issue for Seasons 7-12, but many would agree some of the best episodes are in those early days. This a rare case where the DVD versions of are the superior ones given how botched this is.
Yes, we’ve seen 1.33:1 shows like The Wire updated to 1.78:1 with a pretty strong end result, but the painstaking care given to updating a project like that clearly wasn’t the case here at all. It’s a shoddy way to treat a series as beloved as this one.
IS THERE A COMMENTARY:
No, which is maddening because for some reason this release omits the commentary on the show’s pilot episode that was on its DVD release.
The other bonus features from previous releases are at least ported over - though it’s funny to see how for the later seasons, these are nearly all very short featurettes that run just a couple of minutes, vs. the longer conversations and overviews that run far longer on the earlier seasons and are, naturally, much more informative.
So yeah, nothing new on the bonus front, and the commentaries are missing, and the picture on the first six seasons is basically ruined. That is pretty, pretty terrible…
Peanuts: 75th Anniversary Ultimate TV Specials Collection Blu-ray
AVAILABLE NOW
The title of this set says “Ultimate” and not “Complete” for a reason, because with 40 Peanuts specials here, this is the biggest collection Charlie Brown and his pals have ever gotten for sure… and yet it still doesn’t have every special ever made.
Still, there’s something pretty great about getting this much of an overview of Peanuts through the decades in one set. Obviously, this includes the perennial classics set at Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas, along with other holiday specials set on everything from Easter to Valentine’s Day to, in an amusing touch, Arbor Day. And there are some fun deep cuts here, including one that will always amuse me - 1984’s It’s Flashbeagle, Charlie Brown, which is one of the only times a Peanuts special was so specifically of its time, complete with Snoopy in leg warmers.
Unlike the Curb Your Enthusiasm set, the original full frame aspect ratio is preserved, and the transfers are mostly solid, especially with the earlier (and most popular) specials, which have been often already been given some restorations through the years. It is a bit ironic that it’s the most recent specials included here, from the early 2000s, that have some of the weakest transfers, as it appears no work was done to actually restore or clean them up from the original source material. This goes for some of the rarer specials as well (including ones far less remembered than the likes of Flashbeagle), though mileage will vary on how charming or annoying you find some of the visible scratches and such.
Would it have been great to get a full scale restoration of all 40 of these specials? Of course. But at the same time, the rarities are mostly interesting as curiosities - there are some decent ones, sure, but the specials people remember most do actually tend to be the best ones in this case. At the end of the day, as a lifelong Peanuts fan, I am grateful to have this many specials collected like this, including some I’d never seen before.
Of course, we have to close out with one major complaint, and yeah, it’s a familiar one…
IS THERE A COMMENTARY:
Hah! Why should one of the most beloved kids properties of all time get a commentary or a even a single other bonus feature to discuss the decades-old legacy and multiple generations of fans Peanuts has created?
Good grief indeed…