by Matt Marshall
JJ Abrams’ latest installment of the rebooted Star Trek franchise has unquestionably divided Trekkies and casual audiences alike on many counts. The debate will continue to rage on this Tuesday as Star Trek Into Darkness leads this week’s new releases which also include: Star Trek: Stardate Collection, Tyler Perry Presents Peeples, Friday the 13th: The Complete Collection, Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th and Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas – 20th Anniverary Edition.
Star Trek Into Darkness picks up where the 2009 film left off, where Kirk (Chris Pine) is still a hotheaded captain lacking experience and respect for the big chair. Kirk and his crew of the Enterprise are put to the test when an ex-Starfleet officer turned renegade terrorist (Benedict Cumberbatch) wages war on the Federation. Like the previous film, Into Darkness borrows heavily from the original timeline, stemming much of the audience debate.
Star Trek is released this Tuesday from Paramount Pictures in various formats and exclusives. The standard two formats available are a Blu-ray, DVD, Digital Copy, UltraViolet combo pack as well as a 3D version featuring a 3D copy added to the contents of the standard edition.
Walmart, Best Buy, Target and Amazon are all offering their own exclusives for Into Darkness. Walmart will be releasing two exclusives including the standard combo pack bundled with the 2009 version on Blu-ray as well as a steelbook packaged together with a 1:50 scale Hot Wheels version of the villain ship. Likewise, Target will be offering up bonus discs and alternate packaging for the standard and 3D combo packs. Best Buy’s exclusive will also have alternate artwork as well as additional features. Lastly, Amazon’s 3D version gift set includes a phaser and exclusive packaging featuring Captain Kirk.
For Trekkies missing the previous installments in their collection, Paramount Pictures will also be streeting a 12-disc Star Trek: Stardate Collection featuring the first 10 movies on Blu-ray together in one set. These films have been released previously in individual releases and in various boxsets for The Original Series films and The Next Generation films. Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness are not part of this set.
Switching gears from space…the final frontier, Lionsgate Films will be releasing Tyler Perry Presents Peeples on Blu-ray this Tuesday as a Blu-ray, UltraViolet combo pack. Peeples stars Craig Robinson, Kerry Washington and David Allen Grier. Unlike Temptation earlier this year, Tyler Perry is only credited as a producer for Peeples rather than a director and writer.
With Friday the 13th occurring this week, Warner Bros. is released the entire Friday the 13th franchise in one comprehensive boxset. The Jason Voorhees slasher franchise is distributed over 10 discs and includes an UltraViolet digital copy as well. The set includes crossover film Freddy vs. Jason as well as the 2009 reboot. This boxset also marks the first time that seven of the 12 installments will be making their Blu-ray debuts.
To coincide with the boxset release, 1428 Pictures is releasing Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th. This documentary includes seven hours of interviews and behind the scenes materials over the four-disc Blu-ray, DVD set.
Wrapping up this week, Buena Vista Home Entertainment is celebrating the 20th anniversary of Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas with another re-release packaging a 3D copy of the film with the Blu-ray, DVD and Digital Copy. For fans not interested in the 3D, a Blu-ray, DVD version will also be available.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Matt Marshall is a YouTube movie reviewer who hosts MNMreviews. He has a B.A. in Communications/Journalism from St. John Fisher College and resides in Rochester, NY.
