July's best Blu-ray and 4K UHD releases: Challengers, The Fall Guy, The Boy And The Heron, and Risky Business

Available July 2, 2024

Almost exactly 20 years after introducing the world to Will Ferrell’s Ron Burgundy, news anchor for KVWN Channel 4 in Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Burgundy, Paramount is staying classy with a special 4K UHD anniversary release. The three-disc set includes a new 4K version of the original theatrical cut, plus the two discs from the 2011 Blu-ray edition. All of the bonus features and the extended cut from the previous release have been retained, including the supplemental film Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie, created using outtakes from the original. There’s also a commentary with the filmmaker Adam McKay and Will Ferrell, plus many of the other cast members, a blooper reel, a table read, audition footage, and more.

Available July 2, 2024

Weird Al’s 1989 cult classic UHF returns with a special new Shout! Factory release in 4K UHD. There are several editions available for purchase, from the basic box with just the 4K and Blu-ray discs for $35.99 to a $129.99 deluxe collector’s edition that includes some fun little items like an exclusive poster, a “Smell-O-Vision” sticker set, a Spatula City fridge magnet, a squishy remote control, and a set of five enamel pins. All of them include a bunch of bonus features like commentary with Weird Al and director Jay Levey, footage from a 2014 Comic-Con panel, deleted scenes, Easter eggs, behind the scenes featurettes, and lots of other treats for fans.

Available July 2, 2024

The production of Sam Peckinpah’s last true western, Pat Garrett And Billy The Kid, was so troubled it soured the studio on his work and nearly ended his career. The version that eventually premiered in theaters in 1973 was heavily edited without his supervision (he tried and failed to get his name removed from it) and soundly rejected by both audiences and critics, who expected more from the director of The Wild Bunch. When MGM finally released Peckinpah’s version, though, people started to come around to it. The Criterion Collection’s new 4K UHD and Blu-ray special edition offers three different versions of the film, including the original theatrical release, the 50th anniversary release, and the legendary 124-minute preview cut Peckinpah screened for a few select audiences before the film was taken away from him and cut to shreds. All of them feature an uncompressed monaural soundtrack so you can fully appreciate the score by Bob Dylan (who also has a small role in the film). As usual, Criterion also throws in some additional material for film scholars, like a making of documentary and an essay by author Steve Erickson.

Available July 9, 2024

Beloved animation master Hayao Miyazaki came out of retirement to make The Boy And The Heron, a personal and intimate fantasy adventure. Now, the Oscar-winning feature is making its U.S. debut on disc courtesy of Shout! Factory. Available in both a two-disc set or a limited-edition steelbook edition, the new release includes 7.1 surround sound in both English and Japanese so you’ll get the same great listening experience whether you prefer to watch without subtitles. Among the special featuers are interviews with composer Joe Hisaishi and animation supervisor Takeshi Honda. Honda also provides a drawing lesson for aspiring artists.

Available July 9, 2024

Another new film coming to physical media this month for the first time is Challengers, Luca Guadagnino’s sexy, fast-paced take on love and tennis. The film thrusts Zendaya, as former tennis star-turned coach Tashi Duncan, into a complicated triangle with two competitive pro players–her husband Art, played by Mike Feist, and her former boyfriend (and Art’s former best friend) Patrick (played by Josh O’Connor). There hasn’t been a 4K edition announced for this film, or any indication there will be, so even though this release is bare bones, it may be the only chance you’ll have for a while to add this excellent film to your collection.

Available July 9, 2024

Another notable Criterion Collection release for true cinephiles, especially anyone who loves noir or neo-noir, Jean‑Pierre Melville’s Le Samouraï is getting a new 4K digital restoration. Criterion calls this melange of detective films, American gangster cinema, Japanese lone-warrior mythology, and French pop culture a “masterpiece of cool.” The new special edition includes interviews with Melville and the cast, a documentary about Melville’s collaboration with lead actor Alain Delon, an essay from director John Woo, whose work has been heavily influenced by the film, and more.

Available July 16, 2024

Wim Wenders’ Perfect Days kind of slipped through the cracks among last year’s very strong crop of Oscar contenders, but this beautiful and underrated film that any Wenders fan or German cinema completist will want to add to their collection. Koji Yakusho stars in this Tokyo-set drama about a janitor whose inner life is revealed through his interactions with the world around him. This director-approved release from Criterion includes new interviews with both him and Yashuko. They also threw in Wenders’ 2023 short film “Somebody Comes Into The Light” and some other goodies that fans should appreciate.

Available July 19, 2024

You can pick up a copy of Jonathan Glazer’s haunting, Oscar-nominated World War II drama The Zone Of Interest in 4K and Blu-ray exclusively on A24's website. It comes with a set of postcards with photography stills by renowned Polish photojournalists Agata Grzybowska and Kuba Kaminski. Extras on the discs include a making-of documentary featuring optional commentary by the production designer, costume designer, cinematographer and editor. There’s also a short about the recording of Joseph Wulf’s Yiddish song “Sunbeams” for the film. The Oscar-winning sound design gets a showcase in 7.1 Dolby TrueHD and Dolby Atmos.

Available July 23, 2024

The Fall Guy didn’t exactly rock the box office the way it was expected to this summer, but maybe it will find a new life on home video. It’s just the kind of popcorn-fueled crowd-pleaser you can put on for a fun movie night at home with the crew. The 4K edition features an extended cut with 20 minutes of additional footage, a gag reel, alternate takes, individual featurettes on five of the big stunt sequences, commentary with director David Leitch and producer Kelly McCormic (on both cuts), and a lot more. A 4K steelbook edition will also be available exclusively through Walmart, with different cover art (pictured above) and all the same extras.

Available July 23, 2024

You’ll soon be able to make your own TV glow with the sights and sounds of iIndie festival favorite and one of our top films of the year so far, I Saw The TV Glow. Jane Schoenbrun’s tale of obsession and the power of collective memory sticks with you long after the screen has faded to black. It looks like this release will be a bare bones Blu-ray, available on the A24 shop and at other select retailers by the end of the month. It’ll be your first chance to own it, but likely not the last. So if you want to hold out for a possible (as yet unannounced) 4K release, you might not want to rush to pick this one up.

Available July 23, 2024

There’s something about a Criterion release that can suddenly give a film, especially a slick sex comedy from the 1980s, a new air of highbrow cachet. As if, by virtue of Criterion treating it with reverence and respect, cinema snobs are allowed to admit they like it. This month, the esteemed distribution company is giving some of that shine to Risky Business, the film that made Tom Cruise a star (and his first to get a Criterion release). For this special edition, director Paul Brickman and producer Jon Avnet supervised a restoration of the director’s cut and the theatrical release, both of which are included in the set. It includes archival material as well as new interviews with Avnet, casting director Nancy Klopper, editor Richard Chew, and film historian Bobbie O’Steen.