New DVD and Blu-ray Releases for the Week of April 15

April 15, 2025

From the Big Screen:

Sonic the Hedgehog 3

(2024) Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails reunite against a powerful new adversary, Shadow, a mysterious villain with powers unlike anything they have faced before. With their abilities outmatched in every way, Team Sonic must seek out an unlikely alliance in hopes of stopping Shadow and protecting the planet. Vitals: Director: Jeff Fowler. Stars: Voices of Jim Carrey, Ben Schwartz, Keanu Reeves, Idris Elba, Colleen O’Shaughnessey, James Marsden, Krysten Ritter. CC, MPAA rating: PG, 110 min., Family Action, Theatrical release date: December 20, 2024, North American box office gross: $230.5 million, worldwide $462.5 million, Paramount. Formats: DVD, 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo + Digital Code, 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo + Digital Code Steelbook, VOD, Digital. Extras: Commentary by director Jeff Fowler and the voice of Sonic Ben Schwartz; “Sonic Family Fun”; “Robotnik Family Reunion”; “For the Love of Sonic: Directing a Trilogy”; “The Fox, the Echidna, and the Hedgehog”; “Live-Action Lunacy: Acting Opposite Puppets”; “From the Cryo-Tank to London: The World of Sonic”; “Team Sonic vs. Shadow”; “A Very Sonic Christmas”; gag reel; deleted scenes. Read more here.

Heart Eyes

(2025) For the past several years, the “Heart Eyes Killer” has wreaked havoc on Valentine’s Day by stalking and murdering romantic couples. This Valentine’s Day, no couple is safe. Vitals: Director: Josh Ruben. Stars: Olivia Holt, Mason Gooding, Gigi Zumbado, Michaela Watkins with Devon Sawa and Jordana Brewster. CC, MPAA rating: PG-13, 97 min., Horror, Theatrical release date: February 7, 2025, North American box office gross: $27.1 million, worldwide $28.6 million, Sony. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray + Digital Code, VOD, Digital. Extras: “Murders & Meet Cutes: The Making of Heart Eyes”; filmmaker commentary. Blu-ray adds gag reel; deleted & extended scenes. Read more here.

Valiant One

(2025) A routine mission spirals into a fight for survival when a US Army helicopter crashes deep within North Korean territory. With their communications equipment destroyed, Captain Edward Brockman (Chase Stokes) and Specialist Selby (Lana Condor) must lead the team through hostile terrain, cut off from US military support as they attempt a daring escape across the treacherous Demilitarized Zone. Vitals: Director: Steve Barnett. Stars: Chase Stokes, Lana Condor, Desmin Borges, Daniel Jun, Jonathan Whitesell, Callan Mulvey, Ronald Patrick Thompson. CC, MPAA rating: R, 86 min., War Action Thriller, Theatrical release date: January 31, 2025, North American box office gross: $1.232 million, worldwide $1.232 million, Studio Distribution Services. Formats: DVD, VOD, Digital. Read more here.

This Week’s Highlight:

The whiplash, double-pronged “Chungking Express” (1994 — Hong Kong) is one of the defining works of 1990s cinema and the film that made Wong Kar Wai an instant icon. Two heartsick Hong Kong cops (Takeshi Kaneshiro and Tony Leung Chiu Wai), both jilted by ex- lovers, cross paths at the Midnight Express take-out food stand, where the ethereal pixie waitress Faye (Faye Wong) works. Anything goes in Wong’s gloriously shot and utterly unexpected charmer, which cemented the sex appeal of its gorgeous stars and forever turned canned pineapple and the Mamas & the Papas’ “California Dreamin’” into tokens of romantic longing. On 4K UHD + Blu-ray, Blu-ray, with 4K digital restoration, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack, both supervised and approved by director Wong Kar Wai. In the 4K UHD edition: One 4K UHD disc of the film and one Blu-ray with the film and special features. Read more here. From The Criterion Collection.

Buzzin’ the ‘B’s:

In “Blue Sunshine” (1977) it starts off as a great party — just eight people in a secluded lodge. One of the guests suddenly goes on a shockingly violent, murderous rampage. There is something wrong with his hair, and pure evil in his eyes. What he does to three of the girls there is too hideous to describe. Falsely accused of the brutal killings, Jerry Zipkin (Zalman King) goes on the run. More bizarre murders occur, and while trying to clear his name, Jerry discovers the shocking truth: The people losing their hair and turning into violent psychopaths may be connected to a drug each killer took a decade before. A drug known as “Blue Sunshine.” An LSD cult-classic horror film in an all-new 4K restoration presented in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible) and loaded with hours of supplemental material. This three-disc set contains one 4K (2160p) UHD Blu-ray, one Blu-ray (1080p) and a CD soundtrack album. From Synapse Films … In “Night Call” (2024 — Belgium), starring Jonathan Feltre, Natacha Krief and Jonas Bloquet, one evening, Mady – a young student by day, locksmith by night – receives an emergency call from Claire to open a lock. But the door the young woman wants to open isn’t hers and the bag she runs away with isn’t hers either. It belongs to Yannick, a vicious mobster who blames Mady and will stop at nothing to retrieve his stolen goods. Mady has only one night to prove his innocence and save his neck. What started out as an ordinary nightshift turns into a brutal descent into violence. On DVD, VOD, Digital from Magnolia Home Entertainment/Magnet. Read more here … In “Get Away” (2025), starring Nick Frost, Aisling Bea, Sebastian Croft, Maisie Ayres and Ville Virtanen, the Smith family’s much-needed vacation to the remote Swedish island of Svalta takes a dark turn when they arrive during preparations for a mysterious local festival that celebrates a dark history. Unsettled by the unfriendly locals and strange rituals, they try to make the best of their trip, stubbornly enjoying the island’s isolation and natural beauty. However, as the festival looms closer, the family realizes something far more sinister is unfolding — especially when they discover that a serial killer is on the loose in this dark comedy. On DVD, VOD, Digital from IFC.

Foreign Films:

After serving time in prison for murdering his unfaithful wife, Yamashita (Koji Yakusho) is released on parole, accompanied only by his pet eel in “The Eel” (1997 — Japan). Hoping to stay out of trouble, he takes over a rural barber shop that quickly becomes a gathering point for the eccentric locals. However, the discovery of a woman’s failed suicide starts a chain reaction that brings back past demons – and not just his own. “The Eel” won master filmmaker Shohei Imamura his second Palme d’Or, after 1983’s “The Ballad of Narayama” and was the breakthrough of its star Yakusho. First time on Blu-ray; from Radiance/MVD Entertainment … In “Striking Rescue” (2024 — China), starring Tony Jaa, Hong Junjia, Shi Yanneng, Philip Keung and Chen Duoyi, Bai An’s (Jaa) wife and daughter were brutally murdered in front of him, now he’s out for revenge and the path will be brutal and bloody. On DVD, Blu-ray, VOD, Digital from Well Go USA. Read more here.

All DVDs and Blu-rays are screened on a reference system consisting of an Oppo BDP-83 Blu-ray Disc Player w/SACD & DVD-Audio, a Rotel RSX-972 Surround Sound Receiver, and Phase Technology 1.1 (front), 33.1 (center), and 50 (rear) speakers, and Power 10 subwoofer.