Blu-ray / 4K review roundup: Mallrats, Scream VI, The Truman Show, and more

In our latest roundup of the best new 4K UHD and Blu-ray releases, we look at killer new restorations of Mallrats, The Truman Show, and the underseen ’80s gem Fighting Back, along with the recent Scream VI.

Fighting Back Blu-ray (Arrow Video)

The legendary Tom Skerritt stars in this absolutely bonkers ’80s vengeance thriller, now unearthed and restored via Arrow Video.

Skerritt plays John D’Angelo, a working-class grocery store owner in Philadelphia who accidentally gets mixed up with a street gang one afternoon. After his wife and even his mother are victimized by unruly gang members, John takes matters into his own hands and starts patrolling the neighbourhood with fellow concerned citizens, taking the fight directly to those threatening the safety of the town.

With its classic Western tropes mixed with early ’80s big-city paranoia, Fighting Back is a criminally underseen thriller that feels more resonant today than ever. Directed by the great Lewis Teague (who provides a very entertaining interview on the disc), Fighting Back is one of the best catalogue discoveries of the year. With a rousing performance from Skerritt and some insanely over-the-top action (one thug is killed with a bomb tied to a water balloon), Fighting Back makes a perfect double bill with the Canadian thriller Siege, which recently hit Blu-ray via Severin Films.

Fighting Back Blu-ray Extras

Enough is Enough!, a new interview with director Lewis Teague
Danny-Cam, a new interview with camera operator Daniele Nannuzzi
Trailer
TV Spot
Image gallery
Double-sided fold-out poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Luke Insect
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Luke Insect
Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by critics Rob Skvarla and Walter Chaw, and a career-spanning interview with director Lewis Teague

Mallrats 4K UHD (Arrow Video)

Kevin Smith’s sophomore feature, Mallrats, gets the 4K UHD treatment via Arrow Video, marking one of the first Kevin Smith films to hit the 4K format. As someone who has bought Mallrats on every subsequent format since VHS, watching Smith’s endearingly goofy tribute to ‘90s pop-culture obsessives in high resolution feels like seeing the film for the first time.

While the improvement over Arrow’s recent Blu-ray release may be marginal, this is worth a purchase if you never picked up that release and are upgrading from any other version. This Arrow Video release features hours of new and archival extras including the original theatrical cut and an extended cut, commentaries, numerous interviews with Smith and the cast, and much more.

Featuring early performances from the likes of Ben Affleck and Joey Laurence Adams and a memorable appearance by Stan Lee (that may have kickstarted the mainstream acceptance of comics in film but that’s a take for another day), Mallrats is an endlessly enjoyable comedy that has never looked better on home video. Snootchie bootchies!

Mallrats 4K UHD Extras

Audio commentary on the Theatrical version and and other cut with director Kevin Smith, producer Scott Mosier, archivist Vincent Pereira, and actors Jason Lee, Ben Affleck, and Jason Mewes
Introduction to the film by Kevin Smith
My Mallrat Memories, an interview with Kevin Smith
Tribute to producer Jim Jacks by Kevin Smith
Interview with actor Jason Mewes
Interview with Cinematographer David Klein
Hollywood of the North, an animated making-of documentary featuring Minnesota crew members who worked on the film
Deleted Scenes, Kevin Smith and Vincent Pereira discuss deleted scenes and sequences originally cut from the film
Outtakes and behind the scenes footage
Cast interviews from the original set
Erection of an Epic: The making of Mallrats, an archival retrospective with cast and crew looking at the making and release of the film
Q&A with Kevin Smith, archival Q&A filmed for the 10th anniversary
‘Build Me Up Buttercup’ music video
Still galleries
Archival introduction to the extended cut by Kevin Smith and Scott Mossier
Soundtrack EPK
Dailies
Theatrical trailer
Easter eggs
Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing by Philip Kemp
Fold out poster featuring replica blueprints for ‘Operation Drive-by’ and ‘Operation Dark Knight’
Fold out mall map poster featuring all the store locations from the film
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Robert Sammelin

Scream VI 4K UHD

Ghostface takes Manhattan (well, Montreal) in the latest entry in the Scream franchise. The Radio Silence team (Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett) return to direct the sixth Scream film, which moves the Ghostface killer out of the suburbs and into the big city.

In the aftermath of the Ghostface Woodsboro killings depicted in the previous film, sisters Sam and Tara Carpenter (Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega) are now living in New York City, trying to live normal lives after escaping the killing spree. But as victims start piling up around them and a Ghostface mask is found at a crime scene, they’re forced to team up with a group of friends and some Woodsboro alumni to protect themselves and the city against the latest killer to don the Ghostface mask.

With some great set pieces and strong performances all around, Scream VI may not be out to revolutionize the slasher genre, but it does a fun job of uprooting the Scream formula to a new setting. This 4K UHD release from Paramount boasts a striking 2160p transfer and a Dolby Atmos soundtrack, along with a stacked audio commentary and a handful of behind-the-scenes extras. Read our full review of Scream VI here.

Scream VI 4K UHD Extras

Audio Commentary with Directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, Executive Producer Chad Villella, and Co-Writers James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick.
Death Comes to the City Featurette
The Faces of Death Featurette
More Meta Than Meta Featurette
Bloodbath at the Bodega Featurette
An Apartment to Die For Featurette
The Night Train to Terror Featurette
Theater of Blood Featurette

The Truman Show 4K UHD (Paramount)

25 years after its release, Peter Weir’s The Truman Show is still as relevant and incisive as ever.

Jim Carrey stars as Truman Burbank, who unbeknownst to him, is the star of a massively popular reality show. The star of “The Truman Show,” he lives his life unaware that he is being filmed and manipulated at all times to the delight of the viewing public. But when Truman begins to realize the truth, he is forced to come to terms with his sense of self and his very reality.

The Truman Show was a major leap forward for Jim Carrey and showed audiences that he had much more to offer than just the slapstick roles that had propelled him to fame in the ’90s.

Paramount now brings The Truman Show to 4K UHD for the first time and the results are spectacular. With a glorious new 2160p transfer and a Dolby Atoms soundtrack, this is by far the best this film has ever looked and sounded. Unfortunately, there are no new extras on this release, but Paramount has bundled all of the archival extras on the included Blu-ray disc.

The Truman Show envisioned what it would be like to live our entire lives online 25 years ago, and its message is even more resonant today. Give this one a watch and you may just reconsider posting that next TikTok.

The Truman Show Extras

How’s It Going to End? The Making of The Truman Show
Faux Finishing, The Visual Effects of The Truman Show
Deleted Scenes
Photo Gallery
Theatrical Trailers
TV Spots