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This looks rad!! Deaf Crocodile Films & Vinegar Syndrome have announced a restoration Blu-ray re-release of a long lost, rarely seen Romanian animated film called The Son of the Stars. This originally debuted in 1985 and showed up in the US in 1987, but hasn't been seen since. The film is getting an HD version based on a new 4K scan from the original 35mm negative and sound elements, with a digital restoration by Deaf Crocodile Films. From the same filmmakers as the marvelous Delta Space Mission, The Son of the Stars gets more freakadelic as Dan grows up ala Luke Skywalker, encountering giant disembodied eyeballs, a world of massive decaying Cubist structures, floating purple tentacles, and alien-headed cosmic flowers, and even a sword-wielding medieval Space Knight in armor. Using the voices of Mircea Albulescu, Mihai Cafrita, Ion Caramitru, Mirela Gorea-Chelaru, and Virgil Ogasanu. "His visions of his lost parents and the missing cosmonaut are especially psychedelic,...

Accept no substitutes! Aleksandr Ptushko’s fairy-tale folk hero saga is the real deal in medieval spectacle. When the nation calls, warriors rise from the steppes to defend against invaders, even if they have to defy royal authority. The first Soviet film in anamorphic scope and stereophonic sound, Ilya Muromets is an eye-opening series of fantastic characters and storybook episodes, loaded with Ptushko’s amazingly beautiful special effects and jaw-dropping scenes with entire armies filling the scene. The capper is one hell of a fierce dragon — the fire breathing, three-headed Zmey Gorynych!

Ilya Muromets

Blu-ray

Deaf Crocodile / Seagull

1956 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 91 83 min. / Street Date May, 2022 / The Sword and the Dragon, The Epic Hero and the Beast / Available from Vinegar Syndrome / 34.98 & 39.98

Starring: Boris Andreyev, Shukur Burkhanov, Andrei Abrikosov, Natalya Medvedeva, Ninel Myshkova, Sergey Martinson, Georgi Dyomin, Aleksandr Shvorin, Nikolai Gladkov, Vladimir Solovyov.

Cinematography: Fyodor Provorov, Yuli Kun

Production Designer: Yevgeni Kumankov...

New Release Wall

One of the best films of 2021, the Oscar-nominated “West Side Story” (20th Century) arrives on 4K, Blu-ray, and DVD and earns an immediate place in your library. This first release is a little lean on extras, but it does include a new documentary from Laurent Bouzereau, the king of “making-of,” offering a look at Steven Spielberg’s process in crafting this electrifying musical.

Also available:

“The 355” (Universal Home Entertainment) An impressive line-up of stars can’t save this spy thriller from being more by-the-numbers than a Sudoku.

“Belfast” (Focus/Universal) Kenneth Branagh racked up Oscar nods and very mixed notices for his nostalgic coming-of-age drama.

“Coming 2 America” (Paramount Home Entertainment) Were you a fan of the original “Coming to America”? Enjoy seeing every gag repeated if not cut-and-pasted from the first movie.

“Cosmic Dawn” (Kino Lorber) After witnessing her mother’s alien abduction as a child,...

It’s an animated outer space adventure from Romania, made in the Cold War era but minus political messages. Old-school cel animation techniques conjure colorful futuristic visions, thanks to beautiful background art and a spacey ’80s synth music score. The Bucharest artists bring a novel point of view, populating alien planets with weird flora and fauna, both carnivorous and amusingly amorous. For love of a slinky blue-green alien named Alma, a giant crystal computer goes rogue and runs amuck. Giant monsters, space battles and rampaging robots are also on the interstellar agenda. One extra is an additional pair of Delta Space Mission adventure short subjects.

Delta Space Mission

Blu-ray

Deaf Crocodile Films

1984 / Color / 1:33 flat / 70 min. / Misiunea spaţialã Delta / Street Date February 1, 2022 / Available from Vinegar Syndrome / 34.98

Starring voices: Mirela Gorea, Marcel Iures, Dan Condurache, Ion Chelaru.

Original Music: Călin Ioachimescu

Written by Victor Antonescu, Mircea Toia

Produced by Animafilm Studio

Directed by Călin Cazan,...