New DVD, Blu-ray and digital release highlights for the week of December 2, 2020

SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — Having spent the better part of the past two weeks working on my Holiday Gift Guide 2020, most of this week's highlights feel a little redundant. That is only because it is a really strong release week (although the digital releases were unimpressive).

• The Hobbit Trilogy 4K - Peter Jackson's desire to push the limits of how movies were made and shown proved to be somewhat controversial, but these 4K releases will finally bring the director's vision into focus for a second appraisal.
• The Lord of the Rings Trilogy 4K - I've watched Peter Jackson's adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy more times than almost any other series of films (the original Star Wars trilogy being the possible exception). It's simply a fantastic story filled with loss and hope that continues to speak to me. This is the release that I've been waiting impatiently since 4K was announced.
• Crash - The Criterion Collection addsDavid Cronenberg's psychological thriller aboutsymphorophiliacs (people aroused by car crashes). The film is passionately loved and hated in equal amounts. Not to be confused with the 2004Paul Haggis film.
• Chernobyl - A fictional look at the events surrounding the Chernobyl disaster that took place in 1986. It was one of the most celebrated miniseries of 2019 and finally makes its way to a physical 4K release.
• Perry Mason: The Complete First Season - HBO's reboot of the popular television series is darker, more gritty than its family-friendly predecessor, but there's more atmosphere and detail and less formula in the modern adaption.
• Bugs Bunny 80th Anniversary Collection - Warner Bros. is celebrating the 80th anniversary of Bugs Bunny's debut with this Blu-ray collection that features 60 theatrical shorts and an exclusive glittering Bugs Bunny collectable from Funko.
  

• The Rental - Dave Franco makes his directorial debut with this thriller/horror about a weekend getaway for two couples that is interrupted by homicidal maniac.
• Coming to America 4K -Directed by John Landis ("National Lampoon's Animal House") and starring Eddie Murphy, this 1988 romantic comedy sees Akeem Joffer (Murphy), the crown prince of Zamunda, escaping to America to avoid an arranged marriage and find a wife who isn't enamored with his wealth and title.
  
• Beverly Hills Cop 4K -Eddie Murphy stars as Detroit police officer Axel Foley heads to Beverly Hills to investigate the murder of a friend. Murphy's bravado somehow transforms this dour plot into a wild action comedy. Now in 4K for the first time.
• The Golden Child -Eddie Murphy stars as Chandler Jarrell, a detective that specializes in tracking down missing children. His newest case is his strangest as he searches for a child believed to be the "Chosen One."
• Trading Places -Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy star in this comedy that sees a street hustler swap places with acommodities broker. Neither realizing they are actually part of anature versus nurture experiment.
• Blade 4K - Released in 1998, "Blade" was a darker kind of comic book adaptation. Wesley Snipes stars as the title character, a half-vampire who has all of strengths and none of the weakness of traditional bloodsuckers. Without "Blade" there might never have been "Iron Man."
  
• Mission: Impossible - The Original TV Series - All seven seasons of the classic television program that inspired the blockbuster movie franchise.
  
• Popeye - Robert Altman's bold and entirely underappreciated "Popeye" features the perfectly cast Robin Williams as Popeye the Sailor Man and Shelley Duvall as Olive Oyl. To celebrate the movie's 40th anniversary, Paramount is finally bringing the film to Blu-ray.