Philip Kaufman, Werner Herzog and Ernst Lubitsch from Criterion UK in December
Spirit Entertainment has announced the Criterion UK disc releases for December, which will consist of Philip Kaufman’s spectacular film adaptation of Tom Wolfe’s The Right Stuff on dual format UHD & Blu-ray, Werner Herzog’s haunting and engrossing documentary Grizzly Man on Blu-ray, and Ernst Lubitsch’s exquisite 1940’s comedy, The Shop Around the Corner. Full details below.
THE RIGHT STUFF (USA 1983)
4K UHD / Blu-ray dual format | 7 December 2026 | pre-order price: £34.99
An awe-inspiring salute to human achievement and the wonder of the unknown, this monumental account of the space race celebrates the pioneering pilots who took mankind beyond the bounds of Earth. From the quest that test pilot Chuck Yeager (Sam Shepard) undertakes to break the sound barrier to the epochal voyages of the seven Mercury astronauts, including Alan Shepard (Scott Glenn) and John Glenn (Ed Harris), The Right Stuff vividly details the triumphs, setbacks, and clashes of personality in America’s burgeoning space program.
Fusing astonishing practical effects with NASA archival footage to yield images of cosmic majesty, director Philip Kaufman reveals the combination of courage, competition, and fallibility behind America’s launch into orbit.
DIRECTOR-APPROVED 4K UHD+BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES:
- New 4K digital restoration, supervised and approved by director of photography Caleb Deschanel, with 70 mm 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
- Alternate 2.0 surround and 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtracks
- One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and one Blu-ray with the special features
- Archival interview excerpts with director Philip Kaufman from the Academy Film Archive’s Visual History Program
- New programs on the film’s visual effects, sound design, and editing
- Archival programs Realizing The Right Stuff, T-20 Years and Counting, and The Real Men with “The Right Stuff”
- Selected-scene commentaries featuring Kaufman and members of the cast and crew
- Deleted scenes
- Trailer
- English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- An essay by critic Michael Sragow
You can read our review (by Camus, who worked on the film) of the previous Warner Bros. Blu ray here.
GRIZZLY MAN (USA 2005)
Blu-ray | 14 December 2026 | pre-order price: £24.99
Forever drawn to dreamers living on their own uncompromising terms, Werner Herzog journeyed, with this film, into the quixotic world of one of his most unforgettable subjects: Timothy Treadwell, a self-styled environmentalist who, for thirteen summers, lived among grizzly bears in the Alaskan wilderness, forging an intense bond with the animals and ultimately losing his life to one of them.
Drawing on more than one hundred hours of video shot by Treadwell, Herzog searches for meaning within the tragedy, offering a mesmerizing meditation on humanity’s relationship to nature, and our drive to find purpose in an often indifferent world.
One of the most profound documentaries ever made, Grizzly Man is a gripping investigation into the ecstatic life of a seeker who dared to live beyond the boundaries of civilisation.
BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES:
- High-definition digital master of the original theatrical version, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
- New conversation between director Werner Herzog and producer Erik Nelson
- In the Edges: The Grizzly Man Session, a remastered 2005 documentary on the making of the film’s score
- Reflections on the Grizzly Man, a remastered 2006 program featuring Herzog and Grizzly Man interviewees
- Cover and other packaging photography by documentary subject Timothy Treadwell
- English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- PLUS: An essay by journalist Nick Paumgarten
- New cover featuring photography by Timothy Treadwell
You can read our review the previous Revolver Blu ray here.
THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER (USA 1940)
4K UHD / Blu-ray dual format | 21 December 2026 | pre-order price: £34.99
With this touchstone of romantic comedy, master of high-society sophistication Ernst Lubitsch applied his famously elegant style to a new subject: the everyday hopes, fears, and heartbreaks animating the lives of the employees at a humble leather-goods shop in Budapest.
As Christmas approaches, battling coworkers Alfred Kralik (James Stewart) and Klara Novak (Margaret Sullavan) grow increasingly exasperated with each other—unaware that, all the while, they have been exchanging anonymous love letters as pen pals.
Graced with an irresistible ensemble cast, The Shop Around the Corner is a poignant, warmhearted look at the difference between romantic expectation and reality.
4K UHD+BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
- New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
- One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
- New audio commentary featuring Joseph McBride, author of How Did Lubitsch Do It?
- New appreciation by actor-writer Noah Wyle
- Two radio adaptations of the film, one featuring the original cast and one featuring Claudette Colbert and Don Ameche
- Trailer
- English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- PLUS: An essay by author Sam Wasson
- New cover by F. Ron Miller