Anime, aliens, and 12 angry men lead September’s Blu

This month in The A.V. Club‘s physical media roundup, stone-cold classics from a wide spread of genres are looking as good as they ever have (at least since they were released in theaters). September 2026‘s Blu-ray and 4K releases include a sci-fi groundbreaker, a courtroom masterpiece, and one of the best modern anime films. Read on and find out how you can bring home films from Jacques Tourneur, Norman Jewison, Mamoru Oshii, and more.

12 Angry Men 4K

After some back-and-forth between Criterion and Kino Lorber, one of the finest courtroom dramas ever made is back in print with a new 4K restoration. Sidney Lumet’s sweaty morality tale of shirtsleeves and life-or-death racism captures the 1950s in a single room, in a single afternoon. This disc also includes the TV version of the tale, another collaboration between Lumet and writer Reginald Rose (“Tragedy In A Temporary Town”), and a handful of interviews.

Look Back 4K

One of the best films of 2024, Tatsuki Fujimoto’s Look Back—a departure from the Chainsaw Man creator focused on the sometimes tragic work of making art—is getting a deluxe release from GKIDS. The decades-spanning tale about the friendship of two classmates-turned-artists, with a crushing connection to real-life events, only runs a brief 57 minutes, which leaves plenty of time to watch the included making-of doc and page through the beefy book included with this set.

Out Of The Past 4K

One of the essential noir films, Jacques Tourneur’s Out Of The Past is getting its first upgrade to 4K in a two-disc set, with TCM noir expert Eddie Muller providing the introduction while Robert Mitchum and Jane Greer provide the thrills. Detectives, crooks, beauties, back-and-forth schemes, and punchy blackhearted dialogue fill the screen, while Mitchum gives a performance like a tough cut of diner steak. If you like the genre, you’ll love this. If you don’t love it yet, this one will convert you.

Angel’s Egg 4K

Surreal and poetic, Angel’s Egg is a dreamworld fantasy—about a ruined city, a young girl, an armed boy, and a single egg—from Ghost In The Shell‘s Mamoru Oshii. The new GKIDS set includes interviews with the writer-director and artist Yoshitaka Amano, who provided the lush, sometimes uncanny artwork, as well as a booklet whose essay might help you crack this impenetrable egg of a film.

Forbidden Planet 4K

An early inspiration for Alien, Forbidden Planet‘s tale of a militarized crew, led by a young Leslie Nielsen, getting picked off by an unknown killer after failing to heed a warning, was heavy and innovative stuff of 1956—and that’s before you get to Robby The Robot and the film’s all-electronic score (the first of its kind). Arrow explodes the colorful sci-fi back out to its Cinemascope aspect ratio for its 4K release, also including a new featurette on that awesome score, another full feature film starring Robby, and tons of other archival goodies.

Jesus Christ Superstar 4K

A new master of Norman Jewison’s Jesus Christ Superstar is one thing, but the real draw here is the new audio mix from expert Brian Kehew. A pair of new audio commentaries supplement some archival material, but let’s be honest—if you’re listening to something other than the music for this one, you’re doing it wrong.