February's best Blu-ray and 4K UHD releases: The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes, Priscilla, and Wonka

Physical media may be devalued by some in our streaming-dominated world, but you’d be surprised how many great titles are only available on disc. Also, some titles can be so much more rewarding on DVD, Blu-ray, or 4K UHD, especially when they’re loaded with special packaging and bonus features. With that in mind, here’s a look at all the best films that you can spin starting in February 2024, including recent theatrical movies such as Thanksgiving, The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes, Priscilla, Wonka, and The Marvels. Also arriving this month are the 4K debuts of Footloose, Darkman, Leviathan, Willy’s Wonderland, and much more.

Thanksgiving (2023)

Available January 30

Yes, technically Eli Roth’s holiday slasher movie Thanksgiving is a January release, but the full serving of the movie teased with a fake trailer in 2007’s Grindhouse is long overdue and worth a mention for horror fans. In Thanksgiving, a psycho in a John Carver mask slices up the denizens of Plymouth, Massachusetts, one year after a Black Friday stampede at a local store caused multiple fatalities. The horror movie starring Patrick Dempsey, Addison Rae, Milo Manheim, Jalen Thomas Brooks, Nell Verlaque, Rick Hoffman, and Gina Gershon comes to Blu-ray with a commentary track by Roth and Jeff Rendell, deleted and extended scenes, outtakes, “Massachusetts Movies: Eli & Jeff’s Early Films,” “Behind The Screams,” and “Gore Galore.” Although the movie promised “no leftovers,” a sequel was green-lit.

Footloose (1984)

Available February 13

Got Bacon? Everybody cut loose with the 4K UHD debut of 1984’s Footloose starring Kevin Bacon, who plays a young man who moves with his mother from Chicago to a small, dusty town where dancing to rock music is banned. The new 4K restoration of the film includes extras such as commentary tracks, “Let’s Dance! Kevin Bacon On Footloose,” “From Bomont To The Big Apple: An Interview With Sarah Jessica Parker,” “Kevin Bacon’s Screen Test,” “Kevin Bacon Costume Montage,” “Footloose: A Modern Musical,” and “Footloose: Songs That Tell A Story.” If you want to figure out the correct lyrics to Kenny Loggins’ “Footloose” theme song, you still have to look that up on Google, however.

The Marvels (2023)

Available February 13

Although superhero fatigue is real—just look at the diminishing box office returns for every superhero movie lately—some of you have never met a comic book adaptation that you didn’t like. Those diehards will want to check out The Marvels, the Nia DaCosta-directed sequel to Captain Marvel starring Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris, Iman Vellani, Zawe Ashton, and Park Seo-joon that represents the 33rd (!) film in the bloated Marvel Cinematic Universe. Although the movie has the dubious distinction of being the first MCU movie not to make $100 million at the domestic box office, maybe more people will watch at home. Available on both 4K UHD and Blu-ray, The Marvels extras include the “Entangled” and “The Production Diaries” featurettes, deleted scenes, and a gag reel.

The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes (2023)

Available February 13

Just in time for Valentine’s Day comes The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes, a prequel set 64 years before Katniss Everdeen volunteered as tribute. The movie stars Tom Blyth as Coriolanus “Coryo” Snow, plus Rachel Zegler, Peter Dinklage, Jason Schwartzman, Hunter Schafer, Josh Andrés Rivera, and Viola Davis. Available on both 4K UHD and Blu-ray, extras include an eight-part documentary titled “Predator Or Prey: Making The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes,” “The Hanging Tree” song by Rachel Zegler, plus featurettes on the movie’s music, stunts, locations, costumes, postproduction, and more.

Priscilla (2023)

Available February 13

Also available just in time for Valentine’s Day is Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla, starring Cailee Spaeny as Priscilla Presley and Jacob Elordi as Elvis Presley. Based on Priscilla Presley’s 1985 memoir Elvis And Me, Priscilla tells the story of the couple’s doomed, age-inappropriate romance through Priscilla’s eyes. Available on Blu-ray, Priscilla’s bonus features include “Brushed With Beauty: Creating Priscilla’s Story,” “The Making Of Priscilla: A Film By Liv McNeil,” and the theatrical trailer.

The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon Season One (2023)

Available February 13

On season one of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, our titular walker-slaying warrior (Norman Reedus) wakes up in France and tries to piece together why he’s there and how to get back home—all while experiencing the European version of the zombie apocalypse. The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon Season One is available on SteelBook Blu-ray from RLJ Entertainment, which provided no information about bonus features for the six-episode season. AMC green-lighted a second season of The Walking Dead spin-off, so catch up on disc if you don’t have access to AMC.

Hypnotic (2023)

Available February 13

Ben Affleck plays an Austin, Texas, police detective trying to find his missing daughter while simultaneously investigating a series of mind-bending bank robberies in Robert Rodriguez’s Hypnotic. Rodriguez also produced and edited the movie, while his sons Rebel and Racer Rodriguez are credited as composer and producer, respectively. The mystery-thriller also starring Alice Braga, J. D. Pardo, Hala Finley, Dayo Okeniyi, Jeff Fahey, Jackie Earle Haley, and William Fichtner arrives on a bare-bones Blu-ray with no bonus features from Relativity Media and Ketchup Entertainment.

Willy’s Wonderland (2021)

Available February 13

If you enjoyed Five Nights At Freddy’s, check out Nicolas Cage in the 2021 comedy-horror film Willy’s Wonderland as he plays a janitor tasked with maintaining an abandoned entertainment center filled with possessed, murderous animatronic characters. The cult film directed by Kevin Lewis is already available on Blu-ray, but now Shout Factory has readied a Collector’s Edition 4K UHD for fans. The combo pack contains a Blu-ray with all of the bonus features, including the “Inside Fun” featurette, a set tour, “Fresh Meat” featurette, “Colorful Darkness And The Demon-Atrons” featurette, an image gallery, and a trailer. Willy’s Wonderland is also available as a limited-edition SteelBook.

The Conan Chronicles (1982-1984)

Arrow Video’s The Conan Chronicles contains 4K UHD editions of 1982’s Conan The Barbarian and 1984’s Conan The Destroyer, both starring Arnold Schwarzenegger in the titular role. Three different cuts of Conan The Barbarian are included via seamless branching: theatrical, international, and extended. The two movies include meaty extras such as newly filmed interviews with filmmakers and crew, new commentary tracks for both films by genre expert Paul M. Sammon, the 2000 documentary “Conan Unchained: The Making Of Conan,” plus legacy bonus features from both films. The Conan Chronicles also comes packaged with double-sided fold-out posters for both movies, 12 double-sided postcards, and an illustrated booklet.

Leviathan (1989)

Available February 20

George P. Cosmatos’ sci-fi thriller Leviathan is about a deep-sea mining crew who discover a sunken freighter that contains a monstrous genetic experiment gone wrong. The movie starring Peter Weller, Richard Crenna, Amanda Pays, Daniel Stern, Ernie Hudson, and Michael Carmin arrives on 4K UHD for the first time with a 4K restoration from Kino Lorber. Bonus features include a commentary track by film historians Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson, “Leviathan: Monster Melting Pot” featurette, interviews with actors Ernie Hudson and Hector Elizondo, and the theatrical trailer.

Darkman (1990)

Available February 20

Shout Factory’s 4K UHD debut of Sam Raimi’s Darkman, starring Liam Neeson, will thrill fans of the cult superhero film. The Collector’s Edition features a 4K restoration from the original camera negative approved by Raimi and director of photography Bill Pope. Most of the extras are on the included Blu-ray, such as never-before-seen deleted scenes, plus interviews with Neeson, Frances McDormand, Larry Drake, makeup designer Tony Gardner, and many more in addition to legacy making-of featurettes. A Shout Factory exclusive edition comes packaged with a poster, lobby cards, pin, and prism sticker.

Wonka (2023)

Available February 27

Although you wouldn’t know it from the trailer—spoiler alert—Wonka starring Timothée Chalamet as the titular chocolatier is, indeed, a musical. Available on both 4K UHD and Blu-ray, the latest movie adaptation of Roald Dahl’s children’s book arrives home at the tail end of February from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment with myriad bonus features, including “Unwrapping Wonka: Paul King’s Vision,” “The Whimsical Music Of Wonka​,” “Wonka’s Chocolatier,” plus featurettes about the movie’s production design and costumes.