Oppenheimer, The Nun II, and The Equalizer 3 lead November's best Blu-ray and 4K UHD releases

Clockwise from top left: The Equalizer 3 (Sony Pictures), Oppenheimer (Universal Pictures), The Nun II (Warner Bros.)

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 November 2023, including the physical debuts of recent theatrical movies such as Oppenheimer, The Equalizer 3, and The Nun II. Also coming to disc just in time for holiday shopping are the 4K UHD debuts of Fargo, The Monster Squad, Barbarella, and Resident Evil: The Complete Collection SteelBook. In addition, two TV series—Justified: City Primeval and The Sandman: The Complete First Season—arrive on disc, the latter of which is welcome news for Neil Gaiman fans who do not subscribe to Netflix.

Fargo (1996)

Available November 7

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The Nun II (2023)

Available November 14

Michael Chaves’ The Nun II is the eighth film in the Conjuring universe and a hit sequel to 2018’s The Nun. It features returning actors Taissa Farmiga, Jonas Bloquet, and Bonnie Aarons. The official description reads, “1956—France. A priest is murdered. An evil is spreading ... Sister Irene once again comes face-to-face with Valak, the demon nun.” Available on both 4K UHD and Blu-ray, The Nun II extras include the featurettes “Demons In Paradise” and “Handcrafter Nightmares.”

Justified: City Primeval (2023)

Available November 14

The neo-Western crime miniseries Justified: City Primeval is a sequel to the long-running Justified series starring Timothy Olyphant as Deputy U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens. In City Primeval, Raylan winds up in Detroit in pursuit of the so-called Oklahoma Wildman, Clement Mansell (Boyd Holbrook). Season one of the FX miniseries based on Elmore Leonard’s short story “Fire In The Hole” also stars Aunjanue Ellis, Vondie Curtis-Hall, Adelaide Clemens, Marin Ireland, Victor Williams, and Norbert Leo Butz. The two-disc Blu-ray set features all eight episodes but appears to contain no bonus features.

Oppenheimer (2023)

Available November 21

Christopher Nolan’s Oscar-ready Oppenheimer stars Cillian Murphy as theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, the director of the Manhattan Project’s Los Alamos Laboratory, which created the first atomic bomb. The acclaimed biographical thriller also starring Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., and Florence Pugh arrives on both 4K UHD and Blu-ray a few weeks after Barbie, so now you can complete your home version of “Barbenheimer.” Extras include a comprehensive 70-minute making-of featurette titled “The Story Of Our Time: The Making Of Oppenheimer,” the NBC documentary “To End All War: Oppenheimer And The Atomic Bomb,” and the “Trinity Anniversary Panel Discussion.”

Expend4bles (2023)

Available November 24

The awkwardly titled Expend4bles is the fourth—and likely last, given its lackluster box office performance—movie in The Expendables action series that began in 2010. Jason Statham, Sylvester Stallone, Dolph Lundgren, and Randy Couture reprise their roles from the previous films and are joined by Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Megan Fox, Tony Jaa, Iko Uwais, Jacob Scipio, Levy Tran, and Andy García. Available on both 4K UHD and Blu-ray, bonus features include audio commentary by director Scott Waugh, “Bigger, Bolder, Badder: The Expendables In Action,” and “More Than A Team: New Blood Meets Old Blood.” All four Expendables movies will also be available in a SteelB00k collection sold exclusively at Walmart.

Resident Evil: 4K Ultra HD SteelBook Collection (2002-2017)

Available November 21

The Resident Evil: 4K Ultra HD SteelBook Collection features the six action-horror movies starring Milla Jovovich as Alice, a woman battling the horrors unleashed after the T-virus escapes from an Umbrella Corporation genetic research facility and mutates life-forms across the globe. All six movies—Resident Evil, Resident Evil: Apocalypse, Resident Evil: Extinction, Resident Evil: Afterlife, Resident Evil: Retribution, and Resident Evil: The Final Chapter—are individually packaged in SteelBook cases and enclosed in a premium outer case featuring Umbrella Corporation styling. The films now feature Dolby Vision HDR and include all of the previous bonus features, plus new featurettes added to Resident Evil: The Final Chapter.

The Monster Squad (1987)

Available November 28

Fred Dekker’s The Monster Squad is about a group of kids committed to protecting their suburban neighborhood from the likes of Count Dracula (Duncan Regehr), the Wolfman (Carl Thibault), Gill-Man (Tom Woodruff Jr.), the Mummy (Michael MacKay), and Frankenstein (Tom Noonan). Kino Lorber’s 4K UHD debut of the cult favorite features a new 4K restoration of the film from the original camera negative. Most of the bonus features, aside from the audio commentaries, are found exclusively on two Blu-rays in the set, including “Monster Squad Forever: Five-Part Documentary,” deleted scenes, an archival interview with Noonan, an animated storyboard sequence, a stills gallery, and the documentary “Wolfman’s Got Nards.”

The Sandman: The Complete First Season (2022)

Available November 28

The official description for The Sandman reads, “When the Sandman, aka Dream (Tom Sturridge)—the powerful cosmic being who controls all our dreams—is unexpectedly captured and held prisoner for over a century, he must journey across different worlds and timelines to fix the chaos his absence has caused.” If you were curious about the gothic fantasy based on the comic book by Neil Gaiman but didn’t want to sign up for Netflix, now you can check out all 10 episodes plus a special bonus episode of the acclaimed series on 4K UHD and Blu-ray. Extras include a behind-the-scenes sneak-peek featurette and “The World Of The Endless” featurette. The Sandman was renewed for a second season but Netflix has yet to announce a premiere date.

Tales From The Darkside: The Movie (1990)

Available November 28

Anthology horror movie Tales From The Darkside: The Movie features three tales—“Lot 249,” “Cat From Hell,” and “Lover’s Vow”—tied together by a connecting story. The spin-off movie from the TV series stars Deborah Harry, Julianne Moore, Christian Slater, William Hickey, and James Remar. Although details about bonus features for the 4K UHD Collector’s Edition were unavailable at press time, buyers who purchase the movie directly from ShoutFactory.com will receive an 18x24 rolled theatrical poster while supplies last.

Barbarella (1968)

Available November 28

The official description of Arrow Video’s Barbarella 4K UHD debut reads, “Slip out of your spacesuit and into something more comfortable! It’s time to join Barbarella on a series of cosmic adventures in this Dino De Laurentiis production directed by Roger Vadim and starring Jane Fonda as the intergalactic glamour puss created by comic book artist Jean-Claude Forest.” Arrow Films did a 4K restoration and a Dolby Vision HDR presentation of the cult classic. Extras on the 4K UHD include an audio commentary, alternate opening and closing credits, and an isolated score. An included Blu-ray contains most of the bonus features, such as an appreciation of Barbarella by film critic Glenn Kenny, a behind-the-scenes featurette, several interviews with the cast and camera operator, a video essay by Eugenio Ercolani about producer Dino De Laurentiis, and a tw0-hour discussion between film and cultural historians Tim Lucas and Steve Bissette on the impact and legacy of Barbarella.

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