December's best Blu-ray and 4K UHD releases: Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny, The Creator, and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

Available December 5

With the arrival of James Cameron’s Titanic on 4K UHD, fans will at last see for certain if there was enough room on that floating piece of debris for both Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Rose DeWitt Bukater (Kate Winslet). The historical romantic disaster epic also starring Billy Zane, Kathy Bates, and Frances Fisher won 11 Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director. Newly restored for its 4K UHD debut, Titanic bonus features include the new retrospective “Titanic: Stories From The Heart,” “Titanic: 25 Years Later With James Cameron,” new fan poster art, audio commentaries, and more than 15 hours of legacy extras ported from previous editions. There is also a 25th Anniversary edition packaged with collectibles such as sketches and a photo book.

Available December 5

Harrison Ford’s final adventure as Indiana Jones features a de-aged Ford in the 1944 prologue before the story continues in 1969 during the height of the space race. Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny also stars Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Antonio Banderas, John Rhys-Davies, and Shaunette Renée Wilson. Available on both 4K UHD and Blu-ray, Indy 5 bonus features include several behind-the-scenes and making-of featurettes divided into distinct chapters: “Prologue,” “New York,” “Morocco,” “Sicily,” and “Finale.” A “Score Only” version allows viewers to watch the movie and hear John Williams’ isolated score. Best Buy will also offer an exclusive SteelBook edition—one of the retailer’s last before it stops selling discs altogether in 2024.

Available December 5

The official description for The Kill Room reads: “A hitman, his boss, an art dealer, and a money-laundering scheme that accidentally turns the assassin into an overnight avant-garde sensation, one that forces her to play the art world against the underworld.” The dark comedy-thriller directed by Nicol Paone stars Uma Thurman, Samuel L. Jackson, Joe Manganiello, Debi Mazar, Maya Hawke, and Matthew Maher. Shout Factory will offer both Blu-ray and 4K UHD editions of the movie, but—unlike most Shout Factory releases—the bonus features are anemic. The only listed extra is The Kill Room’s theatrical trailer.

Available December 5

Oscar-winning director Kathryn Bigelow’s Point Break stars Keanu Reeves as rookie FBI agent Johnny Utah, a man tasked with infiltrating a group of extreme surfers who may be bank robbers known as the Ex-Presidents. Patrick Swayze plays the surfer leader Bodhi, who develops a complicated relationship with Johnny. Shout Factory’s Point Break 4K UHD debut features a new 4K restoration of the film from an interpositive, meaning those tasty waves will look like they are popping out of the TV. An included Blu-ray has all of the legacy bonus features, including additional scenes and four featurettes. Best Buy also will offer an exclusive SteelBook edition featuring cover art of one of the Ex-Presidents in a Ronald Reagan mask.

Available December 5

Stand By Me is based on the novella The Body by Stephen King. The movie’s official description reads: “In a small woodsy Oregon town, a group of friends—sensitive Gordie (Wil Wheaton), tough guy Chris (River Phoenix), flamboyant Teddy (Corey Feldman), and scaredy-cat Vern (Jerry O’Connell)—are in search of a missing teenager’s body. Wanting to be heroes in each other’s and their hometown’s eyes, they set out on an unforgettable two-day trek that turns into an odyssey of self-discovery.” Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has released Stand By Me on 4K UHD before, but this exclusive SteelBook edition is new. Extras include deleted and alternate scenes, picture-in-picture commentary with director Rob Reiner and actors Wheaton and Feldman, a music video, and “Walking The Tracks: The Summer Of Stand By Me.”

Available December 5

Now Star Trek fans who don’t subscribe to Paramount+ can check out the second season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds starring Anson Mount as Captain Christopher Pike, Rebecca Romijn as Number One, and Ethan Peck as Science Officer Spock. The series takes place approximately 10 years before the original series starring William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy. Blu-ray bonus features include “Producing Props,” “The Costumes Closet,” “The Gorn,” “Singing In Space,” and “Exploring New Worlds,” plus deleted, extended, and alternate scenes. A separate SteelBook edition includes customizable magnets and a poster of “Subspace Rhapsody,” the first musical episode in Star Trek’s history.

Available December 12

If you refused to subscribe to Disney+ and missed out on the “Baby Yoda” fad, now is the chance to catch up with the release of seasons one and two of The Mandalorian on both 4K UHD and Blu-ray. Pedro Pascal plays bounty hunter Din Djarin in a series featuring Katee Sackhoff, Carl Weathers, Werner Herzog, Gina Carano, Giancarlo Esposito, and Amy Sedaris in that same galaxy far, far away, during the period immediately following Return Of The Jedi. Both Season One and Season Two will arrive in Collector’s Edition SteelBooks, which each include original box art by Attila Szarka, concept art cards, and never-before-seen featurettes.

Available December 12

The Ring Collection features the 4K UHD debuts of the three movies—The Ring, The Ring Two, and Rings—in the supernatural series about a cursed videotape that causes someone who watches it to die seven days later. Naomi Watts stars as Rachel Keller in the first two movies based on Hideo Nakata’s 1998 film Ring. The official Shout Factory page says that “extras are in progress and will be announced at a later date,” but buyers who order direct from Shout Factory will receive an exclusive 18 x 24-inch poster featuring new artwork for the collection.

Available December 12

If you’re concerned about where AI is going, director Gareth Edwards’ The Creator will give you much to ponder. It also features breathtaking CGI effects done right. This thinking-man’s sci-fi epic about a future war between humans and artificial intelligence stars John David Washington, Madeleine Yuna Voyles, Gemma Chan, Allison Janney, Ken Watanabe, and Sturgill Simpson. Available on both 4K UHD and Blu-ray, the sole listed extra is the 55-minute featurette “True Love: Making The Creator” in which Rogue One: A Star Wars Story director Edwards takes you behind the scenes with the actors.

Available December 12

The official description for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem reads: “After years of being sheltered from the human world, the Turtle brothers set out to win the hearts of New Yorkers and be accepted as normal teenagers through heroic acts. Their new friend April O’Neil helps them take on a mysterious crime syndicate, but they soon get in over their heads when an army of mutants is unleashed upon them.” Paramount Home Media just released the animated movie on 4K UHD and Blu-ray in November, but the new Walmart-exclusive SteelBook comes packaged with a collectible mini-poster. Extras include a featurette about the teenage voice cast, “The Mutant Uprising” featurette about the movie’s antagonists, “New York New York: The Visual World Of Mutant Mayhem,” and the tutorial “Learn To Draw Leo.”

Available December 19

David Gordon Green—the man who successfully rebooted the Halloween series with Jamie Lee Curtis—helms this direct sequel to 1973’s The Exorcist. The official description for The Exorcist: Believer reads: “When two girls disappear into the woods and return three days later with no memory of what happened to them, the father of one girl seeks out Chris MacNeil, who’s been forever altered by what happened to her daughter 50 years ago.” Ellen Burstyn reprises her role as Chris MacNeil in this requel starring Leslie Odom Jr., Ann Dowd, Raphael Sbarge, Lidya Jewett, and E.J. Bonilla. Both Best Buy and Walmart will offer different exclusive SteelBook editions. Available on both 4K UHD and Blu-ray, extras for the first movie in a planned trilogy include “Making A Believer,” “Editing An Exorcism,” “Ellen And Linda: Reunited,” “Stages Of Possession,” “The Opening,” and “Matters Of Faith.”