Month: September 2025

Stanley Kubrick fans can save 30% on their preorder for The Criterion Collection edition of Eyes Wide Shut. The legendary filmmaker’s polarizing final movie arrives on 4K Blu-ray for the first time November 25. Preorders for Eyes Wide Shut’s 3-disc 4K Blu-ray edition are discounted to $35 (was $50) at Amazon. Criterion is also releasing a new 1080p Blu-ray edition the same day, and it’s also on sale for 30% off, dropping the price to $28.

Arguably Kubrick’s strangest–and certainly the most sexually explicit–film, Eyes Wide Shut was a major box office hit, but it proved to be too unsettling and weird for some critics and fans back in 1999. These days, though, many critics and fans alike consider Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman film to be a masterpiece. While it’s only the second Kubrick 4K release from Criterion–Barry Lyndon became the first in July–nearly all of Kubrick’s movies are now available on 4K Blu-ray from other distributors.

$35 (was $50) | Releases November 25

The 4K release of Eyes Wide Shut is a three-disc set with one 4K UHD disc and two 1080p Blu-ray discs. Like other Criterion releases, this version is designed to be as close as possible to Kubrick’s thoroughly meticulous vision for how it should be presented. While the famed director passed away in 1999 less than a week after screening the final cut for Warner Bros., Criterion’s restoration was supervised by the movie’s director of photography, Larry Smith. Since the 1080p version is based on the 4K restoration, it should also be an improvement over the current Blu-ray edition.

Notably, Criterion restored the international version–the aforementioned final cut–not the US theatrical edition, which was censored in order to attain an R rating.

On a technical level, this release offers support for Dolby Vision HDR and DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround sound.

For the bonus materials, new interviews have been filmed with Smith, photographer and second-unit director Lisa Leone, and Stanley Kubrick archivist Georgina Orgill.

There are also archival extras from previous Blu-ray releases of Eyes Wide Shut, like interviews with the actors, a documentary examining the unfinished films of Kubrick, and more. All of these are available to watch on the bonus standard Blu-ray disc. The standard Blu-ray edition is a two-disc set with the same bonus features.

Inside the display case you’ll also find a booklet with a 1999 interview with Kubrick and actor Sydney Pollack as well as a new essay by author Megan Abbott.

Eyes Wide Shut: The Criterion Collection Features

• 4K digital restoration supervised by director of photography Larry Smith
• 3-disc set: 4K Blu-ray & 2 standard Blu-rays
• Dolby Vision HDR
• DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
• New interviews with Larry Smith, second-unit director Lisa Leone, and Kubrick archivist Georgina Orgill
• Archival interview with Kubrick’s wife Christiane Kubrick
• Never Just a Dream: 2019 interviews with producer Jan Harlan, Kubrick’s daughter Katharina Kubrick, and his personal assistant Anthony Frewin
• Lost Kubrick: The Unfinished Films of Stanley Kubrick
• Kubrick Remembered: Interviews with Steven Spielberg and actors Todd Field and Leelee Sobieski
• Kubrick’s 1998 acceptance speech for the Directors Guild of America’s D.W. Griffith Award
• 1999 press conference with executive producer Jan Harlan, Tom Cruise, and Nicole Kidman
• Trailers
• English subtitles
• Booklet with essay by author Megan Abbott and a 1999 interview with filmmaker and actor Sydney Pollack

Loosely adapted from Arthur Schnitzler’s novella Dream Story, Eyes Wide Shut follows doctor Bill Harford (Tom Cruise) and his wife, Alice (Nicole Kidman), as they confront their unconscious desires, jealousies, and fears inside of a version of New York City that feels a step removed from reality.

As mentioned, Eyes Wide Shut is only the second Kubrick film to receive a 4K Blu-ray edition from Criterion–most of his films, however, are available on 4K from different distributors. Barry Lyndon, Kubrick’s superb 1975 historical drama following a conman who infiltrates high society, is available for $31.64 (was $50) on 4K Blu-ray at Amazon. Barry Lyndon is a three-hour visual feast thanks to decadent cinematography and lavish costume designs. It was awarded the Academy Award for Best Cinematography.

It seems likely that Criterion will release more 4K Blu-rays of Kubrick’s work in the future. Barry Lyndon has been in the distributor’s catalog on standard Blu-ray since 2017. Criterion has standard Blu-ray editions of a few other Kubrick films, including Dr. Strangelove and The Killing.

Kubrick fans will need to look outside The Criterion Collection to watch most of the director’s popular films on 4K Blu-ray, including The Shining, A Clockwork Orange, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Full Metal Jacket. The Shining just joined The Film Vault, a collection of limited-edition 4K Blu-rays designed by Vice Press in partnership with Warner Bros., with a gorgeous new Steelbook Edition (shown above). Walmart is taking preorders for The Shining Steelbook Edition, and orders will begin shipping October 3. You can also get a Steelbook Edition of Full Metal Jacket for only $30 at Amazon.

Amazon also has a nice deal on the Stanley Kubrick 3-Film 4K Collection that drops the price to $43 (was $85). This box set includes The Shining, Full Metal Jacket, and 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Stanley Kubrick Movies on Blu-ray

Not all of Kubrick’s films have been restored on 4K Blu-ray. The 1956 film The Killing and Kubrick’s 1962 adaptation of Vladimir Nabokov’s novel Lolita are only available on standard Blu-ray. We’ve included a list of Kubrick movies on 1080p Blu-ray below. In a few cases, the standard Blu-ray edition is considerably cheaper than the 4K edition. Just be aware that many of the 4K editions also come with standard Blu-ray discs. In addition to standalone editions, there are a few Kubrick Blu-ray box sets, including a fancy Amazon-exclusive edition dubbed The Masterpiece Collection–it’s out of print and fairly expensive–and a region-free 9-film collection that’s very reasonably priced at just $37.

Stanley Kubrick Books

If you love Kubrick’s films, you owe it to yourself to check out a few of Taschen’s superb books about the director’s work. Most recently, the premium art book publisher released an enormous two-volume hardcover set about The Shining. This exhaustive deep dive by J.W. Rinzler is based on hundreds of hours of interviews and mountains of research. It’s the definitive making-of account on Kubrick’s most popular film. The second book is a scrapbook with never-before-seen documents and photography from the production. The nearly 1,400-page box set is pricey at $125, but it’s simply incredible in scope. We’d highly recommend it.

We’d also recommend Taschen’s The Stanley Kubrick Archives, which is available in a large coffee table book edition and in a more budget-friendly, compact edition for $21. Taschen’s The Making of Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey is sold out, but Michael Benson’s Space Odyssey, published by Simon & Schuster in 2018, is a stellar read, too. For a Kubrick biography, you have several options, including the highly rated 2024 book Kubrick: An Odyssey.

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There are remasters, there are remakes, there are reboots and spiritual sequels. Tokyo Xtreme Racer is something else; it’s a full-on resurrection. It’s the return of a unique game series — and a developer — that had been all but dead for almost 20 years. But it’s not a reinvention or an overtly nostalgic tribute, either. It’s a continuation of the games in their original form, as if the past two decades had simply never happened. It’s the best racing game of 2005, released in 2025. It’s glorious.

You might know the series by one of its many other names: Shutokou Battle, or Tokyo Highway Battle, or Import Tuner Challenge, or Street Supremacy, or Highway 2000, or Wangan Dead Heat. Genki — the developer, not the accessories manufacturer — made literally dozens of games inspired by Japan’s street-racing scene between 1994 and 2006. Then it abruptly stopped. The studio retired its Genki Racing Project development arm and, save a couple of abortive attempts to make Shutokou Battle work on mobile, went very, very quiet.

But, just as abruptly, Genki Racing Project and Tokyo Xtreme Racer are back. The game surfaced in early access on Steam in January 2025, and just updated to its 1.0 version on Thursday, Sept. 25. I’ve been playing it since the early spring, and while there have been some notable tweaks and additions, Genki’s developers had the concept nailed to the wall from the start. Of course they did — in the world of Tokyo street-racing video games, they are the OGs. This is their world.

And what a seductive world it is. In Tokyo Xtreme Racer, the action only takes place at night, on the expressways and flyovers of Tokyo, and the only races are head-to-head challenges against rivals you happen upon by cruising the streets or hanging out in parking areas. Flash your beams at a rival and you both sprout health bars, fighting-game style. Contact chips away at these, but this isn’t really a vehicular combat game; the further ahead you are, the faster your rival’s health bar is eroded.

It’s extremely simple, and the challenge can vary a lot depending where you come upon a rival and the route they select. On the outer highways that span the dark void of the bay, races can be nothing more than straight-line drags that are over in seconds. On the C1 loop that twists and tunnels around the city center, a race against a tough opponent requires threading a needle through traffic and around blind high-speed bends, using as little brake as you can get away with while avoiding wall contact that can wipe away half your health.

The key thing to understand about Tokyo Xtreme Racer, though, is that it’s as much a kind of blissed-out, nocturnal, automotive Pokémon as it is a technical racing game. Much more so, in fact. It’s about grinding out races to increase your level, unlock perks, and earn credits for new rides and car upgrades. It’s about picking your way through the perk tree to unlock legendary tuner cars like the 1998 Nissan Fairlady Z or the 1987 Toyota Sprinter Trueno, and customizing them with neon underlighting, decals, and fat rims.

It’s about hunting down the colorful members of the dozens of racing teams that prowl the streets, hoping to eventually draw out their leaders. It’s about perusing the amusing bios of racers with aliases (B.A.D. Names, in the game’s lexicon) like Woodpecker Syndrome, Melancholic Jupiter, Foreign Bookkeeper, and Silent Mongoose. It’s about hanging out at the parking areas to check out rivals’ silhouetted 2000s fashions, engage in strangely courtly, sparring dialogue with them, and pick up clues about the mysterious Wanderers and how you can unlock the requirements to race them.

Image: Genki

It’s a vibe, in other words. Tokyo Xtreme Racer might be the vibiest racing game around right now. And the vibes are only enhanced by the game’s look, which hasn’t evolved much since 2006, either technically or aesthetically, and is all the better for it. It’s a grainy, moonlit, PS2-ass world of flickering sodium streetlamps and vaguely looming skyscrapers, soundtracked with crunchy metal guitars, hammering techno beats, and wailing Hammond organ.

Accelerating into the endless night of Tokyo Xtreme Racer has been my gaming happy place in 2025 — which is all the more surprising since I somehow never played the series before, and have no specific nostalgia for it. I do have nostalgia for visions as specific and beautifully realized as this, though, crafted by people who’ve been doing it for decades and feel it in their bones. Tokyo Extreme Racer, I never knew you, but it’s great to have you back.

Tokyo Xtreme Racer is available now on Windows PC and will be released on PlayStation 5 at a later date. The game was reviewed on PC using a copy purchased by Polygon. You can find additional information about Polygon’s ethics policy here.

The city-building genre is grossly overpopulated. Competing Simvilles predicated on wholly opposed theories about plumbing and traffic wardens stretch as far as the eye can see. As such, the genre must imitate real-life urban centres of the 20th century, and begin expanding vertically. Enter Stario: Haven Tower, the new strategy management sim from Chinese developers Stargate Games, in which you build upward through the realms of Sand, Mist, Rain, Frost, and Clear Skies until finally, your city stands among the Stars.

Continue reading “Build a tower city all the way to heaven in this spiritual, yet logistics-heavy strategy game”