Disney+ Mulan (2020) (1 Viewer)

[Jake Lipson]

I just think they have existing artwork that would look fantastic on a steelbook version of the film.

I agree that the original poster you attached would look great as a steelbook. But I also think the steelbook version they are going with looks great too. I look forward to having this and have no complaints about it.


The standard artwork focusing on Mulan and Mushu is a little plain, but it works. The artwork for the original 2-Movie Collection which also added new characters from the sequel to the front of the box was the worst. I actually like the part that is designed like the first movie's VHS, but I hate having the cheapquel characters on here.

I'm hoping that they carry over the bonus features from the original Blu-ray with the exception of the sequel, so that I can get rid of the bad one without having to sacrifice any supplements from the original film. Knowing Disney, that might be too much to ask. But we'll see.

 

[David Norman]

Not surprising other than any lack of preannouncement from Disney or Preorders from any online site, a BBY computer screenshot for 11/10 releases. Unsure if these are 100% in-store, but most Disney's will usually be there

Blu-ray Forum - View Single Post - Mulan 4K UHD (2020)

Everything about Blu-ray Disc. Join the Blu-ray Forum to discuss topics such as Blu-ray movies, players, recorders, drives, media and software.

forum.blu-ray.com

This appears to be
Steelbook UHD of 1998 and 2020 release ( I think 7869368864014 and 786936864557)
Normal UHD of each film ( 786936863994 and 786936864458 )
BD of 2020 ( 786936864045)
? DVD of the 2020 ( 786936864076)
I'm not 100% sure what the last item might be -- a DVD of both titles maybe.

 

[Jake Lipson]

This whole thing is weird.

Aside from the fact that I would like to be able to reserve the steelbook to make sure I get one, announcements in advance are valuable because I want to know what I'm getting. If there is a new Blu-ray transfer and/or new extras, Mulan would be an automatic double dip. If it's the same transfer and doesn't add anything, that would be easier to pass on in favor of keeping the current edition. If it just comes out on Tuesday with no advance word, that makes the purchase decision on the original film a little harder.

Obviously, this doesn't apply as much to the remake because there is no previous edition of that, and you either want it or you don't. But I find this very inconvenient for fans of the original film. I still hope we get an announcement and then it comes out maybe sometime in December because I would like to know what the new purchase offers me.

 

[David Norman]

Since there isn't another Mulan thread around I figured might as well put this here. Still no preorders up yet, but BBY has added some pictures of the covers of the upcoming items -- still not on the public website, but accessible

Mulan (2020) UHD + Blu-ray + Digital Steelbook

Mulan (1998) UHD + Blu-ray + Digital Steelbook

Mulan (2020) UHD + Blu-ray + Digital Standard

Mulan (1998) UHD + Blu-ray + Digital Standard

Mulan (2020) Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Standard

Mulan (1998 + 2020) 2 Film Blu-ray + DVD + Digital

Mulan (2020) DVD

 

[Jake Lipson]

The Digital Bits posted a release date of new November 20 (not November 10 as previously reported) including specs and extras for both films. Interestingly, November 20 would make this a rare Friday release for movies. If they go with Tuesday, then it would be November 17 or November 24.

Ron started a press release thread in the Blu-ray software forum. I won't guarantee this until I have the new set in hand, but from a quick glance, it seems like the animated film will carry over the extras from the previous Blu-ray 2-Movie Collection release but drop the inclusion of Mulan II and its extras, which is exactly what I wanted. Best Buy has pre-orders up now for all the different SKUs of both films, including their exclusive steelbook releases of each.

The November 20 release date puts the new film available on disc in time for Black Friday shopping the following week, but is two weeks away from its previously confirmed drop down to the regular tier of Disney+. I'm totally fine waiting two more weeks rather than doing a blind purchase of a film I am not sure I will like. But I'm very excited to get the new edition of the original.

 

[Sam Favate]

I think the Bits had a typo with that Nov 20 date. It’s Tuesday the 10th. My order from Target is scheduled to arrive 11/11.

 

[Jake Lipson]

I think the Bits had a typo with that Nov 20 date. It’s Tuesday the 10th. My order from Target is scheduled to arrive 11/11.

Bits had said the 10th earlier but then changed it to the 20th. If it is indeed the 10th, that would be kind of amazing since the announcement was not made until last week.

My pre-order of the animated version from Best Buy says:

"We'll let you know when it ships.
Getting it Ready"

It also won't let me cancel or make changes to the order. But there has been no release date posted on BB.com.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Oddly, Disney's page about the home releases of the new film includes a picture of what looks to be like one of Target's standard digipack exclusives with a filmmaker gallery book. See Disney's site below for what I'm talking about.

Mulan

Acclaimed filmmaker Niki Caro brings the epic tale of China’s legendary warrior to life in Disney’s "Mulan," in which a fearless...

movies.disney.com

But the link to purchase it doesn't work. It just goes to a page on Target's site which says "Page not available." The other links to Target don't work either, but searching Target's website directly, there are other editions up for pre-order but not the exclusive one. Perhaps the release was cancelled? If they were planning one, it seems odd not to go through with it, especially since Best Buy is still getting their customary steelbook.

 

[Jake Lipson]

This is weird.

I just got the following email from Best Buy in regards to my pre-order of the steelbook for the original film.

Jacob, your pre-ordered item is delayed.

As soon as your item becomes available we'll send an email letting you know it's on the way. However, due to increased shipping volume, delivery of your order may be affected.

For more information and additional order options, see the What You Need to Knowsection below.

We apologize for the inconvenience, and thank you for being a loyal customer.

Sincerely,

Your Customer Care Team

You'll Receive Your Item(s) Soon [TD valign="top"] •

If the delay(s) are OK, we'll make sure you receive your item(s) as soon as possible
If you paid with a credit card, your funds have been pre-authorized, but you won't be charged until your order is fulfilled
As soon as your order ships, we'll send a separate e-mail with tracking details
We will keep your order open and continue to work on getting your item(s) to you until Tuesday, November 17, 2020. If your item(s) are still not available by this date, we'll cancel the item(s) and notify you via email.

[TD valign="top"] • [/TD]
[TD valign="top"] • [/TD]
[TD valign="top"] • [/TD]

[/TD]

They never did email me a release date after I pre-ordered a few days ago, so I would have expected that email instead of this one. Has anyone else here gotten an email like this before or recently? It definitely is today, though, because the site now shows It as available for store pickup at my store. Since I already preordered it for shipping, I'll just keep this order rather than go in there trying to hunt for what might be one or two copies. But I feel like this wouldn't have happened if Disney had announced this release properly in advance instead of surprise dropping it on us with short notice.

I do hope that they can get a copy before next Tuesday and don't cancel the order, since the whole reason I pre-ordered the steelbook is to make sure they don't sell out on me.

Best Buy also texted me about this because I'm signed up to receive text updates about my orders. The text said "A shipping credit will be applied for the item(s)." I assume this means that they will drop the shipping charges due to the delay. That would be nice, but they've already preauthorized my card for the full amount including shipping. Also, the email says nothing about a shipping credit. I wish I had that in writing in an email I could save, rather than just a text on my phone. My order total on the website still reflects the shipping cost.

I added it to my cart again just to see what the projected delivery date would be. Although I have no intention of placing a duplicate order with the website, if I did place a new order today at the standard shipping cost, their algorithm says it would arrive by November 17. That would suggest hopefully they can send mine out within the next few days and won't cancel it, but we'll see what happens. But the fact that the day they'll cancel it is also the day they're saying new orders would arrive just feels uncomfortable.

Do I need this this week? No, but I want to make sure I get one in good condition. If it is delayed in shipping, the copies at my store could very well be sold out before I get my copy. That won't be a problem if my copy arrives in good shape. I've ordered three other steelbook releases from Best Buy for home shipping this year. Two of them (Your Name and Whiplash) arrived in perfect condition. The other three were the Back to the Future trilogy steelbook set, and anybody who's read my posts in those threads lately knows what a shitshow that experience was for me. Knock on wood. I really want Mulan to arrive in pristine condition. If it does, great. If it doesn't, but the copies at my store are sold out by then, it would be difficult to replace it. Fingers crossed this one takes after Your Name and Whiplash and arrives as it should.

Also, it's worth noting that the various editions of the 2020 film are also showing as available today for pickup. Disney really did just drop it without much notice or a press release. I'm still good waiting another few weeks for that one to drop into the regular tier of Disney+, but I guess this confirms that November 10 is in fact the release date.

 

[Brian L]

Bits had said the 10th earlier but then changed it to the 20th. If it is indeed the 10th, that would be kind of amazing since the announcement was not made until last week.

My pre-order of the animated version from Best Buy says:

"We'll let you know when it ships.
Getting it Ready"

It also won't let me cancel or make changes to the order. But there has been no release date posted on BB.com.

Looks like it is in fact the 10th. I ordered the regular 4K from Target. I could have done store pickup, but with COVID cases spiking here, I went with home shipping...should arrive Friday.

 

[Sam Favate]

My copy from Target has shipped. Expected tomorrow.

 

[Jake Lipson]

I woke up to shipping confirmation from Best Buy for my steelbook of the original, so that "shipping delay" they told me about last night wasn't very long. I wonder if they'll give me the shipping credit like the text message said.

No delivery date yet but it is awaiting pickup from the post office. To me, I wouldn't actually say an item has "shipped" until it is in the possession of the shipping partner, but that's obviously going to be close now.

I'll still wait to see the live-action one included within the Disney+ subscription next month before making a purchase decision on it.

Belated edit only to correct a typo.

 

[Sam Favate]

I'm more concerned about Disney's "sneak attack" on these releases. While they were rumored for a while, they were only announced on Friday. Okay, I know it was a busy news week, but come on. One of these days, we're going to ask Disney, "Hey, where's the blu-ray for (fill in the blank)?" and they'll say "Oh that came out two weeks ago."

 

[Jake Lipson]

I'm more concerned about Disney's "sneak attack" on these releases.

I get what you're saying and agree that they shouldn't have done that. But I'll only really be concerned if they do this again. Everything about this release has been unusual. The film of course was supposed to come out in March. Since Blu-rays usually turn up about 90 days after theatrical release, I would not be surprised at all if these discs were authored in advance of the original release date and have been sitting in a warehouse somewhere while Disney figured out what to do with the film. I'm not saying they shouldn't have issued a press release, but I am saying that because everything has been irregular with regard to Mulan, they have probably been making it up on the fly.

After the delay from March, the movie was supposed to come out in July. Then it was supposed to come out in August. Then they settled on Labor Day weekend for the debut. They tried the premium priced thing for Disney+ subscribers. But they said in advance that it would be available without an upcharge in December, which I think cost them some revenue. What is another few months to wait when we've already been waiting on this since March? Then it was out on other digital platforms a month after that, which seemed to be Disney trying to widen the film's reach. That drop wasn't accompanied with much fanfare either. Now, they're obviously trying to get this in stores before Black Friday so they dan make some money on physical before it drops into the regular tier of Disney+ in December. The trajectory this film has taken has been unprecedented for a Disney blockbuster of this size every step of the way, so It is almost in line with that oddity that the discs arrived without notice.

If Disney begins to make a habit of not issuing press releases and advance preorders, then I'll get concerned. Right now, I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt and assume that this strategy is a fluke brought on by the fact that almost everything about this film has represented a fluke compared to how Disney normally does business.

 

[Jake Lipson]

I wrote in post #301:

I'm hoping that they carry over the bonus features from the original Blu-ray with the exception of the sequel, so that I can get rid of the bad one without having to sacrifice any supplements from the original film. Knowing Disney, that might be too much to ask. But we'll see.

I got the new edition in the mail today. Fortunately, this steelbook arrived in perfect condition.

This is exactly what they did. The new Blu-ray Disc includes all the bonus features relating to the original film that were included on its 2013 release, but it drops Mulan II and the few bonus features relating to it in their entirety. I am very pleased with this because I really hate that cheapquel and want to unload it.

It would have been nice if they had produced a new transfer and/or some new extras like they did for The Little Mermaid and Aladdin Signature Collection editions last year. But the transfer still looks great, and everything that is on the initial Blu-ray release was good, so I can't complain. The Blu-ray has a trailer for Finding Dory "coming to theaters" at startup, so I am guessing it was authored sometime in 2016, although the label art says copyright 2020.

Incidentally, the online image of what the steelbook looks like shows the included Blu-ray with artwork featuring Mulan as Ping trying to save Shang in the avalanche. This image can even be seen on the front of the cardboard wraparound for the steelbook. However, inside the steelbook itself, the Blu-ray disc actually shows Mulan in her Ping armor with Mushu. This is the first time I've ever seen them change disc art from when the artwork was unveiled to what is in the final product.

The 4K disc has the same artwork as the standard 4K keepcase release as advertised. The Blu-ray is the only one that has changed.

See the final disc art in this unboxing video. I didn't upload this, but it gets the job done in showing you the difference.

 

[Jake Lipson]

I noticed while looking at Disney+ tonight that the Premier Access offer for Mulan is not there anymore. If you look up the page for the remake, it just says "Coming to Disney+ December 4." I assume that people who already bought it during the original period of sale would still be able to watch it now, but it is interesting that they have a few weeks here where Disney+ won't take your money for it. Of course, that's really a moot point because it is very accessible as either a streaming purchase from other retailers or via the disc for anyone who wants it right now. But it does represent a weird transitional time where a movie that debuted on Disney+ is not currently being offered there unless you already paid for it.

I will watch this when it drops down to the regular Disney+ tier in 19 days. The wait is not significant to me. But I find this whole approach interesting.

Bob Chapek (Disney's new CEO succeeding Bob Iger) said earlier this week that they are happy with the performance of Mulan and that there is a place in their plans for more Premir Access offerings. But I wonder if the speed with which this release turned around to other platforms might cause a problem if they try to use this model again.

It was on Disney+ in September, on other digital platforms by October, and available on disc by November. Vudu even lowered digital the purchase price by $10 after the disc came out this week.

I absolutely expected that Mulan would eventually be released to other media besides Disney+, but I have to admit I was a bit surprised at how quickly they took the exclusivity away. I've already heard a lot of people saying that if they had known it was only going to be two months until the physical media release, they would have waited for that. But even though the physical media release date was not widely known back in September when the Premier Access feature launched, everyone did know that it was going to come to Disney+ on December 4 because they said that before sales started for anyone. So everyone knew that paying the $30 got you a limited window before it was made available more widely anyway. I don't really see that as Disney cheating people, but I guess some others feel differently.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I noticed while looking at Disney+ tonight that the Premier Access offer for Mulan is not there anymore. If you look up the page for the remake, it just says "Coming to Disney+ December 4." I assume that people who already bought it during the original period of sale would still be able to watch it now, but it is interesting that they have a few weeks here where Disney+ won't take your money for it. Of Course, that's really a moot point because it is very accessible as either a streaming purchase from other retailers or via the disc for anyone who wants it right now. But it does represent a weird transitional time where a movie that debuted on Disney+ is not currently being offered there unless you already paid for it.

I will watch this when it drops down to the regular Disney+ tier in 19 days. The wait is not significant to me. But I find this whole approach interesting.

Bob Chapek (Disney's new CEO succeeding Bob Iger) said earlier this week that they are happy with the performance of Mulan and that there is a place in their plans for more Premir Access offerings. But I wonder if the speed with which this release turned around to other platforms might cause a problem if they try to use this model again.

It was on Disney+ in September, on other digital platforms by October, and available on disc by November. Vudu even lowered digital the purchase price by $10 after the disc came out this week.

I absolutely expected that Mulan would eventually be released to other media besides Disney+, but I have to admit I was a bit surprised at how quickly they took the exclusivity away. I've already heard a lot of people saying that if they had known it was only going to be two months until the physical media release, they would have waited for that. But even though the physical media release date was not widely known back in September when the Premier Access feature launched, everyone did know that it was going to come to Disney+ on December 4 because they said that before sales started for anyone. So everyone knew that paying the $30 got you a limited window before it was made available more widely anyway. I don't really see that as Disney cheating people, but I guess some others feel differently.

I thought this was a possibility so I'm going to watch it in December on Disney+. If I like it then I might buy it again either digitally or the disc.

 

[Sam Favate]

I finally saw this. On the one hand, I liked it - it had some great cinematography, nice action scenes, and of course, the story is the same positive one from the 1998 animated film. On the other hand, it felt a bit generic without the music and songs (some of the score seemed the same), and I'm someone who always thought Disney should make the live action version without the songs or cute characters, just an action movie. But it felt like a story we'd seen more than once. It is a gorgeous looking film though. I watched it in 4k on disc and every frame popped out. I'd probably place it in the upper tier of the Disney live-action remakes, even if it is basically par for the course as those go.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Mulan is now available for all Disney+ subscribers without paying extra money to watch it.

 

[Jake Lipson]

I am glad I did not pay any extra money to watch this garbage. The storytelling in this film did not work for me at all.

Before I start this post which is going to be extremely negative, I'll throw in what nice stuff I can. Nikki Caro is a talented director and I have enjoyed some of her other work In the past. Whale Rider is sensational. So when she was announced as the director of this, I thought that choice made sense and that she would be able to deliver another compelling narrative of a female protagonist making waves in a man's world, as she did with that film.

Caro has made a technically superior movie. On a craftsmanship level, it is very clear where the budget went and it is well put together. The cinematography is often beautiful to watch. But that's as much praise as I can muster for this dumpster fire of a movie. In every other respect aside from technically, this is utterly terrible. It is without question the worst cinematic storytelling I have seen this year. Granted, the coronavirus and resulting film delays mean that I have seen significantly less new films this year than I normally would, but this one is so bad that I think it would have that distinction even if this year was totally normal and I had seen this back in March.

Another thing I will say up front is that, even though I love the original film and especially its songs, I knew what this was going in. I'm not going to sit here at this point and say "Wah, they should have kept the songs." That is a debate we have had in this thread before. I can't erase the original film from my head --- nor would I want to -- but my issues with this film are with what is presented in this film more than what is not.

I'm going to put the most of the rest of this post under spoiler tags in case anyone else was waiting for the general Disney+ release too and hasn't seen the film yet.

Spoiler

First of all, what's with this martial arts superpower thing that they gave Mulan? This completely undermines her character because there is nowhere to grow as a character if she is already a super-person in the beginning. Even though she spends part of the movie hiding this ability from the others in her regimen, we know she has the skill and so does she. Therefore, the stakes are removed from the training section of the film. Instead of being ill-prepared at the beginning and genuinely growing as a soldier and a person throughout, starting with the superpower gives her nowhere to grow.

The scene in the middle of the movie where she voluntarily reveals herself as a woman is completely ridiculous because it undermines the stakes presented before. She isn't hiding because she is ashamed of herself. She would have gone in her father's place as herself if she had been allowed to do so. The whole reason she disguises herself at all is because it is illegal for her to join the army as a woman. For her to voluntarily throw that away and just hope that there won't be retribution because she is being true to herself is absurd beyond belief. Of course she was going to have to be revealed to the army at some point for the narrative to progress, but it should have been inadvertently, Or they could have had the witch character reveal her.

I also really hated the movie's attempts to make the witch an evil mirror of Mulan and compare the two. The comparison doesn't work and isn't interesting. If we're supposed to feel something when she sacrifices herself at the end in order to shield Mulan, I didn't.

None of the characters besides Mulan are really distinguishable or memorable. Watching this, it reminded me of the Red Letter Media review of The Phantom Menace on YouTube, where people are asked to describe the characters without mentioning their looks or their job titles. The point is that they can't do it because Lucas' characters are poorly developed. The same thing applies here. Without a reason to like any of these characters, there is no reason to get emotionally invested in any of this crap, and it just makes the movie boring. It simply was not fun to watch. Although the craftsmanship level is beyond reproach, I was not entertained and it felt like a slog to get through to the end.

Lastly, this movie tries to have it both ways in regard to the animated film. The intention was clearly to change it up and tell a different story, as opposed to the more literal translations like The Lion King. That's fine. But if you want to divorce yourself of so many elements from the original film, it isn't a good idea to constantly include references to the original film at the same time. Having lyrics from the animated film thrown in as lines of spoken dialogue, some of which are said directly to the camera, is really stupid. It just serves to remind people how much more compelling the original film is, which isn't a good thing to do when the alternatives in this film are less interesting than the story they're replacing. It would have been better for this film to leave those elements out altogether because as it is, they take you out of this movie to remind you of the better one you could be watching instead. That's not smart. Making changes would work if the new story was good on its own merits, but that just isn't the case here. So why bring up the thing people like if you can't match it in quality?

At least Disney's desire to promote this film led to them reissuing the art book for the original, which has been out of print and difficult to find for a couple decades. And the original film was brought to UHD, with an accompanying Blu-ray copy that gladly drops the terrible cheapquel included on its original release from back in 2013. So the existence of this trash made it easier for me to get things regarding the original that I have long wanted.

Otherwise, I do not value this film at all and I will never watch it again. It's a shame to see such excellent cinematography and craftsmanship wasted on terrible storytelling. It is unbelievable how incompetent this film is. I'll be watching the original again tonight for the second time this week in an attempt to forget as much of this junk as I can.

Grade: F.