The Blockbuster Summer That Wasn’t: Four 2026 Movies That Missed the Mark

The weather was hot. These movies were not.

In a season dominated by Odysseus and a certain friendly neighborhood insect-guy, several films landed loud, only to promptly fade away, and for good reason. What’s especially disappointing is the extent to which some very talented people and celebrated franchises have apparently lost their way over the past few months. With their home entertainment releases now firmly in hand, let’s take a look back at what went wrong and determine whether their discs at least got it right.

Supergirl

While I’m not disagreeing with those who fault Supergirl for insufficiently adhering to the Tom King/Bilquis Evely Woman of Tomorrow limited comics series upon which it’s based, I will counter that any film adaptation needs to stand on its own, without requiring knowledge of or even familiarity with the source material. And this movie, well….

The first clue is right there on the front. (My copy even has a fancy prismatic slipcover.) As with last year’s Superman, Supergirl lacks the confidence to focus on its central hero, instead unnecessarily shoehorning in Jason Momoa as Lobo, who, by the way, did not appear in this comic book storyline. Such Hail Mary plays seldom work (remember when The Flash squeezed in two and a half Batmen… and Supergirl?) and also do a disservice to the star, in this case the talented young Milly Alcock. Even the wonderful director Craig Gillespie (I, Tonya) can only do so much under the increasingly heavy hand of DC Studios co-chairman and CEO James Gunn. (For the record, I still very much want Gunn to succeed.)

Perhaps its most unfortunate shortcoming is that it introduces a very different Kara Zor-El, who spends the bulk of the movie either drunk, wildly obnoxious, or both. I guess we’re supposed to feel sorry for her, or maybe think she’s cool and rebellious, but she’s mostly just annoying.

Bearing the obvious mark of James Gunn as Supergirl does, there’s a lot to look at, with elaborate sets and flashy action delivered crisply and with a precise, distinctive color palette. There’s likewise plenty to hear, with a bombastic combination of pop tunes and explosive 360-degree mayhem, punchy surrounds, and more than ample low end. The bonus content on the single disc is highlighted by one deleted scene, one extended scene, and a multipart “making of.” The many additional topic-specific featurettes come off as kind of sad when we see how so much work added up to so little.

Movie Details

• STUDIO: Warner
• FORMAT: Ultra HD 4K Blu-ray (September 8, 2026)
• THEATRICAL RELEASE YEAR: 2026
• ASPECT RATIO: 2.39:1
• HDR FORMATS: Dolby Vision, HDR10
• AUDIO FORMAT: Dolby Atmos with TrueHD 7.1 core
• LENGTH: 108 mins.
• MPAA RATING: PG-13
• DIRECTOR: Craig Gillespie
• STARRING: Milly Alcock, Eve Ridley, Matthias Schoenaerts, Jason Momoa, David Krumholtz, David Corenswet

Our Ratings

★★★★★★★★★★ Movie

★★★★★★★★★★ Picture

★★★★★★★★★★ Sound

★★★★★★★★★★ Extras

Where to Buy:

Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu

The first thing my wife and I ever had in common was our deep fondness for Star Wars, back when it was three movies and nothing else. Time passed, Lucas sold to Disney, and we found ourselves eagerly watching every weekly episode of D+’s The Mandalorian, usually on the day it went live. That, of course, means we also witnessed the decline in the show’s quality, not technically, certainly, but in its increasingly obvious shortage of compelling plotlines.

Which brings us to The Mandalorian and Grogu, wherein hunter Mando’s latest bounty leads the New Republic to the trail of one of its most wanted. The deal doesn’t go exactly as planned, yoda-yoda-yoda, Mando kicks ass, little Grogu does something cute, and then it’s over. While it looked enormously cinematic in the theater and sounded tremendously thrilling in all its powerfully immersive glory, movies have a weight and sense of urgency that are both lacking here.

Are the high production values of the TV show working against the movie? The big screen presentation is a clean, grain free digital affair, just like a typical episode. Colors are strong, the high dynamic range is well implemented, and the use of IMAX certified high resolution cameras for the major set pieces adds a bit of visual oomph to the proceedings. Both the 4K and included HD Blu-ray carry director commentary (say what you like, but Jon Favreau is a very serious and articulate filmmaker), while the Blu-ray adds a more substantial assortment of featurettes than I was expecting.

Movie Details

• STUDIO: Disney/Sony
• FORMAT: Ultra HD 4K Blu-ray (August 25, 2026)
• THEATRICAL RELEASE YEAR: 2026
• ASPECT RATIO: 2.39:1/1.78:1
• HDR FORMATS: Dolby Vision, HDR10
• AUDIO FORMAT: Dolby Atmos with TrueHD 7.1 core
• LENGTH: 132 mins.
• MPAA RATING: PG-13
• DIRECTOR: Jon Favreau
• STARRING: Pedro Pascal, Sigourney Weaver, Jeremy Allen White, Martin Scorsese, Brendan Wayne, Lateef Crowder

Our Ratings

★★★★★★★★★★ Movie

★★★★★★★★★★ Picture

★★★★★★★★★★ Sound

★★★★★★★★★★ Extras

Where to Buy:

Disclosure Day

A spiritual sequel to Steven Spielberg’s earlier, far better films about mankind’s contact with extraterrestrials (Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T.), Disclosure Day treads little new ground and, in 2026, is actually quite corny. Another shadowy government conspiracy seeks to suppress the truth about aliens here on Earth, intrigue and chases ensue, but the agents on the case are ridiculously inept so that the movie can continue to movie. The characters run the gamut from merely uninteresting to laughably clichéd, although Emily Blunt, at least, is locked in and very watchable. Then, of course, there’s the disclosure of the title, with the truth being revealed to the entire world despite tedious debate about the ramifications. The movie runs almost two and a half talky hours, but there’s virtually no exploration of the consequences.

This is Spielberg, so it was shot primarily on film by Janusz Kamiński, and it is absolutely gorgeous and razor sharp, strikingly so when we see the bad guys’ giant surveillance screens packed with tiny text. The magical alien technology also affords ample opportunity for the filmmakers to flaunt their mastery of light. Gary Rydstrom delivers an aggressive Atmos mix with effortless extension into all channels and plenty of bass, making this one of the best sounding discs I’ve heard all year. We’re then given a competent hour-long documentary that explores the many facets of production, plus a separate four-minute segment about Spielberg’s creative reunion with out-of-retirement composer John Williams.

Movie Details

• STUDIO: Universal Pictures Home Entertainment
• FORMAT: Ultra HD 4K Blu-ray (August 25, 2026)
• THEATRICAL RELEASE YEAR: 2026
• ASPECT RATIO: 2.39:1
• HDR FORMATS: Dolby Vision, HDR10
• AUDIO FORMAT: Dolby Atmos with TrueHD 7.1 core
• LENGTH: 146 mins.
• MPAA RATING: PG-13
• DIRECTOR: Steven Spielberg
• STARRING: Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor, Colin Firth, Eve Hewson, Colman Domingo, Wyatt Russell

Our Ratings

★★★★★★★★★★ Movie

★★★★★★★★★★ Picture

★★★★★★★★★★ Sound

★★★★★★★★★★ Extras

Where to Buy:

The Breadwinner

Nate Bargatze is perennially laugh out loud funny, such that I’ve been known to pull up a quick clip (“I do my own laundry!”) when I’m having a bad day. But standup is its own animal, and there’s no guarantee that style of comedy will translate to a feature film. For some reason, Nate thought the world needed a thinly veiled remake of Mr. Mom. He becomes a stay at home parent when his wife hits it big on Shark Tank, but he’s playing a dad so utterly lacking in common sense that he would surely die from forgetting to breathe. This is not the stage persona we’ve come to know and love. Instead, we get a string of unfunny jokes, many of which were written by him. Ultimately, The Breadwinner aims low but mostly fires blanks.

This is a fairly mundane, mid budget production with just a bit of CGI, so I’ll simply report that there are no major issues with the 1080p presentation. Detail is respectable, and compression artifacting is negligible. Audio wise, most of the activity is up front and always legible, with the expected rear channel cues helping to fill in busier scenes. Director Eric Appel bravely sits for a commentary. It’s fine, but this was a missed opportunity for Nate to join him and riff, perhaps earning back some audience goodwill. The featurettes are skippable, although the bloopers, alternate gags, and half dozen brief deleted scenes might be good for a smirk.

Movie Details

• STUDIO: Sony
• FORMAT: Blu-ray (August 25, 2026)
• THEATRICAL RELEASE YEAR: 2026
• ASPECT RATIO: 2.39:1
• HDR FORMATS: N/A
• AUDIO FORMAT: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
• LENGTH: 99 mins.
• MPAA RATING: PG
• DIRECTOR: Eric Appel
• STARRING: Nate Bargatze, Mandy Moore, Colin Jost, Zach Cherry, Will Forte, Kumail Nanjiani

Our Ratings

★★★★★★★★★★ Movie

★★★★★★★★★★ Picture

★★★★★★★★★★ Sound

★★★★★★★★★★ Extras

Where to Buy:

Related Reading: