Two Nicolas Cage Classics Finally Getting the Release Fans Have Been Begging For

Published Sep 22, 2026, 6:21 PM EDT Charlie Ridgely is a writer from Maryland, currently residing in Nashville, Tennessee. He may be new to Collider, but he's been writing, editing, conducting interviews, and podcasting around the industry for 10 years. From 2016 to the start of 2026, Charlie was a full time writer and critic at ComicBook.com. A lifelong movie fan, avid reader, and renowned (fictional) dungeon explorer/dragonslayer, Charlie is a jack-of-all-trades throughout the fandom multiverse and has covered everything under the sun. There's no debating that Nicolas Cage is one of the all-time greats, and his run from the late 1980s into the mid-2000s remains absolutely iconic. He delivered classic after classic during that span, highlighted by a handful of action movies that have stood the test of time. Unfortunately, some of those Cage all-timers have been stuck in a sort of quality purgatory over the last decade-plus, leaving fans with older DVD and Blu-ray releases as the only physical editions of the films to enjoy. For two of these hits, that's finally going to change. This week, Walt Disney Home Entertainment announced that two of Cage's classic blockbusters have not only been fully restored, but will be getting full 4K rollouts in less than two months. This fall will see 1997's Con Air and 2004's National Treasure released on 4K Blu-ray for the very first time, giving us the version of these movies we've spent years hoping to see. 'Con Air' and 'National Treasure' New Releases Image Courtesy of Walt Disney Home Entertainment Disney has been going back and restoring quite a few beloved classics from its library over the last several years, including hits like Master and Commander, Tombstone, Tron, Kingdom of Heaven, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. There are lots of greats still to be added to the company's 4K roster, and the duo of Con Air and National Treasure were two such films that people have been begging to see get the long-awaited upgrade. According to Disney's announcement on Tuesday morning, both movies are getting 4K Blu-ray Steelbook releases on November 10th. Both movies have been restored to 4K with full Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos audio, and their Steelbooks will include the 4K disc as well as a standard Blu-ray. Image Courtesy of Walt Disney Home Entertainment In addition to the physical 4K release, National Treasure is also getting a 4K digital rollout, which will be made available the same day as the Steelbook. Con Air received its digital 4K upgrade back in 2025. Two of Nic Cage's Best Image via Disney You could have a lengthy debate about which Nic Cage movies are the best of his career, and there are certainly different definitions of "best" when you're breaking down Cage's films and roles. He's got incredibly dramatic performances in films like Leaving Las Vegas, while he solidified himself as an action icon in Face/Off. Then you've got the films where he goes Full Cage, like Vampire's Kiss or The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent. Neither Con Air nor National Treasure are going to come up as the very best movies that Cage starred in over the years, but it would be hard to argue against them as essential pieces of both Cage's filmography and their genres as a whole. Cage's flowing locks and Die Hard-style in Con Air helped define action movies in the '90s. National Treasure is one of the few real adventure movies from that era that has stuck with us. And when you bring up Nic Cage to an entire generation of movie fans, the first thing they're going to think of is stealing the Declaration of Independence. These are two films that are pivotal in exploring the career and legacy of Nicolas Cage, and they have both desperately needed a 4K upgrade for a while (Con Air especially). Hopefully these upgrades will help introduce Cage's work to yet another generation of hungry film lovers who have yet to discover one of the most unique stars of our time. Cage and Disney Still Missing Some Major 4K Upgrades The 4K releases of Con Air and National Treasure will fill big holes on the shelves of fans and collectors, but both Nic Cage and Disney's library will still have some major blind spots after they arrive in November. For Cage, Raising Arizona is easily one of the most requested films of his when it comes to potential 4K restorations, along with Michael Bay's 1996 action blockbuster The Rock. Seeing Con Air get its long-awaited restoration should give fans hope that The Rock could be following suit in the near future, but there's still some question as to how Criterion factors into the rights of that potential release. Remember, a couple of Bay films were added to the Criterion Collection as DVDs back in the early 2000s, but they never got any other upgrades or releases from the company. Disney's library has a lot more 4K holes than that, though some feel much bigger than others. The Rock is probably high on that list as well, having been released by Hollywood Pictures. Both Hollywood and Touchstone Pictures have deep rosters of popular movies that are mostly sitting on the proverbial shelf, though some were distributed by other studios upon their initial release, possibly creating rights issues when it comes to new restorations or physical media releases. Some of Touchstone and Hollywood Pictures' most notable films still waiting for 4K editions include Pretty Woman, The Rocketeer, The Santa Clause, Armageddon, He Got Game, Enemy of the State, Pearl Harbor, Gone in 60 Seconds, Real Steel, and Gangs of New York. Release Date June 5, 1997 Runtime 115 minutes Director Simon West