It’s spending time, folks! Whether you’re taking advantage of holiday Blu-ray deals for yourself or adding to the collections of friends and family, you can’t avoid picking up a few new discs this month. If you’re having trouble finding the perfect gift or just looking for a list of the best new discs that were released this year, you’ll find it all below.
All links will take you over to Amazon.com, where you can learn more about the titles we’re excited about. And don’t forget that you can help support our work here at The Blu-ray Blog by making your purchases through those Amazon links (just click the images!). Thank you so much for reading and have a happy holiday season!
INCREDIBLE FILMS IN INCREDIBLE GIFT SETS
I’m blown away by the work Warner Home Video has been doing lately. They’re really knocking it out of the park. And this gorgeous, red-velvet encased Gone With The Wind: 70th Anniversary Blu-ray Box is indicative of their efforts. Featuring a host of collectibles, the film soundtrack on CD, a 6-hour documentary on the history of MGM, 8-hours of special features and a spot-on perfect film transfer, this box set is the ultimate gift for any film lover. Perhaps bested only by…
I didn’t get a review copy of this to check it out for myself but if all the reports I’ve read are any indication, this is the boxed set of the year. With a ton of extra content, goo-gahs and a perfect 8K film transfer, you can’t go wrong picking up the Wizard of Oz: 70th Anniversary Blu-ray boxed set.
And speaking of the awesome work of Warner Home Video, take a gander at these beautiful new Harry Potter: Ultimate Edition boxed sets…
These things are absolutely spectacular. I’ve got these first two (all the films will receive this treatment eventually, so we can expect to see films 3 and 4 released in the next year) and they take my breath away. The packaging of each set feels and looks like a perfect little hardcover book.
Both the Philosopher’s Stone (or Sorcerer’s Stone, if you live in the USA) and Chamber of Secrets sets contain the theatrical and Extended cuts of the films, along with a nice hardcover book and lots of special features. The best of which is a single part each of the amazing new 8-part documentary series, “Creating the World of Harry Potter“. Each “episode”, one per set, is over an hour long and includes so much detail and behind the scenes footage that any Potter fan would be happy to find these boxed sets under the tree this year!
Read my full review of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
Not to be outdone, Paramount brings us a beautiful, classy gift set of one of the most exciting, best films of the summer of 2009! This is the Amazon.com exclusive, limited edition Star Trek: Starship Enterprise replica set. Modeled directly from the digital files used to create the ship in the film and limited to only 5000 units, this beautiful model is crafted from solid metal with chrome, textured steel and pewter finishes and measures over 8″ long.
I’m sure I don’t need to gush any more about the incredible Blu-ray set contained within the package. If you have any doubts about it, read my Star Trek review here.
Paramount also brings us this Chocolate Box gift set of the Forrest Gump Sapphire Edition Blu-ray disc. This is for fans only, as the contents of the box don’t really add that much to the experience of the disc. The Blu-ray is outstanding, however and would be a welcome gift for any film lover!
Read my full Forrest Gump Blu-ray review.
I loved Up (read my review of the amazing Blu-ray disc here) and I think this Luxo Jr. gift set is one of the nicest gift sets on the market at the moment. It’s a working Luxo-style lamp that holds the Up Blu-ray discs in its base. Awesome! It’s tough to get a hold of, so if you’re at all interested head over to Amazon.com ASAP and grab one!
I loved the Snow White Blu-ray that Disney released earlier this year (read my full review here). If you have an animation lover or film lover on your list, you won’t go wrong picking up this gift set for them. The box contains the Blu-ray disc set, a red velour covered jewelry box with 8 cloissoné pins of Snow White and the dwarfs, an envelope of eight lithographs of original line art and a beautiful hardbound 160 page book.
This boxed set from Warner is simply magnificent. And if you know anyone who is a crazy Watchmen fan, this is the ideal gift. The Watchmen: Ultimate Cut gift set includes the longest version of the film that will ever be available, including the animated Black Freighter cartoon edited into the live-action footage! This is as close to the original graphic novel as this film can get.
Add that to a ridiculous amount of bonus features (new commentary tracks, new featurettes, video journals, the “Under the Hood” doc and all 12 chapters of the Watchmen: The Complete Motion Comic disc!) tucked inside a gorgeous black box and you’ve got the ultimate Watchmen package home video can offer.
This Mel Brooks Collection boxed set is totally not my bag. I’ve never been a fan. I mean, I love Young Frankenstein as much as the next guy but watching all 9 of these Blu-ray discs would be tantamount to torture for yours truly. That being said, one of my best pals is a Mel Brooks nut and would be ecstatic to find this under his Christmas tree.
Continue on to Page 2 of our Holiday Gift Guide for the best TV on Blu-ray!
TV ON BLU-RAY
Are you sick of me raving about Rome: The Complete Series on Blu-ray yet? This is such a beautifully crafted package. Warner and HBO have outdone themselves in assembling this wonderful collection. If you know a fan of the series, you can’t go wrong picking this Blu-ray box up for them.
Also newly available on Blu-ray from Warner Home Video, the very first season of The Sopranos! I love this series and have seen these first episodes a ton of times. I never tire of them. And watching them presented in new, crisp HD transfers is a pure delight. Highly recommended!
This is the coolest new series of the 2008/2009 season. Fringe is created by the folks who brought us the new Star Trek and just like that film, it is wild and spectacular (Read my full review here). A little bit X-Files, a little bit Lost and a lot of fun. A season of Fringe on Blu-ray will please any genre fan.
And speaking of Star Trek, you simply can’t go wrong picking up any one of the seasons or the entire collection of the Original Series on Blu-ray. These are magnificent restorations and beautiful transfers. I absolutely adore these season sets and would happily spend twice as much to own all of this content in this format, looking and sounding better than ever in HD! Super-mega-extra recommended!!
Amazon: $178.99 (All episodes – Season 1-3 Blu-ray set)
LOST! Entering into this sixth and final season, excitement over the series is practically at a fever pitch. If there was a reward for most improved television series, Lost would certainly win. The fifth season of Lost, available on Blu-ray here in an amazing Dharma Initiative Orientation Kit, is without question the best ever. Any fan would be happy to watch these episodes in beautiful HD and ecstatic to have them packaged in this exclusive gift set!
Amazon: $89.99 (Gift set)
$46.99 – $49.99 (Individual Seasons)
Star Wars: The Clone Wars is the best the franchise has offered us in a long while. And the series keeps getting better and better as it continues. This set of the complete first season is stunning, with all the episodes framed in their correct aspect ratio (they were broadcast 16:9 despite being created at 2.35:1), looking better than you’ve ever seen it before. Packaged in a beautiful, hardcover book filled with sketches and production designs, Star Wars The Clone Wars: The Complete Season One is the perfect gift for any Star Wars fan. (read my full review of the Blu-ray discs here)
Also available on Blu-ray:
Continue on to Page 3 of our Holiday Gift Guide for Blu-ray Essentials!
BLU-RAY ESSENTIALS
These are only a few of the best Blu-ray discs available. If your loved one is a Blu-ray fan and is missing out on one of these titles, do him or her the favour of filling in the gap in their collection! These are all discs that are bound to please.
THE BEST OF 2009
(minus the obvious summer blockbusters)
THE BEST OF ALL TIME
Continue on to Page 4 of our Holiday Gift Guide for the Best Blu-ray Player of All Time!!!
THE BEST BLU-RAY PLAYER IN THE WORLD!
Let me be clear here. I’m over the moon that people can join the Blu-ray revolution with a $78 set-top player from Walmart. That’s great! The more people watching Blu, the better! But if you’re looking for the ultimate experience, the most upgradeable, future-proof machine on the market, you have to get the Playstation 3. I stand behind it as the best Blu-ray player on the market and one the most incredible and flexible media servers I’ve ever used! It may be a little more pricey than your low-end, entry level Blu-ray player but you get so much more for the price:
That’s it for this years Gift Guide! I could go on (and on and on and on…that’s why I have a blog, right?) but I’ll cut it off here and just wish you all a very Blu Holiday Season!
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