Almost there. We’re less than a week away from Christmas morning and thankfully, I’m almost through my yearly gift guide. This list of classics on Blu represents some of the best and most exciting high-def releases of the past year. Every last one of them would make an ideal gift for the real film fan in your life.

Next up: The Best New Blu-ray Discs of the Year!

MORE GIFT IDEAS:

* GIFT & BOXED SETS
* TV ON BLU
* ANIMATION
* THE BEST OF THE YEAR

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What can I say? I’m a massive, unadulterated fan of just about everything that comes out of The Criterion Collection. To me, the studio can do no wrong. I fork over a decent amount of my salary to them each and every year and 2010 has been no exception. Some of the most exciting titles to come out of Criterion are the older, more classic catalogue releases, quite often lovingly restored and always looking and sounding better than ever. The images above represent a handful of the classics Criterion published on Blu-ray this year. They all come highly recommended.

READ MORE:

• The Criterion Collection: Black Orpheus Blu-ray Disc Review
• Top 5 New Blu-ray releases for the Week of September 14 – BREATHLESS (À BOUT DE SOUFFLE)
• criterion.com

AMAZON: Click for price list

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The Complete Metropolis is unquestionably one of the finest and most important Blu-ray releases of the year. This restoration, incorporating 25-minutes of newly discovered footage back into the film for the first time in decades, is absolutely stunning in high-def and is necessary viewing for every film fan. This disc receives our highest possible recommendation.

READ MORE: The Complete Metropolis Blu-ray Disc Review

AMAZON: $29.49

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David Lean‘s Lawrence of Arabia might not be available on Blu yet but Sony has given us the next best thing in their brilliant new high-def transfer of The Bridge on the River Kwai. The boxed set contains a bunch of unnecessary collectibles, but the disc is to die for!

READ MORE: The Bridge on the River Kwai Blu-ray Disc Review

AMAZON: $19.99

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And speaking of Lean, his very fine and highly under-rated Doctor Zhivago was released on Blu-ray earlier this year in a nice, new digi-book edition from Warner. If the photography and the music don’t get you, Omar Sharif surely will. Purely briliant!

READ MORE: Doctor Zhivago: 45th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray Disc Review

AMAZON: $28.99

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Who doesn’t just absolutely love the original King Kong?! The Merian C. Cooper film has inspired a couple of remakes, tons of knock-offs and countless filmmakers over the years. And it’s never looked or sounded better on home video than on this gorgeous new Blu-ray edition from Warner. Highly recommended!

READ MORE: Top 5 New Blu-ray releases for the Week of September 28 – KING KONG

AMAZON: $25.99

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And while we’re on the subject of brilliant films made with stop-motion animation, don’t miss out on the incredible Blu-ray edition of Ray Harryhausen‘s Jason and the Argonauts! I still can’t get over what a great job Sony did restoring and transferring this to Blu. You have to see it to believe it!

READ MORE: Jason and the Argonauts Blu-ray Disc Review

AMAZON: $20.99

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As I stated in my review of the A Star is Born Blu-ray, I really hate musicals. But I’m always willing to make an exception for a well made film presented in a pretty great Blu-ray edition. This is classic Judy Garland and James Mason in a classic George Cukor film. Don’t miss this WHV digi-book edition of the Blu-ray!

READ MORE: A Star is Born Blu-ray Disc Review

AMAZON: $24.99

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There aren’t a whole lot of special features on this new Blu-ray edition of the 1935 version of Mutiny on the Bounty but the film itself has never looked or sounded better on home video. This isn’t a flawless restoration here but it’s a great package, including a hardcover digibook, that most collectors and fans will be satisfied with.

AMAZON: $22.99

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This gorgeous restoration has been a long time in coming! We film fans have been waiting to get our grubby mitts on a cleaned up, digital copy of The African Queen for ages. It’s one of those few titles that didn’t appear on DVD at all until just this year, when it also saw release on Blu-ray. John Huston‘s classic starring Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn has never looked or sounded better and is a must for all film fans.

READ MORE: Top 5 New Blu-ray releases for the Week of March 23 – THE AFRICAN QUEEN

AMAZON: $24.99

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Speaking of Bogey and Huston, Warner recently hit us with amazing Blu-ray editions of a couple of their finest collaborations – The Treasure of the Sierra Madre and The Maltese Falcon! Both look fantastic, considering their ages, with the transfer for Treasure often quite breathtaking. The discs both contain a myriad of special features, which you can read about here.

AMAZON: $18.49, $17.49

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Kino has been absolutely killing it this year with silent film releases on Blu-ray! Aside from their killer high-def version of Metropolis, I think my favourite title has to have been Douglas Fairbanks‘ The Black Pirate. I never thought a two-strip Technicolor film of this age could look this good in high-def! Amazing!

AMAZON: $22.99

ALSO AVAILABLE FROM KINO:

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Nuts to the Coen brothers! This here original version of True Grit is the real deal. This classic John Wayne film co-starring the likes of a very young Dennis Hopper and Robert Duvall, is pretty stunning here in its new Blu-ray incarnation. The special features are all carried over from the previously issued DVD but hold up well.

AMAZON: $17.99

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CLASSICS ALSO AVAILABLE ON BLU-RAY
Clicking an image will take you to Amazon.com where you can learn more about and purchase the Blu-ray disc:

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MORE GIFT IDEAS:

* GIFT & BOXED SETS
* TV ON BLU
* ANIMATION
* THE BEST OF THE YEAR

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