Winter is upon us, the snow is falling and the holiday shopping season is well under way. Now, more than ever, we’re faced with such a vast selection of amazing Blu-ray discs packaged in special collector’s multi-disc sets that it can be tough to know just what to add to your wish list or what to buy for that special Blu-ray loving someone. Hopefully this list will provide you a nice place to start.

Up next: TV on Blu-ray!

This is the Criterion Blu-ray release I feel I’ve been waiting for all year. The culmination of everything the studio does well – grabbing up the rights to the best foreign and indie films, providing them the finest presentations possible and cramming the discs they’re on full of bonus goodies. And the Three Colors trilogy of films by Krzysztof Kieślowski are some of the most iconic foreign/indie films of the ’90s, easily deserving a place in the collection. In fact, many would argue that the inclusion of these films in the Criterion library is long overdue. The transfers of each of the three films are spectacular and the extensive collection of special features don’t disappoint. If you’ve got a true film fan to buy for this holiday season, this is definitely the Blu-ray boxed set to get them.

Highest possible recommendation!

READ MORE: Criterion November Blu-ray titles: Three Colors Trilogy

AMAZON: $55.49

I might have spoken too soon when I proclaimed Taxi Driver to be the Blu-ray release of the year (I’m sorry, Taxi Driver. You are a truly glorious disc and I love you to bits but this is a whole new kind of awesome.) I had no idea at that time that Warner would knock it out of the park with their world-class restoration of Ben-Hur. This transfer looks so much better than any film of its age has any right to. According to the studio, the film has, “undergone a $1 million restoration — frame by frame from an 8k scan of the original 65 mm camera negative,” and it shows. You can see every single dollar up there on the screen. Watching Ben-Hur now, in my living room, is like watching a pristine, newly struck print of the film, with all the detail, the spot-on, rock-solid Technicolor hues popping through the frame. This is exactly what the format is all about. This is why I’m a Blu-ray enthusiast. When guests doubt what Blu-ray can do for older films (and they often do, when we discuss the merits of the format) I’ll now only have to show them a few minutes of Ben-Hur to prove why it’s the only way to truly experience movies in the home. This is one of the finest and most complete boxed sets made available this year.

Highest possible recommendation!

READ MORE: Top New Blu-ray releases for the Week of September 27

AMAZON: $47.99

This is it! Potentially the biggest Blu-ray release of the year, if not of all time. The Star Wars saga is finally on Blu-ray. It feels like we’ve been writing about these discs for years – speculating, reporting, commenting – and now they’re on store shelves and will be under many trees this holiday season. I’m sad to report that I still haven’t laid eyes on the set (there were precious few reviewers in Canada who were sent screeners and I’ve yet to pony up the dough to own it) but I would be remiss if I didn’t remind you that if your loved one is a fan and doesn’t have this in their collection yet (ahem!) you might want to seriously consider grabbing them up a copy.

READ MORE: Star Wars Blu-ray Round-up

AMAZON: $99.99

Speaking of “biggest Blu-ray releases of the year”, it would be criminal not to add Citizen Kane to that list. “The #1 greatest film of all time” deserves at least as much recognition as Lucas’ space opera epic does. The “Gift Set” version of the Blu-ray includes a ton of extra content including DVD editions of the films “The Battle Over Citizen Kane” and “RKO 281” and a 48-page hardcover book, among many other treats.

READ MORE: [VIDEO] Citizen Kane: 70th Anniversary Ultimate Collector’s Edition Blu-ray trailer

AMAZON: $47.49

This is the very first boxed set to contain every single Harry Potter film on Blu-ray. I suspect it’s going to be a pretty hot seller this holiday season. Especially at this price point (only $79.99 on Amazon), which nets you all the films for less than ten bucks a pop. The only real downside to this is that you’re only getting the feature film discs in this set. All of those bonus discs from the individual Blu-ray releases and all of the goodies on them are absent here, so this is far from the ultimate potential package for this series. I’m sure there will be a mega-set in a year’s time but for now, if you don’t own any of the films on Blu or are looking for a nice gift around the $100 price-point, this is a great package.

READ MORE: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 and Complete Collection Blu-ray set announced and detailed

AMAZON: $79.99

I haven’t laid eyes on this long awaited Blu-ray boxed set myself, but by all accounts Universal got Jurassic Park completely right. After the studio’s less-than-stellar track record bringing catalogue titles to the format, I was concerned that Steven Spielberg‘s dino epics would suffer at their hands. But I’m excited to see that early reviews are glowing. I’m betting that Spielberg had a hand in making sure these films looked their best and I’m also betting that Universal wouldn’t dare publish new high-def editions of his films that are less than stellar. I think this bodes well for their upcoming release of Jaws on Blu. Fingers crossed they get that one right too!

READ MORE: Jurassic Park Ultimate Trilogy Blu-ray set coming in October

AMAZON: $80.49

This is one of the most comprehensive Blu-ray sets to be released this year – 15-discs, remastered extended editions of all 3 films in the Lord of the Rings series, all the special features from the “Extended Edition” DVDs, the three Costa Botes documentaries and digital copies of the films all in one big box. And the HD transfer this time around is the detailed, gorgeous one you were hoping for last year but didn’t receive from the lackluster “Theatrical Edition” Blu-ray release, so really, if you or a loved one are a fan of these films, there’s really no down side to picking up this set. Especially at the current Amazon price!

READ MORE: The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy Extended Edition Blu-ray disc set officially announced

AMAZON: $49.99

The West Side Story Blu-ray is somewhat controversial (there seems to be a few technical errors with the transfer – read more about that here) but if you’ve got a Blu-ray collector who loves musicals on your shopping list you might want to check out this gift set from Fox. It’s pretty impressive, including 2 Blu-ray discs (one with the feature and the other with a ton of extras), a DVD edition of the film, a soundtrack CD, a hardcover book and a bunch of collectibles. And seriously, who’s really going to notice that pesky incorrect scene transition from the main titles anyway?

READ MORE: West Side Story: 50th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray in November

AMAZON: $44.99

This is damn near the Superman boxed set I’ve been waiting for all my Blu-ray loving life! All five films – two versions each of Superman and Superman II. All the deleted scenes. The commentary tracks. The documentaries. Everything – and I mean everything – has been carried over from the DVDs. There’s even some new stuff to be found here – some new documentary features and the original, never-before-seen opening of Superman Returns. And, for the most part, everything looks great in HD, with even the previously available original film receiving a brand spanking new transfer that provides it a slight visual uptick from the old disc.

My only real gripe with this whole, beautiful boxed set is that Warner didn’t take this opportunity to upgrade the classic Fleischer cartoons to HD. A criminal oversight, if you ask me. Nevertheless, despite my singular issue with the Blu-ray set (and the questionable quality of the third and fourth Christopher Reeve films included within – not the Blu-ray discs, mind you, which are quite handsome, but the nigh-unwatchable films themselves), this is a killer offering from Warner. And most definitely highly recommended.

FULL 8-DISC SET DETAILS: 8-Disc The Superman Motion Picture Anthology Blu-ray box set for June

AMAZON: $77.98

Does your loved one obsess over the Dragon Tattoo trilogy? Have they read all the books, seen all the films and do they own every bit of memorabilia available? Well, I guarantee they don’t have this brand-spanking-new 4-disc Blu-ray set that features all three original Swedish films in their extended made-for-TV formats along with a bunch of exclusive special features. It’s out in stores tomorrow (December 6th) and should be at the top of every Millennium fan’s Christmas list.

Canadian version pictured. Amazon.ca: $59.99

US Edition: $46.99

This is 8-discs of Lion King goodness, featuring all 3 feature films, the original film in 3D, DVDs and digital copies of the films and a ton of bonus content all packed in a box with the little African drum pictured in the image above.

AMAZON: $62.99

Much like the Lion King gift set, this is a Cars fan’s wet dream, featuring all the feature length and short films in the series in various incarnations (3D, 2D, Blu-ray, DVD, Digital Copy etc) housed in collectible packaging.

AMAZON: $69.99

Another Disney Gift Set package, this time packing all four Pirates films (15-discs, including all disc variations, features and extras) into a treasure chest.

AMAZON: $99.99

These are the same three Mission: Impossible discs that have been previously released, on shelves again in new packaging and at a lower, more affordable price, just in time to take advantage of the hype surrounding the new film, Ghost Protocol.

AMAZON: $27.99

Related posts

• Top New Blu-ray releases for the Week of September 27 (3)
• Top New Blu-ray releases for the Week of September 13 (0)
• Criterion November Blu-ray titles: Three Colors Trilogy, Fanny and Alexander, 12 Angry Men, Rushmore, The Rules of the Game (0)
• Ben-Hur: 50th Anniversary Ultimate Collector’s Edition Blu-ray in September (1)
• [VIDEO] Wish List: The Star Wars Saga on Blu-ray (5)