Still looking for Christmas gift ideas? We’ve listed five DVD box sets that could be ideal fillers for your Christmas stockings.
There's never been a better time to go out and purchase your favourite DVD/Blu-Ray boxsets. While prices are steadily decreasing thanks to a healthy online trade, the amount of film buff extras has been steadily increasing across many of the supplied bonus discs and that's a pretty good thing for us movie lovers.
Competition for your DVD dollar is at an all time high. Fortunately, we've narrowed it down to just five must-own box sets for movie geeks, sure to make you the ants-pants amongst your friends.
Dark Knight/ Batman Begins
As sequels go, The Dark Knight is possibly one of the greatest – up there with James Cameron’s Aliens, Terminator 2 and Coppola’s esteemed Godfather Part 2 . Heath Ledger's portrayal of the Joker is an Oscar-worthy, manic appreciation of a classic icon - deep in subtext, strong in method realism and high on entertainment value. There’s also a very healthy action quota that barely misses a beat as soon as the film begins. As the second biggest selling film of all time at the box office, the Dark Knight cannot be easily understated - a film not just for superhero fans, but for movie fans in general.
Director Chris Nolan is a master of subtle, nuanced drama and The Dark Knight is a relentless gut busting cinema experience. We can only imagine how glorious the part-IMAX/mostly film transfer will end up looking in pixel rich Blu-Ray on a big screen Plasma/LCD television when its released later next month. The 4 disc set also features the very classy Batman Begins; well worth the extra dollars – as both films connect seamlessly in what is likely to end up (after the long awaited third film arrives) as one of the great superhero trilogies of all time.
Format: DVD, Blu-Ray
Bonus material? This 4 disc set contains a treasure trove of additional extras including many new production documentaries, poster art and and 'making-of' Batman exclusives.
Where: Devoted DVD will have both DVD version for $47.50 and a Blu-Ray version for $65.00 upon release in early december.
Movie Geek rating: 5/6 stars - Two excellent movies, hard to go past if you're a Batman fan
Ultimate Matrix Collection
Matrix fans rejoice – all your favourite films from the trilogy have finally arrived on Blu-Ray high definition disc. The original, ground breaking Matrix is in there, as is the favourable sequel, The Matrix Reloaded and the not-so-great second sequel, The Matrix Revolutions .
The anime inspired Matrix feature, Animatrix makes an interesting addition to the set, perfect for Matrix and Anime enthusiasts. It’s been one of the most requested high def discs and we’re quite sure the creative bullet-time sequences will look at treat on a big telly.
Format: Blu-Ray
Bonus material? 35 hours of extra features on this 7 disc set include an exclusive In-Movie Experience (IME) with the three films newly presented in hi-def clarity. The Animatrix also debuts on Blu-Ray.
Where: Ezydvd have the 7 disc box set at $149
Movie Geek rating 6/6 stars - Extra points are awarded for the massive amount of bonus materials in this set. Matrix fans will be delighted by the Blu-Ray high-def quality.
Indiana Jones Collection
Alright, we admit it – the fourth chapter of the Indiana Jones saga was a massive, Y2K style letdown. Let’s not even mention the disdain that the South Park creators had towards the fourth film (click here if you’re brave) or the universal fan-boy hatred towards the Lucas friendly scenes, including and definitely not limited to: Mutt swinging CGI style through the vines, Alien flying saucers, cute little CGI gophers and a big fake snake. Harrison Ford is still in good shape as the swashbuckling Dr Jones to be fair, he does nice work with a terrible script. However, we prefer to remember the older films that made fedoras and whip cracking cool again. Even to computer geeks.
Format: DVD. Note to Mr Spielberg: Please hurry the release of your Blu-Ray editions hence forth!
Bonus material? Not to outdone by the embossed cases of other DVD sets, this four movie bundle comes with a stylish ‘faux leather journal’ with embossed Indiana Jones logo – exactly the type of geeky addition we imagine would go perfectly during your next expedition into the remote Amazonian jungles. If that’s too much of a stretch, you will at least appear to look cool when you’re riding the bus on the way to work. There’s also an in-depth, behind the scenes special feature and a couple of exclusive, must-see introductions by the beards themselves.
Where: Ezydvd have this special box set for $79.97
Movie Geek rating: 4/6 - Loses a couple of stars for the cringe worthy Crystal Skull inclusion; the other films are timeless classics by comparison and perfectly re-watchable.
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