With the holiday shopping season heading into its final days, we thought we’d take a moment and help out those of you who are still stumped over what to get the classic film fan, recent hit flick junkie or small-screen couch potato on your Christmas list. Here are some fun-filled and bonus-packed last-minute gift ideas for movie buffs and TV addicts. With DVD, Blu-ray and DVD/Blu-ray combos to pick from, we’re sure there’s something here for all tastes…but remember, you can always find more possibilities on the Movies unlimited website:
The Apu Trilogy (DVD and Blu-ray) — Renowned Indian director Satyajit Ray’s groundbreaking cinematic trio of dramas–Pather Panchali, Aparajito and The World of Apu–tracing the life of a young Bengali Boy are finally back on home video in a handsome Criterion Collection presentation which includes “making of” featurettes and other bonuses.
Back to the Future: The Complete Adventures (DVD and Blu-ray) — This is heavy! Presented in a light-up “flux capacitor” packaging (you could try and attach it in your car, but don’t expect to have time travel capabilities), this multi-disc set includes Back to the Future, Back to the Future Part II and Back to the Future Part III, a DVD version of 1991-92’s Back to the Future: The Complete Animated Series, a disc of special features, and a 64-page book.
Doris Day: The Essential Collection (MCA/Universal)(DVD) — One of classic Hollywood’s most beloved actresses is saluted with this four-disc set which includes Doris in Alfred Hitchcock’s The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), alongside Rock Hudson in Pillow Talk, Lover Come Back, and Send Me No Flowers, in the suspense tale Midnight Lace, and with James Garner in The Thrill of It All.
Doris Day: The Essential Collection (Warner)(DVD) — How big a star was Doris Day? So big that she gets two Essential Collections! This 15-disc set includes Romance on the High Seas, My Dream Is Yours, It’s a Great Feeling, Tea for Two, Lullaby of Broadway, On Moonlight Bay, April in Paris, By the Light of the Silvery Moon, Calamity Jane, Lucky Me, Love Me or Leave Me, The Pajama Game, Please Don’t Eat the Daisies, Billy Rose’s Jumbo and The Glass Bottom Boat.
Home Alone: Ultimate Collector’s Edition (Blu-ray/DVD Combo) — Packaged in a paint can tin, this limited edition seven-disc set includes Home Alone, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, Home Alone 3, Home Alone: Taking Back the House and Home Alone: The Holiday Heist, along with a Christmas ornament, fake spider, “Kevin’s battle plan” map, and wanted poster featuring the “Wet Bandits.”
Hopalong Cassidy: The Ultimate Collector’s Edition (DVD) — This year marked the 80th anniversary of B western icon William Boyd’s big-screen debut a two-fisted hero Hopalong Cassidy. Now you can round up all 66 “Hoppy” feature films in this 10-disc set which also includes radio show broadcasts, photo and poster galleries, and more bonus fetaures.
Jeanette MacDonald/Nelson Eddy Collection, Vol. 1 and Jeanette MacDonald/Nelson Eddy Collection, Vol. 2 (DVD) — America’s swinging sweethearts of the ’30s and ’40s are back in a pair of lively, tune-filled four-disc sets. Volume 1 includes the musicals Naughty Marietta, Rose Marie, Maytime and Girl of the Golden West, while Volume 2 features Sweethearts, New Moon, Bitter Sweet and I Married an Angel.
Jurassic World: Limited Edition Gift Set (Blu-ray/Blu-ray 3D/DVD Combo) — Experience the biggest box-office hit of 2015 as never before with this three-disc collection which, along with Jurassic World on DVD, Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D (remember, you need a 3D television, a 3D Blu-ray player, and special glasses to re-create the original theatrical experience), also contains collectible T-Rex and Indominus Rex figures for your very own dino-battles.
Lost in Space: The Complete Adventures (Blu-ray) — Don’t be a “bubble-headed booby”! get this 18-disc set containing all 83 episodes of Irwin Allen’s 1965-68 sci-fi series starring Guy Williams, June Lockhart, Mark Goddard, Marta Kristen, Billy Mumy, Angela Cartwright, Marta Kristen, and “special guest star” Jonathan Harris. Also included are a cast reunion performance of an unproduced script by Mumy, original versions of four episodes with commercials and bumpers, a 1973 animated special, interviews, documentaries, the unaired pilot episode, and more.
Ma and Pa Kettle: Complete Comedy Collection (DVD) — Before TV’s Beverly Hillbillies, moviegoers lined up to laugh at the down-home exploits of Marjorie Main, Percy Killbride and their ever-growing backwoods brood. All 10 films featuring the Kettles–The Egg and I, Ma and Pa Kettle, Ma and Pa Kettle Go to Town, Ma and Pa Kettle Back on the Farm, Ma and Pa Kettle at the Fair, Ma and Pa Kettle on Vacation, Ma and Pa Kettle at Home, Ma and Pa Kettle at Waikiki, The Kettles in the Ozarks and The Kettles on Old MacDonald’s Farm–are featured in this five-disc set.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail: Limited Edition Castle Catapult Gift Set (Blu-ray) — Celebrate 40 years of klutzy knights, coconut-laden swallows, taunting Frenchmen, killer rabbits and other medieval madness from the legendary british comedy troupe with this limited edition Blu-ray, complete with collectible packaging with rubber farm animals and your very own catapult so you can launch them at a castle.
Nakatomi Plaza Die Hard Collection (Blu-ray) — Presented in packaging that opens up and assembles to form a 15-inch-high replica of the Nakatomi Plaza skyscraper, this six-disc set features Bruce Willis “yippee-ki-yaying” his way through Die Hard, Die Hard II: Die Harder, Die Hard with a Vengeance, Live Free or Die Hard and A Good Day to Die Hard, a disc full of featurettes, collectible cards, and a 32-page booklet.
The Wonder Years: Complete Series Locker (DVD) — What would you think if they put out all 115 episodes of the Emmy-winning seriocomedy with Fred Savage about growing up in the late’60s and early ’70s, available in a deluxe 26-disc collector’s edition with metal school locker packaging, a replica series “yearbook,” and magnets to personalize your locker?
The X-Files: The Collector’s Set (Blu-ray) — “I want to believe” all fans of the 1993-2002 sci-fi/suspense series starring David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson as FBI agents Mulder and Scully will want to own this 55-disc set featuring all 204 episodes plus audio commentaries, “making of” documentaries, featurettes and more. The manufacturers have even thoughtfully left space for you to add in next year’s revival series when it comes out on video!