Give the Gift of DVDs, Blu-rays & 4K UHDs

Call me old fashioned, but there’s no greater gift to give fan of films and television than DVDs or Blu-rays. People embrace streaming and think they can find all their favorite stuff on a subscription service. But what if you want to watch your favorite film or TV show without paying every month to have it? The good thing is that numerous indie labels and studios still like putting the best stuff onto a shiny disc. And you can wrap up that up for whatever gift giving reason you celebrate during the holiday season. Here’s a list of some of my favorite DVDs and Blu-rays that came out over the last year.

The Andy Griffith Show: The Complete Series (Blu-ray) brings Mayberry to 1080p. You get all the seasons of Sheriff Andy Taylor keeping the peace in his small town. Having grown up in North Carolina, this show is like my second home. Over nearly 250 episodes and a reunion movie, you’ll be having your mail forwarded to Andy’s jail like Otis. This is the best the show ever looked so you’ll get more details of Andy and Don Knotts churning ice cream on the porch.

Dexter: The Complete Series (Blu-ray) will let you catch up on the best serial killer TV series. Dexter Morgan works for the police as a blood splatter expert except he has a dark secret. He’s a serial killer who takes care of the people that the Miami Police can’t touch. Each season was one giant story arc. The best was when John Lithgow played a rival serial killer. The show is back to give us a story based on what happened at the end of Dexter’s original run.

Shawscope Volume One is serious introduction to the legendary Shaw Brothers. The studio was the center of Hong Kong filmmaking. The collection focuses on the ’70s when the international market couldn’t get enough of Kung Fu fighting. There’s 12 films in the boxset including King Boxer (Five Fingers of Death), The Boxer from Shantung, Five Shaolin Masters, Shaolin Temple, Challenge of the Masters, Executioners from Shaolin, Chinatown Kid, The Five Venoms, Crippled Avengers, Heroes of the East and Dirty Ho. You’ll be spending the 12 Days of Christmas watching some of the finest martial arts action. Here’s a preview of what’s in the collection: Arrow Video’s Shawscope Volume 1 Bonus Features Announced | Inside Pulse

Dario Argento on 4K UHD – The master of Italian horror and giallo was upgraded this year with quite a few of his early films coming out on 4K UHD so you can truly what nightmares he was creating in the 20th Century.

Deep Red has David Hemming looking for the killer of a psychic.

Blu-ray Review: Deep Red (Limited Edition) | Inside Pulse

The Cat O’Nine Tails has a blind crossword puzzle creator tracking a killer.

4K UHD Review: Cat O’ Nine Tails | Inside Pulse

Bird With The Crystal Plumage is the film that finally made giallo a box office success with the mystery and the murder.

Blu-ray: The Bird With The Crystal Plumage (Limited Editon) | Inside Pulse

Language Lessons is a compassionate film about two people who discover a lot about themselves while doing a weekly conversational Spanish Lesson. Director and star Natalie Morales and Mark Duplass create a movie about people chatting online that works on an emotional level. This isn’t merely a normal series of Zoom calls. Movie Review: Language Lessons | Inside Pulse

The Stand 2-Series Collection on Blu-ray contains both the original mini-series with Molly Ringwald and the recent limited series with Alexander Skarsgård. Both films are about what happens when a weaponized virus escapes from a government lab and sweeps across the world. Both versions do Stephen King’s novel justice.

Blu-ray Review: The Stand | Inside Pulse

Blu-ray Review: Stephen King’s The Stand | Inside Pulse

Coppelia (Blu-ray) is an adaptation of the ballet that uses CGI to elevate the production. This is a fine gift for the dancer in your life. Blu-ray Review: Coppelia | Inside Pulse

Star Trek 55th Anniversary Original Series Steelbook collects together the first three seasons of the TV show that’s still going with Star Trek Discovery on Paramount+. The show is legendary with William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy zipping around the universe as Kirk and Spock. And after decades of watching it on standard video, you can now get the show upgraded to Blu-ray. They did tweak the effects for HD, but the boxset has the old effects in case you’re a purist. The Steelbooks make the boxset look prestigious on your home video cabinet.

Blu-ray Review: Star Trek: 55th Anniversary Original Series Steelbook Collection | Inside Pulse

Yokai Monster Collection & The Daimajin Trilogy are two perfect collections for fans of Japanese monster films from the ’60s. Yokai Monsters are woodland supernatural creatures that get called into action in a trilogy of films. The Daimajin Trilogy is a series about a giant statute that comes to life to battle those who need to get stomped. Both collections will have you glued to the set when you want to go beyond Godzilla and Gamera.

Blu-ray Review: Yokai Monsters Collection | Inside Pulse

Blu-ray Review: The Daimajin Trilogy (Limited Edition) | Inside Pulse

Alan Moore’s The Show shows that the creator of Watchman and V For Vendetta can fully collaborate to make his own movie. Moore gives us a twisted tale about Northampton, England. Moore even shows up as a character.

Movie Review: The Show | Inside Pulse

Tough Guys Don’t Dance is Norman Mailer’s tale of weirdness in Provincetown. This is based on a serial killer who was dismembering victims around the Cape Cod town except he took it in a totally different direction for his novel. He was able to get Cannon Films to let him write and direct the movie adaptation. Wings Hauser is at his prime. A lot of fine bonus features.

Blu-ray Review: Tough Guys Don’t Dance | Inside Pulse

Neon Genesis Evangelion boxset contains the influential anime series. This is a futuristic world of bio-mechanics and monsters.

Neon Genesis Evangelion boxset arrives in December | Inside Pulse

Years of Lead: Five Classic Italian Crime Thrillers 1973 – 1977 is a boxset full of crime from the land of Pasta. You will get an eyeful of Euro badness and see how a nation embraced Dirty Harry as a genre.

Blu-ray Review: Years Of Lead: Five Classic Italian Crime Thrillers 1973-1977 | Inside Pulse

Future Boy Conan was the first time Hayao Miyazaki directed a show before he’d become an Oscar winner (Spirited Away – 2001). The man behind Studio Ghibli gave us a vision of a future where the world was messed up by magnetic weapons.

Blu-ray Review: Future Boy Conan | Inside Pulse

Django 4K UHD gives top resolution to the Spaghetti Western classic. Franco Nero is a gunslinger roaming the frontier by dragging a coffin behind him. This is ranks up there with Clint Eastwood’s European work and is about half as long.

4K UHD Review: Django | Inside Pulse

Southland Tales Blu-ray and Donnie Darko 4K UHD upgrades writer/director Richard Kelly’s first two films. You’ll get to see even more of both films in expanded cuts and higher resolution.

4K UHD Review: Donnie Darko (Limited Edition) | Inside Pulse

Blu-ray Review: Southland Tales | Inside Pulse

Bartender: 15th Anniversary Collector’s Edition is an anime about bars that gets deep into the drink. This is more than superhero action as tales get as expertly mixed up as the drinks.

Blu-ray Review: Bartender: 15th Anniversary Collector’s Edition | Inside Pulse

Jeremy is one those small films that gets deep into the nature of early love. In this case you get Robbie Benson not going completely crazy when his relationship with Glynnis O’Connor doesn’t go as anticipated. It’s great that Fun City Editions revived Jeremy.

Blu-ray Review: “Jeremy” | Inside Pulse

King Kong (Collector’s Edition) proved that this ’70s update of the ape that came to Manhattan was really entertaining. The best part of the boxset is that it included both the theatrical cut and “mini-series version” that ran over 2 nights on NBC. I prefer the longer cut.

Blu-ray Review: King Kong (Collector’s Edition) | Inside Pulse

If you need a cool gift for younger kids, Shout! Factory has released upgraded Blu-rays of Coraline, The Boxtrolls, Kubo and the Two Strings and ParaNorman. Kubo is my favorite since one of the characters looks like Peter Cushing.

Beverly Hills 90210 – The Ultimate Edition (DVD) brings together the original series and the recent meta reboot with your favorite kids from the Peach Pit. You’ll want to grow back your sharp sideburns after the first season.

DVD Review: Beverly Hills 90210 – The Ultimate Collection | Inside Pulse

If you need a gift for older folks who enjoy horror, Scream Factory upgraded the first five Halloween films to 4K UHD. You can see Halloween III: Season of the Witch with more detail to Tom Atkins’ face.