Rocky: The Undisputed Collection
Blu-ray
MGM

This set is boxing film Americana all the way. Rocky: The Undisputed Collection is book-ended by the two best films in the series — the original Rocky and the sixth (and should be) final Rocky Balboa. Both are rich in gritty realism with a Cinderella Man touch of belief. In between, there’s Rocky 2 as he ascends; the over-the-top though fun Rocky 3, where Carl Weathers really gets his full due alongside Sylvester Stallone and Mr. T. makes his mark as nasty Clubber Lang; Rocky 4 is ridiculous, with Dolph Lundgren as a supposedly genetically superior Soviet-era superman; but Rocky 5 is worse — it tries to bring it back home, but a lame story doesn’t pull it off. Most of the films also feature Talia Shire and Burt Young, plus Burgess Meredith early on. Altogether, it’s a Rocky mega-marathon with plenty of extras as well, including a seventh anthology disc.

Paul Newman Tribute Collection
Fox

Featuring 17 discs that include many classic films, the Paul Newman Tribute Collection is one staggering anthology.  This large box set features 13 of his finest films, documentary footage and a coffee table book chronicling his rise to fame, movie stardom and then his legend as a veteran star. Those films include The Long Hot Summer, Exodus, The Hustler, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Towering Inferno (okay, that one’s not so good), and The Verdict. A superb gift for a true film buff who can appreciate a star who didn’t just roll with the Hollywood machinery.

Farscape Complete Series
A&E

Covered more in detail previously in Buzzine, Farscape was the best science-fiction/fantasy show of the past decade, period. For the first time, the entire series is now collected in one set, and it’s still full of wonder, romance and adventure.

The Prisoner
A&E
Blu-ray

Again, I’ve gone on and on in other Buzzine articles about the lightning in a bottle that was The Prisoner. The recent AMC channel re-imagined mini-series just could not compare (it started out quite well, but the ending was nonsense) because the work of Patrick McGoohan still holds up more than 40 years later. Mind-bending, inventive, wry and mysterious, the Blu-ray collection is a five-star set all the way. Make that six on scale of five, in fact.

Star Trek: The Original Series
Season Three
Paramount
Blu-ray

This was the last season of the now-legendary TV show. In its third year, Star Trek was hit-and-miss (uh, “Spock’s Brain” anyone?).  But the restoration is amazing here, and many features are new and only available on this set, which includes the original pre-Shatner pilot, “The Cage,” in color and black and white, plus, for the first time, the second pilot, “Where No Man Has Gone Before,” in it’s original, un-aired cut which includes a different opening, different theme song, and a few different edits. Add the other special features and such and you have a must for any Trekker with a Blu-ray player.

The Official World Series Film Collection
A&E

Batter up!  If you know a baseball fan (and I mean someone who worships the grand old game), this massive set is for them. The Official World Series Film Collection spans more than century, divided in 14 eras of baseball history and more than 50 hours of highlights films, along with photos, Hall of Fame memorabilia plus a coffee-table book inside the box holding 20 DVDs in all.  Talk about a grand slam!

New York Yankees 2009 World Series Collector’s Edition
New York Yankees 2009: Season of Pride, Tradition and Glory
A&E

You’ll find Yankees fans all over the U.S. — heck, all over the world, and this year they had a lot to celebrate. It’s all captured in a big way in the 2009 World Series Collector’s Edition featuring every game in this eight-DVD box. There’s unedited footage of every World Series game plus important postseason games, along with exclusive locker room celebration footage and interviews. Season of Pride, Tradition and Glory offers a view of the winning season from its start to the playoffs and championship World Series finish.

Dogfights: The Complete Series Megaset
A&E

Where do you think those ship battles in Star Wars came from?  Right here. Dogfights chronicles fighting flying aces though various wars, but it doesn’t sugarcoat, and the dangers – down to death in the sky – are clear. From World War II to Desert Storm, it’s certainly fascinating military history…and just the thing for a war history buff.

Criss Angel: Mindfreak
Collector’s Edition Set
The Five Lives of Criss Angel Mindfreak
A&E

Criss Angel has taken magic and illusion to a very rock ’n’ roll/goth place, and that new audience loving this new turn in a long legacy of magicians will go ga-ga for the Mindfreak Collector’s Edition. The Five Lives of Criss Angel Mindfreak is a smaller set of two discs with plenty of weirdness going on. All of it will leave you wondering, “How DID he do that?”

Smithsonian Wildlife Collection
Smithsonian

Nature as only the Smithsonian can present it, the Wildlife Collection is revealing and educational as family fare – but don’t tell the kids that.  Well, maybe after they’ve been spellbound by the fine cinematography here.

Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
Miracle on 34th Street (1994)
Fox

Now on Blu-ray, the original 1947 version of Miracle on 34th Street is one of those Christmastime classic films that never, ever wears out, maintaining its charm and, yeah, magic. The remake almost 50 years later manages to update the tale in a more contemporary setting while tapping into that same spirit of things warm and fuzzy by the end.

Say Anything
Fox

Now 20 years old, that image of a young John Cusack holding a boombox up high in Say Anything is part of defining film for many in the ‘80s.  The best line is still, “Don’t be a guy; be a MAN.”   A great one as a stocking stuffer, don’t ya think?

X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Fox

Flawed yet still eye-poppin’ (and yeah, mighty violent), Wolverine is saved by Hugh Jackman, who’s really nailed the Marvel Comics character since the beginning in the X-Men films, plus Liev Schreiber as Sabertooth.

Ally McBeal: The Complete First Season
Fox

Those wacky, eccentric attorneys. Those co-ed bathrooms.  Ally McBeal definitely had it going on in that first year (and the second and third too).