Best Movies on DVD By DAVE KEHR

The New York Times
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November 25, 2008
Best Movies on DVD By DAVE KEHR

DVD sales might have slumped recently, but you’d never know it from the super-duper collectors’ editions and cunningly packaged boxed sets coming out this season.
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A CHRISTMAS STORY ULTIMATE COLLECTOR’S EDITION

Adapted from the gently satiric writings of Jean Shepherd (who narrates the film), this 1983 movie about of a near-disastrous holiday in small-town Indiana, around 1940, has become the popular choice for secular, unsentimental seasonal entertainment. The new editions from Warner Home Video (Blu-ray $49.99, standard definition $39.98) come packaged in cookie tins with assorted holiday trinkets.
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HOLIDAY INN 3-DISC COLLECTOR’S SET
DVD

Christmas is only one episode in this Irving Berlin musical about a pair of song (Bing Crosby) and dance (Fred Astaire) men and a country inn that is open only for major holidays, but it gave Crosby the occasion to introduce “White Christmas.” This three-disc set includes the original black-and-white film directed by Mark Sandrich, as well as a colorized version and a CD of the soundtrack. (Universal, $26.98, not rated)
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DR. SEUSS’ HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS

Ron Howard’s very busy live-action interpretation of the Dr. Seuss story features Jim Carrey as the embittered title character; the new two-disc edition includes a snow globe. (Universal, $34.98, PG)
Trailer: Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas
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POLAR EXPRESS: 3-D
DVD

Robert Zemeckis brings Chris Van Allsburg’s beloved children’s book to life. The film offers classic Christmas imagery, rendered in glorious digital animation, subtly undermined by a theme of antimaterialism. Tom Hanks plays several different characters, including the young hero, through the technique of “performance capture” computer animation. The 3-D versions ($34.99 Blu-ray, $20.98 standard) use the long outmoded red-and-green glasses technology, so don’t expect an IMAX experience. (Warner Home Video, not rated)
Trailer: The Polar Express
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THE RED BALLOON/WHITE MANE

No real holiday content at all here, just a pair of seasonally appropriate child-friendly 1950s art-house classics from France, directed by Albert Lamorisse. He won an Oscar for “The Red Balloon,” in which a lonely Parisian boy (the director’s son, Pascal) is befriended by a helium balloon with a heart and mind of its own. (Criterion Collection, $19.95, not rated)
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WARNER BROTHERS CLASSIC HOLIDAY COLLECTION, VOLUME 2

“Classic” is probably overstating the case for these four lesser-known films, each with a holiday connection — “All Mine to Give” (1957), “Holiday Affair” (1949), “It Happened on Fifth Avenue” (1947) and “Blossoms in the Dust” (1941) — but on the other hand, you can’t say they suffer from overexposure. (Warner Home Video, $29.98, not rated)
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THE DARK KNIGHT
DVD

Christian Bale plays a Bush-era Batman not ashamed to use wiretapping, torture and rendition in his battle against a giggling nihilist: Heath Ledger’s Joker, who steals the show. Available in a range of editions, from the “Limited Edition Blu-ray with Batpod” ($64.98) to the humble single-disc standard definition ($28.98). (Warner Home Video, PG-13)
Trailer: The Dark Knight
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DR. SEUSS’ HORTON HEARS A WHO! (DVD GIFT SET)

Jim Carrey lends his voice to Dr. Seuss’s compassionate elephant in a computer-animated version of the 1954 children’s book, with other characters interpreted by Steve Carell, Carol Burnett and Seth Rogen. The different versions in the marketplace run from an Amazon-exclusive gift set that includes a plush toy and an audio storybook ($46.98), to a modest single-disc edition ($29.98). (Fox Home Entertainment, G)
Trailer: Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who!
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I AM LEGEND ULTIMATE COLLECTOR’S EDITION

Will Smith stars as the (almost) last man on earth, who uses an abandoned Manhattan as his personal playground. Francis Lawrence directed this third, and most cuddly, version of the Richard Matheson story. The three-disc collector’s edition comes with a 44-page book and “six art cards of devastated cities.” (Warner Home Video, $49.98, PG-13)
Trailer: I Am Legend
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MAMMA MIA! THE MOVIE
DVD

A score of Abba standards wedded to a plot seemingly inspired by the largely forgotten 1968 film “Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell,” with Meryl Streep as a single mom reunited with three past loves — Pierce Brosnan, Stellan Skarsgard and Colin Firth — one of whom is the father of her daughter (Amanda Seyfried). (Universal, Blu-ray $39.98, two-disc special edition $34.98, single disc $29.98, PG-13)
Trailer: Mamma Mia!
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300 LIMITED COLLECTOR’S EDITION

When the kids have had enough good will toward men, it’s time to slap on this extravagantly stylized representation of the Battle of Thermopylae, starring Gerard Butler as the leader of the Spartans and Rodrigo Santoro as Xerxes, the Persian king. The director Zack Snyder uses digital technology to give the proceedings the airbrushed look of a graphic novel. The collector’s edition includes a 52-page hardcover book and an awesome Lucite paperweight. (Warner Home Video, $49.98, R)
Trailer: 300
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WALL-E
DVD

The lovably unstoppable custodial robot counts a string of Christmas lights among his souvenirs of a planet earth lost to pollution, but Andrew Stanton’s digitally animated film lies beyond seasonal categorization. It’s available in several different iterations, from a Blu-ray three-disc special edition ($40.99) to a plain vanilla single disc standard DVD ($29.99), all of which include a new short film, “Burn-E.” (Disney DVD, G)
Trailer: WALL-E
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ABBOTT AND COSTELLO: THE COMPLETE UNIVERSAL PICTURES COLLECTION

All 28 of the feature films that the burlesque comedians made for their home studio, from “One Night in the Tropics” (1940) to “Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy” (1955). Includes a 44-page book. (Universal, $119.98, not rated)
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CASABLANCA: ULTIMATE COLLECTOR’S EDITION

Warner’s latest edition of the studio’s signature title comes in both Blu-ray ($64.98) and standard ($59.98) versions in boxes packed with extras, including a 48-page photo book and a luggage tag. (Warner Home Video, not rated)
Trailer: Casablanca
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COLUMBIA BEST PICTURES COLLECTION

All but one (“The Last Emperor”) of Columbia’s Oscar-winning features, from “It Happened One Night” (1934) to “Gandhi” (1982). Mostly these 11 films seem to be repressings of Sony’s previous DVD releases, with the important exception of Robert Rossen’s 1949 “All the King’s Men,” which has been remastered and much improved over the initial release. (Sony, $135.95) .
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THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL: TWO-DISC SPECIAL EDITION
DVD

Robert Wise’s cold war science fiction classic of 1951, with Michael Rennie as an interplanetary visitor with a message for humanity (a role played by Keanu Reeves in this season’s remake). (Fox Home Entertainment, Blu-ray $34.99, standard two-disc edition $19.98, G)
Trailer: The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
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THE GODFATHER: THE COPPOLA RESTORATION GIFTSET

Contains the gorgeous new restorations of the first two films (1972 and 1974) as well as the disappointing Part 3 (1990) and a wealth of supplementary material. (Paramount, Blu-ray $124.99, standard definition $69.99, R)
Trailer: The Godfather (1972)
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HEATHERS: LIMITED EDITION BOX SET

Michael Lehmann’s black comedy of high school life with Winona Ryder and Christian Slater, now packaged in a miniature metal locker with souvenir magnets and a T-shirt. Includes both standard and Blu-ray versions. (Anchor Bay, $89.97, R)
Trailer: Heathers
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HOLLYWOOD MUSICALS COLLECTION
DVD

Fifty musicals on 61 discs drawn from the combined holdings of MGM and 20th Century Fox. It’s an eccentric assortment, featuring everything from Rodgers and Hammerstein to Elvis Presley and “Moulin Rouge!,” though not the classic MGM productions of the ’40s and ’50s (which are now controlled by Warner Brothers). For hard-core collectors, the highlights will probably be three long out-of-print features from the Samuel Goldwyn Company: “The Goldwyn Follies” (1938), “Kid Millions” (1934) and the beautiful two-strip Technicolor restoration of Eddie Cantor’s 1930 “Whoopee!,” featuring Busby Berkeley’s first choreography for film. (MGM DVD/Fox Home Entertainment, $499.98, various ratings)
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JAMES BOND BLU-RAY COLLECTION SIX PACK

MGM begins rolling out the Bond films on Blu-ray with an initial selection of six — “Dr. No,” “Die Another Day,” “Live and Let Die,” “For Your Eyes Only,” “From Russia With Love” and “Thunderball” — and they look very nice indeed. The individual titles are priced at $34.98; Amazon offers an exclusive bundle of all six for $179.96.
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NATIONAL LAMPOON’S ANIMAL HOUSE — 30TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION GIFT SET

John Landis’s enduring college comedy of 1978, now available in a box shaped like a house. Includes a new “making of” documentary with a running time of 98 minutes — only 11 minutes shorter than the film itself. (Universal, $34.98, R).
Trailer: National Lampoon's Animal House (1978)
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PARAMOUNT CENTENNIAL COLLECTION

Paramount timidly observes its 100th anniversary by upgrading some of its most popular library titles, including “Sunset Boulevard” (a big improvement over the botched 2002 release), “Roman Holiday” and “Sabrina.” (Paramount, $24.99 each, not rated)
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PINK PANTHER ULTIMATE COLLECTION

Nine of the 10 “Pink Panther” features (the 10th, “Return of the Pink Panther,” is owned by another studio), featuring Inspector Clouseau as interpreted by Peter Sellers (1963-1982), Alan Arkin (1968), Roger Moore (fleetingly, in the 1983 “Curse of the Pink Panther”) and Steve Martin (2006), as well as Roberto Benigni’s 1993 turn as Clouseau’s illegitimate Italian son. All this, and 190 “Pink Panther” cartoons to boot. (MGM DVD, $199.98)
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PLANET OF THE APES 40TH ANNIVERSARY COLLECTION
DVD

Fox upgrades its 2006 “Planet of the Apes — The Legacy Collection” to Blu-ray. Includes all five films beginning with Franklin J. Schaffner’s 1968 original. (Fox Home Entertainment, $139.99, not rated)
Trailer: Planet of the Apes (1968)
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SLEEPING BEAUTY TWO-DISC PLATINUM EDITION

The first of the classic Disney features (1959) to come to Blu-ray ($34.99); also available in a very handsome standard definition transfer ($29.99). (Disney DVD, G).
Trailer: Sleeping Beauty (1959)
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CRITERION BLU-RAY

Home theater enthusiasts have been waiting for the Criterion Collection, long the standard-setting company for video presentation of significant classic and foreign films, to dip its corporate toe into the new high-definition format; the first four titles will appear on Dec. 16: Wong Kar-wai’s “Chungking Express,” Carol Reed’s “Third Man,” Wes Anderson’s “Bottle Rocket” and Nicolas Roeg’s “Man Who Fell to Earth.” They don’t disappoint. (Criterion Collection, $39.95 each, various ratings)
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DOUGLAS FAIRBANKS: A MODERN MUSKETEER
DVD

It was Douglas Fairbanks who, in a series of films beginning in 1915, created the go-getting American action hero, along with a large portion of our national identity. This collection has restored versions of 11 films, emphasizing his contemporary comedies like Allan Dwan’s “Modern Musketeer” (1917), but also including his first costume swashbuckler, the 1920 “Mark of Zorro.” (Flicker Alley, $89.99, not rated)
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GRIFFITH MASTERWORKS 2

Five features by the great form-giver of the early American cinema, D. W. Griffith, including the Museum of Modern Art’s restoration of the (nearly) complete “Way Down East” (1920) and Griffith’s underrated final feature, the brutally realistic “Struggle” (1931). (Kino International, $89.95, not rated)
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HOW THE WEST WAS WON ULTIMATE COLLECTOR’S EDITION

One of only two fiction films made in the enveloping widescreen three-strip Cinerama process, “How the West Was Won” has been restored by Warner Home Video to a dazzling approximation of its original grandeur. The highlight of this 1962 production is John Ford’s “Civil War” sequence, a complex blend of lyricism and bitter disillusionment. (Warner Home Video, Blu-ray $34.99, three-disc standard definition collector’s edition $59.98, G)
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MURNAU, BORZAGE AND FOX

Fox remains the only major studio to demonstrate a commitment to its silent features, and this follow-up to last year’s John Ford collection is a must-have anthology. It contains the two surviving films the great German director F. W. Murnau made for the studio, “Sunrise” (1927) and “City Girl” (1930), as well as 10 silent and early sound features by the incomparable Frank Borzage, the greatest romantic poet of the medium. (Fox Home Video, $239.98, not rated)