Awesome Blu-rays and 4K Ultras That Dads Really Want For The Holidays
From awesome re-releases to amazing box sets, it’s all about physical media. Again.
Somewhere in the past ten years, something happened to a lot of people of a certain age: We all started caring about our DVD collections again. As the streaming services of the world get more unreliable, expensive, and full of ads, you really have to ask yourself why you’re putting up with poor-quality, buffering video versions of your favorite films or TV shows. Owning movies as physical media in the 2020s might be the new low-key vinyl comeback, especially if you’re paying attention to some of the awesome new home video offerings.
In 2023, a lot of great TV and film came to home video. Here’s just a small snapshot of a few excellent Blu-ray and 4K Ultra releases, all of which would make great last-minute gifts for the holidays, or truly, anytime at all.
True Romance 4K Ultra
In the game of special edition releases for home video, nobody can really beat Arrow right now. There are two Arrow releases on this brief list, but honestly, you could spend all your money on them and not regret it at all. Recently, Arrow just dropped a fantastic reissue of the Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette cult-classic True Romance, and it’s honestly never looked better.
WandaVision Steelbook
Since 2019, the super-popular Disney+ TV series — from The Mandalorian to Loki — have never been released on home video, until now. At nine episodes, 2021’s WandaVision is the longest of the Marvel series that have aired on Disney+, and perhaps because of that, it's the first show to arrive on Blu-ray. We have to recommend the beautiful steelbook version of WandaVision, which comes complete with some postcards straight from the world of Westview.
The Conan Chronicles 4K UHD
It’s another Arrow release! In this one, you get two Arnolds for the price of one. Whether or not your favorite of these two is The Barbarian or The Destroyer, these movies have never looked better. This is ‘80s epic fantasy at its finest. By Crom, you need this!
Star Trek: The Picard Legacy Collection (Blu-ray)
In 2023, ‘90s Star Trek nostalgia went into overdrive with the epic, and shockingly sweet conclusion of Star Trek: Picard Season 3. And now, the entire story of Patrick Stewart’s Jean-Luc Picard is available all in one massive box set. This means, you’re getting all seven seasons of The Next Generation (1987-1994), all four Star Trek movies starring the TNG gang (Generations, First Contact, Insurrection, Nemesis), as well as the three seasons of the latest show, including the critically acclaimed final season.
This set also comes with Starfleet badges from across all the eras of Jean-Luc Picard, including at least one alternate dimension. If you missed the big finale of Picard season 3, it all looks way better on Blu-ray. Trust us!
Dr. No 60th Anniversary Steelbook
It all started right here! In 1962, Sean Connery first embodied agent 007, and the world was never the same again. Dr. No is not only a wonderful snapshot of history, it’s also a complex and compact spy thriller that feels humble compared to what would follow. This awesome set comes with movie stills, a reproduction of the theatrical movie poster, and tons of special features. It also just looks ridiculously slick.
Babylon 5 Blu-ray Box Set
Back in the 1990s, there was a deeply loved, but sometimes underrated sci-fi epic. Back before everybody did serialized TV, before prestige dramas in which everything was interconnected, J. Michael Straczynski gave us Babylon 5. Strewn with all kinds of influences, from Dune to Lord of the Rings, the epic series eventually starred Tron himself, Bruce Boxleitner.
Believe it or not, this series has never been on Blu-ray until 2023. For longtime fans or those who missed the show the first time around, this epic story of a space station at the center of everything is a long time coming.
