The holidays that help close out a year traditionally bring us the most elaborate Blu-ray and DVD box sets that any collector or casual fan could ever hope for. The 2014 array of top Blu-ray and DVD box sets is quite impressive, and you would need an extremely deep pocketbook to bring each and every one of them home.
I’ve gone through all of the available and upcoming Blu-ray and DVD box sets that have that “wow” factor; whether it be in the packaging, the content, or both. Even in this time when digital viewing is on the rise and disc-based media is under attack, there are still studios willing to go the extra mile and put a smile on our faces with some that truly sticks out on a shelf and warrants numerous viewings.
My choices have been assembled in the following 2014 holiday guide for Blu-ray and DVD presented below in no particular order.
Actually I take that back. The first Blu-ray box set presented is my choice for box set of the year given the obvious effort that went into it and the stunning final result, hence the pretty picture seen up above. The rest are listed in no particular order.
Batman: The Complete Television Series
Otherwise known as Batman: The Complete TV Series, this Blu-ray and Digital box sets has been a long time coming and fulfills every Bat fan’s wildest dreams of what the classic 1966 series might look like in high definition. Warner Bros. has painstakingly remastered all 120 episodes of the series and thrown in over three hours worth of newly commissioned bonus features as well. These episodes have never looked better and likely won’t be reissued for many years to come.
This amazing “limited edition” box set also includes a Hot Wheels Batmobile, Adam West scrapbook, and vintage trading cards as tactile bonus content to help round out the package. Holy box set, Batman!
Release date: November 11, 2014
Buy now: Blu-ray and Digital ($174.99) or DVD ($134.99)
Sons of Anarchy: The Collector’s Set
FX’s Sons of Anarchy is still in the process of wrapping up its seventh and final season. That hasn’t stopped Fox Home Entertainment from taking advantage of the holiday shopping season to get a Sons of Anarchy complete collection offering into stores before the new year.
The result of this effort is the Sons of Anarchy: The Collector’s Set for Blu-ray or DVD. Like the James Bond Collection before it, Fox has left an empty slot to add in the Sons of Anarchy Season 7 Blu-ray or DVD box set when it becomes available in early 2015 (March, 2015 is a safe bet). It’s a clever way of getting a future-proofed complete series box set out early without compromising buys when the more expensive Complete Series set is inevitably released later on.
Where Fox went above and beyond in this box set is in the packaging, a recreation of the SAMCRO clubhouse table seen in the show. I haven’t seen this packaging yet in person but it looks killer based on the publicity photos.
Release date: November 11, 2014
Buy now: Blu-ray ($159.99) or DVD ($124.99)
The Wonder Years: Complete Series
You know The Wonder Years: The Complete Series DVD box set is something special when picking up the collectible Kennedy Junior High locker case for the first time. It feels like picking up a brick and is the first evidence that Star Vista Entertainment spared no expense in producing this elaborate 26-disc set featuring all 115 episodes and a yearbook.
The real treasure in The Wonder Years was the acquisition of rights to the over 300 original songs heard throughout the series. Fans have been begging for the original versions of this show for well over a decade and at long last it has arrived, complete with Joe Cocker’s rendition of The Beatles’ ‘With A Little Help From My Friends.’ This is the definitive home video version of The Wonder Years and likely the last to ever be released in a disc-based format.
Time Life is the exclusive retail partner for The Wonder Years: The Complete Series so if you see it for sale anywhere else, you’re buying it from a secondary source at a likely inflated price.
Release date: October 14, 2014
Buy now: DVD ($249.95)
Halloween: The Complete Collection
This Anchor Bay box set is formally called the Halloween: The Complete Collection Limited Deluxe Edition. Regardless of what you call it, Anchor Bay has put forth the ultimate Michael Myers box set that covers not only all of the original Halloween films, but Rob Zombie’s two remakes as well.
Spanning 15 discs, Anchor Bay has additionally packed in the original network TV versions of Halloween and Halloween 2, an extra gift for the true Michael Myers fan. There’s also the producer’s cut of Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers that until now had never before been seen.
There was an audio sync issue with Halloween 4 that Anchor Bay has taken responsibility for and will send out a replacement disc. This small issue doesn’t mar and otherwise outstanding Blu-ray box set.
Release date: September 23, 2014
Buy now: Blu-ray ($119.99)
The Sopranos: The Complete Series
HBO has two big “complete series” box sets out this holiday. There’s True Blood: The Complete Series and The Sopranos: The Complete Series. I chose the latter for my list as it’s simply a better show from start to finish with a clearer sense of direction and purpose. With the passing of James Gandolfini last year, it’s hard to ignore the impact of this mammoth 28-disc set and the ability to finally be able to purchase every episode of The Sopranos on Blu-ray packaged in a single box set, with the inclusion of Digital HD copies of every episode.
Release date: October 21, 2014
Buy now: Blu-ray and Digital ($119.99) or DVD ($124.99)
