Tomorrow: Animation on Blu-ray

MORE GIFT IDEAS:

* GIFT & BOXED SETS
* ANIMATION
* CLASSICS
* THE BEST OF THE YEAR

I hope you’ve been working out because HBO’s 13-disc Deadwood: The Complete Series Blu-ray boxed set is a seriously weighty affair. This is one solid brick of high-def western goodness! The discs, which feature all 36-episodes from the series’ three seasons as well as gobs of special features, are housed within the pages of a gorgeous, solid hardcover book – much the same as last years’ Rome: The Complete Series set. The packaging is honestly a beautiful thing to behold, providing a slipcase for the book and all of the discs to rest in. Along with stunning video transfers, DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 tracks that border on perfection and all of the special features from the previously issued DVD sets (17 audio commentaries and over 6-hours of HD docs and featurettes), you’ll be hard pressed to find anything to dislike about this amazing Blu-ray boxed set. Unless, of course, you have an aversion to foul-mouthed (VERY foul) cowboys.

READ MORE: HBO’s Deadwood: The Complete Series Blu-ray officially announced and detailed

AMAZON: $124.99

Following their hit WW II miniseries Band of Brothers, HBO brings us a kind-of sequel in The Pacific – a 10-part look at the allies’ struggles against axis powers in the far east. Producers Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg do their best to live up to Brothers‘ epic, emotional narrative and, for the most part succeed. The Pacific isn’t quite as engaging but proves to be equally cinematic and equally as memorable. The Blu-ray disc set consists of 5 discs in digibook packaging, housed in a tin case (almost exactly matching the Band of Brothers Blu-ray set, but a touch thinnner.) The series looks and sounds spectacular and features a great selection of quality of extras – “Enhanced Viewing Experience” picture-in-picture and “Field Guide” on all episodes as well as over an hour of docs and featurettes.

READ MORE: HBO The Pacific Blu-ray set announced and detailed

AMAZON: $66.99

Ah, Lost. It’s been over half a year since the groundbreaking series came to an end and I’m still not entirely sure how I feel about it as a whole. I mean, it had it’s high points (see my review of the Season 5 Blu-ray boxed set) and it’s dreadfully low points (remember Season 2?) But no matter how you feel about the series, there’s no denying it was infectious and quite memorable. Another point you can take to the bank is that it looks and sounds like a million bucks on Blu. In fact, I’d argue that it’s very nearly a different experience in high-bandwidth high-def. You can start over from the beginning with Lost: The Complete Series Blu-ray boxed set, pictured above – a comprehensive puzzle box filled with all 6 seasons worth of episodes along with scads of extras, collectibles and hidden secrets.

AMAZON: $179.99

The CG Clone Wars series has been my guilty pleasure now for a couple of years. I record and save new episodes as they air, hoarding them for those perfect Saturday morning marathons. The Blu-ray collections of the series do one better than just slapping the show on disc. These beautiful high-def presentations allow the Clone Wars to be seen as it was meant to be – in its original aspect ratio, instead of the cropped-for-TV versions we see on The Cartoon Network. The newest collection, Star Wars: The Clone Wars – The Complete Season Two features all 22 episodes, “Jedi Temple Archives“, featurettes and a 64-page book.

READ MORE: Star Wars The Clone Wars: The Complete Season Two Blu-ray Disc Review

AMAZON: $41.99

The Pillars of the Earth is the perfect gift for that person in your life who loves their sword fights and royal intrigue laced with a hefty dose of melodrama. This is a quality production from producers Ridley and Tony Scott that both looks and sounds great on Blu-ray. You won’t find a lot of special features here but no matter. The play’s the thing.

READ MORE: The Pillars of the Earth Blu-ray Disc Review

AMAZON: $44.99

I admit to not keeping up with Futurama since its miraculous return but am excited to catch up when this new Blu-ray boxed set turns up on December 21st. The 2-disc set includes all 13 new episodes and features such as deleted and extended scenes, audio commentaries and featurettes.

AMAZON: $30.99

Season 13 of The Simpsons marked the beginning of the shows return to form, after several seasons of less than spectacular episodes. Fans will definitely want to add this Blu-ray set to their collections for the exceptional DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack as well as the substantial batch of extras (commentary tracks on every episode!!) Take note that the episodes were produced in SD so the video presentation is a high-def encoded up-convert and a pretty nice one at that.

AMAZON: $40.99

Warner has packaged the three individual releases of the Peanuts holiday specials together into one handy boxed set. That means, if you or your loved one don’t already own the Christmas, Halloween and Thanksgiving Blu-ray discs, you’re in luck because you can now get them all together at a lower price. The discs and special features are identical to the individual releases, each one presenting an additional animated special and a short featurette. This is not reference material high-def but a definite improvement over whats previously been available.

AMAZON: $38.99

I think I can safely say, after watching two entire seasons of Fringe, that it’s hands-down the best genre show currently airing on TV. I actually held off watching season 2 for the entirety of the last year in anticipation of burning through it on Blu-ray. And burn I did!! The X-Files vibe takes even more of a back seat this season, in favour of furthering the story of agent Olivia Dunham, the Bishops and the secret experiments that tie them together. The episodes, once again look amazing on Blu. But, as they continued to do, WHV only serves up a compressed Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track. Ah well. Such a small disappointment in an otherwise amazing set. Special features include commentary on four episodes, a gag reel, a host of featurettes and more!

AMAZON: $45.99

My girlfriend got me into The Human Target last year. I wasn’t interested for the longest time but finally gave in and boy am I ever glad I did. What a fantastic, fun series this has been. This collection of first season episodes are so spirited and packed with adventure and fun and danger and… well, everything you’d want from a TV show adapted from a comic book.

Christoper Chance is a bodyguard and security expert for hire. Along with his crack team of operatives, he integrates himself into his client’s lives in order to draw out the forces that threaten them. The Blu-ray transfers are nice, if not a bit compressed (12 episodes onto 2 discs!) with Warner’s typical DD 5.1 audio mix souring the milk slightly. Special features include commentary on the pilot, deleted scenes and a couple of featurettes.

AMAZON: $35.49

From my review of the boxed set:

“With a cast of great characters and compelling b-movie storylines, True Blood is just as silly, soap operatic and supernatural in its second season as it was in its first. Perhaps even more so! And that fun transfers in whole to this exceptional Complete Second Season Blu-ray set!”

This is another killer (pun intended!) Blu-ray boxed set from HBO. As is par for the course, all episodes look and sound fantastic. Outside of the excellent commentary tracks the supplemental material is fairly anemic. See what I did there? With the blood-thing? Urgh…

READ MORE: True Blood: The Complete Second Season Blu-ray Disc Review

AMAZON: $47.49

And hey, speaking of vampires, here’s another great series about TV and film-goers’ favourite bloodsuckers! I didn’t expect to like The Vampire Diaries at all. AT ALL! And yet, after watching this first season on Blu-ray I’m hooked. It’s one of the shows I never miss on TV now, week to week. All 22 episodes are present and accounted for, all looking amazing in their high-def debut. Again WHV cheaps out on the audio, delivering only compressed DD 5.1 tracks. Not to worry though, they actually sound pretty good. Special features include a commentary track, tons of featurettes, a downloadable audio book and tons more!

READ MORE: Top 5 New Blu-ray releases for the Week of August 31

AMAZON: $45.99

Entourage has been another guilty pleasure for me for years. And this season, the sixth season feels like a climax of sorts. Despite the fact that the show has continued on into a seventh year, this Blu-ray boxed set collection gives a real sense of closure for the Hollywood escapades of movie star Vinnie Chase, manager Eric Murphy and all their pals by the time it ends. All 12 episodes look and sound better than they deserve, thanks to the wizards at HBO. Special features include commentaries, featurettes and a short film directed by Matt Damon!

AMAZON: $26.99

Thomas Jane stars in Hung as coach and “happiness consultant” (read: male hooker) Ray Drecker, doing what he does best with the gifts the good Lord has given him. Like, um…coaching sports and stuff. This half-hour drama is honestly a lot of fun but feels brief at a paltry 10-episodes. Collected in boxed set form, they just zoom by! The technical presentation isn’t quite up to HBO’s usual high standards but that doesn’t mean things look or sound grim here. The Blu-ray boxed set is, sadly a bit lite on the special features with a handful of commentary tracks being the most noteworthy.

AMAZON: $27.99

TV SHOWS ALSO AVAILABLE ON BLU-RAY
Clicking an image will take you to Amazon.com where you can learn more about and purchase the Blu-ray disc:

MORE GIFT IDEAS:

* GIFT & BOXED SETS
* ANIMATION
* CLASSICS
* THE BEST OF THE YEAR

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• HBO's Deadwood: The Complete Series Blu-ray available for pre-order (1)
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With new HBO boxed sets like The Pacific and the incredible Deadwood: The Complete Series freshly unleashed upon the public it’s very possible to forget that the studio released some truly great gift-worthy titles earlier in the year. To make certain that you don’t overlook both the True Blood and Entourage Blu-ray season boxed sets, the studio has hit us with these fairly entertaining, if not mildly confusing ads. What do you think? Will you be putting either on your wish list this year or giving either as a gift?

READ MORE: True Blood: The Complete Second Season Blu-ray Disc Review

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THE PILLARS OF THE EARTH (2010, Blu-ray released November 23, 2010 – MSRP $69.95)

I missed out on The Pillars of the Earth when it aired a few months back so the 3-disc Blu-ray set served as my introduction. Despite a general aversion to the mini-series format I found myself quickly sucked into this brilliantly executed medieval melodrama, adapted from the bestselling novel by Ken Follett.

Whatever reservations I might have had, as I sat down to view episode one of The Pillars of the Earth, evaporated as soon as the credits for Ridley and Tony Scott rolled by. When you’ve got the directors of Blade Runner, Alien and Top Gun on your side, your project is bound to be somewhat amazing. But they alone are clearly not the only reasons to celebrate the creative side of this new cable television extravaganza. The Scott brothers and director Sergio Mimica-Gezzan (Battlestar Galactica, Heroes) have assembled a stellar cast for their 8-episode drama, including Donald Sutherland, Gordon Pinsent, Hayley Atwell, Ian McShane, Rufus Sewell and Matthew Macfadyen, to name but a few.

The multi-generational story set during the time known as The Anarchy or The Nineteen-Year Winter is one of “war, religious strife and power struggles which tears lives and families apart.” Encounters on bloody battlefields are punctuated with steamy bedroom scenes and naked frolics in English lakes – enough sex and violence to make any plot centering on religion and politics far more palatable. The only disappointment of the whole affair is the ending, which seems far too clean and trite when all revelations come to the fore, all the players gathered together at once, pointing fingers. And for all the political wrangling over who should wear the crown, little is made of the outcome of the struggle after eight hours of story.

The castles and bloody battles look great on the 3-disc Blu-ray set, despite the fact that the 8-episodes are actually encoded in 1080i (the back of the packaging incorrectly states that the encoding is 1080p.) You won’t be disappointed. This is a fabulous, detailed transfer of a great looking, digitally shot production. The epic DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack will leave you slack-jawed at its power and presence. I’ve never heard a TV show sound so cinematic!

Special features are few in this 3-disc Blu-ray set. Frankly, I’m happier to have that disc space spent on the episodes themselves, sacrificing extra content for a truer presentation of the films. The most compelling feature is easily “The Making of ‘The Pillars of the Earth’“, a half-hour featurette that provides a nice overview of the production. A brief featurette on the creation of the main titles, one on the digital effects and a collection of trailers round out the package.

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This is an amazing week for Blu-ray – not only in that there are a handful of pretty amazing new releases (and some duds) to grab up but that there are more deals to be had this week on titles and players than at any time of the year, thanks to the incredible BLACK FRIDAY sales in the USA. If new releases aren’t your thing this week, you can find a handy, constantly-updated Black Friday Blu-ray Guide to sales and sale prices here.

1. AMERICA LOST AND FOUND: THE BBS STORY

I know I’ve said this a few times recently, but this really might be the Blu-ray release of the year. Criterion have assembled a box full of seven of the most important and influential films from the late 60s/early 70s, all made and produced by Bob Rafelson, Bert Schneider and Steve Blauner. And of course, each one has been prepped and transferred with the same love and care that Criterion give each standalone release, individually stacked with great special features.

Less well-known films, Head, A Safe Place and Drive, He Said hold up well amongst their popular siblings. In fact, though most film fans will pick up the boxed set for The Last Picture Show or Five Easy Pieces, I think the true delight will be the discovery (or re-discovery, as the case may be) of these hidden gems.

Higher profile Blu-ray releases and boxed sets might steal the spotlight this holiday season but the true coveted prize for any true film-fan will be this incredible, robust collection of films from Criterion. America Lost and Found: The BBS Story receives our highest possible recommendation.

FULL DETAILS HERE: Criterion Collection America Lost and Found: The BBS Story Blu-ray set contains Easy Rider, Last Picture Show, Five Easy Pieces

Amazon: $87.49

2. THE COMPLETE METROPOLIS

Speaking of incredible, influential and must-own releases of the week, The Complete Metropolis Blu-ray release from Kino is the newly released disc that you don’t put on your Christmas list – you run out and buy it today. Metropolis is inarguably one of the most important films ever made and now, for the first time in decades, we have the opportunity to see it in its complete form. Well, as close as technology and available resources allow.

The film was censored, ravaged from its initial length to a truncated 90-minutes. This version, which looks incredible on Blu-ray, for the most part, restores a good deal of the story and brings the run-time to a more film-accurate 145-minutes. This is a landmark Blu-ray release that shouldn’t be missed at any cost!

Amazon: $29.49

3. DEADWOOD: THE COMPLETE SERIES

On any other week, this would have easily been the number one release. The Deadwood: The Complete Series Blu-ray boxed set showed up at my door just as I was stepping out on vacation. As a result I haven’t been able to watch it yet but I’ll tell you, the damn thing weighs a ton! It’s packed with 13-discs of one of the best shows to ever have aired on television. And knowing HBO as I do, I’d be willing to bet that the quality of the packaging and the transfers are all beyond reproach. It’s an expensive set but an easy recommendation, even without having viewed a single one of the 13 discs.

Amazon: $137.99

4. THE EXPENDABLES

Ahhh, Sly. I totally missed this one in the theatres. (I know, you’re shocked, right?) But strangely, I have a feeling that this testosterone-fueled 80s callback will be better enjoyed on the smaller screen, just as we all truly fell in love with this type of film on cable and VHS back in the day. Call me crazy, but I’m actually more excited to check this out on Blu-ray than in the theatre. I’m looking forward to having the boys over, ordering pizza and busting out The Expendables very soon. Too bad the disc doesn’t have a VHS-quality transfer as one of the special features. … I can’t believe I just wrote that…

Amazon: $19.99

5. THE PILLARS OF THE EARTH

I have a feeling I’ll take a little heat for this but I loved The Pillars of the Earth! After steadfastly avoiding the television mini-series format for ages, I found myself quickly sucked into this brilliantly executed medieval melodrama, adapted from the bestselling novel by Ken Follett. Admittedly, the fact that the show is produced by Ridley and Tony Scott and stars a ton of amazing actors (Donald Sutherland, Gordon Pinsent, Hayley Atwell, Ian McShane, Matthew Macfadyen to name a few) makes watching what could have been a very weak movie of the week-style program an easier pill to swallow. The castles and bloody battles look great on the 3-disc Blu-ray set, despite the fact that the 6-episodes are actually encoded in 1080i (the back of the packaging incorrectly states that the encoding is 1080p.)

Amazon: $38.99

6. SALON KITTY

Another week, another sixth title in the Top 5 list. I’m sorry, but I can’t wrap up this column without pointing out that the lude, rude and all-together very nude (see what I did there, with the rhyming?) Salon Kitty has made its way to Blu-ray thanks to the dirty boys and girls of Blue Underground. Three years before he would shock the world with Caligula, Tinto Brass delivered a lengthy, somewhat muddled World War II-era film about a madame whose brothel is bugged in an attempt to gather bedside intel from unsuspecting Nazi soldiers. Brass takes the subject matter seriously but undermines his intent with over the top tits and ass. Fans of the film will be happy to know that Salon Kitty looks and sounds better than ever on Blu-ray and includes a limited but informative collection of extras (“Inside ‘Salon Kitty:’ Interview with Director Tinto Brass“, “Designing ‘Salon Kitty:’ Interview with Production Designer Ken Adam“, international trailer and three radio spots)

Amazon: $22.49

ALSO AVAILABLE ON BLU-RAY THIS WEEK
Clicking an image will take you to Amazon.com where you can learn more about and purchase the Blu-ray disc:

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• Blu-ray Holiday Gift Guide 2010: Gift Sets (5)
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• Top 10 New Blu-ray Discs for Halloween 2010 (4)
• The Complete Metropolis Blu-ray officially announced and detailed (1)

What can I say?–More of the same goodness. In the second half of this first season of SGU, we travel and explore a little more with the crew of the star-ship Destiny… Perhaps this is a good time for a “Previously on Stargate Universe” moment (Don’t worry, Disc 1 let’s you know where you left off). Our cast is made up of unfortunate military and civilian personnel, trapped on a mysterious ship traveling through space, millions of light-years from Earth. When the ships drops out of faster-than-light speed, the crew can visit planets and collect supplies and samples using the Stargate on board. They can also get into a air amount of trouble.

The first half of the season ends with a cliffhanger of sorts: The commanding officer, Col. Young (Justin Louis), strands his main rival, Dr. Rush (the ever-incredible Robert Carlyle), on a planet, after his attempt to frame the Colonel for murder. As you watch, the feeling of being on the ship is still present. The hand-held style of filming keeps you in the action, with a front seat view as the crew interact; either discussing the realities of their predicament, sneakily sharing secrets, and recounting stories unfolding back home, on Earth (thickening plots discovered with the use of the “communication stones”). There is plotting both among the crew and how best for them to deal with the new alien race obsessed with the ship.

Since the beginning of the season, the crew has started finding ways to deal with their situation. They have been forced to contend with the usual stuff, sources of food, replacement medical supplies, in addition to the unexpected, like wrestling back control of the ships navigation. Clearly, some of the crew are better at adapting to their situation than others. Some allegiances have proved surprising, and with new discoveries come new obstacles to overcome.

Picture and sound on the Blu-ray disc are impeccable…near perfect, once again. With every changing scene location, set décor and new extraterrestrial vista, you see that the transfer is crisp, that colors are convincing and the contrasts maintain mood beautifully with deep blacks and sharp detail. The lossless soundtrack keeps dialogue clear and skirmishes thrilling as all channels fully fire, creating an audible experience not felt with many films.

As a second-half of a complete season, SGU 1.5 has new material assembled as the same features: The in-character, personal KNO Diaries and the Destiny Star Map & Logs (SML) are expanded and, similar to the SGU 1.0 Blu-ray disc set, there is plenty of commentary where cast and crew participate. What is completely new this time is an interactive game called “Survival Instinct“, which, using actual footage from the show, tests your survival skills based on the decision you make in situations where there is a perceived threat. Another added bonus is the extra packaging provided to keep both SGU 1.0 and 1.5 together as a set. It’s a handy sleeve that will ensure that they are never far apart.

I, for one, am looking forward to start of Season 2 of Stargate Universe. It has had a strong start; standing out from the other Stargate shows in the franchise, while upholding the serious, story-oriented history behind them.

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I think my frustration with the final season of Lost is due to the myriad of story opportunities the show passed by in favour of extolling a collection of ideas and themes that the producers felt a strong connection to. This wasn’t always the case. Over the initial five seasons the show was most concerned with the careful balance of character moments and plot movement. It came out of the gates firing on all cylinders six years ago but quickly ‘lost’ itself in an endless mess of dull subplots and seemingly random threads of story that lead nowhere. Into the fifth season of the show, which I reviewed on Blu-ray last year, it had clearly become a television series that had once again found its way, presenting some of the most well crafted stories I’ve seen on TV. Leading into the final season, this past year, Lost felt to me like it was finally going somewhere. Like we were on the precipice of experiencing the most well thought out and satisfying conclusion of any series in television history. Sadly, that wasn’t to be.

After watching this final collection of episodes again on Blu-ray, it seems like the season actually had very few plot points to hit before drawing to its grand conclusion. A lot of the screen time is actually eaten up either attempting to hastily tie up dangling plot threads from previous seasons or pushing the series toward its overwrought and only loosely relevant finale. Which brings me to the now infamous “flash-sideways” elements of the story.

Previous seasons have used flashbacks to reveal character and flash-forwards to escalate the plot. I was certain that the “flash-sideways” device, which presents the characters off of the island, living their lives in an alternate universe, would amount to something of a revelation in the plot. Instead, this device which easily takes up half of every episode, ultimately adds nothing to the show, aside from the heavy-handed punctuation of some major themes that would have been better addressed within the main story threads. Watching the season over again hammers home what a wasted exercise this was for the show. One that detracts from the finer points of the entire series, if you ask me.

But enough grousing. Lost is still a fantastic show. Still one of the best things ever to air on network television. Season 6 might not hold a candle to season 5 in my eyes, but it’s got a whole lot going for it – adventure and intrigue, incredible action and mystery, touching, even tear-jerking moments with your favourite characters and, most importantly, some answers to long-burning questions. After these episodes, you’ll finally know who Jacob is, what the island is all about and why Jack, Sawyer, Kate and their fellow passengers of the doomed Oceanic flight 815 are so important to keeping it secret and safe.

Along with being a cracking good series, Lost: The Complete Sixth and Final Season is also one of the best looking and sounding TV shows ever! This Blu-ray disc presentation is as close to perfection as it gets, providing crisp, detailed and clean HD transfers for all 16 episodes. Colour fidelity is pitch perfect and blacks are deep and deliciously inky. Along with an aggresive, robust and dynamic DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless track, you’ll feel satisfied making the discs in this boxed set your new demo material. Seriously, television has never looked or sounded this good!

Much like previous seasons of Lost on Blu-ray, this newest disc set offers up a stunning collection of bonus features, with a couple of caveats. Let’s get those out of the way first – there’s a whole other disc full of content not present here (you’ll have to pick up The Complete Series boxed set to get your hands on that bad boy) and you’ll have to struggle through Disney‘s “Season Play” feature on all the Blu-ray discs. What’s this “Season Play“, you ask? It’s supposed to be a feature that makes keeping track of your viewing progress an easier process. But for me, it simply involved too many clicks, too much setup to enjoy using. And, in fact, before you can even use it, you have to sit through a commercial touting the feature you’ve already chosen from the menu! I would have much preferred to have a “Play All” feature on each disc than to have to click into my “account”, then choose the disc (despite the fact that there’s only a single disc in my player) and then choose the episode I want to watch. Much too labourious a process to play a single episode.

But those are small quibbles with an otherwise incredible set of extras. Along with four of the best commentary tracks you’re ever bound to hear on disc, featuring members of the cast and the creators of the show revealing more behind the scenes info than you can shake a stick at, you’ll be treated to a veritable ton of featurettes, deleted scenes and bloopers. In addition, the hit of the season 5 Blu-ray set, “Lost University” returns with another BD-Live Master’s Program, accessed through your players’ network connection. But wait, there’s more! The feature all Lost fans have been waiting for has got to be “The New Man in Charge” – the 12-minute denouement to the series, exclusively presented in this season set and the in the Complete Series collection. It’s a lot of fun and answers more questions in its brief runtime than the first four seasons combined! Well worth the wait and well worth the $48 on Amazon!

SPECIAL FEATURES:

• Plus: A Lost Blu-ray & DVD exclusive – Go deeper into the world of LOST with a much-anticipated new chapter of the island’s story from Executive Producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse… and starring some very familiar faces
• The End: Crafting A Final Season – Join the LOST team along with other producers of some of television’s longest running shows as they examine the challenges of ending a landmark series
• A Hero’s Journey – What makes a hero? Which survivors of Oceanic 815 are true heroes? These questions and more are explored
• See You In Another Life, Brotha – Unlock the mysteries of this season’s intriguing flash sideways
• Bloopers
• Deleted Scenes
• Audio Commentaries

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This weeks best Blu-ray releases deliver us a healthy dose of TV shows, classic films and animation. But nothing can compete with the juggernaut of a series that is Lost! It’s an easy call for the number one slot this week.

1. LOST: THE COMPLETE SIXTH AND FINAL SEASON

Well, this is a no-brainer. If the final Blu-ray season collection of the Lost tv series isn’t on your radar this week you’re missing out. This is one of the strongest releases of the year, featuring one of the best shows ever to air on network television in a damn-near perfect video and audio presentation. Not to mention the incredible and robust set of special features included in the set. I’ll save my musings about this final season of the series for a full review of the season set where I can go on at length about the controversial decisions the production team made to bring the series to a close along with my thoughts on the story in general.

But!

If, by chance, you happen to be one of those rare people who hasn’t had a chance to watch any of the series yet, you’re in luck…

Amazon: $47.99

ALSO AVAILABLE ON BLU-RAY TODAY -

LOST: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION

…because the entire series, all six-seasons are now available in one amazing and convenient boxed set! Owners of individual seasons may even want to trade up to this big, bad-boy as it offers an extra secret disc of bonus content as well as tons of collectibles and goo-gahs.

Amazon: $194.99

2. THE SIMPSONS: THE 13TH SEASON

Hardcore fans might look at this thirteenth season of the long-running animated show as something of a mixed bag as it marks the beginning of Al Jean‘s first season as Show Runner and the subtle (to some, drastic to others) shift in tone from The Simpsons of previous seasons to the style of stories we still see from Jean’s team today. Either way, collectors will be happy to add another season to their shelves and fans will praise the return of creator commentary tracks. Here’s hoping Fox gets us more Simpsons on Blu-ray soon!

Amazon: $39.99

3. SHOGUN ASSASSIN (30TH ANNIVERSARY COLLECTOR’S EDITION)

I used to collect the Lone Wolf and Cub comic books back in the 80s, when they were first issued in English with those great Frank Miller and Bill Sienkewicz covers (yeah, I’ve still got ‘em!) Shogun Assassin is an American edit of the first two Japanese film adaptations of the series, smushed together into one slick package with a brand new rock soundtrack. It might not be as pure as the original versions but it’s still all kinds of fun. Read all about it in our previous post, here: Shogun Assassin coming to Blu-ray.

Amazon: $14.99

4. MACHINE GUN MCCAIN

Okay, this is a gangster film you’ve probably never seen. Why should you care about Machine Gun McCain? I’m going to throw some names at you here to see if I can can convince you – the film stars John Cassavetes, Peter Falk, Gena Rowlands and the always stunning Britt Ekland, with music by…get ready… the master, Ennio Morricone!!! The disc is produced by the Criterion of b-movies, Blue Underground so you’re guaranteed something nice to look at. I mean, aside from the lovely miss Ekland.

Amazon: $17.49

5. HANDMADE FILMS COLLECTION – TIME BANDITS, MONA LISA, WITHNAIL AND I, THE LONG GOOD FRIDAY

Oh man, I was so so so excited for these four classic British movies produced by Handmade Films to make their way onto Blu-ray. But not like this. All four of these should be Criterion releases. Hell, they’ve all been Criterion titles at some point and I wish they would goddamn well get their asses back there, to a studio that will treat them with some respect. Image has just chucked them all unceremoniously onto single-layer discs, compressed to hell with very few extras. And the worst offense? Time Bandits is only presented in 1080i. That’s right. Interlacing on a disc of a movie shot on film, in this day and age. Despite my reservations about the quality of the discs, all of these films are wonderful and most have never looked as good as they do on these cheapo discs.

Amazon: $12.99 each

ANIME OF THE WEEK: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Part 2

If you picked up Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Part 1 back in May (it was one of our recommended Blu-ray discs for the week of May 25th!) you’ve no doubt been counting the days until you could get your hands on the follow-up thirteen episodes. Well, anime fans, the day has come and let me tell you, if you’re into this sort of thing, this second boxed set featuring the adventures of the Elric brothers is going to blow your mind!

While the first thirteen episodes were all about set-up, covering familiar ground and essentially condensing the first 30-or-so episodes of the original series into a small, more palatable chunk, the episodes found on the Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Part 2 Blu-ray discs find their way into new, unexpected and exciting territory. Al and Ed Elric are Alchemists – young magicians of a sort – who lost some significant body parts to their forbidden experiments. Their quest to find the mysterious Philosopher’s Stone which can make them whole again now takes a dark turn, leading them to lose dear friends and face painful secrets that could lead the boys to ruin. To speak more specifically about the story would spoil a host of surprises but rest assured, if anime is your thing, you won’t feel cheated by Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Part 2.

The Blu-ray discs look pretty good, for upconverted content and sound great in both Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0 and English Dolby TrueHD 5.1. I only wish there were more substantial bonus materials in the Blu-ray set, beyond the two commentary tracks from the English language voice cast.

Amazon: $33.99

ALSO AVAILABLE ON BLU-RAY THIS WEEK
Clicking an image will take you to Amazon.com where you can learn more about and purchase the Blu-ray disc:

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HBO has finally officially announced their November release of the hit series Deadwood on Blu-ray. Special feature details have yet to be nailed down but here’s a good idea of what you can expect when the boxed set is released:

Special Features:

• Commentary tracks
• “The Meaning of Endings” featurette with David Milch
• “The Real Deadwood: Out of the Ashes” featurette
• Q&A with the Cast and Creative Team from The Paley Center for Media
• “Deadwood 360″ Tour
• Al Swearengen Audition Reel as performed by Titus Welliver
• And more!!

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What?! Huh?! Another season set of Twilight Zone episodes announced for release on Blu-ray already?! We only just found out about Image‘s upcoming season one boxed set a few weeks ago and now we have the full details of the follow up release. Much like the first batch, I think this set looks like the bomb but I have my reservations about it. I don’t want to work myself up into too much of a lather before seeing an example of these new high-def transfers. But if they manage to live up to my wild imaginings, I’ll be frothing at the mouth, desperate to get my grubby hands on Season 3!

Special Features:

• Suspense: Nightmare At Ground Zero (TV episode)
• George T. Clemens Audio Interview (1978) Part 2
• William Tuttle Audio Interview

New, Blu-ray exclusive features:

• Rarely-seen, unofficial Twilight Zone pilot, The Time Element, starring William Bendix and Martin Balsam. Written by Rod Serling and hosted by Desi Arnaz for Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse.
• 19 new commentaries, featuring The Twilight Zone Companion author Marc Scott Zicree, author and film historian Gary Gerani (Fantastic Television), author and music historian Steven C. Smith (A Heart at Fire’s Center: The Life and Music of Bernard Herrmann), music historians John Morgan and William T. Stromberg, writer/producer David Simkins (Lois and Clark, Dark Angel), writer Mark Fergus (Children of Men, Iron Man), actor William Reynolds and director Ted Post Interviews with actors Dana Dillaway, Suzanne Lloyd, Beverly Garland and Ron Masak
• Tales of Tomorrow episode “What You Need”
• Vintage audio interview with Director of Photography George T. Clemens
• 1977 syndication promos for A Stop at Willoughby and The After Hours
• 18 Radio Dramas
• 34 Isolated Music Scores

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I stopped watching Heroes ages ago but admit to being morbidly curious about where the series ended up. This trailer, with its slightly out-of-sync audio doesn’t really offer me too much or make me want to rush out and spend $56 on Amazon to check it out. But if somebody wants to lend me their boxed sets for a couple of weeks, I certainly wouldn’t turn them down…

Special Features:

• U-Control
• Picture-in-picture: Video commentaries with Tim Kring, Nate Goodman, Charlie Lieberman, Adam Armus, Kay Foster and series stars, Robert Knepper, Adrian Pasdar and Greg Grunberg (BD-exclusive)
• Audio commentaries:
  • Once Upon a Time in Texas
  • Shadowboxing
  • The Fifth Stage
  • Brave New World
• Hero Connections (BD-exclusive)
• Featurettes:
  • Deconstructing Sylar: Discussion with Tim Kring, Adam Armus and Zachary Quinto.
  • Milo Speaks: Milo Vetimiglia talks about his career as an actor and his role on Heroes.
  • Heroes Revolution: Tim Kring and Heroes New Media Creatives discuss the importance of a web series for a hit television show and how New Media entertainment is created.
  • Genetics of Scene: An on-going series for fans. The cast and crew of “Heroes” provide an in-depth look at the production process of creating specific scenes.
  • Behind the Big Top: Dennis Hammer, Robert Knepper, Ray Park and Dawn Oliviera give a behind-the-scenes look at a hit television series with a perspective to joining the crew (BD-exlusive)
• Screensaver: Sullivan Brothers Design Gallery screensaver for your television.
• Deleted and extended scenes (some BD-exclusive)
• BD-Live
• My Scenes
• pocket BLU

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