Last Minute DVD Gift Guide
Posted December 21, 2009 1:31 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
There’s only four shopping days left until Christmas and if you still have people to buy for (and haven’t picked up one of the Blu-ray titles I recommended) here are some DVD-only suggestions that should help finish your list so you can get back to watching holiday movies and specials.
Animation Fans Young and Old
Two great Curious George DVDs are available that kids seem to love — Curious George Goes Green (which pushes the message of the importance of recycling) and the Christmas-themed Curious George: A Very Monkey Christmas. Both are about an hour each and should interest the young one on your list. Disney has special edition DVD collections of classic short films The Reluctant Dragon, Wind in the Willows, and the Tortoise and the Hare. All three DVDs include multiple short films (including the title film in each set) and are enjoyable for the whole family.
Adult fans of animation will get a kick out the complete series of the late ’70s show Plastic Man. It comes in a 4-disc set and includes trailers for other classic Saturday morning cartoons as well. Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Very First Alvin Show is another good (and cheap) title to take a walk down memory lane with. It features three episodes from the 1961 rendition of the Alvin and the Chipmunks show and although the animation is raw and the voices are off, it’s still an interesting disc to check out.
TV Not in HD
The first two seasons of the 1957 Zorro series are available in collectible tin can sets and the nostalgia factor is a no-brainer for people who were children in that era. Newer shows such as Parks and Recreation, Eastbound & Down, The Mighty Boosh, and Californication are all only available on DVD and will make great gifts for people who want to laugh. If you have a teenager on your list the first season of the new 90210 and The Secret Life of the American Teenager (which now has three seasons available) might interest them as well.
Sports & Fitness
Have a hardcore Leaf fan on your list? Toronto Maple Leafs – 10 Great Leafs and Their Most Memorable Games is an amazing 10-disc set that covers players and their best games. Highlights include Bobby Braun in Game 6 of the 1964 Stanley Cup final and Red Kelly in Game 6 of the 1967 Stanley Cup finals, as well as recent players Doug Gilmour, Wendall Clark, Mats Sundin, and Curtis Joseph.
For fans of the Montreal Canadiens, check out the 100th Anniversary Collector’s Set. It’s a pleasing four-disc set with highlights from all 24 Stanley Cup games they’ve won as well as a detailed history of the team and a ton of other game and player vignettes.
If you have someone who plays hockey on your list Alex Kovalev: Off-Ice Training is a good fitness program to help assist with their training before hitting the rink.
There is only one set you need to get the baseball fan in your life and that is The Official World Series Film Collection. This massive 20-disc set will keep them busy for the next year and features highlights from every World Series game played (over 50-hours of footage in total).
Horror Buff
There are three great sets available for horror buffs this season: The Wes Craven Horror Collection includes Craven’s lesser-known films Shocker, The Serpent and the Rainbow, and The People Under the Stairs. It’s not the greatest quality but will make a good stocking stuffer.
The Exorcist: The Complete Anthology covers the entire Exorcist series including the original cut of the first film as well as the Version You’ve Never Seen.
Finally, for fans of Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi, the Karloff & Lugosi Horror Classics set spans two double-sided discs and includes the films The Walking Dead, Frankenstein 1970, You’ll Find Out, and Zombies on Broadway.
Something Completely Different
The Best of Monty Python: 40th Anniversary Edition is the best DVD gift for the Monty Python fan on your list. It includes six personal best collections (selected by the creators themselves), the 1972 performance Live at The Hollywood Bowl and the special Live at Aspen, 20 Years of Python. Two documentaries are included in the set as well — Before the Flying Circus and Monty Python Conquers America. The 710 minute package also includes bonus features such as deleted scenes, additional animations by Terry Gilliam, post-Python troupe highlights, Pythonisms, behind the scenes of John Cleese’s personal best, Terry Gilliam’s Featurette A Retrospective of Python’s Animation, and a ton more. For a suggested price of $74.99 you can’t go wrong.
Have a better last minute DVD recommendation? Post a comment below or email brian.mckechnie@citynews.rogers.com.
Top image: David Duchovny as Hank Moody in Californication. Courtesy Paramount Home Video/Showtime.
