So you’ve finally ponied up the money for that big, flat screen HDTV, invested in a surround sound speaker system, and amassed a solid collection of Blu-rays on your shelf — but at what point do you go from being a casual home theater owner to a full-blown, unashamedly proud audiovisual geek? You see, true home theater enthusiasm is about more than just the gear. It’s about an entire frame of mind, complete with a few key quirks, habits, and obsessions. If you’re unsure whether or not you fit the bill, here’s a handy list of 5 major signs that you should look out for.

1. You Have a “Sweet Spot”

Once thought to be only a myth, this term refers to the specific seat in your home theater room where the speakers perfectly align and the TV is perfectly centered. This miraculous spot gives the lucky individual who inhabits it the absolute best listening and viewing position, enhancing the full surround sound experience while eliminating any potential off-angle flaws in your HD display.

If you have one of these sweet spots, and find yourself racing over to seize it like a rabid animal claiming its territory whenever company comes over — then you’re already well on your way to true A/V obsession! Note to girlfriends, boyfriends, wives, and husbands: if your significant other is willing to give up their sweet spot for you, then it really is true love.

2. You Measured Angles

Going along with sign #1, properly setting up a home theater system requires a great level of precision when it comes to speaker placement. Various guidelines call for exact angles, heights, and distances between the speakers and primary listening position, which necessitates tools that go far beyond mere “eye-balling” it.

Basically, if you used any kind of chart, diagram, ruler, protractor, complicated algorithm, mounted laser beam, specially programmed robot, or ancient mystical incantation to help perfectly align your audio equipment, then I think it’s safe to say that you’re a real enthusiast… and possibly a super villain. Now God help anyone who accidentally bumps into something.

3. Light Has Become Your Enemy

It turns out that vampires aren’t the only creatures with a natural aversion to sunlight. In order to mimic the true theater experience, the best way to watch movies is in a completely dark environment. Not only does the lack of light help to immerse the audience in the film, but many TVs are prone to troublesome glare that can make daytime watching a nightmare.

To alleviate this problem, true home theater enthusiasts will go to any lengths to help cut down the light. From installing black-out drapes to enacting diabolical plots to permanently snuff out the sun, there is no real right or wrong strategy as long as it gets the job done. After all, an eternal globe-spanning ice age is but a small price to pay for the perfect movie watching environment. Those with the space and cash can even invest in a dedicated light-proof home theater area, creating the only situation where it’s socially acceptable to trap your guests in a dark, windowless room.

4. You’ve Invested in ISF Calibration

If those initials don’t mean anything to you, then you haven’t quite crossed the barrier into true home theater passion. The Imaging Science Foundation has developed a standardized system to properly calibrate video displays, ensuring the most accurate picture possible through the use of specifically designed test patterns and equipment. Without proper ISF calibration, many home theater owners can gradually grow suspicious of their displays, leading to paranoia and insecurity.

While manufacturer settings often feature high contrast, exaggerated sharpness, and impossibly vibrant colors, all that flash is really nothing more than an eye-straining lie! And since you’ve already bought and committed to your TV, who exactly is your display trying to doll itself up for with that “Vivid” setting anyway?! The first step toward any long lasting relationship is always trust, and until one can fully trust their TV’s picture settings, you might as well be strangers. Real home theater lovers realize this, and choose to alleviate any concerns through ISF calibration. It’s the only way to rest easy at night.

5. You Have Movie Watching Rules… and Consequences

Taking the home theater experience to the final level requires employing the same rules that any actual professional theater chain would — namely no talking or texting during the show. While the casual movie watcher might enjoy a laid back discussion during a film, for the A/V enthusiast, silence and full attention are non-negotiable stipulations.

Some might even go so far as to monitor their home audience like an amateur usher, escorting guests out who don’t follow the rules. In other words, you talk or text during the film — no movie for you!

So, there you have it. If you fit all of the criteria above, congratulations and welcome to the club! You are now officially a home theater enthusiast. If you haven’t experienced all five signs yet, then just give it some time, I’m sure you’ll come around. We’ll be waiting…

5 Signs That You’ve Become a True Home Theater Enthusiast

Last year was one of transition, where people at home started to get settled into yet another complex stretch of time where it was still advisable to seek out entertainment in the comfort of home. Studios experimented with paired theater and streaming releases of new, substantial films, and for the most part it got the business through 2021, while television-style content mostly maintained the status quo. This year, however, has seen the resurgence of movie theater showings – led by the success of Top Gun: Maverick – as well the souring of the somewhat perfect relationships between streaming services and their audiences and the threat of digitally-purchased content just … disappearing. One wouldn’t call this a turning of the tide for the legacy ways in which we enjoy content, but it has resulted in a reevaluation of the speed in which it’s happening.

In 2022, things have started to normalize, from the genuine success of movies on the big screen again – not just “Good for a pandemic!” – to the release of big new shows on streaming services and the maybe-or-maybe-not nature of them seeing a physical release. Other factors may have infringed on the success of physical media, such as frustration with the increasing prices of goods in general and the reduction of media shelves in big box stores, but the merit of “little shiny discs” and the cases they come in has made a statement over the past year in its continued reliability and desirability. Ben’s Bargains has cobbled together a list of some of the more intriguing and desirable items from among this year’s 4K and Blu-ray media to point

Gifts For Those Who May Have Missed 2022’s Best At Theater

Doubt seemed to follow Top Gun: Maverick (4K Steelbook) for a while, of a caliber that continued to shift the longer it stayed at the box office.  Some were unsure of where a sequel could even go, let alone successfully; then, others were unsure whether this now record-breaking box office juggernaut could deliver the same awe-inspiring experience that so many seemed to be having with it.  Turns out, Top Gun: Maverick ends up being just about good enough to meet even the loftiest expectations. It delivers credible nostalgia with Cruise and the returning characters, tells a meaningful and timely story about young ace pilots that cleverly mirrors the original film, and wraps it all up in thrilling aviation action sequences and high-stakes, smartly-written drama. Coupled with amazing photography and a killer score, Maverick’s the kind of film that’ll make one want to watch it again immediately after, which makes it a no-brainer gift.

Otherwise, it’s been a tremendous year for truly unique blockbusters that push the envelope on their concepts. In the midst of the Marvel and DC movie attempting multiple universes, Everything Everywhere All At Once (4K) steals their thunder by delivering a Matrix-esque thrill ride of entrancing action, a sense of a humor, and a perfect emotional backbone. Jordan Peele unleashes his most overt horror masterwork with Nope (4K), in which he ties together stunt horses and flying saucers in a meaningful, enormously immersive gallop through terror. Ti West unravels a pair of excellent horror movies with Pearl and X that tie together into a new horror universe with a fascinating lead presence in Mia Goth, while Nicolas Cage brings an entrancing lead presence to his latest film The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (4K)by playing … himself, or a spoof of himself. And one can’t get through 2022 movie recommendations without celebrating how Robert Pattinson absolutely rocks as the gritty new Batman.

Gifts For Those Who Like Their Media Pretty Both Inside and Out

Steelbooks were once predominately the domain of retail exclusives, producing high-demand collectible physical copies of everybody’s favorite movies. That’s still the case, but something’s shifted over the past year or so: studios are more onboard with making the premium metal cases widely available, which could be due to any number of factors. Regardless of why, it’s just nice to be able to find these editions without having to scramble to stores or place orders so far out. The folks at Shout Factory and Arrow Video both have had a grasp on this for a bit longer than the mainstream studios, and this year they’ve released some exquisite, coveted new 4K editions that also came with appealing Steelbook variants. Arrow’s True Romance (4K Limited Edition) delivers an impeccable presentation at what seems like the perfect time, and Shout Factory’s treatment of cult horror classic The Fog (4K) scares up a superior presentation with divine illustrated cover art.

That said, some of the other major studios have also jumped on that bandwagon by delivering attractive, fitting re-releases of some of their more popular films and/or those celebrating an anniversary. Notably, the re-releases of all the Indiana Jones films from Paramount operate on a simple premise: include the 4K disc, slap the beautiful poster artwork on the front, and call it a day …. And it works, because you don’t have to buy ‘em all. Paramount also threw together a pair of inexpensive Blu-ray Steelbooks that’ll tickle the fancy of certain fans, putting the “Burn Book” design from Mean Girls onto a new edition and sliding a VHS-themed slipcover over a TV-noise-covered shot of the Black Haired Girl for The Ring’s 20^th Anniversary Re-Release. Sony has also hopped on the Steelbook re-release bandwagon with an insanely satisfying design for Starship Troopers in 4K, but they’ve also done this unconventionally by first producing an exclusive for Best Buy with Spider-Man: No Way Home (4K) … and then re-released the same design on an unexclusive, albeit still limited scale.

Gifts For Those Who Need More Spine Numbers In Their Life

Every year, it seems as if The Criterion Collection has hit yet another stage of evolution in terms of the titles they’re able to offer in the landscapes of Blu-rays and 4K discs. While they once produced a widespread selection of mainstream titles for the laserdisc and early DVD eras, their attention seemed to shift away from that spotlight and far more toward classic, foreign, and otherwise more obscure films, resulting in a beautiful catalogue that hinged on the likes of Kurosawa, Tarkovsky, Bergman, Fellini, Wong Kar Wai, and such. The pivot wasn’t immediate, but starting in the mid-2010s, Criterion refocused their efforts on bringing more widely recognizable pictures – from 12 Angry Men and Dr. Strangelove to The Breakfast Club and Princess Bride – into their collection with often much-needed audiovisual or supplemental upgrades. Now, Criterion’s in a great spot to release significant movies from across the spectrum of cinematic desires, and they’ve delivered some surprises this year.

Perhaps it’s not a huge surprise given the label’s recent amorous partnership with David Lynch, but Lost Highway (4K) remained one of the director’s elusive films without a fine home-video presentation before Criterion finally answered the call of many a cinephile … and they did so at 4K to boot. While arthouse enjoyers are entranced with that one, fans of old-Hollywood classics will revel in the recent edition of the dark slapstick comedy Arsenic and Old Lace, while those with an eye for classic blaxploitation cinema will relish their new edition of the OG badass Shaft (4K). Devotees of the Brothers Coen finally get a robust presentation of their straight-faced noir thriller Miller’s Crossing, and foreign aficionados will be delighted to have the Japanese ‘90s horror drama Cure at their access. Yet, even though all of those films have been requested for a while, they don’t match the immense surprise of Criterion’s latest 4K announcement: a partnership with Disney and Pixar starting with WALL-E (4K), which’ll make a perfect gift.

Gifts For Those Who Relish Seeing New Details In Old Classics

During the process of DVD transitioning over to Blu-ray, many people wondered whether the audiovisual uptick would be worth it on classic movies or smaller-scale films such as comedies, and whether it’d be worth the cash to buy another presentation. It became clear – no pun intended – that especially with classic black-and-white films and those with age, the increase in resolution and contrast was beyond worth it, especially if the particular film also received a much-needed restoration alongside it. Back 15 years ago, this was a much easier conversation; in 2022, after years of restorations and technique refinements, most films that absolutely needed such improvements have seen them now. When it comes to jumping from Blu-ray to 4K, however, the answer remains the same: those jumps in resolution and improvements in contrast and black levels make yet another shiny disc worth the dollar figure, and thus worth gifting the film lover in your life.

It all boils down to the studios responsible for the classic being represented in 4K, and boy, there are some doozies this year that nobody would ever want to mess up. Oftentimes in the debate for greatest film ever made, Casablanca enjoys a beautiful new 4k presentation this year that shines a light on the one-revered Blu-ray edition from a decade prior.  Criterion finally jumped into the 4K ring last year, and they’ve made short order of getting impressive new presentations in the hand of cinephiles, from the ‘50s noir stalwart Double Indemnity to Martin Scorsese’s immersive, hard-hitting Oscar winner Raging Bull. While these were previously released by Criterion but aren’t this time around, a trio of wonderful Stanley Kubrick films came out of Kino Lorber in tremendous 4K presentations this year: Paths of Glory, The Killing, and Killer’s Kiss. And, of course, let’s not overlook yet another technically immaculate presentation of the Godfather Trilogy, though this time it includes the reworked Godfather Coda Edition for the third film.

Gifts For Those Who Have Just Enough Shelf Space

With production channels the way they’ve been over the past year or two, it’s not surprising that there’s a lack of big-investment boxsets to have come out recently. Instead, as with the steelbook presentation, companies are mostly keeping their anniversary and limited editions to a smaller scale … and honestly, with the shift to more minimalistic spaces and conservation of packaging waste and what not, it’s not a bad thing at this point. As mentioned last year, however, it seems as if every time physical media has reached the point where it’s lost the ability to produce another hilariously unnecessary set that’ll grab the masses, they pull out at least a few more.

Perhaps the most obvious and appealing one this year goes back to the Top Gun franchise, in which Paramount has thrown together a lavish 2-movie steelbook boxset for both Tony Scott’s original and the sequel, Maverick. Both cases have coordinating artwork that kinda-sorta reminds one of the metal plating alongside jet bodies, and it comes in a fancy box with a bunch of goodies: dogtags, keyrings, replica photos, decals, and other goodies. Similarly, the Bourne franchise of movies will be seeing its own tactical Bourne: Complete Collection 20th Anniversary 4K gift set, encased in a backpack with BOURNE emblazoned on the front and including a keychain, a compass, even a monocular. And if we’re celebrating Maverick and Bourne, we might as well also celebrate James Bond and Daniel Craig’s final foray as the character with a lovely numbered diecast Aston Martin edition of No Time To Die (and a fancy box and character cards).

On a more practical level, but still impressive as a holiday gift, Sony will also be releasing a 30^th Anniversary of Sony Picture Classics 4K limited edition set, which includes an impressive range of indie titles that may or may not have actually received a 4K treatment otherwise. Tons are worth celebrating, but movies like Run Lola Run, City of Lost Children, and Volver should get their respective cult followings very excited.  

2022 Gift Guide: Top 4K & Blu-rays for Movie and TV Fans

The value of streaming services for movies and TV has come even more into view over the past year and a half, but something else has, too: physical media doesn’t get weighed down by internet overload, hiccups, or general outages. Sure, this still ends up being a small victory in a period where convenience and connectivity have really flexed their muscles — especially with theatrical new releases – but it’s also been seen on a practical level when there’s just too much surrounding internet activity eating up data to get a good or even functional image. Reliability will always be secondary to the true joy behind physical media, though, and that’s the satisfaction of, in some way or another, having content you like within reach in a library, in a presentation that the owner has selected from other viewing methods.

There’s another benefit to little shiny discs, though: they make awesome gifts.  Whether it’s giving someone a movie they already love or sharing with them something you’ve personally watched – or heard of through word of mouth – that you feel they’d enjoy, it can be a personal thing with lots of thought behind it. Or, it can make for an easy-to-wrap package for under a tree or in a stocking, or to be tossed in the mix of a random exchange, and all that’s required is a player and the removal of some plastic wrap to kick off the show. And in the case of 2021’s still complicated theater and stream service situation, there’s the good chance somebody may’ve missed a particular theatrical film … or just needs a really good classic, or a box of classics, to get lost in.

The guide below mentions over two dozen different 4K and Blu-ray discs that’d make for wonderful presents to give throughout the holiday season. Follow the links to get to product pages, most of which land at Amazon, and check ‘em out sooner rather than later to see if those elusive holiday deals are still going on for certain ones.  

Gifts For Those Eager For Something New From The Theater

Let’s start off with the new releases of 2021 and how superhero movies hit differently. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (Target Art Edition, 4K) presented the first real Asian comic-book superhero film, with a lead actor in Simu Lu who trained in several martial-arts styles in the lead-up to Marvel’s well-told hero’s journey.  Elsewhere, The Suicide Squad (Amazon, 4K) gets the DC film universe back on track by enlisting director James Gunn, who reveals that he gets the core of why the squad’s appealing with a hysterical, colorful, and chaotically violent trip with Harley Quinn and the gang to save the world from a … starfish. Then, there’s the live action origin story of Cruella (Amazon, 4K), which harnesses Emma Stone’s charismatic quirks in a meaningful, delightfully gray depiction of a villain’s ascent that, despite being a Disney movie, has the edge of a comic.

Other new movies discovered quality by exploring familiar ideas from different angles. On the heels of John Wick, both Nobody (Amazon, 4K) and Pig (Amazon, Blu-ray) take on the idea of a retired or reserved man of danger whose fighting spirit is reawakened by tense circumstances: home invasion in one, theft of a pet in another. Nobody gets Bob Odenkirk involved with vigorous action entertainment, while Pig taps into heavy drama involving Nic Cage about rediscovering oneself. Similarly, Free Guy (Amazon, 4K) takes the idea behind The Truman Show and brings it to the landscape of video games, where a non-playable character living in an MMO discovers the truth of his reality and pushes to break the illusion. Then, there’s A Quiet Place Part 2 (Amazon, 4K), John Krasinski’s horror sequel which tries to capture the same disquieting terror beyond a family’s isolated home.

Gifts For Those Who Enjoy Classics In New, Clear 4K Light

This year also marked the long-awaited arrival of The Criterion Collection to the 4K arena, and with that milestone also came the announcement of perhaps the company’s most monumental release: that of Citizen Kane (Amazon), often considered – and frequently debated – as being the greatest movie ever made. Regardless of how one feels about where Orson Welles’ grand drama about the rise and twisted perseverance of a newspaper tycoon falls on the “best of” list, it still makes for a brilliant gift for any film lover, as they’ll eventually want to revisit it alongside Criterion’s glorious supplemental package.  This grand entrance into 4K media for Criterion also quietly marks the introduction of David Lynch’s body of work into the ultra-HD format, as Mulholland Drive (Amazon) also gets a new scan and presentation.

Interestingly, one movie that probably comes up in most conversations about the greatest movies ever made also received a new 4K transfer presentation from Warner Brothers: A Clockwork Orange (Amazon). Like Stanley Kubrick’s other films found in a 3-movie 4K boxset from WB, it’s a worthwhile visual upgrade for a film that’s both increasingly tough to watch and absorbing to watch.  Speaking of upgrades, Shout Factory delivered one of the first substantive 4K-to-4K upgrades with John Carpenter’s seminal classic Halloween (Amazon), finally coming together in a not-so-debatably definitive presentation alongside individual releases for the rest of the franchise. Also, for those Wes Craven and ‘90s cinema fans, meta-slasher classic Scream (Amazon) has also finally been given the visual treatment it deserves with a fine new transfer from Paramount, just in time for the new movie.

Gifts For Those Who Like Old Hollywood, Subs, Spicoli and Spine Numbers

Over the past few years, The Criterion Collection has revived their reputation from the laserdisc days for pulling big, important movies into their workspace and giving them impressive treatments. While they’ve maintained a steady stream of variety from indie, arthouse, foreign, classic, and cult spectrums during the DVD and Blu-ray era and they’ve certainly offered a mainstream hit or two, they’ve tended to be more focused on smaller films that seem to need more than most. Now, on top of Citizen Kane, they’re digging deeper into studio catalogues for high pedigree classics that also “need it”, including the Bogart gangster-noir vehicle High Sierra (Amazon, Blu-ray), the classic ‘50s sci-fi thinker The Incredible Shrinking Man (Amazon, Blu-ray), and the renowned screwball rom-com Bringing Up Baby (Amazon, Blu-ray) with Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn.

They’re not just going after black and white classics, either. After The Breakfast Club proved that they’re interested in more mainstream ‘80s comedies with significance behind them, this year they delivered the iconic coming-of-age dramedy Fast Times at Ridgemont High (Amazon, Blu-ray), complete with new interviews and the TV edit of the film. On top of this, The Criterion Collection have also procured the rights to two significant Asian cinema releases this year. Academy award-winning director Bong Joo-ho’s Memories of Murder (Amazon, Blu-ray) finally made its English-friendly Blu-ray debut in this region from Criterion, a masterful presentation of director’s most harrowing, gripping piece of cinema. Similarly to their beautiful Bruce Lee set, the label will also be producing a sprawling 6-disc boxset for the entirety of Once Upon a Time in China (Amazon, Blu-ray boxset) saga, mostly driven by director Tsui Hark and action legend Jet Li.

Gifts For Cult-Classic Lovers and ’80s Kids

Criterion wasn’t the only boutique label to have success in getting out some surprising titles this year, as cult-classic aficionados Arrow Video also produced some great ‘80s-era packages. Naturally, attention falls on David Lynch’s Dune (Amazon, 4K), which more than anything exists as a hypnotizing sci-fi curiosity nowadays … and, in a sense, as the oddball of Lynch’s body of work. Arrow provides a beautiful 4K transfer and heaps of extras to show and tell that story, though. They’ve done something similar for Ridley Scott’s Legend (Amazon, Blu-ray), another uniquely beautiful genre entry with a devoted fanbase, which arrives alongside a bountiful set of extras with the US and Director’s Cut versions in the best shape they’ve ever been.  Arrow also slipped in a stunning presentation of Tremors (Amazon) in 4K, an honorary ‘80s flick and action-horror classic.

Shout Factory devoted energy to their Halloween collector’s edition 4K releases, but they’ve also cranked out impressive discs from outside their ‘80s-cinema wheelhouse.  Moving to the ‘90s, they’ve presented the underappreciated Lovecraftian space horror flick Event Horizon (Shout Factory, Blu-ray) in a handsome package, and while it looks great, it’s the assertive sound that makes the disc mesmerizing. From there, Shout moves to modern cinema for a surprise release of Krampus … the Naughty Cut (Amazon, 4K), which features additional scenes and the original dialogue that was tweaked for the film to get a PG-13 rating.  Already a pretty fierce horror movie in its “tame” cut, this should be a perfect offering for the right film buff.  Perhaps even more surprising, however, is the fact that ultra-boutique label Vinegar Syndrome entered into the mainstream with a magnificent 4K release of the classic ‘80s fantasy film Beastmaster (Amazon, 4K + Blu-ray).

Gift For Those Who Take Pride In Filling Shelf Space With Cinema

Every time that it seems like the days of elaborate gift sets for physical movie releases might be in the rearview mirror, there’s always one or two in a given year that keep the energy alive. For 2021, that distinction largely falls on the 20th Anniversary 4K/Blu-ray release of Harry Potter (Amazon Exclusive), which comes in a nifty box designed to look like the Hogwarts Express train. Beyond that one, the rest of the gift sets this year have been designed to be slightly more manageable and streamlined on a shelf, letting graphic design do the work. As expected, a complete Middle-Earth 6-Film 4K Ultimate Collector’s Edition (Amazon, 4K + Blu-ray) batches the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit 4K trilogy sets from last year and adds new extras. There’s also the Karate Kid 4K Collection (Amazon, 4K), which presents the three Macchio films with classic poster cover art.

The rest of the gift sets on this list come with little caveats or asterisks, but they’re wholly worthwhile gifts for any cinema lover.  First, there’s the Evil Dead: Groovy Collection (Amazon) in 4K, which bundles together both the film and TV sagas of Bruce Campbell’s Ash against zombie-poltergeist baddies from the beyond … though, asterisk, this set doesn’t come with Army of Darkness, likely due to studio rights. The Criterion Collection has also lovingly crafted a World of Wong Kar Wai (Amazon, Blu-ray) boxset that curates all his “most beloved works” – including Blu-ray newcomer 2046! – in a beautiful package with, asterisk, controversially modified transfers under the supervision of the director. And then, continuing on the Criterion train, there’s the Essential Fellini (Amazon, Blu-ray) boxset released in November of last year, so the asterisk here is to make sure they didn’t get it last holiday.

2021 Gift Guide: Top 4K & Blu-rays for Movie and TV Fans

While moviegoing has fallen on hard times during the pandemic, home video viewing has soared. These days, most viewers like to stream their entertainment, but in a dystopian future where the internet is banned, you’ll be happy to have your favorite movies on physical media.

All kidding aside, with studios moving away from physical discs in favor of streaming, now is the best time to grab some of the wonderful 4K and Blu-ray editions that are circulating out there—featuring the kind of nifty packaging, special features/commentary and collectible pack-ins you won’t get from a digital download.

Below are our top thirty 4K and Blu-ray gift ideas that were released in 2020. Check out last year’s list, too, for many more good ones. Watch for price drops and deals on Ben’s in the coming weeks (set deal alerts here)!

Note: Links below are to Amazon (or Best Buy in some cases due to availability). Street prices are listed in parentheses.

Modern Classics on 4K

2020 continued to see restorations and reissues of modern classics from the ’70s, ’80s, ’90s and ’00s released on 4K.

1. The Mask of Zorro (1998): This fun romp starring Antonio Banderas, Anthony Hopkins and Catherine Zeta-Jones gets the 4K (HDR10) treatment with dazzling results. ($23)
2. Total Recall: 30th Anniversary (1990): Ahnuld and Sharon Stone go to Mars in this violent Paul Verhoeven sci-fi action thriller. ($18)
3. Jaws: 45th Anniversary Limited Edition (1975): Steven’s Spielberg’s opus to monster movies receives an impressive 4K facelift from the original camera negative. ($20)
4. 300 (2007): Meme-worthy and innovative, Zack Snyder’s Battle of Thermopylae gets thoroughly amped up on 4K (HDR10) and Dolby Atmos. ($25)
5. Beverly Hills Cop (1984): Eddie Murphy solidified his place in the Hollywood firmament with this genre-busting comedy that shattered box office records. ($20)
6. Gladiator / Braveheart 2-Movie Collection (2000/1995): These two epics were separately released on 4K in 2018, but get the value combo treatment in 2020. ($28)
7. Mad Max (1979): The original post-apocalyptic action thriller established Mel Gibson as a worldwide star and over 40 years later gets a 4K Dolby Vision HDR upgrade. ($40)
8. The Hunt for Red October (1990): The late, great Sean Connery stars as a Russian sub commander in the best Tom Clancy adaptation yet made and never loses his Scottish burr. Deal with it. ($28)
9. Top Gun (1986): This 1980s time machine stars Tom Cruise in his superstar-making vehicle, while director Tony Scott’s inimitable style has never looked better in 4K. ($15)

Gift Sets

Gift sets are for the super fan who wants everything, but they will definitely leave a dent in the wallet.

10. The Office: The Complete Series (34-Disc Blu-ray): You can follow The Office from Netflix to Peacock in January 2021, or you can just own the whole series outright on Blu-ray. What say you?! ($112)
11. Game of Thrones: The Complete Collection (33-Disc 4K+Digital): Fans will be blown away by how good the series looks on a physical format (vs. streaming), whether or not they liked the final season. ($195)
12. Back to the Future: The Ultimate Trilogy (7-Disc 4K+Blu-ray+Digital): Go back in time with Marty and Doc in a souped-up 4K restoration (HDR10, Dolby Vision, HDR10+) with some new bonus features like the “Lost Audition Tapes.” ($40)
13. Bugs Bunny 80th Anniversary Collection (3-Disc Blu-ray+Digital): 60 Bugs Bunny animated theatrical shorts are included (30 of which have never been released on Blu-ray or DVD), plus a new “doc” (digital only) and a Bugs Bunny Funko figure. ($73)
14. The Lord of the Rings Motion Picture Trilogy (Extended & Theatrical, 9-Disc 4K+Digital): LOTR on 4K, it doesn’t get much better than this. Well, until summer 2021 when the Ultimate Collector’s Edition comes out. Hey, at least it’s not Star Wars on home video… ($90) Also available with a replica of The One Ring in a fancy book-style Collector’s Gift Set. ($150)
15. Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga (27-Disc 4K+Blu-ray+Digital): Star Wars on 4K, it doesn’t get much better than this. Wait, the original theatrical cuts of the OT are not included? Sigh… here we go again. ($200)
16. The Flintstones: The Complete Series (10-Disc Blu-ray): All 166 episodes of prime time’s first animated series are included in vibrant full 1080p HD. ($61)

Cult Classics & Genre Gems

Thanks to passionate fans, these special home video releases saw the light of day.

17. The Last Starfighter: Special Edition (Blu-ray): Arrow Video restored this beloved 1984 sci-fi movie from a 4K scan, and threw in a bunch of new extras, including commentary with Lance Guest.
18. The Goonies (4K+Blu-ray+Digital): Spielberg produced this Gen-X childhood favorite about treasure hunting kids in Oregon. ($25) Also available with collectibles in a Special Edition Gift Box. ($50)
19. Popeye (Blu-ray+Digital): This very underrated 1980 musical, starring Robin Williams as the titular comic character and Shelley Duvall as Olive Oyl, is finally being released on Blu-ray. ($10)
20. The Godfather Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone (Blu-ray+Digital): Director Francis Ford Coppola got the go-ahead to recut 1990’s much-maligned Godfather Part III to closer approximate author Mario Puzo’s original vision. ($17)
21. Flash Gordon: Limited Edition (4K+Blu-ray): Flash, ah-ahhh! You remember the Queen song, and the rest is… well, interesting. Nonetheless, it underwent an extensive restoration under supervision of director Mike Hodges. ($20) Also available with collectibles in a Limited Edition Box Set. ($40)

Golden Age Movies in 4K

These classical Hollywood pictures got brand-new life in beautiful 4K restorations.

22. Spartacus (2-Disc 4K+Blu-ray+Digital): After a long wait, the spectacular 4K restoration of Stanley Kubrick’s 1960 epic is finally seen on 4K disc (HDR10, Dolby Vision) in the film’s original 3+ hour running time. ($18)
23. Columbia Classics 4K Ultra HD Collection: Volume 1 (17-Disc 4K+Blu-ray+Digital): Includes Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Dr. Strangelove, Gandhi, A League of Their Own, Jerry Maguire and most notably, for the first time on 4K disc, David Lean’s masterpiece Lawrence of Arabia. ($165)
24. The Alfred Hitchcock Classics Collection (8-Disc 4K+Blu-ray+Digital): Includes 4 of Hitch’s most well-known Hollywood pictures for the first time on 4K—Rear Window, Vertigo, Psycho (2 versions) and The Birds—all in a collectible digibook.

New Releases in 4K

Tenet is the one “new release” on this list that actually debuted in theaters in 2020. The rest are from 2019, but the home video versions were released this year.

25. 1917: Winner of the 2020 Golden Globes for best motion picture (drama), this showy “single take” WWI epic can also stand in as your 4K reference disc. ($18)
26. Tenet: Acclaimed director Christopher Nolan’s cerebral sci-fi thriller hit theaters during a pandemic but will undoubtedly find new life on home video. ($30)
27. John Wick: Chapters 1-3: The individual movies have been previously released on 4K, but now all you John(ny)-Come-Latelys can get the value combo pack. ($28)
28. Jumanji: The Next Level: The totally unnecessary sequel to 2017’s surprise hit Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle is still a mostly fun movie when it focuses on the four main leads. ($20)
29. Ford v. Ferrari: Director James Mangold captures the visceral excitement of race car driving in the 1960s, and the fantastic Dolby Atmos soundtrack is a treat. ($15)
30. Frozen II: Regardless of whether it lived up to its high expectations, this sequel is still a hit with kids and the 4K transfer is beautiful to behold. ($20)

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2020 Gift Guide: Top 30 4K & Blu-ray Gifts for Movie and TV Fans

Are we in the twilight of physical media? It seems so: the MPAA reported earlier this year that sales of discs have dropped 50% over the past 5 years, while DVD (gasp) still accounts for nearly 60% of all disc sales worldwide… with 4K Blu-ray at a piddling 5.3%. Yikes! Plus, Samsung dropped out of producing new 4K Blu-ray players… and we’re starting to see digital-only 4K releases for catalog titles like Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Lawrence of Arabia.

Meanwhile, this year saw the introduction of streaming services from big hitters like Disney and Apple, joining an already crowded field filled with Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, CBS, Paramount and more. Even boutique label Criterion now has a streaming service. HBO is coming out with a beefed-up new service called HBO Max that will be WarnerMedia’s spearhead into the streaming wars. The studios are betting big on digital media, the new cash cow.

If you’re a home theater enthusiast, you know physical media still offers the very best in picture and sound. We probably won’t ever see 8K on disc, but studios will continue to make these discs if fans like you keep buying them. Criterion and Scream Factory are still producing titles loaded with bonus features, and retailers like Best Buy and Target are selling “exclusives” like SteelBook editions and special gift sets like the epic MCU Infinity Saga set (see below).

And now, without further ado, here are our top thirty 4K and Blu-ray gift ideas this year. Watch for price drops and deals on Ben’s in the coming weeks (set deal alerts here)!

Lavish Box Sets

The Big Bang Theory: The Complete Series Limited Edition

All 279 episodes of Sheldon, Leonard and friends plus 12 hours of bonus footage, collector’s pop-up book and episode guide. [Blu-ray + Digital] 11/12

($200) $180 | Buy on Amazon

The Infinity Saga Collector’s Edition

All 23 movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, from Iron Man (2008) to Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019) are collected here in this individually numbered mega box set, exclusive to Best Buy. [4K + Blu-ray + Digital] 11/15

$550 | Buy at Best Buy

Scooby-Doo Where Are You! The Complete Series 50th Anniversary Limited Edition

Includes all 41 episodes of the original cartoon show that premiered back in 1969, plus a 32-page encyclopedia and Pocket Pop! vinyl figure keychain. [Blu-ray + Digital]

($90) $70 | Buy on Amazon

Godzilla: The Showa Era Films (1954-1975)

Criterion has collected all 15 original Godzilla films from the Showa era in this 8-disc set, stuffed with the usual bevy of new interviews and special features, plus a hardcover book.[Blu-ray]

($165) $112 | Buy on Amazon

 

Twin Peaks: From Z to A

The entire Twin Peaks universe is here on 21 discs: the original 1990s series, the 2017 Limited Event series, the movie Fire Walk with Me plus its deleted scenes The Missing Pieces. Other goodies include bonus features, 5 x 5 printed cards and die-cut acrylic figure. [Blu-ray + Digital] 12/10

($156) $133 | Buy on Amazon

  

Monty Python’s Flying Circus: The Complete Series: Norwegian Limited Edition

Years in the making, this 7-disc set is a meticulous, uncut HD restoration of the entire original Monty Python’s Flying Circus sketch comedy show that first aired on BBC in 1969.[Region-free Blu-ray]

($140) $115 | Buy on Amazon

New Release Hits

 

Alita: Battle Angel

This imaginative and innovative “cyberpunk” adventure from Robert Rodriguez and James Cameron is based on the 1990s Japanese manga series of the same name. [4K + Blu-ray 3D + Blu-ray + Digital] or [Blu-ray + Digital]

$27 | 4K on Amazon$20 | Blu-ray on Amazon

 

Avengers: Endgame

Marvel wraps up the saga with a 3-hour panoply of every single character in the MCU, tear-jerking moments, goofy humor and big budget CGI. [4K + Blu-ray + Digital] or [Blu-ray + Digital]

$29 | 4K on Amazon$24 | Blu-ray on Amazon

 

John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum

Keanu Reeves embellishes his Charles Bronson / Liam Neeson vengeance phase in this violent saga that’s captured audiences worldwide. [4K + Blu-ray + Digital] or [Blu-ray + DVD + Digital]

$24 | 4K on Amazon$18 | Blu-ray on Amazon

 

Joker

Joaquin Phoenix’s original performance as the titular Batman villain has already generated Oscar buzz in this semi-homage to gritty 1970s movies like Taxi Driver. [4K + Blu-ray + Digital] or [Blu-ray + Digital] 12/17

$30 | 4K on Amazon$25 | Blu-ray on Amazon

 

Spider-Man: Far From Home

Feeling a bit like a fun diversion after the doom and gloom of Endgame, this second MCU Spidey outing has a clever villain and inventive set pieces. Also, audiences were introduced to Night Monkey (aka Spidey’s stealth suit)! [4K + Blu-ray + Digital] or [Blu-ray + DVD + Digital]

$20 | 4K on Amazon$19 | Blu-ray on Amazon

 

Once Upon A Time In… Hollywood

Quentin Tarantino’s “love letter” to Hollywood has major Oscar buzz and gets an extra 20 minutes of additional scenes as bonus. [4K HDR + Blu-ray + Digital] or [Blu-ray + DVD + Digital] 12/10

$28 | 4K on Amazon$25 | Blu-ray on Amazon

 

Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse

Late last year, Sony Pictures released an “alternate” non-MCU animated take on Spider-Man that quickly shot onto the short lists of people’s favorite superhero movie of all time. It also revived the long-lost Spider-Ham who originally appeared in the 1980s. [4K + Blu-ray + Digital] or [Blu-ray + DVD + Digital]

$19 | 4K on Amazon$13 | Blu-ray on Amazon

 

Chernobyl

HBO released this 5-episode miniseries depicting the events surrounding the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear reactor disaster to near universal acclaim from critics and audiences alike. [Blu-ray + Digital]

$35 | Buy on Amazon

Anniversaries & Restorations

 

It’s a Wonderful Life (4K Restoration)

The original 35mm camera negative of Frank Capra’s 1946 Christmastime classic was scanned in 4K for this meticulous restoration, which also has a featurette about Paramount’s restoration work. [4K HDR + Blu-ray + Digital]

$20 | 4K on Amazon

 

The Wizard of Oz: 80th Anniversary Edition (8K Restoration)

Warner newly scanned the original Technicolor camera negative in 8K resolution for the 80th anniversary with additional digital restoration. [4K HDR + Blu-ray + Digital]

$23 | 4K on Amazon

 

Moon: 10th Anniversary Edition (4K Restoration)

Moon is one of the best sci-fi movies of the 21st century, and for its 10th anniversary, the original camera negative was scanned in 4K with visual effects upsampled from the original 2K. [4K + Blu-ray + Digital]

$18 | 4K on Amazon

 

The Karate Kid: 35th Anniversary (4K Restoration)

Sony spruced up this ’80s classic and pop culture phenomenon, scanning the original camera negative in 4K and adding some new interviews with surviving cast members. [4K + Blu-ray + Digital]

$19 | 4K on Amazon

 

Gremlins: 35th Anniversary Edition (4K Restoration)

Another ’80s pop culture phenomenon gets the 4K treatment, with Warner scanning the original camera negative in 4K. [4K HDR + Blu-ray + Digital]

$22 | 4K on Amazon

 

Alien: 40th Anniversary Edition (4K Restoration)

For its 40th anniversary, the original theatrical version of this terrifying sci-fi classic was scanned in 4K, plus the 2003 Director’s Cut (in non-native 4K) is available via seamless branching. [4K HDR + Blu-ray + Digital]

$15 | 4K on Amazon

Apocalypse Now Final Cut: 40th Anniversary Edition (4K Restoration)

Francis Ford Coppola’s Vietnam fever dream was treated to a year-long restoration, with the camera negative scanned in 4K plus a new Dolby Atmos sound mix. Coppola oversaw this “Final Cut,” removing 20 minutes from 2001’s “Redux,” which is included here along with the original theatrical cut. [4K HDR + Blu-ray + Digital]

$23 | 4K on Amazon

 

Glory: 30th Anniversary Edition (4K Restoration)

One of the finest war movies ever made, this 1989 civil war story was remastered in 4K from the original camera negative. [4K HDR + Blu-ray + Digital]

$21 | 4K on Amazon

 

War and Peace (2K Restoration)

Boasting a cast of literally thousands, this Soviet-era equivalent of Gone with the Wind, Ben-Hur and Lawrence of Arabia rolled into one required over 10 years of painstaking restoration, assembling multiple partial negatives into the final 2K form. [Blu-ray]

$28 | Blu-ray on Amazon

Family Time

 

The Lion King (2019)

It’s been 25 years since Disney’s original Lion King ruled the box office to the tune of $1 billion, and this CGI remake surpassed the original’s box office take in less than 3 weeks. [4K + Blu-ray + Digital] or [Blu-ray + DVD + Digital]

$26 | 4K on Amazon$25 | Blu-ray on Amazon

 

How to Train Your Dragon: Hidden World

The story of young Hiccup the Viking and his pet dragon Toothless reaches its satisfying conclusion in this popular and well-made series from DreamWorks Animation. [4K + Blu-ray + Digital] or [Blu-ray + DVD + Digital]

$13 | 4K on Amazon$15 | Blu-ray on Amazon

 

The Secret Life of Pets 2

In unlikely casting, Harrison Ford plays his first-ever animated voice role in this sequel from Illumination, the same animation company that did the Despicable Me movies. [4K + Blu-ray + Digital] or [Blu-ray + DVD + Digital]

$28 | 4K on Amazon$21 | Blu-ray on Amazon

 

Shazam!

DC Films finally took a lighthearted approach to one of its comic book characters and it paid off, with Zachary Levi (“Chuck”) playfully chewing the scenery (and gum) in the title role. [4K + Blu-ray + Digital] or [Blu-ray + DVD + Digital]

$22 | 4K on Amazon$15 | Blu-ray on Amazon

 

Toy Story 4

9 years after Toy Story 3 (and 24 years after the original), Pixar once again brought its Midas touch to the franchise, but not without upsetting some viewers with its story choices. [4K + Blu-ray + Digital] or [Blu-ray + DVD + Digital]

$29 | 4K on Amazon$24 | Blu-ray on Amazon

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2019 Gift Guide: Top 30 4K & Blu-ray Gifts for Movie and TV Fans

It’s true 4K disc players have been left behind in the wake of widely proliferating 4K TVs and 4K streaming devices, and mainstream consumers may never totally warm up to them. However, the prices on 4K Blu-ray players have dipped below $100, and they can also be found in the newer Xbox Ones (“S” and “X”).

Plus, as more and more 4K titles sink below the $20 mark, buyers will be more inclined to spring for 4K even if they don’t own a 4K player, as most releases now also include a standard Blu-ray and digital code.

We’ve taken a lay of the land and assembled a collection of the best 2018 4K and Blu-ray gifts that should appeal to movie and TV fans of one kind or another.

Ultimate Fan Service (Box Sets)

Smash Hits (aka Black Friday Loss Leaders)

Dazzle Your Friends!

Oldies but Goodies

Family Time

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2018 Gift Guide: 4K & Blu-ray Gifts for Movie and TV Fans

In just a few short months, a new restoration of Dario Argento’s surreal, witchy masterwork Suspiria will be hitting Blu-ray from boutique label Synapse Films, and both devotees to the film and general horror-movie lovers alike have generated a lot of anticipation around it. There are a few different components involved in building up this enthusiasm: on top of the film’s stature in the genre, this Blu-ray marks the fruition of hints, rights’ ownership discussions, frustration over iffy foreign-region releases, and several years of restoration efforts. There’s another overarching reason for this that might not be openly discussed, though, and it comes down to the fact that after over a decade of high-definition physical media and the careful, refined attention poured into most of those presentations, there simply aren’t nearly as many gasp-worthy new releases (or re-releases) to get worked up over.

Perhaps that comes across on a grim note, but with all that time spent with the Blu-ray format, the movie-lovin’ community also has easy access to a trove of films both old and new that not only look and sound vastly superior, but also have plentiful special features to dissect. Below, you’ll find a collection of some of the very best overall horror-film packages — film quality, audiovisual refinement, extra content — that the format has produced over its revolutionary life cycle, ranging from beloved slasher flicks to contemporary arthouse successes and noteworthy classics everyone should probably own. And if you play your cards right, just about all of ’em can be had for less than $20 a pop.

Alien: 35th Anniversary Edition

Click to Buy on Amazon

Seven crew members aboard the commercial spaceship Nostromo are awakened from their stasis-sleep return voyage to Earth, so that they can respond — as stipulated in their employment contracts — to a warning beacon on a nearby planet. Reluctantly, they arrive on the planet and trace the signal, only to discover the corpse of an alien being. Further exploration and less-than-intelligent investigation creates chaos that leads the crew back to their ship, bringing back some of the alien remnants with them aboard the ship.  With renowned sci-fi heroine Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) frantically calling the shots, Alien morphs into a relentless and faultlessly-paced exercise in dread, meticulously crafted by director Ridley Scott to immerse the audience in stylized claustrophobia and the nastiness of H.R. Giger’s creature design. Debates may emerge over preferred cuts and the accuracy of the color timing, but the Blu-ray that Fox produced — pictured: the standalone re-release for the 35^th anniversary; the same disc can be found in the many iterations of the Alien Anthology — includes both cuts, a fierce 4K remaster, impeccable hi-def sound, and heaps of substantive extras.

Black Christmas: Collector’s Edition

Click to Buy on Amazon

Directed by the same guy responsible for A Christmas Story and arriving several years before Michael Myers took a stab at ruining Halloween, this one takes place mostly in the space of a sorority house, where a warped individual routinely pesters the sisters with obscene phone calls. Amid getting ready for Christmas and a relationship rift between sorority member Jess (Olivia Hussey) and her boyfriend Peter (Kier Dullea), a creepy individual — who isn’t shown to the audience, depicted through eerie first-person photography — makes their way into the sorority house and begins knocking off the sisters one by one from the shadows.  Bob Clark’s shrewd execution of oscillating sights and abrasive sounds clashes with the vibrant atmosphere of Christmas in the best of ways, building to a phenomenally chaotic scramble to discover the deviant’s identity before he gets to Jess and the other sisters.  Shout Factory took a second stab at a Blu-ray for Black Christmas (and then a third to fix an audio issue), and the result is a delightful treatment that captures the film’s intended look, while occupying space with plenty of old and new extras to unwrap.

Black Sunday: Remastered Edition

Click to Buy on Amazon

Two centuries after a beautiful, yet ominous witch (Barbara Steele) gets burned at the stake and violently buried in a graveyard, an accident involving a doctor and his assistant leads her body to be again exposed to the world, and even further happenstance causes her to be revived.  Those responsible for her awakening soon encounter Katia, the spitting image of the centuries-old witch, whose radiance leads the medical professionals to follow her back to her family household.  What transpires in Black Sunday gravitates around mysteries unknown to those visiting the house and only half-known by the audience, full of red herrings, ominous tension, and the uniqueness of the centuries-old undead woman as a hybrid of a demonic witch and a type of vampire. An ode to Russian folklore and gloomy monster movies of the ‘30s, Mario Bava’s first accredited effort as a director adeptly blends shadowy expressionist cinematography with enigmatic, macabre suspense. Black Sunday looks striking on Blu-ray from Kino, and arrives with a commentary track that’s held its prestige over the years.

Black Swan: Blu-ray + Digital HD

Click to Buy on Amazon

The versatility of Darren Aronofsky’s directorial style left people somewhat uncertain of where he’d go with Black Swan, his glimpse into the world of ballet framed as a form of psychological thriller.  As the tale of Nina’s (Natalie Portman) preparation to play the lead role(s) in “Swan Lake” being to take shape, evoking Dario Argento’s stylized ornateness within the natural flow of verite-like cinematography, it transforms into a glimpse at the strained mentality of artists as they push themselves for their craft.  Metaphor swirls together with paranoia and supernatural ambiguity during the film’s gradual descent into a determination of what’s real and not around Nina, and the suspense generated around her approach to the performance becomes a breathtaking piece of filmmaking. Fox’s Blu-ray stays en pointe in capturing the subtleties of the cinematography and sound design, and presents an in-depth, 45-minute extra that explores the conceptualization and creation of Aronofsky’s award-winning project.

Halloween: 35th Anniversary Edition

Click to Buy on Amazon

Legendary serial killer Michael Myers escapes from his mental institution fifteen years after being committed as a child, returning to his hometown of Haddonfield to unleash a decade-and-a-half of bottled-up violence upon the young townspeople.  Naturally, after some daytime stalking and a mounting bodycount, the events of John Carpenter’s seminal slasher film culminate in the late darkness of Halloween, placing Jamie Lee Curtis front-and-center as the now-archetypal horror heroine evading the masked murderer on a psychosis-driven mission.  Halloween was one of the central horror films that Anchor Bay took stab after stab at over the years in pursuit of a correct home-video presentation, and they finally landed that blow with their 35^th Anniversary release, with a transfer supervised by the cinematographer and extras that include a fine director-actress commentary and a nearly hour-long portrait of Jamie Lee Curtis’ reattachment to the franchise.

Pan’s Labyrinth: The Criterion Collection

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Set in the mid-‘40s after the Spanish Civil War, this dark fantasy from Guillermo del Toro becomes a character portrait of young Ofelia (Ivana Baquero), who travels with her pregnant mother to the residence of the military captain, Vidal (Sergi Lopez), who will become her step-father.   As Vidal unleashes brutality upon rebels to the state and her mother’s condition worsens, Ofelia discovers a labyrinth on her new home’s grounds, where she discovers and abides by the demands of a mythical faun to prove that she’s the reincarnation of a fabled princess.  As the story’s twists and turns parallel with the events and characterizations of an ancient fairytale, Pan’s Labyrinth toes the line between horror and fantasy storytelling, where subtle morbidities and the evils of humanity delve into unsettlingly meaningful, gorgeously realized sequences. After a lackluster initial release plagued with noise reduction, The Criterion Collection eventually scooped up del Toro’s monumental accomplishment and dropped it in their collection, sporting exceptionally natural audiovisual merits and the label’s signature array of interview-heavy extras.

Psycho: UK’s 50th Anniversary Blu-ray

Click to Buy on Amazon

A woman (Janet Leigh) on the run with a trunk full of cash rolls up to a shadowy motel in the middle of the night, after which she meets Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins), the operator of the establishment.  An eerie sort of insistent kindness comes from the manager’s mannerisms around his beautiful guest, to which the mood slowly drains toward one of cinema’s most strategically-executed murder sequences, iconic in both visual and sonic presentation.  Gloomy character studies move from one subject to another in Alfred Hitchcock’s meticulous hands, playing with madness in different degrees alongside the mounting suspense both before and after this scene that’s become a pop-culture staple.  Even with all those monsters tucked underneath Universal’s belt, Psycho remains arguably the most iconic horror film to come out of the studio, and it received the treatment it deserved upon its 50^th anniversary with an astounding black-and-white Blu-ray restoration and a tremendous collection of legacy extras, including a feature-length making-of doc.  Purists will want to obtain Universal’s region-free UK Blu-ray, which, unlike the US release, contains the original 2-channel soundtrack in full HD glory.

Rosemary’s Baby: The Criterion Collection

Click to Buy on Amazon

Having a child can be a terrifying experience for a potential mother, both on physical and mental levels, but that’s taken to an entirely different level with the turmoil endured by Rosemary Woodhouse (Mia Farrow). Loneliness, paranoia, and physical degradation seem intentionally thrust upon the young mother as she adjusts to a new apartment, to which the truth of her new home gradually emerges from the woodwork as Roman Polanski’s tense, atmospheric psychological thriller takes shape.  A brilliant horror film both due to its unyielding mood and its shrewd allegory tied to the complications of pregnancy, it’s no wonder that Rosemary’s Baby was adopted by the fine folks at The Criterion Collection, nor is it a surprise that the Blu-ray comes equipped with a bewitching remaster and a phenomenal 45-minute documentary on the film’s conception.

Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining

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To get a little peace, quiet, and solitude so he can concentrate on writing, Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) takes a job as an off-season caretaker at the Overlook Hotel, bringing his wife (Shelley Duvall) and son (Danny Lloyd) to live there in the absence of guests.  Warnings that he might develop cabin fever, similarly to another employee who went crazy and killed his family there, don’t faze Jack as they get settled into their echoic lodgings. Before long, the impacts of living in such seclusion — along with Jack’s latent alcoholism and Danny’s issues with an imaginary friend — slowly encroach on their psychological integrity, descending into haunting occurrences in the building’s spaces that blur the line between hallucination and the paranormal. Polarizing at release, disliked by the original story’s author (Stephen King) and even receiving a Razzie nomination as the worst film of its year, a reevaluation of Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining has, of course, led to its foreboding atmosphere and Nicholson’s embodiment of mania to be regarded as a genre masterwork.   WB’s Blu-ray finally presents the film in its theatrically-screened aspect ratio (essentially, at 1.78:1) and in fine form, too, along with divine extras that pedal the viewer into Kubrick’s mind.

The Thing: Collector’s Edition

Click to Buy on Amazon

Really didn’t want to include two films from the same director on this list, just for variety’s sake, but the compulsion to include Shout Factory’s package of John Carpenter’s The Thing overwhelmed that desire.  Isolation at a Norwegian arctic research station leads to the discovery of an alien being that can perfectly copy other humans, sending it on a rampage while continuously replicating person after person, inciting paranoia about whether one of the remaining occupants might actually be the monster. The claustrophobic setting ripe for chaos, the splendid practical effects involving the twisted monster, and the rough-hewn nature of Kurt Russell’s MacReady crystallize into relentless, convincing sci-fi suspense with personality and gusto.  The Thing has endured countless home-video releases over the years with consistent objections to quality, which made the 2K scan presented on Blu-ray from Shout Factory such an eye-opening delight, breathing new and accurate life into the film alongside a frightening amount of supplemental material.

Honorable Mention: Universal’s Monsters

Click to Buy on Amazon

Lugosi as The Dark Prince.  Karloff as The Gentle Monster and Imhotep. Chaney Jr. as The Wolf Man.  From the early ‘30s to the early ‘40s, Universal embraced the transition from silent films to talkies with a slew of horror adaptations of classic novels and familiar folklore, embracing slow-building eeriness amid the heavy shadows, wispy fog, and windswept landscapes created on the studio’s stages. Each of these productions spawned franchises full of sequels and spinoffs, yet it’s the original collection of films that established the consistent tonality and distinctive personalities that would influence countless horror films for decades … and still impacts them to this day.  Most of the original crop still holds up to this day as genuine exercises of horror, yet they all sink their teeth into a daring sort of thrilling entertainment value that lends itself brilliantly to audiences of all ages, especially over Halloween.  There are several options available to those who want to get their mitts on Universal’s dazzling restorations of the films on Blu-ray, but perhaps the most cost-efficient comes in obtaining the studio’s UK release,  if accordion-style packaging and age rating labels aren’t a bother.

Psychos, Witches, Lotsa Creepy Things: A Decade of Horror on Blu-ray

Typically, the experience of buying a launch console falls into two categories. Under most circumstances, this momentous occasion involves a from-scratch videogame system with an entirely new body and series of jacks to plug stuff into, along with massively upgraded graphical capabilities and – both a positive and a negative – the process of getting all new games and accessories. Other times, gamers who already own one system will buy a recently updated version of said system, and that can be because of a reduction in build size, an electronic or mechanical advancement, or their current system is wheezing and on its last legs after long nights in the trenches of the gaming realm.

All their games and controllers still work on this new system as they did before, only it offers something a bit better, in one way or another, that an identical and likely cheaper replacement console wouldn’t. One of the above experiences should seem more exciting and fun, while the other should seem a lot more effortless and less costly. Microsoft’s Xbox One X sets its sights on both experiences, and, boy, does it hit the mark.

Long discussed under the moniker Project Scorpio, this new console was developed from the start with a certain objective in mind: to make current games and media look, sound, and perform better, and to give future releases the option of tapping into this improved hardware for more powerful gaming experiences. The decision to upgrade based on those qualifications has branded the Xbox One X as a console mostly designed for the “elite” or “hardcore” player, but even at its higher price point, the technology under the hood starts to look like a decent value for any number of consumers, from those new to this console generation to those wanting to hop into 4K media playback.

Most often, that boils down to one’s point-of-view and circumstances; in the instance of this review, for example, the Xbox One X will be filling the void of a bulky early-release Xbox One, which had an expanded hard-drive hooked up to it due to the small internal space of those systems.  To this day, over years of continuous usage, that system still performs quietly and solidly … but the promise of hardware improvements, elevated backwards compatibility, and 4K playback proved compelling.

Included: Power Cable, HDMI 2.1 Cable, Vertical Stand, Riveting Literature, Lots of Black Foam.

Click Here to Pick Up an Xbox One X at Amazon

While a Project Scorpio Limited Edition will be reviewed here, the differences between it and a standard Xbox One X are only cosmetic, both the console and the packaging presentation itself. While one can appreciate the Project Scorpio logos on the front of the system and one the bundled controller, along with the slight gradient coloring at the top of the system’s chassis and the black accents of the foam supports on the inside of the box, they are identical systems in terms of unboxing and performance.

What’ll be noticeable regardless of the system purchased will be the decreased size of the X in comparison to the original Xbox One, which had shinier plastic accents, wide vents for circulation, and an external power brick that could be difficult to deal with in cramped audiovisual setups. Piggybacking off the Xbox One S’s design improvements, the X sports a sleeker, slimmer, yet noticeably heavier chassis with seemingly less ventilation — though that doesn’t seem to impact the volume factor – and an internal power supply that’s utilized with a standard figure-8 cord. Despite the reduction in size, it feels even more substantial than the One.  And I dig that it has actual push buttons for turning it on and ejecting a disc.

Unboxing, connecting, and setting up the Xbox One X was a simple and streamlined process, one that’ll seem almost identical to getting the original Xbox One ready to go. The power brick for the Xbox One will need to be removed, but the existing HDMI cable could feasibly be left in place and plugged into the rear of the Xbox One X; however, Microsoft have included a solidly-built (yet reasonably short) HDMI 2.1 cable that’ll better support 4K/High Dynamic Range (HDR) signals, so it’s worth considering a switch-out.

Ports are available at the rear for HDMI both in and out, so signals can be sent to receivers and TVs at the owner’s discretion, as well as a pair of USB ports for any number of useful devices, especially those expansion hard-drives … which might still be required since the system’s only working with 1TB of space, and those “enhanced” updates aren’t exactly small. After all those normal questions asked by the system upon being booted up – including getting internet connectivity up and running – the system will do a lengthy update, so grab a book, fix a sandwich, or plan on doing some housework.

After that, it’s all a matter of getting everything plugged back in and signing into an Xbox account.  Surprisingly, reconnecting my external hard-drive containing my gaming library was incredibly fluid, instantly recognized and accessible after plugging it in at the back and signing in. Had the Xbox One X not required a lengthy update, it’d probably only take about 15-20 minutes to switch out systems into a functional state.

Before and After a Couple of Years of Slimming Down.

Getting the Xbox One X to handshake with 4K TVs and receivers for UltraHD content takes some finagling, but nothing too complicated, and the Xbox’s menus will help if roadblocks are hit. In terms of resolution, the appropriate signals obviously need to be chosen in the system itself and sent to the TV, but the TV (and receiver) might also need to be tinkered with so that the specific input channel will process the increased resolution and, more significantly, the HDR capabilities; static, stuttering, and crashing of the visuals might occur in the absence of doing that.

The system will also need to download a specific app from Dolby to decode ATMOS object-based audio, and the changes are toggled in-app to process and/or stream the high-definition audio; sending audio to a receiver is free out of the box, but a $15 fee will be applied to enable headset connectivity. Preparing for 4K gaming might seem like a daunting task for some, but Microsoft have made the process relatively user-friendly in pointing folks in the right direction if something’s awry.

Under the hood, the Xbox One X boasts enough processing capability for gaming enthusiasts to give Microsoft a stamp of approval in its claims of this being the “world’s most power console”. The technical specs are led by the system’s 6 teraflop GPU, which stands tall against most of the gaming PCs out there not rolling with graphics cards that rival the cost of the entire system itself, and are supported by a 2.3GHz CPU and 12GB of DDR5 memory. Comparisons to other systems not only give the Xbox One X an edge, but a significant edge in rendering more details, generating smoother motion, and keeping everything stable.

In general, the system has been designed to run all games on a higher base level, but numerous titles have been – and will be – optimized for 4K/HDR playback, which can be spotted on cover artwork somewhere near the corners in hard-to-miss text. Those that have been optimized require a graphics pack update that triggers upon booting them up, but the wait time for those isn’t significantly more than a general update. HDR-active titles will indicate the effect is live by a nifty colorful button at the top-right of the screen; Xbox One X Enhanced titles (click here to read them all) can be singled out in the gaming library through an option in the pull-down menu.

The Included Not-So-Elite But Still-Pretty-Great Controller.

The results are, indeed, impressive. Indicated by exploring the cluttered Egyptian architecture and sandy, occasionally verdant vistas of Assassin’s Creed Origins, the system’s capabilities to render dense clusters and gradations of graphical detail are monumental. Keep an eye out for the organic textiles of garments and the contours of foliage surrounding protagonist Bayek, which are incredibly sharp and show very little aliasing in motion.

Observing the horizons from vantage points yields a beautiful experience on the X, too, with coarse stone textures and wisps of clouds beautifully observable in the distance. Shadows in tombs contrast against flickering flames for an immense representation of HDR’s capabilities, adding lifelike depth and responsiveness to the expanses of echoic tombs.  The ATMOS object-based sound environments further accentuate the confined chambers and sprawling citizen-filled deserts, with incredibly responsive fluidity while rotating Bayek’s perspective and navigating the roads on camel- or horse-back. The 2160p presentation holds up to the details and naturality of high-grade PCs.

Backwards compatibility has become a battlycry of sorts for Microsoft over the past couple of years, where they’ve begrudgingly transferred from wanting the Xbox One to concentrate on new games to making sure that every new free Xbox 360 title in their Games With Gold program would be playable. The Xbox One X continues that mantra by flexing new performance muscles with select titles, both from the 360 generation and, in something of a surprise, the classic Xbox; currently, only a dozen or so original Xbox titles are playable.

While a growing legion of 360 games continue to be backwards compatible on the One – click here for a full list – a select few have been christened as “enhanced” with spruced-up graphics, including Bethesda’s Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.  Those expecting a night and day difference, transforming the standard game into a remastered or modded PC version, could be let down …  but they also might, and deservedly should, be impressed with the restricted cleanup effort.  Colors appear more vibrant and fluid, textures produce cleaner and nuanced details, and the environment’s depth brims with new life. It’s still got the flesh and bones of a decade-old game, but what’s been spruced up here looks stellar.

Cozying Up With Xbox’s New-ish User Interface. Streamlined is the Road To Awe.

Last year’s interim Xbox One re-release, the S, featured a few mild upgrades in the graphics department – notably, HDR support – but perhaps its biggest selling point came in its media playback: for a while, it was one of the least expensive and feature-rich 4K UltraHD disc playback devices. The Xbox One S still pulls this off, but it’s less of a talking point a year later now that standalone players have dwindled down in price; solid units can be had for about $50 less than Microsoft’s system.

Therefore, the Xbox One X’s 4K playback functionality serves more as a secondary feature than it did with the prior system, and it feels about as such with the sturdy, yet serviceable presentation of the discs, accessible after downloading the (free) Blu-ray Player app from the Microsoft Store.  The craggy landscapes, robotic weaves, and futuristic electronics of Ex Machina are stunning when rendered by the player, projecting supple skin tones and deep, responsive black levels alongside brighter elements that accentuate the HDR functionality.  Granted, this is only the case after Microsoft sent an update to the system, which was marred with elevated black levels beforehand.  After a month, it’s a respectable 4K device.

The Xbox One X also serves as a robust media playback device, one that readily streams content through service apps and accesses various files with ease.  Booting up Amazon Prime and hunting down 4K content led me to The Neon Demon, which boasts a wide array of bold shades and complex shadows that looked smashing at 2160p. As with prior systems, all it requires is a quick app download and logging into the service to start streaming content, which, after a few seconds of buffering, quickly yielded a sharp and vibrant image for the film over a stable internet connection.

Accessing photos requires little more than plugging a USB device into the front port and clicking on the green Media Device icon; this is how custom wallpapers are made possible, after pressing the three-line button on the controller while looking at a specific image.  Playing music files operates on about the same level of user friendliness with the USB jack, where opening a file or folder summons the in-system music player, as does video files. It may seem customary at this point, but the ability to plug and play one’s storage devices and media files on the fly furthers the Xbox One X’s general versatility.

A Better Name. Guess It Didn’t Have the X-Factor.

With such unique and specific improvements, the elephant in the room naturally becomes the entry fee for savoring the luxuries offered by the Xbox One X, which currently sits at about double the cost of Microsoft’s prior version of the system.  Whether the upgrade in graphical prowess alone justifies the pricetag will depend on who’s using it, but the tech specs aren’t just smoke and mirrors, rendering near-PC level 4K/HDR graphics for “enhanced” titles and notable, if modest upticks in quality for a handful of Xbox 360 titles.

Also, unlike their current competitor, Sony’s PS4 Pro, the Xbox One X comes equipped with an in-deck UltraHD Blu-ray player, enabling direct 4K/HDR support and enhanced object-based audio.  Looking at its individual components and the availability of the significantly less-expensive Xbox One S, this system mostly stands as a smart investment only to those so-called “hardcore gamers” who will relish improved visuals and sound just as much as access to new or exclusive titles. Considering the full experience, however, the Xbox One X fuses together news bells-‘n-whistles with library cohesiveness into a worthy and worthwhile apex of this generation’s console gaming.

The Xbox One X, Microsoft’s ‘Project’, Is a Robust Console Enhancement

Do you have a friend who just woke up from a 40-year coma? Are you trying to convert your significant other into a Star Wars fan before The Force Awakens comes out? We can help!

Star Wars Complete Saga on Blu-ray

Something of a no-brainer (a conclusion that Jar-Jar could reach in a few hours), someone will need to see all the previous Star Wars films before watching The Force Awakens. (MSRP: $140)

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Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know

Ideal for someone who needs a refresher course on everything that’s occurred in the Star Wars universe to date, this book will help explain relationships and the complex dichotomy of the universe. (MSRP: $20)

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Chewbacca Leather Messenger Bag

We like to give this stylish messenger bag to people who have no idea who Chewbacca is. It makes it that much more fun when random strangers yell Wookiee roars at them on the street. (MSRP: $90)

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Star Wars Character Encyclopedia

Great for anyone who confuses R2-D2 with C-3PO, the Star Wars character encyclopedia will help newbies identify the massive amount of characters in the films. There’s also a LEGO version of the book for kids! (MSRP: $17)

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The Music of Star Wars: 30th Anniversary Collector’s Edition

Ideal for anyone who’s already a big John Williams fan, the 30th anniversary collection offers eight CDs with all the music from the films. (MSRP: $45)

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5 Superb Gifts for Someone Brand New to Star Wars

Detailed within a study commissioned by coupon site Vouchercloud, approximately 11 percent of Americans believe that HTML, a coding language used to design sites on the Web, is a sexually transmitted disease. The study was being used to determine how familiar people are with technical terms and that would influence how the site described these terms to visitors.

However, that wasn’t the only shocking stat in the bunch. For instance:

• More than 20% of Americans believe that MP3, a digital format for music encoding, is a robot from the “Star Wars” series. (C-3PO anyone?)
• Nearly one fifth of Americans believe that Blu-ray, a physical disc format for movies and data storage, is actually a marine animal.  (Perhaps a Sting-ray?)
• More than one fourth of Americans believe that gigabyte, a unit of storage on hard drives, is a South American insect.
• Over 40% thought the word motherboard, a computer component, is referring to the deck of a cruise ship.
• 12% believe that USB, a conduit for data transfer, is actually an acronym for a European country.
• 15% of Americans think that software, a term for computer programs, is actually a type of comfortable clothing.

One thing is for sure, if you have a job in the tech industry in America, it’s probably extremely safe.

1 out of 10 Americans believe HTML is an STD