Movies, TV and More: My Personal DVD Collection

Over the years I've managed to compile a pretty extensive collection of DVDs. I'm part of the generation that grew up with family libraries of VHS tapes. When DVDs started taking over, it just seemed like the natural progression of things to start building the library of tiny silver discs. I actually remember the first two DVDs I ever bought, Rocky and Addicted to Love. When DVDs first hit the market, studios seemed to take their time digitizing their catalogs. Back in those days discs were two sided; one side each for standard and letterbox (wide-screen) formats.

As the technology progressed and discs became cheaper to produce, more and more films started being released in this new format. It wasn't long until TV shows started jumping on the bandwagon. Now the DVD aisles of America's largest retailers are full of titles, ranging from indie films to major blockbusters to Reality TV seasons. And now, as I pay for my Netflix streaming only subscription, and as I begin to expand and replace my collection with new Blu-Ray titles, I wanted to take time to honor my collection of movies and TV shows that make up my personal collection of DVDs.

The Triumphant Trilogies

For every auteur and collector of DVDs, I feel there are five trilogies you simply must own either on DVD or Blu-Ray or both. I could not rest until I owned these trilogies. They are by far my most watched discs of my collection.

1. Star Wars: The Original Trilogy - Seriously, if you're between the ages of 18 and 88 and you don't own a copy of the original trilogy you are doing something wrong and it needs immediate correction. I own the set that has two discs for each film. The first contains the updated "Special Edition" versions of the movie. The second discs are the whole reason I bought this series. They contain the original cuts of the films. Han shoots first and the Ewoks sing their song in these versions. Buy this set now, or wait for the Blu-Ray editions to hit the shelves in September. Either way, own this series and know what true happiness is.

2. The Godfather Trilogy - Granted, this series really could be sold as two sets; one set containing the first two films, and the other containing the third film and I'd be just as happy, but it does look great on the shelf having all three of Francis Ford Coppola's films together in one box. In my mind the greatest American movie is The Godfather Part II and it's predecessor is the close second on that list. Not owning these two films is a crime against cinema.

3. The Indiana Jones Trilogy - Take my advice, just buy the set that has the original three films and a bonus disc of extra content. If you want to own the fourth film released a couple of years ago, buy that one separately. In my mind Indiana Jones and Star Wars are the reasons George Lucas became a filmmaker and producer. When you teamed him with Steven Spielberg to make the Indy films it was a match made in heaven.

4. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy Extended Edition - Peter Jackson's filmic interpretation of J.R.R. Tolkien's literary masterpieces deserves a place in any serious movie buff's collection. When Jackson and company were shooting the trilogy they knew they'd never be able to put it all into the theatrical releases so the actually shot more footage specifically for the DVDs and their Extended Editions. The result is a story that was already beautifully crafted and told being given even still more depth and grandeur. I've become so familiar with these extended versions of the films that their theatrical counterparts don't feel complete and seem truncated to me now.

5. Back to the Future Trilogy - Yes, neither the second nor the third installment of this series quite lived up to the first film; but who cares? The last two films are good enough to watch multiple times, and the over-all arc of the story comes through in all three films; which you can't really even say for Star Wars and its prequels. It's the seminal Michael J. Fox role, and Christopher Lloyd plays Doctor Emmet Brown so well you sort of forget he's played so many other characters in his career. The DVD set also has a ton of great bonus features, and the new Blu-Ray set released just last year has quite a few more.

My TV-DVD Treasures

Being a fan of sketch comedy there are two sets on my list of TV boxed sets that I couldn't live without.

1. Saturday Night Live: The Complete Seasons 1-5: The entire episodes from each of the first five historical seasons are here in each collection. The musical guests are there, as are the more experimental or progressive segments. For instance, who all remembered there was a Jim Henson Muppet's segment in the most of the first season's episodes. Don't expect Kermit, Miss Piggy or Fozzie Bear though. The sets are worth purchasing almost for the rare live performances from some great musical artists. I jumped at the chance to own all of Andy Kaufman's appearances on the show, as well as the first few times Steve Martin hosted the program.

2. The Kids in the Hall: Complete Seasons 1-5: The Kids In the Hall were perhaps my biggest comedic influence after Steve Martin, John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd. Watching re-runs of their shows on Comedy Central in my early adulthood forever shaped how I myself wrote sketch comedy. 30 Helens agree you should own these DVDs.

My Blu-Ray Must Haves

I'm starting to shift my collection into the realm of Blu-Ray. This means mostly just buying all my new titles in this format; and I'm replacing a few standard DVD titles as well. These are the Blu-Ray titles I think you simply must own.And no, I don't own Avatar as of yet...don't ask...

1. Any and all Pixar films on Blu-Ray - This to me is a no-brainer. Pixar films are not only the best computer-animated films out there, they also look the best in the Blu-Ray format. There's something truly wonderful about a digital art-form being shown in a completely digital format. Toy Story 3 in 1080p is mesmerizing. My parents were over the other night and we watched Toy Story 3 together. My dad marveled at the textures of a cardboard box the toys were in. The richness of detail achieved on Blu-Ray with these films is groundbreaking stuff. When you're ready to upgrade, put the Pixar collection of films at the top of your list of titles to purchase.

2. The Last Waltz - Firstly, if you haven't seen this film, do yourself a favor and watch it. It's what happens when you take a young Martin Scorsese and ask him to film the final concert for one of the most talented bands to ever play together (The Band). It's the template on which any other live-shot concert should be drawn from. The songs are craftily played, and the interview segments are nice little vignettes. On the Blu-Ray edition the uncompressed audio is the whole reason to buy the disc. It's a treat of an aural variety and it really showcases one of the biggest reasons to buy Blu-Ray discs.

3. The Dark Knight - This is perhaps the cleanest print of any film I've ever seen. The images are so crisp and the sound is so wonderfully loud. Christopher Nolan's second Batman movie is definitely his best and it certainly at least gives Tim Burton's first a run for its money. On Blu-Ray the movie just pops off the screen.