There’s always an abundance of DVD and Blu-ray offerings for the holiday season, many of them in box set form. Complete series, various season collections, and standalone seasons – whatever you’re looking to grab for someone, there’s something waiting. Here’s a rundown of some recent releases that should be solid gifting for the pop culture tv geek in your life:
Buffy The Vampire Slayer The Complete Series: Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, Buffy The Vampire Slayer has once again been compiled into a complete collection. I say once again, as there have been a few different sets over the years (I know, as I had at least one of them). While hardcore fans can probably skip out on this one, it is definitely a beautifully put together package for anyone you want to introduce the world Buffy and the Scoobies to. This set features the extras from previous separate individual season collections, along with a reprint of the Dark Horse Season 8 Issue 1 comic book and a page to colour, illustrated by Season 8 artist George Jannety.
The Strain The Complete Series: Speaking of vampires, the recently completed FX series The Strain is now available in a no frills, nice boxed set of its four seasons. Created by Guillermo Del Toro, Carlton Cuse and Chuck Hogan, the series lasted for four successful seasons. The DVDs feature a variety of extras, and also some attractive slipcases for each individual season. For fans of episodic gore, The Strain is your choice this holiday season.
Preacher Season 2: Available as a Blu-ray/digital download set, this second season adaptation of Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon’s classic Vertigo comic book series gets on track after a somewhat shakey first season. This is all thanks to Jesse, Tulip and Cassidy finally heading out one their road trip to find God, and the appearance of the series’ lead antagonist, Herr Starr. Preacher manages to push a lot of limits, even for an AMC series, which is exactly what the source material deserves. This set contains a gag reel and behind the scenes footage.
Westworld Season 1: One of the most critically acclaimed series of the last few years, HBO’s Westworld is a hypnotic and captivating science fiction story starring Anthony Hopkins, Evan Rachel Wood, Thandie Newton, Jeffrey Wright, James Marsden and Ed Harris, to name just a few. Westworld takes place in a western theme park inhabited by androids. Visitors pay top dollar to play out the roles they want. However, in the background it appears as though the androids are developing emotions and consciousness. The series is stunning, and the Blu-ray/digital download collection comes with a Corporate Guidebook: Handbook for New Employees, a stylish box and lots of extras.
American Horror Story Roanoke: The sixth season of Ryan Murphy’s anthology series collects all 10 episodes from one of its darkest stories yet. Cults, ghosts, murderous nurse sisters and more, Roanoke features AHS regulars Sarah Paulson, Kathy Bates, Lily Rabe and many others. The Blu-ray set features an in-depth Q & A from the Paley Center for Media and more.
