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"100 Greatest DVDs" -- August 2002 Home Theater Magazine (1 Viewer)

Dah-Dee

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Criteria, according to the magazine: "[T]he film must be good, or at least good enough - or even so bad that it's back to good. Given DVD's storage potential, few movie-only discs made the cut. Picture and sound quality are essential, as are quantity, value, and originality of extras."

100. Drive-In Discs (Elite)
99. The Third Man (Criterion)
98. The Sopranos: The Complete First and Second Seasons (HBO)
97. Enter the Dragon: Special Edition (Warner)
96. Glory: Special Edition (Columbia)
95. Dr. Strangelove: Special Edition (Columbia)
94. Rushmore (Criterion)
93. The Magnificent Seven: Special Edition (MGM)
92. Tombstone: Vista Series (Buena Vista)
91. Lawrence of Arabia (Columbia) (picture, description = regular (one-disc), not Special Edition; weird)
90. The Conversation (Paramount)
89. A Bug's Life: Collector's Edition (Buena Vista)
88. Steely Dan's Two Against Nature (Image)
87. Tommy (Columbia)
86. 8 1/2 (Criterion)
85. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band: Live in New York City (Columbia)
84. Say Anything: Special Edition (Fox)
83. Atlantis: The Lost Empire: Collector's Edition (Buena Vista)
82. Best in Show (Warner)
81. Men of Honor: Special Edition (Fox)
80. Remember the Titans (Buena Vista)
79. The Silence of the Lambs: Special Edition (MGM)
78. Manhunter: Limited Edition (Anchor Bay)
77. The Ultimate Scream Collection (Buena Vista)
76-74. The Evil Dead: The Book of the Dead; Evil Dead II: Limited Tin Edition; Army of Darkness: Limited Edition (Anchor Bay)
73. The Abyss: Special Edition (Fox)
72. The Exorcist: 25th Anniversary Special Edition (Warner)
71. From Dusk Till Dawn: Collector's Series (Buena Vista)
70. Dracula [1931] (Universal)
69. Braveheart (Paramount)
68. Being John Malkovich: Special Edition (USA)
67. Bridge on the River Kwai: Limited Edition (Columbia)
66. Alien: 20th Anniversary Edition (Fox)
65. Aliens: Special Edition (Fox)
64. Charlie's Angels: Special Edition (Columbia)
63. The Nightmare on Elm Street Collection (New Line)
62. El Mariachi/Desperado: Director's Double Feature (Columbia)
61. King Crimson: deja VROOM (Rykodisc)
60. Pee-wee's Big Adventure (Warner)
59. The Kentucky Fried Movie (Anchor Bay)
58. Halloween: Limited Edition (Anchor Bay)
57. The Beatles DVD Collector's Set (MPI)
56. The Blues Brothers: Collector's Edition (Universal)
55. The Wizard of Oz (Warner)
54. The Fantasia Anthology (Buena Vista)
53. Run Lola Run (Columbia)
52. Boogie Nights: Platinum Series [2-disc re-issue] (New Line)
51. Independence Day: Five Star Collection (Fox)
50. Beastie Boys Video Anthology (Criterion)
49. Jurassic Park: Collector's Edition [DTS] (Universal)
48. The Usual Suspects: Special Edition (MGM)
47. The Rocky Horror Picture Show: All-New 25th Anniversary Edition (Fox)
46. Rocky: Special Edition (MGM)
45. This Is Spinal Tap: Special Edition (MGM)
44. Almost Famous: The Bootleg Cut Director's Edition (Dreamworks)
43. Heavy Metal: Collector's Series (Columbia)
42. Talking Heads: Stop Making Sense (Palm)
41. The Terminator: Special Edition (MGM)
40. Terminator 2: Judgment Day: Ultimate Edition (Artisan)
39. Pearl Harbor: Gift Set (Buena Vista)
38. Yellow Submarine: Special Edition (MGM)
37. Dinosaur: Collector's Edition (Buena Vista)
36. The James Bond Collection: Volumes 1, 2 and 3 (MGM)
35. Pink Floyd: The Wall (Columbia)
34. Unbreakable: Vista Series (Buena Vista)
33. Star Trek: The Motion Picture: Director's Edition (Paramount)
32. Citizen Kane: Special Edition (Warner)
31. Platoon: Special Edition (MGM)
30. Oliver Stone Collection [10-pack](Warner, et al)
29. The Fifth Element: Superbit Edition (Columbia)
28. The Sixth Sense: Vista Series (Buena Vista)
27. The French Connection: Five Star Collection (Fox)
26. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Superbit Edition (Columbia)
25. Thirteen Days: Special Edition [Infinifilm] (New Line)
24. Akira: Special Edition (Pioneer)
23. Cast Away: Special Edition (Fox)
22. Mad Max: Special Edition (MGM)
21. Forrest Gump: Special Collector's Edition (Paramount)
20. Monty Python and the Holy Grail: Special Edition (Columbia)
19. Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace (Fox)
18. Planet of the Apes: Special Edition [2001] (Fox)
17. Superman: The Movie (Warner)
16. North by Northwest: Collector's Edition (Warner)
15. The Patriot: Special Edition (Columbia)
14. Men in Black: Limited Edition (Columbia)
13. Apollo 13 [DTS]; Apollo 13: Collector's Series (Universal)
12. U-571: Special Edition (Universal)
11. Die Hard: Five Star Collection (Fox)
10. Saving Private Ryan [DTS] (DreamWorks)
9. Moulin Rouge (Fox)
8. The Matrix (Warner)
7. Se7en: Platinum Series (New Line)
6. Gladiator: Signature Series (DreamWorks)
5. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: Platinum Edition (Buena Vista)
4. Fight Club: Special Edition [2-disc] (Fox)
3. Shrek: Special Edition (DreamWorks)
2. The Godfather Collection (Paramount)
1. Toy Story: The Ultimate Toy Box (Buena Vista)

Whew -- my fingers hurt! I'm hoping the list will spark discussion; you'll have to pick up a copy of the mag (got mine at Books A Million) if you want to hear the writers' reasoning for each. Enjoy!

Edit: Here are my early picks for shouldn't-have-been-left-off-the-list:

L.A. Confidential: Special Edition (Warner)
Brazil (Criterion)

P.S. -- I sure hope this is in the right forum section and doesn't violate any forum or other rules/laws!
 

Randy A Salas

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It's surprising to see Shrek so high. The extras on that disc, while bountiful, were seriously underwhelming.

It's also odd to see entire collections, such as the three separately released James Bond Collections, listed as one entry.
 

LukeB

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The top ten is strikingly similar to the results we got doing the polling from this forum and other online DVD forums last December. The rankings are a bit different, but they seem to resemble that list (link in signature) quite a bit. Looks like there is a good number of titles that appear in both this and the census Top 100.
 

Jack Briggs

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You posted in the correct forum, John. As for the list, it's subject to the faults and frailties of any list compiled by one person (Chris compiled this one, right--and not Mike Wood?). It's therefore filled with his preferences. Well, lessee now, he included Dr. Strangelove--a serviceable transfer at best--and not Warner's remastered edition of 2001. Well. ...

And while he included Citizen Kane, I might also have included A Touch of Evil. The Third Man is in there, but not Seven Samurai (edge enhancement be damned; it's an important film and it's on DVD).

So there you go. It's one man's opinion--or his compilation of the staff's opinion. I saw several discs in the list I would include, but several I wouldn't (given his stated criteria). Your own list would be different as well.
 

Andrew_Sch

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Damn, I've been mulling buying the Ultimate Toy Box for the last few days, and now you show me this!
 

Dah-Dee

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Andrew, I had also been on the fence about Toy Box, especially given that I'd already picked up the '2-pack,' but I saw this set also rated very highly in another DVD list and (not to change the subject or anything!) couldn't resist Playcentric's awesome price. Happy shopping!
 

Dah-Dee

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Jack, yes, the article is by Chris Chiarella. Just bought the Dr. Strangelove DVD (gulp), didn't realize there was a re-master out. Darn!

Edit: Doh! Just realized you were referring to Kubrick, not a newer version of the Dr. DVD. Yikes.
 

Joe_C

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Not the worst "Best of" list I've ever seen, but there are still quite a few amazing discs left out, such as the aforementioned Brazil.
 

Darrel Johansen

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I'm sure we'd all have a different list of the top 100. I am surprised to see the second Kubrick boxed set with the remastered 2001, The Shining, Eyes Wide Shut, etc. missing, as well as some that I'd rate over Charlies Angels, Tommy, even Pearl Harbor IMHO, and Kentucky Fried movie, such as Das Boot, The Last Waltz (but maybe his list was made before that was released) and Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
 

Greg_M

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What Happened to the disc sets of FOX's "Cleopatra" and "Patton" Two outstanding transfers and many extras?
 

Matthew Chmiel

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Ick! Probably the most vile and profane movie I've ever seen.
If you think it's one of the most vile and profane movies out there, you really need to see more movies (especially when my mom calls it one of the best vampire films of all time... and I want to restate that my MOTHER thinks that). :)
I would like to know why aren't such DVDs like: Brazil, Magnolia, any Kevin Smith film, Suspiria, Requiem for a Dream, 12 Monkeys, and Tron: 20th Anniversary Collector's Edition (just to name a few) aren't on the list. All have better video (maybe except Brazil), sound (maybe except Brazil again :)), and extras than half those DVDs on the list.
I'm pleased that a few DVDs were mentioned like Say Anything, Run Lola Run, Almost Famous, and Rocky Horror were on the list. But how was Being John Malkovich on the list (yes, the movie is fantastic, but the DVD is sub-par at most) and why was Rushmore so low (#93) on the list (when it should be higher up)?
 

John Gates

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Tron: 20th Anniversary Collector's Edition
Totally agree with you here!! :emoji_thumbsup: :emoji_thumbsup: This was an incredibly ground-breaking film, and the new DVD is awesome! The sound, technical effects, and story are all exceptional, though I haven't played around at all with the extras on the CD.
John G
 

Chuck Mayer

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The only truly interesting thing about the list is how certain films/DVDs always find themselves at the top. Well, that and to see where new films are placed:)
Like Jack said, each of us has our list, and it overlaps some places and not others.
Take care,
Chuck
 

Steve Christou

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Well I own 55 of the "100 Greatest DVDs", a good list, alphabetical order would have been better.
I love Shrek but I wouldn't rank the dvd higher than the superlative Fight Club dvd which probably should be numero uno.
 

Osato

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I thought the James Bond DVD's were very well done, in terms of extras, menus and the films themselves. Glad to see they are all included on the list.
 

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