DVD ETC. MAGAZINE POLL: "The Top 100 DVDs of All Time"

1. Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring - Extended Edition: This DVD personifies just what DVD should have: great sound, great video, great extras, and a completely faithful feel of the movie. PERFECTION.

2. Back to the Future Trilogy - A wonderful DVD set for an amazing series of movies.

3. Evil Dead: Book of the Dead - Great packaging of a well-produced DVD effort of a cult classic.

4. The Godfather Trilogy - The greatest series of American films in what could easily be one of the greatest American DVDs... ever.

5. Legend: Ultimate Edition - Two distinct versions of Ridley Scott's fairy tale classic in one package. Amazing.

6. 24: The Complete First Season - The closest thing to DVD Heroin. Try and NOT watch it in one day.

7. Memento: Limited Edition - A appropriatly confusing menu system and a wonderfully designed package showcase a wonderfully confusing movie.

8. Moulin Rouge - A new generation of the movie musical wrapped in a "spectacular spectacular" DVD.

9. Pearl Harbor: VISTA Series - A culmination of unique packaging, great video, amazing sound, and some educational extras.

10. Toy Story: The Ultimate Toy Box - A perfect digital transfer of two great movies in one great box that goes to "infinity and beyond"!

- Adam Moreau, Home Theater Forum

 

Rear Window - Hitchcock's finest film, finally in it's original aspect ratio, and looking finer than ever before.

Citizen Kane - Welle's masterpiece gets the treatment it deserves.

North by Northwest - another great Hitchcock gets a superb treatment.

Vertigo - I know I'm on a Hitchcock kick, but Harris & Katz pulled this back to life and it deserves to be in a top 100 list.

2001 - They finally got the missing line back into the film!

Toy Story box - Two of the very best animated films ever get the deluxe treatment by Pixar.

Psycho - More Hitchcock? Yep. A great film, finally in it's original aspect ratio.

Young Frankenstein - Mel Brooks best film, in a great transfer

Back to the Future trilogy - Not only is this great trilogy finally on dvd after numerous delays, but Universal has owned up (sort of ) to the misframing on the sequels and are fixing it.

E.T. - A great film, and the dvd includes the original cut. Hopefully a inspiration for George Lucas ala Star Wars.

 

Some of the best dvd's in my opinion are:

Fight Club: direction is flawless and the extra's have a great value.

Seven: a great transfer for an amazing movie. The ending is chilling.

Requiem for a Dream: haunting, and one of the most depressive movies ever. Yet it's one of the best movie you'll see.

 

U-571

"Tense, gripping, and very explosive. A great movie that will excite you from beginning to end."

- Haris Ellahi, Home Theater Forum

Minority Report

"A very intelligent movie, one of Steven Spielberg's best. Excellent creativity."

- Haris Ellahi, Home Theater Forum

 

1.Carl Dreyer Box Set (Criterion-4-disk) Dreyer’s finest sound films in one set, plus a reveling set of interviews and other extras. Pristine B & W transfers.
2.Wild Strawberries (Criterion) One of the best and most personal films by a filmmaker who made great and personal films. A great transfer and revealing extras.
3.Citizen Kane (Warner 2-disk): One of the greatest movies ever, gets the full treatment. Including plenty of background and a fine commentary.
4.Children of Paradise (Criterion 2-disk) I love the two commentaries—different for each half of the film. An outstanding transfer.
5.The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (Criterion 2-disk) Buñuel at his best and with a 2-disk treatment filled with everything from commentaries and documentaries to Buñuel commenting on bordellos and advising on how to make a martini.
6.The Red Shoes (Criterion) I love the transfer here, with all of the over-the-top, super-saturated Technicolor captured by Jack Cardiff. Great extras as well, especially the comparison of the storyboards to the film in the ballet sequence.
7.Rashomon (Criterion 2-disk) Perhaps not Kurosawa’s finest film, but the combination of film, transfer, commentary and other extras, plus the historical importance of this film in the West, make it the Kurosawa to have, if you can have only one.
8.L’Avventura (Criterion 2-disk) Great transfer, outstanding extras and a great film. The extras are well worth anyone’s time, who is interested in how much can be packed into a film where little, seemingly happens.
9. Brazil (Criterion 3-disk) A must set for anyone interested in studio politics and film editing. The commentary on the ‘Love Conquers All’ release is alone worth having for anyone interested in film editing.
10.Do the Right Thing (Criterion 2-disk) Spike Lee’s best, the extras are a must for anyone who is interested in how a film is made. And how a controversial film is received.

 

1. Star Wars Episode 2 Attack of the Clones - The Ultimate Demo disc...cant be beat....and the some of the finest behind the scenes stuff I've ever seen.
2. Star Wars Episode 1 The Phantom Menace - Some may dog the film...but I think its great fun with a lot of subtext...and the podrace may just be the definitive demo scene.
3. Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring Extended Edition - An excellent film made better...the film feels bigger and more epic and the sound mix is unbelievable...and the extra two discs are full of some classic moments and thousands of pieces of art.
4. E.T. Ultimate Gift Set - Now this is a boxset...so beautifully designed and executed...the excellent remastering of a classic and many extras...also the Hardcover book is something truly special.
5. Evil Dead 2 - One of the funniest films of all time gets an excellent presentation along with one of the best commentaries ever recorded.
6. Mallrats - Very funny movie for the geek in us all....and the best commentary ever...plus 1 hour of deleted scenes and a featurette...just awesome...
7. Superman The Movie - Wow...thats about all you can say about this disc...still the greatest comic book movie ever and the restoration is a dream come true for an Superman fan...not to mention the wonderful extras.
8. Lawrence of Arabia Limited Edition - One of the greatest films ever made gets the truly deluxe treatment...beautiful packaging as well...
9. Nightmare on Elm Street Collection - Probably the greatest Horror franchise...and its an excellent set...A+ Audio and Video and some really great interviews and so much stuff on the Encyclopedia...
10. 24: The Complete First Season - This is the most addictive show ever...I couldnt stop....

Joshua Young, HTF

 

Metropolis: Restored Authorized Edition (Kino/Transit Film)

Finally, a home video edition of the film with superb visual quality, a more complete form, and one of the finest orchestral scores recorded for a film. The supplements such as The Metropolis Case documentary and the photo galleries make any other edition a coaster.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: Platinum Edition (Disney)

Digitally refurbished video by Lowry Digital Images and remastered sound make for an excellent home theater experience. The supplements provide a virtual animation school in digital form, basically.

Citizen Kane (Warner)

Digitally refurbished video by Lowry Digital Images and sound give the film the presentation it needs after years of scratchy prints. The commentaries and other supplements are a film scholar's funhouse.

Sunset Blvd. (Paramount)

From what used to be poor quality materials, Paramount Home Video and Lowry Digital Images created a 2K restoration for this film and it makes all the difference. Combined with some entertaining and worthwhile supplements, this is a treat for movie buffs.

Singin' In The Rain: Special Edition (Warner)

One of the best representations of Technicolor, yet! Features a wonderful refurbished image by Lowry Digital Images and plenty of worthwhile supplements. Makes the old DVD a good gift for a friend.

North By Northwest (Warner)

Featuring a digitally refurbished image by Lowry Digital Images and plenty of supplements, it would make Sir Alfred quite proud.

8 1/2: Criterion Collection

Utilizing materials from the restored film negative and restored soundtrack, Criterion has pulled off another amazing DVD. The supplements are just as fun and interesting as the feature itself.

Doctor Zhivago (Warner)

Featuring newly refurbished image by Lowry Digital Images and a sparkling 5.1 remix, this makes a great film great on DVD. The supplements such as the commentary with Omar Sharif, Rod Steiger, and Sandra Lean are treasures.

Monty Python and the Holy Grail (Columbia)

Using a newly restored film element and amazing 5.1 remix, this DVD is the definitive version of the classic farce. The supplements are nearly too much to watch!

The Elephant Man (Paramount)

Featuring a director-approved, first-time-in-widescreen video and audio transfer, this makes the best video version of the film, period. The film is a must own on DVD!

 

Terminator 2: Judgment Day - The Ultimate Edition DVD Packed with so many extras as to be intimidating and a cleverly designed menu system, this DVD-18 contains everything you could ever ask for, and then some.

Saving Private Ryan (DTS Edition) Although both the DTS and DD5.1 discs are reference-quality demo DVDs, the DTS edition sacrifices the documentary found on the DD5.1 disc to provide that extra "oomph" that propels this disc into the stratosphere.

Se7en: New Line Platinum Series An outstanding 6.1 DTS-ES track, four enthralling commentary tracks and a huge amount of DVD-ROM content provide an enormous amount of entertainment from this classy and clever 2-disc set.

Band of Brothers A gorgeous tin collector's box houses six phenomenal discs filled with every conceivable detail of the battles, geography, terminology and biographies of the events, locations, and men featured in this epic miniseries.

Pulp Fiction: Collector's Edition It was a long time coming, but this two-disc edition of Tarantino's magnum opus was worth the wait. Features and extras abound, including some excellent documentaries and interviews with Tarantino.

Snatch: Special Edition Guy Ritchie's fun sophomore effort receives a wonderful two-disc treatment in this set, featuring a great commentary track and perhaps the most valuable extra ever - Pikey subtitles for Brad Pitt's incomprehensible Mickey.

Die Hard Trilogy: Five Star Collection The definitive edition of one of the greatest action series ever contains a wealth of extras and marvelous THX-mastered two-disc editions of each of the Die Hard films.

Princess Mononoke Hayao Miyazaki's breathtaking epic receives a beautiful anamorphic transfer and a wonderful Dolby Digital track showcasing Jo Hisaishi's stunning score. The delay of this release so that an original Japanese language track could be included is a testament to the power of DVD aficionados to make their opinions known to studios.

Might write some more later, thanks!

P.S. If these are too long let me know and I can trim them down. Thanks!

 

1."Star Wars Episode II The Attack of the Clones" Quite possibly the "must have" demo disc of all time. The reason to own a home theater.

2. "Citizen Kane" The masterpiece is restored in all it's glory. Now film students have a reference disc to view again...and again and again...

3. "T2 The Ultimate Edition DVD" The reason I bought a DVD player. Considering it's age, I'm not sure if it's been outdone.

4."Se7en" New Line Platinum Edition The final scene still sends chills down my spine and I can still feel the rain drops pouring from the perfectly mixed 6.1 track. Perfect.

5. "LOTR The Fellowship of the Ring Special Extended Edition DVD" So much content, I still haven't sample the whole thing...

 

1. Lord of the Rings: Fellow of the Rings: Extended Edition -- Contains the most thorough, and well produced supplements about a film I have ever seen.

2. Brazil - The Criterion Collection -- A wonderful film, and a wonderful documentary that chronicles the battle to release it.

3. Ghostbusters -- Packed with wonderful extras - but most importantly the film is preserved wonderfully.

4. Rushmore - The Criterion Collection -- Another fine film, with a fine collection of supplements. The coolest being the MTV award shorts done by the cast from the film.

5. Fight Club -- Another great film, which gets an excellent SE treatment, with the commentary by Fincher, Pitt and Norton being the best supplement.

6. This is Spinal Tap (MGM Edition)-- Great film, great features. Particularly nice is the 1 hour of deleted scenes, and commentary by Spinal Tap.

7. Evil Dead - The Book of the Dead -- Definitely the coolest packaging for any DVD ever. Great load of supplements too, especially the commentary by Bruce Campbell.

8. Se7en - New Line Platinum Edition -- Great presentation, beautiful new transfer, and nice supplements with rival Fight Clubs.

9. 24 - The Complete First Season -- Like everyone has said before me... DVD CRACK. Once you pop, you can't stop.

10. The Life of Brian - Criterion Collection -- This Python flick gets the royal criterion treatment. Great transfer, and wonderful extras including a cast commentary and deleted scenes

 

LukeB ran his annual multiforum poll earlier this year, there should still be the HTF thread around, which has tons of members posting their favorite 10 dvds, I think that would more than satisfy DVDETC. requirements, anybody that wants to change their list or add a list can do so, but the thread that already exists is a resource that shouldn't be overlooked!

Adam

 

The Third Man - Superb film, amazing DVD. This DVD is the perfect example of extensive "restoration" being done in the digital realm, while maintaining a look of film.

Hedwig and the Angry Inch - One hell of a touching and damn fun movie. Great music. Nice transfer. One of the best "making of" featurettes I've ever seen on a DVD.

The Red Shoes - Technicolor brought back to life. My pick for the most gorgeous film photography of all time. It probably won't look this good in the repertory cinema.

American Movie - A documentary, but a fun one. One filmmaker's journey and his final product on the same DVD. Great transfer.

Monsters, Inc. - Who wouldn't love this movie? Plus it's all digital so it looks really cool.

Titus - A hell of a lot of extras and a good presentation of a really good movie that not enough people have seen.

The Big Lebowski - If you aren't rolling on the floor laughing your ass by the end of this movie, you're in a coma.

The General - An easy introduction to silent film and I can't imagine that it could look much better.

Children of Paradise - Criterion really made me happy with this one. Again, lovingly "restored" and it still looks like film!

Doctor Zhivago - A classic epic given epic treatment.

 

This was tough. I was able to pick about 15 fairly easily, but trimming that to 10 was really tough.

Sunset Boulevard - Billy Wilder's classic take on Hollywood and the dream factory. Unfortunately this film had been nearly lost and Paramount went to great length to do rescue this film and make a great SE out of it.

Citizen Kane - One of the greatest films of all time included in a package with an excellent documentary and two extremely insightful commentary tracks.

Se7en(Platinum Edition) - David Fincher's crossover into the big time was a great serial killer thriller with an abundant amount of style. Many great extras and a plethora of commentary tracks make this DVD a must have.

Lord of the Rings - Fellowship of the Ring - What else can I say about this package. Probably the greatest DVD to date.

Toy Story - Ultimate Toy Box - Two of the greatest animated films ever made included with an abundance of extras spread over three discs and the packaging is first rate.

American Beauty - My favorite film of the 90's and one of the best commentary tracks with the director Sam Mendes and writer Alan Ball. There is also a very interesting feature on the setup of many shots with Mendes and the late Conrad Hall (cinematographer).

Rebecca - Criterion Collection - It's impossible to list the greatest DVDs ever without including at least one Hitchcock film and at least one Criterion, so I combined them. This set is phenomonal.

Almost Famous (Bootleg Version) - A great movie treated as it should be. Lots of extras, a great commentary track, deleted scenes, a bonus CD of original songs, etc... Cameron Crowe knows how to treat his movies on DVD.

Talking Heads - Stop Making Sense - The greatest concert film ever made and fully restored with multiple audio mixes. The commentary and additional extras are an added bonus. This is easily my most viewed DVD.

Young Frankenstein - The funniest film ever made combined with the funniest outtakes that I've ever seen and an excellent commentary track from Mel Brooks.

 

1. SINGIN' IN THE RAIN (50th anniversary) Warner Bros.

The definitive presentation of a classic film on DVD. An astounding transfer with brilliant, sharp imagery that bursts with color, and a startlingly good soundtrack for its era. The supplements include two excellent documentaries and that's just the tip of the iceburg. A benchmark for the presentation of classic films on DVD.

2. BEAUTY AND THE BEAST Disney

Another stunning transfer surrounded by a plethora of impressive extras. Beautifully produced.

3. NORTH BY NORTHWEST Warner Bros.

It could be Hitchock's greatest masterpiece, and the DVD is nothing short of perfect. The clarity and depth-of-field of the VistaVision photography is immaculately on display, with Bernard Herrmann's great score at the centerpiece of a thrilling and GENUINE stereophonic soundtrack, unencumbered by anachronistic "modern" sound effects.

4. 24-Fox Video
A thrilling, landmark television series becomes a DVD event. A must-have. Anyone who hasn't seen the series will be glued to their screens.

5. THE WIZARD OF OZ Warner Bros.

America's most beloved film, in a DVD that gives you everything but the kitchen-sink in terms of supplementary materials, from documentaries, to stock footage, to audio tracks, and more. And the transfer...is amazing, glowing with the best approximation of true Technicolor DVD can offer.

6. LORD OF THE RINGS:FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING-SE-New Line

Brilliantly executed special version of the acclaimed feature, providing hours of extra material especially for home video, enchantingly presented.

7. GONE WITH THE WIND-Warner Bros.

The DVD is devoid of any special features per se, but GWTW is still the greatest film of all time IMHO, and the film looks and sounds better than ever before on DVD.

8. THE MATRIX=Warner Bros.

The "granddaddy" of all DVDs to show off your home theater system. A unique cinematic experience and a terrific, multi-faceted DVD presentation

9. THE SHIELD-Fox

A groundbreaking TV series, in a superb DVD presentation stuffed with great commentaries. Since this award-winning series is on the small FX network, many people have missed this show. It's one of the best on TV, and people need to grab this DVD to find out why

10. BEN-HUR-Warner Bros.

My favorite big-screen epic, given a lavish, beautiful DVD edition with a great documentary, a commentary from Charlton Heston himself, and many other luscious extras.

 

1. Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Special Extended DVD Edition)

A rare instance of an alternate cut that is not only justified but vastly improves on the original, plus exhaustive amounts of extras that illustrate what wonders a team of dedicated, obsessive artists can achieve.

2. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

A pioneering work in film history. Fascinating, informative extra material that can serve as an introductory textbook on animation history and technique.

3. The Godfather DVD Collection

Hey, it's The Godfather! On DVD! With lots of extras! What more needs to be said?

4. The Red Shoes

An important DVD if only to remind everyone that, even though Hollywood invented the movie musical, it took someone outside that system to show everyone its potential as an art form.

5. Children of Paradise

Criterion outdoes itself once again with this terrific restoration. To look at this DVD, you would never know in what bad shape its former home-video incarnations were in. Hopefully, this release makes the film more easily accessible to new generations of movie lovers who may be wondering why it's one of the most highly praised of all time.

6. The Fantasia Anthology

The redubbed narration and zoom-in censoring mar an otherwise ideal DVD, but the 1940 film remains a true work of genius. Its sequel is highly enjoyable and a creditable attempt at continuing Walt Disney's legacy that for once actually goes beyond mere hype.

7. Toy Story: The Ultimate Toy Box

Eye-popping color and clarity in a transfer that does justice to the best animated features in recent history.

8. Citizen Kane

Even if you don't agree with this film's reputation as the greatest of all time, the extras on this DVD make a persuasive case for why a lot of people think so.

9. Lawrence of Arabia

The technical issues with the transfer make it a near-miss, but they're not enough to detract from what is so far the best home-video release of possibly the greatest epic film of all time.

10. Moulin Rouge

A good example of how to make a film of heatedly debated merit a must-buy on DVD.

 

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring - Everything about the movie is deliciously ambitious and incredible, the same goes for this DVD set. Everything is perfect, including the menu's!

24 : Season One Box - This show was almost made for DVD! It works so much better with the box-set format. With the Widescreen image, it's like a 24 hour long movie!

Terminator 2: Ultimate Edition - This takes advantage of every benefit of DVD. DTS, anamorphic, commentary, seamless branching, etc. The making-of content is far more in-depth than anything else, and the menus are just cool!

Toy Story Box Set (3 disc) - Not only the video jaw dropping, the special features are incredibly in depth. And of course, those menus are really creative.

The Matrix - This marked an incredible step in the evolution of the DVD format. This was a great movie, and looked and sounded incredible on DVD.

(Here's some to help flesh out the rest of the top 100, not just the big 10!)

Star Trek The Motion Picture: Director's Cut - Unlike a certain fantasy film, this restoration actually helps the film, and doesn't ruin the film with flashy modern CGi that doesn't fit the look of the film.

Monty Python & The Holy Grail Special Edition - The restoration work on the film is amazing, and the special feature content has that great comedic touch only the Pythons can provide.

The Simpsons Season 2 DVD Box-set - Every episode comes in 5.1, and includes a complete commentary track from the producers! They are outrageously funny! And you get 22 of them!

 

1. Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring -Special Extended Edition: What more could a Lord of the Rings fan ask for? Perfect in every respect. Thank you Peter Jackson, Thank you.

2. Fight Club -Special Edition: I'm not supposed to talk about this DVD, but how can't you? Phenomenal.

3. Terminator 2 -Ultimate Edition: 3 different cuts of the film, amazing menus, and killer sound.

4. Memento -Limited Edition: A landmark film with some of the most unique menus ever made. Also you can get a different perspective on the film by watching in chornological order.

5. The Godfather Collection: Needless to say, some of the greatest films ever made arrived on DVD in a big way.

6. 24- Season 1: I watched the entire season in 2 days. You can't watch just one...or two...or three.

7. Almost Famous Untitled- The Bootleg Edition: A longer cut of one of my favorite movies along with a great commentary from Cameron Crowe.

8. Monty Python and Quest for the Holy Grail -Special Edition: A fitting tribute to one the funniest movies ever made. It even has sing-alongs. What other DVD has that?

9. Back to the Future Trilogy :These movies are 100% fun. A lot of people are happy to see them finally come on DVD.

10. Pulp Fiction -Collector's Edition: One of the most amazingly original movies to come along is finally done right on DVD. I enjoyed the trivia track a lot.

 

The Godfather Collection
Classic American cinema. Exceptional packaging and everything you wanted to know about the Godfather trilogy in here.

Citizen Kane
A movie that every film enthusiast should have. Also includes the Battle Over Citizen Kane.

Apocalypse Now Redux
Just a great movie

Toy Story - Ultimate Toy Box
Contains both movies, loaded with useful/infomative extras and fabulous transfers. Besides, the movies are just plain fun

Band of Brothers
Can watch this series over and over again (and I have).

This is Spinal Tap (Criterion & MGM versions)
The definitive mockumentary! The funniest commentary (MGM version) I've ever heard.

 

Although not given this as a specific parameter, I have tried to choose the best DVDs, not necessarily the best films. This led me to a process of choosing based on categories, i.e., the best silent, the best musical, the best Hitchcock, etc. And I have a particular soft spot for the work of Robert Harris, although I wasn't able to choose Lawrence of Arabia as the DVD best representing his very valuable work.

Metropolis

An astounding effort, all the greater for being almost completely lost, this disk represents the highest level of film research and restoration that we know.

Citizen Kane

Already heralded as the greatest film of all time, the DVD offers a very fine presentation, and voluminous extras only add to the value.

Sunset Boulevard

This tragedy-masked-as-Gothic-horror-movie is a stupendous achievement, and the restoration brought it back from the dead.

Singin' in the Rain

This musical from MGM might be subtitled "Ode to Joy," so energizing are its pleasures, and the DVD presentation is undeniably first-rate.

North by Northwest

Perhaps the most endemic of Hitchcock movies, and the best DVD from his masterpieces of the 50s and 60s.

Spartacus (Criterion)

Robert Harris's restoration of this movie in the early 90s solidified its reputation as the smartest and most entertaining of the Roman widescreen epics, supremely created by formerly blacklisted A-list screenwriter Dalton Trumbo and enduringly realized by Stanley Kubrick. The DVD is the finest of its kind, maybe Criterion's supreme production, and gives great viewing pleasure time after time.

Fight Club

A contemporary story told with great creativity and intelligence, and the DVD quality is equaled only by Fincher's other endemic 90s drama, Se7en.

Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Extended Edition)

Everyone's favorite DVD, this disk shows what really can be done with contemporary spectacles ported to this technology. The movie itself is fabulously told, and more coherent in this version, and the visual and aural presention are first-rate.

Toy Story Box

The original digital animated movie, and still among the best, the box puts both features side by side, in a complementary fashion, and the extras are fascinating and informative.

Amelie

I would include Amelie on the list of the greatest DVDs, not because it represents a "token" foreign film, but because it is simply splendid movie-making, with eye-popping colors, effects, cinematic tricks, and intelligent storytelling, character transformations, and meaningful points carefully explicated.