There’s no better time for watching movies than the festive season – feet up, leftover turkey at the ready, brand new pyjamas on, and plenty of cinematic gifts to spend the holidays devouring. If you need some Christmas present ideas for the film-lover in your life, look no further – Empire has compiled a list of some of the biggest, best, most beautiful box sets and Blu-rays to get wrapped up and under the tree in this year’s gift guide.
There’s something for everyone: special steelbooks of some of 2024’s most talked-about releases; collector’s editions of genre favourites; multi-disc box-sets of the big screen’s most iconic franchises; Blu-rays of the very best from the small screen; and much more. Get ready to make the cinephiles in your family extremely happy.
The biggest hit of the year gets a gorgeous collectible steelbook edition – sure to provoke all kinds of positive emotions in the recipient. Avoid anxiety and get one before it sells out.
The latest Godzilla film out of Japan is an instant all-timer – a kaiju classic that does the big lizard justice for his 70th anniversary. This bumper edition not only includes Minus One, but the black-and-white Minus One / Minus Colour edition too – all housed in luxurious boxset packaging. Worth stomping a city to get your hands on one.
Or, go back to the very beginning with the original classic 1954 film, given the 4K Criterion treatment. Not only does it boast stunning new art from Bill Sienkiewicz and tons of extras, but you get Ishiro Honda’s film and the ‘Americanised’ re-edit Godzilla, King Of The Monsters on the same disc. The big guy’s never looked better.
You can’t keep a good Xenomorph down – and this year’s Alien entry hit like a facehugger to the… well, face. In a good way. This collectible steelbook edition will have any Alien fan’s chest bursting – with joy!
What do you get the creep who’s got everything? A copy of Creep, of course! Mark Duplass’ lo-fi horror of social awkwardness has become a cult favourite in recent years, now given the deluxe Second Sight treatment – packed with extras, art cards, a 70-page book, and hardcase packaging. Merry Christmas from Peachfuzz!
Here’s a gift to get you sliding across the floor in your pants and socks: the Tom Cruise classic freshly scrubbed up on 4K, in an extras-packed Criterion release. It comes with both the theatrical and director’s cuts, plenty of making-of features, commentaries, interviews and more.
Snikt! Marvel’s only big-screen release this year was a foul-mouthed, blood-splattered, fourth wall-breaking blast – with Ryan Reynolds’ Merc With A Mouth teaming up with Hugh Jackman’s Logan. The ideal variant for Mr. Pool fans? This collectible steelbook, made from adamantium. (Ok, maybe not.)
One, two, Freddy’s coming for you. Wes Craven’s slasher classic is still a horror fan’s dream – especially this limited edition, which features the 4K release on a steelbook, bundled in with a booklet and art cards, all housed in a rigid slipcase.
Alright, alright, alright! Let the good times roll with Richard Linklater’s school’s-out classic, unspooling a single day of hangouts, high times and hella good music in 1976. The Criterion edition was already a must-have – now available in 4K form.
‘90s sci-fi actioners don’t get much more bonkers than Demolition Man – pitching Sylvester Stallone against Wesley Snipes on the future streets of ‘San Angeles’. Carnage ensues. This Arrow set it the ultimate edition for fans – loaded with extras and deluxe packaging, with a 4K restoration from the original negative.
Need some TV to get your teeth stuck into? The series adaptation of Anne Rice’s novels is a blood-sucking treat. Get both seasons in this set, sure to help stave off your next feed.
25 years on, it’s still the greatest found-footage horror ever made. Now, Blair Witch gets a set befitting its stature, courtesy of Second Sight – with the film on 4K, a 184-page hardback book, a brand new feature-length documentary, the original cut alongside the festival cut, art cards, Heather’s journal, and more. Stand it in the corner for maximum effect.
You can’t go wrong with Akira Kurosawa – and arguably his greatest film is back in striking 4K. Seven Samurai remains one of the most influential films of all time – and the BFI’s new release has more extras than you can shake a katana at, plus an 80-page book of essays, a double-sided poster, art cards and more.
This year brought a return to the Fury Road in Furiosa – and what could be shinier (or chromium) than every Mad Max movie in 4K? This complete set includes Mad Max, The Road Warrior, Beyond Thunderdome, Fury Road, and Furiosa, in limited petrol can packaging. What a lovely day!
Prepare to feel like you’ve spent an hour on Miller’s planet: Christopher Nolan’s space-bound classic is 10 years old. Gasp! This collector’s edition comes with the film on 4K and Blu-ray, in deluxe packaging, with new special feature ‘The Future Is Now’. Just watch out for anyone trying to shove it off your shelf through a fifth-dimensional tesseract.
If you don’t mind a bit of bunny trauma, Watership Down is still a British animated classic. Newly restored by the BFI in 4K, this is a must-have for animation heads – packed with all-new extras, in deluxe packaging to boot.
Christmas is the perfect time to rewatch Peter Jackson’s legendary trilogy – and this set includes both the theatrical and extended editions, in faux-leather book packaging. Best of all? It comes with the actual (ok, not actual) One Ring. Why not make your Boxing Day walk a trek to Mount Doom?
For years, The Walking Dead fans were left wondering what happened to Rick Grimes. Now, his and Michonne’s story is told in The Ones Who Live – ideal for zombie fans ravenous for what comes next…
…or, why not try the continuing adventures of Daryl. And Carol! And a barrel-load of walkers.
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Aliens Expanded
aliens-expanded.com
Made by Empire's very own Ian Nathan (and featuring Empire's very own James Dyer), and stuffed to the gills — or acid-spilling second mouth — with fascinating interviews, insights, and anecdotes from the cast and crew of James Cameron's blockbuster sci-fi sequel, Aliens Expanded is an essential buy for anyone who ever got on that express elevator to hell and fell in love with what they found there.
While you might be tempted to see it as yet another reason The Winds Of Winter didn't come out this year, Dark Winds (which counts George R. R. Martin as producer) is also a sharply-written detective series based on the novels by Tony Hillerman. A seventies-set crime show set on a Navajo reservation in the American Southwest, it's rich, beautifully shot and kicks off with a heist set piece that even Michael Mann might tip his hat to. And now you can get the first two seasons in one nifty box set. Bonza!