Although physical media has taken a hit in the streaming age, it's still nice to have a few collectible Blu-Rays on your shelf, especially when the internet goes out. Sometimes, movie studios really knock it out of the park by greenlighting excellent box sets that stand the test of time.
These amazing box sets crammed in as much content as possible, from multiple cuts of the same film, to hours upon hours of behind the scenes documentaries and materials. Today we're going to salute 10 of the best Blu-Ray box sets ever released. We're ranking them in order, from good to great!
10 BATMAN: THE COMPLETE ANIMATED SERIES DELUXE LIMITED EDITION
We were thrilled when Warner announced that the classic Batman animated series would swoop onto the Blu-Ray scene! Every episode was meticulously remastered for HD, and spread across 10 Blu-Ray discs for the ultimate Batman experience.
The Limited Edition box set features 25 featurettes and a full documentary, a deluxe art book, plus Funko Pop figures of Batman, the Joker, and Harley Quinn. If that weren't enough, Warner saw fit to pack in the excellent tie-in feature film Mask Of The Phantasm, and Batman And Mister Freeze: Sub Zero to round out the collection.
9 INDIANA JONES: THE COMPLETE ADVENTURES
It was nice to see Indiana Jones get the Blu-Ray treatment, especially in the wake of so many excellent box set releases around the 2010-2012 era. This box set might seem a bit light, but it's actually quite well stocked in terms of extras, with 7 hours of special features that dive into the making of all four films, plus cast interviews and behind the scenes extras.
We're still holding out for a Definitive Edition release of the quadrilogy, possibly in UltraHD, but we'll gladly take Blu-Ray versions of our favorite adventure films in the meantime. It's a nice looking package that suits any Blu-Ray collection.
8 UNIVERSAL MONSTERS: THE ESSENTIAL COFFIN BOX BLU-RAY COLLECTION
In 2018, Universal released the Classic Monsters collection which featured 3o of the studio's most renowned horror flicks. However, we prefer the Coffin Box collection for a number of reasons. First, it narrows down the collection from 30 to 8 essential films with excellent picture and audio clarity, packed into a case that's more than cool!
The coffin box design motif houses the fold-out collection, and each film is given special presentation treatment that bursts with classic movie poster colors. It also includes poster cards, a booklet, and a ton of bonus features that dive into these iconic classics!
7 ZATOICHI: THE BLIND SWORDSMAN (Criterion Box Set)
Everyone knows how much attention to detail Criterion puts into their releases, but few are as dazzling as the Zatoichi Blu-Ray box set. This 9-disc collection serves up no less than twenty-five (yes, count them!) Zatoichi films from 1962 to 1973, brought up to HD quality thanks to Criterion's rigorous restoration process.
The set itself is a work of art, laid out with excellent graphics and a full color, informative guidebook. This is one box set that pays ultimate respect to its source material.
6 STAR WARS: THE COMPLETE SAGA
It felt like it took forever for George Lucas to bring Star Wars into the Blu-Ray realm, but he finally caved in 2011. The Star Wars Blu-Ray set brings the original and prequel trilogies into one high quality collection. In addition to HD quality versions of all six films, there's also a ton of behind the scenes documentaries and content to explore.
Sadly, this collection isn't perfect. Criticism was levied against its purple-tinted color grading of the original trilogy, further movie meddling by George Lucas, and the lack of definitive documentaries such as Empire Of Dreams. Still, it's got it where it counts, and remains one of the best ways to watch non-Disney Star Wars.
5 HARRY POTTER: HOGWARTS COLLECTION
This box set is perhaps the ultimate gift for Harry Potter fans, to this day. It's a sprawling 31-disc compilation of every Harry Potter film in Blu-Ray, as well as DVD format and digital copy. Nothing was left to chance!
The most amazing aspect of this box set, however, are the extras, which clock in at 37 hours. They feature an HD documentary making-of series, behind the scenes interviews and bonus extras. The entire thing comes in a large book-style design with artwork galore, making it one of the most glorious Blu-Ray box sets ever to hit the market.
4 STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION
We're still gobsmacked by how excellent the Star Trek: TNG Blu-Ray box set is. It amalgamates every standalone Blu-Ray seasonal release of the show into a single package that's 4" wide, and chock-full of goodies!
TNG fans know that the Blu-Ray releases are absolutely astonishing. Every episode has been lifted into HD territory, bringing out details you never saw when the series first ran on TV. In addition, the team went back to update and enhance existing visual effects, without ruining the look and feel. It also cleaned up that horrid red hue that permeated the first season of the show, and brought it in line visually with the rest of the series. And finally, the hours upon hours of behind-the-scenes content is magic for Star Trek fans. Paramount didn't do have to do this, yet they did. We can't thank them enough.
3 THE BEST OF WARNER BROS. - 50 FILM COLLECTION
Warner Bros. decided to go full a la carte for their 50-film Blu-Ray collection, and boy is it something! The collection includes 16 movies that ended up winning Best Picture at the Academy Awards, so there's a lot to love here.
Classic icons like Ben-Hur, Grand Hotel, Citizen Kane, and 2001: A Space Odyssey are just the tip of the iceberg. This is one of the most definitive movie collections around, if you're willing to pay the price! In return, you'll get a bevy of movies that stand the test of time.
2 ALIEN ANTHOLOGY
In 2003, 20th Century Fox pumped out one of the most jaw-dropping box sets ever released - the Alien Quadrilogy. Quirky name aside, Alien fans were rightfully excited to get all four films in the series in one definitive 9-disc DVD box set. The Quadrilogy was the first collection to feature alternate cuts of all four films in one set. This meant seeing a superior (and highly recommended) "Assembly Cut" of Alien 3, which no Alien fan should pass up.
In 2010, 20th Century Fox would bring a new version of the Quadrilogy to the Blu-Ray realm with the Alien Anthology box set. At first glance, it appears to be a rehash of the original Quadrilogy release, but that's not accurate. Both Alien and Aliens received excellent restoration jobs, fans got uncut versions of the Quadrilogy's documentaries, and there was a lot more content to explore as well. It's practically impossible to top the Alien Anthology.
1 LORD OF THE RINGS: EXTENDED EDITION COLLECTION
If you're a youngster reading this, then chances are you missed seeing the original Fellowship Of The Ring in theaters, which was an indescribable experience. Lord Of The Rings became Star Wars for an entirely new generation, and we couldn't get enough. Think of how we felt when an Extended Edition DVD was announced in the aftermath of the theatrical home release!
Each film in the trilogy would get the treatment, which finally culminated in a collector's edition box set. New Line would double-dip in 2011 with a Blu-Ray version, dialing things up to superior HD quality. Although the content remained the same as the original release, we were happy to experience the Extended Editions in Blu-Ray quality. With over 2 hours of total footage cut back into the trilogy, it remains the definitive way to experience the Lord Of The Rings movies, but the real magic lies in its hours upon hours of behind the scenes documentaries, which are heartfelt and spectacular.
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