TheaterByte’s 2025 Holiday Gift Guide

Estimated reading time: 13 minutes

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As another year draws to its conclusion, what better way to savor the winter the holidays than with the gift of picture, sound and bountiful extras that only physical media can deliver? In 2025 there are anniversaries, debuts, vast menageries and state-of-the-art Dolby Vision/Dolby Atmos gems just waiting to be unwrapped, with a couple of surprises to boot.

Peanuts: 75th Anniversary Ultimate TV Specials Collection DVD or Blu-ray (Warner)

Why settle for one holiday when you can have ‘em all… and then some? When I was a kid, I thought that the Peanuts specials were what the TV was invented for, and thankfully the number of programs grew so we always had something to look forward to, year-round. Most famous is the one that started it all, A Charlie Brown Christmas, now celebrating its 60th anniversary, later joined by celebrations of Halloween, Thanksgiving, Valentine’s and even Arbor Day, but also the personal trials and tribulations of everyman loser Chuck.

 Some I haven’t seen in ages, others I didn’t even know existed. Most of the 40 specials on these five discs originally aired in half-hour timeslots, first on CBS and then on ABC:

• A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)
• Charlie Brown’s All Stars! (1966)
• It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966)
• You’re in Love, Charlie Brown (1967)
• He’s Your Dog, Charlie Brown (1968)
• It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown (1969)
• Play It Again, Charlie Brown (1971)
• You’re Not Elected, Charlie Brown (1972)
• There’s No Time for Love, Charlie Brown (1973)
• A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (1973)
• It’s a Mystery, Charlie Brown (1974)
• It’s the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown (1974)
• Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown (1975)
• You’re a Good Sport, Charlie Brown (1975)
• It’s Arbor Day, Charlie Brown (1976)
• It’s Your First Kiss, Charlie Brown (1977)
• What a Nightmare, Charlie Brown (1978)
• You’re the Greatest, Charlie Brown (1979)
• She’s a Good Skate, Charlie Brown (1980)
• Life Is a Circus, Charlie Brown (1980)
• It’s Magic, Charlie Brown (1981)
• Someday You’ll Find Her, Charlie Brown (1981)
• A Charlie Brown Celebration (1982)
• Is This Goodbye, Charlie Brown? (1983)
• It’s an Adventure, Charlie Brown (1983)
• What Have We Learned, Charlie Brown? (1983)
• It’s Flashbeagle, Charlie Brown (1984)
• Snoopy’s Getting Married, Charlie Brown (1985)
• You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown (1985)
• Happy New Year, Charlie Brown! (1986)
• Why, Charlie Brown, Why? (1990)
• Snoopy’s Reunion (1991)
• It’s Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown (1992)
• It’s Spring Training, Charlie Brown (1996)
• A Charlie Brown Valentine (2002)
• Charlie Brown’s Christmas Tales (2002)
• Lucy Must Be Traded, Charlie Brown (2003)
• I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown (2003)
• He’s a Bully, Charlie Brown (2006)
• Happiness Is a Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown (2011)

(There are other specials out there, but these are the 40 currently controlled by Warner for physical media release.)

The only thing better than Peanuts, of course, is more Peanuts:

The Essential Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz: The Greatest Comic Strip of All Time by Mark Evanier (Abrams ComicArts)

Over the 75 years since the first comic strip’s publication, Charles Schulz’s Peanuts has grown into an empire, spanning TV (duh), movies, stationery, snack cakes, theme parks… I could go on and on. A cross-cultural phenomenon like this deserves an equally auspicious companion volume, and Abrams ComicArts’ tribute is a worthy celebration of all that Charles Schulz hath wrought. The book is comprised primarily of the most pivotal strips from Peanuts’ long run, heavily contextualized by Evanier to give us a new appreciation for the evolution and continued relevance of Charlie Brown, his dog Snoopy and their extended friend group. What other treasures await inside the shiny, sculptural slipcase? Beside the thick hardcover resides a portfolio full of delicious tactile goodies: a comic book reproduction, a replica Apollo mission patch, postcards, frameable prints and more for us to explore and enjoy.

Shawscope Volume Four Blu-ray (Arrow Video)

Arrow’s newest limited edition tribute to the prolific Hong Kong Shaw Brothers studio charts a course for the supernatural, crossing over into some sci-fi and a touch of humor as the bros put their own fascinating spin on what Hollywood was up to at the time. (Although some of these movies actually presage American efforts.) Packed with 16 films in all–the most ever for a Shawscope box–this collection has been newly restored in 2K from the original camera negatives for these Blu-ray debuts, with upgraded Cantonese and Mandarin soundtracks, new subtitle translations and even a couple of alternate versions:

• Super Inframan (1975, in optional “Stereo-Infra-Sound” surround)
• Oily Maniac (1976)/Battle Wizard (1977)
• Black Magic (1975)/Black Magic Part 2 (1976)
• Hex (1980)/Bewitched (1981)
• Hex Vs. Witchcraft (1980)/ Hex After Hex (1982)
• Bat Without Wings (1980)/ Bloody Parrot (1981)
• The Fake Ghost Catchers (1982)/ Demon of the Lute (1983)
• Seeding of a Ghost (1983)/ Portrait in Crystal (1983)
• Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (1983)

A total of eleven new audio commentaries by esteemed critics and experts are scattered across the set, in addition to an entire tenth disc of bonus: vintage treasures plus new interviews, “appreciations” and more. Best of all, the wide, rigid slipbox, the hardbound mediabook and the 60-page softcover companion are ALL… SO… PURPLE!

But if you still say, “I WANT MAW SHAW!” …

Furious Swords and Fantastic Warriors: The Heroic Cinema of Chang Cheh Blu-ray (Eureka!)

Audiences unfamiliar with the name Chang Cheh, let this be your education. The filmmaker, often considered the godfather of Hong Kong cinema, revolutionized a genre with his emphasis on male (often tragic) heroes, and themes of brotherhood, loyalty and sacrifice. He also pushed the boundaries of action and violence, with outstanding sword and kung fu choreography. All of that and more can be found in this collection, along with some eccentric fantasy, here for the first time on Blu-ray in North America.

Each was produced at Shaw Brothers Studio, most in the mid-‘70s, known as the first golden age of martial arts movies:

• Trail of the Broken Blade (1967)
• Wandering Swordsman (1970)
• King Eagle (1971)
• Trilogy of Swordsmanship (1972, an anthology co-directed by Yueh Feng and Cheng Kang)
• Iron Bodyguard (1973)
• Men from the Monastery (1974)
• Shaolin Martial Arts (1974)
• The Fantastic Magic Baby (1975)
• New Shaolin Boxers (1976)
• The Weird Man (1983)

Neatly packaged in separate cases for the Furious and the Fantastic (two discs and three discs, respectively), the lineup features optional English subtitles newly revised for this release and an expert audio commentary for every entry (Magic Baby has two). There’s also a new interview with Hong Kong cinema scholar Wayne Wong on the life and work of Chang Cheh, plus new video essays. Only 2,000 copies are being issued, in an artful slipcase with a collector’s booklet of new writing on all ten films, so don’t sleep on this one lest your mood change from fantastic to furious.

The Americas 4K (Universal Pictures Home Entertainment)

This limited series five years in the making is culled from 180 expeditions across North and South America, using revolutionary technology to bring us an unprecedented look at some of the rarest and most elusive creatures on Earth, some never before captured on camera. Organized by different regions, the ten episodes remind us of the beauty and diversity of the land, with compelling narration by none other than Tom Hanks, and the grand score by Hans Zimmer and his Bleeding Fingers cohorts ties in seamlessly with the reference-quality 4K visuals. The provided “making of” makes for particularly intriguing viewing afterward.

Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas 25th Anniversary Edition 4K (Universal Pictures Home Entertainment)

Available now in either SteelBook or standard editions, Ron Howard’s live-action adaptation of Theodore Geisel’s timeless tale of holiday resentment and redemption has become for many a modern family tradition. There’s never been a better time to jump on The Grinch’s sleigh, as the movie has received an outstanding new native 4K, Dolby Vision/Atmos presentation for its silver anniversary, and this is a big-budget studio flick where you can really see and hear the difference. The many DVD/Blu-ray extras are ported over to this two-disc set, plus a new quarter-century retrospective with Howard, producer Brian Grazer, makeup effects genius Rick Baker and actress Taylor Momsen. (Who…? Oh, Cindy Lou….)

The Newsroom The Complete Series Blu-ray (HBO/Warner)

By 2012, Aaron Sorkin had created one show about reporting the news of the day (Sports Night) and another about hardcore American politics (The West Wing), so perhaps he thought, “Why not combine them?” Along the way, he did something very unusual which I didn’t quite grasp upon initial viewing: The Newsroom was set in the recent past, with most episodes exploring real-life news and events the way Sorkin wished they had been covered by the media, with the benefit of hindsight. And through three seasons, he made us rethink a lot of what we experienced, creating memorable, YouTube-worthy scenes and some prescient takes on global events. This being another marquee title for HBO, there are plenty of vintage featurettes to be revisited, often getting up close and personal with series anchor Jeff Daniels.

Law & Order The Complete Original Series DVD (Universal Pictures Home Entertainment)

To take in the grandiosity of these 104 discs and attempt to deny the impact that this police/legal drama has had would be, quite simply, criminal. This is the (L&)o.g. from 1990-2010, the one that started it all, with stories often inspired by headlines of the era to now give us a time capsule of not-always-pretty life in The Big Apple, as well as highlighting the changes in the job (they used to call into HQ on payphones!) Notching 456 episodes with nary a dud in the bunch, the series treated us to quite a few cast changes, each new arrival bringing a fresh approach to investigation and prosecution. (Not pictured but holding a special place for me: Michael Moriarty as executive ADA Ben Stone and Paul Sorvino as Sgt. Phil Cerreta.) The parade of up-and-coming guest stars is also legendary, as the show was apparently a lifeline to many a struggling New York actor. The set arrives with a perfect-bound episode guide and a sparse complement of extras across the DVDs: the occasional deleted scene or commentary carried forward from the individual season releases, each year neatly encased here within the impressive outer box.

When Abbot and Costello Met the Monsters on 4K (Kino Lorber Studio Classics)

When something works for you, you stick with it, and America’s favorite comedy duo kept coming back for more scary fun, facing off against several of Universal Studios’ iconic creatures. No one did hysterics like Lou Costello, Bud Abbott was the king of the straightmen, and when they threw in the occasional damsel in distress, they struck gold four times:

• Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)
• Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1951)
• Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1953)
• Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy (1955)

Meet Frankenstein was actually one of the very first official “shared cinematic universe” crossovers, as it featured Bela Lugosi’s Dracula and Lon Chaney’s Wolfman in addition to “The Monster,” here portrayed by Glenn Strange, who had inherited the role from Boris Karloff. Each is a single BD-100 disc (no HD Blu-ray), all in black-and-white and all but the 1.85:1 Mummy (the latest) are presented at 4:3. Each movie carries at least two audio commentaries (Frankenstein has three!) from a variety of informed voices, all but two of them brand-new for KLSC’s welcome Ultra HD upgrade.

Back to the Future 40th Anniversary Trilogy 4K (Universal Pictures Home Entertainment)

There’s no bad reason to revisit the much-loved Back to the Future and its two sequels, and 2025’s four-decade anniversary brings us the movies in Dolby Atmos, Dolby Vision and HDR10+. With the supplied Blu-rays of the movies and many cool extras, the trilogy has now grown to an eight-disc set with the addition of some fun featurettes on a brand-new Blu-ray bonus platter. Producer/Co-Writer Bob Gale is on-hand to wax nostalgic, lead us on a tour of memorable shooting locations, and take part in a live film festival panel; crew members share their own memories, and the hunt is on to locate Marty McFly’s long-missing red Gibson ES-345 guitar.

On the subject of music, this anniversary also calls for…

Alan Silvestri, The Back to the Future Trilogy LP (Craft Recordings/Varèse Sarabande)

The first-ever vinyl release of Silvestri’s score to Back to the Future, Part II and Part III serves up tracks from all three: Side One is dedicated solely to the original with eight essential cuts, while Side Two brings eleven more remarkably different and original cues from the sequels. This combination of the original movie soundtrack plus John Debney conducting the Royal Scottish National Orchestra on selected themes and suites results in a comprehensive high-fidelity concert-style album. Part of Craft’s 2025 Record Store Day drop, it’s pressed on “Doc Brown” vinyl in a limited edition of 3,900 copies, jacketed in previously unused poster art by the recently deceased master, Drew Struzan (RIP, sir).