Year In Review: Most Memorable DVDs in 2005

Closing off the year’s list, the following are the list of the most memorable DVDs that I purchased this year. In 2005 alone, I must have purchased about 60 DVD titles from Amazon.com which I’m afraid to total up to find out how much I’ve spent there this year. I’ve noticed that I have been buy more TV shows on DVD season sets this year and less of the movie releases like I did last year. This of course means that I spent more per DVD title this year that I did last year.

I do not include the DVDs that I bought from Low Yat Plaza for obvious reasons. The number of DVDs bought this year would surely double if they were included.

My list of the most memorable DVDs released in 2005 in no particular order is:

Farscape: Starburst Editions
I loved this TV series when it was aired on TV2 two years back but I missed quite a few episodes of the seasons that they did show. They were already selling single disk DVDs with 2 episodes each on Amazon.com for this series but I decided to wait for a full season release even though I really wanted to watch it. It was good that I did that because the re-released the series in their “Starburst Edition” that had around 7 episode in each package. Good audio and video transfers, better price point and fairly decent supplementary material made the wait to get the Starburst editions as good choice.

Twilight Zone: Definitive Editions
These sets were a dream came through for me. I have always wanted to watch all the episodes of the classic “Twilight Zone” TV shows and with these sets I finally can in the comfort of my own living room. Like the “Farscape” series, they were previously released in smaller increments in single disks DVD releases but having all of them grouped in season sets is a fanboy’s dream.

East of Eden - Limited Edition & Rebel Without a Cause - Limited Edition
I’ve always been a big fan of James Dean and for his DVDs to be released on the 50th anniversary of his first film, they were a sure bet to be included in my DVD library. I was looking forward in particular for the “East of Eden – Limited Edition” as it was the only of his films never released on DVD before. These two limited edition DVDs in particular were lovingly made and are worth additions to James Dean’s fans the world over.

Lost - The Complete First Season
Love it or hate it, “Lost” is a compelling TV series to watch. On the DVD season 1 set, “Lost” is nigh irresistible to go through. There is a wealth of supplementary material in the box set that would satisfy even the most fanatic of “Lost” fans. With this DVD set, fans of the show would get to scrutinize every detail at their own leisure to find out the clues of what is actually happening to the characters. I have to say that this is one of the best TV shows on DVD set that I’ve seen yet.

The Outsiders - The Complete Novel (Two-Disc Special Edition)
Another personal favorite of mine, I have actually bought a copy of this film on DVD before. While I made it a policy not to support “double-dip” DVD releases, it was hard to resist this one as it had restore deleted scenes reincorporated back into the film. While there were the issues of some ill-advice music changes, a well rounded supplementary material and commentary track made it worth while to get copies of both versions of DVDs.

I guess this will be the last of the list for this year at least. It has been a fun exercise to look back on a few of my favorite things and share the ones that I would recommend to others. I may plan to do this again next year if all goes well.