Top 100 DVD Census (2005 Edition) - Vote Now For Your Top 10
 

Now that all the big releases of 2004 are out and you've gotten a chance to check out the discs and their special features, it's time again to put together a list of the Top 100 DVD Releases of All-Time. This 'census' was last done in January 2004, and the list of results was varying and certainly (in my opinion) interesting. Since this is done entirely by public vote, I have no more say in what wins than any of you! (So don't complain to me about the Lord of the Rings being #1 - I didn't pick it!

We're going to do things a little different this year by having a separate tally for films and TV on DVD.

For those of you who don't like to read a lot, post a list of your Top 10 DVD releases of all-time, and Top 5 TV on DVD releases!

Some basic guidelines:

You select the 10 DVD releases that you consider to be best overall, ranked in descending order of quality. "Best" is determined by two criteria: movie quality and DVD quality. It is meant to incorporate the DVD presentation of the film, but it's not entirely about the extras and DVD layout. Take both factors into consideration when making your selections. DVD quality includes audio/video quality plus the quality of extra features.

You select the top 5 best releases of television shows (including full season sets, miniseries, documentaries, etc.) using the same criteria.

You are voting on DVD releases, which means that The Godfather Collection is ONE vote, Toy Story & Toy Story 2: The Ultimate Toy Box is ONE vote, The Back to the Future Trilogy is ONE vote, etc. This year we will also consider a multi-film boxed set as a single vote - so the Lord of the Rings Extended Editions boxed set of all three films will count as a single entry.

Please only vote once. I'll be posting this on several Internet DVD forums as I did last year, since the idea is to make this a definitive list that the people decide. If you visit those other boards, please DO NOT vote on more than one forum.

And please be specific as to what release you are selecting. "Widescreen" version isn't necessary, but if you're voting for something like Lord of the Rings, please specify 2-Disc Theatrical or Extended Edition. I'm not really sure how to treat similar releases, such as separate DD and DTS versions (which just about never happens anymore) or something like the 4-Disc vs. 5-Disc LOTR releases and Spider-man 2-Disc vs. Collector's Set (in which the difference is mostly just physical extras). Most likely I'll just count them together, and list the more basic one with more votes with a note. In some instances, though, there might be need for separate counts (I'm thinking of something like E.T. 2-Disc vs. 3-Disc). Nonetheless, vote for what you want, I'll count them as they're voted, and I'll decide what makes the most sense once everything is tallied.

The overall Top 100 list will list the Top 100 *releases* (i.e. single items you could buy at a store) but I'll be also including a list where series sets are counted together.

Scoring is simple enough. Your 1st choice gets 10 points, 2nd choice gets 9, 3rd gets 8, and so on...onto your 10th pick, which gets 1 point. I will count your list from top (#1 - the best) to bottom (#10 - the 10th best) and ties or listing more than 10 releases will simply bump those releases off of your list - only the first ten items will be counted.

The resulting list will be the Top 100 DVDs based on points earned, and I may include a list of some DVDs that just missed the cut.

Oh and finally, if you'd like, you can include comments about why you picked what you did, which I would use on the results website.

The more representative this list is of DVD enthusiasts, the better is. The more votes, the better. Thanks!

The deadline for posting your list of 10 dvds of all-time and 5 TV-on-DVD sets is 12 February 2005

Winners will be presented on a web site sometime during the week of 20 February 2005, just in time for the Academy Awards.

You can see the results of last year's census here:

Top 100 DVDs List - 2004

FILM

1. Star Wars Trilogy
2. Lord of the Rings Trilogy Extended Edition
3. Clerks X
4. Alien Quadrilogy
5. Adventures of Indiana Jones Boxset
6. Ultimate Matrix Collection Gift Set
7. Evil Dead: Book of the Dead Edition
8. Once Upon a Time in the West
9. Superman: The Movie
10. Dawn of the Dead: Ultimate Edition

TV

1. Simpsons The Complete 5th Season
2. Futurama Vol. 4
3. Family Guy Vol. 1
4. Family Guy Vol. 2
5. Batman: The Animated Series Vol. 1

Top 10 DVD's of All-Time.
1. Godfather, The - DVD Collection
2. Lord of the Rings, The - The Motion Picture Trilogy: Special Extended Edition
3. Toy Story: The Ultimate Toy Box
4. Dawn of the Dead - Ultimate Edition
5. John Cassavetes: Five Films - The Criterion Collection
6. Fight Club - Special Edition (The most enjoyable extras ever...)
7. Se7en: Platinum Series
8. Battle of Algiers, The - The Criterion Collection
9. Once Upon a Time in the West - Special Collector's Edition
10. Rules of the Game, The - The Criterion Collection

Top 5 TV on DVD.
1. Millennium : The Complete 2nd Season
2. Simpsons, The - The Complete 05th Season
3. Simpsons, The - The Complete 04th Season
4. Curb Your Enthusiasm - The Complete 2nd Season
5. Curb Your Enthusiasm - The Complete 1st Season


*This is starting to get f'n hard...

1. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly SE
-Possibly my favourite movie, with a great release.

2. Lawrence of Arabia LE
-Another favourite movie, breath-taking visuals, and a movie that keeps you engaged throughout its long runtime; with a great release.

3. The Godfather Trilogy
-Two of my favourite movies. Flawless acting, great cinematography, blah blah the name speaks for itself.

4. Star Wars Trilogy
-Great fun, great release.

5. Casablanca SE

6. Ikiru CC
-Kurosawa is a film fans best friend.

7. Indiana Jones Trilogy
-Good fun, don't like the second one much, but the other 2 make up, along with the great transfer, etc..

8. Vertigo

9. The Shawshank Redemption SE
-Touching movie, good acting, and a fine dvd.

10. Goodfellas
-Not much in the extras department, but i'm not fan of them anyway. Great movie.

Just fell short: Citizen Kane, Rules of the Game CC, La Dolce Vita.

1. Alien Quadrilogy
2. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy EE
3. Dawn of the Dead (1978) UE
4. Fight Club SE
5. Star Wars Trilogy
6. Eraserhead
7. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas CC
8. Punch-Drunk Love
9. Moulin Rouge SE
10. Short Cuts CC

TV:

1. The Office - The Complete Series
2. Twin Peaks - The Complete First Season
3. The Simpsons - The Complete Fourth Season
4. The Ren and Stimpy Show - Seasons 1&2
5. The Simpsons - The Complete Third Season

Top 10 DVD's
01. The Seventh Seal - Criterion Collection
02. Down by Law - Criterion Collection
03. 8 1/2 - Criterion Collection
04. The Werner Herzog Collection - Anchor Bay
05. Once Upon a Time in the West - Paramount
06. Film Noir Classic Collection Vol. 1 - Warner
07. The Rules of the Game - Criterion Collection
08. Citizen Kane - Warner
09. Rushmore - Criterion Collection
10. The Godfather Collection - Paramount

Top 5 TV on DVD
01. Twin Peaks: Season 1 - Artisan
02. Curb Your Enthusiasm: Season 2 - HBO
03. Curb Your Enthusiasm: Season 1 - HBO
04. Millennium: Season 1 - Fox

Movies
1) LOTR EE Trilogy
2) Alien Quadrilogy
3) Ultimate Matrix
4) Star Wars Trilogy
5) Godfather Trilogy
6) Ultimate Toy Box
7) Indiana Jones Box
8) Shawshank Redemption LE
9) Scarface Deluxe Gift
10) Blackhawk Down Deluxe

TV
1) Band of Brothers
2) Sopranos Season Sets
3) Seinfeld Season Sets
4) Star Trek TOS Season Sets
5) X-Files Season Sets

Films:
1. Star Wars Trilogy - The "holy grail" of the trilogies finally is released (in some form) with stunning audio and video cleanup. The extras are all new, though a bit lacking.
2. Indiana Jones Trilogy - The Lucas/Spielberg adventures released with great sound and picture make it a must own.
3. Monster Legacy Giftset - Universal's Monster movies finally re-released in the form of the Legacy sets. The audio and picture quality is good, packed with the original monster movies and their sequels.
4. Godfather Trilogy - The Corleone family's 5 disc set is still up there as one of the must owns. While the audio/video could be improved on, the films are top notch seeing the rise and fall of a criminal empire, and the fifth disc is packed with features you can't refuse.
5. The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly SE - The man with no name returns to DVD in an extended version of TGTB&TU. The audio and video is very good, and the extras on it make it a must own.
6. Scarface - Cuban bad guy Tony Montana's second DVD release looks lightyears ahead of its predecessor in the form of a 2 disc special edition with deleted scenes, and new featurettes.
7. Die Hard Trilogy - Supercop John McClane battles terrorists in the three installments of the Die Hard trilogy. The 6 disc set makes Die Hard look better than ever, with a variety of extras including deleted scenes, alternate endings. And Fox produced some really nice menus with this set also.
8. Back to the Future Trilogy - Framing issues aside, Universal's BTTF set is a nice box set of the films with a nice amount of extras.
9. Fantasia Anthology - Walt Disney's animated masterpiece that was years ahead of it's time, along with its sequel spawn one of the nicest animated box sets the house of mouse has produced. With vintage animated deleted scenes, recreated storyboards from the original, as well as all the stuff put together for Fantasia 2000, the 3 disc set is one of the great releases.
10. Goodfellas SE - Scorcese's great gangster flick finally gets made by WB in the form of a two disc set, featuring featurettes about the film, as well as a commentary from former Mafioso Henry Hill.

TV Shows:
1. Walt Disney Treasures Collection - Disney's collection of material from it's vaults showcase the shorts, television programs, as well as history of the Walt Disney company from its beginnings till Walt's death, as well as many post-Walt pieces that were inspired by the man.
2. Looney Tunes Golden Collection - What could be called Warner Bros. response to the Treasures line is the Golden Collection, cartoon shorts produced by the studio featuring the entire cast of Looney Tunes. Each set features 4 discs loaded with shorts and extra features.
(Those 2 I put here because I wasn't sure if they were supposed to be put with theatrical releases or tv shows, especially the Treasures line. If these shouldn't be here, I'll remove them.)
3. Seinfeld - The show about nothing has a DVD with everything including cast and creator commentray, as well as deleted and extended scenes on many of the episodes. Finally the most anticipated TV show arrives and doesn't disappoint.
4. Family Guy - Love it or hate it, the 2 volumes of Family Guy are loaded with features, and so enormously popular Fox decided to bring it back from the dead this year.
5. The Simpsons - Loaded with extras, and now the release time seems to be speeding up, the Simpsons will be a very popular TV series on DVD for a long time to come.

Honorable Mentions:
James Bond Collection (Multiple Volumes, MGM) - only reason why they didn't make the cut is because their picture quality is lacking.
Anchorman Giftset - A alright movie with some memorable lines, the creators treat us to an entire second film made from dropped subplots, and each film is stacked with deleted scenes, outtakes, and other features making it worthy of mentioning.
Ultimate Ric Flair Collection - Still the most extensive release the WWE has put out on a wrestler.

Movies:

1. "Star Wars" Trilogy
(Far and away the best set of DVD's in the history of the medium. The long wait and eager anticipation has created a set that will be cherished and coveted for some time to come. Regardless of the "changes", the 3 movies speak for themselves. They are three of the greatest films in cinematic history. They transcend every genre they encompass...drama, action/adventure, sci-fi/fantasy, and even comedy. The picture and audio quality have now become the "show-off" DVD's of one's collection. Now, with extras that include commentary by George Lucas, documentaries that have themselves become classics, and so much more, this is the set to compare and severly humble all other DVD sets to come.)

2. "Lord of the Rings" Extended Edition DVD Sets
3. "The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly" 2-Disc Collector's Edition
4. "Dawn of the Dead" Ultimate Edition
5. "Die Hard" 5-Star Edition
6. "A Bug's Life" Collector's Edition
7. "Alien" Quadrilogy
8. "Scarface" Anniversary Edition
9. "Adventures of Indiana Jones" Complete Movie Collection
10. "The Lion King" Platinum Edition

TV:

1. "My So Called Life" Complete Series
2. "V: The Final Battle"
3. "V: The Original Miniseries"
4. "Freak and Geeks" Complete Series
5. "Friends: Best Of" 4 DVD Set

1. Lord of the Rings EE Trilogy
2. Warner Legends Collection (Adventures of Robin Hood, Yankee Doodle Dandy, Treasure of Sierra Madre)
3. Gone with the Wind - 4 disc SE
4. Alien Quadrilogy
5. The Ultimate Matrix Collection
6. Star Wars Trilogy
7. Casablanca - 2 Disc SE
8. Alfred Hitchcock Signature Collection
9. Citizen Kane - 2 Disc SE
10. Looney Tunes Golden Gollection Volume 1

Top 5 TV on DVD
1. Family Guy Volume 1
2. The Simpsons - Season 5
3. Seinfeld - Seasons 1,2,3 Boxset
4. Band of Brothers
5. Family Guy Volume 2

TV
1. Looney Tunes Golden Collection V.1/2
2. Looney Tunes Golden Collection V.1/2

I'll just toss these out there, i never buy TV on dvd but these are great. Put either one in either spot, i don't care.

these aren't tv....they were theatrical release in their day...before features...though the last few generations have come to love them on tv

i need to make a list for this....working on it

Yeah i guess you're right. I would still think he'll consider them as TV on dvd. If not, no biggie.

TV on DVD
1.FRIENDS:Season 5, 7, 8
2.Clerks:Uncensored "I can watch these over and over,great show,great dvd"
3.Alias:Season 3
4.Batman:The Animated Series Vol.1
5.Alias:Season 1

All time
1.Dawn of The Dead:Ultimate Edition "When there's no more room in hell.... Anchor Bay will kick ass"
2.Alien Quadrilogy
3.Lord of The Rings Trilogy:Extended Edition
4.Ultimate Matrix Collection
5.Freddy vs Jason:Platinum Series
6.Ultimate Tox Box-Toy Story "Disney/Pixar did it right!"
7.Terminator 2:Ultimate Edition "My 1st DVD,and what a good choice. I love it,much better than Extreme"
8.Clerks.X
9.Spider-Man 2:Special Edition
10.Friday The 13th:Ultimate Collection

Note:There are some I have yet to see,like Fight Club,Videodrome,Superman,and others. Worst part. I own all 3 :( So who knows,this might change this time next year....

Top 10 DVDs
1. LOTR Extended Edition Trilogy
2. Ultimate Matrix
3. Star Wars Trilogy
4. Die Hard - The Ultimate Collection
5. Fight Club - Special Edition
6. Alien Quadrilogy
7. Tombstone - Alta Vista Series
8. Lethal Weapon Legacy - Directors Cut 3 Pack
9. Shawshank Redemption - Deluxe Limited Edition
10. Reservoir Dogs - Mr Pink Ten Year Anniversary Special Edition

TV shows on DVD
1. Alias Season 2
2. Alias Season 1
3. Simpsons Season 4
4. Sopranos Season 2
5. Band of Brothers

I'd like to make another note. These are some runners up....

Evil Dead:BOTD
Evil Dead II
Army of Darkness:Boomstick Edition
Friday The 13th:Ultimate Collection
A Nightmare On Elm Street Collection
Die Hard Trilogy:Ultimate Collection
Mallrats:CE
Chasing Amy:CC
Dogma:SE
X-Men:1.5
X-Men 2:SE
Spider-Man 2:SE
Back To The Future Trilogy:SE
Leon-The Professional:DE
Fifth Element:UE
Shaun of The Dead
Anchorman:Gift Set
Independence Day:5SE
Robocop:CC

All great DVDs that just didn't make the cut. I love all of them tho.

<b>TV Releases</b>
1. Arrested Development (Season 1)
2. Curb Your Enthusiasm (Season 1)
3. Curb Your Enthusiasm (Season 2)
4. Seinfeld Gift Box (Seasons 1, 2, & 3)
5. NYPD Blue (Season 1)

<b>DVD Releases</b>
1. Fight Club (2 Disc)
2. Alien Quadrilogy
3. Ultimate Matrix Collection
4. Garden State
5. Panic Room (3 Disc)
6. Pulp Fiction SE
7. Clerks X
8. Spider-Man 2
9. Boogie Nights (2 Disc)
10. Royal Tenenbaums (Criterion)

For the TV sets, you should probably include <b>which specific season</b> it is. I noticed that two users above didn't, those votes probably wouldn't be counted, since the poll is for SINGLE DVD releases.

Top 10 DVD's
1. Star Wars Trilogy
2. Indiana Jones Trilogy
3. The Thing CE
4. Dawn of the Dead UE
5. Fast Times at Ridgemont High CE
6. Valley Girl SE
7. E.T. - The Extra-Terrestrial Giftset
8. The Fog SE
9. Superman SE
10. Friday the 13th Box Set


Top 5 TV
1. Dawson's Creek Seaon 1
2. Dawsons Creek Season 4
3. What's Happening Season 1
4. Little House on the Prairie Season 1
5. Freaks and Geeks Yearbook Edition

Sequence is fudged...

01. Three Colors Trilogy
02. Treasure of the Sierra Madre
03. Ikiru
04. Citizen Kane
05. Fanny & Alexander (5 Disc Set)
06. Film Noir Box (Warner)
07. Dekalog
08. Superman: The Movie
09. Shawshank Redemption (SE)
10. Unforgiven (SE)

TV List:

01. Simpsons (Season 4)
02. Rocky & Bullwinkle (Season 1)
03. Star Trek: The Next Generation (Season 4)
04. Carl Sagan's Cosmos
05. Twilight Zone (Definitive Collection, Season 1)

1. Lord of the Rings (EE)
2. Beatles Anthology
3. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (Criterion)
4. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (Special Edition)
5. Dawn of the Dead (4 disc)
6. Brazil (Criterion)
7. Fight Club (2 Disc)
8. Toy Box (Toy Story 1 and 2)
9. The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly (2 Disc)
10. Talking Heads - Stop Making Sense

TV on DVDVDVDVDVDVDVD:
1. Monty Python's Flying Circus
2. The Richard Pyror Show
3. Mr. Show season three.
4. Looney Tunes Golden Collection vol 2.
5. Freaks and Geeks (regular edition)

EDIT: For box sets, should they at least have something special added to them? Amazon sells a box set of the Criterion Collection, so would voting for that make it the best DVD of all time? I understand grouping LOTR together, so they aren't 1-3 like they would have been, and grouping Toy Story together because they add a new disc of bonuses, but box sets like the Kurosawa Samurai Films from Criterion, High School Reunion 3 pack, the Hitchcock Criterion Box set, the three pack of Warner movies released last year (Yankee Doodle Dandy, the other two). Those are just movies in the box, and should be counted as a seperate entry, right?

Movies
1. Lord of the Rings Extended Editions
2. Star Wars Trilogy
3. Alien Quadrilogy
4. Clerks X
5. Lion King Platinum Edition
6. Black Hawk Down (3 disc)
7. Godfather Trilogy
8. T-2 Ultimate Edition
9. ET Ultimate Gift Box
10. West Side Story

Television
1. Band of Brothers
2. Seinfeld
3. Futurama
4. Transformers G1
5. Sopranos

Movies

1. Star wars trilogy
2. Dawn of the Dead - Ultimate Edition
3. Godfather trilogy
4. Lord of the rings extended editions
5. Indiana Jones trilogy
6. Alien Quadrilogy
7. Matrix collection
8. Fight club 2 disks
9. Clerks x
10. goodfellas SE

TV
1. Six feet under S2
2. Sopranos S3
3. Band of brothers
4. 24 Season 3
5. Taken

TV
1.Band of Brothers
2.Family Guy vol1
3.Family Guy vol2

DVD
1.Lord of the Rings EE
2.Walt Disney Treasures "On the Front Lines"
3.Ultimate Toy Box
4.Ultimate Matrix Collection
5.Star Wars Trilogy
6.Snow White and the Seven Dwarves
7.Evil Dead Book of the Dead
8.Fantasia Anthology
9.Goodfellas SE
10.Godfather Collection

Yes, Disney makes some of the best DVDs onthe market

I also pehaps failed to make clear that you could ALSO include TV DVDs in the main count with the others - I just wanted to keep a separate tally of TV on DVD, as many requested last year. But the Top 100 list is for the top 100 releases regardless of genre.

If you don't list a season I will just make it season 1 of whatever show you mention.