#9: Rise of the Guardians (Two-Disc Combo: Blu-ray/DVD/Digital Copy +UltraViolet)

Rise of the Guardians (Two-Disc Combo: Blu-ray/DVD/Digital Copy +UltraViolet)
Format: Blu-ray
(17)

Buy new: $39.99 $24.99
12 used & new from $14.00

(Visit the Most Gifted in Blu-ray list for authoritative information on this product's current rank.)

Product Images

Review & Description

2013 Golden Globe® Nominee, Best Animated Feature Film
10 Annie Award Nominations, including Best Animated Feature

A magical and heartwarming adventure for the whole family!Based on William Joyce's the Guardians of Childhood book series, Rise of the Guardians is a gorgeously animated film about Boogeyman Pitch Black's attempts to spread darkness and fear throughout the world and the guardians' attempts to foil him. Charged with the duty of watching over the children of the world, guardians Sandman, North, Tooth, and E. Aster Bunnymund are loved by children everywhere. When the Man in the Moon appoints Jack Frost to be the newest guardian, the other guardians doubt that Jack can be of much help against Pitch, especially considering that the children don't even believe in Jack Frost's existence. But when Pitch prevents Tooth from collecting the children's teeth, keeps E. Aster Bunnymund from hiding eggs on Easter, and turns the children's happy dreams into nightmares, the guardians realize that they're going to need all the help they can get. The children stop believing in the guardians one by one, and the question that remains is what can one fun-loving, somewhat immature boy with the power to freeze everything he touches possibly do to counteract the fear and darkness enveloping the world? The animation effects are excellent in this film--especially the images of frost and ice spreading across ponds and windowpanes. The characters are interestingly quirky, the action is constant and well paced, and the considerable voice talent includes Alec Baldwin, Chris Pine, Jude Law, Isla Fisher, and Hugh Jackman. A familiarity with the books aids deeper understanding of characters like North and Sandman, but viewers unfamiliar with the books will have no problem enjoying this film. (Ages 7 and older) --Tami Horiuchi Read more

Find out More for the best price at Amazon

#4: Wreck-It Ralph (Two-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo)

Wreck-It Ralph (Two-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo)
John C. Reilly (Actor), Sarah Silverman (Actor), Rich Moore (Director) | Format: Blu-ray
(813)
Release Date: March 5, 2013

Buy new: $39.99 $17.99
21 used & new from $17.99

(Visit the Hot New Releases in Blu-ray list for authoritative information on this product's current rank.)

Review & Description

Prepare for adventure when 'the most original film in years' (Bryan Erdy, CBS-TV) that thrilled audiences of all ages drops on Blu-ray! From Walt Disney Animation Studios comes a hilarious, arcade-game-hopping journey in Disney's Wreck-It Ralph. For decades, Ralph has played the bad guy in his popular video game. In a bold move, he embarks on an action-packed adventure and sets out to prove to everyone that he is a true hero with a big heart. As he explores exciting new worlds, he teams up with some unlikely new friends including feisty misfit Vanellope von Schweetz. Then, when an evil enemy threatens their world, Ralph realizes he holds the fate of the entire arcade in his massive hands. Featuring an all-star voice cast and breakthrough bonus features that take you even deeper into the world of video games, Disney's Wreck-It Ralph has something for every player.Wreck-It Ralph is a very funny film about an arcade game "bad guy" (John C. Reilly) who's tired of being overshadowed by "good guy" Fix-It Felix Jr. (Jack McBrayer) and goes game jumping while the arcade is closed in an attempt to reinvent himself. Felix heads out to drag the oversize Ralph back to their own game, and the pair travels through a time warp of arcade games from the past 30 years that's absolutely hilarious and will cause you to never look at an electrical outlet or surge protector in the same way again. Ralph first lands in the action game "Hero's Duty," where he gets to live his dream and fight the bad guys--he even gets his hands on a hero's medal. Ralph's next stop in "Sugar Rush" yields some unexpected pitfalls that include quicksand that consists of a familiar chocolaty drink mix and a glitch called Vanellope (Sarah Silverman) who has the potential to change everything--both in her game and in Ralph's future. Little does Ralph know that he's unwittingly carried and released a cybug from the world of Hero's Duty into the Sugar Rush landscape, where it will soon multiply and threaten to take down every game in the arcade. Luckily Sergeant Calhoun (Jane Lynch), with the newly besotted Felix close at hand, is in pursuit with a plan to eradicate the pesky bugs. What makes this film so hilarious is the avalanche of subtle, and not-so-subtle references to past arcade games (think Pac-Man and Q*bert) and the clever comic exaggeration of everything from teaching someone to drive a stick shift to creating a volcanic eruption with Mentos and diet cola. The animation is great, the humor abundant, and the lessons that everybody's got a job to do and it's important to love yourself aren't bad either. (Ages 5 and older) --Tami Horiuchi Read more

Find out More for the best price at Amazon

#5: Django Unchained [Blu-ray]

Django Unchained [Blu-ray]
Jamie Foxx (Actor), Christoph Waltz (Actor), Quentin Tarantino (Director) | Format: Blu-ray
(135)
Release Date: April 16, 2013

Buy new: $39.99 $22.99

(Visit the Most Wished For in Blu-ray list for authoritative information on this product's current rank.)

Product Images

Review & Description

Django (Academy Award® winner Jamie Foxx) a former slave-turned-hired gun heads back to the plantation to free his wife, Broomhilda (Kerry Washington), from a tyrannical plantation owner Calvin Candie (Academy Award® nominee Leonardo DiCaprio),with the help of a German bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz (Academy Award® winner Christoph Waltz).From the moment Jamie Foxx throws off a filthy, tattered blanket to reveal a richly muscled back crisscrossed with long scars, it's obvious that Django Unchained will be both true to its exploitation roots but also clear-eyed about the misery that's being exploited. Django (Foxx), a slave set free in the years before the Civil War, joins with a German dentist-turned-bounty hunter (the marvelous Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds), who has promised to help Django rescue his wife (Kerry Washington), who's still enslaved to a gleeful and grandiose plantation owner (Leonardo DiCaprio, plainly relishing the opportunity to play an out-and-out villain). What follows is a wild and woolly ride, crammed with all the pleasures one expects from a revenge fantasy written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. Plot-wise, some things happen a little too easily (for example, Django instantly becomes a master gunslinger), but the moral perspective is not glib. For all its lurid violence and jazzy dialogue, this is a still-rare movie that paints slavery for what it was: a brutal, dehumanizing practice that allowed a privileged few to profit from the suffering of many, a practice guaranteed by the gun and the whip. Think of it as the antidote to Gone with the Wind. Tarantino is more heartfelt in Django Unchained than in any of his previous movies--without sacrificing any of the pell-mell action, tension, and delicious language that made Reservoir Dogs, Kill Bill, and Pulp Fiction so very enjoyable. --Bret Fetzer Read more

Find out More for the best price at Amazon

#5: Argo (Blu-ray/DVD Combo+UltraViolet Digital Copy)

Argo (Blu-ray/DVD Combo+UltraViolet Digital Copy)
Ben Affleck (Actor), Bryan Cranston (Actor), Ben Affleck (Director) | Format: Blu-ray
(1676)

Buy new: $35.99 $14.99
13 used & new from $14.99

(Visit the Best Sellers in Blu-ray list for authoritative information on this product's current rank.)

Product Images

Review & Description

Based on real events the dramatic thriller "Argo" chronicles the life-or-death covert operation to rescue six Americans which unfolded behind the scenes of the Iran hostage crisis focusing on the little-known role that the CIA and Hollywood played-information that was not declassified until many years after the event. On November 4 1979 as the Iranian revolution reaches its boiling point militants storm the U.S. Embassy in Tehran taking 52 Americans hostage. But in the midst of the chaos six Americans manage to slip away and find refuge in the home of Canadian Ambassador Ken Taylor. Knowing it is only a matter of time before the six are found out and likely killed the Canadian and American governments ask the CIA to intervene. The CIA turns to their top "exfiltration" specialist Tony Mendez to come up with a plan to get the six Americans safely out of the country. A plan so incredible it could only happen in the movies Read more

Find out More for the best price at Amazon

#8: The Bible: The Epic Miniseries [Blu-ray]

The Bible: The Epic Miniseries [Blu-ray]
Format: Blu-ray
(111)
Release Date: April 2, 2013

Buy new: $69.99 $34.96

(Visit the Hot New Releases in Blu-ray list for authoritative information on this product's current rank.)

Review & Description

From Executive Producers Roma Downey and Mark Burnett comes The Bible — an epic 10-part miniseries retelling stories from the Scriptures for a whole new generation. Breathtaking in scope and scale, The Bible features powerful performances, exotic locales and dazzling visual effects that breathe spectacular life into the dramatic tales of faith and courage from Genesis through Revelation. This historic television event is sure to entertain and inspire the whole family. Read more

Find out More for the best price at Amazon

#4: Rise of the Guardians (Two-Disc Combo: Blu-ray/DVD/Digital Copy +UltraViolet)

Rise of the Guardians (Two-Disc Combo: Blu-ray/DVD/Digital Copy +UltraViolet)
Format: Blu-ray
(11)

Buy new: $39.99 $14.99
8 used & new from $14.99

(Visit the Best Sellers in Blu-ray list for authoritative information on this product's current rank.)

Product Images

Review & Description

2013 Golden Globe® Nominee, Best Animated Feature Film
10 Annie Award Nominations, including Best Animated Feature

A magical and heartwarming adventure for the whole family!Based on William Joyce's the Guardians of Childhood book series, Rise of the Guardians is a gorgeously animated film about Boogeyman Pitch Black's attempts to spread darkness and fear throughout the world and the guardians' attempts to foil him. Charged with the duty of watching over the children of the world, guardians Sandman, North, Tooth, and E. Aster Bunnymund are loved by children everywhere. When the Man in the Moon appoints Jack Frost to be the newest guardian, the other guardians doubt that Jack can be of much help against Pitch, especially considering that the children don't even believe in Jack Frost's existence. But when Pitch prevents Tooth from collecting the children's teeth, keeps E. Aster Bunnymund from hiding eggs on Easter, and turns the children's happy dreams into nightmares, the guardians realize that they're going to need all the help they can get. The children stop believing in the guardians one by one, and the question that remains is what can one fun-loving, somewhat immature boy with the power to freeze everything he touches possibly do to counteract the fear and darkness enveloping the world? The animation effects are excellent in this film--especially the images of frost and ice spreading across ponds and windowpanes. The characters are interestingly quirky, the action is constant and well paced, and the considerable voice talent includes Alec Baldwin, Chris Pine, Jude Law, Isla Fisher, and Hugh Jackman. A familiarity with the books aids deeper understanding of characters like North and Sandman, but viewers unfamiliar with the books will have no problem enjoying this film. (Ages 7 and older) --Tami Horiuchi Read more

Find out More for the best price at Amazon

#3: Argo (Blu-ray/DVD Combo+UltraViolet Digital Copy)

Argo (Blu-ray/DVD Combo+UltraViolet Digital Copy)
Ben Affleck (Actor), Bryan Cranston (Actor), Ben Affleck (Director) | Format: Blu-ray
(1593)

Buy new: $35.99 $14.99
13 used & new from $14.99

(Visit the Best Sellers in Blu-ray list for authoritative information on this product's current rank.)

Product Images

Review & Description

Based on real events the dramatic thriller "Argo" chronicles the life-or-death covert operation to rescue six Americans which unfolded behind the scenes of the Iran hostage crisis focusing on the little-known role that the CIA and Hollywood played-information that was not declassified until many years after the event. On November 4 1979 as the Iranian revolution reaches its boiling point militants storm the U.S. Embassy in Tehran taking 52 Americans hostage. But in the midst of the chaos six Americans manage to slip away and find refuge in the home of Canadian Ambassador Ken Taylor. Knowing it is only a matter of time before the six are found out and likely killed the Canadian and American governments ask the CIA to intervene. The CIA turns to their top "exfiltration" specialist Tony Mendez to come up with a plan to get the six Americans safely out of the country. A plan so incredible it could only happen in the movies Read more

Find out More for the best price at Amazon

#10: Cloud Atlas [Blu-ray]

Cloud Atlas [Blu-ray]
Tom Hanks (Actor), Halle Berry (Actor), Lana Wachowski (Director), Tom Tykwer (Director) | Format: Blu-ray
(77)
Release Date: May 14, 2013

Buy new: $35.99 $21.86

(Visit the Most Wished For in Blu-ray list for authoritative information on this product's current rank.)

Product Images

Review & Description

Future. Present. Past. Everything is connected. An exploration of how the actions of individual lives impact one another in the past, present and future, as one soul is shaped from a killer into a hero, and an act of kindness ripples across centuries to inspire a revolution.The story is a time-shifting weave of six interlinking narratives, with diverse settings from the savagery of a Pacific Island in the 1850s to a dystopian Korea of the near future. Based on the New York Times best-selling novel "Cloud Atlas" written by David Mitchell.You've got to give it up for a movie that goes the big-canvas route and then some: Cloud Atlas is a mega-project, a star-studded near-three-hour opus that reaches for deep metaphysical meaning. And instead of one story, the movie adapted from David Mitchell's novel features six interlocking narratives, ranging from a 19th-century seafaring yarn to a pair of futuristic dystopias (one high-tech, the other a postapocalyptic return to barbarism). To emphasize the themes of eternal recurrence and transmigrating souls, the hard-working actors play multiple roles across these timelines, so you get to see Tom Hanks and Halle Berry et al. ensconced in a variety of makeup and prosthetics. This includes casting across gender and race, which means if you've ever wondered how Hugo Weaving would look as a tough female nurse, or Jim Sturgess as an Asian action hero, this is your chance. (Coming across best are a sprightly Jim Broadbent, a mournful Ben Whishaw, and a genuinely haunting Doona Bae.) This tapestry is so large it required three directors: Andy and Lana Wachowski, and Tom Tykwer, who applied all their talent to a project that, the more it goes on, begins to resemble a kind of glossy New Age seminar complete with chase scenes. Cloud Atlas is often fun to watch just for the sheer ambition of it, in the way you'd watch a circus act full of dangerous stunts… but nonsense dressed in highfalutin clothes is still nonsense, and in the end the approach feels more than a little silly. --Robert Horton Read more

Find out More for the best price at Amazon

#3: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (Blu-ray 3D/Blu-ray/DVD + UltraViolet Digital Copy Combo Pack)

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (Blu-ray 3D/Blu-ray/DVD + UltraViolet Digital Copy Combo Pack)
Ian McKellen (Actor), Martin Freeman (Actor), Peter Jackson (Director) | Format: Blu-ray
(437)
Release Date: March 19, 2013

Buy new: $44.95 $27.99
5 used & new from $27.48

(Visit the Hot New Releases in Blu-ray list for authoritative information on this product's current rank.)

Product Images

Review & Description

The adventure follows the journey of title character Bilbo Baggins, who is swept into an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor from the fearsome dragon Smaug. Approached out of the blue by the wizard Gandalf the Grey, Bilbo finds himself joining a company of thirteen dwarves led by the legendary warrior, Thorin Oakenshield. Their journey will take them into the Wild; through treacherous lands swarming with Goblins and Orcs, deadly Wargs and Sorcerers. Although their goal lies to the East and the wastelands of the Lonely Mountain, first they must escape the goblin tunnels, where Bilbo meets the creature that will change his life forever Gollum. Here, alone with Gollum, on the shores of an underground lake, the unassuming Bilbo Baggins not only discovers depths of ingenuity and courage that surprise even him, he also gains possession of Gollum's "precious" ring that holds unexpected and useful qualities A simple, gold ring that is tied to the fate of all Middle-earth in ways Bilbo cannot begin to know.

©2013 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY and THE HOBBIT, names of the characters, items, events and places therein are trademarks of The Saul Zaentz Company d/b/a Middle-earth Enterprises under license to New Line Productions, Inc. All rights reserved.A fellow named Bilbo Baggins lives in the Shire--but perhaps you've made his acquaintance already? If you're familiar with J.R.R. Tolkien's epic Lord of the Rings trilogy, and the films that Peter Jackson wrought from them, of course you have. And here is Bilbo, played again by Ian Holm, shuffling about his hobbit hole and recalling a grand adventure from his past, when he left the Shire with a wizard and some dwarves and found a certain ring and a very peculiar creature named Gollum. This is The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, which Jackson and his LOTR crew have expanded on from Tolkien's 1937 novel. And boy, have they expanded: this 169-minute escapade is merely the first of three separate movies made from that one book, and it gets the young Bilbo (played by Martin Freeman) only a little ways into his grand trek. Many loud, garish battles and chases fill the time, along with some (it pains one to say it) fairly tedious adolescent-level humor. Jackson tends to dally with scenes that might have been more effective in half the time, and the bumptious dwarves are some of the least charming characters in the Tolkieniad. Thank goodness, there's Gollum (played, as before, by the digitally transformed Andy Serkis), who shares a riddle-trading scene with Bilbo that sends genuine shivers up the spine. Ian McKellen returns as Gandalf, and a few other LOTR folk make cameos, but the more An Unexpected Journey goes on, the less you sense the magic afoot. Despite the fun moments, this feels like a prologue for the actual movie, which is still to come. (Originally released on many screens in 3-D, the film was also showcased in some theaters in a pioneering format that increased the clarity of the image--or made it look like a soap opera, depending on your receptiveness to the flat, frictionless technology.) --Robert Horton Read more

Find out More for the best price at Amazon

#4: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (Blu-ray/DVD + UltraViolet Digital Copy Combo Pack)

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (Blu-ray/DVD + UltraViolet Digital Copy Combo Pack)
Ian McKellen (Actor), Martin Freeman (Actor), Peter Jackson (Director) | Format: Blu-ray
(309)

Buy new: $35.99 $21.99
18 used & new from $21.99

(Visit the Most Gifted in Blu-ray list for authoritative information on this product's current rank.)

Product Images

Review & Description

The adventure follows the journey of title character Bilbo Baggins, who is swept into an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor from the fearsome dragon Smaug. Approached out of the blue by the wizard Gandalf the Grey, Bilbo finds himself joining a company of thirteen dwarves led by the legendary warrior, Thorin Oakenshield. Their journey will take them into the Wild; through treacherous lands swarming with Goblins and Orcs, deadly Wargs and Sorcerers. Although their goal lies to the East and the wastelands of the Lonely Mountain, first they must escape the goblin tunnels, where Bilbo meets the creature that will change his life forever Gollum. Here, alone with Gollum, on the shores of an underground lake, the unassuming Bilbo Baggins not only discovers depths of ingenuity and courage that surprise even him, he also gains possession of Gollum's "precious" ring that holds unexpected and useful qualities A simple, gold ring that is tied to the fate of all Middle-earth in ways Bilbo cannot begin to know.

©2013 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY and THE HOBBIT, names of the characters, items, events and places therein are trademarks of The Saul Zaentz Company d/b/a Middle-earth Enterprises under license to New Line Productions, Inc. All rights reserved.A fellow named Bilbo Baggins lives in the Shire--but perhaps you've made his acquaintance already? If you're familiar with J.R.R. Tolkien's epic Lord of the Rings trilogy, and the films that Peter Jackson wrought from them, of course you have. And here is Bilbo, played again by Ian Holm, shuffling about his hobbit hole and recalling a grand adventure from his past, when he left the Shire with a wizard and some dwarves and found a certain ring and a very peculiar creature named Gollum. This is The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, which Jackson and his LOTR crew have expanded on from Tolkien's 1937 novel. And boy, have they expanded: this 169-minute escapade is merely the first of three separate movies made from that one book, and it gets the young Bilbo (played by Martin Freeman) only a little ways into his grand trek. Many loud, garish battles and chases fill the time, along with some (it pains one to say it) fairly tedious adolescent-level humor. Jackson tends to dally with scenes that might have been more effective in half the time, and the bumptious dwarves are some of the least charming characters in the Tolkieniad. Thank goodness, there's Gollum (played, as before, by the digitally transformed Andy Serkis), who shares a riddle-trading scene with Bilbo that sends genuine shivers up the spine. Ian McKellen returns as Gandalf, and a few other LOTR folk make cameos, but the more An Unexpected Journey goes on, the less you sense the magic afoot. Despite the fun moments, this feels like a prologue for the actual movie, which is still to come. (Originally released on many screens in 3-D, the film was also showcased in some theaters in a pioneering format that increased the clarity of the image--or made it look like a soap opera, depending on your receptiveness to the flat, frictionless technology.) --Robert Horton Read more

Find out More for the best price at Amazon