5 Essential BoxSets For Your Movie Collection [Celluloid Hero]

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Look, I know physical media is becoming more of a relic, but I consider myself a purist. I like to own my movies, not just stream them. What happens when Netflix decides to pull your favorite movie? What happens when Hulu gets bought out and changes their entire lineup? I'll always have my DVDs and BluRays to fall back on.

Here are a few boxsets that I would consider the foundations of a great movie collection.

Stanley Kubrick: Collection

Kubrick might be my favorite director ever. He actually has a relatively small filmography, so there are some great collections that include all of his features. This collection isn't quite complete, but it's a solid group.

Alfred Hitchcock: The Essentials Collection

Hitchcock is on my Mount Rushmore of filmmakers, but his filmography is way too huge to fit into a collection (unless you want about a dozen silent movies plus nearly 50 other features), so this is a good "highlight reel" of some of his best and most famous movies.

The Woody Allen Collection: Set 1

I know that Woody Allen has his own set of problems...but I'm able to compartmentalize and still enjoy his movies. Allen has made about one movie per year since 1965, so his complete collection would be immense. This is a solid grouping of his early "funny" stuff (plus Interiors and Stardust Memories (filmed in and around Asbury Park!))

Steven Spielberg Director's Collection

Spielberg may be the most accessible of my choices here, with a lot more blockbusters on his resume. He has a huge filmography too, and no library should be without Jaws or Jurassic Park or E.T.

Indiana Jones: The Complete Adventures

This is 'complete' for now, although they're always talking about doing another Indy movie. You can also just throw the last disc away, because 'Kingdom of the Crystal Skull' isn't worth anyone's time.

You may wonder why I've excluded anything related to Star Wars...the thing is, there are no high-quality collections of the original, non-Special Edition trilogy. I have an old VHS boxset, but George Lucas never released DVDs or BluRays that weren't his re-released special editions. Add in the fact that we have a prequel trilogy, add in The Force Awakens/The Last Jedi/The Rise of Skywalker, add in Solo, and potential for other spinoffs...there's just too many to make a true "collection", and it's hard to narrow things down to create an "essential", y'know?