Last-minute DVD stocking stuffers

CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR
FOR THE KIDS
"Looney Tunes -- The Golden Collection"
Price: $64.92
Number of Discs: Four-disc set
Disc 1 stars the Bugs Bunny, Disc 2 is devoted to Daffy and Porky, and Discs 3 and 4 showcase shorts starring everyone from Pepe LePew to the little penguin who cries ice cubes. Each disc is larded with interviews with Chuck Jones, Friz Freleng, and the rest of the Termite Terrace gang; commentaries; music-only tracks; and other extras. The remastered cartoons look fantastic -- as if they were whipped off the drawing board just in time for Saturday morning.
"It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie"
Price: $19.98
Number of discs: 1
Muppets are back in fine form in this parody of "It's a Wonderful Life" (with a dash of "A Christmas Story" and "Moulin Rouge" tossed in). An angel shows Kermit what life would have been like for the rest of the Muppets gang had he never been born. Extras include a parody of "Inside the Actor's Studio" starring Pepe the Prawn, bloopers, and deleted scenes.
ESPIONAGE
"James Bond 007 Special Edition DVD," Vols 1-3
Price: $124.96 per set
Number of discs: 20
Each DVD comes with a nifty "dossier" booklet with 007 trivia, but the extras on the individual films are often leaner than George Lazenby's film r & eacute;sum & eacute;. The most glaring omission is the absence of a single commentary by any of the Bond actors.
"Alias: Season 2"
Price: $69.99
Number of discs: 6
All 22 episodes of Lena Olin as the inscrutable mom and the tortured -- but equally sleek -- Jennifer Garner, as her spy daughter. Nifty extras that are lots of fun.
BLOCKBUSTERS
"Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers"
Price: $39.99
Number of discs: Four
Forty-three extra minutes! That's what you get with the extended version of "Two Towers." And they're worth every penny. Loaded with extras. The commentaries include an analysis of the books and explain why the middle section was such a challenge to film, as well as all sorts of goodies about the battle of Helm's Deep and creating Middle Earth.
"Pirates of the Caribbean"
Price: $29.99
Number of discs: 2
For more than 10 hours' worth of swashbuckling fun, put on your pirate hat and slide this disc into your DVD player. After an entertaining ride with the dread-headed Johnny Depp, these DVD extras will have you singing "A Pirate's Life for Me." Skip Disney's theme-park promotion and head "Below Decks," where you can click around a pirate ship and learn about the life of these illegal "merchants." (Did you know walking the plank is a myth?)
"Seabiscuit"
Price: $26.98
Number of discs: 1
This is a heartwarming story about a winning little racehorse that rallied Americans when they felt beaten during the Depression. What this spirited film may lack in analysis, it makes up for on DVD extras -- chock full of historical perspective and details on Seabiscuit, Red Pollard, and a jockey's life.
CLASSICS
"High Sierra"
Price: $19.98
Humphrey Bogart's breakout role, elevating him from second-tier heavy roles to leading-man status. The added features for these old films are a bit lean compared with modern films that are made with the DVD in mind, but "Curtains for Roy Earle: the story of High Sierra" is fun to watch nonetheless. Also recedntly released Bogie films include: "Dark Passage," "To Have and Have Not" (his first pairing with Lauren Bacall), and "They Drive by Night."
"Once Upon a Time in the West"
Price: $19.99
A slow-motion classic that features Henry Fonda in a rare turn as a truly evil man. His character murders an entire family, including a young boy shot at point-blank range. This sparkling restoration is an early Christmas gift to Sergio Leone's fans and a great introduction for those who missed him first time around.
SCI-FI
"Alien Quadrilogy"
Price: $99
Number of discs: 9
In addition to the original theatrical releases there are also exclusive extended or revised versions and, fittingly, each one of them is a superior breed. It would take a small wing of the Smithsonian to catalog the exhaustive (and frequently exhausting) featurettes. It's best to concentrate on James Cameron's commentary track for "Aliens," the series' highpoint, and marvel that he finished the screenplay in the same three-month period in which he wrote "Terminator" and "Rambo 2."
"Battlestar Galactica: The Complete Epic Series"
Price: $120
Number of discs: 6
Will someone please give Dirk Benedict a new TV series? The actor who played starship pilot Starbuck is a hoot as a contributor to the commentary track for "Battlestar Galactica," the 1978 TV show built to capitalize on "Star Wars" mania. Benedict and cast members recall the uncooperative chimp who suited up to play a robot dog and how guest star Fred Astaire liked to dance to the rhythm of laser-gun sound effects.
DOCUMENTARY
"Winged Migration"
Price: $26.95
For more than four years, teams of more than 400 people -- including 17 pilots and 14 cinematographers using planes, gliders, helicopters, and hot-air balloons -- tracked migrating birds of every conceivable breed through 40 countries and on each of the seven continents. That's a mouthful, but this movie is more than an eyeful -- it is a truly heart-filled movie that everyone should see.