5 Media Christmas Gift Ideas for 2011

Media makes a casual and affordable Christmas gift. Sure, everyone wants brand new gear, there's nothing like receiving a new subwoofer or receiver as a Christmas gift. But those elite-level gifts are given and received among the few. But everyone loves receiving new disc-based or downloadable media. It's the media we play-back on the audio/video system we've worked so hard to perfect that gives it its value. An unexpected sleeper-pick on Blu-ray can breathe new life into your surrounds and re-introduce the pop into your display that you may have been missing watching Netflix and over-compressed on-demand Cable TV.

While we won't claim this is a definitive list but it does contain, in no particular order, some sure winners for nearly anyone on your Christmas-list this Holiday Season. 

Slylanders Spyro's Adventure

• MSRP: $69.99
  
• Developer: Toys for Bob / XPEC
  
• Genre: Adventure
  
• ESRB: Everyone 10+: Cartoon Violence
  
• Available On: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, Nintendo 3DS, PC, Macintosh.

As far as the kids on your Christmas list are concerned, you'd be a hero giving the gift of Skylanders – especially without said kid pointing you in that direction. My own 8-year-old made me aware of this Pokémon-style adventure that must dance in his head before falling asleep like I imagine wooden toy soldiers and sugar plums used to dance in the heads of children a century ago. Skylander has some interesting technology behind it that sets it apart from most video games and it looks interesting enough to hold the casual attention of some video-game playing adults.

The game itself is a family friendly action/adventure where players take on the role of Portal Master that controls up to 37 different characters, each with unique abilities. Only one of the characters is Spyro from the game's namesake. Each character brings a unique perspective to the game with unique skills and the ability to explore areas of the game others cannot.

Kids will thrill to the co-operative game-play that simulates monster violence while collecting crystals to advance characters in level. Advancing in level gives the characters access to additional special abilities making it a fairly typical action video game with role-play elements.

The unique difference in Skylander is the Portal of Power and the figurines that go on top of it to play the game – making it the first truly cross-platform console video game ever. It's also what turns this game into potentially a never-ending franchise of add-ons to buy for the kids.

The game itself comes with a Portal of Power, a USB plug-in platform that reads data from the figurines. The basic game comes with three figures which represent playable in-game characters once placed upon the Portal. Plug the Portal into your console and place the Skylander figure on top and you're transported to Spyro's virtual world.

Figure packs are available separately and can make slightly cheaper add-on gifts for any kid that already has the game that will surely want to collect them all.

The Portal provides a two-way communication with memory stored on the figurine that stores level and skill information. Children can take their figures over to a friend's place that also has the game and, even if it's on a different platform, they can still play their character complete with levels and skills earned on the previous console. The cross-platform capabilities are remarkable.

Die Hard (Blu-ray) 2007

• Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
  
• Video resolution: 1080p
  
• Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
  
• Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
  
• Studio: 20th Century Fox
  
• Starring: Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman and Bonnie edelia
  
• Directed by: John McTiernan 

This one is reaching way back – but it sits atop an elite list as the best Christmas-themed action movies – it's a shoo-in for any guy-movie night around this time of year. If it's been awhile since you've seen it – what are you waiting for? This Christmas season is the best time for a screening of Die Hard.

Bruce Willis stars as the New York City Detective John McClane who arrives in Los Angeles to spend Christmas, and possibly reconnect with, his estranged wife Holly. But Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) and his gang of Euro terrorists have other plans as they crash Holly's office Christmas party and one of the most enduring figures in the action-movie genre is born.

The audio/video quality of the 2007 Die Hard Blu-ray release has received consistent mid-to-high ratings. It features a newly remixed lossless 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack, encoded at 48kHz/24-bit and while it's not perfect – it packs the necessary punch to keep you on the edge of your seat.   

The 1080P/AVC MPEG-4 encoded video has an aspect ratio of 2.40:1. It looks remarkable for a film that was originally created back in 1988. It features deep black hues giving it depth and although it looks slightly grainy at times, it still finds brilliant colors that pop with some of the film's memorable explosions.

The real beauty of this film is Bruce Willis' legendary action hero is his human fallibility and sense of humor. Before Die Hard, Willis was best known for a corny romantic-detective TV show where Willis learned his rare ability to laugh at himself in an infectious way. McClane isn't the kind of action-star that just swoops in and makes defeating the bad guys look easy. He lacks the cocksure glimmer-in-the-eye of a Clint Eastwood or the overpowering muscle-bound force of Arnold or Sly.

Willis' John McClane is anything but sure of himself - this applies to his status with his wife and his ability to operate anything remotely technical. As far as defeating the baddies he takes quite a beating throughout the film's skyscraper-hostage-situation and is often caught in compromised predicaments, at one point - literally shoeless among shards of broken glass.

But McClane is the every-man action hero that makes us guys feel like… hey, maybe we can pull off a hair raising rescue in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds - even if we don't get the girl in the end. His fallibility endears McClean to the audience because although he gets beaten down like no protagonist since Jim Rockford, when he accomplishes his small victories along the way you want to cheer out loud. You want to do something typically guyish like… high five your buddy or crush a paper-thin, aluminum beer can on your head.

This Christmas stay home for a date-appropriate throwback on Blu-ray, save some money for gifts and revisit possibly the greatest Christmas-action movie ever.

Rush: Time Machine 2011 Live in Cleveland (Blu-ray)

• Video resolution: 1080p
  
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
  
• Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1
  
• Audio Format: DTS-HD MA/Dolby Digital Stereo

Rush had a live performance in Cleveland, Ohio back in April 2011 captured on video marking the first time an American Rush performance was ever recorded for public consumption. The performance being in Cleveland is more than a nod to the city's love of Rush in their early years. WMMS DJ Donna Halper played Rush on the US airwaves for the very first time on her Cleveland radio show way back in 1974 when she spun Working Man.

In Time Machine, Rush performs the entire 1981 Moving Pictures album, as well as many of their classic hits. The disc includes the 26-song concert set and a pair of tour videos including:  The "Real" History of Rush Episode No. 2 "Don't Be Rash," and The "Real" History of Rush Episode No. 17' "...and Rock and Roll is My Name." You'll also find outtakes from the shorts and an alternate music video for Tom Sawyer as well as two classic Rush songs performed live in 1976.

The set list includes:

• "The Spirit of Radio"
• "Time Stand Still"
• "Presto"
• "Stick It Out"
• "Workin' Them Angels"
• "Leave That Thing Alone"
• "Faithless"
• "BU2B"
• "Freewill"
• "Marathon"
• "Subdivisions"
• "Tom Sawyer"
• "Red Barchetta"
• "YYZ"
• "Limelight"
• "The Camera Eye"
• "Witch Hunt"
• "Vital Signs"
• "Caravan"
• "Closer to the Heart"
• "2112 Overture/Temples of Syrinx"
• "Far Cry"
• "La Villa Strangiato"
• "Working Man"

Music and Blu-ray with its HD images and high resolution lossless audio is the best match since DVD-Audio and SACD seemed to go by the wayside. I own more movie Blu-ray discs than concert Blu-ray discs – but the music discs get far more replay.

You'll score massive points with any Rush fan that finds this under the tree and when it comes down to it… who isn't?

Skyrim

• MSRP: 59.99
  
• Available On: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC
  
• Developed by: Bethesda Softworks
  
• ESRB: M for Mature

It' the fantasy-adventure achievement of the year!

Do you remember those books that let you pick your own adventure? Skyrim is a role playing game available on PC, PS3 or Xbox 360 that weaves together literally hundreds of choose your adventure books in a beautifully rendered, fully interactive world.

Fans of fantasy-adventure video games will know the Elder Scrolls franchise is the king of them all. The game was created by Bethesda Softworks the legendary developer/publisher of Elder Scrolls and the Fallout series both made in the distinctive Bethesda role-playing game (RPG) style. The game's intuitive, easy-to-use interface with an emphasis on voice-acting and music composed by Jeremy Soule creates an immersive game-play experience from which few want to return.

I can tell you from experience that this game has all the spousal approval factor of a set of speakers that blends anonymously into the room. As immersive as the game can be its world has a gentle side that makes it unobtrusive, even slightly intoxicating to the household - even when playing it through an audio system that features over 500-watts of collective subwoofer power alone. My wife can be in the same room with me and doesn't mind going about work on her laptop while I'm knee deep in Skyrim. The same can't be said for Modern Warfare 3 which sends anyone nearby under the nearest table ducking for cover.

This fantasy role-playing game will be on a lot of Christmas lists this year. There are two kinds of fantasy role-playing video games – multiplayer and single-player. Multiplayer games those closely related to World of Warcraft, infamous MMOs that demand your time, your life like nothing else. But the single player experience is different. It's not a social outlet, you're not dealing with the public, friends and strangers alike are far away which only adds to the immersion factor that lets us disappear from the real-world and into the fantasy realm of Cyrodil where Skyrim is a Nordic nation in its far-northern reaches.

The best thing about Skyrim is that you choose when you want to open the game for a bit of escape and when it's time to slip back into the real-world.  Your game saved, Skyrim awaits when again the world lets you get away.

Band of Brothers / The Pacific Gift Set (Blu-ray)

• Video: MPEG-4 AVC, 1080p
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
  
• Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
  
• Studio: HBO
  
• MSRP: $199 (Lists nearly everywhere at $105)

Here's a blatant double-dip media re-releases that might just deserve a place in your collection and for certain has earned a place for anyone on your Christmas list that doesn't already own both series in high-def. The Band of Brothers – The Pacific Gift Set on Blu-ray is the perfect presentation of these important HBO mini-series. If anyone on your Christmas list doesn't already have the series - this is how to give it to them. Although it's all-too light on unique material to warrant a double-dip for anyone who already owns both sets, there are still plenty of good reasons to give your WWII-film maven a gift they'll treasure for a lifetime.

Yes, there's a reason they call it a “gift set”, it's unlikely anyone would buy it for themselves because it's far too indulgent – especially for these troubled economic times. Just prying open, for the first time, the magnetized box-cover and pulling the ribbon draw-string that releases the book from its box imparts a feeling of pure luxury. Flip through the thick, high-gloss pages used to store each disc in stylized high-resolution photography from the episodes featured on each disc and you'll fall in love with the critically acclaimed series all over again. You may even find yourself willing to storm the local beach on a cold day just to watch both series all over again.

All the content on the series –discs are identical to the original box sets. They include the series with all the same special features and in-depth viewing modes that are filled with historically significant extra content on the war, the people and even the culture of military life at the time and on the home-front. Nothing has been added or updated for this box set to the discs containing the original series. There is one extra disc in this new collection however, He Has Seen War.

He Has Seen War: Is a 53-minute HD Featurette taken mostly with interview footage of the survivors and families of the HBO series. The old-guys you remember from both original series that served in the 101st Airborne and 1st Marine Divisions respectively are back to give more insights into the war.

This documentary focuses on the story of the soldiers (and Marines) after returning home. The documentary specifically zeros in on the psychological effects of war on the individual and his family. In many ways the battle to readjust to life on the home-front proves more difficult for returning veterans than the war itself. This documentary gives us a silver lining, that we've come a long way to understanding the many ways combat experience touches the lives of veterans. He Has Seen War shows us the programs that have been started to help returning veterans to re-integrate into civilian life and hopefully do the good work in assisting the new veterans coming home every day.

Overall: Sure, it's not worth the double-dip to buy it for yourself unless you're a serious collector or don't already own both of these spectacular series on Blu-ray. But this is a gift set, it's one of those indulgent purchases we will seldom make for ourselves but secretly want… badly. If you know a candidate for the Band of Brothers / The Pacific Gift Set, you will have given the gift that makes you the unforgettable Santa of 2011.