Entertainment Weekly's Rachel Orvino calls the new The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Special Extended Edition DVD ''truly precious.'' It may be hard to believe after sitting through all those endings in the theater, but director Peter Jackson actually had a longer movie in mind — 50 minutes longer. Added scenes include the Fellowship's showdown with Saruman, the Witch King's attack on Gandalf, and a Legolas-Gimli drinking game.

Return of the King is just one of a select few discs to make our holiday gift guide. Every DVD listed here received either an A or A- — representing the very best of the year in DVD according to EW's critics — from collections of films by Ingmar Bergman and John Cassavettes to the fourth season of South Park.

Select a genre below, or continue to the next page for the entire list. (To read reviews, click the DVD titles.)