By Sean Axmaker
Special to MSN Movies

Let's be clear about one thing. This isn't a list of the best movies on DVD. This is a celebration of excess: the biggest and coolest and the best DVD productions of the year. Taste is an afterthought here when you aspire to the most outrageously overproduced must-have sets, be they masterpieces or monstrosities.

OK, yes, the list does favor cool over camp and class over crap, but given those parameters, it's all about the overkill. When you really want to impress someone with obsessive detail, geeky extras and more supplements than any normal human being could or should endure, look no further than these masterpieces of extravagance.

Instant Collections

"The James Bond Ultimate Edition, Volumes 1 - 4"
Every big-screen mission of the Western world's favorite cold warrior (ignoring the '60s spoof "Casino Royale" and off-brand "Never Say Never Again") has been remastered, tricked out with more goodies than Q could have imagined and rereleased in four lavish boxed sets. From Bond's lean, hard-edged, big-screen debut with a cruelly charismatic Sean Connery in "Dr. No" to the wild action and exotic effects overkill of "Die Another Day," the 20 features of the 40-year run are randomly shuffled through the four volumes -- you want "Dr. No," you take "Moonraker" with it. But Bond is Bond -- martinis shaken not stirred, luscious Bond babes and those dry British stiff upper quips -- and these new two-disc editions make for a Bond geek's wet dream. The extras are all top-notch, from the commentaries (some of them are audio documentaries unto themselves) to the making-of documentaries to the hours of archival featurettes, interviews, screen tests and other Bond ephemera (007 stumping for the British Milk Board, anyone?). They even take up less space than the original singe-disc releases with new thinpak cases.

"Superman: Ultimate Collector's Edition"
You'll believe a man can fly in this super collection: a 14-disc tribute to the contemporary Superman movies, from Richard Donner's "Superman: The Movie -- Four Disc Special Edition" with Christopher Reeve (featuring both the theatrical and expanded versions) to Bryan Singer's revival "Superman Returns," along with commentaries, featurettes, archival Fleischer Studios Superman cartoons, three bonus feature-length documentaries and a newly prepared version of "Superman II" by its original director, Richard Donner. Comes packed in a metal fortress of solitude of a case.

"Astaire and Rogers Ultimate Collector's Edition"
Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers get cheek-to-cheek in all 10 of their big-screen pairings in the comprehensive collection of Hollywood's most elegant dance team. This one is for the romantics and the vintage Hollywood buffs on your list (excess isn't in the exclusive domain of genre geeks and action addicts). In addition to the art deco splendor of "Top Hat" and the nimble romantic lark "Swing Time" are the exclusive documentary "Astaire and Rogers: Partners in Rhythm," a CD with 10 soundtrack songs from the team's movies and a whole collection of vintage shorts and cartoons, all in slim thinpak cases.

In Brief
"The John Wayne-John Ford Collection" features eight collaborations between the Duke and Pappy, including deluxe editions of "Stagecoach" and "The Searchers"; "Preston Sturges: The Filmmaker Collection" offers seven hilarious classics by the American master of satire, slapstick and sophistication ... with a little sex in it (but no supplements); "The Premiere Frank Capra Collection" features five masterpieces of depression-era Capra-corn; for continental tastes, Criterion offers "Eric Rohmer's Six Moral Tales," smart sex comedies that are all delicious, delectable talk.

Next: More must-have sets