By Peter Covino

Entertainment Editor

With The Pacific, Toy Story 3, the 25th Anniversary  Edition of The Goonies and the Back to the Future trilogy out this week, it is kind of like Christmas in November for Blu-ray/DVD fans.

For quality, it doesn’t get much better than The Pacific (HBO Home Entertainment). The beautifully crafted 10-part series is a gift to your HD television set, and with a Blu-ray version,  this superior show looks even more realistic than on its original TV airing.

The convenience of downloading at home has made Netflix a popular choice for many people, but sometimes you just need to have more than just the movie, and with  The Pacific (and Toy Story 3,  The Goonies and Back to the Future as well) these Blu-rays take DVD buying t a whole different level.

The Pacific, like Band of Brothers (also produced by Tom Hanks and Steve Spielberg) , comes beautifully packaged in a metal collector case.  War is always hell, but the war in the Pacific had to be particularly brutal, and The Pacific captures all of that hardship. The war scenes are exquisitely shot and occasionally painful to watch because they capture every detail.

The series follows the horrific ordeals of three real soldiers Robert Leckie, John Basilone and Eugene Sledge  (played by Joseph Mazzello, James Badge Dale and Jon Seda). Watch “The Pacific Enhanced Viewing” while an episode is playing and you get to learn even more about a particular battle, or hear from an actual soldier or World War II historian. The not-too-obtrusive box in the corner also sometimes shows a map, pinpointing where on an island the soldiers are while a battle is raging. It’s best to watch the episodes first, of course, with the informational box supplying some great supplemental facts.

Also available on the Blu-ray set is “The Pacific Field Guide,” which allows viewers to navigate through the major events featured in The Pacific. The stand alone interactive Field Guide lets you search within  categories to view exclusive content including animated maps, extensive interviews with historians and veterans, historical footage, photographs and more.

Other bonus features in this collection (both standard DVD and Blu-ray) include:

• “Historical Backgrounds” – Five-minute prologues  set the stage for each episode and additional historical footage narrated by Tom Hanks.

• “Making The Pacific” – Behind the scenes and take an inside look at the making of the 10-part miniseries.

• “Profiles of The Pacific” – delve into the lives of the real Marines featured in The Pacific.  Get a personal perspective on their families, their war experience and their lives after the war in these intimate portraits.

• “Anatomy of The Pacific War” – explore the historical influences and cultural perceptions that led to the merciless brutality in the Pacific theater of World War II.

• “The Pacific Field Guide” – allows viewers to navigate through the major events featured in The Pacific in this standalone, interactive Field Guide.  Search within for categories to view exclusive content including animated maps, extensive interviews with historians and veterans, historical footage, photographs and more.

• “The Pacific Enhanced Viewing” – the ultimate viewing companion to The Pacific.  Learn more about the Marines and gain a deeper historical understanding of the battles while watching the miniseries with Enhanced Viewing, a 10-part, 10-hour, picture-in-picture experience.  Exclusive content includes interviews with historians and veterans, archival footage, maps and more.

The miniseries is based in part on the books Helmet for My Pillow by Robert Leckie and With the Old Breed by Eugene B. Sledge, with additional material from Red Blood, Black Sand by Chuck Tatum and China Marine by Eugene B. Sledge, as well as original interviews conducted by the filmmakers.

The Blu-ray lists for $99.99 ($79.99 standard DVD) but shop around for discount prices.

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One of the best films of the year, Toy Story 3 (Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment), is now available in both Blu-ray and standard DVD formats.

This is the four-disc Blu-ray combo collection, which includes a digital copy, but it is also available as a standard DVD.

You also get the standard DVD and a digital copy in this collection.

Happily, Toy Story 3 is such a great achievement from Pixar, you can’t go wrong no matter the format, but Blu-ray is the obvious choice if you want a first rate viewing experience.

And what hasn’t already been said about this film? The original Toy Story was a classic and I had concerns about any sequel tarnishing that image, but Toy Story 2 got rid of those fears. And that same feeling emerged again with Toy Story 3 because in almost every case, more is not better when it comes to sequels. But amazingly, Toy Story 3 just might be the best Toy Story of them all. It has new characters that are every bit as good as the originals, and a story that will leaving you smiling and teary-eyed at the same time.

In addition to the digital copy in this combo set, the many bonus features (there is an amazing amount of bonus content, way too much to be listed here) on the discs includes:

“The Gang’s All Here”, A look at the characters, old and new;  Day & Night, the great animated short that ran before the movie in its theatrical release;  Buzz Lightyear Mission Logs: The Science of Adventure, space travel as seen by Buzz, Rex and Hamm; Toys!, the animators talk about creating the new toys and characters; Cereal Bar, yes, Pixar has a room devoted to cereal for their employees; Clean Start, everyone at Pixar shaved their hair during the production; Picture-in-picture commentary with director Lee Unkrich and producer Darla K. Anderson; and an alternative commentary track with the production team.

There are many other shorts, features included plus a Toy Story trivia game and even dating tips from Ken and pseudo-commercials with some of the toys.

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I already  had a Goonies T-shirt.

Now I have a Goonies board game.

It is included in the Goonies 25th anniversary Collector’s Edition (Warner Home Video)  in the Richard Donner directed family film.

The game isn’t highly original, but who cares. It is a classic looking board game from the past, with key characters from the film as the “pieces”  was well as Goonies cards and map playing board.

It is a great way to celebrate a beloved film, just one of several bonus items included in this collector’s edition.

If you haven’t seen The Goonies in several years you may have forgotten that its young stars included some now very grown up ones such as Sean Astin (Lord of the Rings), Josh Brolin (Milk, W) Corey Feldmen (The Lost Boys, Stand by Me) as well as Joe Pantoliano and Martha Plimpton.

Based on a Steven Spielberg story, The Goonies follows the adventures of a small band of heroes in a tale involving that mysterious treasure map, pirates and lots of bad guys.

Other bonus items include storyboard prints; a 1985 souvenir magazine;  and a reprint of a 2009 Empire Magazine article with updates of the entire cast.

Blu-ray/DVD bonuses include cast commentary with director Donner and seven cast members; The Making of The Goonies documentary; the Cyndi Lauper music video “The Goonies R Good Enough” and deleted scenes.

Oh yeah. It is a nice looking film in Blu-ray as well.

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If you were watching movies back in 1985 you remember just how magical Back to the Future was.

The Steven Spielberg produced film (amazing how Spielberg’s name keeps popping up throughout this review) was fantasy of the first order. as Robert Zemeckis (Forrest Gump) guided us back in time to the 1950s, and Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) meets his own parents as teenagers.

The storytelling isn’t as strong for parts two and three with lots of interwoven time travel in part two and a western tale for part 3, but together it makes for another great set, just right for that Blu-ray player, HD TV not to mention Christmas present.

The Back to the Future Trilogy (Universal Studios Home Entertainment) brings it all back home to 1955, as well as the present and future, in this restored anniversary collection.

Blu-ray/DVD snobs may find some fault with this completely restored trilogy of yet another American classics, but the experts say this is as good as it is going to get.  We are going back to the future after all, and the special effects of the 1980s involved a lot of matte work so effects involving a green screen look like there is some cinema trickery going on. Blu-ray’s superior resolution makes every little more noticeable sometimes.

So be it. The films look better than they have in any earlier release. And unless you are an absolute purist, get on board that DeLorean and enjoy the ride.

But back to the collection. There is a lot here for the money. The set includes six discs in all, including a digital copy for all those portable devices.

And there are tons of bonuses inside this multi-disc set. Highlights include Tales from the Future, a six-part documentary; a music video by Huey Lewis and the News; deleted scenes, audio commentaries by director Zemeckis and producers Bob Gale and Neil Canton; storyboards; and Universal’s Bd-Live and Pocket-Blu features which allow more access with an Internet connection.