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For movie lovers, The Criterion Collection is a godsend. The company beautifully repackages classic and other groundbreaking films from around the world, sometimes restoring them to gorgeous 4K resolution, and re-releases them in Blu-ray and DVD form. Aside from the films themselves, The Criterion Collection's releases often include extras like essays about the film from film critics and scholars, gorgeous new artwork, a special commentary track, and more. If you've ever really loved a film and wanted to hold something in your hand that was a testament to how special it is, then The Criterion Collection has got your back. It's a certified goldmine. 

If you're scrambling to find holiday gifts for the people in your life, you're in luck, because all of The Criterion Collection's Blu-rays are 50% off on Amazon right now. Any time there is a 50% off sale for Criterion, it's like it's the Olympics for film nerds. This sale also includes Criterion's box sets! Whether it's films by Martin Scorsese, Chantal Ackerman, Akira Kurosawa, Spike Lee, Sofia Coppola, Terrence Malick, Stanley Kubrick, Wes Anderson, David Cronenberg, Andrei Tarkovsky, David Lynch, or Guillermo del Toro, there's something for everyone in the Criterion Collection. Here are a few highlights of the sale:

• Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman box set - $99.98 down from $199.95. I grew up watching the Zatoichi films, which center on, you guessed it, a blind swordsman in feudal Japan who protects the vulnerable. Zatoichi is a mensch among men. If you love Daredevil or Star Wars' Ahsoka Tano and Chirrut Îmwe, then you gotta watch the Zatoichi movies. You can thank me later. 
• Bruce Lee: His Greatest Hits box set - $62.48 down from $124.95. Bruce Lee was only in 4 movies in his short career, but the Criterion Collection does him justice with this gorgeous box set. As the Bruce Lee fan community can tell you, the martial artist had a very specific philosophy that he developed himself about movement and expression. You only get half the picture of why Lee was so important if you only watch his films. The Criterion box set features audio commentaries from Bruce Lee and Hong Kong film experts, as well as interviews with Linda Lee Cadwell, biographer Matthew Polly, writer Grady Hendrix, and the iconic martial artist, Sammo Hung. 
• Godzilla, the Showa-Era Films, 1954-1975 box set - $112.48 down from $224.95. This last fella needs no introduction. The Criterion box set collects the first Godzilla film along with the 14 films that succeeded it during the kaiju's first twenty years in pop culture. It also features artwork by artists like Bill Sienkiewicz, Becky Cloonan, and Jorge Coelho! 

There are scores of films within The Criterion Collection that I don't have the time nor space to highlight here, but take a gander on Amazon to see what other treasures lie there. 

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