Robert Redford’s "Downhill Racer" has always been one of my favorite films. Released in 1969, the same year that he starred with Paul Newman in "Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid," "Downhill Racer" is the best movie ever made about skiing.

I realize that may be faint praise. After all, that’s not exactly a huge genre. But everything about director Michael Ritchie’s high-altitude drama is cool: the zippy, high-octane cinematography, the late ‘60s ski resort fashions worn by Euro starlet Camilla Sparv, and of course, Redford himself as David Chappellet, a golden boy on the American ski team whose ambition overshadows his teammates.

Chappellet’s a classic American figure: out for glory, bucking against authority, and the embodiment of sure swagger. None of this sits well with his coach, a young, hot-headed Gene Hackman, who doesn’t like the cut of Redford’s me-first jib. But deep down, Hackman knows that he needs the kid to win, which drives him nuts.

This alpine masterpiece is one of Redford’s greatest movies, along with another Ritchie-Redford collaboration, "The Candidate," but oddly enough it hasn’t been available on DVD until now.

If you’re a DVD-collecting nerd, you’re hip to the fact that the Criterion Collection is the gold standard of DVD labels. They handle each of their titles with tender loving care, give them digital facelifts making sure that they’ve never looked better, and then load them up with extras and special features. It may only be November, but here’s the holiday gift you’ll want to pick up for the movie lover in your life.

Now for a look at what else is new on DVD: in "Star Trek," director J.J. Abrams reboots the classic sci-fi franchise; in "Bruno," Sacha Baron Cohen follows up "Borat" with another subversive comedy; and in "My Sister’s Keeper," Cameron Diaz stars in a three-hankie weepie.