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Review MGM Entertainment / Under Fire [1983]
Actors & Directors
  • Joanna Cassidy
  • Gene Hackman
  • Ed Harris
  • Alma Martínez
  • Nick Nolte
  • Roger Spottiswoode
Release date: 2002-05-06
Run time: 123 min.
Creator: Ron Shelton
RRP: £12.99
Price: £2.05

Review Under Fire [1983] / MGM Entertainment:

Under Fire was one of a trio of notable films from the mid-1980s about journalists involved in Third World war zones. While certainly a lesser film than Salvador (1986) or The Killing Fields (1984) Roger Spottiswoode's movie is still a commendable work from a director who later brought a similarly political edge to Noriega: God's Favourite (2000). Nick Nolte plays an American photo-journalist covering the civil war in Nicaragua in 1979, finding himself caught in a dangerous and cynical web of duplicity and self-interest, as well as falling in love with fellow American, Claire (Joanna Cassidy). Nolte gradually uncovers the degree of his own government's involvement with the corrupt regime, and inevitably ends up crossing the line from neutral observer to helping the rebel cause. Under Fire is in essence a reworking of Casablanca, especially as Gene Hackman's network newsman proves to be Cassidy's ex-lover, yet thanks to an intelligent script, strong support from Ed Harris as a mercenary and some genuinely unnerving and frightening scenes of the random chaos of war, it's one which packs a powerful punch. Jerry Goldsmith's evocative score is among his best of the 1980s. On the DVD: Under Fire is presented in an anamorphic 1. 77:1 transfer which is very clean and clear with minimal grain. The well-mixed Dolby Pro-logic soundtrack is highly effective, if not so startling as a 5. 1 track. [+]
Beyond multi-language and subtitle options, the only extra is the original trailer, which is also anamorphically enhanced. -Gary S Dalkin.

Review MGM Entertainment / The Killer Elite [1975]
Actors & Directors
  • Mako
  • Arthur Hill
  • Bo Hopkins
  • Sam Peckinpah
  • Robert Duvall
  • James Caan
Release date: 2003-07-21
Run time: 118 min.
Creator: Stirling Silliphant
RRP: £12.99
Price: £2.58

Review The Killer Elite [1975] / MGM Entertainment:


Review Walt Disney Home Video / Toy Story 2 [2000]
Actors & Directors
  • Don Rickles
  • Ash Brannon
  • Kelsey Grammer
  • John Lasseter
  • Joan Cusack
  • Lee Unkrich
  • Tom Hanks
  • Tim Allen
Release date: 2000-11-06
Run time: 88 min.
Creator: Doug Chamberlin
RRP: £14.99
Price: £1.64

Review Toy Story 2 [2000] / Walt Disney Home Video:

John Lasseter and his gang of high-tech creators at Pixar create another entertainment for the ages. Like the handful of other great movie sequels, Toy Story 2 comments on why the first one was so wonderful while finding a fresh angle worthy of a new film. The craze of toy collecting becomes the focus here, as we find out Woody (voiced by Tom Hanks) is not only a beloved toy to Andy but also a rare doll from a popular 60s children's show. When a greedy collector takes Woody, Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) launches a rescue mission with Andy's other toys. To say more would be a crime because this is one of the most creative and smile-inducing films since, well, the first Toy Story. Although the toys look the same as in the 1994 feature, Pixar shows how much technology has advanced: the human characters look more human, backgrounds are superior, and two action sequences that book-end the film are dazzling. And it's a hoot for kids and adults. The film is packed with spoofs, easily accessible in-jokes and inspired voice casting (with newcomer Joan Cusack especially a delight as Cowgirl Jessie). But as the Pixar canon of films illustrates, the filmmakers are storytellers first. Woody's heart-tugging predicament can easily be translated into the eternal debate of living a good life versus living for forever. [+]
Toy Story 2 was deservedly a huge box-office success. -Doug Thomas, Amazon. com.

Review Uca / Fortress [1994]
Actors & Directors
  • Lincoln Kilpatrick
  • Christopher Lambert
  • Stuart Gordon
  • Clifton Collins Jr.
  • Loryn Locklin
  • Kurtwood Smith
Release date: 2004-03-08
Run time: 91 min.
Creator: Troy Neighbors
RRP: £5.99
Price: £2.15

Review Fortress [1994] / Uca:

The story of Fortress takes place in drastically overpopulated America of the year 2017, where each woman is allowed only one pregnancy. John Brennick (Christopher Lambert) and his wife Karen (Loryn Locklin) flee to Mexico when she becomes pregnant after the death of their first child. They are captured by border police and sent to the Fortress, a subterranean high-security prison owned by the Men-Tel corporation and operated by "Zed-10", an omnipotent computer system, and a sadistic, genetically "enhanced" warden (Kurtwood Smith) who has nefarious plans involving Brennick's wife and unborn child. Along with his cellmates (including Jeffrey Combs, a favourite of director Stuart Gordon), Brennick plots a breakout and Fortress shifts into auto-pilot action mode. After making his reputation with such audacious horror films as From Beyond and Re-Animator, Stuart Gordon graduated to a bigger budget with Fortress but his penchant for exploitation remains deliriously intact. While borrowing elements from a variety of better sci-fi movies, Fortress indulges every prison-flick cliché, but does it with such enjoyable B-movie vigour that it qualifies as a bona-fide guilty pleasure (indeed, it deserves to be ranked with James Cameron's original Terminator in terms of its budgetary ingenuity). Featuring such giddy (and gory) devices as "intestinators" (deadly obedience devices implanted in prisoners' bodies) and a torturous "Mind Wipe Chamber", this is really just a drive-in action movie with lofty ambitions and the schlocky script hasn't a prayer of rising above the level of juvenile popcorn fodder. But there's no denying the energy and enthusiasm that Gordon brings to the film, which understandably became a global box-office hit and spawned a 1999 sequel starring Lambert and Pam Grier. -Jeff Shannon, Amazon. com.

Review MGM Entertainment / Men At Work [1990]
Actors & Directors
  • Emilio Estevez
  • Leslie Hope
  • Charlie Sheen
  • Dean Cameron
  • Emilio Estevez
  • Keith David
Release date: 2003-02-24
Run time: 94 min.
Creator: Moshe Diamant
RRP: £12.99
Price: £1.54

Review Men At Work [1990] / MGM Entertainment:


Review Sony Pictures Home Entertainment / The Last Dragon
Actors & Directors
  • Ian Holm
  • Justin Hardy
Release date: 2005-08-29
Run time: 107 min.
RRP: £19.99
Price: £2.19

Review The Last Dragon / Sony Pictures Home Entertainment:


Review Guyver: the Bioboosted Armour / Guyver - The Bioboosted Armour Vol.5 [2005]
Actors & Directors
  • Katsuhito Akiyama
Release date: 2008-03-31
Run time: 100 min.
RRP: £19.99
Price: £6.97

Review Guyver - The Bioboosted Armour Vol.5 [2005] / Guyver: the Bioboosted Armour:


Review Network / William Tell - The Complete Series
Actors & Directors
  • Conrad Phillips
Release date: 2005-04-25
Run time: 975 min.
RRP: £39.99
Price: £13.94

Review William Tell - The Complete Series / Network:


Review Momentum Pictures / Universal Soldier [1991]
Actors & Directors
  • Ally Walker
  • Roland Emmerich
  • Dolph Lundgren
  • Ed O'Ross
  • Jerry Orbach
  • Jean-Claude Van Damme
Release date: 2001-05-28
Run time: 99 min.
RRP: £17.99
Price: £7.50

Review Universal Soldier [1991] / Momentum Pictures:

Universal Soldier offered director Roland Emmerich and screenwriter Dean Devlin their first venture before going on to make a mountain of money as the creators of Independence Day and Godzilla. Teaming up for this action flick disguised as a science fiction thriller, muscle hunks Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren play embattled Vietnam soldiers who kill each other in combat. They are subsequently revived 25 years later as semi-android "UniSols" in a high-tech army of the near future. Their memories were supposedly wiped clean, but flashbacks occur to remind them of their bitter hatred (Lundgren committed wartime atrocities; Van Damme had tried to stop him) and the warriors resume their tenacious battle while a journalist (Ally Walker) uncovers the truth about the secret UniSol program. With energy to spare, the standard action sequences are adequate for anyone with a short attention span. And besides, with Van Damme and Lundgren in the lead roles, who needs dialogue? -Jeff Shannon, Amazon. com.

Review Uca Catalogue / Mackenna's Gold [1969]
Actors & Directors
  • Gregory Peck
  • Telly Savalas
  • J. Lee Thompson
  • Camilla Sparv
  • Omar Sharif
  • Keenan Wynn
Release date: 2004-04-12
Run time: 128 min.
Creator: Heck Allen
RRP: £5.99
Price: £3.09

Review Mackenna's Gold [1969] / Uca Catalogue:


Review A&E Home Video / The Avengers: The Complete Emma Peel Mega-Set [1961] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Actors & Directors
  • Diana Rigg
  • Patrick Macnee
  • Ian Hendry
  • Linda Thorson
  • Honor Blackman
Release date: 2006-02-28
Run time: 2913 min.
Creator: Sydney Newman
Price: £48.91

Review The Avengers: The Complete Emma Peel Mega-Set [1961] (REGION 1) (NTSC) / A&E Home Video:


Review Vidmark / Trimark / Death Wish 5: The Face of Death [1994] (NTSC)
Actors & Directors
  • Saul Rubinek
  • Allan A. Goldstein
  • Jefferson Mappin
  • Miguel Sandoval
  • Charles Bronson
  • Lesley-Anne Down
Release date: 1999-01-26
Run time: 95 min.
Creator: Terry Plumeri
Price: £3.32

Review Death Wish 5: The Face of Death [1994] (NTSC) / Vidmark / Trimark:


Review Warner Home Video / Batman - The Animated Series - Vol. 2 - Tales Of The Dark Knight
Actors & Directors
  • Loren Lester
  • Bob Hastings
  • Efrem Zimbalist Jr.
  • Kevin Conroy
  • Jane Alan
Release date: 2004-07-26
Creator: Robert Kanigher
RRP: £9.99
Price: £3.27

Review Batman - The Animated Series - Vol. 2 - Tales Of The Dark Knight / Warner Home Video:


Review Warner Home Video / Wonder Woman - Complete Season 2
Actors & Directors
  • Lynda Carter
Release date: 2005-09-26
Run time: 999 min.
RRP: £39.99
Price: £7.50

Review Wonder Woman - Complete Season 2 / Warner Home Video:


Review ITV DVD / Laurence Olivier - Hamlet / Henry V [1944]
Actors & Directors
  • John Laurie
  • Laurence Olivier
  • Jean Simmons
  • Laurence Olivier
  • Esmond Knight
  • Robert Newton
Release date: 2001-11-12
Run time: 292 min.
Creator: William Shakespeare
RRP: £14.99
Price: £9.66

Review Laurence Olivier - Hamlet / Henry V [1944] / ITV DVD:


Review 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment / Speed / Speed 2 - Cruise Control [1997]
Actors & Directors
  • Dennis Hopper
  • Jan de Bont
  • Joe Morton
  • Keanu Reeves
  • Jason Patric
  • Sandra Bullock
Release date: 2004-01-05
Run time: 131 min.
Creator: Randall McCormick
RRP: £14.99
Price: £5.98

Review Speed / Speed 2 - Cruise Control [1997] / 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment:


Review Warner Home Video / Lethal Weapon 2 [1989]
Actors & Directors
  • Danny Glover
  • Joe Pesci
  • Mel Gibson
  • Joss Ackland
  • Richard Donner
  • Patsy Kensit
Release date: 2001-10-29
Run time: 109 min.
Creator: Warren Murphy
RRP: £13.99
Price: £2.89

Review Lethal Weapon 2 [1989] / Warner Home Video:

The series formula started to kick in with this immediate sequel to Lethal Weapon, but that doesn't necessarily make it a weak movie. Joe Pesci joins the fold, Richard Donner directs again, and Mel Gibson and Danny Glover return as LAPD partners, their relationship smoother now that Gibson's character has recovered from his maddening grief over his wife's death. But the reckless Mel and cautious Danny equation, good for a million laughs, settles into place in this story involving a South African smuggler and a new girlfriend (Patsy Kensit) for Gibson. The movie is hardly comfy, though. The last act gets nasty, and a climactic fight between Gibson (who gets the worst of it) and some high-kicking villain is ugly. -Tom Keogh.

Review MGM Entertainment / Pork Chop Hill [1959]
Actors & Directors
  • Rip Torn
  • Harry Guardino
  • Lewis Milestone
  • Carl Benton Reid
  • Gregory Peck
  • George Peppard
Release date: 2004-04-05
Run time: 94 min.
RRP: £12.99
Price: £3.80

Review Pork Chop Hill [1959] / MGM Entertainment:


Review Warner Home Video / Lethal Weapon [1987]
Actors & Directors
  • Tom Atkins
  • Richard Donner
  • Gary Busey
  • Danny Glover
  • Mitch Ryan
  • Mel Gibson
Release date: 2006-06-01
Run time: 105 min.
Creator: Shane Black
RRP: £13.99
Price: £0.45

Review Lethal Weapon [1987] / Warner Home Video:

Mel Gibson set aside his art-house credentials to star as a crazy cop paired with a stable one (Danny Glover) in this full-blown 1987 Richard Donner action picture. The most violent film in the series (which includes three sequels), Lethal Weapon is also the edgiest and most interesting. After Gibson's character jumps off a building handcuffed to a man, and Gary Busey (as a cold, efficient enforcer) lets his hand get burned without flinching, there is a sense that anything can happen, and it usually does. Donner's strangely messy visual and audio style doesn't make a lot of aesthetic sense, but it stuck with all four movies. -Tom Keogh.

Review Contender Entertainment Group / Full Contact [1992]
Actors & Directors
  • Gerry Blanck
  • Alvin Prouder
  • Jerry Trimble
  • Denise Buick
  • Howard Jackson
  • Rick Jacobson
Release date: 2004-08-30
Run time: 97 min.
Creator: Robert King
RRP: £16.99
Price: £1.48

Review Full Contact [1992] / Contender Entertainment Group:


Browse Action & Adventure:

Models & Brands:
Under Fire [1983], The Killer Elite [1975], Toy Story 2 [2000], Fortress [1994], Men At Work [1990], The Last Dragon, Guyver - The Bioboosted Armour Vol.5 [2005], William Tell - The Complete Series, Universal Soldier [1991], Mackenna's Gold [1969], The Avengers: The Complete Emma Peel Mega-Set [1961] (REGION 1) (NTSC), Death Wish 5: The Face of Death [1994] (NTSC), Batman - The Animated Series - Vol. 2 - Tales Of The Dark Knight, Wonder Woman - Complete Season 2, Laurence Olivier - Hamlet / Henry V [1944], Speed / Speed 2 - Cruise Control [1997], Lethal Weapon 2 [1989], Pork Chop Hill [1959], Lethal Weapon [1987], Full Contact [1992]

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