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Review 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment / Batman - The Movie [1966]
Actors & Directors
  • Lee Meriwether
  • Burgess Meredith
  • Leslie H. Martinson
  • Adam West
  • Cesar Romero
  • Burt Ward
Release date: 2003-10-06
Run time: 105 min.
RRP: £5.99
Price: £3.29

Review Batman - The Movie [1966] / 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment:

Batman: The Movie carries the high camp absurdity of the 1960s TV show to gleeful new heights. Shark Repellent Batspray, costume-removing Batpoles, a contraption that dehydrates political figures into coloured powder, and endless childishly easy conundrums. Bringing the primary-coloured show to the big screen was a natural move, since sets, costume and casting were all in place. But what elevates the movie above the series? Is it the wonderful new toys-the Batcopter, Batboat and Batbike? Is it the OTT direction, taking the Dynamic Duo on location far more than usual? Or is it the electrifying one-upmanship between Burgess Meredith (Penguin), Cesar Romero (Joker), Frank Gorshin (Riddler) and Lee Meriwether (a new Catwoman since regular Julie Newmar was busy elsewhere)? As Commissioner Gordon says, "The sum of the angles of that rectangle is too monstrous to contemplate!" Really, the best of the movie's magic is to be found in the sheer glee Adam West and Burt Ward exhibit in playing for the big screen. This was the most exciting event in their careers. And it shows in their colourful, zestful performances. On the DVD: Batman: The Movie on disc includes an affectionate commentary from the two stars ("Oh lookee!" says West repeatedly), after which the duo are heavily involved in the wealth of additional material, even recording dialogue for the interactive animated menus. Seeing them on screen in the 16-minute featurette might be a shock, though. In the restored 1. 85:1 film print they look much better! Additionally there's a five-minute "Batmobile Revealed" featurette with designer George Barris, a trailer page with some very humorous inclusions and two large galleries of behind-the-scenes photos. [+]
-Paul Tonks.

Review Warner Home Video / Ocean's Trilogy 4-Disc Box Set
Actors & Directors
  • Matt Damon
  • Brad Pitt
  • Andy Garcia
  • Elliott Gould
  • George Clooney
  • Steven Soderbergh
Release date: 2007-11-05
Run time: 349 min.
RRP: £33.99
Price: £14.98

Review Ocean's Trilogy 4-Disc Box Set / Warner Home Video:

The Ocean's Trilogy, a brand new four-disc set, brings together Ocean's Eleven, Ocean's Twelve and Ocean's Thirteen in one box, delivering some of the finest old-style caper entertainment seen on the big screen in years. Ocean's Eleven is the best of the trilogy, and also superior to the original Rat Pack film that it's a remake of. Here, we're introduced for the first time to Daniel Ocean (George Clooney, who effortlessly charms his way through all three films with real style) and his group of fellow cons (including Brad Pitt and Matt Damon) as they try and pull off a daring casino heist. It's a thrilling, immaculately packaged slice of Hollywood entertainment, and easily stands up to repeated viewings. The first sequel, Ocean's Twelve, is a mess though. The first half sets things up nicely, introducing further themes of competition and revenge, but it then pulls a blistering stupid plot device around half way through and never recovers. There's still plenty to enjoy, but it's a real missed opportunity. Ocean's Thirteen finds the gang in much finer form though, and the addition of Al Pacino to the roster as the new villain of the piece does it no harm whatsoever. The focus is back onto a single job, and while it's light on twists, it's still a breezy caper that's hard not to warm to. Packed with big name stars, and directed on the whole with real skill by Steven Soderbergh, the Ocean's Trilogy is-the middle film excepted-testament to just how much fun watching movie stars doing their thing can be. [+]
A boxset well worth investing in. -Simon Brew.

Review MGM Entertainment / The Great Escape [1963]
Actors & Directors
  • Richard Attenborough
  • Charles Bronson
  • James Garner
  • John Sturges
  • James Donald
  • Steve McQueen
Release date: 2000-02-01
Run time: 172 min.
RRP: £15.99
Price: £2.68

Review The Great Escape [1963] / MGM Entertainment:

The Great Escape image of Steve McQueen (as "The Cooler King") astride his motorcycle has entered silver-screen iconography, alongside Brando on his bike from The Wild One. Based on a true story about a group of POWs who mount a daring breakout from a supposedly inescapable Nazi prison camp, this rousing and suspenseful World War II epic features an all-star cast, including James Garner, Richard Attenborough, Charles Bronson, Donald Pleasence, James Coburn, and David McCallum. -Jim Emerson A stirring example of courage and the indomitable human spirit, for many John Sturges' The Great Escape is both the definitive World War II drama and the nonpareil prison escape movie. Featuring an unequalled ensemble cast in a rivetingly authentic true-life scenario set to Elmer Bernstein's admirable music (who writes contrapuntal march themes these days?), this picture is both a template for subsequent action-adventure movies and one of the last glories of Golden Age Hollywood. Reunited with the director who made him a star in The Magnificent Seven Steve McQueen gives a career-defining performance as the laconic Hilts, the baseball-loving, motorbike-riding "Cooler King". The rest of the all-male Anglo-American cast-Dickie Attenborough, Donald Pleasance, James Garner, Charles Bronson, David McCallum, James Coburn and Gordon Jackson-make the most of their meaty roles (though you have to forgive Coburn his Australian accent). Closely based on Paul Brickhill's book, the various escape attempts, scrounging, forging and ferreting activities are authentically realised thanks also to the presence on set of technical advisor Wally Flood, one of the original tunnel-digging POWs. Sturges orchestrates the climactic mass break out with total conviction, giving us both high action and very poignant human drama. Without trivialising the grim reality, The Great Escape thrillingly celebrates the heroism of men who never gave up the fight. On the DVD: The Great Escape special edition is indeed a special event. [+]
The anamorphic 2. 35:1 picture is good if a tad grainy, and the remastered Dolby 5. 1 soundtrack is a fitting vehicle for Elmer Bernstein's magnificent contribution. Accompanying the feature there's a reasonable cut-and-paste group commentary culled from interviews with various cast and crew, plus text trivia captions about the actors and the real-life camp. The second disc features a first-rate Granada TV documentary from 2001, "The Untold Story", which tells of both the escape itself and the subsequent post-war search for the Gestapo officers who butchered 50 of the 76 escapees. This has an appendix of further valuable interviews with survivors, and there's also an American making-of documentary, "Heroes Underground", which is good though annoyingly divided into separate chapters and featuring non-anamorphic clips from the film. Perhaps best of all though is the 25-minute life of American POW David Jones, "The Real Virgil Hilts", whose career both during and after the war is extraordinary and inspirational. A classic movie finally gets the DVD treatment it merits. -Mark Walker.

Review Warner Home Video / The Time Machine [1960]
Actors & Directors
  • Sebastian Cabot
  • Yvette Mimieux
  • George Pal
  • Rod Taylor
  • Alan Young
  • Tom Helmore
Release date: 2002-05-27
Run time: 98 min.
RRP: £13.99
Price: £2.50

Review The Time Machine [1960] / Warner Home Video:

In 1960 producer-director George Pal's The Time Machine reshaped HG Wells' thoughtful, ironic novel into a two-fisted action movie, but one that still appeals to children and adults immensely and deserves its classic status. Wells' themes of biological and social evolution are played down, but there is a surprisingly melancholy thread as Rod Taylor's Time Traveller keeps stopping off at future wars to find that human stupidity still persists. In the first week of 1900 a group of fussy Victorians gather in Taylor's chintzy, overstuffed parlour to hear him tell of his expedition to the future, where the world is divided between the surface-dwelling, childish, beautiful Eloi and the hideous, underground, cannibal Morlocks. Wells intended both factions to seem degenerate, the logical final evolution of the class system, but Pal has Taylor pull a Captain Kirk and side with the Eloi and teach them to fight against their oppressors. The time travel sequence remains a tour de force, with a shop window mannequin demonstrating a parade of fashions as the years fly by in seconds and charming but still-effective stop-motion effects. The future is a wonderfully coloured landscape with properly gruesome cave-dwelling monsters and a winning Eloi heroine in Yvette Mimieux. It may not be totally Wells, but it's a treat. On the DVD: The Time Machine arrives on disc in a lovely widescreen print which makes the film seem new all over again. The featurette "Time Machine: The Journey Back" combines some mild behind-the-scenes stuff about the film (and its star prop) with a moving mini-sequel reuniting stars Rod Taylor and Alan Young in a scene that actually addresses a plot point skipped over in the original. -Kim Newman.

Review 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment / The Transporter / Transporter 2 [2002]
Actors & Directors
  • Francois Leterrier
  • Jason Flemyng
  • Cory Yuen
  • Amber Valletta
  • Keith David
  • Louis Leterrier
  • Kate Nauta
  • Jason Statham
Release date: 2006-03-27
Run time: 171 min.
RRP: £24.99
Price: £3.54

Review The Transporter / Transporter 2 [2002] / 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment:


Review Warner Home Video / The Towering Inferno [1975]
Actors & Directors
  • William Holden
  • Paul Newman
  • Faye Dunaway
  • Fred Astaire
  • Irwin Allen
  • Steve McQueen
  • John Guillermin
Release date: 2006-06-01
Run time: 158 min.
RRP: £13.99
Price: £4.88

Review The Towering Inferno [1975] / Warner Home Video:

Disaster movies used to work because there was little certainty as to who would survive. Not so in this film, really an amalgam of two original stories, about a group of well-to-do celebrants at the top floor of a skyscraper. Cheapo electrical wiring and bad construction management cause an enormous blaze at the lower floors, steadily rising to consume the revellers. Newman's an architect, McQueen a firefighter and Fred Astaire a kind old gentleman, for which he was Oscar-nominated. OJ Simpson plays a security guard who rescues a cat. Now that's a disaster. - Keith Simanton, Amazon. com.

Review Spiderman and His Amazing Friends / Spiderman and His Amazing Friends - Complete Box Set
Release date: 2008-10-27
Run time: 528 min.
RRP: £29.99
Price: £17.98

Review Spiderman and His Amazing Friends - Complete Box Set / Spiderman and His Amazing Friends:


Review Touchstone Home Video / Con Air - Extended Cut [1997]
Actors & Directors
  • John Malkovich
  • John Cusack
  • Simon West
  • Steve Buscemi
  • Nicolas Cage
  • Monica Potter
Release date: 2006-11-06
Run time: 116 min.
RRP: £17.99
Price: £4.53

Review Con Air - Extended Cut [1997] / Touchstone Home Video:


Review 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment / Die Hard Quadrilogy - Die Hard/Die Hard 2/Die Hard With A Vengeance/Die Hard 4.0
Actors & Directors
  • John McTiernan
  • Renny Harlin
  • Bruce Willis
  • Sam Philips
  • Len Wiseman
  • Graham Greene
  • Mary Elizabeth Winstead
  • Justin Long
Release date: 2007-10-29
Run time: 503 min.
RRP: £34.99
Price: £20.19

Review Die Hard Quadrilogy - Die Hard/Die Hard 2/Die Hard With A Vengeance/Die Hard 4.0 / 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment:

Now joined by a hit fourth instalment, the Die Hard Quadrilogy is, bluntly, an essential set for any self-respecting fan of action cinema. The gold, of course, is the original Die Hard, a flat-out five star classic pretty much without equal. Introducing Bruce Willis' John McClane as an ordinary guy in an extraordinary situation, it's littered with great lines, great characters, and genre-defining moments. Plus, in Alan Rickman, it has one of the finest cinematic villains of the past few decades. Die Hard 2: Die Harder inevitably dilutes matters, this time switching the action to Washington's Dulles International Airport. But with Willis and a good number of characters returning from the original, it's a fun-if at times brutal-ride, that scores highly in the entertainment stakes. Die Hard: With A Vengeance, the third film in the series, pretty much strips away the bulk of the supporting cast, and replaces them with the not-significant figure of Samuel L Jackson. It changes the dynamic of the film into a buddy-buddy movie, albeit a good one. And again, it's a ride that's hard not to enjoy, with Jeremy Irons giving good measure as McClane's chief foe. Finally, Die Hard 4. [+]
0 is a real surprise. Given the fact that it arrived over a decade after the third film, it finds Willis and relative newcomer Justin Long shouldering an entertaining, old fashioned action film, that papers over its occasional cracks by asking its lead actor to ramp things up a gear when necessary. And watching John McClane do what he does-even when any hint of reality is thrown out of the window near the end-is endlessly entertaining. So while none of the sequels have matched the peerless original, the Die Hard Quadrilogy nonetheless delivers one classic, and three very enjoyable action movies. And you can't argue with that kind of hit rate. Always, always bet on McClane. -Simon Brew.

Review Entertainment In Video / Stormbreaker [2006]
Actors & Directors
  • Geoffrey Sax
  • Mickey Rourke
  • Sophie Okonedo
  • Ewan McGregor
  • Bill Nighy
  • Alicia Silverstone
Release date: 2006-11-13
Run time: 93 min.
RRP: £19.99
Price: £2.49

Review Stormbreaker [2006] / Entertainment In Video:


Review 4Digital Asia / Death Note 2 - The Last Name (2 Disc Limited Edition) [2006]
Actors & Directors
  • Takeshi Kaga
  • Shido Nakamura
  • Tatsuya Fujiwara
  • Erika Toda
  • Shusuke Kaneko
Release date: 2008-10-13
Run time: 141 min.
RRP: £19.99
Price: £12.98

Review Death Note 2 - The Last Name (2 Disc Limited Edition) [2006] / 4Digital Asia:


Review Warner Home Video / Clash Of The Titans [1981]
Actors & Directors
  • Claire Bloom
  • Maggie Smith
  • Laurence Olivier
  • Sian Phillips
  • Ursula Andress
Release date: 2005-11-21
Run time: 113 min.
RRP: £12.99
Price: £3.90

Review Clash Of The Titans [1981] / Warner Home Video:


Review Warner Home Video / Deliverance [1972]
Actors & Directors
  • Burt Reynolds
  • John Boorman
  • Ronny Cox
  • Ed Ramey
  • Jon Voight
  • Ned Beatty
Release date: 2000-05-15
Run time: 104 min.
RRP: £13.99
Price: £2.48

Review Deliverance [1972] / Warner Home Video:

One of the key films of the 1970s, John Boorman's Deliverance is a nightmarish adaptation of poet-novelist James Dickey's book about various kinds of survival in modern America. The story concerns four Atlanta businessmen of various male stripe: Jon Voight's character is a reflective, civilized fellow; Burt Reynolds plays a strapping hunter-gatherer in urban clothes; Ned Beatty is a sweaty, weak-willed boy-man, and Ronny Cox essays a spirited, neighbourly type. Together they decide to answer the ancient call of men testing themselves against the elements and set out on a treacherous ride on the rapids of an Appalachian river. What they don't understand until it is too late is that they have ventured into Dickey's variation on the American underbelly, a wild, lawless, dangerous (and dangerously inbred) place isolated from the gloss of the late 20th century. In short order, the four men dig deep into their own suppressed primitiveness, defending themselves against armed cretins, facing the shock of real death on their carefully planned, death-defying adventure and then squarely facing the suspicions of authority over their concealed actions. Boorman, a master teller of stories about individuals on peculiarly mythical journeys, does a terrifying and beautiful job of revealing the complexity of private and collective character-the way one can never be the same after glimpsing the sharp-clawed survivor in one's soul. -Tom Keogh, Amazon. com.

Review Sony Pictures Home Entertainment / The Longest Yard [2005]
Actors & Directors
  • Adam Sandler
  • William Fichtner
  • Nelly
  • Peter Segal
  • Chris Rock
  • James Cromwell
Release date: 2006-01-16
Run time: 109 min.
RRP: £19.99
Price: £3.55

Review The Longest Yard [2005] / Sony Pictures Home Entertainment:

The latest remake of Burt Reynold's 1974 flick, Adam Sandler's take on The Longest Yard, is unlikely to win him many new fans. But it has merits as a good, solid, enjoyable comedy, and it finds Sandler himself in very strong form. The plot sets him as an ex-American footballer, who is sent to prison following a car accident. There, he finds himself putting together a team of convicts to face off against the prison guards, an opportunity that many of the prisoners simply don't want to pass up. And that pretty much sets the stage for a fast-paced, frequently-funny comedy that doesn't eclipse the original by any means, but is a worthy testament to it. Its main strength is its cast. Alongside Sandler himself are a collection of names from the American Football scene, but British audiences are more likely to warm to Chris Rock. He pretty much steals good chunks of the movie from under Sandler's nose, and some of the film's finest moments are down to him. Granted, The Longest Yard hardly sets new ground for comedies, and neither is it the finest laugh-fest of the last few years. But it is fun, it is funny, and for Adam Sandler and Chris Rock fans in particular, it's a fine way to spend a couple of hours. [+]
Worth a spin. -Simon Brew.

Review 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment / Sideways [2004]
Actors & Directors
  • Alexander Payne
  • Paul Giamatti
  • Thomas Haden Church
  • Virginia Madsen
  • Sandra Oh
Release date: 2005-05-16
Run time: 122 min.
RRP: £19.99
Price: £2.28

Review Sideways [2004] / 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment:

With Sideways, Paul Giamatti (American Splendor, Storytelling) has become an unlikely but engaging romantic lead. Struggling novelist and wine connoisseur Miles (Giamatti) takes his best friend Jack (Thomas Haden Church, Wings) on a wine-tasting tour of California vineyards for a kind of extended bachelor party. Almost immediately, Jack's insatiable need to sow some wild oats before his marriage leads them in into double-dates with a rambunctious wine pourer (Sandra Oh, Under the Tuscan Sun) and a recently divorced waitress (Virginia Madsen, The Hot Spot)-and Miles discovers a little hope that he hasn't let himself feel in a long time. Sideways is a modest but finely tuned film; with gentle compassion, it explores the failures, struggles, and lowered expectations of mid-life. Giamatti makes regret and self-loathing sympathetic, almost sweet. From the director of Election and About Schmidt. -Bret Fetzer.

Review MGM Entertainment / For A Few Dollars More (Special Edition) [1965]
Actors & Directors
  • Gian Maria Volonte
  • Lee Van Cleef
  • Sergio Leone
  • Clint Eastwood
  • Luigi Pistilli
  • Mara Krup
Release date: 2005-04-18
Run time: 126 min.
RRP: £19.99
Price: £2.75

Review For A Few Dollars More (Special Edition) [1965] / MGM Entertainment:


Review Sony Pictures Home Entertainment / Starship Troopers Trilogy - Starship Troopers/Starship Troopers 2 - Hero Of The Federation/Starship Troopers 3 - Marauder [1997]
Actors & Directors
  • Jolene Blalock
  • Bill Brown
  • Ed Neumeier
  • Casper Van Dien
  • Paul Verhoeven
  • Amanda Donohoe
  • Phil Tippett
  • Marnette Patterson
Release date: 2008-09-29
Run time: 313 min.
RRP: £29.99
Price: £12.95

Review Starship Troopers Trilogy - Starship Troopers/Starship Troopers 2 - Hero Of The Federation/Starship Troopers 3 - Marauder [1997] / Sony Pictures Home Entertainment:


Review Sony Pictures Home Entertainment / The Patriot [2000]
Actors & Directors
  • Mel Gibson
  • Rene Auberjonois
  • Heath Ledger
  • Jason Isaacs
  • Roland Emmerich
  • Joely Richardson
Release date: 2006-04-17
Run time: 158 min.
RRP: £12.99
Price: £3.57

Review The Patriot [2000] / Sony Pictures Home Entertainment:


Review Warner Home Video / Deliverance 35th Anniversary Remastered Deluxe Edition [1972]
Actors & Directors
  • Jon Voight
  • Burt Reynolds
  • Ned Beatty
  • John Boorman
Release date: 2007-09-17
Run time: 104 min.
RRP: £12.99
Price: £3.79

Review Deliverance 35th Anniversary Remastered Deluxe Edition [1972] / Warner Home Video:


Review Warner Home Video / Constantine [2005]
Actors & Directors
  • Tilda Swinton
  • Rachel Weisz
  • Keanu Reeves
  • Shia LaBeouf
  • Francis Lawrence
  • Djimon Hounsou
Release date: 2005-07-11
Run time: 116 min.
RRP: £16.99
Price: £1.50

Review Constantine [2005] / Warner Home Video:

In the grand scheme of theological thrillers, Constantine aspires for the greatness of The Exorcist but ranks more closely with The Order. Based on the popular Hellblazer comic book series, and directed with nary a shred of intelligence by music video veteran Francis Lawrence, it's basically The Matrix with swarming demons instead of swarming machines. Keanu Reeves slightly modifies his Matrix persona as John Constantine, who roams the dark-spots of Los Angeles looking for good-evil, angel-devil half-breeds to ensure that "the balance" between God and Satan is properly maintained. An ancient artifact and the detective twin of a woman who committed evil-induced suicide (Rachel Weisz) factor into the plot, which is taken so seriously that you'll want to stand up and cheer when Tilda Swinton swoops down as the cross-dressing angel Gabriel and turns this silliness into the camp-fest it really is. The digital effects are way cool (dig those hellspawn with the tops of their heads lopped off!), so if you don't mind a juvenile lesson in pseudo-Catholic salvation, Constantine is just the movie for you! -Jeff Shannon, Amazon. com.

Browse Action & Adventure:

Models & Brands:
Batman - The Movie [1966], Ocean's Trilogy 4-Disc Box Set, The Great Escape [1963], The Time Machine [1960], The Transporter / Transporter 2 [2002], The Towering Inferno [1975], Spiderman and His Amazing Friends - Complete Box Set, Con Air - Extended Cut [1997], Die Hard Quadrilogy - Die Hard/Die Hard 2/Die Hard With A Vengeance/Die Hard 4.0, Stormbreaker [2006], Death Note 2 - The Last Name (2 Disc Limited Edition) [2006], Clash Of The Titans [1981], Deliverance [1972], The Longest Yard [2005], Sideways [2004], For A Few Dollars More (Special Edition) [1965], Starship Troopers Trilogy - Starship Troopers/Starship Troopers 2 - Hero Of The Federation/Starship Troopers 3 - Marauder [1997], The Patriot [2000], Deliverance 35th Anniversary Remastered Deluxe Edition [1972], Constantine [2005]

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