Actors & Directors
- John Thaw
- Tom Clegg
- Dennis Waterman
Release date: 2005-09-12 Run time: 77 min. RRP: £14.99 Price: £4.39
Review Regan - The Original Sweeney Pilot Movie / Network:
Actors & Directors
- David Henry
- Pierce Brosnan
- Gary Nelson
- Ben Masters
- John Houseman
- Deborah Raffin
Release date: 2008-03-25 Run time: 376 min. Price: £7.41
Review James Clavell's Noble House [1988] (REGION 1) (NTSC) / Lionsgate:
Release date: 2007-10-01 RRP: £44.99 Price: £15.87
Review Indiana Jones Trilogy 2007 / Harrison Ford:As with George Lucas's other movie franchise, there's a vein of mysticism running through the Indiana Jones Trilogy. Watching all three back-to-back it's possible to unravel the chronology and chart the spiritual journey of our hero: the idealistic Young Indy ("It belongs in a museum", implores River Phoenix in the opening escapade of The Last Crusade) grows up to become a cynical fortune-hunter seen trading archaeological treasures with Chinese gangsters at club "Obi-Wan" in The Temple of Doom. From there we follow his path to redemption via three mystical religious objects: respectively Hindu (the Shankara stones in Temple of Doom), Jewish (the Ark of the Covenant in Raiders), and Christian (the Holy Grail itself in Last Crusade). But that's just the subtext. Along the way, this knight-errant archaeologist undertakes improbable adventures (featuring spiders, snakes, rats, insects and Nazis galore), rescues damsels in distress (even when they really don't want to be rescued, such as Kate Capshaw in Temple of Doom), and still finds time to bond with his dad (Sean Connery, in one of cinema's great cameo roles as Dr Jones Sr. ) Steven Spielberg revels in Lucas's recreation of 1930s cliff-hanger serials, infusing every scene with kinetic energy and infectious enthusiasm and creating any number of iconic sequences that have become touchstones of cinematic history. Director and producer are more than ably assisted by regular composer John Williams, whose swashbuckling Korngold-inspired Raiders theme casts Harrison Ford as a modern-day Errol Flynn. Although a fourth movie is promised, this trilogy plays like a self-contained whole that leaves nothing wanting: from the witty dialogue and breathtaking action choreography to the near-perfect casting, this is popular movie-making at its very peak. -Mark Walker.
Actors & Directors
- Claude Akins
- Severn Darden
- Natalie Trundy
- Paul Williams (III)
- Lew Ayres
Release date: 2001-10-08 Run time: 582 min. RRP: £49.99 Price: £8.95
Review The Planet of the Apes Collection (6 Disk Box Set) [1968] / 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment:The five films in the Planet of the Apes series are enjoyable as pure entertainment and yet substantial enough to have inspired academic studies about the film's broader political themes. Loosely adapted from the novel by French author Pierre Boulle, Planet of the Apes was released at the height of racial and political unrest in America, adding resonance to its story of a NASA astronaut (Charlton Heston) stranded on a planet where superior apes dominate inferior human slaves. The film's final image-in which a horrified Heston realises the fate of humankind-remains one of the most indelible in all of science-fiction cinema. Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970) continues the original's distant future scenario, pitting militant apes against mutant humans dwelling in the subterranean ruins of New York City. Its phenomenal success spawned Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971), in which simian scientists Cornelius and Zira (Roddy McDowall and Kim Hunter, reprising their roles from Planet) travel backward in time, setting the stage for the ape supremacy of the first two films. McDowall returned in Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972) as Caesar, the son of Cornelius, leading an ape revolution that bridges the historical gap of the previous films. Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973) ended the five-film cycle with McDowall again playing the chimpanzee leader Caesar, defeating gorillas and human mutants to establish the hierarchy introduced in the original film. The Apes films present a classic what-if scenario that hasn't lost a bit of its potency. As if to prove its cultural endurance, the cycle returned to its origins with director Tim Burton's remake of Planet of the Apes in 2001. -Jeff Shannon, Amazon. [+]
com On the DVD: A glorious indulgence for diehard fans of the series, this handsomely packaged six-disc set contains all five original" Apes" movies, from the wonderful 1967 original to 1973's low-budget Battle. It all look as good as possible in widescreen anamorphic transfers, the first movie's starkly wonderful cinematography in particular is a treat to see on DVD. Planet has been remixed in vivid Dolby 5. 1, highlighting the bold sound design and JerryGoldsmith's masterful avant-garde score. The others are good Dolby stereo, with the odd exception of Escape, which is mono. There are trailers on each disc, but no commentaries sadly. The sixth bonus disc consists of a relatively new two-hour documentary hosted by Roddy McDowall which takes us through the entire saga in detail, pointing out the series' daring social commentary and the increasing difficulties of working with progressively smaller budgets. Sensibly, the documentary spends about an hour on the first movie and then an hour discussing all the rest. Overall, this is a very attractive package. -Mark Walker.
Actors & Directors
- Jan-Michael Vincent
- Ernest Borgnine
- Alex Cord
Release date: 2007-10-22 Run time: 2534 min. RRP: £49.99 Price: £33.98
Review Airwolf - Series 1-3 - Complete 16 DVD Boxset / Universal Pictures UK:
Actors & Directors
- David Andrews
- Kevin Costner
- Adam Baldwin
- Lawrence Kasdan
Release date: 2008-03-17 Run time: 182 min. RRP: £24.99 Price: £4.70
Review Wyatt Earp [HD DVD] [1994] / Warner Home Video:
Actors & Directors
- Kate Mulgrew
- Joel Grey
- Guy Hamilton
- Fred Ward
Release date: 2005-11-07 Run time: 116 min. RRP: £12.99 Price: £3.43
Review Remo - Unarmed And Dangerous [1985] / MGM Entertainment:
Actors & Directors
- Ioan Gruffudd
- Kerry Washington
- Tim Story
- Chris Evans
- Michael Chiklis
- Jessica Alba
Release date: 2007-10-08 Run time: 88 min. RRP: £24.99 Price: £6.02
Review Fantastic Four - Rise Of The Silver Surfer (2 Disc Special Edition) [2007] / 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment:Offering a real improvement on its predecessor and successfully introducing one of the world of comics' most popular characters in the process, Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer easily warrants some attention on DVD to go with its impressive box office take. Picking up where the surprisingly tepid original left off, Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer finds the Marvel Comics Universe's first family dealing with the celebrity that their powers have brought them, to the point where even a simple wedding can't take place without interruption. The film then takes a little while to re-establish its characters and re-introduce some of the issues that underpin them. But it's not too long before the Silver Surfer arrives, and things really get into gear. For make no mistake: it's the Surfer who ignites the film and provides some of the very best moments of Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer. Backed up by some superb special effects work, he's a far more interesting draw that the returning Julian McMahon as Dr Doom. While there are, inevitably, various problems that each of the characters in Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer must face, the film never opts to go knee-deep into them. Instead, it chooses a light, breezy tone, that's suited well to family viewing yet not without some genuine blockbuster moments. It's no classic, but Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer is most certainly fun. And it's equally certain that this isn't the last we've seen of this quintet of heroes. [+]
-Jon Foster.
Actors & Directors
- Richard Donner
- David Thewlis
- Gerard Butler
- Frances O'Connor
- Paul Walker
- Billy Connolly
Release date: 2004-04-26 Run time: 115 min. RRP: £19.99 Price: £3.89
Review Timeline [2003] / Entertainment in Video:Just enough of Michael Crichton's novel survives in Timeline to make it a passable popcorn thriller. It's likely that Crichton fans will lament the shallowness of director Richard Donner's film, and its gee-whiz style of acting lays waste to any scientific credibility that Crichton's scenario might have retained. Still, the Crichton formula is a sturdy one, following the model of Westworld and Jurassic Park by involving a small band of adventurers in a fantastical realm of danger and death. In this case, a group of archaeologists and combat experts (led by Paul Walker and Frances O'Connor) use a "3-D fax machine" (so much for technobabble) to time-travel back to France in 1357, in hope of retrieving Walker's father (Billy Connolly) and returning safely to the present. No such luck. Fending for themselves against marauding hordes of medieval French warriors at war with the invading British, these semi-intrepid travellers find their body count rising, and the deadline for their return home is rapidly approaching. All well and good, so far, and the castles-and-crossbows action reaches a fever pitch, but it's obvious that Donner is too lazy to make the much better film that this could and should have been. Despite its enjoyable highlights, Timeline is perfunctory entertainment. -Jeff Shannon.
Actors & Directors
- Christian I. Nyby
- Ron Satlof
- Dwight Schultz
- Bernard McEveety
- Bruce Kessler
- Dirk Benedict
- George Peppard
- Mr T
Release date: 2005-07-04 Run time: 999 min. RRP: £34.99 Price: £13.48
Review The A-Team - Series 2 / Playback:If ridiculous banter, goofball plots, and many, many, many explosions sounds like the recipe for a perfect TV show to you-you must already be a fan of The A-Team. Each of these Vietnam vets on the lam had his specialty: Hannibal (cigar-chomping George Peppard, a long way from Breakfast at Tiffany's) is the cocksure master planner; Faceman (Dirk Benedict of the original Battlestar Galactica) is the smooth-talking con artist; the pilot with a screw loose is Murdock (Dwight Schultz, later to appear on Star Trek: Voyager); and B. A. Baracus (the charismatic and gold-encrusted Mr. T, Rocky III) is both mechanic and muscle. During the series' five year run, each of these eccentrics cultivated their own rabid fan-base as they threw punches, fired thousand of bullets, tossed hand grenades to and fro, and flipped speeding cars-all without killing or even really hurting anyone, which only adds to the show's willful silliness. (A warning for fans of reporter/sidekick Amy Allen, played by Melinda Culea: After being given nothing to do for a dozen or so testosterone-heavy episodes of the second season, Culea either quit or was fired. ) Only during the 1980s could this peculiar blend of lefty politics and military fetishism have thrived. Though supposedly mercenaries-for-hire, the A-Team usually finds itself defending the downtrodden and helpless out of sheer cussedness. In the second season they helped abused migrant workers form a union-which, naturally, required transmogrifying farm equipment into a cabbage-shooting cannon. [+]
Other underdogs included the disenfranchised heir to an African diamond mine; an independent cab company being squeezed by big business; and a pacifist commune harassed by bigots. The last of these prompted Hannibal to muse ponderously on the unappreciated role of the soldier, who fights so others don't have to-after which Murdock and B. A. began punching each other over a bag of pecans. Self-aware and self-mocking, The A-Team pushed the TV action/adventure genre to laughable extremes. -Bret Fetzer.
Actors & Directors
- Pierce Brosnan
- Denise Richards
- Michael Apted
- Sophie Marceau
- Maria Grazia Cucinotta
- Goldie
Release date: 2006-07-17 Run time: 123 min. RRP: £16.99 Price: £3.89
Review James Bond - The World Is Not Enough (Ultimate Edition 2 Disc Set) [1999] / MGM Entertainment:
Actors & Directors
- Stephen Hopkins
- John McTiernan
- Elpidia Carrillo
- Arnold Schwarzenegger
- Bill Duke
- R.G. Armstrong
- Jesse Ventura
Release date: 2005-04-18 Run time: 205 min. RRP: £32.99 Price: £7.48
Review Predator / Predator 2: Special Edition Collection (2005) [1987] / 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment:
Actors & Directors
- Julia Roberts
- Andy Garcia
- George Clooney
- Matt Damon
- Steven Soderbergh
- Brad Pitt
Release date: 2007-11-05 Run time: 112 min. RRP: £25.99 Price: £5.39
Review Ocean's Eleven [HD DVD] / Warner Home Video:Ocean's Eleven improves on the 1960's Rat Pack original with supernova casting, a slickly updated plot and Steven Soderbergh's graceful touch behind the camera. Soderbergh reportedly relished the opportunity "to make a movie that has no desire except to give pleasure from beginning to end", and he succeeds on those terms, blessed by the casting of George Clooney as Danny Ocean, the title role originally played by Frank Sinatra. Fresh out of jail, Ocean masterminds a plot to steal $163 million from the seemingly impervious vault of Las Vegas's Bellagio casino, not just for the money but to win his ex-wife (Julia Roberts) back from the casino's ruthless owner (Andy Garcia). Soderbergh doesn't scrimp on the caper's comically intricate strategy, but he finds greater joy in assembling a stellar team (including Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle and Carl Reiner) and indulging their strengths as actors and thieves. The result is a film that's as smooth as a silk suit and just as stylish. -Jeff Shannon On the DVD: Ocean's Eleven on disc is hardly swarming with special features, but just like all good heists it's quality not quantity that counts. The cast commentary is lively and it's nice to hear intelligent comments coming from Hollywood's big league for a change. However, it's the director and writer's commentary that is the real gem; it's funny, enlightening and most of all it allows Ted Griffin to put the case forward for all screenwriters across the world as to the importance of their craft. The main feature has an impressive transfer of sound and visuals, making the suits sharper and David Holmes' soundtrack even funkier. -Nikki Disney.
Actors & Directors
- Jack Black
- Colin Hanks
- Naomi Watts
- Adrien Brody
- Peter Jackson
- Kyle Chandler
Release date: 2006-04-10 Run time: 179 min. RRP: £24.99 Price: £1.69
Review King Kong (2 Disc Special Edition) [2005] / Universal Pictures UK:Movies don't come any bigger than Peter Jackson's King Kong, a three-hour remake of the 1933 classic that marries breathtaking visual prowess with a surprising emotional depth. Expanding on the original story of the blonde beauty and the beast who falls for her, Jackson creates a movie spectacle that matches his Lord of the Rings films and even at times evokes their fantasy world while celebrating the glory of '30s Hollywood. Naomi Watts stars as Ann Darrow, a vaudeville actress down on her luck in Depression-era New York until manic filmmaker Carl Denham (a game but miscast Jack Black) entices her with a lead role. Dazzled by the genius of screenwriter Jack Driscoll (Adrien Brody), Ann boards the tramp steamer S. S. Venture, which she-and most of the wary crew-believes is headed for Singapore. Denham, however, is in search of the mythic Skull Island, hoping to capture its wonders on film and make a fortune. What he didn't count on were some scary natives who find that the comely Darrow looks like prime sacrifice material for a mysterious giant creature. [+]
There's no point in rehashing the entire plot, as every movie aficionado is more than familiar with the trajectory of King Kong; the challenge facing Jackson, his screenwriters, and the phenomenal visual-effects team was to breathe new life into an old, familiar story. To that degree, they achieve what could be best called a qualified success. Though they've assembled a crackerjack supporting cast, including Thomas Kretschmann as the Venture's hard-bitten captain and young Jamie Bell as a plucky crewman, the first third of the movie is rather labored, with too much minute detail given over to sumptuous re-creations of '30s New York and the unexciting initial leg of the Venture's sea voyage. However, once the film finds its way to Skull Island (which bears more than a passing resemblance to LOTR's Mordor), Kong turns into a dazzling movie triumph, by turns terrifying and awe-inspiring. The choreography and execution of the action set pieces-including one involving Kong and a trio of Tyrannosaurus Rexes, as well as another that could be charitably described as a bug-phobic's nightmare-is nothing short of landmark filmmaking, and a certain Mr. Spielberg should watch his back, as Kong trumps most anything that has come before it. Despite the visual challenges of King Kong, the movie's most difficult hurdle is the budding romance between Ann and her simian soulmate. Happily, this is where Jackson unqualifiedly triumphs, as this unorthodox love story is tenderly and humorously drawn, by turns sympathetic and wondrous. Watts, whose accessibility balances out her almost otherworldly loveliness, works wonders with mere glances, and Andy Serkis, who digitally embodies Kong here much as he did Gollum in the LOTR films, breathes vibrant life into the giant star of the film without ever overplaying any emotions. The final, tragic act of the film, set mostly atop the Empire State Building, is where Kong earns its place in movie history as a work that celebrates both the technical and emotional heights that film can reach. -Mark Englehart, Amazon. com.
Actors & Directors
- Tom Clegg
- John Thaw
- Dennis Waterman
- Garfield Morgan
- Terry Green
Release date: 2007-12-10 Run time: 2650 min. RRP: £49.99 Price: £30.00
Review The Sweeney Box Set (Vanilla version) / Network:
Actors & Directors
- George Cole
- H.B. Halicki
- James McIntyre
- H.B. Halicki
Release date: 2005-05-30 Run time: 94 min. RRP: £15.99 Price: £3.97
Review Gone In 60 Seconds [1974] / Cinema Club:
Actors & Directors
- Richard Epcar
- Dong-Wook Lee
- Yuri Lowenthal
- Eddie Frierson
- Melanie MacQueen
- Tommy Yune
- Mark Hamill
Release date: 2007-07-23 Run time: 88 min. Creator: Ford Riley RRP: £19.99 Price: £2.45
Review Robotech - The Shadow Chronicles (2006) / Robotech:
Actors & Directors
- Jack Palance
- Casey Siemaszko
- Charlie Sheen
- Christopher Cain
- Lou Diamond Phillips
- Terry O'Quinn
Release date: 2007-09-17 Run time: 102 min. RRP: £15.99 Price: £3.76
Review Young Guns [1988] / Lions Gate Home Ent. UK Ltd:
Actors & Directors
- Ned Beatty
- John Boorman
- Burt Reynolds
- Ed Ramey
- Jon Voight
- Ronny Cox
Release date: 2000-05-15 Run time: 104 min. RRP: £13.99 Price: £1.50
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.
Actors & Directors
- Jack Black
- Peter Jackson
- Colin Hanks
- Naomi Watts
- Kyle Chandler
- Adrien Brody
Release date: 2006-04-10 Run time: 179 min. RRP: £24.99 Price: £1.69
Review King Kong (2 Disc Special Edition) [2005] / Universal Pictures UK:Movies don't come any bigger than Peter Jackson's King Kong, a three-hour remake of the 1933 classic that marries breathtaking visual prowess with a surprising emotional depth. Expanding on the original story of the blonde beauty and the beast who falls for her, Jackson creates a movie spectacle that matches his Lord of the Rings films and even at times evokes their fantasy world while celebrating the glory of '30s Hollywood. Naomi Watts stars as Ann Darrow, a vaudeville actress down on her luck in Depression-era New York until manic filmmaker Carl Denham (a game but miscast Jack Black) entices her with a lead role. Dazzled by the genius of screenwriter Jack Driscoll (Adrien Brody), Ann boards the tramp steamer S. S. Venture, which she-and most of the wary crew-believes is headed for Singapore. Denham, however, is in search of the mythic Skull Island, hoping to capture its wonders on film and make a fortune. What he didn't count on were some scary natives who find that the comely Darrow looks like prime sacrifice material for a mysterious giant creature. [+]
There's no point in rehashing the entire plot, as every movie aficionado is more than familiar with the trajectory of King Kong; the challenge facing Jackson, his screenwriters, and the phenomenal visual-effects team was to breathe new life into an old, familiar story. To that degree, they achieve what could be best called a qualified success. Though they've assembled a crackerjack supporting cast, including Thomas Kretschmann as the Venture's hard-bitten captain and young Jamie Bell as a plucky crewman, the first third of the movie is rather labored, with too much minute detail given over to sumptuous re-creations of '30s New York and the unexciting initial leg of the Venture's sea voyage. However, once the film finds its way to Skull Island (which bears more than a passing resemblance to LOTR's Mordor), Kong turns into a dazzling movie triumph, by turns terrifying and awe-inspiring. The choreography and execution of the action set pieces-including one involving Kong and a trio of Tyrannosaurus Rexes, as well as another that could be charitably described as a bug-phobic's nightmare-is nothing short of landmark filmmaking, and a certain Mr. Spielberg should watch his back, as Kong trumps most anything that has come before it. Despite the visual challenges of King Kong, the movie's most difficult hurdle is the budding romance between Ann and her simian soulmate. Happily, this is where Jackson unqualifiedly triumphs, as this unorthodox love story is tenderly and humorously drawn, by turns sympathetic and wondrous. Watts, whose accessibility balances out her almost otherworldly loveliness, works wonders with mere glances, and Andy Serkis, who digitally embodies Kong here much as he did Gollum in the LOTR films, breathes vibrant life into the giant star of the film without ever overplaying any emotions. The final, tragic act of the film, set mostly atop the Empire State Building, is where Kong earns its place in movie history as a work that celebrates both the technical and emotional heights that film can reach. -Mark Englehart, Amazon. com.
| Browse Action & Adventure:
Models & Brands: Regan - The Original Sweeney Pilot Movie, James Clavell's Noble House [1988] (REGION 1) (NTSC), Indiana Jones Trilogy 2007, The Planet of the Apes Collection (6 Disk Box Set) [1968], Airwolf - Series 1-3 - Complete 16 DVD Boxset, Wyatt Earp [HD DVD] [1994], Remo - Unarmed And Dangerous [1985], Fantastic Four - Rise Of The Silver Surfer (2 Disc Special Edition) [2007], Timeline [2003], The A-Team - Series 2, James Bond - The World Is Not Enough (Ultimate Edition 2 Disc Set) [1999], Predator / Predator 2: Special Edition Collection (2005) [1987], Ocean's Eleven [HD DVD], King Kong (2 Disc Special Edition) [2005], The Sweeney Box Set (Vanilla version), Gone In 60 Seconds [1974], Robotech - The Shadow Chronicles (2006), Young Guns [1988], Deliverance [1972], King Kong (2 Disc Special Edition) [2005] |