Strictly for kids, this 1999 live-action feature version of the popular cartoon series seems long even at 80 minutes. As a video, it's easier to take and appreciate for what works best in the story: the special effects. Matthew Broderick plays the security guard who is physically transformed into a multi-use cyborg with a zillion attachments, from stilts to helicopter blades to skis. A crime fighter in raincoat and fedora, and equipped with a nifty Gadgetmobile, the hero investigates the death of a man linked to the villainous Sanford Scolex (Rupert Everett). Scolex, who blames Gadget for having to wear a prosthetic hand, develops an evil robot twin of the good inspector, causing much mischief and giving Broderick an opportunity to poke fun at his own performance of the virtuous Inspector. The action is shaky, the script plods along and the effects soon take over; Everett has to go to the extremes of overacting just to be seen above it. But children of a certain age will almost certainly engage with the more clever stuff and forgive the rest. -Tom Keogh.

This Western has become a modest cult favourite since its release in 1993, when the film was met with mixed reviews but the performances of Kurt Russell (as Wyatt Earp) and especially Val Kilmer, for his memorably eccentric performance as the dying gunslinger Doc Holliday, garnered high praise. The movie opens with Wyatt Earp trying to put his violent past behind him, living happily in Tombstone with his brothers and the woman (Dana Delany) who puts his soul at ease. But a murderous gang called the Cowboys has burst on the scene, and Earp can't keep his gun belt off any longer. The plot sounds routine, and in many ways it is, but Western buffs won't mind a bit thanks to a fine cast and some well-handled action on the part of Rambo director George P Cosmatos, who has yet to make a better film than this. -Jeff Shannon.

One of Disney's less popular animated movies, for absolutely no good reason at all, because it's an excellent story, simply and expertly told. The box blurb rather confusingly compares it to Bambi, but this is a story which has rather more to do with how social conventions can divide friendships than the coming-of-age subtext which underlies the latter. The story is perhaps predictable-a fox cub and a puppy play together as friends, not realising that their places in the scheme of things dictate that they will grow up to become hunter and hunted. Of course, eventually they see the light and it all ends happily, but even so the story promotes the importance of tolerance. The master-stroke, however, is the gradually evolving realisation that the aggressive prejudices which we all stand to inherit from society are nothing more that the products of stupidity and manipulation, and should be treated with the contempt they deserve. Good stuff for kids and adults alike. Trivia buffs might like to know that this is one of the films Tim Burton worked on at Disney, his first job after graduating from college. -Roger Thomas This special 25th Anniversary edition includes the classic 1981 The Fox and the Hound movie in its entirety and an abundance of special features including a Backstage Disney featurette, two interactive hide-and-seek games, sing-along, read-along, art gallery, and two Disney shorts. The fascinating six-and-a-half minute Backstage Disney segment "Passing the Baton" emphasizes the The Fox and the Hound's place as a historical turning point in Disney animation; chronicling the process by which legendary animators Woolie Reitherman, Frank Thomas, and Ollie Johnston, three of "Disney's Nine Old Men" whose names were synonymous with Disney Animation from the Snow White era, began work on The Fox and the Hound characters and their relationships and then encouraged a whole new generation of young Disney animators including Glen Keane, Randy Cartwright, Ron Clements, and John Musker to build upon that foundation, completing the movie's animation and effectively initiating a whole new chapter in Disney animation that would later culminate in movies like Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and Aladdin. The "Passing the Baton" segment also touches upon The Fox and the Hound's underlying messages about friendship, racial prejudice, stereotyping, and bigotry. [+]

The Lion King 2 is the sequel to Disney's 1994 masterpiece. As with the Beauty and the Beast and Pocahontas sequels, most of the recognisable vocal talents return, creating a worthwhile successor to the highest-grossing animated film ever. We pick up the story as the lion king, Simba (voiced by Matthew Broderick), and Nala (Moira Kelly) have a new baby cub, a girl named Kiara (Neve Campbell). Like her father before, she seeks adventure and ends up outside the Pridelands, where lions loyal to the evil Scar (who died in the original) have lived with revenge in their hearts. The leader, Zira (a spunky turn from Suzanne Pleshette), schemes to use her son Kovu (Jason Marsden) to destroy Simba. As luck with have it, Kiara has bumped into Kovu and fallen in love. This all sounds familiar since all of Disney's straight-to-video sequels have played it very safe, nearly repeating the originals' story, tone and pace. Perhaps there were too many cooks for this production. Besides the two screenplay credits, there are eight other writers credited for additional written material. The look of the film has none of the surprise of the original but is far superior to many other animated video releases. [+]

As a Disney oddity, they don't get much odder than Three Caballeros. Donald Duck receives a birthday package from South America, and the film proceeds to unravel like some peyote-induced hallucination. It starts out reminiscent of other Disney films, where shorts are cobbled together, such as "Make Mine Music" or "Fun and Fancy Free". The film has vignettes such as "The Cold-blooded Penguin" and "The Flying Guachito". After them it careens into part-travelogue, part-stream-of-consciousness animation. Not helping out much are Donald's "friends": Joe Carioca (a parrot) and Panchito (a rooster). They spend most of the rest of the film watching Donald chase skirt. That's right, Donald Duck is a wolf in this movie, and he chases every live-action señorita who bustles across the screen. Although some will say otherwise, Caballeros is for die-hard Disney, Donald or psychedelia fans only. -Keith Simanton, Amazon. [+]