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Review 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment / Breakdown [1998]
Actors & Directors
  • M.C. Gainey
  • Kathleen Quinlan
  • J.T. Walsh
  • Jonathan Mostow
  • Kurt Russell
  • Jack Noseworthy
Release date: 2003-06-30
Run time: 89 min.
RRP: £5.99
Price: £2.91

Review Breakdown [1998] / 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment:

Tautly directed and superbly photographed, this crowd-pleasing thriller from 1997 is indebted to Steven Spielberg's Duel but more closely resembles Dead Calm in its strengths and weaknesses. Kurt Russell plays a stressed-out husband whose wife (Kathleen Quinlan) disappears after their car breaks down in the desert. Tracking down her whereabouts leads to an interstate theft and kidnapping ring, and as Russell pursues-and is pursued by-a vicious redneck played to perfection by J T Walsh (in one of his final film roles), the movie succumbs to several tense but utterly conventional action sequences. That doesn't stop the movie from being an above-average nail-biter. It is so effectively directed by co-writer Jonathan Mostow that even the more surreal situations seem plausible and altogether unsettling. Russell's performance is key to the film's success-he's smart enough to be admirable and we can readily identify with his frustration, confusion and torment. Through him, Breakdown takes on the edgy quality of a wide-awake nightmare. -Jeff Shannon The sinister side of the divide between urban and rural America has inspired countless film makers and, although by no means original, Breakdown is a tense and at times dark example of the genre. Travelling to California to start a new life, Jeff and Amy Taylor are the perfect American couple, young, prosperous and devoted to each other. When they find themselves stranded in the desert following the breakdown of their car their dream descends into a vicious nightmare. [+]
With his wife disappearing into what seems like thin air, Taylor becomes embroiled in an increasingly desperate to rescue her: repeatedly facing a wall of silence from the local community. Kurt Russell handles the role well, comfortable with the numerous action sequences but also adept at portraying Taylor's increasing mental anxiety in the kind of role perhaps more associated with the likes of Harrison Ford (a man who loses his wife more often than you or I might lose our car keys). The locals, led in suitably sinister form by the excellent JT Walsh, are a straight out of Deliverance-presented as dumb hicks but also capable of organising a complex kidnap. The film zips by at a pace, dwelling briefly but effectively on the astonishing number of people who go missing each year before culminating in a high-action, edge-of-the-seat climax. Not rocket science but fun all the same. On the DVD: Breakdown has a suitably epic feel thanks to the vast expanses of desert, and the picture quality on the DVD and the soundtrack's clear effects do much to enhance this perception. Extras are kept to the bare minimum, with the standard chapter and subtitle selection all that is on offer. -Phil Udell.

Review Sony Pictures Home Entertainment / Stone Cold
Actors & Directors
  • Tom Selleck
  • Mimi Rogers
  • Jane Adams
  • Robert Harmon
Release date: 2005-10-10
Run time: 88 min.
RRP: £19.99
Price: £4.92

Review Stone Cold / Sony Pictures Home Entertainment:


Review ITV DVD / King Of New York [1991]
Actors & Directors
  • Victor Argo
  • Laurence Fishburne
  • Christopher Walken
  • David Caruso
  • Abel Ferrara
  • Wesley Snipes
Release date: 2003-04-14
Run time: 99 min.
RRP: £9.99
Price: £13.99

Review King Of New York [1991] / ITV DVD:

King of New York is a low-budget crime thriller has the feel of a major blockbuster and owes its roots to the hard-edged crime movies of the 1930s. Christopher Walken stars as a drug kingpin who is released from prison and vows to use his position and influence-and criminal enterprise-for charitable means. But a core group of New York cops are all over him and his gang, determined to go to war, whatever the cost, to bring him down. Eventually his empire-headquartered at, of all places, Donald Trump's Plaza Hotel-crumbles under the weight of double-crossing and a body count of open warfare with the cops. This is one of the most stylish films of the last decade, with a strong supporting cast (including Lawrence Fishburne, Wesley Snipes, and David Caruso) and some truly enthralling set pieces, including a stunning car chase and gunfight across a rain-soaked Queensboro Bridge. The film's tongue-in-cheek, over-the-top style offsets its nihilism; and its riveting visuals will have audiences hooked from beginning to end. -Robert Lane.

Review Paramount Home Entertainment / Rules Of Engagement [2000]
Actors & Directors
  • Samuel L. Jackson
  • Guy Pearce
  • Bruce Greenwood
  • Tommy Lee Jones
  • William Friedkin
  • Ben Kingsley
Release date: 2001-03-05
Run time: 122 min.
RRP: £15.99
Price: £3.50

Review Rules Of Engagement [2000] / Paramount Home Entertainment:

Rules of Engagement opens strongly with a Vietnam battle sequence that sets the stage for the rest of the story. But then director William Friedkin knows a thing or two about staging harrowing action sequences, and if you don't believe that, you've never seen The French Connectionor To Live and Die in LA. Unfortunately, Friedkin can't do much about the implausible plot that follows, in which the Marine commander, played by the always-terrific Samuel L Jackson, is accused of slaughtering innocent civilians (who actually were shooting at him and his men). He must rely on an old Marine buddy-a lawyer played by Tommy Lee Jones-to get him through the jury-rigged court martial. But the central premise-that an evil presidential aide would perjure himself and destroy evidence simply to maintain good relations with US allies in the Middle East, rather than defending a highly decorated Marine colonel who risked his life-is inevitably hard to swallow. And the ending is even flimsier. -Marshall Fine, Amazon. com.

Review Universal Pictures UK / Torn Curtain [1966]
Actors & Directors
  • Ludwig Donath
  • Peter Lorre
  • Alfred Hitchcock
  • Julie Andrews
  • Paul Newman
  • Lila Kedrova
Release date: 2005-10-17
Run time: 123 min.
RRP: £9.99
Price: £4.95

Review Torn Curtain [1966] / Universal Pictures UK:

Paul Newman and Julie Andrews star in Torn Curtain, what must unfortunately be called one of Alfred Hitchcock's lesser efforts. Still, sub-par Hitchcock is better than a lot of what's out there, and this one is well worth a look. Newman plays cold-war physicist Michael Armstrong, while Andrews plays his lovely assistant-and-fiancée Sarah Sherman. Armstrong has been working on a missile defence system that will "make nuclear defence obsolete", and naturally both sides are very interested. All Sarah cares about is the fact that Michael has been acting awfully fishy lately. The suspense of Torn Curtain is by nature not as thrilling as that in the average Hitchcock film-much of it involves sitting still and wondering if the bad guys are getting closer. Still, Hitchcock manages to amuse himself: there is some beautifully clever camera work and an excruciating sequence that illustrates the frequent Hitchcock point that death is not a tidy business. -Ali Davis.

Review Optimum Home Entertainment / L'Appartement [1995]
Actors & Directors
  • Monica Bellucci
  • Vincent Cassel
  • Gilles Mimouni
  • Sandrine Kiberlain
  • Jean-Philippe Ecoffey
  • Romane Bohringer
Release date: 2007-02-05
Run time: 112 min.
RRP: £17.99
Price: £5.08

Review L'Appartement [1995] / Optimum Home Entertainment:


Review Sony Pictures Home Entertainment / Jagged Edge [1986]
Actors & Directors
  • Dave Austin
  • Glenn Close
  • Richard Marquand
  • Peter Coyote
  • Jeff Bridges
  • Maria Mayenzet
Release date: 2001-04-02
Run time: 104 min.
RRP: £12.99
Price: £5.84

Review Jagged Edge [1986] / Sony Pictures Home Entertainment:

Jagged Edge was one of a series of entertaining if porous thrillers crafted by screenwriter Joe Eszterhas before he wrote the ridiculous Showgirls. This 1985 movie is a taut mystery about an attorney (Glenn Close) who defends a newspaper publisher (Jeff Bridges) accused of murder. The fact that Close's character falls for him is more convenient than plausible, but it is a necessary emotional bridge for Eszterhas and director Richard Marquand (Eye of the Needle) to build toward a powerful finale. Scary, fun as courtroom dramas go, the film is well serviced by the two lead stars and has impressive support from co-star Peter Coyote and especially from Robert Loggia, who plays Close's cop buddy. -Tom Keogh, Amazon. com.

Review ITV DVD / The Ipcress File [Blu-ray] [1965]
Actors & Directors
  • Sidney J. Furie
  • Nigel Green
  • Michael Caine
  • Guy Doleman
  • Sue Lloyd
Release date: 2008-11-10
Run time: 107 min.
RRP: £19.99
Price: £14.99

Review The Ipcress File [Blu-ray] [1965] / ITV DVD:

'Michael Caine cuts a cool dash as the sceptical, working-class secret service man Harry Palmer. The film is stylistically extravagant, slyly anti-American and pays homage to classic movies'-Philip French This espionage thriller represents a landmark in spy movies, jettisoning the excesses of 007 and introducing the sly, dry intelligence agent Harry Palmer, played by Michael Caine, relishing a role that marked him for stardom. The story, based on Len Deighton's novel, centres on Palmer's investigation into British Intelligence security. He's soon enmeshed in a world of double-dealing, kidnap and murder and finds a traitor is operating at the heart of the secret service. Will the mysterious `Ipcress File' reveal who the traitor is? Produced by Harry Saltzman (the early Bond movies) and with an evocative score by Academy Award winning John Barry, The Ipcress File emerges as one of cinema's wittiest and grittiest thrillers.

Review Warner Home Video / The Year of Living Dangerously [1982] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Actors & Directors
  • Mel Gibson
  • Linda Hunt
  • Michael Murphy
  • Bill Kerr
  • Sigourney Weaver
  • Peter Weir
Release date: 2000-06-06
Run time: 115 min.
Price: £3.87

Review The Year of Living Dangerously [1982] (REGION 1) (NTSC) / Warner Home Video:


Review Optimum Home Entertainment / Memories Of Murder [2003]
Actors & Directors
  • Joon-Ho Bong
  • Kang-Ho Song
  • Sang-Kyung Kim
  • Roe-Ha Kim
  • Jae-Ho Song
Release date: 2005-01-24
Run time: 131 min.
RRP: £19.99
Price: £3.60

Review Memories Of Murder [2003] / Optimum Home Entertainment:


Review Warner Home Video / The Dark Knight / Batman Begins (Double Pack) [Blu-ray]
Actors & Directors
  • Christian Bale
Release date: 2008-12-08
RRP: £39.99
Price: £27.98

Review The Dark Knight / Batman Begins (Double Pack) [Blu-ray] / Warner Home Video:


Review Lions Gate Home Ent. UK Ltd / The Contract [2006]
Actors & Directors
  • Bruce Beresford
  • Megan Dodds
  • Jamie Anderson
  • Ned Bellamy
  • John Cusack
  • Morgan Freeman
Release date: 2007-09-10
Run time: 92 min.
RRP: £15.99
Price: £3.55

Review The Contract [2006] / Lions Gate Home Ent. UK Ltd:


Review Acorn Media / Midsomer Murders : The Christmas Collection Special Edition & Documentary (Exclusive to Amazon.co.uk)
Actors & Directors
  • John Nettles
Release date: 2008-09-15
Run time: 430 min.
RRP: £24.99
Price: £24.99

Review Midsomer Murders : The Christmas Collection Special Edition & Documentary (Exclusive to Amazon.co.uk) / Acorn Media:


Review MGM Entertainment / Body Of Evidence [1992]
Actors & Directors
  • Anne Archer
  • Uli Edel
  • Joe Mantegna
  • Willem Dafoe
  • Madonna
Release date: 2005-05-23
Run time: 96 min.
RRP: £12.99
Price: £3.98

Review Body Of Evidence [1992] / MGM Entertainment:


Review Universal Pictures UK / Columbo - Series 5 - Complete [1975]
Actors & Directors
  • Peter Falk
Release date: 2007-02-12
RRP: £29.99
Price: £14.23

Review Columbo - Series 5 - Complete [1975] / Universal Pictures UK:

Over three decades since it was first broadcast, the evergreen Columbo's fifth season finds Peter Falk's infamous detective in very fine form. In fact, this is one of the seasons for which Falk walked away with a prestigious Emmy award for his portrayal of the title role. There are half-a-dozen episodes included across the discs in this Columbo set, and they attract a healthy selection of guest stars. Among the faces who turn up in the assorted mysteries are Patrick McGoohan, Janet Leigh and Robert Vaughn, while at one point a certain Steven Spielberg steps behind the camera to direct an episode. But make no mistake, this always was, and continues to be here, Peter Falk's show. He fits the role of Columbo like a proverbial glove, and some of the episodes featured in this fifth season are among the finest the show produced throughout its run. "Now You See Him", for instance, is a clever, intriguing piece of drama, involved a more mysterious than usual magician. And "Identity Crisis"-which also features Airplane's Leslie Nielsen-is a lovely, twisty, spy-based episode. It's a pity that the extras on the Columbo DVDs are pretty much non-existent, because there's a real and genuine joy in being reunited with the episodes themselves. Season five isn't perfect, granted, but there's nonetheless far more in the positive corner than the negative. [+]
Very warmly recommended. -Jon Foster.

Review Live/Artisan / Belly [1999] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Actors & Directors
  • Hype Williams
  • Nas
  • Tionne 'T-Boz' Watkins
  • DMX
  • Hassan Johnson
  • Taral Hicks
Release date: 2004-01-20
Run time: 105 min.
Price: £5.13

Review Belly [1999] (REGION 1) (NTSC) / Live/Artisan:


Review Warner Home Video / Disclosure [1995]
Actors & Directors
  • Donald Sutherland
  • Demi Moore
  • Barry Levinson
  • Caroline Goodall
  • Michael Douglas
  • Roma Maffia
Release date: 1998-05-11
Run time: 123 min.
RRP: £13.99
Price: £3.38

Review Disclosure [1995] / Warner Home Video:

Michael Crichton's bestselling novel was both a high-tech thriller and source of controversy with its hot-button plot about a man's charge of sexual harassment against a female colleague and former lover. The movie, directed by Barry Levinson, turned these issues into a prurient thriller dressed up in glossy production values, virtual reality computer graphics and steamy sex between Michael Douglas and Demi Moore. Having cornered the market on roles for men whose brains are located south of their waistline, Douglas is well cast as the computer-industry guy who loses a plush promotion to the opportunistic Moore, and he's perfected the expression of paranoid panic. If you don't think about it too much, this is one of those films that can draw you into its manipulative web and really grab your attention. Disclosure is more entertaining than thought provoking (because the filmmakers basically danced around the story's potential controversy), but there's enough star power and visual glitz to make this an enjoyable ride. -Jeff Shannon.

Review Buena Vista Home Entertainment / Enemy Of The State [1998]
Actors & Directors
  • Regina King
  • Jon Voight
  • Gene Hackman
  • Lisa Bonet
  • Will Smith
  • Tony Scott
Release date: 2007-10-01
Run time: 127 min.
RRP: £15.99
Price: £2.47

Review Enemy Of The State [1998] / Buena Vista Home Entertainment:

Robert Clayton Dean (Will Smith) is a lawyer with a wife and family whose happily normal life is turned upside down after a chance meeting with a college buddy (Jason Lee) at a lingerie shop. Unbeknownst to the lawyer, he's just been burdened with a videotape of a congressman's assassination. Hot on the tail of this tape is a ruthless group of National Security Agents commanded by a belligerently ambitious fed named Reynolds (Jon Voight). Using surveillance from satellites, bugs and other sophisticated snooping devices, the NSA infiltrates every facet of Dean's existence, tracing each physical and digital footprint he leaves. Driven by acute paranoia, Dean enlists the help of a clandestine former NSA operative named Brill (Gene Hackman) and Enemy of the State kicks into high-intensity hyperdrive. Teaming up once again with producer Jerry Bruckheimer, Top Gun director Tony Scott demonstrates his glossy style with clever cinematography and breakneck pacing. Will Smith proves that there's more to his success than a brash sense of humour, giving a versatile performance that plausibly illustrates a man cracking under the strain of paranoid turmoil. Hackman steals the show by essentially reprising his role from The Conversation-just imagine his memorable character Harry Caul some 20 years later. Most of all, the film's depiction of high-tech surveillance is highly convincing and dramatically compelling, making this a cautionary tale with more substance than you'd normally expect from a Scott-Bruckheimer action extravaganza. -Jeremy Storey.

Review Paramount Home Entertainment / Shaft [2000]
Actors & Directors
  • Busta Rhymes
  • Christian Bale
  • John Singleton
  • Vanessa Williams
  • Samuel L. Jackson
  • Jeffrey Wright
Release date: 2001-04-09
Run time: 95 min.
RRP: £15.99
Price: £2.48

Review Shaft [2000] / Paramount Home Entertainment:

Samuel L. Jackson makes a gleefully updated John Shaft in John Singleton's homage (not remake) to the early 1970s action classic, picking up where Richard Roundtree's legendary Shaft left off. The Manhattan-set film features excellent performances, dynamic action scenes and witty one-liners (Jackson's Shaft: "It's my duty to please the booty"-although the line's deceptive: there's a surprising lack of sex in the film). Unfortunately, it's offset by a surprisingly uninspired, predictable, one-dimensional story, penned by Singleton, Richard Price and Shane Salerno. The story, in which Shaft investigates the murder of a young African American, is without suspense, since from the start the audience knows that rich white boy Walter Wade (Christian Bale) did the deed and that Shaft is going to kick his ass, big time. That said, charismatic performances-from Jackson (who, in keeping with the times, is more volatile and fiery than his predecessor), Toni Collette (as a frightened witness), the villainous Bale and the utterly amazing Jeffrey Wright (Basquiat)-make the film enticing and watchable. Look for a cameo by the original Shaft's director, the legendary Gordon Parks, and fans of the original should note that a still stunningly handsome Roundtree briefly appears as Jackson's uncle. -N. F. Mendoza, Amazon. [+]
com.

Review MGM Entertainment / The Silence Of The Lambs [1991]
Actors & Directors
  • Jodie Foster
  • Anthony Heald
  • Jonathan Demme
  • Ted Levine
  • Anthony Hopkins
  • Scott Glenn
Release date: 2001-08-06
Run time: 113 min.
RRP: £24.99
Price: £3.93

Review The Silence Of The Lambs [1991] / MGM Entertainment:

Based on Thomas Harris's novel, Jonathan Demme's terrifying adaptation of Silence of the Lambs contains only a couple of genuinely shocking moments (one involving an autopsy, the other a prison break). The rest of the film is a splatter-free visual and psychological descent into the hell of madness, redeemed astonishingly by an unlikely connection between a monster and a haunted young woman. Anthony Hopkins is extraordinary as the cannibalistic psychiatrist Dr Hannibal Lecter, virtually entombed in a subterranean prison for the criminally insane. At the behest of the FBI, agent-in-training Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) approaches Lecter, requesting his insights into the identity and methods of a serial killer named Buffalo Bill (Ted Levine). In exchange, Lecter demands the right to penetrate Starling's most painful memories, creating a bizarre but palpable intimacy that liberates them both under separate but equally horrific circumstances. Demme, a filmmaker with a uniquely populist vision (Melvin and Howard, Something Wild), also spent his early years making pulp for Roger Corman (Caged Heat) and he hasn't forgotten the significance of tone, atmosphere and the unsettling nature of a crudely effective close-up. Much of the film, in fact, consists of actors staring straight into the camera (usually from Clarice's point of view), making every bridge between one set of eyes to another seem terribly dangerous. -Tom Keogh, Amazon. com On the DVD: On disc one, the film itself looks clinically sharp in a faultless widescreen (1. 85:1) anamorphic transfer, while the Dolby 5. [+]
1 soundtrack makes the most of the chilling sound effects and Howard Shore's masterfully understated score. Unlike the Region 1 Criterion Collection, however, there is no audio commentary at all. On the second disc, the all-new hour-long "making-of" documentary features contributions from the screenwriter, producer, composer, costume designer, make-up effects people and even the moth wrangler ("There were no moths harmed in the filming!") as well as Ted Levine (Buffalo Bill) and Anthony Hopkins, who talks at length about creating Lecter. Conspicuous by their absence are Jonathan Demme and Jodie Foster. Aside from the usual trailers and stills gallery there are 21 deleted scenes, many of which are not whole scenes but deleted excerpts, a promotional featurette made in 1991 and an outtakes reel that proves the cast really did have fun making this scary picture. For those who want to scare all their friends, there's also an answerphone message from Anthony Hopkins "in character". -Mark Walker.

Browse Crime, Thrillers & Mystery:

Models & Brands:
Breakdown [1998], Stone Cold, King Of New York [1991], Rules Of Engagement [2000], Torn Curtain [1966], L'Appartement [1995], Jagged Edge [1986], The Ipcress File [Blu-ray] [1965], The Year of Living Dangerously [1982] (REGION 1) (NTSC), Memories Of Murder [2003], The Dark Knight / Batman Begins (Double Pack) [Blu-ray], The Contract [2006], Midsomer Murders : The Christmas Collection Special Edition & Documentary (Exclusive to Amazon.co.uk), Body Of Evidence [1992], Columbo - Series 5 - Complete [1975], Belly [1999] (REGION 1) (NTSC), Disclosure [1995], Enemy Of The State [1998], Shaft [2000], The Silence Of The Lambs [1991]

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