DVD Find the Perfect Gift    Send a Gift Certificate
Search 
Home › Drama › Period
Review Dreamworks Home Entertainment / Amistad [1997]
Actors & Directors
  • Austin Pendleton
  • Steven Spielberg
  • Morgan Freeman
  • Arliss Howard
  • Tomas Milian
  • Nigel Hawthorne
Release date: 2001-01-29
Run time: 148 min.
RRP: £9.99
Price: £3.97

Review Amistad [1997] / Dreamworks Home Entertainment:

Steven Spielberg's most simplistic, sanitised history lesson, Amistad, explores the symbolic 1840s trials of 53 West Africans following their bloody rebellion aboard a slave ship. For most of Schindler's List (and, later, Saving Private Ryan) Spielberg restrains himself from the sweeping narrative and technical flourishes that make him one of our most entertaining and manipulative directors. Here, he doesn't even bother trying, succumbing to his driving need to entertain with beautiful images and contrived emotion. He cheapens his grandiose motives and simplifies slavery, treating it as cut- and-dry genre piece. Characters are easy Hollywood stereotypes-"villains" like the Spanish sailors or zealous abolitionists are drawn one-dimensionally and sneered upon. And Spielberg can't suppress his gifted eye, undercutting normally ugly sequences, such as the terrifying slave passage, which is shot as a gorgeous, well-lit composition. At its core, Amistad is a traditional courtroom drama, centred by a tired, clichéd narrative: a struggling, idealistic young lawyer (Matthew McConaughey) fighting the crooked political system and saving helpless victims. Worse yet, Spielberg actually takes the underlying premise of his childhood fantasy, E. T. and repackages it for slavery. [+]
Cinque (Djimon Hounsou), the leader of the West African rebellion, is presented much like the adorable alien: lost, lacking a common language, and trying to find his way home. McConaughey is a grown-up Elliot who tries communicating complicated ideas such as geography by drawing pictures in the sand or language by having Cinque mimic his facial expressions. Such stuff was effective for a sci-fi fantasy about the communication barriers between a boy and a lost alien; here, it seems like a naive view of real, complex history. -Dave McCoy, Amazon. com.

Review 2 Entertain Video / The Forsyte Saga - Complete Series 1-7 Box Set [1967]
Actors & Directors
  • Kenneth More
  • Eric Porter
  • John Welsh
  • James Cellan Jones
  • Susan Hampshire
  • David Giles (III)
  • Nyree Dawn Porter
Release date: 2004-08-23
Run time: 999 min.
RRP: £69.99
Price: £26.00

Review The Forsyte Saga - Complete Series 1-7 Box Set [1967] / 2 Entertain Video:

The Forsyte Saga is often cited as the first television miniseries; it wasn't, but there's no question that it was a singular, powerful cultural phenomenon that deservedly got under the skin of European viewers in 1967. Today the 26-episode production, based on several novels and short stories by John Galsworthy, is a more timeless enterprise than many of the protracted British TV dramas that have followed. While it would be wrong to consider The Forsyte Saga high art, it's certainly a mesmerizing and inspired mix of theater, sprawling Victorian narrative, thinking man's soap opera, and some finely tuned, 1960s black-and-white production values that (especially when shot outdoors) are strikingly handsome. Above all, Forsyte is driven by its characters-perhaps to an extreme, though the two-generation storyline makes no apologies for creating compelling people whose capacity for short-sighted blundering, bursts of grace, and slow-brewing redemption make them recognizably human. Eric Porter towers over everything as Soames Forsyte, a humorless attorney whose guiding principles of measurable value cause great heartache but slowly evolve, leaving him a graying, good father, arts patron, and sympathetic repository of memory. From the cast of 150 or so, other standouts include Susan Hampshire as Soames's troubled daughter, Nyree Dawn Porter as the wife of two very different Forsyte men, and Kenneth More as the family's artistic black sheep. -Tom Keogh.

Review Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainm / Cold Mountain [2003]
Actors & Directors
  • Eileen Atkins
  • Jude Law
  • Kathy Baker
  • Anthony Minghella
  • Jena Malone
  • Donald Sutherland
Release date: 2008-02-25
Run time: 148 min.
RRP: £19.99
Price: £3.35

Review Cold Mountain [2003] / Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainm:


Review Second Sight Films Ltd. / Cyrano De Bergerac
Actors & Directors
  • Vincent Perez
  • Jean-Paul Rappeneau
  • Anne Brochet
  • Jacques Weber
  • Roland Bertin
  • Gerard Depardieu
Release date: 2005-10-31
Run time: 138 min.
RRP: £19.99
Price: £1.48

Review Cyrano De Bergerac / Second Sight Films Ltd.:


Review Warner Home Video / North And South - Series 2
Actors & Directors
  • Lesley-Anne Down
  • Richard T. Heffron
  • Patrick Swayze
  • James Read (II)
  • Kirstie Alley
  • Wendy Kilbourne
Release date: 2004-11-01
RRP: £35.99
Price: £8.98

Review North And South - Series 2 / Warner Home Video:


Review 2 Entertain Video / Madame Bovary
Actors & Directors
  • Tim Fywell
  • Frances O'Connor
  • Adam Cooper
  • Hugh Bonneville
  • Eileen Atkins
  • Claire Hackett
Release date: 2006-03-13
Run time: 150 min.
RRP: £15.99
Price: £5.00

Review Madame Bovary / 2 Entertain Video:


Review Second Sight / Les Enfants Du Paradis [1945]
Actors & Directors
  • Pierre Brasseur
  • Jean-Louis Barrault
  • Marcel Carné
  • Pierre Renoir
  • Arletty
  • María Casares
Release date: 2000-09-18
Run time: 181 min.
RRP: £19.99
Price: £5.12

Review Les Enfants Du Paradis [1945] / Second Sight:

A film which regularly charts high in critics' polls of the best films of all time, director Marcel Carné and screenwriter Jacques Prévert's masterpiece Les Enfants du Paradis is as solid a landmark in French film history as the Eiffel Tower is on the Parisian landscape. And at 187 minutes running time, it's a massy edifice indeed, built from a rambunctious cast of characters-ranging from pickpockets and prostitutes to aristocrats and actors-whose lives intersect around the Theatre des Funambules, a popular Parisian theatre on the Boulevard du Crime, during the 1840s. (The title refers to the poor who can only afford seats in the upper galleries of the theatre. ) The heart of the plot is a love story between mime artiste Baptiste (Jean-Louis Barrault) and streetwalker Garance (the magnificent, sand-paper-voiced Arletty). When Garance is falsely accused of pickpocketing, Baptiste provides a mimed alibi for her to the police (one of the film's most famous set pieces). The rose she later throws him in gratitude sets off a romantic obsession, one of several that structure the film, as do love triangles, duels, and tortured confessions of feeling. Thematically, Les Enfant du Paradis gnaws over typically French cinematic preoccupations: illusion and reality, the nature of performance, the indomitable spirit of the proletariat and so on, all made the more charged and poignant when you know the film was shot during the Nazi occupation. (One actor, Robert Le Vigan, was reportedly a Nazi collaborator and disappeared during the filming under mysterious circumstances and so had to be replaced by Pierre Renoir. ) -Leslie Felperin.

Review Universal Pictures UK / The Other Boleyn Girl - with Free Bookmark (Exclusive to Amazon.co.uk) [2008]
Actors & Directors
  • Justin Chadwick
  • Natalie Portman
  • Jim Sturgess
  • Juno Temple
  • Scarlett Johansson
  • Eric Bana
Release date: 2008-06-30
Run time: 111 min.
RRP: £19.99
Price: £11.98

Review The Other Boleyn Girl - with Free Bookmark (Exclusive to Amazon.co.uk) [2008] / Universal Pictures UK:

A tale of two sisters competing for the same king, The Other Boleyn Girl uses historical facts as window dressing for this work of fiction that is entertaining, if not wholly believable. Anne Boleyn (Natalie Portman) is the doe-eyed vixen ordered by her power-hungry uncle to bewitch King Henry VIII (Eric Bana). Her shy sister Mary (Scarlett Johansson) has always been in Anne's shadow; Anne is prettier, more accomplished, and desired by many men. So when the King picks Mary-the "other Boleyn girl"-as his mistress, Anne turns on her sister and schemes to become not only the King's consort, but his new queen. With a pair of American actresses in the lead roles and an Aussie portraying their hunky object of desire, the English accents are all over the place in this period piece with a modern feel. Though the Boleyn girls' mother points out that her "daughters are being traded like cattle for the advancement of men," it is Anne who ultimately throws her slight weight around to bully Henry into doing her bidding. When he begs her to give herself to him, Anne-wearing a Carrie Bradshaw-esque "B" pendant on her neck-counters, "Make me your Queen. " Is the audience really supposed to believe that Henry the VIII-the most powerful man in the land-would divorce Catherine of Aragon, separate from the Catholic church, and put England in upheaval simply because Anne refused to sleep with him until he jumped through all her hoops? "I have torn this country apart for you," he hisses at her before finally getting his way. Based on Philippa Gregory's bestselling novel of the same name, The Other Boleyn Girl features an attractive cast and a familiar plot with some icky twists. Kieran McGuigan's cinematography is breathtaking and is as crucial to setting the film's tone as the dialogue. [+]
Actually, it fares better: Lines such as "Well? Did he have you?!" sound almost comical. But the sweeping shots of Henry's kingdom and the carefully framed close-ups of Portman and Johansson are breathtaking in their beauty and say what words simply cannot. -Jae-Ha Kim.

Review Starz Home Entertainment / Shaka Zulu [1986]
Actors & Directors
  • Edward Fox
  • William C. Faure
  • Fiona Fullerton
  • Trevor Howard
  • Robert Powell
  • Christopher Lee
Release date: 2004-06-28
Run time: 525 min.
RRP: £29.99
Price: £7.00

Review Shaka Zulu [1986] / Starz Home Entertainment:


Review Warner Home Video / North and South: Book 1
Actors & Directors
  • Wendy Kilbourne
  • James Read (II)
  • Patrick Swayze
  • Kirstie Alley
  • Lesley-Anne Down
  • Richard T. Heffron
Release date: 2004-11-01
RRP: £35.99
Price: £8.98

Review North and South: Book 1 / Warner Home Video:


Review Warner Home Video / Dangerous Liaisons [1988]
Actors & Directors
  • John Malkovich
  • Michelle Pfeiffer
  • Keanu Reeves
  • Glenn Close
  • Swoosie Kurtz
  • Stephen Frears
Release date: 2006-06-01
Run time: 115 min.
RRP: £13.99
Price: £3.06

Review Dangerous Liaisons [1988] / Warner Home Video:

A sumptuously mounted and photographed celebration of artful wickedness, betrayal and sexual intrigue among depraved 18th-century French aristocrats, Dangerous Liaisons (based on Christopher Hampton's Les Liaisons Dangereuses) is seductively decadent fun. The villainous heroes are the Marquise De Merteuil (Glenn Close) and the Vicomte De Valmont (John Malkovich), who have cultivated their mutual cynicism into a highly developed and exquisitely mannered form of (in-)human expression. Former lovers, they now fancy themselves rather like demigods whose mutual desires have evolved beyond the crudeness of sex or emotion. They ritualistically act out their twisted affections by engaging in elaborate conspiracies to destroy the lives of their less calculating acquaintances, daring each other to ever-more-dastardly acts of manipulation and betrayal. Why? Just because they can; it's their perverted way of getting their kicks in a dead-end, pre-Revolutionary culture. Among their voluptuous and virtuous prey are fair-haired angels played by Michelle Pfeiffer and Uma Thurman, who have never looked more ripe for ravishing. When the Vicomte finds himself beset by bewilderingly genuine emotions for one of his victims, the Marquise considers it the ultimate betrayal and plots her heartless revenge. Dangerous Liaisons is a high-mannered revel for the actors, who also include Swoosie Kurtz, Mildred Natwick, and Keanu Reeves. -Jim Emerson.

Review Artificial Eye / Andrei Rublev [1973]
Actors & Directors
  • Ivan Lapikov
  • Nikolai Sergeyev
  • Andrei Tarkovsky
  • Irma Raush
  • Nikolai Grinko
  • Anatoli Solonitsyn
Release date: 2002-01-21
Run time: 185 min.
RRP: £23.99
Price: £8.15

Review Andrei Rublev [1973] / Artificial Eye:


Review Cinema Club / Fortunes Of War (Three Discs) (DVD) [1987]
Actors & Directors
  • Ronald Pickup
  • Rupert Graves
  • Emma Thompson
  • Charles Kay
  • Kenneth Branagh
Release date: 2006-10-23
Run time: 406 min.
RRP: £29.99
Price: £17.99

Review Fortunes Of War (Three Discs) (DVD) [1987] / Cinema Club:


Review ITV DVD / The Jane Austen ITV Collection - Mansfield Park / Northanger Abbey / Emma (3 Disc Box Set) [2007]
Actors & Directors
  • Samantha Morton
  • Diarmuid Lawrence
  • Liam Cunningham
  • Billie Piper
  • William Beck
  • Kate Beckinsale
Release date: 2007-03-26
Run time: 347 min.
RRP: £39.99
Price: £14.66

Review The Jane Austen ITV Collection - Mansfield Park / Northanger Abbey / Emma (3 Disc Box Set) [2007] / ITV DVD:


Review Pathe Distribution / La Reine Margot [1993]
Actors & Directors
  • Virna Lisi
  • Patrice Chéreau
  • Daniel Auteuil
  • Vincent Perez
  • Jean-Hugues Anglade
  • Isabelle Adjani
Release date: 2000-03-27
Run time: 138 min.
RRP: £19.99
Price: £5.95

Review La Reine Margot [1993] / Pathe Distribution:

Based on a novel by Alexandre Dumas, La Reine Margot concerns the events behind infamous Massacre of St Bartholomew in sixth-century France. Isabelle Adjani plays Margot, betrothed for political reasons to one man (Daniel Auteuil) by her mother (Virna Lisi), while she is, in fact, in love with another (Vincent Pérez). Despite the bond that grows between the reluctant couple, plots are hatching all over the castle against the royals. Adventurous, exciting, erotic and given strong artistic credibility through its outstanding cast, the film is enthralling and visually sumptuous. Directed by Patrice Chereau, less known outside of France than is the film's producer, Claude Berri (director of Jean de Florette and Manon des Sources). -Tom Keogh.

Review 2 Entertain Video / Our Mutual Friend [1998]
Actors & Directors
  • Keeley Hawes
  • Julian Farino
  • David Morrissey
  • Paul McGann
  • Steven Mackintosh
  • Anna Friel
Release date: 2001-08-20
Run time: 350 min.
RRP: £24.99
Price: £7.00

Review Our Mutual Friend [1998] / 2 Entertain Video:

Dickens was the master of Victorian social satire, ruthlessly exposing the cruelty and absurdity that supported the strictly hierarchical class-structure of the day. This superb production of Our Mutual Friend does full justice to his darkest, most complex novel, fleshing out the satirical bones of the plot with performances that eschew caricature in favour of psychological depth. Anna Friel's Bella is wonderfully complex, her innate goodness struggling with her love of money and desire for advancement. Paul McGann, as the lawyer Wrayburn, is also superb, wrestling with the implications of his feelings for Lizzie. And of course, this being Dickens and the BBC, there's a terrific supporting cast, including Timothy Spall as the melancholy articulator of skeletons, Mr Venus. As the fortunes of the characters rise and fall, the river Thames flows eternally on, the symbolic backbone of this remarkable story. At six hours, this version of Our Mutual Friend is a long production, but not a moment too long. A mystery, a love story, a critique of the pursuit of wealth and status, this is perhaps the best adaptation of Dickens ever to be committed to film. -Simon Leake, Amazon. com.

Review 2 Entertain Video / Jane Eyre [1983]
Actors & Directors
  • Judy Cornwell
  • Zelah Clarke
  • Julian Amyes
  • Timothy Dalton
Release date: 2006-03-13
Run time: 238 min.
RRP: £15.99
Price: £6.42

Review Jane Eyre [1983] / 2 Entertain Video:


Review Acorn Media / The Far Pavilions [1984]
Actors & Directors
  • Benedict Taylor
  • Amy Irving
  • Christopher Lee
  • Ben Cross
  • Rossano Brazzi
  • Peter Duffell
Release date: 2005-05-09
Run time: 310 min.
RRP: £19.99
Price: £8.93

Review The Far Pavilions [1984] / Acorn Media:


Review Network / Upstairs Downstairs - The Complete First Series
Actors & Directors
  • Jean Marsh
  • Gordon Jackson
  • Christopher Beeny
  • Angela Baddeley
  • David Langton
Release date: 2005-09-19
Run time: 650 min.
RRP: £29.99
Price: £15.00

Review Upstairs Downstairs - The Complete First Series / Network:


Review Channel 4 DVD / Howards End [1992]
Actors & Directors
  • Emma Thompson
  • Anthony Hopkins
  • Helena Bonham Carter
  • James Ivory
  • Samuel West
  • Vanessa Redgrave
Release date: 2007-09-17
Run time: 136 min.
RRP: £15.99
Price: £5.37

Review Howards End [1992] / Channel 4 DVD:


Models & Brands:
Amistad [1997], The Forsyte Saga - Complete Series 1-7 Box Set [1967], Cold Mountain [2003], Cyrano De Bergerac, North And South - Series 2, Madame Bovary, Les Enfants Du Paradis [1945], The Other Boleyn Girl - with Free Bookmark (Exclusive to Amazon.co.uk) [2008], Shaka Zulu [1986], North and South: Book 1, Dangerous Liaisons [1988], Andrei Rublev [1973], Fortunes Of War (Three Discs) (DVD) [1987], The Jane Austen ITV Collection - Mansfield Park / Northanger Abbey / Emma (3 Disc Box Set) [2007], La Reine Margot [1993], Our Mutual Friend [1998], Jane Eyre [1983], The Far Pavilions [1984], Upstairs Downstairs - The Complete First Series, Howards End [1992]

Top headlines:
Search 
DVD Rental: try it for free