"Actor: Akosua Busia"

• The Color Purple | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £4.99   |  Saving you £9.00 (180.36%)   |  RRP £13.99

  Steven Spielberg, proving he's one of the few modern filmmakers who has the visual fluency to be capable of making a great silent film, took a melodramatic, DW Griffith-inspired approach to filming Alice Walker's novel. His tactics made the film controversial, but also a popular hit. You can argue with the appropriateness of Spielberg's decision, but his astonishing facility with images is undeniable--from the exhilarating and eye-popping opening shots of children playing in paradisiacal purple fields to the way he conveys the brutality of a rape by showing hanging leather belts banging against the head of the shaking bed. In a way it's a shame that Whoopi Goldberg, a stage monologist who made her screen debut in this movie, went on to become so famous, because it was, in part, her unfamiliarity that made her understated performance as Celie so effective. (This may be the first and last time that the adjective understated can be applied to Goldberg.) Nominated for 11 Academy Awards, including best picture and actress (supporting players Oprah Winfrey and Margaret Avery were also nominated), it was quite a scandal--and a crushing blow to Spielberg--when The Color Purple won none. --Jim Emerson

• The Color Purple (Special Edition) | DVD | (21/07/2003) from £17.54   |  Saving you £-2.29 (N/A%)   |  RRP £13.99

  Steven Spielberg took a melodramatic DW Griffith-inspired approach to filming Alice Walker's novel The Color Purple. His tactics made the film controversial, but also a popular hit. You can argue with the appropriateness of Spielberg's decision, but his astonishing facility with images is undeniable--from the exhilarating and eye-popping opening shots of children playing in paradisiacal purple fields to the way he conveys the brutality of a rape by showing hanging leather belts banging against the head of the shaking bed. In a way it's a shame that Whoopi Goldberg, a stage monologist who made her screen debut in this movie, went on to become so famous, because it was, in part, her unfamiliarity that made her understated performance as Celie so effective. (This may be the first and last time that the adjective "understated" can be applied to Goldberg.) Nominated for 11 Academy Awards, including best picture and actress (supporting players Oprah Winfrey and Margaret Avery were also nominated), it was quite a scandal--and a crushing blow to Spielberg--when The Color Purple won none. --Jim Emerson, Amazon.comOn the DVD: The Color Purple makes a sumptuous transfer to DVD in this special edition. The lush and vibrant cinematography is well served by the widescreen format; Quincy Jones's warmly enveloping score, shot through with jazz age references, is superbly enhanced by surround sound. The extras are ideal companions to the main picture, detailing the passage of Alice Walker's novel from book to screen. Walker herself recalls the anxieties of the process, while director Spielberg and various cast members remember many poignant moments during and after filming, reminding us with a jolt that this beautifully made, hugely popular and inspirational film didn't win a single Academy Award. --Piers Ford

• The Seventh Sign | DVD | (26/06/2000) from £47.01   |  Saving you £-27.02 (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Seas boil, heavens fall, and Demi Moore takes a candlelit bath in this effective apocalyptic chiller. The prosthetic-enhanced Moore plays a pregnant non-believer whose baby may hold the key to impending Armageddon. Logic is not exactly the strong point in this well-acted, stylish, theological grab bag, but the random collection of horrific images manages to work more often than not in this acceptable time waster for fans of The Omen and The Exorcist. Also starring Michael Biehn (The Terminator), the always-welcome John Heard in a brief cameo and the exceptional Jürgen Prochnow as a mysterious stranger who could either be from the extreme North or way, way down South. --Andrew Wright

• Ashanti | DVD | (25/03/2004) from £18.52   |  Saving you £-4.53 (N/A%)   |  RRP £13.99

  Dr David Linderby and his wife Anansa are carrying out an innoculation programme in a small African village when Anansa disappears. The police can do nothing to find her and David has almost given up hope when he hears rumours that Anansa has been kidnapped by a slave trader called Suleiman to be sold to an Arab Prince. The authorities deny that the slave trade even exists so David must find unofficial organisations to help him; a shadowy world where the rescuers of slaves are just as ruthless as the traders themselves. Enlisting the help of Malik a nomad whose family where stolen by Suleiman David must leave civilisation behind and travel across the desert to find Anansa.

• Low Blow | DVD | (04/10/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  The deadliest weapon is still your fist. When John Templeton's daughter falls under the spell of an evil cult he turns to Joe Wong an ex-cop turned private dick who he knows will go to any lengths to save his daughter. Joe assembles a team of the hardest and most skilled warriors to infiltrate the commune and remove the evil leaders. They hit hard fast and with a low blow...