"Actor: Alan Held"

• Wagner: Das Rheingold -- Metropolitan/Levine | DVD | (14/10/2002) from £19.99   |  Saving you £-3.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £16.99

  It takes a certain amount of forethought if Das Rheingold is to be more than a series of special effects scenes, though moments like the appearance of the giants through the mist or Alberich's transformations need to be as thrilling as they are here. As always in his Wagner, and perhaps especially in this very traditional 1990 Metropolitan Opera production of the Ring cycle, James Levine keeps to the forefront the underlying humanity of Wagner's gods and monsters. In the first scene, for example, he brings out the thoughtless, callous frivolity of the Rhine maidens as they precipitate the events of the four operas by taunting the gnome Alberich: it helps that they swirl around, green and gold, in a convincing representation of the bottom of the Rhine, but the emotions are the point. Ekkehaard Wlaschiha is a convincingly menacing Alberich partly because Levine brings out his vulnerability as well as his evil temper. James Morris is splendid as the younger less care-worn Wotan and Siegfried Jerusalem as Loge enjoys the sarcasm of his cynical commentary on Wotan's aspirations. The smaller parts have luxury casting: Matti Salminen as Fafner and Christa Ludwig as Fricka, for example. On the DVD: Das Rheingold comes with a photo gallery of the Metropolitan Opera production and with menus and subtitles in German, French, English, Spanish and Chinese. Disappointingly though it is presented in American NTSC format with standard TV 4:3 visual ratio. But it does have an excellent clear acoustic in all three of its audio options: PCM stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1. --Roz Kaveney

• Berserker | DVD | (02/08/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £3.99

  Berserker' is based upon an old Nordic legend. A 'Berserker' was a bloodthirsty warrior who was kept in chains and used as the first line of assult in Viking raids. Now in the present day America the 'Berserker' has risen out of hell to stalk a mixed group of college students camping in the woods. When the blood feast begins the screaming suspense starts clawing at the nerves. Can anything human destroy the Berserker? Or will the carnage continue over the centuries....?

• Sanctuary | DVD | (17/06/2002) from £15.56   |  Saving you £-9.57 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Confirming the testosterone-laced promise he showed in the earlier Drive, the charismatically lithe Mark Decascos stars as buff man-of-the-cloth Father Luke, whose plans for a successful food drive are put on hold when a covert kill squad forces him to confront his shadowy past in this surprisingly effective bullet ballet. The needlessly complex high-tech storyline may be somewhat shaky, but this adrenalised conspiracy thriller earns its wings by virtue of a strong cast (including a villainous Jaimz Woolvett, miles away from his role as the greenhorn gunslinger in Unforgiven), an impressively stylised lighting palette and a jaw-droppingly gonzo epilogue that cries out for--nay, demands--a sequel. Director Tibor Takacs was previously responsible for two unfairly forgotten 1980s horror gems The Gate and I, Madman. --Andrew Wright

• Berserker | DVD | (22/10/2001) from £13.48   |  Saving you £-0.49 (-3.80%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Based upon an old Nordic legend a Berserker was a bloodthirsty warrior kept in chains and used as the first line of assault in Viking raids. Because they ate human flesh they were cursed by the God Odin forbidden a restful death and fated to be reincarnated in their blood kin. Now in present day America the Berserker has risen out of hell to stalk a mixed group of college students camping in the woods. When the blood feast begins the screaming suspense starts clawing at the nerves can anything human destroy the Berserker or will the carnage continue over the centuries?

• Berserker | DVD | (02/04/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £3.99

• Richard Strauss: Salome (Arthaus: 108037) | Blu Ray | (31/01/2012) from £30.05   |  Saving you £-0.06 (N/A%)   |  RRP £29.99

  Live aus dem Festspielhaus Baden-Baden

• Cardillac - Hindemith | DVD | (09/07/2007) from £21.58   |  Saving you £1.41 (6.10%)   |  RRP £22.99