"Actor: Bob S"

• Armageddon | DVD | (20/08/2001) from £3.95   |  Saving you £14.04 (355.44%)   |  RRP £17.99

  This 1998 testosterone-saturated blow-'em-up from producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Michael Bay (The Rock, Bad Boys) continued Hollywood's millennium-fuelled fascination with the destruction of our planet. There's no arguing that the successful duo understand what mainstream audiences want in their blockbuster movies--loads of loud, eye-popping special effects, rapid-fire pacing, and patriotic flag waving. Bay's protagonists--the eight crude, lewd, oversexed (but, of course, lovable) oil drillers summoned to save the world from a Texas-sized meteor hurling toward the earth--are not flawless heroes, but common men with whom all can relate. In this huge Western-in-space soap opera, they're American cowboys turned astronauts. Sci-fi buffs will appreciate Bay's fetishising of technology, even though it's apparent he doesn't understand it as anything more than flashing lights and shiny gadgets. Smartly, the duo also try to lure the art-house crowd, raiding the local indie acting stable to populate the film with guys like Steve Buscemi, Billy Bob Thornton, Owen Wilson, and Michael Duncan, all adding needed touches of humour and charisma. When Bay applies his sledgehammer aesthetics to the action portions of the film, it's mindless fun; it's only when Armageddon tackles humanity that it becomes truly offensive. Not since Mississippi Burning have racial and cultural stereotypes been substituted for characters so blatantly--African Americans, Japanese, Chinese, Scottish, Samoans, Muslims, French ... if it's not white and American, Bay simplifies it. Or, make that white male America; the film features only three notable female characters--four if you count the meteor, who's constantly referred to as a "bitch that needs drillin'". Sadly, she's a hell of a lot more developed and unpredictable than all the other women characters combined. Sure, Bay's film creates some tension and contains some visceral moments, but if he can't create any redeemable characters outside of those in space, what's the point of saving the planet? --Dave McCoy

• Close Encounters of the Third Kind - 40th Anniversary | Blu Ray | (09/10/2017) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Released in 1977, Close Encounters of the Third Kind was that year's cerebral alternative to Star Wars. It's arguably the archetypal Spielberg film, featuring a fantasy-meets-reality storyline (to be developed further in E.T.), a misunderstood Everyman character (Richard Dreyfuss), apparently hostile government agents (long before The X-Files), a sense of childlike awe in the face of the otherworldly, and a sweeping feel for epic film-making learned from the classic school of David Lean. Contributing to the film's overall success are the Oscar-winning cinematography from Vilmos Zsigmond, Douglas Trumbull's lavish effects and an extraordinary score from John Williams that develops from eerie atonality à la Ligeti to the gorgeous sentiment of "When You Wish Upon a Star" over the end credits. Not content with the final result, Spielberg tinkered with the editing and inserted some new scenes to make a "Special Edition" in 1980 which ran three minutes shorter than the original, then made further revisions to create a slightly longer "Collector's Edition" in 1998. This later version deletes the mothership interior scenes that were inserted in the "Special Edition" and restores the original ending. On the DVD: CE3K is packaged here with confusing documentation that fails to make clear any differences between earlier versions of the film and this "Collector's Edition"--worse, the back cover blurb misleadingly implies that this disc is the 1980 "Special Edition" edit. It is not. A gorgeous anamorphic widescreen print of Spielberg's 1998 "Collector's Edition" edit occupies the first disc: this is the version with the original theatrical ending restored but new scenes from the "Special Edition" retained. The second disc rounds up sundry deleted scenes that were either dropped from the original version or never made it into the film at all--fans of the "Special Edition" can find the mothership interior sequence here. The excellent "making-of" documentary dates from 1997 and has interviews with almost everyone involved, including the director speaking from the set of Saving Private Ryan. Thankfully the superb picture and sound of the feature make this set entirely compelling and more than compensate for the inadequate packaging. --Mark Walker

• MOONRISE KINGDOM (2012) (CRITERION COLLECTION) | Blu Ray | (18/11/2019) from £26.98   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Set on an island off the coast of New England in the 1960s, as a young boy and girl fall in love they are moved to run away together. Various factions of the town mobilize to search for them and the town is turned upside down.

• Enemy At The Gates/ Windtalkers/ Hart's War | DVD | (13/04/2009) from £13.48   |  Saving you £-3.49 (-34.90%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Titles Comprise: Enemy At The Gates: While the Nazi and Russian armies hurl rank after rank of soldiers at each other and the world fearfully awaits the outcome of the battle of Stalingrad the celebrated Russian sniper Vassili Zaitsev (Jude Law) quietly stalks his enemies one man at a time. His fame however soon thrusts him into a duel with the Nazi's best sharpshooter Major Konig (Ed Harris) and the two find themselves waging an intense personal war while the most momentous battle of the age rages around them... Windtalkers:In 1942 several hundred Navajo Americans were recruited as Marines and trained to use their language as code. Marine Joe Enders (Nicolas Cage) is assigned to protect Ben Yahzee (Adam Beach) - a Navajo code talker the Marines' new secret weapon. Enders' orders are to protect his code talker but if Yahzee should fall into enemy hands he's to protect the code at all costs. Against the backdrop of the horrific Battle of Saipan when capture is imminent Enders is forced to make a decision: if he can't protect his fellow Marine can he bring himself to kill him to protect the code? Hart's War: Fourth generation war hero Col. William McNamara is imprisoned in a brutal German POW camp. Still as the camp's highest-ranking American officer he commands his fellow inmates keeping a sense of honour alive in a place where honour is easy to destroy all under the dangerous ever-watchful eye of SS Major Wilhelm Visser. Never giving up the fight to win the war McNamara is silently planning waiting for his moment to strike back at the enemy. A murder in the camp gives him the chance to set a risky plan in motion. With a court martial to keep Visser and the Germans distracted McNamara orchestrates a cunning scheme to escape and destroy a nearby munitions plant enlisting the unwitting help of young Lt. Tommy Hart. Together with his men McNamara uses a hero's resolve to carry out his mission ultimately forced to weigh the value of his life against the good of his country. An epic World War II adventure from action-maestro John Woo!

• The Adventures of Mark Twain (1986) | DVD | (31/10/2011) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  The Adventures Of Mark Twain is an amazing journey of imagination humour and heart and a must for fans of Aardman Studios. The film features a series of vignettes extracted from several of Mark Twain's works built around a plot that features Twain's attempts to keep his appointment with Halley's Comet. Tom Sawyer Becky Thatcher and Huck Finn stow away with Mark Twain on an incredible journey in Twain's airship. The journey introduces the three friends to a variety of the author's characters from; The Diary of Adam and Eve Huckleberry Finn The Mysterious Stranger The Famous Jumping Frog of Caliverous County and Captain Stormfield's Visit to Heaven. The sequence based on The Mysterious Stranger reportedly received over ten million views upon being posted on YouTube. The sequence was allegedly banned from TV due to its disturbing content

• Sky Blue | DVD | (23/06/2008) from £22.19   |  Saving you £2.80 (12.62%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Would you know the colour 'sky blue' if you had never seen the sky in your life? Sky Blue is a love story set against the forces of destruction a dystopian vision of Earth's destiny yet ultimately a reminder of our hope for the future. In the year 2140 mankind's reckless exploitation of the environment has sparked a planet-wide catastrophe that has shielded the sun from view and all but ended human civilisation on earth. Only a small number of elites possessing power and technology have been able to thrive building a magnificent organic city named Ecoban. Ecoban the city grows by itself like a living plant utilizing its Delos System to transform carbon compounds into useable energy. Jay is a 19 year old female trooper of Ecoban who guards the city against the incursions of outsiders. Thousands of refugees have come to Ecoban seeking asylum but the elites have barred their entry to the city and forced them to settle in the surrounding Wasteland. The refugees have become Ecoban's workers known as the 'Diggers' forced to mine the Wasteland for the carbonite needed to feed Ecoban. On patrol in the Wasteland one day Jay witnesses a gigantic industrial accident orchestrated by Ecoban's corrupt leaders against the refugees. Upon seeing this act of cruelty Jay's loyalty is put to the test. When she then encounters her childhood sweetheart Shua leading a rebellion against Ecoban Jay must make the ultimate choice - whether to live for duty or very possibly die for love. Shua goes to warn a group of Digger freedom fighters that his incursion into Ecoban may lead to retaliatory strikes by Ecoban. Despite Shua's warnings the rebels put their plan into action - but it turns out to be a deadly trap that leads the Ecoban troops to the headquarters of the resistance. Later that night Jay flees Ecoban to be with Shua. Joining forces in rebellion Jay and Shua risk their own chance at happiness for the chance that the clouds may clear and the people of Earth might see the blue sky for the first time in their lives. With a production cost estimated at 10 million dollars Sky Blue is the most expensive animated film ever made in Korea and has been the focus of intense debates among animation fans. Director Kim Moon-saeng a veteran of the CF industry and responsible for more than 200 TV commercials spent close to seven years in conceiving and producing this futuristic extravaganza and employed many hundreds of Korea's leading animation artists and technicians.

• The Long Good Friday | DVD | (31/10/2011) from £11.99   |  Saving you £4.00 (33.36%)   |  RRP £15.99

  The Long Good Friday is heralded as one of the best British gangster films of all time, starring Academy Award nominee Bob Hoskins (Mona Lisa) in his career-making role as London crime boss Harold Shand and Academy Award winner Helen Mirren (The Queen) as his classy moll Victoria.Harold is enjoying the height of his power, and he is on the verge of a deal that which would make his current 'arrangements' small fry.But stronger forces than even he can control have moved in and taken over. Climaxing in one long bloody day of terror, an Easter Good Friday, he is to see his empire begin to crack and crumble.

• Better Call Saul: Season 3 | DVD | (27/11/2017) from £20.88   |  Saving you £-8.53 (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.35

  The trials and tribulations of criminal lawyer, Jimmy McGill, in the time leading up to establishing his strip-mall law office in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Click Images to Enlarge

• Thunderbirds Are Go - The Movie | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £8.58   |  Saving you £7.41 (86.36%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Thunderbirds Are Go followed the remarkable success of the Thunderbirds television series, bringing the three-dimensional puppet animation adventures of International Rescue to the big screen. Set in the 21st century, there is no attempt to explain the background story: as in the TV show International Rescue is a private family organisation who use hi-tech craft to rescue anyone in peril. Here it is the first manned flight to Mars which is in danger, as International Rescue foils a sabotage attempt at the launch, then race to avert disaster when the spaceship returns to earth. What could have made a 50-minute TV episode is expanded to feature length with Martian "rock monsters" and a surreal dream-sequence involving Alan Tracy, Lady Penelope and "Cliff Richard Jnr" & the Shadows, with a new song performed by the real Cliff and the Shadows. In the cinemas this was competing against another British children's TV SF spin-off, the equally colourful Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150AD, and would be followed by Thunderbird 6 (1968). Yet apart from more complex model work, a bigger orchestra and even bigger explosions, on TV this plays like a widescreen double-length episode. On the DVD: The mono sound is powerful, with Barry Gray's stirring music suffering intermittent distortion. Presented in anamorphic widescreen the picture is very good, with strong colours and only minimal grain, though the print does show occasional damage. Unfortunately the original extremely wide 2.74:1 Techniscope image is cropped to more conventional 2.35:1, to the extent that the careful compositions are noticeably damaged, which director David Lane refers to in his joint commentary with producer Sylvia Anderson (who also played Lady Penelope). 35 years after the event their commentary is packed with details of the filming process and full of information about the many problems of and solutions to making an animated feature. Both Anderson fans and budding animators will find this a real education. The original, rather battered, trailer is included, as are galleries of behind the scenes photos, promotional artwork and posters. Altogether it's rather FABulous. --Gary S Dalkin

• Jurassic Park | DVD | (28/11/2005) from £6.44   |  Saving you £9.55 (148.29%)   |  RRP £15.99

  During a preview tour, a theme park suffers a major power breakdown that allows its cloned dinosaur exhibits to run amok.

• The Long Good Friday | DVD | (19/02/2007) from £8.63   |  Saving you £-2.64 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Harold a prosperous English gangster is about to close a lucrative new deal when bombs start showing up in very inconvenient places. A mysterious syndicate is trying to muscle in on his action and Harold wants to know who they are. He finds out soon enough and bloody mayhem ensues.

• Blood Simple | Blu Ray | (30/10/2017) from £7.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  The debut film of director Joel Coen and his brother-producer Ethan Coen, 1983's Blood Simple is grisly comic noir that marries the feverish toughness of pulp thrillers with the ghoulishness of even pulpier horror. (Imagine the novels of Jim Thompson somehow fused with the comic tabloid Weird Tales and you get the idea.) The story concerns a Texas bar owner (Dan Hedaya) who hires a seedy private detective (M Emmett Walsh) to follow his cheating wife (Frances McDormand in her first film appearance) and then kill her and her lover (John Getz). The gumshoe turns the tables on his client and suddenly a bad situation gets much, much worse, with some violent goings-on that are as elemental as they are shocking. (A scene in which a character who has been buried alive suddenly emerges from his own grave instantly becomes an archetypal nightmare.) Shot by Barry Sonnenfeld before he became an A-list director in Hollywood, Blood Simple established the hyperreal look and feel of the Coens' productions (undoubtedly inspired a bit by filmmaker Sam Raimi, whose The Evil Dead had just been coedited by Joel). Sections of the film have proved to be an endurance test for art-house movie fans, particularly an extended climax that involves one shock after another but ends with a laugh at the absurdity of criminal ambition. This is definitely one of the triumphs of the 1980s and the American independent film scene in general. --Tom Keogh, Amazon.com

• Freddy Got Fingered | DVD | (29/04/2002) from £7.50   |  Saving you £5.49 (73.20%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Tom Green, who also wrote and directed this outrageous movie, plays a sad young man from Portland, Oregon, who dreams of becoming an animator. His parents (Rip Torn and Julie Hagerty) send him off to Los Angeles, but he comes back!

• Robert Redford | DVD | (13/03/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The mystical tale of a World War One veteran (Matt Damon) and championship golfer who returns to his sport with the aid of his caddy (Will Smith) who teaches him how to master any challenge in life.

• The Shawshank Redemption | DVD | (26/07/2010) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION LIMITED EDITION Special Edition DVD and Script Set Starring Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman Based on a novel by Stephen King cat.no. 371153391 barcode 5037115339133

• Better Call Saul - Season 2 | DVD | (14/11/2016) from £8.48   |  Saving you £1.51 (17.81%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Before he was Saul, he was small-time, hustling attorney Jimmy McGill (Golden Globe® nominee Bob Odenkirk). Season 2 finds Jimmy leaving shortcuts behind for his budding romance with Kim (Rhea Seehorn). With his stern brother Chuck (Michael McKean) keeping watch and fixer Mike (Jonathan Banks) drawn into a menacing cartel web, how long can Slippin' Jimmy stay on the straight and narrow? Bonus Features: Cast and Crew Commentaries on every episode Switch Table Read Building The Shot featurette Gag Reel Settling the Score: Original Music by Composer Dave Porter featurette Click Images to Enlarge

• Care Bears Complete | DVD | (02/08/2010) from £8.35   |  Saving you £4.64 (55.57%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Care Bears Complete

• ABC Nights In: "And by the way... no raspberries" | DVD | (10/05/2021) from £15.98   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• The Long Good Friday | DVD | (10/10/2005) from £6.95   |  Saving you £1.04 (14.96%)   |  RRP £7.99

  In the savage and deadly world of the gangland king the man at the top is ruler only for as long as he controls everything in his territory. For that man the rewards can be infinite but so are the dangers. Harold Shand is enjoying the height of his powers and he is on the verge of something that would make his current 'arrangements' small fry. But stronger forces than even he can control have moved in and taken over. Climaxing in one long and bloody day of terror an Easter Good Friday he is to see his empire begin to crack and crumble.

• Stargate SG-1: Season 1 | DVD | (21/10/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £49.99

  Like the very best of SF TV, Stargate SG-1 began very simply. Of course it had the benefit of a movie preceding it--in which the alternate universe, its rules and its characters were largely established--so this premiere season was therefore able to concentrate on good storytelling. In 1997 not every new show was obsessed with securing a syndication-guaranteed franchise (same goes for Buffy debuting the same year), instead one-off episodes were the way of things, exploring interesting scenarios and conundrums. Naturally there were allusions to the feature film, but most were subtle and inspired. For example, a trip to retrieve the trapped professor who'd worked on the Gate decades ago was an unusual way of tying up loose ends. Some groundwork was laid for continuation should the show be renewed into an ongoing series. Knowing that these elements were pure wishful thinking at the time makes the tapestry of System Lords and the interlinks with our history and mythology all the more enjoyable in revisiting the show from its beginnings. With Richard Dean Anderson, leading the team in a far more charismatic and empathetic way than Kurt Russell in the movie, the series also benefited from some spot-on casting that instantly won audiences over. Special effects and use of studio sets may be less dazzling in these initial shows, but its solid grounding in old-fashioned SF won for the show a loyal audience. --Paul Tonks