Dry as ice, dripping with deadpan witticisms, only Sean Connery's Bond would dare to disparage the Beatles, that other 1964 phenomenon. No one but Connery can believably seduce women so effortlessly, kill with almost as much ease, and then pull another bottle of Dom Perignon 53 out of the fridge. Goldfinger contains many of the most memorable scenes in the Bond series: gorgeous Shirley Eaton (as Jill Masterson) coated in gold paint by evil Auric Goldfinger and deposited in Bond's bed; silent Oddjob, flipping a razor-sharp bowler like a Frisbee to sever heads; our hero spread-eagled on a table while a laser beam moves threateningly toward his crotch. Honor Blackman's Pussy Galore is the prototype for the series' rash of man-hating supermodels. And Desmond Llewelyn reprises his role as Q, giving Bond what is still his most impressive car, a snazzy little number that fires off smoke screens, punctures the tyres of vehicles on the chase, and boasts a handy ejector seat. Goldfinger's two climaxes, inside Fort Knox and aboard a private plane, have to be seen to be believed.--Raphael Shargel, Amazon.com-- On the DVD: Featuring interviews with Honor Blackman, Shirley Eaton, the late Desmond Llewelyn and most of the surviving core cast and crew members, great on-set footage (Blackman and Connery look like they clearly had the hots for each other even when the camera weren't rolling) and a strong argument about how this firmed up the gadget-orientated, thrills-and-spills formula for the franchise, John Cork's "making of" featurette for this DVD is one of the most rewarding in this series. The two commentary tracks have moderately interesting observations by director Guy Hamilton, the cast and crew (many of their comments recycled from the documentary), and on both Bond superfan-and-author Lee Pfeiffer filling in blanks and explaining in exhaustive detail the history of the Aston Martin DB5 that first appeared in this film. Also included is an open-ended 1964 interview with Sean Connery, designed so that American radio disc jockeys could pretend they had an exclusive interview with the star, in which he extols the series' "sadism for the family" among other things. --Leslie Felperin
Andre Morell stars as Professor Bernard Quatermass in this landmark television classic. Now available on Blu-Ray for the very first time, in a brand new high-definition remaster from the original film elements. When a strange capsule is unearthed at an archaeological excavation in London, an unexploded bomb is initially suspected. However, with a history of supernatural events in the area going back many centuries and with events at the dig site about to take an unexpectedly alien turn, the origins of the capsule are soon revealed to be far more distant than anyone could have imagined. When the capsule is finally opened, something is unleashed upon the streets of London that nobody can control and mankind's past and future collide with devastating consequences. Includes an 8-page collectors booklet SPECIAL FEATURES: Brand new commentaries featuring members of the original cast and crew. Presented by Toby Hadoke. A newly compiled photo gallery, including images of a number of previously unreleased images from the show's original production. A complication of alternate title sequences from the BBC Archives. Making Demons visual effects featurette. Archive documentary content, covering the 1958 production.
Stanley Kubrick's 1961 version of Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov's notorious 1953 novel, prompted a scandal in its day: even to address the issue of paedophilia on screen was deemed to be as perverted as the hapless protagonist Humbert Humbert. James Mason plays Humbert, the suave English Professor whose gentlemanly exterior peels away as quickly as his scruples once exposed to Sue Lyons' well-developed teenage beauty. In order to be close to her, he marries her mother, the lonely and pathetically pretentious Charlotte (Shelley Winters) only for her to expire conveniently, leaving Humbert free to embark on a motel-to-motel trek across America with Lolita in tow, evading suspicions that theirs is more than a father-daughter relationship. Peter Sellers, meanwhile, gives a Dr Strangelove-type tour de force performance as Clare Quilty, a TV writer also in pursuit of Lolita, who harasses Humbert under several guises, including a psychiatrist. As a movie, Lolita is flawed, albeit interestingly so. The sexual innuendo (a summer camp called Camp Climax, for example) seems jarring and pointless, while Sellers' comic turn detracts from any sense of guilt, tension or tragedy. It's as if the real purpose of the film is to offer a sort of silent, mocking laughter at the wretched Humbert and systematically divest him of his dignity. By the end, he is a babbling wretch while Sue Lyons' Lolita is pragmatic and self-possessed. It's Mason and Lyons' performances, which lift the film from its mess of structural difficulties. Decades on, their central relationship still makes for pitifully compulsive viewing. On the DVD: Few extras, sadly, though the brief original trailer is excellent, built around the question, "How could they make a film out of Lolita?". The original black and white picture and mono sound are excellent. --David Stubbs
Heralded as the best Bond movie thus far Goldfinger features some of the most iconic moments in the series to-date. Who could forget Oddjob and his killer hat; Shirley Eaton doused in gold; Or one of the greatest comeback lines in history? James Bond: Do you expect me to talk?Auric Goldfinger: No Mr. Bond. I expect you to die! Special Agent 007 (Sean Connery) has just come face to face with one of the most notorious villains of all time. And now he'll have to outwit and outgun this powerful tycoon to prevent him form cashing in on a devious scheme to raid Fort Knox - and obliterate the world economy!
George Segal plays married insurance executive Steve Blackburn who can't seem to avoid bumping into divorced fashion designer Vicki Allessio (Glenda Jackson) wherever he goes. Finally bowing to the inevitable Steve and Vicki fall in love. He suggests a romantic rendezvous in Spain...but nothing absolutely nothing goes as planned. A brilliant comedy of errors A Touch of Class was nominated for four Academy Awards and earned Glenda Jackson a Best Actress Oscar.
Jim Wilson (Reed) is a police lieutenant in a corrupt resort town. Revolted by the brutality of modern police work he decides to leave and take up duties in his quiet home town. But on his final day a violent drama explodes. A deadly confrontation breaks out between Frank (McHattie) the abandoned lover of singer Janie (George) and her new boyfriend Lyne (Osborne). The police are called and Frank shoots a young officer. Within minutes a full siege is underway in full view of the tou
We have met the enemy, and it is us: when a Martian spacecraft with a terrifying link to the origins of humanity is unearthed beneath a London tube station, only the esteemed Professor Bernard Quatermass (a very British--and possibly mad--precursor to Mulder and Scully) can save London's suddenly murderous population from itself. One of the most intelligently paranoid science fiction films ever produced, this pessimistic masterpiece functions as a dark flip side to the relatively optimistic alien-induced evolution theory presented in the later 2001: A Space Odyssey. Nigel Kneale's brilliant script (which posits a surprisingly plausible, otherworldly rationale for the existence of the supernatural) was later appropriated by acknowledged fan John Carpenter for his underrated Prince of Darkness. A must-see for horror and science-fiction aficionados. --Andrew Wright, Amazon.com
Three vicious thugs on the run in rural America after robbing a local bank seek refuge at the home of a reclusive farmer (Ernest Borgnine) but he is prepared for their arrival and holds them at gunpoint. Unable to let them simply wait for the law he decides to take them into into his cellar and torture them before the police arrive.
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