"Actor: Chris Squire"

• The Lord of the Rings (Animated Version) | DVD | (26/11/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £13.99

  Ralph Bakshi's 1978 animated adaptation of The Lord of the Rings is a bold, colourful, ambitious failure. Severely truncated, this two-hour version tackles only about half the story, climaxing with the battle of Helm's Deep and leaving poor Frodo and Sam still stuck on the borders of Mordor with Gollum. Allegedly, the director ran out of money and was unable to complete the project. As far as the film does go, however, it is a generally successful attempt at rendering Tolkien's landscapes of the imagination. Bakshi's animation uses a blend of conventional drawing and rotoscoped (traced) animated movements from live-action footage. The latter is at least in part a money-saving device, but it does succeed in lending some depth and a sense of otherworldly menace to the Black Riders and hordes of Orcs: Frodo's encounter at the ford of Rivendell, for example, is one of the movie's best scenes thanks to this mixture of animation techniques. Backdrops are detailed and well-conceived, and all the main characters are strongly drawn. Among a good cast, John Hurt (Aragorn) and C3PO himself, Anthony Daniels (Legolas), provide sterling voice characterisation, while Peter Woodthorpe gives what is surely the definitive Gollum (he revived his portrayal a couple of years later for BBC Radio's exhaustive 13-hour dramatisation). The film's other outstanding virtue is avant-garde composer Leonard Rosenman's magnificent score in which chaotic musical fragments gradually coalesce to produce the triumphant march theme that closes the picture. None of which makes up for the incompleteness of the movie, nor the severe abridging of the story actually filmed. Add to that some oddities--such as intermittently referring to Saruman as "Aruman"--and the final verdict must be that this is a brave yet ultimately unsatisfying work, noteworthy as the first attempt at transferring Tolkien to the big screen but one whose virtues are overshadowed by incompleteness. --Mark Walker

• Yes: Yessongs | DVD | (28/01/2013) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Yes has always been regarded as a unique rock group and progressive rock legends. Never afraid to innovate or draw their inspiration from music that traversed the spectrum from symphonic to rock, Yes has been at the forefront of progressive rock and became a major force in popular music selling over 30 million albums and reaching platinum status multiple times worldwide. During the late 1960's Yes were renowned for their live performances culminating in their seminal album and film of the same name, Yessongs. Filmed in1972 at London's Rainbow theatre, this feature film was released theatrically in the UK the following year with a quadrophonic sound track. The film features their new line-up of the time Jon Anderson, Chris Squire, Steve Howe, Rick Wakeman and Alan White.

• Yes - Their Fully Authorised Story | DVD | (21/01/2008) from £13.72   |  Saving you £-3.73 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  The definitive fully authorised story of Yes is as controversial as their music and is now told in a series of exclusive interviews with Yes members past and present. Tracing the musical journey from their debut album yes 1969 up until Magnification 2001 and beyond. As told by Jon Anderson Chris Squire Steve Howe Rick Wakeman Alan White Bill Bruford Peter Banks Trevor Horn Geoff Downes Keith Emerson and many more.

• Yesspeak - Yes 35th Anniversary | DVD | (24/11/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Shot during the group's 35th Anniversary European Tour, Yesspeak offers a 169-minute documentary about the classic progressive rock band Yes, together with an audio-only presentation of their 2003 set. The feature, narrated by Roger Daltrey, is a refreshingly straightforward affair, with a near three-hour running time allowing rather more depth than the usual rockumentary. Divided into 10 chapters the programme systematically covers the background, history and outlook of the group before an extended interview with each of the five members of the classic line-up: Jon Anderson (vocals), Steve Howe (guitar), Chris Squire (bass), Alan White (drums), and Rick Wakeman (keys). Finally there are more general sections on touring and the band's music. Archive material and glimpses of the 2003 tour are interwoven with the interviews, but this is very much a documentary, not a concert (to see Yes at their modern best watch Yes: Symphonic Live, 2002). The documentary puts a positive spin on a sometimes chequered past, and it's clearly aimed at long-term fans, but for those who have followed Yes through the decades this is satisfyingly comprehensive and thoroughly enjoyable; from Steve Howe's famous but still entertaining guitar/Concord story, to Rick Wakeman's tea break during a typically expansive prog-rock solo. On the DVD: Yesspeak comes as a two-disc set. Disc 1 offers the first five chapters and 89 minutes of the documentary, while the remaining 80 minutes are featured on Disc 2. The picture is an excellent amamorphically enhanced 16:9 widescreen presentation, though by necessity the archive material is of variable quality. Switches into black and white and slow motion are a typically unnecessary distraction of the rock documentary format, but the DVD handles them well. There are excellent Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS soundtracks and optional French, Dutch, Italian and Spanish subtitles. Disc 2 also showcases 126 minutes of concert audio. This is accompanied by concert photos but the sound is only Dolby Digital 5.1, without a DTS option. Although the sound is good it does not match the crystal clear quality of the same music as heard in fragments during the documentary itself. Presumably a DVD of the concerts will follow with much better sound, and the audio here will simply serve as a trailer for that release? --Gary S Dalkin

• The Lord of the Rings (1978) | Blu Ray | (10/12/2012) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Made in 1978, the original 'The Lord Of The Rings' was directed by cutting edge animator Ralph Bakshi using an innovative technique that allowed the animator to paint over live action footage, bringing the book to life with stunning success. Featuring an exceptional voice cast including William Squire as Gandalf the Grey, Christopher Guard as the Hobbit Frodo and guardian of the master ring, John Hurt as the heroic Strider, One Foot in the Grave's Annette Crosby as Galadriel and Star Wars' A...

• Yes - Yesyears | DVD | (25/01/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Yesyears is a generous (over two-hour) documentary that profiles Yes through the years, from the band's earliest days up to and including 1991, the year when no fewer than eight past and current members played together on their "Union" tour. The story is told through separate interviews with the band circa 1991, talking happily about their many successes and even greater excesses; their musical freedoms and their personal fallings-out. The talking heads are interspersed with a lot of fascinating archive footage from all phases of the band's evolution--just some random examples: a youthful Steve Howe playing "The Clap"; "Yours is No Disgrace" from a live German TV appearance in 1971; Chris Squire performing "Hold Out Your Hand" from his first solo album; studio footage from the Going for the One and Tormato sessions; and lots of evocative footage from the Spinal Tap-esque live shows of the 70s. Inevitably, it being an officially endorsed document, there's little negative criticism here, though Rick Wakeman is typically candid about his decisions for originally leaving the band. Documentation of all the various musical excerpts would have been nice--they come and go without any context--but generally this makes rewarding viewing for any Yes fan, with the caveat of course that the story stops in 1991. On the DVD: Yesyears is disappointingly presented in 4:3 ratio NTSC format, leaving the picture generally fuzzy and at times positively obscure in places, with plain stereo sound (at best--many of the early musical excerpts are mono). The chapter divisions are extremely generous, but there are no bonus features as such. --Mark Walker

• Yes - 35th Anniversary Tour | DVD | (01/09/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Yes: The Director's Cut is narrated by The Who's Roger Daltrey from footage of the 2003 world tour that didn't make into the original edit. Recorded live during the 35th Anniversary World Tour this is the 'wonderous' songs and the 'wonderous' stories of YES featuring behind the scenes footage and previously unreleased live performances at the N.I.A Birmingham and The Glastonbury Festival.

• The Lord of the Rings -- Limited Edition Box Set | DVD | (26/11/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Ralph Bakshi's 1978 animated adaptation of The Lord of the Rings is a bold, colourful, ambitious failure. Severely truncated, this two-hour version tackles only about half the story, climaxing with the battle of Helm's Deep and leaving poor Frodo and Sam still stuck on the borders of Mordor with Gollum. Allegedly, the director ran out of money and was unable to complete the project. As far as the film does go, however, it is a generally successful attempt at rendering Tolkien's landscapes of the imagination. Bakshi's animation uses a blend of conventional drawing and rotoscoped (traced) animated movements from live-action footage. The latter is at least in part a money-saving device, but it does succeed in lending some depth and a sense of otherworldly menace to the Black Riders and hordes of Orcs: Frodo's encounter at the ford of Rivendell, for example, is one of the film's best scenes thanks to this mixture of animation techniques. Backdrops are detailed and well conceived, and all the main characters are strongly drawn. Among a good cast, John Hurt (Aragorn) and C3PO himself, Anthony Daniels (Legolas), provide sterling voice characterisation, while Peter Woodthorpe gives what is surely the definitive Gollum (he revived his portrayal a couple of years later for BBC Radio's exhaustive 13-hour dramatisation). The film's other outstanding virtue is avant-garde composer Leonard Rosenman's magnificent score in which chaotic musical fragments gradually coalesce to produce the triumphant march theme that closes the picture. None of which makes up for the incompleteness of the movie, nor the severe abridging of the story actually filmed. Add to that some oddities--such as intermittently referring to Saruman as "Aruman"--and the final verdict must be that this is a brave yet ultimately unsatisfying work, noteworthy as the first attempt at transferring Tolkien to the big screen but one whose virtues are overshadowed by incompleteness. --Mark Walker

• Stalking Santa | DVD | (03/11/2008) from £4.01   |  Saving you £7.24 (263.27%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Millions of people believe in him. Thousands claim to have seen him. But only one man is foolish enough to try and prove his existence. In this off-beat comedy self-proclaimed 'Santologist' Dr Lloyd Darrow will stop at nothing to take on government conspiracy corporate suppression and phony mall Santas - all in pursuit of the world's oldest yuletide enigma. Shot in the tradition of The Office and Waiting For Guffman Stalking Santa redefines the holiday movie. With emotional (and financial) support from his perplexed wife Barbara and with dysfunctional devotion from his needy intern Clarence and despite growing resentment from his 12-year-old son Keith Lloyd is determined to reveal the truth. It's an obsession that takes him from the hieroglyphics of Egypt to the Town Centre Shopping Plaza in Polka City Ohio - an obsession that just might cost him his family his sanity and his self-respect.

• Lost Boys, The / Lord Of The Rings | DVD | (08/09/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  The Lost Boys: Sam and his older brother Michael are All-American teens with all-American interests. But after they move with their mother to peaceful Santa Carla California things mysteriously begin to change. Michael's not himself lately. And mom's not going to like what he's turning into! Lord Of The Rings (Animated): Made in 1978 the original 'The Lord Of The Rings' was directed by cutting edge animator Ralph Bakshi using an innovative technique that allowed the animator to paint over live action footage bringing the book to life with stunning success. When a dangerous and powerful magic Ring falls into his hands a little hobbit named Frodo is caught up in a gigantic adventure! Now join him the mighty Gandalf and a daring band of elves dwarves and warriors as they set out to defend their enchanted land from the wicked sorcerer who would destroy it. Highlander: The year is 1536. Scottish Clansman Connor MacLeod (Christopher Lambert) is mortally wounded in battle by a terrifying warrior - The Kurgan (Clancy Brown). When his wounds miraculously heal Connor is cast out by the superstitious villagers to live a life of solitude. Several years later Juan Sanchez Villa-Lobos Ramirez (Sean Connery) a nobleman of Egyptian / Spanish descent teaches him that like he and the Kurgan MacLeod is an immortal who can only die by decapitation. He tells how the immortals are fated to duel down the ages to a mysterious distant time called The Gathering when the last few will battle for The Prize.