"Actor: Christian Simpson"

• Dinotopia | DVD | (26/12/2002) from £18.97   |  Saving you £1.02 (5.38%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Kids will love this sweeping story of two brothers whose plane crashes on a mysterious island called Dinotopia, where human beings live in harmony with dinosaurs--the herbivores, anyway. The carnivores present a problem, as the humans' defences against them--a mystical power source called sunstones--are losing strength. As they try to save the island, Carl and David (Tyron Leitso and Wentworth Miller) struggle not only with tyrannosaurs and prehistoric crocodiles, but also with repressive Dinotopian traditions and a scheming malcontent (David Thewlis) who stirs up all kinds of trouble. Meanwhile, they also wrestle with each other over the lovely daughter of the mayor of Waterfall City (Katie Carr). The pacifist ideals of Dinotopia are refreshing, but it's the special effects that will hook viewers: riding on the backs of brachiosaurs, flying atop pteranadons, arguing in court with triceratops and ankylosaurs. Anyone fascinated with dinosaurs (and who isn't?) will enjoy this whimsical fantasy. A host of British character actors also helps keep the human side of this four-hour mini-series lively; Alice Krige (also known as the Borg Queen in Star Trek: First Contact) gets a much more benevolent role here. --Bret Fetzer

• Merlin | DVD | (15/07/2002) from £8.77   |  Saving you £1.22 (13.91%)   |  RRP £9.99

  What kind of guy was the wizard Merlin, anyway? He lives a long time, raises a boy to be a king, props up a Utopian empire with his magic and wisdom, and then watches as it all crumbles under such banal forces as vengeance and betrayal. This four-hour mini-series re-tells the story of Camelot and King Arthur from the perspective of the magic man who sacrifices a great deal to guide mortals toward a better destiny. Sam Neill plays Merlin as an accessible, flesh-and-blood fellow of real passion, powerless to undo the spell of a rival (Rutger Hauer) who has virtually imprisoned Merlin's great love, Nimue (Isabella Rossellini), but gifted enough to counter the treachery of Morgan Le Fey (Helena Bonham Carter) and the wicked Queen Mab (Miranda Richardson). The battle sequences and special effects are striking and original, and it is great fun to see such art-house movie actors as Richardson, Carter, Neill, etc., in fantasy entertainment the whole family can enjoy. (An unrecognizable Martin Short must be singled out, however, for a wonderful, largely dramatic performance as Mab's sidekick, Frik.) Directed by Steve Barron (The Adventures of Pinocchio), Merlin is a nice bit of glossy revisionism of a beloved legend. --Tom Keogh

• Dinotopia | DVD | (13/10/2014) from £8.75   |  Saving you £11.24 (128.46%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Kids will love this sweeping story of two brothers whose plane crashes on a mysterious island called Dinotopia, where human beings live in harmony with dinosaurs--the herbivores, anyway. The carnivores present a problem, as the humans' defences against them--a mystical power source called sunstones--are losing strength. As they try to save the island, Carl and David (Tyron Leitso and Wentworth Miller) struggle not only with tyrannosaurs and prehistoric crocodiles, but also with repressive Dinotopian traditions and a scheming malcontent (David Thewlis) who stirs up all kinds of trouble. Meanwhile, they also wrestle with each other over the lovely daughter of the mayor of Waterfall City (Katie Carr). The pacifist ideals of Dinotopia are refreshing, but it's the special effects that will hook viewers: riding on the backs of brachiosaurs, flying atop pteranadons, arguing in court with triceratops and ankylosaurs. Anyone fascinated with dinosaurs (and who isn't?) will enjoy this whimsical fantasy. A host of British character actors also helps keep the human side of this four-hour mini-series lively; Alice Krige (also known as the Borg Queen in Star Trek: First Contact) gets a much more benevolent role here. --Bret Fetzer

• Dinotopia | DVD | (25/06/2007) from £12.93   |  Saving you £7.06 (35.30%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Two brothers find themselves castaways on Dinotopia a secret world where dinosaurs and humans coexist in harmony until their sources of power the sunstones begin to fail. The boys are key to Dinotopia's survival and must journey to a dangerous forbidden territory in a last attempt to save their new home.