When Ridley Scott's cut of Blade Runner was finally released in 1993, one had to wonder why the studio hadn't done it right the first time--11 years earlier. This version is so much better, mostly because of what's been eliminated (the ludicrous and redundant voice-over narration and the phoney happy ending) rather than what's been added (a bit more character development and a brief unicorn dream). Star Harrison Ford originally recorded the narration under duress at the insistence of Warner Bros. executives who thought the story needed further "explanation"; he later confessed that he thought if he did it badly they wouldn't use it. (Moral: Never overestimate the taste of movie executives.) The movie's spectacular futuristic vision of Los Angeles--a perpetually dark and rainy metropolis that's the nightmare antithesis of "Sunny Southern California"--is still its most seductive feature, another worldly atmosphere in which you can immerse yourself. The movie's shadowy visual style, along with its classic private-detective/murder-mystery plot line (with Ford on the trail of a murderous android, or "replicant"), makes Blade Runner one of the few science fiction pictures to legitimately claim a place in the film noir tradition. And, as in the best noir, the sleuth discovers a whole lot more (about himself and the people he encounters) than he anticipates. The cast also includes Sean Young, Edward James Olmos, Daryl Hannah Rutger Hauer and M. Emmet Walsh. --Jim Emerson
Dating from 1969, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid has never lost its popularity or its unusual appeal as a star-driven Western that tinkers with the genre's conventions and comes up with something both terrifically entertaining and--typical of its period--a tad paranoid. Paul Newman plays the legendary outlaw Butch Cassidy as an eternal optimist and self-styled visionary, conjuring dreams of banks just ripe for the picking all over the world. Robert Redford is his more level-headed partner, the sharp-shooting Sundance Kid. The film, written by William Goldman (The Princess Bride) and directed by George Roy Hill (The Sting), basically begins as a freewheeling story about robbing trains but soon becomes a chase as a relentless posse--always seen at a great distance like some remote authority--forces Butch and Sundance into the hills and, finally, Bolivia. Weakened a little by feel-good inclinations (a scene involving bicycle tricks and the song "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" is sort of Hollywood flower power), the film maintains an interesting tautness, and the chemistry between Redford and Newman is rare. (A factoid: Newman first offered the Sundance part to Jack Lemmon.) --Tom Keogh, Amazon.com On the DVD: This anamorphic widescreen print of the 2.35:1 Panavision original looks marvellously crisp, highlighting the sepia tinting and washed-out, over-exposed look of the film nicely and making the best of the deep focus cinematography. The mono soundtrack sounds clean and clear in Dolby 2.0. The commentary track is hosted by documentary-maker Robert Crawford with contributions from George Roy Hill, cinematographer Conrad Hall, and lyricist Hal David (who chips in during the "Raindrops" sequence). The 40-minute documentary dates from 1968 and is narrated by director Hill, who talks in detail about the making-of process, comments on his relationship with the three principals (Katharine Ross was the difficult one apparently), and adds little nuggets such as how they sprayed the bull's testicles to make him charge at the end of the bicycle scene. Also included are a series of absorbing 1994 interviews with all the main players: Newman, Redford, Ross, writer William Goldman, and composer Burt Bacharach. Trailers, Production Notes and an Alternate Credit Roll complete an attractive package. --Mark Walker
They're creepy and they're kooky mysterious and spooky they're altogether ooky... The Addams Family! The Addams Family America's first family of ghastly giddiness are here in all of their ghoulish glory in the original TV series based on the delightfully demented imagination of Charles Addams. Tarantulas torture racks and tombstones have never been so much fun! Join Gomez Morticia Uncle Fester Lurch Cousin Itt and the rest of the gang for a fiendishly funny and altogether kooky experience! This 9-disc box set contains every episode of the original series.
After a violent shipwreck, billionaire Oliver Queen (series star STEPHEN AMELL) was missing and presumed dead for five years before being discovered alive on a remote island in the North China Sea. Oliver returned home to Star City, bent on righting the wrongs of his family and fighting injustice. As the Green Arrow, he protects his city with the help of former soldier John Diggle (series star DAVID RAMSEY), computer science expert Felicity Smoak (series star EMILY BETT RICKARDS), brilliant inventor Curtis Holt (series star ECHO KELLUM), street-savvy Rene Ramirez aka Wild Dog (series star RICK GONZALEZ) and meta-human Dinah Drake (series star JULIANA HARKAVY). In season seven, Oliver's limits will be tested when he and Team Arrow are pitted against the most ruthless villains they have yet to face, forcing him to seek redemption for his family, his team and his identity as both he and the team are left questioning what is the true definition of a hero.
Clint Eastwood directs and stars in this international intrigue action thriller that takes place on the Swiss Alps. Hemlock (Eastwood) a retired professional assassin who has turned toward the calmer pursuit of art collecting is suddenly forced out of retirement to hunt a deadly double agent that murdered a close friend. The hunt takes Eastwood on a breathtaking journey up the Swiss Alps with a team of mountain climbers: one of whom is the man he seeks through his identity is as yet unknown...
A student machinist (Keanu Reeves) finds himself caught in a maze of secret government cover-ups high tech espionage and murders after working on a groundbreaking scientific experiment. Eddie Kasalivich (Reeves) and Lily Sinclair (Rachel Weisz) are part of a team of scientists who have developed a revolutionary new source of energy. But no sooner have they finishes celebrating their triumph than their lab is destroyed and the head of their team killed. Named as the main suspects Ed
Emerging from the Play for Today anthology series in 1975 Philip Martin's near two-hour-length play Gangsters proved so popular that a series was commissioned and followed eighteen months later. Following the lead of such gritty cop dramas as The Sweeney Gangsters revealed a world of racial segregation and ghettos in the style of American television; and it didn't hold back on the violence or bad language either. Former SAS officer John Kline (Maurice C
Frederick Forsyth wrote both the novel and screenplay of The Fourth Protocol, a story about a plot to stage an enormous nuclear accident in England, a catastrophe so large that its source can never be identified but will lead to assumptions that America is behind it. Michael Caine plays an ageing intelligence agent who picks up clues that the ingredients for such an apocalypse are being smuggled piece-by-piece into the UK--but he cannot seem to get his superiors to care. Caine is outstanding in a role that seems tailor-made for him and Pierce Brosnan is very good as the Russian agent working undercover in England to effect the planned tragedy. The film perfectly captures a spreading suspicion and resentment toward superpower adventurism, even though such sentiments are in fact being exploited by the bad guys. Caine, as always, suggests a man walking a narrow line through a gauntlet of moral compromises. --Tom Keogh
Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology. We have the capability to build the world's first bionic man. Steve Austin will be that man. Better than he was before. Better, stronger, faster. Steve Austin, an astronaut who crashed during an experimental aircraft test, is a man barely alive and clinging to life. At that point the government decided to use secret funding for a secret bionics project to create the next generation of covert operative--an agent with bionic limbs that gi...
Visually spectacular, intensely action-packed and powerfully prophetic since its debut, Blade Runner dazzles in Ridley Scott's definitive Final Cut, including extended scenes and special effects. In a signature role as 21st-century detective Rick Deckard, Harrison Ford brings his masculine-yet vulnerable presence to this stylish noir thriller. In a future of high-tech possibility soured by urban and social decay, Deckard hunts for fugitive, murderous replicants and is drawn to a mystery woman whose secrets may undermine his soul. SPECIAL FEATURES Introduction by Director Ridley Scott Three Filmmaker Commentaries
The Sundance Kid is the fastest gun in the West his sidekick Butch is a dreamer always planning that bigger better bank raid. But things are getting tougher and soon the accident-prone anti-heroes decide it's time to head south and disappear into legend. Winner of 4 Oscars including Best Screenplay for William Goldman and Best Song ('Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head') and Best Score for Burt Bacharach.
Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology. We have the capability to build the world's first bionic man. Steve Austin will be that man. Better than he was before. Better, stronger, faster. Steve Austin, an astronaut who crashed during an experimental aircraft test, is a man barely alive and clinging to life. At that point the government decided to use secret funding for a secret bionics project to create the next generation of covert operative--an agent with bionic limbs that gi...
A U.S. Sheriff entrusted with a map of the legendary Valley of Gold is attacked by an unruly bandit gang and his own local townspeople. They are all fired by greed and gold lust but bound together by a fear of their common enemy - the Apache. Based on a novel by Will Henry with music by Quincy Jones.
When Ridley Scott's cut of Blade Runner was finally released in 1993, one had to wonder why the studio hadn't done it right the first time--11 years earlier. This version is so much better, mostly because of what's been eliminated (the ludicrous and redundant voice-over narration and the phoney happy ending) rather than what's been added (a bit more character development and a brief unicorn dream). Star Harrison Ford originally recorded the narration under duress at the insistence of Warner Bros. executives who thought the story needed further "explanation"; he later confessed that he thought if he did it badly they wouldn't use it. (Moral: never overestimate the taste of movie executives.) The movie's spectacular futuristic vision of Los Angeles--a perpetually dark and rainy metropolis that's the nightmare antithesis of "Sunny Southern California"--is still its most seductive feature, another worldly atmosphere in which you can immerse yourself. The movie's shadowy visual style, along with its classic private-detective/murder-mystery plot line (with Ford on the trail of a murderous android, or "replicant"), makes Blade Runner one of the few science fiction pictures to legitimately claim a place in the film noir tradition. And, as in the best noir, the sleuth discovers a whole lot more (about himself and the people he encounters) than he anticipates. The cast also includes Sean Young, Edward James Olmos, Daryl Hannah Rutger Hauer and M Emmet Walsh. --Jim Emerson
Clint Eastwood held the dual role of director and star of this 1975 spy thriller, which makes up for sluggish pacing with a breathtaking climax on a treacherous peak in the Swiss Alps. The plot kicks into gear when Eastwood, playing a retired assassin, is recruited back into a secret organisation to avenge the murder of an old friend. He's then blackmailed into making a second "hit"; this time his target is one of three men who will be attempting to conquer the Eiger, a dangerous peak in Switzerland. An accomplished climber, Eastwood's character joins the expedition with George Kennedy as leader of the ground crew. Shifting loyalties, apparent betrayals, and paranoid suspicion factor into the suspenseful climax on the sheer face of the mountain. This memorable sequence--for which Eastwood performed his own mountain-climbing stunts--is effectively intense, built on a standard plot of double-cross and intrigue that was intended to combine Eastwood's screen persona with the global adventure of the James Bond films. For the most part it works--it's not one of Eastwood's better films, but it's got some first-class thrills (and a sly performance by Jack Cassidy) to grab and hold your interest. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com
To call this cut of Blade Runner long awaited would be a heavy, heavy understatement. Its taken 25 years since the first release of one of the science-fiction genres flagship films to get this far, and understandably, Blade Runner: The Final Cut has proved to be one of the most eagerly awaited DVD releases of all time. And its been well worth the wait. Director Ridley Scotts decision to head back to the edit suite and cut together one last version of his flat-out classic film has been heavily rewarded, with a genuinely definitive version of an iconic, visually stunning and downright intelligent piece of cinema. Make no mistake: this is by distance the best version of Blade Runner. And its never looked better, either. The core of Blade Runner, of course, remains the same, with Harrison Fords Deckard (the Blade Runner of the title) on the trail of four replicants, cloned humans that are now illegal. And he does so across an amazing cityscape thats proven to be well ahead of its time, with astounding visuals that defied the supposed limits of special effects back in 1982. Backed up with a staggering extra features package that varies depending on which version of this Blade Runner release you opt for (two-, four- and five-disc versions are available), the highlight nonetheless remains the stunning film itself. Remastered and restored, it remains a testament to a number of creative people whose thinking was simply a country mile in advance of that of their contemporaries. An unmissable purchase. --Jon Foster
Under Fire was one of a trio of notable films from the mid-1980s about journalists involved in Third World war zones. While certainly a lesser film than Salvador (1986) or The Killing Fields (1984) Roger Spottiswoode's movie is still a commendable work from a director who later brought a similarly political edge to Noriega: God's Favourite (2000). Nick Nolte plays an American photo-journalist covering the civil war in Nicaragua in 1979, finding himself caught in a dangerous and cynical web of duplicity and self-interest, as well as falling in love with fellow American, Claire (Joanna Cassidy). Nolte gradually uncovers the degree of his own government's involvement with the corrupt regime, and inevitably ends up crossing the line from neutral observer to helping the rebel cause. Under Fire is in essence a reworking of Casablanca, especially as Gene Hackman's network newsman proves to be Cassidy's ex-lover, yet thanks to an intelligent script, strong support from Ed Harris as a mercenary and some genuinely unnerving and frightening scenes of the random chaos of war, it's one which packs a powerful punch. Jerry Goldsmith's evocative score is among his best of the 1980s.On the DVD: Under Fire is presented in an anamorphic 1.77:1 transfer which is very clean and clear with minimal grain. The well-mixed Dolby Pro-logic soundtrack is highly effective, if not so startling as a 5.1 track. Beyond multi-language and subtitle options, the only extra is the original trailer, which is also anamorphically enhanced. --Gary S Dalkin
A Comic Tale Of Horror And Seduction. Eddie Murphy's got the bite stuff in this movie mix of bone-chilling horror and chill-out comedy directed by Wes Craven (A Nightmare On Elm Street). As the vampire Maximillian the popular star is the most diabolical dashing and definitely undead dude in the 'hood'. To add to the macabre fun Murphy morphs into two other must-see characters: a paunchy preacher and a fast talking thug. Angela Bassett (The Score) plays the cop whose world is
When Ridley Scott's cut of Blade Runner was finally released in 1993, one had to wonder why the studio hadn't done it right the first time--11 years earlier. This version is so much better, mostly because of what's been eliminated (the ludicrous and redundant voice-over narration and the phoney happy ending) rather than what's been added (a bit more character development and a brief unicorn dream). Star Harrison Ford originally recorded the narration under duress at the insistence of Warner Bros. executives who thought the story needed further "explanation"; he later confessed that he thought if he did it badly they wouldn't use it. (Moral: Never overestimate the taste of movie executives.) The movie's spectacular futuristic vision of Los Angeles--a perpetually dark and rainy metropolis that's the nightmare antithesis of "Sunny Southern California"--is still its most seductive feature, another worldly atmosphere in which you can immerse yourself. The movie's shadowy visual style, along with its classic private-detective/murder-mystery plot line (with Ford on the trail of a murderous android, or "replicant"), makes Blade Runner one of the few science fiction pictures to legitimately claim a place in the film noir tradition. And, as in the best noir, the sleuth discovers a whole lot more (about himself and the people he encounters) than he anticipates. The cast also includes Sean Young, Edward James Olmos, Daryl Hannah Rutger Hauer and M. Emmet Walsh. --Jim Emerson
On July 1 1968 America Britain and Russia signed a treaty to halt the spread of nuclear weapons. The powers then added four extra clauses. The most secret of them was and remains the final. One winter the Chairman of the KGB hatches a plan to breach this Fourth Protocol and destroy NATO. He sends an agent Major Petrofsky (Pierece Brosnan) to assemble the operation. It is now up to MI6 agent John Preston (Michael Caine) who now must race against an unknown deadline to stop him and his devasting mission. Based on the novel by the best-selling author Frederick Forsyth.
Please wait. Loading...
This site uses cookies.
More details in our privacy policy