In an uncanny piece of art imitating life, Who Dares Wins came out in 1982 just after the infamous storming of the Iranian Embassy by the legendary British Special Air Services (SAS) unit. The plot builds up to that unshakeable image of black-clad troops abseiling the front of a stately home and smashing through the windows, and pays off expectations with a thrilling finale. Anyone expecting two hours of military instruction will be disappointed however. After the opening 10 minutes with the troops, the almost James-Bond-like story follows Lewis Collins (riding high in those days after TV's The Professionals) as he infiltrates a radical anti-Nuclear society. Operation: Destroy requires him to go undercover with their potentially insane leader Frankie (Judy Davis), ignoring his wife and child. The period detail is often the film's most entertaining feature as Collins tours across 1980s London constantly eluding spies on his tail. Apart from the endless permed hairdos and the fact that the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament hasn't got much to demonstrate about these days, there's the fashions and low-tech gadgetry to enjoy. In the US the film was called The Final Option. The DVD includes a photo gallery, and a history of the SAS. --Paul Tonks
Clever twists and a bona fide surprise ending make Primal Fear an above-average courtroom thriller. Tapping into the post-O J scrutiny of the American legal system in the case of a hotshot Chicago defence attorney (Richard Gere) whose latest client is an altar boy (Edward Norton) accused of murdering a Catholic archbishop. The film uses its own manipulation to tell a story about manipulation and when we finally discover who's been pulling the strings, the payoff is both convincing and pertinent to the ongoing debate over what constitutes truth in the American system of justice. Making an impressive screen debut that has since led to a stellar career, Norton gives a performance that rides on a razor's edge of schizophrenic pathology--his role is an actor's showcase and without crossing over the line of credibility, Norton milks it for all it's worth. Gere is equally effective in a role that capitalises on his shifty screen persona and Laura Linney and Frances McDormand give memorable performances in their intelligently written supporting roles. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com
Collection of four classic children's films. 'Annie' (1982) is the story of the eponymous optimistic orphan (Aileen Quinn) who lives a miserable life in an children's home run by the awful Miss Hannigan (Carol Burnett). One day, she sees her chance to escape and sets off on a journey which will take her to the door of childless millionaire Daddy Warbucks (Albert Finney). In 'Oliver' (1968) young Oliver Twist (Mark Lester) escapes from the workhouse, where he has been brutally treated all of his life, and joins the gang of street urchins led by the rascal Fagin (Ron Moody). Oliver is trained as a pick-pocket, but ends up being caught for a crime he did not commit. However, this seemingly unfortunate accident brings him closer to his real family. 'Matilda' (1996) stars Mara Wilson as the exceptionally gifted and intelligent child who is ignored by her stupid parents Harry (Danny DeVito) and Zinnia (Rhea Perlman). A keen reader, her dearest wish is to be sent to school, but the establishment Harry selects is Crunchemhall, run by the tyrannical Miss Trunchball (Pam Ferris). Her cruelty to her pupils causes Matilda to vow revenge, and her newly discovered telekinetic powers give her the chance to do so. 'Madeline' (1998) stars Hatty Jones as the most mischievous of the twelve friends who live at a Parisian school run by Miss Clavel (Frances McDormand). Her sunny existence is threatened by starchy old Lord Covington (Nigel Hawthorne) who is on a campaign to have the school closed down. It is up to Madeline and her friends, who include the equally precocious Pepito (Kristian de la Osa) and a dog who saved her from drowning, to stop him.
Maurice Colborne (Gangsters) stars as Tom Howard recently made redundant as an aircraft designer who decides to ply his trade in the world of boats instead; taking the reigns at a run-down local construction yard. A family of considerable wealth and prestige the Howards struggle to come to terms with Tom's decision and the changing circumstances of their lives. Featuring all the episodes from Series 2.
Russell Crowe stars as "Lucky" Jack Aubrey, who pits his crew of the HMS Surprise against a much better armed and ruthless enemy in a chase that takes him all the way to the far side of the world.
Director Billy Wilder (Sunset Boulevard) and writer Raymond Chandler (The Big Sleep) adapted James M. Cain's hard-boiled novel into this wildly thrilling story of insurance man Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray), who schemes the perfect murder with the beautiful dame Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck: kill Dietrichson's husband and make off with the insurance money. But, of course, in these plots things never quite go as planned, and Barton Keyes (Edward G. Robinson) is the wily insurance investigator who must sort things out. From the opening scene you know Neff is doomed, as the story is told in flashback; yet, to the film's credit, this doesn't diminish any of the tension of the movie. This early film noir flick is wonderfully campy by today's standards, and the dialogue is snappy ("I thought you were smarter than the rest, Walter. But I was wrong. You're not smarter, just a little taller"), filled with lots of "dame"s and "baby"s. Stanwyck is the ultimate femme fatale, and MacMurray, despite a career largely defined by roles as a softy (notably in the TV series My Three Sons and the movie The Shaggy Dog), is convincingly cast against type as the hapless, love-struck sap. --Jenny Brown
Thirty years after the events of the first film, a new blade runner, LAPD Officer K (Ryan Gosling), unearths a longburied secret that has the potential to plunge what's left of society into chaos. K's discovery leads him on a quest to find Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford), a former LAPD blade runner who has been missing for 30 years.
Perhaps the highest compliment you can pay to Edward Norton is that his Oscar-nominated performance in American History X nearly convinces you that there is a shred of logic in the tenets of white supremacy. If that statement doesn't horrify you, it should; Norton is so fully immersed in his role as a neo-Nazi skinhead that his character's eloquent defense of racism is disturbingly persuasive--at least on the surface. Looking lean and mean with a swastika tattoo and a mind full of hate, Derek Vinyard (Norton) has inherited racism from his father, and that learning has been intensified through his service to Cameron (Stacy Keach), a grown-up thug playing tyrant and teacher to a growing band of disenfranchised teens from Venice Beach, California, all hungry for an ideology that fuels their brooding alienation. The film's basic message--that hate is learned and can be unlearned--is expressed through Derek's kid brother, Danny (Edward Furlong), whose sibling hero-worship increases after Derek is imprisoned (or, in Danny's mind, martyred) for the killing of two black men. Lacking Derek's gift of rebel rhetoric, Danny is easily swayed into the violent, hateful lifestyle that Derek disowns during his thoughtful time in prison. Once released, Derek struggles to save his brother from a violent fate, and American History X partially suffers from a mix of intense emotions, awkward sentiment and predictably inevitable plotting. And yet British director Tony Kaye (who would later protest against Norton's creative intervention during post-production) manages to juggle these qualities--and a compelling clash of visual styles--to considerable effect. No matter how strained their collaboration may have been, both Kaye and Norton can be proud to have created a film that addresses the issue of racism with dramatically forceful impact. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com
Something like a perfect artistic union is achieved in the major components of Paris, Texas: the twang of Ry Cooder's guitar, the lonely light of Robbie Muller's camera, the craggy landscape of Harry Dean Stanton's face. In his greatest role, longtime character actor Stanton plays a man brought back to his old life after wandering in the desert (or somewhere) for four years. He has a 7-year-old son to get to know, and his wife has gone missing. The material is much in the wanderlust spirit of director Wim Wenders, working from a script by Sam Shepard and L.M. Kit Carson. If the long climactic conversation between Stanton and Nastassja Kinski renders the movie uneven and slightly inscrutable, it's hard to think of a more fitting ending--and besides, the achingly empty American spaces stick longer in the memory than the dialogue. Winner of the top prize at the 1984 Cannes Film Festival. --Robert Horton
Robert Shaw (Young Winston), Harrison Ford (Raiders of the Lost Ark), Barbara Bach (Short Night of the Glass Dolls) and Edward Fox (The Day of the Jackal) star alongside Carl Weathers (Rocky), Richard Kiel (Moonraker) and Franco Nero (Django) in this star-studded high adventure. Directed with an assured hand by Bond veteran Guy Hamilton (Battle of Britain), this rip-roaring adaptation of Alistair MacLean's follow-up to the classic The Guns of Navarone sees the elite cadre of commandos embark on a secret mission deep in the Yugoslavian wilderness, during the darkest days of World War II. Product Features High Definition remaster of the extended re-release cut Original mono audio Alternative stereo and 5.1 surround options Audio commentary with film historians Steve Mitchell and Steven Jay Rubin (2020) This Is a Giant Movie (1978, 21 mins): archival location report by Channel Television featuring interviews with producer Oliver A Unger, and actors Edward Fox and Carl Weathers Tour de Force (2020, 24 mins): actor Angus MacInnes recalls his early film role From Žabljak with Love (2020, 28 mins): the making of the film as told by construction manager Terry Apsey, stuntman Jim Dowdall, grip Dennis Fraser, chief hairdresser Colin Jamison, and chief make-up artist Peter Robb-King A Life Behind the Lens (2020, 33 mins): a tribute to the acclaimed cinematographer Christopher Challis, featuring interviews with fellow directors of photography and camera crew Dennis Fraser, Oswald Morris, John Palmer and Sydney Samuelson, as well as archival footage of Challis The BEHP Interview with Ron Goodwin (1999, 89 mins): archival video, made as part of the British Entertainment History Project, featuring the celebrated composer in conversation with Linda Wood A Show of Force (2020, 26 mins): a look at the different versions of Force 10 from Navarone Super 8 version: cut-down home cinema presentation Original trailers, TV and radio spots Image gallery: publicity and promotional material New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
The Cylons began as humanity's robot servants. They rebelled and evolved and now they look like us. Their plan is simple: destroy the race that enslaved them. But when their devastating attack leaves human survivors, the Cylons have to improvise. Battlestar Galactica: The Plan tells the story of two powerful Cylon leaders, working separately, and their determination to finish the task. Special Features: Deleted Scenes Audio Commentary Featurettes
This unnerving procedural thriller painstakingly details an all-too-plausible nightmare scenario in which a mechanical failure jams the United States military's chain of command and sends the country hurtling toward nuclear war with the Soviet Union. Working from a contemporary best seller, screenwriter WALTER BERNSTEIN (The Front) and director SIDNEY LUMET (Network) wrench harrowing suspense from the doomsday fears of the Cold War era, making the most of a modest budget and limited sets to create an atmosphere of clammy claustrophobia and astronomically high stakes. Starring HENRY FONDA (12 Angry Men) as a coolheaded U.S. president and WALTER MATTHAU (Charade) as a trigger-happy political theorist, Fail Safe is a long-underappreciated alarm bell of a film, sounding an urgent warning about the deadly logic of mutually assured destruction. Special Edition Features New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray Audio commentary from 2000 featuring director Sidney Lumet New interview with film critic J. Hoberman on 1960s nuclear paranoia and Cold War films Fail-Safe Revisited, a short documentary from 2000 including interviews with Lumet, screenwriter Walter Bernstein, and actor Dan O'Herlihy PLUS: An essay by critic Bilge Ebiri
An all-star dramatization of the Japanese attack on the island of Midway in 1942, which saw US forces finally wresting control of the waves and staving off the threat of its West Coast being invaded. Henry Fonda heads the cast as Pacific Fleet Commander Chester W. Nimitz.
When a nasty bite by an irradiated spider endows teenager Peter Parker with miraculous arachnid-like powers his death defying heroism wins him admiration from those in need. But being a superhero has its drawbacks...especially when you're in college! This double disc set contains the entire first season of the new animated series complete with all 13 episodes.
New man in Zuni Wells. Handsome. Knows horses. Looking for part-time work until rodeo season opens. But when the ranch job Lonnie Beale snaps up turns out to be a stint at a dude ranch/spa for actresses and models and when the fella playing Lonnie is Elvis Presley it's a cinch we're all in for full-time fun! This film frolic tickles with a saddlebag of nine tunes including I'm Yours and (Such An) Easy Question). There's considerable tickling of the funnybone since writers Elwood Ullman and Edward Bernds are veterans of the Three Stooges comedies. Elvis enjoys his share of the laughs as he meets girl (Jocelyn Lane) loses girl and gets girl back plus a fortune in lost gold. Tickle Me is good as gold in so many ways.
Ealing Films' exciting horseracing drama features a memorable performance from Bill Owen as a jockey with a troubled past. Also starring Kay Walsh, Robert Morley and Fella Edmonds as a young boy with dreams of being a professional jockey, The Rainbow Jacket was filmed on many of the country's key racecourses including Newmarket, Epsom and Sandown Park and is featured here as a remaster from original film elements in its original theatrical aspect ratio. Sam Lilley, a champion jockey who has lost his license, trains young George a keen racegoer with ambitions to ride professionally. But when George gets his first race it comes down to a photo-finish and Sam has bet heavily on the boy winning. Special Features: Brand-new 2021 interview with Fella Edmonds Racing at Ealing: a short featurette on the making of The Rainbow Jacket featuring archive interview footage Theatrical trailer Image gallery Limited edition booklet written by Neil Sinyard
An Officer And A Gentleman (Dir. Taylor Hackford 1981): Zack Mayo is a young loner with a bad attitude. Tempted by the glamour and admiration of the life of a Navy pilot he decides to sign up for Officer Candidate School. After thirteen tortuous weeks under Gunnery Sergeant Emil Foley (Gossett Jnr.) he slowly begins to learn the importance of discipline love and friendship. Foley warns Zack about the local girls who will do anything to catch themselves a pilot for a husband
First time on Blu-Ray in the UK. The film spin-off from the much-loved TV comedy series starring Arthur Lowe as the commander of an incompetent Home Guard platoon in wartime Britain. With the trusted comedy genius from the TV series shining through, Mainwaring and company save the day when a crew of a German aircraft take the vicar and villagers hostage in the church.
Directed by Robert Hamer (Kind Hearts and Coronets) It Always Rains On Sunday starring Googie Withers, John McCallum, Jack Warner is considered to be one of the greatest and most overlooked achievements of British 1940s cinema. The film was featured in Time Out's 100 Best British Films list, as chosen by 150 film industry experts, including Sam Mendes and Wes Anderson. Googie Withers stars as Rose Sandigate, a Bethnal Green housewife whose Sunday is turned upside down by the re-appearance of an old flame who is now an escaped convict seeking protection from the police. A rare glimpse into life in London's East End post WWII, It Always Rains On Sunday was Googie Withers' last film for Ealing Studios and, due to her wonderful performance as a woman trapped in a claustrophobic domesticity, it remains one of her best. Special Features: Coming in from the Rain: Elclusive Interviews with Film Historian Ian Christie, Writer Ian Sinclair, Producer Sean O'Connor and Director Terence Davies Locations Featurette with British Film Historian Richard Dacre Trailer Stills Gallery
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