"Actor: Friedrich Von Thun"

• Hitler: The Rise of Evil | DVD | (20/10/2003) from £7.33   |  Saving you £10.66 (145.43%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Starring Robert Carlyle as the Nazi dictator, Hitler: The Rise of Evil is a lavish made-for-TV two-parter that traces Adolf Hitler's early life, including his boyhood in Austria and impoverished period as a struggling artist in Vienna, culminating in 1934, by which time he had assumed the chancellorship of Germany. We bear witness to the rhetoric, ruthlessness and obsessive determination that propelled him to power, despite the best efforts of opponents like Matthew Modine's campaigning journalist. His inadequate but despotic relationships with women, such as his tragic half-niece Geli Raubal, are also examined. Carlyle fares very well in what is traditionally considered the invidious task of bringing Hitler to dramatic life, conveying him plausibly as an impenetrably evil man, complex but irredeemable. However, this drama fails to explain just how and why such a pathetic, psychotic, unattractive individual such as Hitler could make such an immediate, profound impression on, for example, Ernst Hanfstangl and his wife Nina (ER's Julianne Margulies). Disproportionate attention is paid to Hitler's relationship to this American-born couple, perhaps as a sop to US audiences. In contrast, the social, cultural and political context of inter-war Germany is skimpily depicted here, making Hitler's ascendancy seem almost absurd. On the DVD: Hitler: The Rise of Evil is, as you would expect, a decent transfer from the TV original, but there are no additional features. --David Stubbs

• Schindler's List | DVD | (12/04/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Both an artistic and a commercial triumph, Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List manages to find some small glimmer of hope for the human spirit amid the abomination that was the Holocaust. The true story of flamboyant entrepreneur Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson) and his attempts to save Jewish lives under the very noses of his Nazi associates gives Spielberg a focal point of conscience and humanity in an otherwise unrelentingly grim depiction of mankind's worst traits, here memorably embodied by Ralph Fiennes as the sadistic Nazi commandant Amon Goeth. Spielberg's determined and unflinching vision is supported by a dignified score from regular collaborator John Williams, and evocative black-and-white cinematography by Janusz Kaminski, which alternates a semi-documentary feel for the harrowing ghetto and concentration camp sequences with an altogether more decadent sensibility for the Nazis. The single use of colour tells of horror more shocking than any words could convey. It's true that towards the end Spielberg lets his sentimental streak off the leash when he chooses to focus on Schindler's grief, but otherwise this is filmmaking of the highest kind: compellingly dramatic, profoundly educational, and unfailingly emotive in the very best sense. On the DVD: Schindler's List is thinly spread across two discs, with a break at just over two hours into this three-hour movie. It's a little surprising that the feature could not have fitted onto one disc, especially given the absence of commentary or other additional tracks. The 1.85:1 anamorphic picture is fine, though displaying the graininess of the original film stock. Sound is available in highly detailed DTS. Extras on the second disc are limited to Voices from the List, a 77-minute documentary featuring the personal testimony of Schindler survivors, and an 11-minute feature on Spielberg's Shoah Foundation. There's nothing at all about the making of the movie. --Mark Walker

• Amen | DVD | (26/09/2005) from £8.49   |  Saving you £7.50 (88.34%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Two Men. Two Worlds. One Cause. When newly-commissioned SS Lieutenant Kurt Gerstein (Ulrich Tukur) witnesses the chemical disinfectant he's helped perfect being used to systematically murder interred Jews he has no choice but to act. The only sympathetic ear Gerstein is able to find is that of a young Father Riccardo (Mathieu Kassovitz) a priest with deep ties to the Vatican. While Riccardo takes on the obstructive Vatican hierarchy Gerstein must walk a tightrope between do

• Schindler's List (Special Edition) | DVD | (12/04/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £49.99

  A cinematic masterpiece that has become one of the most honoured films of all time (seven Academy Awards among them) the film presents the indelible true story of the enigmatic Oskar Schindler a member of the Nazi party womaniser and war profiteer who saved the lives of more then 1 100 Jews during the Holocaust. It is the triumph of one man who made a difference and the drama of those who survived one of the darkest chapters in human history because of what he did. Please note: the film is spread over two discs.