"Actor: Hanna Ralph"

• DIE NIBELUNGEN (Masters of Cinema) (BLU-RAY) | Blu Ray | (29/10/2012) from £14.79   |  Saving you £3.20 (21.64%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Perhaps the most stately of Fritz Lang's two-part epics, the five-hour Die Nibelungen is a courageous and hallucinatory work. Its extraordinary set-pieces, archetypal themes, and unrestrained ambition have proved an inspiration for nearly every fantasy cycle that has emerged on-screen since - from Star Wars to The Lord of the Rings.In Part One, Siegfried, the film's eponymous hero acquires the power of invincibility after slaying a dragon and bathing in the creature's blood. Later, an alliance through marriage between the hero and the royal clan of the Nibelungen turns treacherous, with Siegfried's sole weakness exploited. In Part Two, Kriemhilds Rache [Kriemhild's Revenge], Siegfried's widow travels to the remote land of the Huns to wed the monstrous Attila, and thereby enlist his forces in an act of vengeance that culminates in massacre, conflagration, and, under the auspices of Lang, one of the most exhilarating and terrifying end-sequences in all of cinema.Adapted from the myth that was also the basis for Wagner's Ring cycle of operas, Lang's epic offers its own startling expressionistic power - a summit of the director's artistry. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present Die Nibelungen in a spectacular new HD restoration.

• DIE NIBELUNGEN (Masters of Cinema) (DVD) | DVD | (29/10/2012) from £11.98   |  Saving you £10.00 (100.10%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Perhaps the most stately of Fritz Lang's two-part epics, the five-hour Die Nibelungen is a courageous and hallucinatory work. Its extraordinary set-pieces, archetypal themes, and unrestrained ambition have proved an inspiration for nearly every fantasy cycle that has emerged on-screen since - from Star Wars to The Lord of the Rings.In Part One, Siegfried, the film's eponymous hero acquires the power of invincibility after slaying a dragon and bathing in the creature's blood. Later, an alliance through marriage between the hero and the royal clan of the Nibelungen turns treacherous, with Siegfried's sole weakness exploited. In Part Two, Kriemhilds Rache [Kriemhild's Revenge], Siegfried's widow travels to the remote land of the Huns to wed the monstrous Attila, and thereby enlist his forces in an act of vengeance that culminates in massacre, conflagration, and, under the auspices of Lang, one of the most exhilarating and terrifying end-sequences in all of cinema.Adapted from the myth that was also the basis for Wagner's Ring cycle of operas, Lang's epic offers its own startling expressionistic power - a summit of the director's artistry. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present Die Nibelungen in a spectacular new HD restoration.

• Fresh Meat (Steelbook) | Blu Ray | (29/11/2013) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Faust | DVD | (26/06/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £23.99

  Murnau's last German film features astonishing photography magnificent art direction and special effects which retain the power to amaze. Freed from the constraints of psychological narrative Murnau's mastery of cinematic technique places Faust at the pinnacle of the silent era its barrage of visceral and apocryphal imagery contrasting with the simplicity and directness of its spiritual theme. Faust's tale is a classic one of a man who sells his soul to the devil. In an attempt

• The Persuaders - Vol. 5 - Episodes 15-18 | DVD | (18/02/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Further action-fuelled adventures with those cool crimefighters Lord Brett Sinclair (Moore) and Danny Wilde (Curtis). Epsisodes include: The Man In The Middle: A double agent is discovered working in British Intelligence... Element of Risk: A known criminal arrives in London and gets mixed up with Danny... A Home of One's Own: Danny buys himself a cottage and gets involved with the illegal activities of the local squire... Nuisance Value: A fake kidnapping threatens to test the sleuthing skills of Brett and Danny...

• Faust | DVD | (21/01/2002) from £27.99   |  Saving you £-8.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Shot in the UFA studios with a big movie star in the lead and all the special effects and production design resources any blockbuster of its time could wish for, FW Murnau's 1926 Faust represents a step up from his better-known Nosferatu. Oddly, Faust is a less familiar film than the vampire quickie and this release affords fans a chance to see what Murnau can do with an equally major fantasy story. Adapted neither from Marlowe's play Dr Faustus nor Goethe's verse drama, the script scrambles various elements of the legend and presents a Faust (Gosta Ekman) driven to summon the Devil by despair as a plague rages through the town, desperate to gain enough learning to help his neighbours. When this deal doesn't quite work out, because he is stoned by townsfolk who notice his sudden fear of the cross, Mephisto (Emil Jannings) offers Faust instead renewed youth and an opportunity to seduce a famously beautiful Italian noblewoman and then to return to his home village and get involved with the pure Gretchen (Camilla Horn). Like most versions of the story, it's episodic and some sections are stronger than others: the great stuff comes in the plague and initial deal sequences, though it picks up again for the tragic climax as Gretchen becomes the central figure and suffers horribly, freezing in the snows and burning at the stake. Jannings' devil, a gruesomely humorous slice of ham, is one of the great silent monster performances, reducing everyone else to a stick figure, and Murnau faces the challenge of topping his Nosferatu imagery by deploying a battalion of effects techniques to depict the many magical journeys, sudden appearances and transformations. On the DVD: Often seen in ragged, incomplete prints projected at the wrong speed, this is a decently restored version, running a full 115 minutes with a complete orchestral score. The original materials show some of the damage to be expected in a film of its vintage, but the transfer is excellent, displaying the imaginative art direction and camerawork to superb advantage. Aside from a nicely eerie menu, the sole extra is a full-length commentary originating in Australia: written by historian Peter Spooner but read by narrator Russell Cawthorne (who mispronounces the odd name). This provides an interesting wealth of background detail, such as Murnau's attempt to cast Hollywood's Lillian Gish as Gretchen, and delivers a balanced assessment of the film itself. --Kim Newman

• Die Nibelungen - Siegfried's Death/Kriemhild's Revenge | DVD | (29/01/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  One of the greatest artistic and technical achievements of the German silent cinema Fritz Lang's monumental Die Nibelungen is a passionate retelling of Nordic legend invested with all the resources of the colossal Ufa Studios. Scripted by Lang's wife at the time Thea von Harbou (Metropolis) Siegfried establishes larger-than-life heroic characters who are defined by tests of valor a rigid codes of honor. In order to win the hand of Kriemhild (Margarete Schoen) Siefgriend (Paul Richter) must win a bride for her brother King Gunther (Theodor Loos). Kriemhild's Revenge begins after the death of Siefgriend and weaves the treacherous tale of his widow's ungodly vengeance upon his murderers. The noble qualities of the first film become liabilities in the second as the blood oaths and vows of loyalty bring about a maelstrom of violence that results in the slaughter of entire armies