"Actor: Harry Landers"

• Star Trek: The Original Series - Season 3 | DVD | (06/12/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £69.99

  Saved from the brink of cancellation by its loyal fanbase, Star Trek's third and final season rewarded them with a number of memorable episodes. Tight budgets and slipping creative control, however, made it the most uneven, though it did have some of the coolest episode titles ("For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky", "Is There in Truth No Beauty", "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield"). Some of the best moments involved a gunfight at the OK Corral ("Spectre of the Gun"), a knock-down drag-out sword battle with the Klingons aboard the Enterprise ("Day of the Dove"), the ship getting caught in an ever-tightening spacial net ("The Tholian Web"), TV's first interracial kiss ("Plato's Stepchildren"), Sulu taking command ("The Savage Curtain"), and Kirk's switching bodies with an ex-love interest ("Turnabout Intruder"). Also appearing in the set as a coda are two versions of the series pilot, "The Cage", a restored color version and the original, never-aired version that alternates between color and black and white. Starring Jeffery Hunter as Captain Pike, Leonard Nimoy as a relatively emotional Spock, and Majel Barrett (the future Nurse Chapel and Mrs. Gene Roddenberry) as a frosty Number One, this pilot was rejected, but a second was commissioned, "Where No Man Has Gone Before", now considered the "official" beginning of the series. But "The Cage" is very recognizably Star Trek with its far-out concepts (telepathic aliens collecting species samples), sexy humanoid women, character development, and of course cheesy costumes and special effects. Footage was later reused in the season 1 two-parter, "The Menagerie". The best of the 63 minutes of bonus material focuses on three of the actors: Walter Koenig, George Takei, and James Doohan. Koenig discusses how he was cast and shows off his various collections, one consisting of Chekov figurines. Takei speaks movingly about the Japanese American internment and, in what is probably his last Star Trek appearance, Doohan, slowed by Alzheimer's but still with a twinkle in his eye, recalls his voiceover roles and his favorite episodes. The Easter eggs are amusingly called "Red Shirt Files" in tribute to those poor saps who everyone knew were only in the landing party so they could die. --David Horiuchi

• Charro | DVD | (24/02/2003) from £20.98   |  Saving you £-15.99 (-320.40%)   |  RRP £4.99

  When Elvis Presley first appeared on screen fans and critics alike called him the next James Dean. Everyone was shocked when 'The King' was actually a credible actor. His films exploited his youth appeal and crammed the running time with Presley music numbers and as time went on the plots became more and more ludicrous the songs less memorable.This was not lost on Presley who was getting more and more bored with his screen assignments. He wanted to do something more challenging a film befitting his early dramatic promise.He found that vehicle in one of his last screen appearances - Charro! This time he played it straight. Clearly influenced by the successful Clint Eastwood by the successful Clint Eastwood/Sergio Leone series this film is gritty and cynical. But most importantly Presley proved once again that he could act. Reviewers at the time were impressed with Presley's performance and in retrospect it makes one wish Presley had more challenging acting opportunities.