"Actor: Jack R"

• Winnie the Pooh | DVD | (22/08/2011) from £6.38   |  Saving you £6.61 (103.61%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Walt Disney Animation Studios returns to the Hundred Acre Wood with Winnie the Pooh, the first big-screen Pooh adventure from Disney animation in more than 35 years.

• Zulu | DVD | (18/11/2002) from £8.07   |  Saving you £7.92 (98.14%)   |  RRP £15.99

  One of the last of the classic-era widescreen epics, Zulu was also one of the last war movies to celebrate the virtues of the famous British stiff upper lip. At Rorke's Drift in 1879 a handful of British soldiers, hopelessly outnumbered by 4,000 Zulu warriors, fought one of the most celebrated defensive actions in military history. Zulu tells the story on an epic scale, bringing to life the heroism, courage, loyalty and sacrifice of those desperate hours. This is truly cast-of-thousands filmmaking, with vast action wonderfully captured in widescreen Technirama. John Barry, who also scored Goldfinger in the same year, provides a telling musical accompaniment. The superb cast includes Stanley Baker and Jack Hawkins, but Zulu's final claim to fame is that it made an instant international superstar of a young actor whose name is Michael Caine. A belated sequel arrived in 1979 in Zulu Dawn, which despite even more spectacular action and a great cast died at the box-office. It is nevertheless well worth seeing. On the DVD: Zulu on disc has excellent prologic stereo considering the age of the film, while the anamorphically enhanced 2.35:1 transfer is crystal-clear, boasting rich colours, strong contrast and detail and only occasional minor print flaws. The original American trailer, also presented anamorphically enhanced at 2.35:1, is a worthwhile addition. There is a very good new 45-minute "making of" (1.77:1 anamorphic, in stereo), curiously split into two parts. The heart of the programme consists of interviews with survivors from the film, focusing on Stanley Baker's widow. The only let down is lack of input from Michael Caine and composer John Barry. The commentary by film historian Sheldon Hall, author of a forthcoming book on the movie, and Second Unit Director Robert Porter is serious and packed with information. --Gary S Dalkin

• King Kong | Blu Ray | (20/02/2017) from £11.85   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Movies don't come any bigger than Peter Jackson's King Kong, a three-hour remake of the 1933 classic that marries breathtaking visual prowess with a surprising emotional depth. Expanding on the original story of the blonde beauty and the beast who falls for her, Jackson creates a movie spectacle that matches his Lord of the Rings films and even at times evokes their fantasy world while celebrating the glory of '30s Hollywood. Naomi Watts stars as Ann Darrow, a vaudeville actress down on her luck in Depression-era New York until manic filmmaker Carl Denham (a game but miscast Jack Black) entices her with a lead role. Dazzled by the genius of screenwriter Jack Driscoll (Adrien Brody), Ann boards the tramp steamer S.S. Venture, which she--and most of the wary crew--believes is headed for Singapore. Denham, however, is in search of the mythic Skull Island, hoping to capture its wonders on film and make a fortune. What he didn't count on were some scary natives who find that the comely Darrow looks like prime sacrifice material for a mysterious giant creature.... There's no point in rehashing the entire plot, as every movie aficionado is more than familiar with the trajectory of King Kong; the challenge facing Jackson, his screenwriters, and the phenomenal visual-effects team was to breathe new life into an old, familiar story. To that degree, they achieve what could be best called a qualified success. Though they've assembled a crackerjack supporting cast, including Thomas Kretschmann as the Venture's hard-bitten captain and young Jamie Bell as a plucky crewman, the first third of the movie is rather labored, with too much minute detail given over to sumptuous re-creations of '30s New York and the unexciting initial leg of the Venture's sea voyage. However, once the film finds its way to Skull Island (which bears more than a passing resemblance to LOTR's Mordor), Kong turns into a dazzling movie triumph, by turns terrifying and awe-inspiring. The choreography and execution of the action set pieces--including one involving Kong and a trio of Tyrannosaurus Rexes, as well as another that could be charitably described as a bug-phobic's nightmare--is nothing short of landmark filmmaking, and a certain Mr. Spielberg should watch his back, as Kong trumps most anything that has come before it. Despite the visual challenges of King Kong, the movie's most difficult hurdle is the budding romance between Ann and her simian soulmate. Happily, this is where Jackson unqualifiedly triumphs, as this unorthodox love story is tenderly and humorously drawn, by turns sympathetic and wondrous. Watts, whose accessibility balances out her almost otherworldly loveliness, works wonders with mere glances, and Andy Serkis, who digitally embodies Kong here much as he did Gollum in the LOTR films, breathes vibrant life into the giant star of the film without ever overplaying any emotions. The final, tragic act of the film, set mostly atop the Empire State Building, is where Kong earns its place in movie history as a work that celebrates both the technical and emotional heights that film can reach. --Mark Englehart, Amazon.com

• Ben-Hur Steelbook | Blu Ray | (31/12/2030) from £39.98   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Judah Ben-Hur, a Jewish nobleman in 1st-century Jerusalem, is unwittingly thrust into an heroic odyssey, finding himself and his family enslaved by the Romans, placing him on a path for a fateful encounter with Jesus Christ and to ultimately face his tormentors during a furious chariot race. Filmed in MGMCamera65 (UltraPanavision)

• Child's Play | DVD | (27/12/2004) from £7.19   |  Saving you £8.80 (122.39%)   |  RRP £15.99

  The Fear of the Year is Here! From Tom Holland creator of 'Fright Night' and 'Psycho 2' a new dimension in chilling terror. They thought they'd given Andy the perfect birthday present. He had wanted a 'Good Guy' doll ever since it was advertised. But why is Andy saying 'Chucky' is alive? And why has he appeared at the scene of two shocking murders? The horrific answers will lead his frightened parents through the warped mind of a psychotic maniac into a nightmare maze of powerful

• The Wedding Date | DVD | (22/08/2005) from £6.89   |  Saving you £13.10 (190.13%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Will & Grace's Debra Messing hires a male escort to help her face her ex-boyfriend in this romantic comedy.

• The Ninth Gate | DVD | (06/10/2008) from £6.50   |  Saving you £3.49 (53.69%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Dean Corso is highly skilled at his work, a position which requires dexterity, cultural expertise, nerves of steel...and few scruples.

• A Few Good Men | DVD | (05/02/2007) from £6.30   |  Saving you £-0.31 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  One man is dead. Two men are accused of his murder. The entire Marines Corps is on trial. And 'A Few Good Men' are about to ignite the most explosive episode in US military history. Universally acclaimed A Few Good Men unites the big screen's biggest stars as Hollywood heavyweights Jack Nicholson Tom Cruise and Demi Moore lead an all star cast in director Rob Reiner's powerful account of corruption cover-up and a relentless quest for justice within the sacred corridors of the US Navy. With powerful performances from Kevin Bacon and Kiefer Sutherland A Few Good Men makes its mark as the major movie triumph of the decade.

• Till Death | Blu Ray | (19/05/2025) from £9.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Megan Fox delivers her career best performance in a diabolically twisted thriller. - MovieWeb After a romantic evening in their secluded lake house, Emma (Megan Fox) awakens handcuffed to her dead husband. Trapped and isolated in the dead of winter, she must fight off hired killers to escape her husband's twisted plan.

• Superman 2 | DVD | (24/09/2001) from £6.99   |  Saving you £7.00 (100.14%)   |  RRP £13.99

  Director Richard Lester (A Hard Day's Night) took over the franchise with this first sequel in the series, though the film doesn't look much like his usual stylish work. (Superman III is far more Lesteresque.) Still, there is a lot to like about this film, which finds Superman grappling with the conflict between his responsibilities as Earth's saviour and his own needs of the heart. Choosing the latter, he gives up his powers to be with Lois Lane (Margot Kidder), but the timing is awful: three renegades from his home planet, Krypton, are smashing up the White House, aided by the mocking Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman). The film isn't nearly as ambitious as its predecessor, but the accent on relationships over special effects (not that there aren't plenty of them) is very satisfying. --Tom Keogh

• Maigret - the Complete Series | DVD | (10/09/2007) from £17.25   |  Saving you £12.74 (73.86%)   |  RRP £29.99

  Based on the mystery novels of Georges Simenon One of the best-selling authors of all time Georges Simenon is most famous for his more than 100 novels and short stories featuring Chief Inspector Maigret of the Paris police. Concerned more with why than who Maigret's profound perception of the realities of human behavior and extraordinary psychological insight make him one of fiction's most interesting and unique sleuths. Michael Gambon brings the timeless tantalizing exploits of George Simenon's legendary detective to life in twelve episodes of mystery and intrigue. From Montmartre to the remote French countryside Maigret encounters the dark side of the human psyche. Yet he manages to maintain both compassion and a sense of humor as he explores the complex motives that lie behind every crime.

• The Incredible Hulk - Series 1-5 - Complete | DVD | (29/09/2008) from £33.65   |  Saving you £-4.76 (N/A%)   |  RRP £28.89

  Includes all episodes from Series 1-5! Dr. David Banner is a research scientist trying to find a way to tap into the hidden strength that all humans possess. Then one night in his labratory an experiment went wrong causing him to be overexposed to gamma radiation. Now whenever angered or distressed the mild-mannered scientist finds himself transforming into a powerful seven-foot green creature known as The Incredible Hulk...

• Goosebumps - Blu-ray 3D | Blu Ray | (30/05/2016) from £9.86   |  Saving you £20.13 (204.16%)   |  RRP £29.99

  After moving to a small town, Zach Cooper finds a silver lining when he meets next door neighbour Hannah, the daughter of bestselling Goosebumps series author R.L. Stine. Stine is very mysterious and a prisoner of his own imagination the monsters that his books made famous are real, and he protects his readers by keeping them locked up in their manuscripts. When the monsters are accidentally unleashed and begin to terrorize the town, it's up to Stine, Zach and Hannah to get them back in their books where they belong. Click Images to Enlarge

• The Witches Of Eastwick | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £7.99   |  Saving you £6.00 (75.09%)   |  RRP £13.99

  Jack Nicholson was born to play the devil and in George Miller's adaptation of John Updike's novel he plays it for all he's worth. As a wolfish womaniser summoned by three bored women in a picturesque New England town, he's sating all of his appetites with a rakish grin. Cher, Susan Sarandon and Michelle Pfeiffer play the women who discover their untapped magical powers by accident. The smart and sexy singles, out of place in the conservatism of their village, find happiness, however briefly, in the arms and bed of the libidinous devil but he's got his own ulterior motives. Miller revels in the sensual display of sex, food and magic, whipping up a storm of effects that finally get out of hand in an overblown ending. It's a handsome film with strong performances all around but the mix of anarchic comedy and supernatural horror doesn't always gel and Miller seems to lose the plot in his zeal for cinematic excitement. The performances ultimately keep the film aloft: the hedonistic joy that Nicholson celebrates with every leering gaze and boorish vulgarity is almost enough to make bad form and chauvinism cool. --Sean Axmaker

• The Apartment | DVD | (26/11/2001) from £8.00   |  Saving you £7.99 (99.88%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Romance at its most anti-romantic--that is the Billy Wilder stamp of genius, and this Best Picture Academy Award winner from 1960 is no exception. Set in a decidedly unsavoury world of corporate climbing and philandering, the great filmmaker's trenchant, witty satire-melodrama takes the office politics of a corporation and plays them out in the apartment of lonely clerk CC Baxter (Jack Lemmon). By lending out his digs to the higher-ups for nightly extramarital flings with their secretaries, Baxter has managed to ascend the business ladder faster than even he imagined. The story turns even uglier, though, when Baxter's crush on the building's melancholy elevator operator (Shirley MacLaine) runs up against her long-standing affair with the big boss (a superbly smarmy Fred MacMurray). The situation comes to a head when she tries to commit suicide in Baxter's apartment. Not the happiest or cleanest of scenarios, and one that earned the famously caustic and cynically humoured Wilder his share of outraged responses, but looking at it now, it is a funny, startlingly clear-eyed vision of urban emptiness and is unfailingly understanding of the crazy decisions our hearts sometimes make. Lemmon and MacLaine are ideally matched and while everyone cites Wilder's Some Like It Hot closing line "Nobody's perfect" as his best, MacLaine's no-nonsense final words--"Shut up and deal"--are every bit as memorable. Wilder won three Oscars for The Apartment, for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay (cowritten with long-time collaborator I A L Diamond). --Robert Abele

• The War Of The Worlds | DVD | (04/09/2000) from £11.93   |  Saving you £8.06 (67.56%)   |  RRP £19.99

  After the success of 1950's Destination Moon and 1951's When Worlds Collide, visionary producer George Pal brought the classic HG Wells story of a Martian invasion to the big screen, and it instantly became a science-fiction classic and winner of the 1953 Academy Award for Best Special Effects. It's a work of frightening imagination, with its manta-ray spaceships armed with cobra-like probes that shoot a white-hot disintegration ray. As formations of alien ships continue to wreak destruction around the globe, the military is helpless to stop this enemy while scientists race to find an effective weapon. Gene Barry and Ann Robinson play the hero and heroine roles that werede rigueur for movies like this in the 50s, and their encounter with one of the Martians is as creepy today as it was in 1953. It finally takes an unseen threat--simple Earth bacteria--to conquer the alien invaders, but not before War of the Worlds has provided a dazzling display of impressive visual and sound effects. This is a movie for the ages, the kind of spectacle that inspired little kids such as Steven Spielberg (not to mention Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin, whose Independence Day is a remake in all but name) and still packs a punch. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com

• Reach For The Sky | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £6.99   |  Saving you £3.00 (42.92%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Reach for the Sky was a box-office hit in 1956 and rightly remains a fondly regarded classic of British cinema. Kenneth More is ideally cast as Douglas Bader, the gifted pilot who loses both legs in a pre-war air crash, only to play a major role in the Battle of Britain, rise to the rank of Group Captain and become a war hero. Based on Paul Brickhill's biography, this is an "official" history maybe, but Lewis Gilbert's screenplay and direction are historically accurate and informed by that very British humour, of which More was a natural. The film is graced by a decent supporting cast and a typically "widescreen" score from John Addison. On the DVD: Reach for the Sky is vividly reproduced in 16:9 anamorphic format and decent mono. There are subtitles for the hard of hearing and detailed biographies of More, Gilbert and Barder. The original theatrical trailer is included, but it would also have made sense to include an interview or documentary footage of Bader himself. --Richard Whitehouse

• Tropic Thunder - Single Disc | DVD | (26/01/2009) from £4.97   |  Saving you £15.02 (302.21%)   |  RRP £19.99

  In the action-comedy "Tropic Thunder", Ben Stiller plays pampered action superstar Tugg Speedman, who is cast in the biggest, most expensive war movie ever produced.

• The League Of Gentlemen Special Edition | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  A former army officer bitter at being made to retire early uses his special access to military personnel files to plot a 1 million bank robbery and sets about gathering an unlikely assortment of accomplices

• Buck Rogers in the 25th Century The Complete Series | Blu Ray | (02/04/2018) from £67.69   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  A loose adaptation of a novelette by author Peter Handke, this early effort from director Wim Wenders follows penalized goalie as he makes his way through the city after missing penalty kick and getting suspended from a game.