"Actor: Jean Claude Jay"

• Double Team | DVD | (16/02/2004) from £5.19   |  Saving you £0.80 (15.41%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Look ma, no script! As expected from a movie by Hong Kong action director Hark Tsui, there are many explosive, fast-paced sequences in this Jean-Claude Van Damme vehicle. Some are thrilling, others inconsequential. There is also another mumbling, overdone performance by Mickey Rourke, who looks as if he performed his own plastic surgery. Except for an unintentionally humorous ending, the only surprise is Dennis Rodman as Van Damme's partner in exploitation. Rodman has plenty of charisma, but needs someone to weed out those inferior scripts. He plays an eccentric arms dealer coerced by an avenging Van Damme into tracking down the evil and sadistically weird character played by a well-muscled Rourke. It says little for the production that the best sequence of the movie occurs a quarter of the way into the action. It concerns an escape by Van Damme from an island think tank for forcibly retired covert agents. After that, everyone should have gone home. --Rochelle O'Gorman, Amazon.com

• Replicant | DVD | (07/01/2002) from £6.73   |  Saving you £13.26 (66.30%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Jean-Claude Van Damme plays two roles in Replicant, a surprisingly good action thriller that also stars Michael Rooker as Jake Riley, a cop who's been tracking a serial killer called "The Torch" (Van Damme). Frustrated, Riley decides to retire--and the National Security Department makes him an offer: they've cloned "The Torch" as part of a programme to track down terrorists; they'll turn this replicant (Van Damme again, of course) over to Riley as a sort of test run for the programme. The idea is that the replicant will slowly recall the original person's memories and lead the cops to the original. It's ridiculous, but no more ridiculous than the setup for the highly successful Face/Off, and it works just as well as the engine for an effective action flick. What makes Replicant more unusual is that the writers actually put some thought into the relationship between Riley and the replicant, which starts to mirror parent-child relationships in emotionally complex ways. Furthermore, while it's no surprise that Rooker gives a solid performance, it is surprising that Van Damme does just as good a job in both of his roles--he's perfectly creepy as the serial killer and genuinely affecting as the quickly developing replicant, projecting a mixture of innocence and turmoil. Replicant was directed by Hong Kong director Ringo Lam, the man behind Full Contact and City on Fire. He was clearly working on a limited budget, but the movie looks good, moves with lean efficiency, and has some riveting action sequences and good quality effects--the scenes where Van Damme (inevitably!) fights himself are completely convincing. A satisfying movie.--Bret Fetzer, Amazon.com

• Death In A French Garden | DVD | (24/11/2003) from £8.43   |  Saving you £11.56 (137.13%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Michel Deville's sleek drama of eroticism and murder was released in 1985 in France to great acclaim. It has all the ingredients required for an intriguing thriller: sex dishonesty voyeurism murder and a stunning cast. A rich business man and his young wife Julia hire David to teach guitar to their teenage daughter Vivianne. Julia quickly seduces David and they begin a steamy affair which unbeknownst to them is being filmed by the next door neighbour whom David has befriended.

• Who Killed Bambi? | DVD | (22/08/2005) from £6.59   |  Saving you £13.40 (203.34%)   |  RRP £19.99

  A beautiful nursing student starts to investigate when patients start to disappear from their rooms.

• In Hell / Replicant / The Order | DVD | (03/10/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  In Hell (Dir. Ringo Lam 2003): Kyle Lord (Van Damme) is arrested and convicted for the vigilante killing of his wife's murderer. Kyle must survive life in a maximum-security prison where inmates are made to battle to their death in a brutal no holds barred fight called The Shu for the warden's entertainment and profit. Kyle fights his oppressors and is quickly sent to The Shu where his unbridled rage catapults him to the victor's circle. Kyle has become one of the monsters he despises and must now battle within himself to survive... Replicant (Dir. Ringo Lam 2001): Jean-Claude Van Damme squares off against his deadliest opponent yet (himself!) when he stars as both a heinous serial killer and the replicated clone that represents the authority's best and only chance at capturing this mad killer on the loose... The Order (Dir. Sheldon Lettich 2001): Action superstar Jean-Claude Van Damme (Nowhere To Run Universal Soldier) is back in The Order a fast-paced high-octane thriller set in the Middle East. From the director of Double Impact and featuring screen legend Charlton Heston (Planet Of The Apes Any Given Sunday) Ben Cross (First Knight Chariots Of Fire) and sexy newcomer Sofia Milos The Order is an exciting adventure packed with extreme fight choreography exotic locations and non-stop action. Journey to a turbulent world under siege as reformed artifact smuggler Rudy (Van Damme) travels to Jerusalem to rescue his museum-curator father who's been kidnapped by ruthless fanatics and recover a sacred scroll believed to hold dangerous secrets of an underground sect. Framed for murder by a scheming police chief (Cross) Rudy enlists the aid of a mysterious beauty (Milos) to clear his name and wages a one-man battle to recapture the prized manuscript before the ultimate Holy War breaks out and all hell breaks loose!