"Actor: Jim Ward"

• Gathering Storm | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £7.19   |  Saving you £6.80 (94.58%)   |  RRP £13.99

  The Gathering Storm is a fictionalised portrayal of Winston Churchill and his wife Clementine during their wilderness years of the 1930s. It deservedly won numerous awards, including an Emmy, BAFTA and Golden Globe in recognition of Albert Finney's wonderful central performance. Equally deserving were those for all aspects of the production design: period wardrobe, set dressing and use of location are equally impressive, apparently ensuring that this production has everything going for it in its depiction of pre-War Britain. The snag is that its restriction to TV movie format, a mere 90 minutes, excludes a lot of historical context that ought not to have been left out. Seeing Churchill's adoration of his wife (Vanessa Redgrave) or the family woes troubling Ralph Wigram (Linus Roache) is all very emotionally dramatic, but it uses precious screen time that might have been better devoted to highlighting the political situation abroad, or indeed the monarchy's situation at home. The enterprise smacks a little too much of sentimental contrivance, lionising Churchill in rose-tinted retrospect. True, some attempt is made to acknowledge the personality traits that excluded him both from office and popularity prior to Germany's re-building, but like so much else pertinent to the machinations of anticipating the war, these are glossed over for familial feel-goodery and button-pushing poignancy. This is a film that's easy to admire, but ought not to be mistaken for well-rounded history. On the DVD: The Gathering Storm doesn't look or sound quite as crisp and clear as you'd hope for a recent TV-movie transfer. That's down to some obvious grain in the picture, and the 2.0 surround audio that tends to lose quieter dialogue moments. There are extensive cast and crew biographies that will no doubt help international viewers place the naggingly familiar British faces. There's also the accumulatively enthusiastic commentary from director Richard Loncraine and producer Frank Doelger, which happily points many of them out. --Paul Tonks

• Superman: Red Son | Blu Ray | (16/03/2020) from £4.49   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  What if baby Kal-El's rocket landed, not in Kansas, but in the Soviet Union? That is the premise of this Elseworld's tale from DC Comics.

• The Wolf of Snow Hollow | DVD | (14/12/2020) from £6.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Terror grips a small mountain town as bodies are discovered after each full moon. Losing sleep, raising a teenage daughter and caring for his ailing father, Officer Marshall struggles to remind himself there's no such thing as werewolves. THE STORY AND THE GENRE The filmmakers behind The Wolf of Snow Hollow celebrate the complex themes at the heart of the film as they look to expand the boundaries of the thriller genre.

• Rebel Without A Cause | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £7.19   |  Saving you £11.80 (164.12%)   |  RRP £18.99

  When people think of James Dean, they probably think first of the troubled teen from Rebel Without a Cause: nervous, volatile, soulful, a kid lost in a world that does not understand him. Made between his only other starring roles, in East of Eden and Giant, Rebel sums up the jangly, alienated image of Dean, but also happens to be one of the key films of the 1950s. Director Nicholas Ray takes a strikingly sympathetic look at the teenagers standing outside the white-picket-fence 50s dream of America: juvenile delinquent (that's what they called them then) Jim Stark (Dean), fast-girl Judy (Natalie Wood), lost-boy Plato (Sal Mineo), slick hot-rodder Buzz (Corey Allen). At the time, it was unusual for a movie to endorse the point of view of teenagers, but Ray and screenwriter Stewart Stern captured the youthful angst that was erupting at the same time in rock 'n' roll. Dean is heartbreaking, following the method-acting style of Marlon Brando but staking out a nakedly emotional honesty of his own. Going too fast, in every way, he was killed in a car crash on September 30, 1955, a month before Rebel opened. He was no longer an actor, but an icon, and Rebel is a lasting monument. --Robert Horton, Amazon.com

• Sonic The Hedgehog (Blu-ray) | Blu Ray | (08/06/2020) from £7.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Based on the global blockbuster videogame franchise from Sega, SONIC THE HEDGEHOG tells the story of the world's speediest hedgehog as he embraces his new home on Earth. In this live-action adventure comedy, Sonic and his new best friend Tom (James Marsden) team up to defend the planet from the evil genius Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey) and his plans for world domination. The family-friendly film also stars Tika Sumpter and Ben Schwartz as the voice of Sonic.

• The Lion King 3: Hakuna Matata | DVD | (21/05/2012) from £4.49   |  Saving you £7.50 (167.04%)   |  RRP £11.99

  Hilarity reigns in the motion picture comedy-adventure that takes you waaay back to the beginning before Simba's tale began... and beyond! From their uniquely hysterical perspective, Timon and his windy pal Pumbaa - the greatest unsung heroes of the Savannah!-reveal where they came from, how they helped Simba save the Serengeti and what really happened behind the scenes of The Lion King's biggest events.This essential chapter of The Lion King trilogy features the original all-star voice cast as your favourite characters and music by Elton John and Tim Rice. You will feel the love for every outrageously funny moment!

• London Spy - Series 1 | DVD | (02/05/2016) from £18.65   |  Saving you £1.34 (7.18%)   |  RRP £19.99

  London Spy is a gripping, contemporary, emotional thriller that tells the story of a chance romance between two people from very different worlds: one from the headquarters of the secret intelligence service, the other from a world of clubbing and youthful excess. Danny (Ben Whishaw) gregarious, hedonistic and adrift, falls for the enigmatic an...

• The Sense of An Ending | DVD | (14/08/2017) from £4.69   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Tony Webster (Academy Award® winner Jim Broadbent*, Paddington, Bridget Jones' Baby) divorced and retired, leads a reclusive and relatively quiet life. One day, he learns that the mother of his university girlfriend, Veronica (Freya Mavor, Sunshine on Leith), left in her will a diary kept by his best friend who dated Veronica after she and Tony parted ways. Tony's quest to recover the diary, now in the possession of an older but equally as mysterious Veronica (Academy Award® nominee Charlotte Rampling**, 45 Years), forces him to revisit his flawed recollections of his friends and of his younger self. As he digs deeper into his past, it all starts to come back; the first love, the broken heart, the deceit, the regrets, the guilt... Can Tony bear to face the truth and take responsibility for the devastating consequences of actions he took so long ago?

• The Grinch | DVD | (19/11/2001) from £7.86   |  Saving you £8.13 (103.44%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Jim Carrey stars in this live action special effects extravaganza, adapted from the famous childrens book by Dr Seuss.

• Carry On Don't Lose Your Head | DVD | (17/02/2003) from £6.64   |  Saving you £6.35 (95.63%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Carry On Don't Lose Your Head parodies the adventures of the Scarlet Pimpernel, with crinkly cackling Sid James as master of disguise the Black Fingernail and Jim Dale as his assistant Lord Darcy. He must rescue preposterously effete aristocrat Charles Hawtrey from the clutches of Kenneth Williams' fiendish Citizen Camembert and his sidekick Citizen Bidet (Peter Butterworth). The Black Fingernail is assisted in his efforts to thwart the birth of the burgeoning republic by the almost supernatural stupidity of his opponents, who fail to recognise the frankly undisguisable Sid James even when dressed as a flirty young woman. What with an executioner who is tricked into beheading himself in order to prove the efficacy of his own guillotine, it's all a little too easy. As usual, no groan-worthy pun is left unturned, or unheralded by the soundtrack strains of a long whistle or wah-wah trumpet. This is pretty silly stuff even by Carry On standards, with most of the cast barely required to come out of first gear and an overlong climactic swordfight sequence hardly raising the dramatic stakes. Most of the humour here resides neither in the script nor the characterisation but in the endlessly watchable Williams' whooping, nasal delivery (occasionally lapsing into broad Cockney) and the jowl movements of the always-underrated Butterworth. --David Stubbs

• The Green Berets | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £7.19   |  Saving you £6.80 (94.58%)   |  RRP £13.99

  Anyone who fought in Vietnam can tell you that the war bore little resemblance to this propagandistic action film starring and codirected by John Wayne. But Green Berets itself is not nearly as bad as its reputation would suggest; critics roasted its gung-ho politics while ignoring its merits as an exciting (if rather conventional and idealistic) war movie. Some notorious mistakes were made--in the final shot, the sun sets in the east!--and it's an awkward attempt to graft WWII heroics onto the Vietnam experience. But as the Duke's attempt to acknowledge the men who were fighting and dying overseas, it's a rousing film in which Wayne commands a regiment on a mission to kidnap a Viet Cong general. David Janssen plays a journalist who learns to understand Wayne's commitment to battling Communism, and Jim Hutton (Timothy's dad) plays an ill-fated soldier who adopts a Vietnamese orphan. --Jeff Shannon

• Hellfighters (John Wayne) | DVD | (05/06/2006) from £9.87   |  Saving you £0.12 (1.22%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Paying tribute to oil field legend 'Red' Adair Wayne plays Chance Buckman a colourful Texan who tames out-of-control infernos in exotic locations around the world. Between blazes Chance carries the torch for Madelyn the wife who left him 20 years earlier because of his dangerous lifestyle and assistant Greg has his hands full at the poker table and in the bedroom with Chance's spunky daughter Tish.

• Hellfighters (Limited Edition) | Blu Ray | (25/10/2021) from £17.98   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  In Hellfighters, the legendary embodiment of no-nonsense stoicism, John Wayne, plays heroic firefighter Chance Buckman who combats oil-field blazes across the world. Based on the exploits of Red Adair (who acted as technical adviser on the film), this explosive actioner is directed with solid efficiency by Andrew V McLaglen (The Wild Geese, North Sea Hijack). Special Features: High Definition remaster Original 6-track stereo presented as 5.1 surround audio Optional stereo audio Audio commentary with film historians Michael F Blake, C Courtney Joyner, and Constantine Nasr (2021) The BFI Interview with Andrew V McLaglen (1999): archival audio recording of the director in conversation with David Lewin at the National Film Theatre Tom Vincent on Andrew V McLaglen (2021): career-spanning appraisal by the film archivist Newsreel footage of Red Adair fighting blazes in the Sahara and the North Sea Super 8 version: original cut-down home-cinema presentation Original theatrical trailer Image gallery: promotional and publicity material New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing Limited edition exclusive booklet with a new essay by Andrew Nette, archival articles on the film and the events that inspired it, an overview of critical responses, and film credits UK premiere on Blu-ray Limited edition of 3,000 copies All extras subject to change

• Sleepwalkers | DVD | (09/10/2003) from £7.19   |  Saving you £-1.20 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Stephen King's Sleepwalkers is about a half-human, half-cat race of shape shifters called, for no apparent reason, sleepwalkers. Hunky Charles Brady (Brian Krause) and his incestuous mother (Alice Krige) are sleepwalkers, and they've come to the small town of Travis, Indiana, where they've somehow acquired a nice house and false identities. They need virgin souls to survive and have fixated on local beauty Tanya (Madchen Amick from Twin Peaks). That's about it for the story--from then on it's a series of chase scenes full of badly done gore. King must have been sleepwalking himself when he wrote this screenplay: the dialogue is terrible, the characters are cardboard, and the plotting is clumsy. Combine that with mediocre acting, thoughtless direction, slapdash editing, and cheesy special effects, and you have Sleepwalkers. Amick comes off reasonably well and there are cameos by King, Clive Barker, and horror directors John Landis (An American Werewolf in London), Joe Dante (Gremlins), and Tobe Hooper (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre). But really, if you're interested in were-cats, see the original Cat People, starring Simone Simon; it's both sexier and scarier. --Bret Fetzer, Amazon.com

• Lion King 3: Hakuna Matata | DVD | (16/02/2004) from £6.03   |  Saving you £13.96 (231.51%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The Lion King 3: Hakuna Matata is an ingenious sequel that retells the original film's story from the perspective of best pals Timon the meerkat (voiced by Nathan Lane) and Pumbaa the warthog (Ernie Sabella). Anyone who has wondered how this odd couple met will find out here, beginning with Timon's flight from home following disgrace and his chance encounter with the sweet but lonely Pumbaa. With the arrival of young Simba (Shaun Flemming), The Lion King's familiar tale is reborn via a fresh angle, fleshed out by returning characters Rafiki the wise monkey (Robert Guillaume), Shenzi (Whoopi Goldberg), and Simba's love interest, Nala (Moira Kelly). While the retooled narrative proves a novel experience, The Lion King 3 is really a vehicle for voice actors Lane and Sabella, whose comic performances are shamelessly, broadly funny. Matthew Broderick, Julie Kavner, and Jerry Stiller are also in the vocal cast. The film was released in the US with the title The Lion King 1½--Tom Keogh

• 3 Dick Tracy Films Of The SIlver Screen - Dick Tracy's Dilemma / Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome | DVD | (06/12/2004) from £6.73   |  Saving you £-1.74 (N/A%)   |  RRP £4.99

  Dick Tracy's Dilemma: Super-sleuth Dick Tracy is hot on the trail of 'The Claw' a ruthless crook with a heart of stone. Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome: When a scientist's invention of a mysterious paralysing gas is taken by a villainous gang of robbers supersleuth Dick Tracy is called to the rescue. Dick Tracy vs Cueball: Cueball a monstrous bald-headed strangler is stalking Dick Tracy's girl.

• Starman | DVD | (02/10/2017) from £11.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Director John Carpenter presents a romantic science fiction odyssey starring Jeff Bridges in his Oscar(R)-nominated role as an innocent alien from a distant planet who learns what it means to be a man in love. When his spacecraft is shot down over Wisconsin, Starman (Bridges) arrives at the remote cabin of a distraught young widow, Jenny Hayden (Karen Allen), and clones the form of her dead husband. The alien convinces Jenny to drive him to Arizona, explaining that if he isn't picked up by his mothership in three days, he'll die. Hot on their trail are government agents, intent on capturing the alien, dead or alive. En route, Starman demonstrates the power of universal love, while Jenny rediscovers her human feelings for passion.

• Lawless Heart | DVD | (28/04/2003) from £4.49   |  Saving you £15.50 (77.50%)   |  RRP £19.99

  "Lawless Heart" takes a journey through the comedy of love, with three friends facing life, death, sex and misadventure when, shocked by the death of a friend, they decide to take their lives in hand.

• Ben 10 - Secret Of The Omnitrix | DVD | (19/10/2009) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £49.99

  Ben 10: Deluxe Omnitrix Boxset (12 Disc)

• Vengeance Valley | DVD | (04/04/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £4.99

  An unusual adult Western for its time Vengeance Valley (1951) gave Burt Lancaster his first Western role. His athletic prowess made him perfect for the genre and he'd go on to make Gunfight At O.K. Corral Apache and The Unforgiven among others. Vengeance Valley emphasises character development and the solid cast meets the challenge. Robert Walker plays Burt's foster brother. Joanne Dru John Ireland Ted de Corsia Hugh O'Brien and Glenn Strange lend support. One of the real stars of the picture is the gorgeous three-strip Technicolor photography by George J.Folsey. The West has rarely looked more colorful.