"Actor: John Bell"

• The Survivors | DVD | (15/04/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  At the height of urban paranoia and the birth of survivalist movement in the 1980s, director Michael Ritchie decided to team Robin Williams and Walter Matthau in The Survivors. Talk about an odd couple; yet it actually might have worked, with Matthau's hang-dog deadpan and Williams' manic energy, were it not for a limp script by Michael Leeson. Williams and Matthau play two victims of Reaganomics, unemployed acquaintances who witness a robbery and identify one of the participants to the police, an act that turns them into targets for the robber in question who comes looking for them. Williams' response: become a one-man arsenal and join a training camp for militant survivalists. But the comedy is neither sharp enough nor sufficiently smart to pull it off; Matthau is the calm centre while Williams' comedy rockets all around him, to surprisingly little effect. --Marshall Fine, Amazon.com

• Blood On The Sun / James Cagney On Film | DVD | (01/03/2000) from £4.49   |  Saving you £-0.50 (N/A%)   |  RRP £3.99

  This is one of the first American martial arts movies and features some gripping action with James Cagney doing his own stunts for which he trained intensively with Ken Kuniyuki a fifth degree judo master before shooting. This is Cagney at his best.

• The Hornblower Collection (6 discs) | DVD | (10/02/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £39.99

  Based freely on the classic novels by CS Forester, Hornblower is a series of TV films following the progress of a young officer through the ranks of the British navy during the Napoleonic Wars. The series' greatest asset is the handsome and charismatic Ioan Gruffudd in the lead role, surely a major star in the making. For television films the production values are very good, though as Titanic, Waterworld and The Perfect Storm demonstrated, filming an aquatic adventure is a very expensive business, and it is clear that the Hornblower dramas simply make the best of comparatively small budgets. No more faithful to Forester's books than the 1951 Gregory Peck classic Captain Horatio Hornblower, the real inspiration seems to have come from the success of Sharpe, starring Sean Bean, which likewise featured a British hero in the Napoleonic Wars. Nevertheless, while rather more easygoing than the real British navy of the time, the Hornblower saga delivers an entertaining adventure, greatly enhanced by the presence of such guest stars as Denis Lawson, Cheri Lunghi, Ronald Pickup and Anthony Sher. --Gary S Dalkin

• The Who - Tommy Live With Special Guests | DVD | (05/06/2006) from £17.69   |  Saving you £-4.70 (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  1989 live performance of Tommy filmed at the Universal Amphitheatre in LA during the band's 25th Anniversary Tour. Tracklist: 1. Overture 2. It's A Boy 3. 1921 4. Amazing Journey 5. Sparks 6. Eyesight To The Blind 7. Christmas 8. Cousin Kevin 9. The Acid Queen 10. Pinball Wizard 11. Do You Think It's Alright? 12. Fiddle About 13. There's A Doctor 14. Go To The Mirror! 15. Smash The Mirror 16. Tommy Can You Hear Me? 17. I'm Free 18. Extra Extra/ Miracle Cure 19. Sally Simpson

• Rossini: La Cenerentola | DVD | (08/02/2010) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

• The Jack Bull | DVD | (07/06/2004) from £49.99   |  Saving you £-44.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  The Jack Bull was produced for and premiered on American television network HBO, but it's easily the most respectable job that feature director John Badham (Saturday Night Fever, WarGames) has done in the past two decades. The title refers to a metaphorical Jack Russell terrier that, once it's annoyed enough to close its jaws on something, will hang on to the point of death. This terrier is Myrl Redding (John Cusack), a horse breeder of limited means who has a deeply entrenched sense of justice. His independence galls Henry Ballard (L Q Jones), the crusty land baron out to set his brand on most of the countryside. Ballard insults and cheats Redding several times over and his men beat Redding's Indian horse trainer and friend (Rodney A Grant). When Redding seeks redress from the law, its agents can't be bothered as the local magistrate is in Ballard's pocket. So Redding musters a vigilante army to enforce his own law. Scratch this handsome but rigorously unromanticised Western—a full hour passes without a shot being fired--and you find the classic Heinrich von Kleist book Michael Kohlhaas transposed to Wyoming Territory on the eve of statehood. The script--by the star/producer's dad, Dick Cusack--is sturdy and uncompromising and willing to engage the knotty ambiguities of embracing vigilantism even in a just cause. Badham's decision to treat the authorities (Scott Wilson, Jay O Sanders, John Goodman) as period caricatures is regrettable but John Cusack is solid as a figure of utterly matter-of-fact integrity. --Richard T. Jameson, Amazon.com

• Downtown '81 | DVD | (02/09/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  A feature film starring the legendary American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988) that follows him around NYC. Along the way he has encounters with Vincent Gallo Debbie Harry Melly Mel and a host of other Andy Warhol players. Downtown 81 not only captures one the most influential artists of the late twentieth century as he is poised for fame but also captures one of the most vital periods of American culture with the explosion of new wave music new painting hip hop and graffiti.

• Transformers - Season 3 & 4 | DVD | (30/08/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £29.99

  Episodes comprise: 1. The Five Faces Of Darkness (Parts 1-5) 2. The Killing Jar 3. Chaos 4. Dark Awakening 5. Starscream's Ghost 6. Thief In The Night 7. Forever Is A Long Time Coming 8. Surprise Party 9. Madman's Paradise 10. Carnage In C-Minor 11. Fight Or Flee 12. Webworld 13. Ghost In The Machine 14. The Dweller In The Depths 15. Nightmare Planet 16. The Ultimate Weapon 17. The Quintesson Journal 18. The Big Broadcast Of 2006 19. Only Human 20. Grimlock's New B

• Redwall - Slagar The Slaver | DVD | (10/05/2004) from £4.98   |  Saving you £5.01 (100.60%)   |  RRP £9.99

  The story of Redwall - created by Brian Jacques - continues. A few years have passed and brave Matthias and Cornflower now have a son Mattimeo. He is young and mischievous and is quite a pawful for his parents but is well loved by all at Redwall Abbey. When cunning Slagar kidnaps the children of the abbey it is up to Matthias and his friends to chase after them. Meanwhile there are developments at the abbey where Abbot Mordalfus has a dream. Episodes Comprise: 1.Slagar Th

• Angel's Dance | DVD | (11/08/2003) from £9.43   |  Saving you £-3.44 (-57.40%)   |  RRP £5.99

  To silence their double-crossing accountant before he tells the cops everything the Lobruttos need a hitman... and fast. Tony Greco is up and coming in the family firm and ideal for the job - all he needs is a few lessons in the fine art of contract killing. And who better to teach him than Steve Rosellini (James Belushi) - Zen master of all hitmen. Under Rosellini's watchful eye Tony learns all about committing the perfect crime until at last it's time to prove he can kill in cold blood. His target? A name picked at random from the LA phone book - Angel Chaste - a young woman Tony soon discovers is ready willing and able to give as good as she gets.

• Secret Window / Panic Room / Enough | DVD | (03/10/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Secret Window (Dir. David Koepp 2004): Following a bitter separation from his wife (Bello) famed mystery writer Mort Rainey (Depp) is unexpectedly confronted at his remote lake house by a dangerous stranger named John Shooter (Turturro). Claiming Rainey has plagiarised his short story the psychotic Shooter demands justice. When Shooter's fearful demands turn to threats - and then murder - Rainey turns to a private detective for help. But when nothing stops the horror from spiralling out of control Rainey soon discovers he can't trust anyone or anything... Panic Room (Dir. David Fincher 2002): Meg Altman is at a crossroads. Suffering through a painful divorce from her husband pharmaceuticals millionaire Stephen Altman Meg moves from their suburban home in Greenwich Connecticut and buys and Upper West Side Manhattan townhouse for herself and her eleven-year-old daughter Sarah. She intends to go back to school raise her child and start a new life. But the panic she feels at starting over pales in comparison to her fear and desperation when intruders break into her new home. Enough (Dir. Michael Apted 2002): In this Michael Apted thriller Jennifer Lopez plays former waitress Slim who marries a customer who has defended her honour but later discovers her husband (Bill Campbell) is a womaniser prepared to enforce the rule of law with regular beatings if Slim decides not to tow the line and accept his philandering. Enough is enough for Slim who skips town and begins a cross country trek as she and her daughter attempt to stay one step ahead of her husband...

• The Monster Man | DVD | (14/04/2003) from £4.99   |  Saving you £-1.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £3.99

  It's the year 2210: Earth's population has been wiped out by a virus let loose on mankind by an alien race that wants to take over the planet but just two survivors remain...

• My Friend Flicka | DVD | (24/09/2012) from £9.08   |  Saving you £0.91 (10.02%)   |  RRP £9.99

  In this touching family film based on the celebrated novel by Mary O'Hara, ten-year-old Kenny McLaughlin, a rancher's son, desperately wants a horse of his own. When his father finally agrees to let him choose a foal, Ken picks Flicka, a beautiful but high-spirited filly who comes from a bloodline considered to be hopelessly wild. It is up to Ken to prove Flicka is tamable or risk losing her. Along the way, Ken and his family learn some important lessons in this poignant tale of love, patience, faith, and hope beyond hope.

• Transformers - Season 2 - Vol. 2 | DVD | (03/05/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  The Transformers series (Tatakae Cho Robot Seimetai Transformers, or Fight Super Living Robots Transformers) was written in America, but animated in Japan. Based on a line of robots from Takara that was licensed to Hasbro, Transformers sparked a craze for metamorphic toys in the mid-80s. Each robot-character could be reconfigured to form a car, a tank, a plane, and so on. The 24 episodes in this collection, which ran between 1985 and 1986, conclude the second season and lead up to Transformers 2006. Each episode forms a self-contained story, with little in the way of larger character arcs or plot developments tying them together. Although the cast has expanded, the Autobots remain the good guys who defeat the bad guy Decepticons, and no-one expects anything else. Although the character designs and animation are Japanese, the direction is pure American saturday morning: instead of creating effective transitions, the filmmakers just cut to a shot of the logo--a standard practice in Hanna-Barbera kidvid. Websites, role-playing games, fan fiction, and a brisk commerce in the original toys have kept Transformers alive in the hearts of their fans. But like Robotech, Transformers will appeal most strongly to nostalgic adults who watched the show as kids. --Charles Solomon

• Ogre | DVD | (19/09/2011) from £4.99   |  Saving you £8.00 (61.60%)   |  RRP £12.99

  No Donkey. No Fairy Tale. Just Terror. Threatened by a fatal epidemic in the 1850's the townspeople of Ellensworth give up control of their town in return for a cure. The curse is broken but as a result the town has a horrific man eating Ogre who returns annually for his human sacrifice. 150 years later a group of teenagers stumble upon Ellensworth which has changed slightly the inhabitants are immortal and nobody has aged. Unfortunately they have arrived at the time of the yearly human sacrifice with the Ogre rampaging through the town and its terrified people taking refuge. They soon realise that they have unwittingly become part of the hunt.

• Automatic | DVD | (09/09/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  High-speed sc-fi action movie set in the year 2033 where a rogue Automatic J76 part man part machine butler handyman and defender runs riot on the eve of a press conference to announce its invention. It must be stopped at all costs...

• Rosemary's Baby | DVD | (04/10/2004) from £20.00   |  Saving you £-4.01 (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Possibly the best horror film ever made this brilliant adaptation of Ira Levin's best-selling novel is the story of a loving young New York city couple who are experiencing their first child. Like most first time mothers Rosemary experiences confusion and fear. Her husband an ambitious but unsuccessful actor makes a pact with the devil that promises to send his career skyward. Director Roman Polanski elicits uniformly extraordinary performances from the all-star cast. Ruth Gordon won an Oscar for her performance as an oversolicitous next-door neighbour in this classic chiller.

• The Surgeon | DVD | (08/03/2004) from £4.98   |  Saving you £-1.99 (N/A%)   |  RRP £2.99

  Detective Michael D'Angelo's state of mind has caused him to make a serious error of judgement allowing a cop killer to escape from him. As a result he has been suspended from duty. D'Angelo's life spirals further out of control following the split from his long-time girlfriend acclaimed attorney Theresa Marsh (Joan Severance) who deserted him and married a respected doctor peter Marsh (Mick Mancuso). What neither of them realise is that their lives are about to collide once more when Theresa is assigned to the prosecution of a widely-publicised homicide case. The defendant is presumed to be a serial-killer and Theresa is immediately besieged by menacing death threats as she prepares her case against the accused. Insisting on continuing with the case Theresa ignores the threats only to be stonewalled when her husband suddenly disappears. Her worst fears are confirmed when she's told to drop the prosecution if she wants to see her husband alive again. Terrified by the caller and scared to contact the Police she is forced to turn for help to her ex-lover D'Angelo...

• The Oh, God! Collection | Blu Ray | (24/08/2021) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Blood On The Sun | DVD | (17/11/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £2.99

  While much of the world watched the early success of 'Mein Kampf' and the bombing of Pearl Harbour was ten years in the future few were aware of the existence of an oriental 'Hitler' ... Baron Giichi Tankara. But the war had already started in Japan for James Condon American journalist and editor of the Japanese Chronicle whose intuition has led him to believe that major trouble was brewing. The role of Condon man of hard words and harder fists is just the kind of tough guy that first brought James Cagney stardom and in this movie you will not be disappointed as he battles to stay alive long enough to warn the rest of the world against a Japanese militarist plot called the 'Tanaka Plan' that has world domination as its objective. This is one of the first American martial arts movies and features some gripping action with Cagney doing his own stunts for which he trained intensively with Ken Kuniyuki a fifth degree judo master before shooting. This is Cagney at his best.