"Actor: John Epper"

• Battlefield Earth | DVD | (29/09/2008) from £6.19   |  Saving you £6.80 (109.85%)   |  RRP £12.99

  In the year 3000, man is no match for the Psychlos, a manipulative race of aliens on a quest for global domination. Led by the seductive and powerful Terl (Travolta), the Psychlos have taken all natural resources for themselves and left mankind behind to

• The Hitcher (Special Edition) | DVD | (14/07/2003) from £17.92   |  Saving you £2.07 (11.55%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Made in 1984, The Hitcher is an update--in spirit at least--of Steven Spielberg's first feature film, 1971's Duel. Here C Thomas Howell plays a guy taking a drive-away car from Chicago to San Diego. On a whim, in the rain, and against his better judgment, he picks up a hitchhiker (Rutger Hauer). The hitcher quickly admits to being a murdering psychopath and once Howell finally gets him out of his car, he is pursued with all the vengeance of the ancient furies. We're never sure if the hitcher is a figment of his imagination, making Howell a schizophrenic killer, or if he's real and Howell is the random victim of a wandering madman, which is how his potential new girlfriend (Jennifer Jason Leigh) thinks of him. Either way, The Hitcher is great fun, kinda scary and teetering on the brink of "must see". --Andy Spletzer

• Midnight Cowboy | DVD | (01/02/2000) from £7.19   |  Saving you £5.80 (80.67%)   |  RRP £12.99

  The first, and only, X-rated film to win a best picture Academy Award, John Schlesinger's Midnight Cowboy seems a lot less daring today (and has been reclassified as an R), but remains a fascinating time capsule of late-1960s sexual decadence in mainstream American cinema. In a career-making performance, Jon Voight plays Joe Buck, a naive Texas dishwasher who goes to the big city (New York) to make his fortune as a sexual hustler. Although enthusiastic about selling himself to rich ladies for stud services, he quickly finds it hard to make a living and eventually crashes in a seedy dump with a crippled petty thief named Ratzo Rizzo (Dustin Hoffman, doing one of his more effective "stupid acting tricks," with a limp and a high-pitch rasp of a voice). Schlesinger's quick-cut, semi-psychedelic style has dated severely, as has his ruthlessly cynical approach to almost everybody but the lead characters. But at its heart the movie is a sad tale of friendship between a couple of losers lost in the big city, and with an ending no studio would approve today. It's a bit like an urban Of Mice and Men, but where both guys are Lenny. --Jim Emerson

• Breathless | DVD | (19/03/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Breathless, Jim McBride's 1983 remake of Au Bout de Souffle rewrites Godard's existential hipster as a vain, style-obsessed hood and in the process loses some of the point. Godard's hero was a translation and productive misunderstanding of a quintessentially American sort of delinquent; because it is a retranslation, Gere's intelligent, nervy performance as Jesse Lujack suffers by comparison, however admirable it is taken in itself. McBride's direction strokes Gere's face and body lovingly--his every foxy smile, or glance at himself in a mirror, is played for passionate significance. This is also a good-looking film: the back alleys of LA and sunset over the Mojave desert have rarely looked as good. Valerie Kaprisky's Monica is inevitably given secondary importance; the decision to make the woman who goes along with Jesse's wild final ride on a whim an exchange student makes her at once more and less like her equivalent in the Godard--she has a touching exoticism that is at the same time somehow beside the point. The DVD includes the original theatrical trailer. --Roz Kaveney

• All The King's Men | DVD | (09/07/2001) from £9.54   |  Saving you £10.45 (109.54%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The Best Picture Oscar in 1949 went to All the King's Men, a hard-hitting political melodrama that will strike any number of eerily familiar chords with audiences weaned on later American politics: from the Kennedys to Nixon, Bill Clinton and beyond, US politicians obviously haven't changed much in the intervening decades. Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name, this grittily realistic movie charts the rise and fall of Willie Stark (Broderick Crawford in an Oscar-winning role), a hick lawyer whose ideals are inexorably eroded by his relentless pursuit of power. When we first meet him, Stark is the people's champion, a struggling self-taught advocate who isn't afraid to speak out against "graft". Although inspired by the real-life story of Louisiana Governor Huey Pierce Long, All the King's Men also parallels the much later Primary Colors (1998), which is itself a thinly disguised portrait of Bill Clinton's presidential campaign. Like that movie, this one tells the tale from the point of view of a young idealist (John Ireland) who succumbs to the fledgling politician's charm and joins his campaign team. There he meets cynical aide Sadie Burke (Mercedes McCambridge, in another Oscar-winning role) and together they connive at and excuse every increasingly corrupt move made in the name of political expediency, until matters get dangerously out of hand after the governor's son kills his girlfriend in a drunk-driving incident (a spooky premonition of Chappaquidick?). The performances are all top-notch, as is the fast-paced screenplay and direction from Robert Rossen (later director of The Hustler in 1961). Less idealistic than Capra's Mr Smith Goes to Washington, this is a movie ahead of its time which still has plenty to say about the state of modern politics, American or otherwise. --Mark Walker

• The Scalphunters | DVD | (05/07/2004) from £5.07   |  Saving you £7.92 (156.21%)   |  RRP £12.99

  An old fur trader embarks on his own war to reclaim his 'trade' embezzled from him by bounty seeking scalphunters...

• Battlefield Earth - Take Back The Planet | DVD | (06/08/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £13.99

  In the 30th Century, when Battlefield Earth is uncovered in a mass grave for bad films by revisionist cineastes, it is more than likely that it will still be the worst science fiction film ever made. John Travolta's $73m pet sci-fi project--an adaptation of Scientology guru L Ron Hubbard's rambling pulp novel --is like the long lost sequel to Ed Wood's Plan Nine from Outer Space. Incompetent, incomprehensible and, at nearly two hours running time, way over long, Battlefield Earth is nothing more than a rehash of hackneyed post-Star Wars sci-fi clichés. It has the production values of Buck Rogers in the 21st Century and a sprawling plot that merges Planet of the Apes and the TV mini-series V.It is the year 3000 and the Psychlos, a race of dreadlocked aliens, are busy raping the Earth of its natural resources to revive their own dead planet. Peppy young turk Jonnie Goodboy Tyler decides to fight back: he speed-learns the Psychlo language, masters their alien technology and then rallies the beleaguered human race to victory. The Psychlos are at a distinct disadvantage since they persist in wearing ludicrously-stacked heels that make it hard to do anything but totter like stilt-walkers. Therefore, out of necessity, most of the action sequences in Battlefield Earth are shot in slow motion. John Travolta plays Terl, the blustering Psychlo chief of security on Earth, like a pantomime villain delivering leaden dialogue that elicits unintentional pathos. Forest Whitaker in the role of his oafish, double-crossing sidekick Ker erases all traces of screen credibility gained through his role in Jim Jarmusch's Ghost Dog. And as Tyler, pretty boy Barry Pepper has the charisma of a plastic action figure. Even the tagline for this film--"A saga for the year 3000"--is startlingly banal.On the DVD: At first glance, this DVD looks to be packed with extras. A director's commentary, two TV spots, trailer and three "making of" feaurettes--but once you've seen one of the featurettes, you've literally seen them all, as the other two simply recut the same footage. After watching this travesty of a film, it is unlikely you'll want to hear British director Roger Christian gushing over his own work on the audio commentary with production designer Patrick Tatopolous. One can only guess that the creative team got stranded on Planet Psychlo and lost all their critical faculties. The main feature is of good enough picture quality to accentuate the ghastly blue and orange hues that colour almost every scene. The film is presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic format with optional 5.1 Dolby Digital sound. --Chris Campion

• Pretty Poison | DVD | (05/09/2005) from £14.40   |  Saving you £5.59 (28.00%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Did you ever see two kids like Dennis and Sue Ann? We think not... Dennis Pitt (Anthony Perkins) is released from prison following a sentence for his complicity in a suspicious death. Wandering through a small town he befriends and deceives straight-A student Sue Ann (Tuesday Weld). Convincing her that he is in fact a secret agent she decides to joins him. However is Sue Ann using Dennis' own weaknesses for her own evil ends?

• Die Hard 4.0/Hitman/The Marine | DVD | (08/06/2009) from £4.98   |  Saving you £5.01 (100.60%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Titles Comprise: Die Hard 4.0: Live Free or Die Hard is the ultimate summer action ride. In a season overflowing with CGI Fantasy live Free or Die Hard gets real - with real action real humor and a relatively everyman hero: John McClane. On the July 4th holiday an attack on the vulnerable United States infrastructure begins to shut down the entire nation. The mysterious figure behind the scheme has figured out every modern angle - but he never figured on an old-school analog fly in the digital ointment. Bruce Willis is John McClane. No mask. No cape. No problem. Hitman: Extreme Edition roars to life with both barrels blazing in this hardcore action-thriller starring Timothy Olyphant. Agent 47 has been educated from his genetically-engineered birth to become a professional assassin for hire whose most powerful weapons are his nerve and a resolute pride in his work. 47 is both the last two digits of the barcode tattooed on the back of his head and his only name. He is hired by a group know as 'The Agency' to kill selected targets for cash... But the hunter soon becomes the hunted... The Marine: WWE champion John Cena dominates the big screen as Marine John Triton. Wherever there's danger Triton is usually smack dab in the middle of it... and he doesn't play by rules! After he's unwillingly discharged from Iraq Triton's beautiful wife Kate (Nip And Tuck's Kelly Carlson) is kidnapped by merciless jewel thieves led by a vicious killer (Robert Patrick)! Now Triton must fight to save her utilizing his most powerful weapon - himself!

• Specters | DVD | (03/09/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  A group of archaelogists headed by Donald Pleasance have entered the secret catacombs which have been sealed for centuries. In their ignorance and quest for the unknown the archaeologists have broken the seal to the gates of hell unleashing a terrible evil not seen on the face of the earth for nineteen thousand years. The heart of the evil lies in an unexplored catacomb into which the archaeologists lower a computerised camera. The air odour and silence over in a menacing atmosphere as the camera scans the darkness revelling a centuries old tomb. Donald Pleasance interprets the inscriptions of the tomb and realises the true horror of his find. He has a evoked an evil so terrifying that it could destroy mankind as we know it.

• This Is Not A Love Song | DVD | (27/06/2005) from £12.93   |  Saving you £3.06 (19.10%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Spike (Colgan) and Heaton (Glenaan) are the unlikeliest pair: two loners who have found each other. Taciturn competent unreadable; Heaton is someone we are instinctively afraid of. In contrast his sidekick Spike is manic child-like unstopaable; someone we are instinctively afraid for... When Spike commits a terrible crime Heaton decides to stand by him; an act of astonishing almost foolhardy loyalty. There begins a chase across a vast northern landscape of moors rivers and da

• Red Planet / Battlefield Earth / Soldier | DVD | (08/10/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £39.99

  In Red Planet the only thing thicker than the Martian atmosphere (which is breathable, by the way) is the layer of clichés that nearly smothers a formulaic beat-the-clock plot. Science fiction fans are sure to be forgiving, however, because the film is reasonably intelligent, boasts a few dazzling sequences, and presents fascinating technology in the year 2057. We don't know how the Mars-1 spaceship gets to Mars in only six months (newfangled propulsion, no doubt), but we do get some cool diagnostic read-outs on tinfoil scrolls, an abundance of well-designed hardware, and a service-robot-turned-villain that's a high-tech hybrid of RoboCop, Bruce Lee, and a slinky panther with plenty of lethal attitude. A perfectly suitable companion to another Year 2000 sci-fi thriller, Pitch Black, Red Planet is a fine way to kill a couple of hours. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.comWhen Battlefield Earth was released theatrically, this inept sci-fi epic qualified as an instant camp classic, prompting Daily Variety to call it "the Showgirls of sci-fi shoot-'em-ups". Other reviews were united in their derision, and toy stores were left with truckloads of Battlefield Earth action figures that nobody wanted. Recklessly adapted from the novel by sci-fi author and Scientology founder L Ron Hubbard and set in the year 3000, the film is no worse than many cheesy sci-fi flicks, but the sight of Travolta as a burly, dreadlocked alien from the planet Psychlo provokes unintentional laughter from first frame to final credits. The best that Battlefield Earth can hope for is a Dune-like fate: it might improve in a longer director's cut--but that's wishful thinking. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.comKurt Russell hits new heights in laconic action heroes with his portrayal of Sergeant Todd, born and bred to be a Soldier in a futuristic army. Raised to kill mercilessly, living only for battle, he finds himself at the twilight of his career (and so-called life) when a regiment of genetically enhanced warriors threatens to make his brand of soldiering obsolete. Soldier is one of those rare sci-fi movies that relies more on plot and action than special effects (though the trash planet is effectively wrought). The pace of action in the last half of the film is relentless and exciting, and Russell's portrayal of the old warrior as he warms to human emotions relies more on expression than words-in fact, he barely utters half-dozen lines. --Tod Nelson, Amazon.com