"Actor: John Ho"

• El Cid | DVD | (30/10/2000) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Sumptuous in every way, visually magnificent, with grandiose sets, panoramic Spanish vistas and intricately detailed costumes, possessor of one of cinema's greatest music scores, boasting vast and astonishingly kinetic battles, and breathing heroic virtue in every scene, El Cid is the very epitome of epic. For this reworking of the medieval legend of the Cid (Arabic for "Lord") who united warring factions and saved 11th-century Spain from invasion, producer Samuel Bronston and director Anthony Mann insisted every set had to be created from scratch, every costume specially made for this movie alone; they also shot entirely on location in La Mancha and along the Mediterranean coast of Spain to enhance the film's authenticity. The cinematography is saturated with the burnished hues of the Spanish landscape, as are the palatial sets and rich costumes; Miklos Rozsa's resplendent score is also the result of painstaking research into medieval Spanish sources. The screenplay is imbued with knightly gravitas and more than a little salvation imagery, from the opening scene of the young Rodrigo rescuing a cross from a burning church, to the movie's indelible finale as The Cid rides "out of the gates of history into legend".Charlton Heston is at his most indomitable as Rodrigo, "The Cid", a natural leader of men and the embodiment of every manly virtue (note that he fathers twins--a sure token of his virility); Sophie Loren is ravishing as Chimene, the woman whose love for Rodrigo conflicts with her filial instincts after he kills her father, the king's champion, over a point of honour. Their scenes together create a humane warmth at the heart of this vast movie: the moment when Chimene finally declares her love (beneath a shrine of three crosses--more symbolism) to the exiled Rodrigo forms a pivotal and very intimate centrepiece. Shortly thereafter he must rise from their rural marriage bed to lead his followers into battle, and the tension between his public and private lives adds a piquancy to the film's stunning battle sequences. The international supporting cast sometimes look like makeweights, especially when chewing on the occasionally stilted dialogue, but any such faults are easily forgiven as the scale and spectacle of El Cid carries the viewer away on a tide of chivalry.On the DVD: This disc is a sadly missed opportunity to present a classic epic in its original form. Although formatted for 16:9 widescreen TVs, which initially gives hope that this might be an anamorphic widescreen presentation, only the opening and closing titles appear in the correct cinematic ratio. Otherwise this is essentially the same picture as the pan & scan VHS version with the same poor print quality. Since a restored 35mm print of El Cid has been shown at cinemas and on TV in recent years there seems to be no excuse for this cut-down presentation. Add some decidedly minimal extras and the result is a disappointing disc. --Mark Walker

• Starsky And Hutch - The Complete Second Season | DVD | (19/07/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £34.99

  Starsky & Hutch: The Complete Second Season proves the 1970s series, in its sophomore year, both codified its earliest strengths while continuing to evolve into a sharper, wittier and often darker show. Contributing to those improvements were the stars themselves: David Soul (who plays maverick police detective, intellectual and health nut Ken Hutchinson) and Paul Michael Glaser (as Hutch's more impulsive, junk-food-junkie partner Dave Starsky), each of whom directed exemplary episodes in the second series. The series' creators also struck a more entertaining balance between the comic and dramatic possibilities inherent in Starsky and Hutch's bluntly honest, fraternal relationship. A number of stories placed the guys in intentionally funny undercover situations: as garish gamblers in the two-part opener "The Las Vegas Strangler"; entertainment directors (named Hack and Zack) on a luxury cruise ship in "Murder at Sea"; gigolo-like dance aficionados in the playfully-titled "Tap Dancing Her Way Right Back into Your Hearts"; and, most amusingly, stunt men in "Murder on Stage 17". Those are all good shows, and the duo often bicker within them, to great comic effect, like an old married couple. But it's the relentlessly tougher episodes that prove each character's mettle and demonstrate the depth of Starsky and Hutch's mutual trust. Among these is the powerful "Gillian", in which Starsky discovers Hutch's classy new girlfriend is a prostitute and breaks the news to his shattered friend. Somewhat lighter but just as revealing is "Little Girl Lost", starring a young Kristy McNichol as an orphaned street urchin whom Hutch, lately in a misanthropic, anti-Christmas mood, takes into his home. Glaser's directorial debut, the harrowing "Bloodbath", gives Soul a lot of room for an intensely physical and psychological performance as Hutch scurries to find his kidnapped partner. Soul returns the favour with "Survival", in which Starsky desperately seeks his missing pal, trapped and slowly dying beneath a car wreck. All in all, a very good series, with (of course) Antonio Fargas still sharp as sidekick Huggy Bear. --Tom Keogh

• A Family At War | DVD | (12/01/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £59.99

  "Family Guy" revolves around the Griffin family and their madcap adventures.

• Alison Krauss: A Hundred Miles or More - Live From the Tracking Room | DVD | (10/11/2008) from £14.45   |  Saving you £1.54 (10.66%)   |  RRP £15.99

  You're Just a Country BoyAway Down the RiverHow's the World Treating YouSawing on the StringsShadowsWhiskey LullabyJacob's DreamLay Down Beside MeSimple Love

• Psycho Collection | DVD | (26/09/2011) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £29.99

  Psycho: The classic Hitchcock thriller involving a series of murders at a lonely motel where the deaths are attributed to the mother of the young owner. Psycho 2: Norman Bates is coming home after spending 22 years in a mental institution. He plans to renovate the old Bates Motel the place where his first murders occurred... Psycho 3: The Bates Motel is again the site of some nasty doings as the rehabilitated Norman who has installed a new ice machine att

• The Killing Fields | DVD | (06/02/2006) from £14.69   |  Saving you £5.30 (36.08%)   |  RRP £19.99

  When the Khmer Rouge captured the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh in 1975 many thought the killing would end. Instead it started a long nightmare in which three million Cambodians would lose their lives in the killing fields... 'The Killing Fields' is an epic true story of friendship and survival produced by David Puttnam (Chariots of Fire) and directed by Roland Joffe (The Mission). Sam Waterston plays Sydney Schanberg whose war coverage entraps him and other journalists in Cambodia'

• War Wagon (John Wayne) | DVD | (05/06/2006) from £7.63   |  Saving you £2.36 (30.93%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Rancher Taw Jackson (Wayne) is dead-set on capturing an ironclad stagecoach belonging to the cattle baron who stole his fortune and tarnished his good name years before. To pull off the heist Jackson puts together a crew that includes an old character a half-civilized Indian a young drunk and a cocky gunfighter...

• Gentle Trap/Hangman Waits | DVD | (26/09/2011) from £19.99   |  Saving you £-5.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Titles Comprise:The Hangmen Waits: This 1947 semi-documentary style featurette shot around the news of the world press, is a story of grisly murders by a cinema organist. A fascinating film produced by Five Star Films using the mediums of the Press and the cinema. Good historic scenes of the News of the World Printing Plant and Victoria Station.The Gentle Trap: A 1960 Butchers production about safe cracker Johnny Ryan (Spencer Teakle) who after robbing a jewellers, is himself robbed by a rival gang headed by Ricky Barnes(Martin Benson). Barnes has also pinched Ryan's girlfriend and she in turn has set Ryan up. However, Ricky's dumb henchmen miss the diamonds on Ryan. With this 60,000 booty, he acquires some refuge at a nightclub in the company of two sisters; the kindly Jean (Felicity Young) and deceitful Mary (Dorinda Stevens).

• Kinsey | DVD | (11/07/2005) from £2.86   |  Saving you £18.39 (1,149.38%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Liam Neeson stars as American sociologist and sexual pioneer Alfred Kinsey in this biopic.

• Frasier - the Complete 4th Season | DVD | (18/07/2005) from £8.99   |  Saving you £26.00 (289.21%)   |  RRP £34.99

  Frasier's fourth season was mostly about relationships. Niles (David Hyde Pierce), now separated from Maris, is back on the market like his bachelor brother, Frasier (Kelsey Grammer). That's great when the pair goes to a cabin with a pair of fetching women (Megan Mullaly, later of Will and Grace, and Lisa Darr), but Niles is never able to completely dispel his attachment to his suffocating wife... or to Daphne (Jane Leeves). His obsession with the latter gets an immediate burst in the season's first episode, in which he has to masquerade as Daphne's husband, then later comes to a head when she appears at his apartment door asking to stay the night. The boys have the usual disputes with their father (John Mahoney), including their disdain for the former cop's new girlfriend, Sherry (Marsha Mason), the boisterous, banjo-twangin', "gotcha"-playing bartender who would remain a regular cast member through the end of the series. Ex-wife Lilith (Bebe Neuwirth) makes her annual appearance, this time when she and Frasier try to get Frederick into an exclusive prep school. And the title character? As much as Frasier teases his producer Roz (Peri Gilpin) about her dating habits, he himself is lonely, leading him to a memorable airport encounter with guest star Linda Hamilton and a season finale that proves a kind of a harbinger to the series' final episode. This season made Frasier a perfect four-for-four at the Emmys, winning its fourth consecutive award for Outstanding Comedy Series. Unlike previous seasons, this DVD set has no bonus features. --David Horiuchi Synopsis A pompous psychiatrist has a radio advice show; his curmudgeonly father lives with him and his equally pompous psychiatrist brother visits often.

• Doctor Who - Spearhead From Space | DVD | (29/01/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Spearhead from Space" launched Doctor Who into the 1970s with not only a new Doctor, Jon Pertwee, but a new assistant, the scientist Liz Shaw (Caroline John) and a regular place in the show for UNIT and Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart (Nicholas Courtney). It also marked the debut of the programme in colour and saw the Doctor stranded on Earth after Patrick Troughton's last adventure, "The War Games" (1969). Not only that, but it proved the only serial in the show's history to be entirely shot both on film and location, giving it a uniquely cinematic feel. Regenerating in a country hospital, the Doctor finds himself helping the Brigadier investigate an unusual meteorite and its links with a sinister doll factory. The Autons are cybernetic killers--anticipating The Terminator by some 15 years--and the sequence in which they break through high-street shop windows to slaughter pedestrians remains a chilling highpoint of Doctor Who's entire history. Things do turn silly with a subplot involving a waxworks museum, while the ultimate battle with the Nestine consciousness is more likely to induce laughter than fear, but as vintage television nostalgia this is fast-moving splendidly characterised entertainment. --Gary S. DalkinOn the DVD: The remastered picture and sound are exceptional for a 1970 TV show. Obviously in 4:3 and mono, this DVD offers technical quality easily as good as many feature films. There is a very friendly, if not especially informative, commentary from Nicholas Courtney and Caroline John, and subtitles that offer background facts and figures. With an amusing five-minute recruiting film for UNIT, repeat trailers and a gallery including previously unpublished photos, this excellent DVD is a Doctor Who fan's dream come true. --Gary S. Dalkin

• Who Was That Lady? | DVD | (18/09/2006) from £3.00   |  Saving you £9.99 (76.90%)   |  RRP £12.99

  A wayward chemistry professor (Curtis) and his friend (Martin) imitate spies in a desperate attempt to justify a kiss between Curtis and one of his students to his jealous wife JANET Janet Leigh. The situation becomes chaotic once the pair are mistaken for genuine FBI agents by real Russian spies!

• A Touch of Frost: Series 2 | DVD | (01/06/2009) from £11.39   |  Saving you £13.60 (119.40%)   |  RRP £24.99

  The second series of investigations featuring the gruff detective. Episodes comprise: 'A Minority Of One' 'Widows And Orphans' 'Nothing To Hide' and 'Stranger In The House'.

• Minutes Past Midnight | DVD | (11/09/2017) from £5.89   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  As midnight falls, all manner of terror invades the Earth. Demons, cannibals, killers, ghosts and monsters swarm the world in these tales of the supernatural, the fantastic, and the just plain horrific. Featuring nine stories of horror.

• Tosh | Blu Ray | (20/06/2022) from £15.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  This is the definitive portrait of John Toshack. Welsh, Liverpool and Swansea legend, and one of football's most inspirational figures. Relive the unbelievable story of a man who, after leaving European champions Liverpool in 1978, took on struggling Swansea City and guided them on a miraculous journey from fourth, to first division, in just four years. Discover how this passionate player and manager galvanised a side, and a city, ultimately leading him to a hugely successful managerial career across Europe and latterly with the Welsh national team.A must-see documentary for any football fan, Tosh features exclusive interviews from Toshack himself, and players including Alan Curtis, Wyndham Evans, Nigel Stevenson, David Giles, Ian Callaghan, Leighton James, Danny Bartley, Neil Robinson, Dzemal Hadziabdic, and close relatives of club heroes Robbie James and John Charles. Providing emotional insights from the perspective of Swansea and Liverpool fans alike are club secretary Carol Fowler, writers Dave Brayley, John Burgum and Darren Chetty, photographer Martin Johnson, rugby legend Sir Gareth Edwards, and comedian John Bishop.Product FeaturesFeature TrailerTosh v Shankly - 5 minsSwansea in the Mid 70s - 6 minsTosh Arrives (with Michael Sheen) - 7 minsThe Yugoslavs - 11 minsDave Brayley's Swansea Tour - 8 minsPreston - 3 minsLiverpool Away... and Home - 8 minsThe Liverpool Job - 8 mins

• Perfect Storm / Three Kings / Deep Blue Sea | DVD | (29/09/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £22.99

  Perfect Storm: George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg lead a talented cast in this harrowing special-effects adventure that intercuts the plight of seafarers struggling to reach safe harbor with the heroics of air/sea rescue crews. Directed by Wolfgang Petersen The Perfect Storm tosses excitement your way in waves. Three Kings: The Gulf War is over. Operation Desert Storm is no more. Now three American soldiers have the opportunity of a lifetime; to become Three Kings. Amid the partying and confusion three soldiers disappear into the Iraqi desert to find millions in stolen Kuwaiti bullion and are plunged into the heart of a democratic uprising that spins the day - and their lives - out of control. Deep Blue Sea: Researchers on the undersea laboratory Aquatica have genetically altered the brains of captive sharks to develop a potential cure for Alzheimer's disease. There is one unexpected side effect. The sharks are getting smarter. Which could mean trouble for the researchers. And lunch for the sharks.

• Farewell My Lovely | DVD | (10/04/2000) from £26.89   |  Saving you £-19.90 (N/A%)   |  RRP £6.99

  Of all the Philip Marlowes, Robert Mitchum's in Farewell, My Lovely resonates most deeply. That's because this is Marlowe past his prime, and Mitchum imbues Raymond Chandler's legendary private detective with a sense of maturity as well as a melancholy spirit. And yet there is plenty of Mitchum's renowned self-deprecating humour and charismatic charm to remind us of his own iconic presence. As in the previous 1944 film version, Murder, My Sweet, Marlowe searches all over L.A. for the elusive girlfriend of ex-con Moose Malloy, a loveable giant who might as well be King Kong. In typical Chandler fashion, the weary Marlowe uncovers a hotbed of lust, corruption and betrayal. Like Malloy, he's disillusioned by it all, despite his tough exterior, and possesses a tinge of sentimentality for the good old days. About the only current dream he can hold onto is Joe DiMaggio and his fabulous hitting streak. Made in 1975, a year after Chinatown (shot by the same cinematographer, John Alonzo), Farewell, My Lovely is more straightforward and nostalgic, but still possesses a requisite hard-boiled edge, and the best kind of angst the 1970s had to offer. (By the way, you will notice Sylvester Stallone in a rather violent cameo, a year before his Rocky breakthrough.) --Bill Desowitz, Amazon.com

• Midsomer Murders - Four Funerals and a Wedding | DVD | (05/02/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £16.99

  At the Skimmington Fayre openly misogynistic Reverend Anthony Gant is shot dead not long after his cousin Mildred Danvers has passed away in the night. Barnaby is not convinced that Mildred died from natural causes. With the long standing battle of the sexes coming to a head at the Skimmington Fayre it is impossible to fathom who has not got a motive for murder. It takes a photograph and a cognitive leap for Barnaby to solve this mystery.

• The Muppets Six Pack DVD UK Boxset | DVD | (25/02/2013) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £39.99

  Disney's THE MUPPETS Complete 6 Movie Collection : The Muppets (2012) ; The Muppet Movie ; The Great Muppet Caper ; The Muppet Christmas Carol ; Muppet Treasure Island ; The Muppets Wizard of Oz. All in Fantastic Boxset (Individual Slimline cases) - Limited Release in UK (Region 2) in English.

• Return to the Hiding Place | DVD | (29/08/2016) from £11.04   |  Saving you £4.95 (44.84%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Realising that the rising Nazi empire will swallow Holland and create the holocaust of every innocent Jew, Corrie ten Boom faces this deadly threat with a surprising remedy: an army comprised of untrained teenagers. Because Hans Poley chooses not to join the Nazi party, he is forced into hiding in the home of Corrie ten Boom. He witnesses the atrocities toward the suffering Jews and decides he must do something. Hans is drawn by resistance fighter, Piet Hartog, and the love of Piet's life - Aty van Woerden (Corrie ten Boom's niece) into an intricate web of espionage and clandestine activities centered in the famous Hiding Place. Hans, Piet, and their friends navigate a deadly labyrinth of challenges to rescue the Jewish people while embarking on an action-packed hunt with the underground, involving Gestapo hijacks, daring rescues, and stunning miracles. The film climaxes in the true, breath-taking rescue of an entire orphanage of Jewish children marked for mass execution by Hitler's assassins. Extras: Behind the Scenes Deleted Scenes Theatrical Trailer