"Actor: John James"

• Die Hard (Two Disc Special Edition) | DVD | (04/02/2002) from £10.95   |  Saving you £12.04 (109.95%)   |  RRP £22.99

  This seminal 1988 thriller made Bruce Willis a star and established a new template for action stories: "Terrorists take over a (blank) and a lone hero, unknown to the villains, is trapped with them." In Die Hard, those bad guys, led by the velvet-voiced Alan Rickman, assume control of a Los Angeles high-rise with Willis's visiting New York cop inside. The attraction of the film has as much to do with the sight of a barefoot mortal running around the guts of a modern office tower as it has to do with the plentiful fight sequences and the bond the hero establishes with an LA beat cop. Bonnie Bedelia plays Willis's wife, Hart Bochner is good as a brash hostage who tries negotiating his way to freedom, Alexander Godunov makes for a believable killer with lethal feet and William Atherton is slimy as a busybody reporter. Exceptionally well-directed by John McTiernan. --Tom Keogh

• John Wayne Most Wanted - Texas Terror / The Dawn Rider / The Trail Beyond | DVD | (17/11/2003) from £4.99   |  Saving you £8.00 (160.32%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Born Marion Michael Morrison in 1907 John Wayne would become one of the greatest and most enduring screen legends in the history of cinema. It was in these early westerns that he developed his famous screen image. And when director John Ford spotted this emerging talent and cast him as the Ringo Kid Stagecoach the Duke's future was sealed... Texas Terror: A sheriff strives to keep his town trouble free. The Dawn Rider: A man sets out to avenge his father's death

• Bloodsport 3 | DVD | (10/02/2000) from £17.99   |  Saving you £-2.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Bloodsport III brigs us back to the world of Alex Cardo (Daniel Bernhardt). As dynamic as ever Alex is again thrust against his will into the dark and dangerous world of the Kumite. The Kumite is the ultimate contest where a fight to the death is commonplace. This time Alex must fight against the vicious warrior known as The Kumite Beast. Not only must he battle for his own honour but also to avenge the death of his mentor teacher and spiritual father Sun (James Hong) who has fallen victim to the evil crime boss and controller of The Beast Duvalier.

• Cool Runnings / My Favourite Martian / Snow Dogs | DVD | (04/10/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Cool Runnings (Dir. Jon Turteltaub 1993): You'll love Cool Runnings - the outrageously funny comedy hits inspired by the true story of Jamaica's first Olympic bobsled team. They were four unlikely athletes with one impossible dream. Now with the help of ex-champion as their coach (John Candy - Uncle Buck) four Jamaicans leave their sunny island home and enter the chilly winter Olympics to compete for the gold in a sport they know nothing about - bobsled racing! My Favourite Martian (Dir. Donald Petrie 1999): In the Disney tradition of fun family comedies comes the hilarious live-action film My Favourite Martian - an out-of-this-world comedy about friendship loyalty and aliens. When a harmless Martian (Christopher Lloyd Back to the Future) crashes onto earth and into the life of struggling TV reporter Tim (Jeff Daniels) he must use all his magical powers to keep his identity a secret and quickly find a way back to Mars. Tim initially wants to expose the friendly Martian whom he names Uncle Martin and his crazy animated spacesuit Zoot. Ultimately Tim helps Uncle Martin but can he send him safely home before the world discovers their secret? Snow Dogs (Dir. Brian Levant 2002): Make no bones about it Disney's Snow Dogs is a hilarious action-packed comedy your whole family will love. Eight adorable but mischievous dogs get the best of dog hater Ted Brooks (Cuba Gooding Jr.) when he leaves his successful Miami Beach dental practice for the wilds of Alaska to claim his inheritance- seven Siberian huskies and a border collie- and discover his roots. As Ted's life goes to the dogs he rises to the occasion and vows to learn to mush with his inheritance. Totally out of his element he faces challenges he's never dreamed of. There's a blizzard thin ice an intimidating crusty old mountain man named Thunder Jack (James Coburn) the Artic Challenge Sled Dog Race that's only two weeks away and a life-and-death rescue. This fish-out-of-water tail-wagging comedy is nothing but doggone good fun and a celebration of family - both human and canine!

• The Plague Dogs | DVD | (28/08/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £3.99

• Roman Polanski | DVD | (13/03/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £23.99

  A collection of films from controversial Oscar-winning director Roman Polanski. The Pianist (2002): Roman Polanski's remarkable Oscar and Palme D'Or winning film 'The Pianist' tells the true story of Wladyslaw Szpilman (Adrien Brody). Managing to survive in the Krakow ghetto while the vast majority of the Jewish population have been transported to concentration camps Szpilman leads a lonely dangerous existence sheltering in abandoned houses... Directed by a film artist who

• Showdown | DVD | (22/05/2000) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £7.99

  Ken Marks (Kenn Scott) finds a dangerous enemy on his first day at his new school - an enemy who makes his living as the champion of an illegal fighting operation. School caretaker and ex-cop Billy Grant (Billy Blanks) takes on the task of training Ken to defend himself - but what Billy doesn't know is that the man behind it all is the one man from his past who wants him dead. The action is fast and the kickboxing is furious!

• The Sweeney - Vol. 2 - Car Chases | DVD | (06/10/2000) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  If you were watching TV in the mid-1970s chances are The Sweeney was one of the weekly highlights and these re-mastered collections will have you pining for a time when the only choice was brown or beige, and a monkey would buy you a lot more than a nice whistle. If, however, these episodes are your first taste of Detective Inspector Jack Regan (John Thaw) and Detective Sergeant George Carter (Dennis Waterman) of the Flying Squad, be warned that you will soon be telling friends to "Shut it!" and scouring the pages of Exchange and Mart for a mint-condition Ford Granada in "Tawny Metallic". (Ironically the choice ride for slags in the show was the Jaguar MK2 later to become so closely associated with Thaw's more cerebral take on police work, Inspector Morse.) First aired as 1974's pilot Regan, the show was produced by Thames Television subsidiary Euston Films and ran over four series and 53 episodes. Despite being given strict guidelines on speaking parts, locations and structure, writers were expected to produce scripts very quickly and individual episodes were filmed within 10 working days. Based on this frenetic schedule, the result was a choice parade of slags, blags and assorted lowlife, played out across fantastic London locations with a gritty humour that set the agenda for many of the small-screen cop shows to follow. Regan and Carter manage to fit up a few collars between pints, and even occasionally shed their nylon shirts and flares for a distinctly unromantic interlude between the sheets--brown of course. In "Stoppo Driver", when a gang of villains lose their own driver in a high-speed chase the logical replacement for their next blag is Cooney (Billy Murray), the squad's latest chauffeur who learnt everything he knew from Evel Knievel. Led by Barney ("a tough monkey, plenty of form") the thieves kidnap Cooney's bride on their honeymoon night and blackmail him to help them rob a bent card game. Colin Welland provides the hired muscle in the second episode, "Faces", as renegade ex-marine Tober, visiting the Smoke from Manchester to help a terrorist gang take down four quickfire scores to fund their operations. The Sweeney boys know a hard man when they see one ("he did Smoky Evans with a hatchet") and relish the opportunity for some fisticuffs between styrofoam cups of tea (like "liquid concrete"). Things get messy when a stuck-up intelligence officer tells them the final blag is being faked to rustle out his undercover grass and Regan is forced to stand down, despite having acted on their own pint-sized informant's tip-off: "but it was the dwarf"! --Steve Napleton

• Night Of The Living Dead / Revenge Of The Zombies | DVD | (29/04/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  This value-for-money Zombie Double Feature is billed as "Flesh Creepers, Volume 1", and offers a double billing of George A Romero’s classic Night of the Living Dead (1968) and Steve Sekely’s rather less fondly remembered Revenge of the Zombies (1943). Night of the Living Dead is a masterpiece, but it has also slipped through a copyright loophole which means it has been issued on video and DVD by a great many distributors in as many variant versions. This one isn’t ruined by colorisation or dodgy new footage as a couple of rival releases are, but it is soft-looking print, free of censor cuts but very washed-out-looking. The background notes inexcusably get the date of the film wrong, crassly tagging it "think Blair Witch 1964", and mention the existence of extras-filled special DVD editions, which rather rubs in the fact that this no-frills effort has none of the commentaries or documentaries found on other releases. Revenge of the Zombies is a sluggish hour-long wartime B-picture, with John Carradine underplaying for once as a Nazi scientist creating an army of zombies (ie: a handful of shuffling extras) in the Louisiana swamplands. Comedy relief Mantan Moreland has the best moments and the trudging-around-the-backlot zombies ("things walkin’ ain’t got no business to be walkin’") are fun, but it isn’t especially good of its kind. On the DVD: The Zombie Double Feature presents both films in "horrorscope", which means letterboxing and blurry image. The only extra is a list-like essay about the habits of flesh-eating zombies in Romero films.--Kim Newman

• Bolt (With Free Rhino Soft Toy) | DVD | (15/06/2009) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £18.99

  Ostensibly a funny animated film about a dog who thinks he has superpowers, Bolt is also a movie about friendship, perseverance, and the power of believing in oneself. Everyone knows that superheroes on television are not real, but TV star super dog Bolt (John Travolta) is a canine star who was carefully raised to believe that he really possesses superpowers. In true loyal canine style, Bolt is completely devoted to his human co-star Penny (Miley Cyrus). When Penny is captured by the evil Dr. Calico (Malcolm McDowell) in their latest television episode and Bolt gets accidentally let loose in the real world, he sets off on a journey to save her. Bolt is confounded when his super powers are suddenly ineffective, but inspiration strikes and Bolt quickly discovers the mysterious, power-stealing effects of Styrofoam packing peanuts. An encounter with alley cat Mittens (Susie Essman) gives Bolt some eye-opening lessons about being a real dog in the real world, while star-struck, ball-enclosed hamster Rhino (Mark Walton) revels in the opportunity to serve as Bolt's sidekick in the quest to rescue Penny. The trio traverses the United States from waffle house to waffle house on a hysterical quest to find Penny and prove that the relationship between Penny and Bolt is real. In the end, Bolt, Mittens, and Rhino learn that everyone is special in their own way and they discover the true power of believing in oneself and one's friends. Selected cinemas showed Bolt in 3-D, but the film is probably equally enjoyable in the traditional format. A fun film with a nice message and a huge dose of cute, Bolt is good entertainment for the entire family. --Tami Horiuchi

• Into the Woods UK Exclusive Limited Edition Steelbook | Blu Ray | (02/10/2015) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Robert Mitchum Collection - El Dorado/Track Of The Cat/Five Card Stud | DVD | (27/07/2009) from £21.58   |  Saving you £-5.59 (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Titles Comprise: El Dorado: Legendary producer-director Howard Hawks teams with two equally legendary stars John Wayne and Robert Mitchum in this classic Western drama. Mitchum plays to perfection an alchoholic but gutsy sheriff who relentlessly battles the dark side of the wild West ruthless cattle barons and crooked businessmen. The Duke gives an equally adept performance as the sheriff's old friend who knows his way around a gunfight. Filled with brawling action and humor El Dorado delivers the goods. James Caan and Ed Asner co-star. Track Of The Cat: A snowbound ranching family is threatened by both internal conflicts and a deadly cunning predator in this offbeat Western from John Wayne's Batjac production company. Robert Mitchum stars as Curt Bridges one of three sons born to stern matriarch Ma Bridges (Beulah Bondi) and her weak alcoholic husband (Philip Tonge). With the ranch's cattle falling prey to the elusive killer cat Bridges and his two brothers Arthur (William Hopper) and Harold (Tab Hunter) are forced to confront the beast to save the family's herd. Teresa Wright (Shadow of a Doubt) is their bitter unmarried sister and Diana Lynn (My Friend Irma) is the young neighbour who sets tensions - and passions - aflame amidst the family's mounting crisis. Five Card Stud: Van Morgan (Dean Martin) is an unwilling participant involved in the lynching of a card cheat. However soon the other players in that particular game are soon being killed off in mysterious circumstances...

• Gridlock'd | DVD | (06/11/2000) from £17.98   |  Saving you £3.00 (20.01%)   |  RRP £17.99

• The Last Samurai | DVD | (16/02/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  On the pretence of a business trip Japanese multi-millionaire Yasujiro Endo journeys to the African nation of Imtazi. In reality Endo is on a personal mission - a quest to find the truth about a Samurai ancestor who disappeared in Africa two centuries ago and perhaps the true spirit of the Samurai he feels lies deep within himself. Endo's search takes him on Safari deep into the wilds of Africa led by the mercenary Johhny Congo and his girlfriend Caro. As the journey continues so it

• John Wayne DVD Gift Set | DVD | (20/10/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Boxset contains: 'True Grit' 'The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance' 'El Dorado' & 'The Sons Of Katie Elder'.

• Trauma | DVD | (29/07/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Trauma was director Dario Argento's big crossover attempt at combining the Italian giallo genre with the American stalk 'n' slash. His fans may debate whether the result was a complete success, but the film certainly put his name in front of a wider international audience. Essentially the story is a psycho-murderer-mystery, with the audience made to piece together clues towards the identity-revealing denouement. The movie comes alive as a result of suitably intense performances, even while the characters die. Piper Laurie and Brad Dourif supply atypically explosive cameos. The leads are contrastingly subdued for the most part, no doubt because of their characters' involvement with drugs. Asia Argento (the director's daughter) is an anorexic who witnesses her parents' decapitations among a series of similar murders by the notorious "Headhunter". Christopher Rydell plays the ex-junkie who takes her in and helps track down the killer. Backing them up are some even greater performances from Tom Savini's eye-boggling special FX. With the aid of a motorised garrotte, the beheadings are gruesomely real, especially the one that leaves a head still able to talk. On the DVD: Trauma comes to disc in full 2.35:1 widescreen, though this isn't the clearest of transfers (plenty of artefacts present). The sound is in an unspecified Dolby mix. An interesting selection of extras almost makes up for the lack of a commentary. There are filmographies of Dario and Asia, a gallery of behind-the-scenes stills, and trailers for the movie Phantom of the Opera and several more in this series of releases. More interesting are the text features: interviews with Asia on her memories of the shoot and with renegade horror director Richard Stanley surreally recalling his long-term fandom of everything Argento. Most fascinating, there's a mini-essay on what was cut and why by the BBFC for the original UK video release. --Paul Tonks

• Jerry Bruckheimer Collection 2: Pearl Harbor / Crimson Tide / Con Air | DVD | (11/10/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  A trio of thrilling feature films from high-octane producer Jerry Bruckheimer including Pearl Harbor Crimson Tide and Con Air. Pearl Harbor features the life and times of a group of people who find themselves caught up in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and in the aftermath of the bombing America's involvement in the Second World War. Crimson Tide is a tense story set aboard an American nuclear submarine caught up in a global crisis. Con Air finds a recently paroled man on an aircraft with some of the most notorious criminals of all time during a hijacking.

• The Skulls I-III | DVD | (02/10/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The Skulls: For Luke McNamara (Joshua Jackson) an invitation to join the prestigious secret college organization The Skulls is a dream come true. Acceptance into the Skulls would ensure Luke a place at the table and guarantee him both the financial means and the connections to make it into law school. But after the suspicious suicide of his friend Will Luke is forced to confront the possibility that he was murdered for attempting to reveal the secrets of The Skulls and he embarks on a deadly game of cat and mouse. In trying to uncover the truth behind Will's death Luke comes to realize just how powerful The Skulls organization really is. And he learns that the truth like success comes at a very high price. (Dir. Rob Cohen 2000) The Skulls 2: After a college student is tapped to join the elite secret Skulls fraternity he witnesses a girl's death and his life starts to fall apart... (Dir. Joe Chappelle 2002) The Skulls 3: Clare Kramer stars as Taylor Brooks a sexy young undergraduate who is determined to become the first female member of the secret Skulls society. After she coerces the Council into including her in the initiation rites of the elite brotherhood Taylor soon finds herself engulfed in a sinister world of deception intimidation and murder... (Dir. J. Miles Dale 2003)

• Mutant X, Series 1 Vol. 2 | DVD | (26/12/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Mutant X takes the useful SF trope of the mutant minority persecuted by the state and adds potentially interesting spins on which it rarely delivers. After a couple of pilot episodes that pushed into OTT visual stylishness, the show has settled into mildly repetitive though watchable blandness: for the most part it avoids story arcs and a large cast of regulars in favour of plugging its characters into the stock plots of television SF, such as doubles, vengeance crusades and untrustworthy lovers. On the DVD: Mutant X Series 1, Volume 2 contains the following episodes: "The Meaning of Death". A plague that kills mutants forces Adam to work with Mason Eckhart and the invulnerable mercenary Marlowe in the knowledge that any cure he comes up with will lead to a double-cross. "Lit Fuse". Brennan is attracted to energy-absorbing Ashley, who is being set up for betrayal by bounty-hunter Cross. When she absorbs Brennan, things get really complicated. "In the Presence of Mine Enemies". Jesse's hacker girlfriend Toni is forced by Eckhart to betray Adam's hideout Sanctuary and the computerised journalist Proxy Blue. Can the tables be turned? "Crime of the New Century". Youthful mutant firestarter Joshua is kidnapped, rescued and then turned over to the GSA by a renegade FBI agent. "Dark Star Rising". The survivors of a commando team have been altered into mutancy by scientists and want vengeance for their dead squad members. Mutant X helps them stop Eckhart getting the secret serum. The DVDs also contain trailers, a feature on the elaborate stunts and interviews with stunt coordinator Paul Rapovski, show runner Howard Chaykin and Victor Webster (Brennan). --Roz Kaveney

• When The Boat Comes In - Series 2 - Part 1 | DVD | (09/02/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  James Bolam stars as the loveable rogue Jack Ford in this classic series set on Tyneside at the end of the first World War. This double DVD contains the first five stories from series two and sees Jack having to contend with trouble from within his union and family as well as with people in his past who are trying to catch up with him. Elected as District Secretary for the Fitter's union Jack makes his brother-in-law Matt his deputy...