"Actor: John S"

• Full Metal Jacket | DVD | (01/06/2006) from £9.99   |  Saving you £4.00 (40.04%)   |  RRP £13.99

  One of a series of revisionist Vietnam cinema released in the late 1980s, Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket is essentially split into two stories linked by a number of characters. The film follows new recruit Joker (Matthew Modine) and his fellow soldiers through their basic training and into combat in Vietnam. The first half is a chilling portrayal of military brutality and de-humanisation, mainly at the hands of Sgt Hartman (played at a level of staggering intensity by ex-Marine Lee Ermey), that centres around the tragic character of Private Pyle, a young man pushed to the edge of his endurance. The tone of the film is no less harsh when transported to the combat zone as we see the results of the training process in action: the young men turned into unquestioning killing machines. Joker is perhaps the one exception, a soldier with "Born to Kill" written on his helmet who also sports a peace sign on his lapel. But the film finds itself caught in the trap of many of the war movies of the time--how to create audience empathy with characters who are essentially in the wrong. It's a dilemma that Full Metal Jacket never really solves, although as a spectacle the film is a masterpiece. Made in the days before CGI became the norm, the battle sequences--filmed, rather bizarrely, in London's Docklands before its redevelopment--are hugely realistic and are perhaps the key moments of the movie, heightening the disorientation and fear felt by the soldiers. By offering no more than a snapshot of the Vietnam conflict (the action deals with one individual skirmish), Kubrick cleverly leaves any judgement on the war to the audience, although clearly attempting to influence them. The fate of the characters who survive is also left in the balance, but we can perhaps imagine what awaits them. On the DVD: Part of a series of Kubrick DVD reissues, Full Metal Jacket has been treated to the full remastering and restoration treatment. The battle sequences have benefited the most, gaining a new audio and visual crispness and clarity that adds to their already impressive sense of realism--you can almost feel the heat searing from the screen and the explosions detonating around you. Maybe not the best war film ever made, as some may claim, but certainly one to take you right to the heart of the action. --Phil Udell

• Hatari | DVD | (06/06/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  One man heads a highly skilled professional group of game hunters in Africa. Only they don't use bullets - they capture the ferocious big game with strong rope and cameras for zoos and circus attractions. It is an exciting business that pits man against beast. ""Hatari"" means danger in Swahili.

• The Jim Jarmusch Collection | Blu Ray | (06/10/2014) from £99.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  A Blu-Ray Boxset of Jim Jarmusch’s first six films: Permanent Vacation Stranger Than Paradise Down By Law Mystery Train Night on Earth and Dead Man.

• Northern Exposure - Season 2 | DVD | (09/05/2005) from £14.98   |  Saving you £10.01 (66.82%)   |  RRP £24.99

  The second series of quirky comedy drama from Northern Exposure in which naive New York doctor Joel Fleishmann (Rob Morrow) finds himself posted to the tiny Alaskan logging town of Cicely! Episodes comprise: 1. Goodbye To All That 2. The Big Kiss 3. All Is Vanity 4. What I Did For Love 5. Spring Break 6. War And Peace 7. Slow Dance

• Gigantic | DVD | (28/09/2009) from £8.23   |  Saving you £6.76 (82.14%)   |  RRP £14.99

  "Gigantic" is a funny, surreal love story about the anxiety that comes along when two people with crazy families collide unexpectedly and fall for each other.

• Ice Cold In Alex | Blu Ray | (13/06/2011) from £59.99   |  Saving you £-40.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The title Ice Cold in Alex refers to the beer the heroes of this 1958 British World War Two classic plan to drink in Alexandria, once they have escaped from the Germans, negotiated minefields and survived both mechanical failure and the killing heat of the North African sands. The setting is Libya in 1942, at the height of the campaigns featured in The Desert Fox (1951) and The Desert Rats (1953), and a disparate group in a military ambulance--which include a Nazi agent to add tension of one kind and a beautiful nurse to add tension of another--must make an epic journey to safety. Staring John Mills, Sylvia Sims, Anthony Quayle and Harry Andrews the terror and poignancy comes from our certainty that not everyone will survive, such that the suspense sometimes reaches near unbearable levels. Director J Lee-Thomson was clearly inspired by the then recent French masterpiece, The Wages of Fear (1952) and handles both the character drama and set-pieces with great skill. He would go on to make another great war adventure, The Guns of Navarone (1961), also starring Anthony Quayle, who then returned to the desert for the ultimate British war classic, Lawrence of Arabia (1962). --Gary S. Dalkin

• Beyond | DVD | (12/01/2015) from £2.74   |  Saving you £13.25 (483.58%)   |  RRP £15.99

  For a brief moment in history, the world stood still. All eyes and minds focused on the skies and the colossal, unidentified object that was discovered on a collision course with Earth. Now, shrouded in mystery, the vast alien spacecraft looms ominously in sight above Northern Europe bringing with it an uncertain future. Amidst the chaos of the ensuing global catastrophe one young couple, searching for their infant daughter, their lost relationship and the hope of salvation embark on a perilous journey across a beautiful but treacherous landscape. They are driven on by hope, confronting their own demons while forced to survive in a world that stands on the brink of collapse. Survival is a choice

• TT : Closer to the Edge | DVD | (28/11/2011) from £5.99   |  Saving you £14.00 (70.00%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The Isle of Man Tourist Trophy is the greatest motorcycle road race in the world, the ultimate challenge for rider and machine. It has always called for a commitment far beyond any other racing event, and many have made the ultimate sacrifice in their quest for victory. TT: Closer To The Edge is a story about freedom of choice, the strength of human spirit and the will to win. It's also an examination of what motivates those rare few, this elite band of brothers who risk everything to win. TT: Closer To The Edge is one of the most thrilling films of the year.

• Dial M for Murder | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £7.99

  Classic Hitchcock movie starring Grace Kelly & Ray Milland. Ex-tennis pro Tony Wendice decides to murder his wife for her money and because she had an affair the year before. He blackmails an old college associate to strangle her, but when things go wrong he sees a way to turn events to his advantage.

• Friday After Next | DVD | (22/09/2003) from £6.99   |  Saving you £13.00 (185.98%)   |  RRP £19.99

  It is Christmas Eve for most of the Christian world but when Craig (Ice Cube) and Day-Day (Mike Epps) are rudely awaken by a burglar in a Santa suit it is definitely another FRIDAY in the ghetto. The phony Santa gets away with all the cousins' Christmas gifts and their overdue rent money after assaulting Craig with a paltry Christmas tree. Cops are called in and do little more than confiscate Craig and Day-Day's pot stash. Though the cousins may be used to such adversity in the 'hood they have never before had to think about getting real jobs in order to pay the bills. This third installment in the hip-hop stoner series follows L.A.'s lovable losers through their first day as rent-a-cops at a South Central strip mall.

• The Librarians - The Complete First Season 1 | DVD | (08/02/2016) from £22.19   |  Saving you £2.80 (12.62%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Librarians Season One Flynn Carsen (Noah Wyle) may appear to be an ordinary librarian working at the world-famous Metropolitan Library, but beneath the public library lies the centuries-old headquarters of scholars and adventurers who investigate the bizarre, collect dangerous artifacts and save the world from supernatural threats. This is THE LIBRARY, and Flynn is THE LIBRARIAN. When an ancient conspiracy threatens to destroy technology and bring back the age of magic, Flynn and his new Guardian, Eve Baird, must recruit three extraordinary people --a secretive scholar/cowboy who works on an oil pipeline, a hospital attendant who has the extraordinary gift of synesthesia the ability to link all five senses to her memory, and a world-class thief to join in the quest. If these new recruits fail, the world will be plunged into a new Dark Age. But if they succeed (and survive), they will become the new LIBRARIANS. Episodes And the Crown of King Arthur And the Sword in the Stone And the Horns of a Dilemma And Santa's Midnight Run And the Apple of Discord And the Fables of Doom And the Rule of Three And the Heart of Darkness And the City of Light And the Loom of Fate

• King Solomon's Mines | DVD | (02/02/2004) from £19.93   |  Saving you £-3.95 (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  King Solomon's Mines had been filmed several times before, but this 1985 adaptation of H Rider Haggard's novel is far and away the most absurdly tongue-in-cheek. Making no disguise of riding Indiana Jones's coattails, the adventure starts fast and grows ever wilder. Richard Chamberlain wears Allan Quatermain's fedora and expression of grim determination. Supposedly concerned with the novel's quest for lost gold, the movie is really an excuse to string together numerous sight gags and low-budget attempts to upstage Raiders of the Lost Ark (hardly surprisingly, it fails). Pursued by a wax-moustachioed and Wagner-obsessed Herbert Lom, Quatermain and a dizzily blonde Sharon Stone escape an avalanche and crocodiles before being boiled in a cauldron with plastic vegetables at the Village of the Upside Down People. Nothing lingers in the memory, though, than the sight of Chamberlain skiing behind a locomotive. Cheap and rudely plagiaristic it may be, but Indy never got to be as (un)intentionally hilarious. On the DVD: King Solomon's Mines has come up exceptionally well on disc in this widescreen print. Sound is in Dolby 2.0 and is a faithful representation of the effort put into the film's sound design. The only extra is the original trailer. --Paul Tonks

• National Lampoon's Animal House | DVD | (26/01/2004) from £4.94   |  Saving you £11.05 (223.68%)   |  RRP £15.99

  A groundbreaking screwball caper, 1978's National Lampoon's Animal House was in its own way a rite of passage for Hollywood. Set in 1962 at Faber College, it follows the riotous carryings-on of the Delta Fraternity, into which are initiated freshmen Tom Hulce and Stephen Furst. Among the established house members are Tim Matheson, Peter Riegert and the late John Belushi as Bluto, a belching, lecherous, Jack Daniels guzzling maniac. A debauched house of pranksters (culminating in the famous Deathmobile sequence), Delta stands as a fun alternative to the more strait-laced, crew-cut, unpleasantly repressive norm personified by Omega House. As cowriter the late Doug Kenney puts it, "better to be an animal than a vegetable". Animal House is deliberately set in the pre-JFK assassination, pre-Vietnam era, something not made much of here, but which would have been implicitly understood by its American audience. The film was an enormous success, a rude, liberating catharsis for the latter-day frathousers who watched it. However, decades on, a lot of the humour seems broad, predictable, boorish, oafishly sexist and less witty than Airplane!, made two years later in the same anarchic spirit. Indeed, although it launched the Hollywood careers of several of its players and makers, including Kevin Bacon, director John Landis, Harold Ramis and Tom Hulce, who went on to do fine things, it might well have been inadvertently responsible for the infantilisation of much subsequent Hollywood comedy. Still, there's an undeniable energy that gusts throughout the film and Belushi, whether eating garbage or trying to reinvoke the spirit of America "After the Germans bombed Pearl Harbour" is a joy. On the DVD: Animal House comes to disc in a good transfer, presented in 1.85:1. The main extra is a featurette in which director John Landis, writer Chris Miller and some of the actors talk about the making of the movie. Interestingly, 23 years on, most of those interviewed look better than they did back in 1978, especially Stephen "Flounder" Furst. --David Stubbs

• Perry Mason: Season 1 | Blu Ray | (07/12/2020) from £14.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  The world's most renowned fictional lawyer is back on the case in this exciting HBO series that tells the origin story of master criminal defence attorney Perry Mason. Set in 1932 Los Angeles, this edgy, noirish update puts a new spin on the iconic character created by Erle Stanley Gardner and made famous by the classic TV show that ran from 1957 to 1966. The series begins with Mason (Matthew Rhys) living paycheck to paycheck as a low-rent private investigator who's haunted by his wartime experiences and managing the fallout of a broken marriage. During eight twisty, cliff-hanger episodes, Mason is determined to do what's righteven when it's not necessarily legalas he digs into a controversial and politically loaded case, exposing a fractured city and a possible police coverup. The stellar cast includes John Lithgow, Tatiana Maslany, Juliet Rylance, Chris Chalk and Shea Whigham.

• Lock Up | Blu Ray | (23/08/2010) from £12.50   |  Saving you £7.49 (59.92%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The 1980s was the make-and-break decade for Sylvester Stallone's career, and Lock Up typifies the direction he took in his post-Rocky and Rambo days. It's a concept movie in the same mould as Rambo III just before it, and Tango & Cash just after. The hero (Frank Leone) is put in jeopardy (Gateway Prison), establishes a nemesis to defeat (in the shape of Donald Sutherland as Warden Drumgoole), makes a few friendships that can be sacrificed along the way (Tom Sizemore as Dallas) and does what he does in the name of love (Darlanne Flugel as Melissa). The revenge-twisted warden puts him through hell over a shared back-story. The torture ranges from being made to hold his breath in a delousing chamber to sanity-stretching periods in "The Hole". It's all about how far a man can be pushed. But being a Stallone vehicle, it's not all depressing. Composer Bill Conti reunites with the star to put the same sort of heroic fuel behind a prison-yard football game as he did for Rocky. A couple of feel-good songs pep up the love story and a montage of camaraderie in rebuilding a broken-down car. There's a healthy sense of realism achieved by having Sly doing all his own stunts and the use of a real-life prison. If the elements lead to a by-the-numbers conclusion (it's no Shawshank Redemption), remember this was some years before the actor wanted to get serious. On the DVD: A surprising amount of footage has been assembled in the two behind-the-scenes featurettes: we see Stallone directing his own fight scenes, and how use of New Jersey's Rahway Prison came with 2,500 real inmates to keep under control. Sound bite interviews reveal Stallone's worldly philosophies, then a trailer and gallery of 17 photos round out a decent overall package. --Paul Tonks

• The Plague Dogs | Blu Ray | (10/08/2020) from £12.15   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Animated adaptation of Richard Adams' novel about two dogs that are hunted down after they escape from an animal-research centre.

• Star Trek - 'Q' Box Set | DVD | (04/09/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £34.99

  All the best fan favourite episodes from Star Trek: The Next Generation featuring that mischievous member of the Q Continuum! Episodes comprise: 1. Encounter At Farpoint 2. Hide and Q 3. Q Who? 4. Deja Q 5. Qpid 6. True-Q 7. Q-Less 8. Tapestry 9. All Good Things 10. Death Wish 11. The Q And The Grey 12. Q2

• Toy Story 3 (2 Disc Blu-ray) | Blu Ray | (22/11/2010) from £5.98   |  Saving you £3.00 (75.19%)   |  RRP £6.99

  The creative minds behind Disney/Pixar's groundbreaking animated blockbusters invite you back inside the toy box for a heartwarming and hilarious movie experience you'll never forget. In Toy Story 3, Woody (voiced by Tom Hanks), Buzz Lightyear (voiced by Tim Allen) and the rest of the Toy Story gang return for an all-new adventure, along with a few new faces - some plastic, some plush - including Barbie's counterpart Ken (voiced by Michael Keaton), a thespian hedgehog named Mr. Pricklepants (voiced by Timothy Dalton) and a strawberry-scented bear named Lots-O'-Huggin' Bear (voiced by Ned Beatty). As Andy prepares to depart for college, Woody, Buzz, Jessie and the rest of Andy's faithful toys wonder what will become of them. But, when a mix-up lands them at Sunnyside Daycare, they meet a host of new toys and soon discover a wild new adventure is just beginning. Buzzing with hours of bonus features, including the Pixar short film Day & Night, Toy Story 3 goes to infinity and beyond!

• Danger Man - Vol. 1 - Episodes 1,2,3 And 4 | DVD | (10/07/2000) from £20.00   |  Saving you £-10.01 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  In 1960, television-executive Lew Grade's ITC company inaugurated a tradition of escapist adventure/mystery shows with Danger Man, a pocket-sized take on the spy stuff strutted in fiction by Ian Fleming's as-yet-unfilmed James Bond books. The versatile Patrick McGoohan took the lead role of John Drake, a daring spy for the NATO powers. This first, half-hour incarnation of the show (that would be known in the US as Secret Agent) concentrated on tight little plots executed at a rapid pace. McGoohan proved as adept in the numerous fight scenes and he was at spitting out the hardboiled dialogue which counterpointed Edwin Astley's memorable music. Although Drake is a deliberately colourless leading man, the format of the show allowed McGoohan to go undercover each week as a different, often strange character. Later, the series came back as an hour-long programme that segued wildly into McGoohan's masterpiece, The Prisoner. Volume One includes the following episodes: "View from the Villa" (with Barbara Shelley); "Time to Kill" (with Derren Nesbitt); "Josetta"; and "The Blue Veil" (with Ferdy Mayne). --Kim Newman

• Al Pacino | DVD | (05/06/2006) from £31.98   |  Saving you £-6.99 (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  A box set of Al Pacino films from Universal featuring: Scarface Carlito's Way Sea of Love and Scent of a Woman. Scarface (Dir. Brian De Palma 1983): In the spring of 1980 the port at Mariel Harbour was opened and thousands set sail for the United States. They came in search of the American Dream. One of them found it on the sun-washed avenues of Miami... wealth power and passion beyond his wildest dreams. He was Tony Montana. The world will remember him by another name - Scarface! Al Pacino gives an unforgettable performance as Tony Montana one of the most ruthless gangsters ever depicted on film in this gripping crime epic inspired by the 1932 classic of the same title. Carlito's Way (Dir. Brian De Palma 1993): Al Pacino is an ex-druglord fighting to escape his violent treacherous past in his crime-action tour de force from acclaimed director Brian DePalma. Sprung from prison on a legal technicality by his cocaine-addled attorney (Sean Penn) former drug kingpin Carlito Brigante (Pacino) stuns the local underworld when he vows to go straight. Taking a job managing a glitzy low-life nightclub he tracks down his onetime girlfriend (Penelope Ann Miller) and rekindles their romance promising he's changed for good. But Carlito's dream of going legitimate is undermined at every turn by murderous former cronies and even deadlier young thugs out to make a name for themselves. Ultimately however his most dangerous enemy is himself. Despite good intentions Carlito's misguided loyalties and an outmoded code of ""honour"" will plunge him into a savage life-or-death battle against the relentless forces that refuse to let him go. Sea of Love (Dir. Harold Becker 1989): Two detectives one from New York the other from Long Island join forces to track down a bizarre serial killer. Convinced of a beautiful suspect's innocence the New York detective starts an affair with her despite hard evidence linking her to the murders. Scent of a Woman (Dir. Martin Brest 1992):Al Pacino won his first Best Actor Oscar for his brilliant portrayal of an overbearing blind retired Lieutenant Colonel who hires a young guardian (Chris O'Donnell) to assist him. It's a heart-wrenching and heartwarming tale of opposites attracting when they embark on a wild weekend trip that will change the lives of both men forever.