"Actor: John Simpson"

• Days Of Thunder | DVD | (31/07/2000) from £3.05   |  Saving you £12.94 (424.26%)   |  RRP £15.99

  This loud and fast 1988 effort by director Tony Scott (Beverly Hills Cop 2, Top Gun) has much more style than substance but it does effectively depict the edgy and dangerous world of stock car racing. Tom Cruise plays yet another cocky loner trying to find success and happiness, this time as stock car racer Cole Trickle, a driver with raw talent but no discipline who is desperate for guidance and sponsorship. They both materialise in the visage of world-weary Robert Duvall, who despite his better instincts sees a second chance at victory in the young driver. Featuring supporting roles by Nicole Kidman, as Cruise's physician and love interest, and Randy Quaid, as a bombastic sponsor, and with a screenplay by Robert Towne (Chinatown), Days of Thunder is a slickly packaged entertainment best suited for die-hard Tom Cruise fans and those who want an intense visual experience. --Robert Lane

• The 39 Steps | DVD | (19/06/2007) from £4.45   |  Saving you £11.54 (259.33%)   |  RRP £15.99

  A high point of Hitchcock's pre-Hollywood career, 1935's The Thirty-Nine Steps is the first and best of three film versions of John Buchan's rather stiff novel. Robert Donat plays Richard Hannay, who becomes embroiled in a plot to steal military secrets. He finds himself on the run; falsely accused of murder, while also pursuing the dastardly web of spies alluded to in the title. With a plot whose twists and turns match the hilly Scottish terrain in which much of the film is set, The Thirty-Nine Steps combines a breezy suavity with a palpable psychological tension. Hitchcock was already a master at conveying such tension through his cinematic methods, rather than relying just on situation or dialogue. Sometimes his ways of bringing the best out of his actors brought the worst out in himself. If the scene in which Donat is handcuffed to co-star Madeline Carroll has a certain edge, for instance, that's perhaps because the director mischievously cuffed them together in a rehearsal, then left them attached for a whole afternoon, pretending to have lost the key. The movie also introduces Hitchcock's favoured plot device, the "McGuffin" (here, the military secret), the unexplained device or "non-point" on which the movie turns. --David Stubbs

• The Grapes of Wrath | DVD | (09/04/2012) from £9.15   |  Saving you £0.84 (9.18%)   |  RRP £9.99

  This American classic based on John Steinbeck's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel follows Tom Joad (Henry Fonda in an Oscar- Nominated role) and his family as they escape the Depression-era Oklahoma dust bowls for the promised land of California. But the arduous trip and harsh living conditions offer little hope, and family unity proves as daunting a challenge as any other they face.

• The Dukes of Hazzard | DVD | (09/01/2006) from £7.98   |  Saving you £11.01 (137.97%)   |  RRP £18.99

  Bo and Luke Duke, with a little help from Daisy and Uncle Jesse egg on the authorities of Hazzard County.

• 50 Years Of BBC News | DVD | (05/07/2004) from £8.96   |  Saving you £1.03 (10.30%)   |  RRP £9.99

  To commemorate the 50th anniversary of BBC News on television this is a fascinating series of programmes that look back on the past five decades. Each programme is a 30-minute segment covering a decade beginning with the 1950s. Providing insight into how BBC News is reported each segment is narrated by one of the following key news figures: Charles Wheeler Michael Buerk Kate Adie John Simpson and Jeremy Bowen. Also includes three extra programmes from 1953 1963 and 2004 about h

• Wall Of Silence | DVD | (21/05/2007) from £8.98   |  Saving you £3.00 (42.92%)   |  RRP £9.99

  The tale of a gang killing near a south-east London council estate

• Prime Suspect 5: Errors of Judgement | DVD | (06/11/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Det. Superintendent Jane Tennison (Helen Mirren) has been transferred to Manchester and is about to embark on one of the toughest times in her life. Initially asked to lecture school children on law and order she is soon demanding a meatier task. The murder of a drug dealer is the crime she is expected to solve but when a 14 year old boy confesses to the killing despite no evidence to connect him to the crime Tennison's instinct tells her there is a more likely prime suspect.

• The Somme | DVD | (03/07/2006) from £12.13   |  Saving you £0.86 (6.60%)   |  RRP £12.99

  This superb major BBC documentary provides an entirely fresh perspective on the Somme revealing that there was more to events than just senseless mass slaughter - because it was on those blood-soaked fields that the British Army learned how to defeat its German enemy. Featuring superb and highly authentic dramatic enactments and contemporary combat footage it compares the assault on Thiepval by a company of the 2nd Salford Pals on July 1st 1916 with an attack on the same objective

• Prime Suspect 5 - Errors Of Judgement | DVD | (12/05/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Detective Superintendent Jane Tennison has been transferred to Manchester and finds herself in a world she does not know surrounded by people she cannot trust and invloved with a man she cannot have. Her latest case is destined only to make things worse...

• Hunting Hitler | Complete Series | DVD | (07/09/2018) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Merlin | DVD | (15/07/2002) from £8.77   |  Saving you £1.22 (13.91%)   |  RRP £9.99

  What kind of guy was the wizard Merlin, anyway? He lives a long time, raises a boy to be a king, props up a Utopian empire with his magic and wisdom, and then watches as it all crumbles under such banal forces as vengeance and betrayal. This four-hour mini-series re-tells the story of Camelot and King Arthur from the perspective of the magic man who sacrifices a great deal to guide mortals toward a better destiny. Sam Neill plays Merlin as an accessible, flesh-and-blood fellow of real passion, powerless to undo the spell of a rival (Rutger Hauer) who has virtually imprisoned Merlin's great love, Nimue (Isabella Rossellini), but gifted enough to counter the treachery of Morgan Le Fey (Helena Bonham Carter) and the wicked Queen Mab (Miranda Richardson). The battle sequences and special effects are striking and original, and it is great fun to see such art-house movie actors as Richardson, Carter, Neill, etc., in fantasy entertainment the whole family can enjoy. (An unrecognizable Martin Short must be singled out, however, for a wonderful, largely dramatic performance as Mab's sidekick, Frik.) Directed by Steve Barron (The Adventures of Pinocchio), Merlin is a nice bit of glossy revisionism of a beloved legend. --Tom Keogh

• The Grapes Of Wrath | DVD | (18/04/2005) from £7.53   |  Saving you £5.46 (72.51%)   |  RRP £12.99

  John Ford's memorable screen version of John Steinbeck's epic novel of the Great Depression--often regarded as the director's best film--stars Henry Fonda as Tom Joad. After having served a brief prison sentence for manslaughter Joad arrives at his family's Oklahoma farm only to find it abandoned. Muley (John Qualen) a neighbor now nearly mad with grief tells Tom of the drought that has transformed the farmland of Oklahoma into a desert and of the preying land agents who have plowe

• The Spoilers (John Wayne) | DVD | (05/06/2006) from £5.34   |  Saving you £4.65 (87.08%)   |  RRP £9.99

  In Nome Alaska miner Roy Glennister and his partner Dextry financed by saloon entertainer Cherry Malotte fight to save their gold claim from crooked commissioner Alexander McNamara.

• South West 9 | DVD | (14/04/2003) from £8.66   |  Saving you £5.33 (61.55%)   |  RRP £13.99

  Set in Brixton, SW9, land of yuppies, clubbers, anarchists, guns and riots, this new Britsh drama follows five very different characters through a single extraordinary day.

• Three Faces West & Shepherd of the Hills (John Wayne) | DVD | (26/06/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Three Faces Of The West (Dir. Bernard Vorhaus 1940): A refugee physician and his daughter find themselves part of a group of townspeople who are trying to relocate out of the dust bowl region of the South Central U.S. John Wayne stars the group's tireless leader. Shepherd Of The Hills (Dir. Henry Hathaway 1941): When a stranger comes to an isolated mountain village and tempers the rough rage of its inhabitants one of the mountaineers (""The Duke"") is still suspicious of this mysterious interloper--and not incidentally still bitter over being deserted by his father as an infant.

• Wagon Master | Blu Ray | (13/08/2019) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Michael McDonald - In Concert | DVD | (29/10/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £4.99

  With his distinctive throaty baritone Michael McDonald left an indelible signature in the 1970's with his vocal contributions to both Steely Dan and later The Doobie Brothers. After The Doobie Brothers disbanded in 1982 McDonald embarked on a solo career which produced such Top 10 hits as I Keep Forgettin' (Every Time You're Near) and Sweet Freedom. This Soundstage concert features Michael McDonald performing hits from his successful solo career. Tom Johnston and Patrick Simmons from The Doobie Brothers as well as Ashford & Simpson joins McDonald on this sensational performance.

• Henry Fonda - Grapes Of Wrath / My Darling Clementine / Ox-Bow Incident | DVD | (10/04/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Grapes Of Wrath (1940): John Ford's memorable screen version of John Steinbeck's epic novel of the Great Depression--often regarded as the director's best film--stars Henry Fonda as Tom Joad. After having served a brief prison sentence for manslaughter Joad arrives at his family's Oklahoma farm only to find it abandoned. Muley (John Qualen) a neighbor now nearly mad with grief tells Tom of the drought that has transformed the farmland of Oklahoma into a desert and of the pre

• The 39 Steps | DVD | (01/10/1999) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Hitchcock's first great romantic thriller is a prime example of the "macguffin" principle in action. Robert Donat is Richard Hannay, an affable Canadian tourist in London who becomes embroiled in a deadly conspiracy when a mysterious spy winds up murdered in Hannay's rented flat--and both the police and a secret organisation wind up hot on his trail. With only a seemingly meaningless phrase ("the 39 steps"), a small Scottish town circled on a map, and a criminal mastermind identified by a missing finger as clues, quick-witted Hannay eludes police and spies alike as he works his way across the countryside to reveal the mystery and clear his name. At one point he finds himself making his escape manacled to blonde beauty Pamela (Madeleine Carroll), whose initial antagonism is smoothed by Hannay's charm. It's classic Hitchcock all the way, a seemingly effortless balance of romance and adventure set against a picturesque landscape populated by eccentrics and social-register smoothies, none of whom is what he or she appears to be. Hitchcock would play similar games of innocents plunged into deadly conspiracies, most delightfully in North by Northwest, but in this breezy 1935 classic, Hitch proves that, as in any quest, the object of the search isn't nearly as satisfying as the journey. --Sean Axmaker, Amazon.com

• Dukes Of Hazzard | UMD | (09/01/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £20.99