"Actor: Keith David"

• Pitch Black/Dark Fury/the Chronicles of Riddick | DVD | (03/01/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £27.99

  Pitch Black Owing a major debt to Alien and its cinematic spawn, Pitch Black is a guilty pleasure that surpasses expectations. As he did with The Arrival, director David Twohy revitalizes a derivative story, allowing you to forgive its flaws and submit to its visceral thrills. Under casual scrutiny, the plot's logic crumbles like a stale cookie, but it's definitely fun while it lasts. A spaceship crashes on a desert planet scorched under three suns. The mostly doomed survivors include a resourceful captain (Radha Mitchell), a drug-addled cop (Cole Hauser), and a deadly prisoner (Vin Diesel) who quickly escapes. These clashing personalities discover that the planet is plunging into the darkness of an extended eclipse, and it's populated by hordes of ravenous, razor-fanged beasties that only come out at night. The body count rises, and Pitch Black settles into familiar sci-fi territory. What sets the movie apart is Twohy's developing visual style, suggesting that this veteran of B-movie schlock may advance to the big leagues. Like the makers of The Blair Witch Project, Twohy understands the frightening power of suggestion; his hungry monsters are better heard than seen (although once seen, they're chillingly effective), and Pitch Black gets full value from moments of genuine panic. Best of all, Twohy's got a well-matched cast, with Mitchell (so memorable with Ally Sheedy in High Art) and Diesel (Pvt. Caparzo from Saving Private Ryan) being the standouts. The latter makes the most of his muscle-man role, and his character's development is one more reason this movie works better than it should. --Jeff Shannon Dark Fury Taking a page from The Animatrix, Dark Fury is part of a new trend of bridging theatrical sequels. As an official product of a franchise, the 35-minute anime benefits from having the original actors voice the characters, including Vin Diesel as Riddick. This story opens with the new action hero and the two other survivors of Pitch Black already caught by a giant spaceship filled with dread. The sinewy leader has a unique--and creepy--jail for master villains and she has her sights set on Riddick. The film--indeed the series--is indebted to animator Peter Chung, who brings his techno style from his Aeon Flux series. His smooth animation for Riddick doesn't reinvent the character as much as give him a new, appealing fluidity. As anime goes, there's nothing really new here--plenty of action, cool killers, and dramatic spurts of blood--but it's a building block for how this genre might enliven movie series and sequels in the future. --Doug Thomas The Chronicles of Riddick Bigger isn't always better, but for anyone who enjoyed Pitch Black, a nominal sequel like The Chronicles of Riddick should prove adequately entertaining. Writer-director David Twohy returns with expansive sets, detailed costumes, an army of CGI effects artists, and the star he helped launch--Vin Diesel--bearing his franchise burden quite nicely as he reprises his title role. The Furian renegade Riddick has another bounty on his head, but when he escapes from his mercenary captors, he's plunged into an epic-scale war waged by the Necromongers. A fascist master race led by Lord Marshal (Colm Feore), they're determined to conquer all enemies in their quest for the Underverse, the appeal of which is largely unexplained (since Twohy is presumably reserving details for subsequent "chronicles"). With tissue-thin plotting, scant character development, and skimpy roles that waste the talents of Thandie Newton (as a Necromonger conspirator) and Judi Dench (as a wispy "Elemental" priestess), Twohy's back in the B-movie territory he started in (with The Arrival), brought to vivid life on a vast digital landscape with the conceptual allure of a lavish graphic novel. But does Riddick have leadership skills on his resumé? To get an answer to that question, sci-fi fans will welcome another sequel. --Jeff Shannon

• Todd McFarlane's Spawn - Episodes 1, 2 And 3 | DVD | (22/11/1999) from £20.00   |  Saving you £-7.01 (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Featuring episodes 1-3.

• Joe 90 - Vol. 1 | DVD | (30/09/2002) from £3.99   |  Saving you £12.00 (300.75%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Joe 90 was Gerry Anderson's penultimate puppet show of the 1960s, following Captain Scarlet (1968) and preceding the little-known The Secret Service (1969). In 2112 professor Ian McClaine has invented the BIG RAT (Brain Impulse Galvanoscope, Record And Transfer), a machine for copying knowledge and experiences from person to person. WIN (World Intelligence Organisation) uses this to prime their top undercover agent before sending him into the field on missions which range from foiling international terrorists to recovering a nuclear weapon from beneath the polar ice. So far so good, but in perhaps the most mind-boggling concept ever to reach children's TV, that agent is McClaine's nine-year-old adopted son, Joe. Somehow even as it stays true to the Gerry Anderson techno-fantasy formula of secret organisations, gadgetry, and action-packed adventure full of spectacular explosions and violent death, Joe 90 remains blithely unconscious of its own implications. The missions are as globe-trotting as anything in Anderson's classic Thunderbirds series, and sometimes Joe does save lives, performing a risky brain operation or rescuing trapped astronauts. Yet even then his criminally irresponsible father brainwashes the lad each episode before placing him in a highly dangerous adult situation. Though the production values remain way ahead of anything else being done on British TV at the time, the question remains how did this ever seem like a good idea? On the DVD: Joe 90, Volume 1 contains the first six 25-minute episodes presented, as usual with Gerry Anderson DVDs, behind a lovingly crafted menu. As expected the 4:3 picture quality is superb and the mono sound is full, detailed and without a trace of distortion. There are also several pages of character biography and background information on the show, a photo gallery and a variety of other extras. --Gary S Dalkin

• The New Avengers: The Complete Series - Episodes 1-26 | DVD | (02/09/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £59.99

  Sometimes dismissed as a pale descendant of a great original, The New Avengers deserves a second look and is perhaps best considered as a largely successful attempt to re-imagine its predecessor for 1970s audiences. Patrick McNee was never the most convincing of action heroes, and the decision to make his John Steed the supervisor and mentor of two younger agents was a sensible one--Steed's virtues are style, wisdom and fortitude rather than physical prowess. Gareth Hunt's Gambit has an unattractively smug side, but has also a louche charm. Joanna Lumley's Purdey is one of the most attractive heroines of genre television, astonishingly leggy and beautiful. Those who only know her later incarnation as Patsy in Absolutely Fabulous will understand now why such a fuss is made over her. The script team overlaps heavily with that of the original series; the new show has the same quirkiness, only occasionally varying it with a rather darker leCarrésque complexity or sudden outbreaks of Hammer Horror. If it lacks some of the sheer style of the original, that is a reflection of its period--the 1970s were less visually imaginative than the 60s. Tightly plotted, imaginatively cast with interesting guest stars, it is only with The Avengers that The New Avengers suffers by comparison. --Roz Kaveney

• Coraline -LAIKA Studios Edition | Blu Ray | (31/08/2021) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Pitch Black - Steelbook - Universal 100th Anniversary Edition | Blu Ray | (18/02/2013) from £21.95   |  Saving you £-1.96 (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  When their ship crash-lands on a remote planet, the marooned passengers soon learn that escaped convict Riddick (Vin Diesel) isn't the only thing they have to fear. Deadly creatures lurk in the shadows, waiting to attack in the dark, and the planet is rapidly plunging into the utter blackness of a total eclipse. With the body count rising, the survivors are forced to turn to Riddick and his eerie eyes to guide them through the darkness to safety. With time running out, there's only one rule: Stay in the light.

• The Professionals - Vol. 1 | DVD | (26/09/2005) from £19.99   |  Saving you £20.00 (100.05%)   |  RRP £39.99

  Thrown together to join George Cowley's new C15 organisation....Hard men no patience nor time for subtleties. Charged with combating terrorists criminals and corruption wherever they find it. Capable of using any means necessary. The only people they can trust are themselves... Features all 14 episodes from the first series broadcast in 1977 uncut and digitally remastered!

• Marked For Death / Rising Sun / Unlawful Entry | DVD | (15/09/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Marked For Death: Just retired from the Drug Enforcement agency John Hatcher (Seagal) returns to his hometown and quickly discovers that drugs have infiltrated his old neighbourhood. Determined to drive the dealers out Hatcher crosses paths with a ferocious Jamaican druglord who vows that Hatcher and his family are now marked for death... Rising Sun: Special liaison officer (Snipes) is called to investigate the murder of a call-girl in the boardroom of a Japanese corporation. Accompanied by a detective with unusual knowledge of the Japanese culture (Connery) the two men must unravel the mystery behind the murder by entering an underground shadow world of futuristic technology ancient ways and confusing loyalties... Unlawful Entry: After an armed robbery attempt on their suburban home a young couple (Kurt Russell and Madeleine Stowe) do what anyone would do - they call the police. That's when they meet Los Angeles Policeman Pete Davis (Ray Liotta) and immediately warm up to his caring and sensitive attitude. He makes the couple's safety his personal concern and begins frequent patrols of their property. But this friendship turns into a twisted obsession as Davis's relationship with the couple develops and forces his way into their lives. Plunged into a nightmare where protector becomes predator the couple must somehow escape from the web of security that has become their ultimate enemy...

• Article 99 | DVD | (07/06/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Due to governmental red tape the patients most in need of care are denied treatment. Two doctors become con artists subverting the government by making all of their patients' ailments appear to be war-related so they receive free health benefits...

• Hot Pursuit | DVD | (14/06/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  The one film in John Cusack's filmography he'd probably like us all to forget, this 80s-style preppy-in-peril film (compare and contrast with After Hours and Something Wild) casts him as a college student who gets mixed up with pirates and drug runners around the Caribbean. The wannabe screwball comedy falls flatter with each gag but Cusack's hang-dog sweetness and knack with one-liners carries it through and at the very least it's worth catching if only for a glimpse of Ben Stiller in his pre-There's Something About Mary fame days, in a double act here with his real-life father Jerry Stiller. --Leslie Felperin

• Meet Monica Velour | DVD | (27/06/2011) from £4.26   |  Saving you £11.73 (275.35%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Tobe Hulbert's life sucks. He's a recent high-school graduate living in Washington with his grandfather. He works out of a vintage hot dog truck and his only friend is his overweight 12-year-old neighbour. In the dog-days of summer his only escape is obsessively watching videos of his fantasy girl: Monica Velour the most famous adult-film star of the 1980s. Browsing her fansite one afternoon Tobe discovers that Monica is making a rare live appearance at a strip club in rural Indiana. With nothing stopping him he hits the road to meet the woman of his dreams. Expecting his fantasy Tobe is instead confronted with a harsh reality: Monica is a 49-year-old mom who lives in a trailer park and her life is nothing like he imagined it would be. The last thing Monica needs is another complication in her life but Tobe is determined to do whatever it takes to get close to her.

• Executive Target | DVD | (12/04/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Executive Target

• Todd McFarlane's Spawn - Season 1.2 | DVD | (07/02/2000) from £30.55   |  Saving you £-17.56 (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Episodes included - 'Dominoes' 'Souls in the Balance' and 'End Game'.

• Due South: The Complete Series Boxset | DVD | (23/10/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £149.99

  Benton Fraser - an uptight Canadian mountie with a bizarre way of doing things - comes to Chicago in an attempt to find out who killed his father. After solving the murder he decides to stick around and work for the local Canadian consulate. Making friends with the local detective Ray Vecchio a cynical man with a distrust of the outdoors Benton is often confused by how things are done south of the border and adversely Vecchio is equally perplexed by the mountie's approach to police work. This beast of a box set features every episode from all three seasons.

• Special Branch - Complete 1974 Series | DVD | (02/08/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £39.99

  The final thirteen episodes of Euston Films crime drama starring George Sewell Patrick Mower and Paul Eddington. One of ITV's top rated programmes in 1974 these episodes feature guest appearances from Dennis Waterman Peter Bowles Rula Lenska and Gareth Thomas in what was to be a forerunner to 'The Sweeney'. Episodes comprise: 1. Double Exposure 2. Catherine the Great 3. Jailbait 4. Stand and Deliver 5. Something About a Soldier 6. Rendezvous 7. Sounds Sinister 8. Entente

• The Last Sentinel | DVD | (01/06/2009) from £5.99   |  Saving you £10.00 (166.94%)   |  RRP £15.99

  The Future Is Riding On One Woman No emotion. No fear. No pain. They were the perfect soldiers to protect civilization - until the drone police became the perfect enemy. With little hope left for mankind Tallis (Don Wilson; Stealing Harvard Batman Forever) an electronically enhanced soldier rescues a rebel beauty (Katee Sackhoff TV's Battlestar Galactica) from a failed resistance mission. A force to be reckoned with she will learn to fight and think like a machine for the final battle to save the human race.

• The Thing - Steelbook - Universal 100th Anniversary Edition | Blu Ray | (18/02/2013) from £26.98   |  Saving you £-5.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Horror-meister John Carpenter teams Kurt Russell's outstanding performance with incredible visuals to build this chilling version of the classic The Thing.In the winter of 1982, a twelve-man research team at a remote Antarctic research station discovers an alien buried in the snow for over 100,000 years. Soon unfrozen, the shape-shifting alien wreaks havoc, creates terror and becomes one of them...

• One Bad Christmas! | DVD | (04/11/2013) from £4.79   |  Saving you £8.20 (171.19%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Keith David and Omar Gooding star as father and son in this comedy set during the festive season. While working part-time at the Christmas tree lot run by his father, Big Earl (David), Derrick (Gooding), a would-be music producer, attempts to show his dad that he can be a success. His plan does not go accordingly, however, and Big Earl's company is consequently threatened with closure. Can Derrick save the business as well as his relationship with his father?

• Always | DVD | (16/04/2001) from £17.87   |  Saving you £2.12 (10.60%)   |  RRP £19.99

• Todd McFarlane's Spawn - Series 3 - Vol. 3.1 | DVD | (15/03/2004) from £58.73   |  Saving you £-45.74 (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Avenging betrayal and murder fighting for good in a world steeped in evil. Award-winning llustrator of Spiderman Todd McFarlane brings a life's work to the screen in this dark stylish and brutal animated incarnation of his Spawn anti-hero. Double-crossed and murdered Al Simmon's is sent to the fires of Hell. He makes an ill-fated deal with the Devil to return to see his wife again. Disfigured and trapped in the body of a hell-spawn caught between life and death he roams New York looking for trouble. The cloak and chains of Spawn explode from the comic-book page onto the screen in a deadly tornado of untapped unwrapped merciless power! Episode titles: A Made Guy Twitch Is Down Seed Of The Hellspawn.