"Actor: L"

• XXX (Wide Screen) (Superbit) | DVD | (08/09/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  This amped action drama stars Vin Diesel as Xander (aka Triple X) a rebellious extreme sports star with a mission to defy authority and create anarchy. In the dramatic opening scene of the movie Xander pulls an outrageous series of stunts with the help of a band of similar-minded jocks broadcasts the whole event live onto the Internet with a network of strategically placed digital cameras and then avoids being captured by the squadron of police who pursue him. When Triple X is later taken into custody Gibbons (Samuel L. Jackson) a representative from a government agency hires the chiseled athlete and turns him into a secret agent with a mission to travel to Prague and collapse a dangerous terrorist cell operated by Yorgi (Martin Csokas) and the seductive Yelena (Asia Argento). Triple X is quickly drawn into Yorgi's lair a stunning chateau situated in the mountains that is equipped with every high-tech modern amenity imaginable along with a sizeable team of extra-large Slav bodyguards a laboratory staffed by top scientists and an always-ready gaggle of gorgeous concubines. Non-stop stunts pounding hard-core music elaborate sets and inventive costumes make this Rob Cohen-directed adrenaline overload a visually exciting aurally engaging highly entertaining success.

• Offenbach: Des Contes D'Hoffmann | DVD | (25/04/2001) from £19.85   |  Saving you £6.40 (34.43%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Unfortunately the qualities that make Jacques Offenbach's operetta The Tales of Hoffmann an irresistible melodic profusion of wit, dash and unfailing high spirits are only in evidence in the playing of the Lyon Opera Orchestra under Kent Nagano: operetta, more than its serious cousin, continues to be fair game for the whims of producers and designers. In this case an excellent cast including Daniel Galvez-Vallejo as Hoffmann, Natalie Dessay as Olympia, Brigitte Balley as Nicklausse and Isabelle Vernet as Giulietta, as well as Gabriel Bacquier who sings three roles, are obliged to perform Offenbach's operetta in a lunatic asylum designed by Philippe Starck as a three-dimensional grey set, topped with barbed wire. The production by Louis Erlo adapts and cuts scenes to fit this concept, so the tavern scene where Hoffmann sings his celebrated number "The Legend of Kleinzack" disappears, as do the chorus who are banished to the wings. In this environment there's no room for charm or even a kind of mad-hatter behaviour. The cast are reduced to stereotypes and of necessity singularly unlovable ones. What a wasted opportunity. The sound is excellent as it is on two fillers: a short film of Penderecki conducting his choral work, The Seven Gates to Jerusalem from the Midem festival at Cannes and a trailer for a Lyon Opera House production of Berlioz's Damnation of Faust. --Adrian Edwards

• The Imposter | Blu Ray | (07/01/2013) from £17.04   |  Saving you £0.95 (5.58%)   |  RRP £17.99

  A kidnapped young boy is returned to his family after two years, but when the family notices strange differences they begin to question things...

• Battle Cry | DVD | (21/07/2003) from £15.99   |  Saving you £-2.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £13.99

  The most interesting--and entertaining--aspect of Battle Cry, a long, episodic World War II drama, is that it marked the debut of one Justus E McQueen, who subsequently took the name of the good ol' Arkansas boy he played in the movie: LQ Jones. He's only one of eight or nine marine recruits who divide the screen time with commanding officer Van Heflin and James Whitmore as a lifer sergeant named Mac, "just Mac", who ramrods their squad and also delivers the movie's overbearing narration. Unfortunately, the narration is necessary to maintain continuity as the CinemaScope production galumphs its way from rounding up the melting-pot cast to seeing them through basic training and sundry, mostly amatory misadventures in San Diego, to further training in New Zealand and finally to baptism of fire on Guadalcanal. Trouble is, among the recruits only McQueen/Jones (whose job is mostly comic relief) and Aldo Ray (as a brawling lumberjack who's never known family life) have any charisma or acting chops--and that's not forgetting Tab Hunter, whose matinee-idol status at the time does not speak well for the 50s. Battle Cry is also a cardinal example of Hollywood's penchant for buying big, lusty, profane bestsellers (by Leon Uris, in this case) and then bowdlerising all the lustiness and profanity to appease the censors. Raoul Walsh, the poet laureate of lowdown gusto, does what he can in the circumstances, and as one of the first guys ever to direct a widescreen movie (1930's The Big Trail), he makes the battle scenes roar. --Richard T. Jameson

• Mozart: Don Giovanni -- Zurich/Harnoncourt | DVD | (12/03/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £29.99

  In this Zurich Opera House staging of Mozart’s darkly comic cautionary fable Don Giovanni the lighting and stage design keep the characters shaded in half-shadow: even Zerlina’s wedding feels like a subdued affair here, and the Don’s banqueting room is a suitably gloomy venue for the Stone Guest’s climactic visit for a spot of dinner and damnation. Both this staging and video director Brian Large’s filming play no tricks with the audience’s expectations, opting for a largely traditional presentation of this tragedy of swaggering bravado, cuckolded lovers and revenge from beyond the grave. Nikolaus Harnoncourt brings all the sensitivity of his historically informed approach to the orchestra pit. Heading a very strong cast are Rodney Gilfry, defiantly strong-voiced but also haughtily handsome as the seducing Don, and Cecilia Bartoli, a mercurial presence as Donna Elvira. Their scenes together crackle and fizz, even when Bartoli’s extremely ripe vibrato contrasts a little uncomfortably with Harnoncourt’s authenticity. Liliana Nikiteanu makes for a pretty, naïve Zerlina, convincingly torn between her Masetto (Oliver Widmer) and the animalistic attraction of the Don. Laszlo Polgar’s Leporello is wheedling and base, but still the inheritor of his master’s charisma; Isabel Rey and Roberto Sacca are solid as the colourless moralists Anna and Ottavio; while Matti Salminen’s powerful Commendatore isn’t expected to do anything more than stand still and declaim. Overall this is an excellent musical performance, unexceptionally staged. On the DVD: Don Giovanni on disc has a good 24-minute "Behind the Scenes" feature, including interviews with Cecilia Bartoli, Harnoncourt, Gilfry and Isabel Rey. There’s also a trailer for other ArtHaus releases. The 16:9 picture sometimes struggles to bring definition to the dimly lit sets; sound though is crisp and clean PCM stereo or Dolby 5.1. There are subtitles in five languages. --Mark Walker

• Maitresse | DVD | (28/07/2003) from £19.79   |  Saving you £0.20 (1.01%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Originally rejected outright by the BBFC in 1976 and then released with nearly 5 minutes of cuts in 1981 Maitresse is now finally released uncut on DVD. Bulle Ogier plays a professional dominatrix who indulges in a conventional romance with Gerard Depardieu on the ground floor but satisfies more demanding clients in her 'dungeon'. Director Barbet Schroeder apparently cast genuine masochists in this wickedly funny fable on the foibles of sex and love...

• Tanguy | DVD | (28/06/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  What do you do when your 28 year old son won't leave home? He leaves his washing on the floor brings girls home all the time and treats the place like a hotel. Every time you see him you feel sick. Still you love him. You can't ask him to leave so what to do? Drive him out! Hoover at 4am. Put smelly fish behind his radiator. Have sex in the lounge. Cut off the electricity while he is working. Make him want to move! A riotous French comedic farce from Etienne Chatiliez.

• Cleaner | Blu Ray | (03/08/2009) from £9.99   |  Saving you £8.00 (100.12%)   |  RRP £15.99

  The "Cleaner" is a sinister crime thriller from veteran action director Renny Harlin with a lead performance from Samuel L. Jackson.

• Bridge Of Dragons | DVD | (15/04/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £2.99

  Cross it at your peril. The warrior is the perfect soldier. Adopted by Warlord Ruechang he is a trained killer. What he must become is the perfect warrior. As a soldier he is taught only to obey. But his loyalties are swayed when he meets a young princess fated to marry Ruechang and rule over the oppressed people. When she flees the marriage Ruechang sends the warrior in pursuit. Now the perfect killing machine must find the humanity within that will guide him towards rebellion and justice. His quest for honor will make him a true warrior. But before he takes that path he must first defeat the forces of the man who saved his life and finally face Ruechang in an explosive bloody fight to the finish.

• Pet Shop Boys - Montage - The Nightlife Tour | DVD | (12/11/2001) from £20.00   |  Saving you £-0.01 (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Recorded at various concert venues on their 1999/2000 tour Montage is a live showcase of the Pet Shop Boys' greatest hits, along with selected album tracks. All the Pet favourites are included, ranging from career and concert opener "West End Girls" to more recent tunes like "New York City Boy". Since their first worldwide tour in 1989, Pet Shop Boys concerts have always been rather arty affairs which have ranged from the "shocking" dance routines of the Behaviour tour to their introspective 1997 residence at London's Savoy Theatre. The Nightlife tour was no exception, merging a Zahing Hadid modernist stage set with wacky stage projections and gonk-style wigs and costumes. Artistically though, Nightlife was their best tour yet but this isn't always reflected on this recording. At times the picture quality and the cinematography are poor, resembling a 1980s art student's show reel (but then perhaps that was the intention). However the poor visual recording is redeemed by Tennant and Lowe's excellent performances and the striking special effects. Their rendition of "What Have I Done to Deserve This" including the original vocals of the late Dusty Springfield is particularly moving. The reworked live version of their minor 1991 hit "Was It Worth It?" also deserves a listen. In their own words, "Darling you were wonderful." On the DVD: with the Pet Shop Boys' ultra-modern image you would perhaps expect this DVD to be brimming with extras. Instead you have to make do with the promotional videos of "I Don't Know What You Want But I Can't Give It Any More", "New York City Boy" and "You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You're Drunk", plus an exclusive web-link. As well as being able to view the full concert or individual tracks through the main menu you can also select one of two angles to view the show. The sound recording is excellent with a choice of Dolby Digital Stereo or Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound.--John Galilee

• Harry He's Here to Help | DVD | (21/05/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  This French thriller tells of a couple who are living with their three daughters in an old farmhouse that has caused them nothing but trouble since they started renovating it. However things look set to improve when they meet the ever helpful Harry.

• Fascination | DVD | (24/01/2000) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  A pair of society women dressed in all their finery stand in the middle of an abattoir, animal carcasses hanging behind them and blood splashed across the floor. Giggling and fidgeting, they drink their prescribed glass of ox blood. The startling, unreal image of high-society manners in the midst of gore and death pitches Jean Rollin's 1979 feature Fascination into a turn-of-the-century culture come unhinged. When a well-dressed rogue, fleeing from angry partners he double-crossed, takes refuge in a lavish, moat-protected mansion, servant girls Franca Mai and Brigitte Lahaie cajole, tease and seduce him into staying for their night-time soiree. "You have stumbled into Elizabeth and Eva's life, the universe of madness and death", mutters one of them as they await the cabal where he is the guest of honour. Shot on a starvation budget and populated with stiff performers, Rollin's direction is arch and at times sloppy and his story never more than an outline. It's the mix of dreamy and nightmarish imagery that gives Fascination its fascination: blonde Lahaie stalking victims with a scythe, the bourgeois blood cult swarming over a fresh victim like wild animals, alabaster faces streaked in blood. While it lacks the delirious spontaneity of his earlier vampire films Shiver of the Vampires and Requiem for a Vampire, the languid pace and austere beauty creates an often-mesmerising fantasy. --Sean Axmaker, Amazon.com

• In God's Hands | DVD | (07/02/2005) from £4.85   |  Saving you £1.14 (23.51%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Mickey Shane and Keoni live to surf but theirs is not merely a search for the elusive wave it's a solemn pact with nature to take things to the extreme. World Class surfers Patrick Shane Dorian Matt George and Matty Liu star in a dramatic adventure of friendship and courage featuring some of the most spectacular footage ever filmed. From Madagascar and Bali to Hawaii and Mexico director and co-writer Zalman King takes us on action-filled tour of the most exotic and dangerous s

• Used Cars | DVD | (11/03/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Used Cars, the 1980 film by director Robert Zemeckis, gives no indication of things to come in his career (Back to the Future, Contact, Forrest Gump), but it is representative of a certain cynical humour he shared early on with writer-partner Bob Gale. Kurt Russell and Jack Warden star in a sketchy comedy about competing used-car salesmen who resort to outrageous tactics to lure customers away from each other. The jokes, like the characters, are intentionally recycled, self-conscious comic fodder from a baby-boomer's lifetime (such as Gale's or Zemeckis') of immersion in pop culture. That makes Used Cars more pastiche than original (the film's title itself suggests that), but as such it has some good, if vaguely familiar, laughs in it. Russell, particularly, is very funny as a practiced con man. --Tom Keogh, Amazon.com

• Marvel's The Avengers - Age of Ultron (4K Ultra HD) (+ Blu-ray 2D) - 4K Mondo Edition - Steelbook | Blu Ray | (24/02/2022) from £134.09   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Killjoy | DVD | (17/06/2002) from £9.99   |  Saving you £-2.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £7.99

  Deep in an inner city hell a ghastly figure is killing off the bad guys. A vigilante or a demon? For the beautiful high school student Jada that's the question that will bring her face to face with the killer clown Killjoy.

• Crimewave | DVD | (15/08/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Extermination is not just a business. It's a way of life. Directed by Sam Raimi and written by the brothers Coen: Joel and Ethan. Ernest Tread called the exterminators. He had a rat in his place of business - his partner. Unfortunately the exterminators dispatched the wrong rat!

• Kill Bill Vol. 2 | Blu Ray | (03/11/2008) from £14.90   |  Saving you £9.09 (61.01%)   |  RRP £23.99

  The second part of Quentin Tarantino's deliriously stylish movie as The Bride (Thurman) continues her typically blood-soaked revenge quest... Having killed two of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad The Bride continues her mission to avenge the three remaining names on her death list that turned her El Paso wedding party into bloody carnage and left her for dead. Her attention turns to Budd (Michael Madson) Elle Driver (Daryl Hannah) and finally the corpse littered path leads to Bill (David Carradine). However an unexpected survivor complicates matters...

• Deep In My Heart | DVD | (13/03/2006) from £3.49   |  Saving you £2.50 (71.63%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Given up for adoption as a baby Barbara Ann (Gloria Reuben) a child of mixed race is facing a life of confusion prejudice and isolation. Raised by a loving foster mother in a black neighbourhood she is suddenly torn from this happy existence and placed in a world with no friends no joy and no sense of family. But she survives and grows up to become the mother of five children. And it is then that Barbara Ann finds the courage to face her past to meet with the woman who gave bir

• Offenbach: La Belle Helene -- Paris/Minkowski | DVD | (03/12/2001) from £11.02   |  Saving you £15.23 (156.05%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Jacques Offenbach's 19th century parody of life under the yoke of Napoleon III, La Belle Hélène, has always seemed as tongue-in-cheek as the material could go. This new staging from the Théâtre Musical de Paris' 2000 season proves you can always go further. As if the social comment and knowing musical allusions (eg: Wagner's Tannhäuser) weren't enough, now via director Lauren Pelly's imagination Helen (Dame Felicity Lott) becomes a modern sexually frustrated woman dreaming the entire scenario. In her dream she is singled out as the most beautiful woman on Earth (prompting vain delusions to rival Snow White's wicked stepmother) as reward for Pâris (Yann Beuron) choosing Venus as most beautiful Goddess off Earth. Act 1 takes place in the bedroom and bed of Helen and ineffectual husband/king Ménélas (Michel Sénéchal). Here the fusion of costumes worn by High Priest Calchas (François Le Roux) seems incongruous until the archaeological dig setting of Act 2 turns everything into a dream. From then on, the analogy of bed as throne, the sheep costumes and male and female swimsuit parade followed by synchronised stage "swimming" of Act 3 all take on greater significance. Les Musicians du Louvre give a tremendous performance under Marc Minkowski's baton (which you often see popping into frame), particularly in the centrepiece duet between Lott and Beuron for their "Dream of Love". Contemporary makeovers of opera often lose sight of the original's intentions, but this update certainly preserves the spirit of Offenbach's vision. On the DVD: A choice of Stereo, Dolby 5.1 or DTS is a testament to the careful staging of this production, as is the video's multi-camera edit. In fact, the 25-minute behind-the-scenes documentary reveals the DVD was conceived as part of the staging. Four interviews make this a most welcome supplement, with Dame Lott having the most to say. --Paul Tonks