"Actor: Larry Romano"

• Lock Up | DVD | (20/05/2002) from £15.50   |  Saving you £-2.51 (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  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

• No Way Home | DVD | (12/04/2005) from £5.79   |  Saving you £0.20 (3.45%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Released from prison after six long years Joey Larabito does not seem the type of guy to have committed a murder. Childlike his every action speaks of innocence and kindness even among the cruel realities and grime of New York. Returning to his childhood home with a mere forty dollars in his pocket Joey hopes to stay with his brother Tommy and his wife Lorraine until he can get back on his feet. Lorraine is reluctant afraid a hardened criminal is in their midst. As the weeks go by she slowly awakens to his kind hard-working nature but realises that all is not what it seems. Joey and Tommy are headed for a collision. As the ties of childhood unravel in a tale of devotion and betrayal one brother fights for the truth the other for his life.

• Vatican Miracle Examiner Collection BLU-RAY | Blu Ray | (25/02/2019) from £33.79   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Vatican Miracle Examiner Collection Miracles don't happen every day. But when something impossible happens that seems to be the work of supernatural forces or higher powers, it's the duty of the Assembly of Saints and their agents to investigate. Their job is to determine whether each incident is explainable via previously undisclosed information, a part of some plot to take advantage of the people's faith, or a genuine miraculous event. Priests Josef Ko Hiraga and Roberto Nicholas specialize in unveiling the truth and unearthing secrets that others might wish to keep buried, but when they're sent to Mexico to investigate reports of a virgin birth, they end up in danger of being buried themselves. Murder, demonic summoning and deals with the devil are just the beginning of a new war against the ultimate darkness.