"Actor: Laurence Luckinbill"

• Cocktail | DVD | (11/03/2002) from £5.99   |  Saving you £9.00 (150.25%)   |  RRP £14.99

  First and foremost a star vehicle for Tom Cruise, this paper-thin Horatio Alger story of a young bartender with dreams of get-rich-quick success is notable only for Cruise's immense likeability in contrast to a creaky plot and thinly drawn characters. Cruise plays Brian Flanagan, a young entrepreneur and ladies' man who with his mentor (Bryan Brown) takes the New York bar scene by storm. Through setbacks and tragedy, Brian eventually realises there's more to life than a quick buck, and fights for the woman he loves (Elisabeth Shue). Despite its shortcomings, a worthwhile viewing for Tom Cruise fans. --Robert Lane, Amazon.com

• Star Trek 5 : The Final Frontier | DVD | (07/05/2001) from £7.94   |  Saving you £10.05 (126.57%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Almost universally derided on its first release as the worst of the Star Trek movies to date, The Final Frontier may just have been the victim of bad press. Following in the wake of the massively successful fourth instalment The Voyage Home didn't help matters (notoriously, even-numbered entries are better), nor did having novice director and shameless egomaniac William Shatner at the helm. But if the story, conceived and co-written by Shatner, teeters dangerously on the verge of being corny at times, it redeems itself with enough thought-provoking scenes in the best tradition of the series, and a surprisingly original finale. Granted there are a few too many yawning plot holes along the way, and the general tone is over-earnest (despite some painfully slapstick comedy moments), but the interaction of the central trio (Kirk, Spock and McCoy) is often funny and genuinely insightful; while Laurence Luckinbill is a charismatic adversary as the renegade Vulcan Sybok. True, the rest of the cast scarcely get a look in, and the special effects betray serious budgetary restrictions, but with a standout score from Jerry Goldsmith and a meaty philosophical premise to play around with, Star Trek V looks a lot more substantial in retrospect. Certainly it's no worse than either Generations or Insurrection, the next "odd-numbered" entries in the series. On the DVD: This is a non-anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) print, with only two trailers as extra features. Quite frankly, Star Trek fans are being short-changed. --Mark Walker

• Messenger of Death | Blu Ray | (25/07/2016) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Rewind back to the cinema of the 1980s and you might discover at least fun fact about an otherwise conservative decade: Hollywood was a lot less ageist! Indeed, in an action genre dominated by Arnold, Chuck and Sly, at least one big name looked as if he was more likely to be collecting his pension than provoking mayhem and that man was the late, great Charles Bronson. The star of DEATH WISH never slowed down, even as the decade came to a close, and 1988's fierce Cannon Films classic MESSENGER OF DEATH is one of the legendary genre star's most menacing motion pictures. In this fast-paced and potent thriller, Bronson plays an investigative journalist who prods a little too deeply into the affairs of a local, and lunatic, religious organisation. Bullets, blood and a slew of dead bodies soon follow. Mixing Mormonism and malevolence with the sort of high-octane brutality one might expect from director J. Lee Thompson (CAPE FEAR/ DEATH WISH IV: THE CRACKDOWN), MESSENGER OF DEATH is back in HD - and ready to blast its way into your Cannon collection!

• Messenger Of Death | DVD | (03/05/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Could a simple feud between brothers lead to the brutal massacre of an entire family? Garret Smith (Bronson) travels to a remote Rocky Mountain town to investigate and uncovers far more sinister motives. As he gets closer to the bizarre truth Smith unravels a plot of greed revenge and religious zealotry. But can he get to the bottom of the murders before an 'avenging angel' visits him with an equally deadly message?

• Star Trek 5 : The Final Frontier - Special Edition (2 discs) | DVD | (22/12/2003) from £10.79   |  Saving you £17.19 (220.38%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Almost universally derided on its first release as the worst of the Star Trek movies to date, The Final Frontier might just have been the victim of bad press. Following in the wake of the massively successful fourth instalment The Voyage Home didn't help matters (notoriously, even-numbered entries are better), nor did having novice director and shameless egomaniac William Shatner at the helm. But if the story, conceived and cowritten by Shatner, teeters dangerously on the verge of being corny, it redeems itself with enough thought-provoking scenes in the best tradition of the series, and a surprisingly original finale. Granted there are a few too many yawning plot holes along the way, and the general tone is over-earnest (despite some painfully slapstick comedy moments), but the interaction of the central trio (Kirk, Spock and McCoy) is often funny and genuinely insightful; while Laurence Luckinbill is a charismatic adversary as the renegade Vulcan Sybok. The rest of the cast scarcely get a look in, and the special effects betray serious budgetary restrictions, but with a standout score from Jerry Goldsmith and a meaty philosophical premise to play around with, Star Trek V looks a lot more substantial in retrospect. Certainly it's no worse than either Generations or Insurrection, the next "odd-numbered" entries in the series. --Mark Walker