"Actor: Michael Pe"

• Rossini: Semiramide | DVD | (31/12/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £34.99

  Bel canto can be translated as "pretty singing", and that definition seems tailor-made for this production, which offers grace, charm, and a fine-tuned sense of style in abundance to compensate for its limited psychological and emotional impact. The four principal singers are all specialists in the bel canto style and this opera has played a key role in building their substantial reputations. For its sweeping musical imagination and technical wizardry, Rossini's epic about royal assassination and misdirected lust in the ancient Babylonian Empire deserves a place in any inclusive opera collection, and we are not likely to have a better video recording of Semiramide in the foreseeable future. June Anderson has an attractive appearance and sounds exactly right in the music's florid melodic lines. But she is not dramatically compelling as the wicked queen who had her husband killed and fell in love with a man who turned out to be her long-lost son, Arsace. Marilyn Horne rose to the highest levels of international fame in the role of that conflicted son, and her presence alone would be enough to give this video classic status. Her voice was a bit past its prime when this performance was recorded in 1991, but still there is no other voice quite like it, no other voice so suited to Rossini's heroic mezzo roles. Samuel Ramey is a close bass counterpart to Anderson: great tone, agile florid singing, and a rather wooden but visually appealing stage presence. Sanford Olsen has a small role and sings it near perfectly. James Conlon gets excellent musical results; John Copley's staging is massive and static. --Joe McLellan, Amazon.com

• G.I Joe, the Movie | DVD | (02/06/2003) from £4.99   |  Saving you £-2.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £2.99

  A 40 000-year-old race of snake people resurface and with help of Serpentor Desto Baroness and Dr. Mindbender plan to eliminate all of mankind and rebuild Cobrala. Once rulers of Earth the Snake people were driven underground by ice-age temperatures. While in exile they developed a plant whose spores turn ordinary men into mindless weak animals. The key to their plan is G.I. Joe's secret project -- the Broadcast Energy Emitter (B.E.T.). Only this device generates enough heat so that the spores can mature. Humankind's very existence depends on G.I. Joe but are they strong enough smart enough cunning enough to fight a warrior race with 40 000 years of experience? Don Johnson Burgess Meredith Sgt. Slaughter and others lend their amazing voice talents to this exciting animated feature.

• The Romantic Englishwoman | DVD | (19/07/2004) from £5.47   |  Saving you £-2.48 (N/A%)   |  RRP £2.99

  A successful novelist faced with writer's block invites a handsome young German poet into to his home to provide input for his troubled screenplay. However little does the author know that the guest had previously embarked on an affair with his wife and wishes to continue their relationship...

• Hey, Hey We're The Monkees | DVD | (06/08/2001) from £49.99   |  Saving you £-35.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  The incredible story of The Monkees with interviews and rare performances by the band including their hits ""Daydream Believer"" ""I'm A Believer"" ""Last Train To Clarksville"" and ""Pleasant Valley Sunday"". Featuring hilarious outtakes original screen tests of the band members concert performances and TV appearances by the band. Davy Jones Michael Nesmith Micky Dolenz and Peter Tork tell all about their lives and times. Also includes a special appearance Frank Zappa The Monkees'

• And Now You're Dead | DVD | (23/04/2001) from £4.00   |  Saving you £11.99 (299.75%)   |  RRP £15.99

  And Now You're Dead may nominally be a heist movie about two rival gangs out to steal a diamond, but in reality it's an excuse for a series of exceptional action set-pieces as only Hong Kong cinema knows how to do. The film is actually set in Prague and features both a mixed Chinese and European cast, and some fairly horrendous dubbing. Fortunately no one is going to be watching for the dialogue, and the plot--assorted gangsters betray each other, while others find friendship and redemption--has been replayed endlessly since John Woo's A Better Tomorrow (1986). While Michael Wong makes an acceptable Chow Yun Fat substitute as professional thief Marty, Shannon Lee's ruthless assassin is a revelation. She is Bruce Lee's daughter, and having already appeared in Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story (1993) and Blade (1998), she delivers perhaps the toughest action heroine since Linda Hamilton's Sarah Connor in T2. It's a breathtaking performance, especially in a deliriously extended police station battle which recalls the original Terminator. Overlook the clumsy comic relief and the sub-Bond finale, and settle back to enjoy an insanely frenzied bloodbath packed with over-the-top stunts and razor-sharp martial arts. --Gary S. Dalkin

• Red Sun Rising | DVD | (06/10/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  As the Japanese Mafia the Yakuza threatens to rip apart Los Angeles one cop crosses the Pacific to track down its most lethal killer.

• R.E.M. - This Film Is On | DVD | (18/09/2000) from £12.97   |  Saving you £2.02 (13.50%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Ten tracks from REM including: 'Near Wild Heaven' 'Losing My Religion' 'Radio Song' 'Belong' 'Half A World Away' and 'Country Feedback'.

• A Father's Betrayal | DVD | (30/06/2003) from £4.98   |  Saving you £-1.99 (N/A%)   |  RRP £2.99

  Powerful lawyer Eddie Brannigan is delighted to have his son back in his life and the feelings are reciprocated. The younger Eddie's friend Rebecca however accuses Eddie Senior of date-rape and he could end up sending his own father to jail.

• Quatermass And The Pit | DVD | (29/08/2000) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  We have met the enemy, and it is us: when a Martian spacecraft with a terrifying link to the origins of humanity is unearthed beneath a London tube station, only the esteemed Professor Bernard Quatermass (a very British--and possibly mad--precursor to Mulder and Scully) can save London's suddenly murderous population from itself. One of the most intelligently paranoid science fiction films ever produced, this pessimistic masterpiece functions as a dark flip side to the relatively optimistic alien-induced evolution theory presented in the later 2001: A Space Odyssey. Nigel Kneale's brilliant script (which posits a surprisingly plausible, otherworldly rationale for the existence of the supernatural) was later appropriated by acknowledged fan John Carpenter for his underrated Prince of Darkness. A must-see for horror and science-fiction aficionados. --Andrew Wright, Amazon.com

• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Vol. 3 | DVD | (16/02/2004) from £7.48   |  Saving you £-1.49 (-24.90%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Episodes Comprise: 1. The Way Of Invisibility 2. Fallen Angel 3. Garbageman

• Memoirs Of An Invisible Man | DVD | (19/01/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £13.99

  Nick Halloway (Chase) is a sophisticated stock analyst until a freak accident at an industrial plant renders him invisible! Yet being invisible is not as easy as it sounds as he finds himself the object of a frenzied manhunt by a corrupt government official (Neill) who wants him to become an assassin...

• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Vol. 4 | DVD | (21/06/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  A fourth volume of adventures with those heroes in a half-shell! Episodes Comprise: 1. The Shredder Strikes (Part One) 2. The Shredder Strikes (Part Two) 3. The Unconvincing Turtle Titan

• I Bought A Vampire Motorcycle | DVD | (24/10/2005) from £15.38   |  Saving you £-5.39 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Just as silly as it sounds but twice as funny! This refreshingly effective British horror spoof throws caution to the wind and entrails to the floor when biker Noddy (Morrissey) buys a classic Norton with a dark history. Garage bound by day at night the satanic cycle fuels up on the blood of Hell's Angels traffic wardens and street walkers. What follows provides the hilariously imaginative re-working of every scene you'd expect from any self-respecting vamp flick but set on two wh

• Echo Park | DVD | (07/02/2005) from £5.99   |  Saving you £7.00 (116.86%)   |  RRP £12.99

  In Echo Park a neighbourhood of Los Angeles the friendships frustrations and love affairs of everyday life come to a head. Right now they're gym instructors pizza deliverers and strip-o-gram artists but someday they'll be stars in this charming low-key comedy about the lives and loves of these would-be entertainers.

• Playing God | DVD | (12/04/2005) from £6.82   |  Saving you £-0.83 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  From the outset, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was about conflict. Producers Rick Berman and Michael Piller challenged the utopian ideals of Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek universe to create something totally different from its predecessors. That meant no familial camaraderie, squeaky-clean Federation diplomacy, or beige décor. Instead they wanted interpersonal friction, ruthless enemies (Gamma Quadrant Imperialists--The Dominion) and rebellion at every turn. The DS9 concept was originally facilitated by introducing the Cardassian/Bajoran war during The Next Generation's final days. After a muted first reception fans gradually came to accept the new look, but no one liked Star Trek without a starship and eventually the producers capitulated to viewers' wishes by introducing the USS Defiant (an apt name) in Season 3. Relying far less on technobabble than TNG, DS9 was unafraid to focus on matters of the spirit instead, demonstrating a ballsy independence from its parent shows. Taking up the gauntlet thrown down by Babylon 5, improved CGI space battles also became a fan favourite. Throughout the increasingly serialised story arc there were rebellious factions within the different establishments: Kira had belonged to the Shakaar resistance cell; the Maquis was Starfleet vs Cardassians; section 31 was a secret Starfleet group; the True Way was a Bajoran group opposed to peace; the Cardassians had their Obsidian Order and the Romulans their Gestapo-like Tal Shiar. Yet for all its constant bickering and espionage (even Bashir got to be James Bond), there was always some contemporary social commentary lurking: the Ferengi were used as a comedic foil to frown on materialistic greed; drugs were looked at via the Jem'Hadar foot soldiers' addiction to Ketracel White. Perhaps Sisko summed up the real heart of things: "Bajor doesn't need a man, it needs a legend". A future vision that retains a place for religion and spirituality turned out to be Deep Space Nine's first best destiny. --Paul Tonks

• The Anna Neagle Collection | DVD | (07/01/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £39.99

  Set Comprises: Derby Day: 1952 I Live In Grosvenor Square: 1945 The Lady Is A Square: 1959 The Lady With The Lamp: 1951 Sixty Glorious Years: 1938 Victoria The Great: 1937

• Baby Snatcher (Re Release) | DVD | (07/04/2008) from £10.95   |  Saving you £-5.96 (N/A%)   |  RRP £4.99

  Baby Snatcher

• Hardwired | DVD | (18/01/2010) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Hardwired (Fight Factory)

• X The Unknown | DVD | (26/05/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  A strange blob-like creature terrorises the inhabitants of a Scottish village.

• Next Door | DVD | (12/03/2007) from £12.99   |  Saving you £2.00 (15.40%)   |  RRP £14.99

  ""An homage to Roman Polanski with nods to David Lynch"" - Variety John has recently been dumped by his girlfriend Ingrid. His beautiful neighbours Anne and Kim seduce him and take him to a mystical and frightful world where he isn't able to tell reality from fantasy.