"Actor: Michael W"

• Scott Pilgrim vs. the World | Blu Ray | (24/03/2025) from £17.11   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Jabberwocky | DVD | (17/02/2003) from £8.99   |  Saving you £4.00 (44.49%)   |  RRP £12.99

  A medieval comedy-adventure starring Michael Palin and directed by Terry Gilliam, Jabberwocky is an episodic adaptation of Lewis Carrolls surreal poem. Having previously directed Monty Python and The Holy Grail (1975) with Terry Jones, Jabberwocky marked Gilliams solo directorial debut--is it coincidental that Jones is killed by the titular monster in the opening scene? Palin plays the naive Dennis Cooper, a man seeking his fortune just as the Jabberwocky is laying waste to the country. Its much the same world as Holy Grail, with all the trappings of the romantic Hollywood epic being liberally coated with literal and metaphorical muck. Palins character causes unwitting mayhem wherever he goes--one stand-out scene involves the destruction of a maintenance shop for damaged knights-in-armour--though as much humour comes from exposing the foibles of the people he meets. And those people constitute a roll call of contemporary British comedy: Harry H Corbett as a sex-mad squire, Warren Mitchells Mr Fishfinger, plus Annette Badland, Max Wall, John Le Mesurier, Rodney Bewes, John Bird, Neil Innes and John Gorman. Jabberwocky lacks the hilarity of Holy Grail, but is a consistently amusing, exceptionally atmospheric, gleefully gory yarn which points the way to Gilliams Time Bandits (1981) and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988). On the DVD Jabberwocky is distinguished by an engaging and enthusiastic commentary from Gilliam and Palin, in which they delight in the amazing cast and ponder how such a handsome film was made. Otherwise the extras are a short sketch-to-screen comparison, three posters and three trailers (only one for Jabberwocky). Transferred anamorphically enhanced at 1.77:1, the picture is variable, with many beautifully lit indoor scenes looking fine, while other exterior, daylight shots appear washed out. There is some minor print damage. The sound is a revelation for a low-budget 1970s film originally released in mono. Given a full Dolby Digital 5.1 remix the tremendously detailed, rich and involving soundscape really brings Gilliams world alive and puts many much more recent and expensive titles to shame. --Gary S Dalkin

• Bloodrayne | DVD | (12/05/2008) from £6.17   |  Saving you £9.82 (159.16%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Live To Kill. Kill To Live... Meet Rayne. She's every man's dream. She's every vampire's living nightmare. And she's out avenge her Mother's brutal death at the hands of Kagan Kind of the Vampire's before he lays eighteenth century Romania to ruin. Driven by her own vampire bloodlust but refusing to take innocent lives Rayne transforms into Bloodrayne blazing an explosive trail of action packed destruction in this awe-inspiring tale of merciless vengeance.

• Kidnapped | DVD | (08/08/2016) from £7.29   |  Saving you £2.70 (37.04%)   |  RRP £9.99

  The adventures of young orphan David Balfour as he travels through the Scottish Highlands during the Jacobite rebellion in search of his rightful inheritance.

• Waterloo - Special Edition (LIMITED TO 5,000 COPIES) | Blu Ray | (14/06/2021) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  First time on Blu-Ray in the UK. Waterloo is the 1970 epic period war film directed by Sergei Bondarchuk and produced by legendary producer Dino De Laurentis. It depicts the story of the preliminary events and the Battle of Waterloo and is famous for its lavish battle scenes. Starring Rod Steiger as Napoleon Bonaparte and Christopher Plummer as the Duke of Wellington with a cameo by Orson Welles as Louis XVIII of France, and Jack Hawkins all contribute fine portraits of great men against a magnificent backdrop of battle and bloodshed.

• Godzilla | DVD | (29/03/2010) from £9.93   |  Saving you £-3.94 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  As "gigantic monster reptile attacks New York" movies go, you've got to admit that Godzilla delivers the goods, although its critical drubbing and box-office disappointment were arguably deserved. It's a shameless, uninspired crowd-pleaser that's content to serve up familiar action with the advantage of really fantastic special effects, and if you expect nothing more you'll be one among millions of satisfied customers. There's really no other way to approach it--you just have to accept the fact that Independence Day creators Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin are unapologetic plagiarists, incapable of anything more than mindless spectacle that can play in any cinema in the world without dubbing or subtitles. The whole movie plays out like a series of highlights stolen from previous blockbusters of the 1990s; it's little more than a rehash of the Jurassic Park movies. The derivative script is so trivial that it's unworthy of comment, apart from a few choice laughs and the casting of Michael Lerner as New York's mayor, whose name is Ebert and who closely resembles a certain well-known movie critic. Perhaps that's a clever hint that this movie's essentially critic-proof. It's stupid but it's fun, and for most audiences that's a fitting definition of mainstream Hollywood entertainment. --Jeff Shannon

• The Day the Earth Stood Still | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £9.15   |  Saving you £0.84 (9.18%)   |  RRP £9.99

  The very epitome of a cult SF classic, The Day the Earth Stood Still is more often referenced than seen, which is a pity since it remains even now one of the most thought-provoking examples of the genre. The title is a misnomer, a mere tease to entice 1950s audiences into the cinema in the expectation of seeing another sensationalist B-movie about murderous aliens (i.e. Communists). In fact, Robert Wise's film of Edmund North's screenplay is a thoughtful Cold War allegory about a Christ-like visitor (Michael Rennie) who comes to Earth preaching a message of salvation for mankind, only to be spurned, killed then finally resurrected (significantly, Rennie's character Klaatu adopts the pseudonym "Mr Carpenter" while on the run from the authorities). Aside from its philosophical message, the film also boasts memorable imagery--notably the giant robot Gort--a much-quoted catchphrase in "Klaatu barada nikto", and one of composer Bernard Herrmann's most admired scores, featuring the theremin and other electronic instruments that must have sounded very otherworldly back in 1951. The result is a bona fide landmark in cinema SF with a central message about "weapons of mass destruction" that's still uncannily relevant today. On the DVD: The Day the Earth Stood Still has been splendidly restored for its DVD incarnation from the original 35 mm print, and the results are demonstrated in the "Restoration Comparison" feature. Also included is a fascinating 1951 newsreel showing Klaatu receiving a certificate of merit amid stories of Communist threats, the Korean war and beauty pageants ("Pomp and pulchritude on parade in Atlantic City"). Best of all is an absorbing commentary track with director Robert Wise in conversation with Nicholas Meyer (both men have Star Trek movies on their CV). --Mark Walker

• Arrival | Blu Ray | (20/03/2017) from £10.35   |  Saving you £-3.36 (N/A%)   |  RRP £6.99

  When mysterious spacecraft touch down across the globe, an elite team led by expert linguist Louise Banks (Amy Adams) are brought together to investigate. As mankind teeters on the verge of global war, Banks and the team race against time for answers and to find them, she will take a chance that could threaten her life, and quite possibly humanity's very existence.

• Love Soup | DVD | (21/11/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Tamsin Greig and Michael Landes star in this romantic comedy drama penned by sitcom legend David Renwick. Love Soup looks at what happens when your first love is a distant memory but you haven't yet found the one. Dealing with the parallel lives of a perfectly matched couple who have yet to meet each other the comedy-drama follows their hopes fears and dating disasters as they try to remain sane in a world from which they each feel increasingly excluded. Tamsin Greig (Green Wing) plays Alice Chenery an account manager for a perfume company in a London department store struggling to maintain a flat in Brighton she cannot afford. Michael Landes who has starred in The Wonder Years and The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air plays Gil Raymond a successful American comedy writer who has fled his home country in search of artistic integrity and a lasting relationship.

• Shining Through | DVD | (30/06/2003) from £8.99   |  Saving you £-3.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Based on a novel by Susan Isaacs, Shining Through is uncomfortably close to Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious. This World War II drama concerns a love affair between a spy (Michael Douglas) and a secretary (Melanie Griffith) that goes south when duty turns him cold and pushes her into dangerous, behind-the-lines intelligence work. Liam Neeson plays the gentleman Nazi unwittingly providing Griffith with cover as domestic help. The best parts of the film are the twists and turns in the romance (Douglas is very good at playing a character who can turn off all feeling at will) at the beginning; the German scenes are less compelling despite such high stakes for the heroine. The climax--taking us back to Notorious whether it wants to or not--is quite gripping, largely due to Douglas's performance.--Tom Keogh

• Dark Angel: Complete Season 1 | DVD | (24/02/2003) from £19.99   |  Saving you £20.00 (100.05%)   |  RRP £39.99

  One of TV's more interesting tough-girl action shows, Dark Angel is a distinctive blend of the personal, the adventurous and the politically aware. Cocreators James Cameron (yes, that James Cameron) and Charles Eglee present a complex scenario of biological super-science and social collapse in which their gene-manipulated heroine and hacker/journalist hero can genuinely make a difference. In this first series they also provide an adversary who is a lot more than just a conventional villain. Jessica Alba is impressive as Max, bred and trained as a super-soldier but reclaiming her individual humanity; Michael Weatherly is scruffily attractive as Eyes Only, who sits semi-paralysed in his eyrie above Seattle uncovering crime, corruption and other skulduggeries and sending the woman whom he hopelessly loves out on deadly errands. Jon Savage has real authority as Lydeker, a man who has stretched his conscience to breaking point, but is not personally corrupt. Some of the best episodes here--"Prodigy" for example--are ones in which Lydeker and Max are forced into temporary alliance. Early on the relationship between Max and the other workers at Jam Pony--the courier firm that provides her with a cover identity--is a little forced, but later on the two parts of Max's life are more successfully integrated: "Shorties in Love", for example, is a genuinely touching tale about Diamond, the doomed criminal ex-lover of Max's lesbian roommate. Dark Angel was never a perfect show, but at its occasional best it manages to be simultaneously funny and dramatic. On the DVD: Dark Angel, Series 1's Region 2 DVD is ungenerous with special features, providing only short interviews with James Cameron and Charles Eglee and with the stars, and giving us a preview of the Dark Angel computer game. The episodes are presented in widescreen and have excellent Dolby Digital sound which gives vivid presence to both the dialogue and the hard-driving contemporary rock score that is part of the show's style. --Roz Kaveney

• Cliffhanger | DVD | (12/11/2018) from £7.55   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  BRAND NEW 4K RESTORATION She was an experienced climber, she trusted him to rescue her, but something went wrong high above the valley floor and Gabe Walker (Sylvester Stallone) has been blaming himself for her death ever since. Unable to deal with the tragedy, Gabe quit his job with the Rocky Mountain Rescue team and fled from his cherished mountains, leaving behind his self-esteem, his friends and the woman he loves. Now he must return to those dreaded peaks, where he finds himself trapped in a desperate battle against ruthless criminals, unforgiving nature and himself in Cliffhanger. Features: Commentary with Director Renny Harlin and Sylvester Stallone Technical Crew Commentary Personal Introduction from Renny Harlin Deleted Scenes Stallone on the Edge: The Making of Cliffhanger Special Effects: Sarah's Fall & The Helicopter Explosion Storyboard Comparisons Trailer Introduction from Renny Harlin

• Porco Rosso Collector's Edition | Blu Ray | (29/11/2021) from £20.00   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Where Eagles Dare | Blu Ray | (17/04/2019) from £8.75   |  Saving you £9.24 (105.60%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Scorned by reviewers when it came out, Where Eagles Dare has acquired a cult following over the years for its unashamed and highly concentrated dose of commando death-dealing to legions of Nazi machine-gun fodder. In 1968 Clint Eastwood was just getting used to the notion that he might be a world-class movie star; Richard Burton, whose image had been shaped equally by classical theatre and his headline-making romance with Elizabeth Taylor, was eager to try his hand at the action genre. Author Alistair MacLean's novel The Guns of Navarone had inspired the film that started the 1960s vogue for World War II military capers, so he was prevailed upon to write the screenplay (his first). The central location, an impregnable Alpine stronghold locked in ice and snow, is surpassing cool, but the plot and action are ultra-mechanical, and the switcheroo gamesmanship of just who is the undercover double (triple?) agent on the mission becomes aggressively silly. --Richard T Jameson

• Lovecraft Country: Season 1 | DVD | (22/02/2021) from £12.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  A young African-American travels across the U.S. in the 1950s in search of his missing father.

• The Founder | DVD | (12/06/2017) from £7.05   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  The incredible true story of how Ray Kroc (Academy Award nominee Michael Keaton, Spotlight, Birdman), a salesman from Illinois, met Mac (John Carroll Lynch, Jackie) and Dick McDonald (Nick Offerman, 22 Jump Street), who were running a burger operation in 1950s Southern California. So impressed by the brothers' 'speedy system' Kroc risked his marriage, bankruptcy and his reputation to create a billion-dollar empire that revolutionised the world. From director John Lee Hancock (Saving Mr. Banks, The Blind Side) and writer Robert D. Siegel (The Wrestler) comes a stunning and shocking portrayal of the man whose hunger for the American Dream ate away everything he knew.

• Streets Of Fire | DVD | (03/08/2009) from £31.89   |  Saving you £-21.90 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  The Bombers motorcycle gang headed by the vicious Raven Shaddock kidnap diva Ellen Aim. Her hope for rescue lies with unlikely heroes: soldier of fortune Tom Cody and his sidekick the two-fisted beer-guzzling McCoy. Joined by Ellen's manager Billy Fish the trio plunge headfirst into a world of rain-splattered streets hot cars and deadly assassins.

• The Sleeping Dictionary | DVD | (29/03/2004) from £9.99   |  Saving you £10.00 (100.10%)   |  RRP £19.99

  A young English colonial and the Sarawak tribeswoman he takes as his tutor and his concubine fall in love. They are forced to separate but when the young man returns with his new bride the passions between the two reignite...

• Batman | Blu Ray | (17/04/2019) from £9.75   |  Saving you £10.24 (105.03%)   |  RRP £19.99

  After a young boy witnesses his parents' murder on the streets of Gotham City he grows up to become Batman a mysterious figure in the eyes of Gotham's citizens who takes crime-fighting into his own hands. He first emerges out of the shadows when the Joker appears - a horribly disfigured individual who is out for revenge on his former employer and generally likes to have a good time but the identity of the bat is unknown. Perhaps millionaire Bruce Wayne and photographer Vicki Vale have a good chance of finding out?

• Hanover Street | DVD | (16/09/2002) from £10.78   |  Saving you £2.21 (20.50%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Written and directed by Peter Hyams 'Hanover Street' stars Harrison Ford as David a WWII American bomber pilot who meets and falls in love with a beautiful nurse during an air raid in London. Unbeknownst to him she is married. David is then shot down behind enemy lines while accompanying a British agent into France. In the midst of danger David comes to realise that the agent is his lover's husband...