"Actor: Ray"

• Thunderbirds: Volume 1 | DVD | (19/07/2004) from £5.46   |  Saving you £10.53 (192.86%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Filmed in VIDECOLOR [explosions, drum roll, music builds to a climax] and SUPERMARIONATION"! The opening sequence of Thunderbirds is itself a masterclass in Gerry Anderson's marionette hyperbole: who else would dare to make a virtue out of the fact that (a) the show is in colour and (b) it's got puppets in it? But everything about this series really is epic: Thunderbirds is action on the grandest scale, pre-dating such high-concept Hollywood vehicles as Armaggedon by 30 years and more (the acting is better, too), and fetishising gadgets in a way that even the most excessive Bond movies could never hope to rival. Unsurprisingly, it transpires that the visual effects are by Derek Meddings, whose later contributions to Bond movies like The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker echo his pioneering model work here. As to the characters, the clean-cut Tracey boys take second place in the audiences' affections to their cool machines--the real stars of the show--while comic relief is to be found in the charming company of Lady Penelope and her pink Rolls (number plate FAB1), driven by lugubrious chauffeur Parker, whose "Yes, milady" catchphrase resonated around school playgrounds for decades. (Spare a thought for poor old John Tracey, stuck up in space on Thunderbird 5 with only the radio for company.) The puppet stunt-work is breathtakingly audacious, and every week's death-defying escapade is nailbitingly choreographed in the very best tradition of disaster movies. First shown in 1964 and now digitally remastered, Thunderbirds is children's TV that still looks and sounds like big-budget Hollywood. On this DVD: International Rescue's very first adventure provides a template for all the rest: in "Trapped in the Sky" an experimental new aircraft becomes the target of an evil Bond-style megalomaniac who wants to get his hands on all the neat pieces of kit operated by the Tracey siblings. The show introduces, in fetishistic detail, the recurring set-pieces: Thunderbird 1 taking off from the roll-back swimming pool, which pod will Thunderbird 2 use this week--the mole or the submarine perhaps?--and so on. Nostalgia fans will be pleased to learn that despite digital remastering the puppet strings are still in evidence, and no amount of high-tech restoration could remove the clunky expository dialogue: Stewardess: "It's the maiden flight of the new atomic-powered Fireflash." Passenger: "Isn't that the new aircraft that flies six times the speed of sound?" Stewardess: "That's right, but don't worry: it's perfectly safe." [Cut to: interior, Fireflash landing gear, a device clearly labelled "Auto-Bomb Detonator Unit"] Sinister bad guy (talking to himself for no readily apparent reason): "Perfect. Enough explosives to smash the Atomic Reactor." In the second episode, "Pit of Peril", an absurdly impractical US Army vehicle falls into the eponymous pit, necessitating use of pod five, the mole. Joy! Lady Penelope indulges in some James-Bond-style counter-espionage measures in the third episode, "The Perils of Penelope", while Parker indulges some of his famous Eliza Dolittle-isms; although he is trumped by the Cary Grant sound-a-like character Sir Jeremy Hodge (or 'odge as Parker would have it), whose response to a crisis is, "I say, open the door, we're British!". Then it's back to the action for the fourth episode, "Terror in New York City", in which poor Virgil is shot down by the US Navy in Thunderbird 2 before the boys must rescue an unscrupulous newshound from the wreckage of the Empire State Building (featuring the first appearance of their very own yellow submarine, Thunderbird 4) --Mark Walker

• Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me | DVD | (17/09/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Fire Walk With Me is a rare spin-off that refuses to repeat what worked on TV. Despite mannerisms and "draggy" spots, Twin Peaks emerged as one of the wonders of American TV: scary and funny, erotic and serious, offensive and freakish. It meandered in an always interesting but sometimes frustrating way through two seasons, then signed off with a cliff-hanger upon cancellation. When Lynch announced he would continue the saga with a theatrical movie, fans assumed he would: (a) pull out the stops to show what evils really lurked behind the pretty façade of that small town, and (b) wrap up a storyline which tailed off with Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) possessed by the evil spirit "Bob". As it happens, Lynch delivered on (a) but refrained from fulfilling clause (b), opting to do a prequel--adapted in part from The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer, a tie-in novel by Jennifer (Boxing Helena) Lynch--which sets up the series by following the last week in the life of the "prom queen from Hell". Fire Walk With Me assumes you will be familiar with the series (some bits are incomprehensible unless you paid attention while other bits are just incomprehensible), making it most accessible to Twin Peaks initiates though sometimes deliberately offensive to them. It then omits several of the show's stars (Michael Ontkean, Richard Beymer, Joan Chen, Sherilyn Fenn) and a great many of the "lovable" aspects (wry jokes, damn fine coffee), relegating MacLachlan to a walk-on since the story happens before Cooper was assigned to Twin Peaks. Some instances of joyless sex and violence exceed anything Lynch could do on television, but for the most part he creates an atmosphere of dread through edgy performances, unsettling lighting and sound effects and sheer grimness. Without the catchphrases and the quirky charm, the film never feels cuddly in the way the TV show did, but it is one of Lynch's finest works and, though deeply uncomfortable, a TV spin-off which ranks with the best in both media. On the DVD: The DVD is Region 0 with a widescreen print, augmented for 16x9 televisions. It holds a better-looking transfer than previous video or laserdisc releases and offers an eerie red room/blue rose menu. However the disc offers absolutely no notes, trailers, crib sheets, bios, or other extra features. --Kim Newman

• Point Break (Blu-ray 3D) | Blu Ray | (13/06/2016) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £29.99

  A young FBI agent, Johnny Utah (Luke Bracey), infiltrates a cunning team of thrill-seeking elite athletes - led by the charismatic Bodhi (Edgar Ramirez). The athletes are suspected of carrying out a spate of crimes in extremely unusual ways.

• Ray Winstone's Football Blinders And Blunders | DVD | (24/11/2008) from £5.13   |  Saving you £14.86 (289.67%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Ray Winstone's Football Blinders And Blunders

• She's Having A Baby | DVD | (04/11/2002) from £18.60   |  Saving you £-5.61 (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  This time last year Jake and Kristi were two crazy single kids in love. Now they're two crazy married adults in transition. Their dreams of a perfect life in a perfect house have turned into a series of hilarious marital mishaps. And Kristi just got some news that really ought to make things interesting: she's having a baby! Kevin Bacon and Elizabeth McGovern are Jake and Kristi a perfect couple in an imperfect world. Their solutions to real-life problems make 'She's Having A Baby

• Gettysburg (Ridley Scott's) | DVD | (23/07/2012) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Ridley Scott brings the bloodiest battle in US History to life as you've never seen it before.

• The Lost Weekend | Blu Ray | (25/06/2012) from £31.98   |  Saving you £-7.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £22.99

  "I'm not a drinker--I'm a drunk." These words, and the serious message behind them, were still potent enough in 1945 to shock audiences flocking to The Lost Weekend. The speaker is Don Birnam (Ray Milland), a handsome, talented, articulate alcoholic. The writing team of producer Charles Brackett and director Billy Wilder pull no punches in their depiction of Birnam's massive weekend bender, a tailspin that finds him reeling from his favorite watering hole to Bellevue Hospital. Location shooting in New York helps the street-level atmosphere, especially a sequence in which Birnam, a budding writer, tries to hock his typewriter for booze money. He desperately staggers past shuttered storefronts--it's Yom Kippur, and the pawnshops are closed. Milland, previously known as a lightweight leading man (he'd starred in Wilder's hilarious The Major and the Minor three years earlier), burrows convincingly under the skin of the character, whether waxing poetic about the escape of drinking or screaming his lungs out in the D.T.'s sequence. Wilder, having just made the ultra-noir Double Indemnity, brought a new kind of frankness and darkness to Hollywood's treatment of a social problem. At first the film may have seemed too bold; Paramount Pictures nearly killed the release of the picture after it tested poorly with preview audiences. But once in release, The Lost Weekend became a substantial hit, and won four Oscars: for picture, director, screenplay, and actor. --Robert Horton

• Field Of Dreams | DVD | (24/09/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Field of Dreams is, in the words of its makers, a baseball film that "isn't about baseball". Rather, it's a magical film that works its spell on all but the most hard-boiled of viewers, an altogether superior slice of apple-pie sentimentality. Kevin Costner plays a young Iowa farmer who finds himself pestered by a whispering voice urging him, "If you build it, he will come". With the consent of an uncharacteristically supportive Hollywood wife (Amy Madigan) he sets about building a baseball diamond in the middle of his land. This action invites the prospect of bankruptcy--however, it also invites the spirit of "Shoeless" Joe Jackson, a baseball superstar disgraced following his role in the 1919 World Series scandal. The supernatural voices continue to urge Costner to "go the distance"--and he seeks out reclusive writer Thomas Mann (James Earl Jones) and "Doc" Graham (Burt Lancaster), impelled by purposes he is as yet unable to divine. Field of Dreams works because it touches so endearingly on themes of redemption, inner peace and the possibility of second chances--the "dreams" which elude most of us. It also cites baseball as an idyllic metaphor for all that is decent and constant about America. Costner gives immense plausibility to an utterly, deliberately implausible scenario. On the DVD: Presented in anamorphic 1.78:1, the vivid, almost unnaturally natural Iowa colours are depicted to vivid effect (much of the diamond grass had to be painted green when it died). Generous extras include a making-of feature, an interview with WP Kinsella, author of the novel on which the book is based, and Costner. Director/writer Phil Alden Robinson also provides a director's commentary in which he describes the logistical difficulties of assembling 1500 automobiles for the memorable final scene. --David Stubbs

• The Hot Potato | Blu Ray | (10/09/2012) from £22.19   |  Saving you £2.80 (12.62%)   |  RRP £24.99

  London's East End, 1969: Our heroes Kenny (Ray Winstone) and Danny (Jack Huston) come into possession of a mysterious box which turns out to contain a large lump of weapons grade Uranium - a true Hot Potato!Initially unaware of The Hot Potato's true value they very quickly realise the danger they've been exposed to. Ably assisted by Danny's girlfriend, the beautiful Carole (Lois Winstone) and shadowed at every turn by the unshakeable criminal Harry (Colm Meadey), Kenny and Danny reluctantly embark on a quest to offload the potato to the highest bidder. Taking them on an epic journey that criss-crosses Europe, and into the company of an ever increasing assortment of shady and bizarre characters, Hot Potato is an 'Italian Job' tinged crime caper that you won't forget!

• Twin Peaks - Fire Walk With Me | DVD | (08/08/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Meet Laura Palmer... In a town where nothing is as it seems... And everyone has something to hide. A young girl named Teresa Banks is found brutally murdered. The FBI agents leading the investigation are drawn into a bizarre and dangerous world and then disappear. The case is handed to Agent Dale Cooper. He knows it is only a matter of time before the killer strikes again. Welcome to Twin Peaks an idyllic part of small-town America one year later. A picture postcard settin

• Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs | Blu Ray | (23/11/2009) from £4.24   |  Saving you £20.75 (489.39%)   |  RRP £24.99

  The most unlikeliest herd are back and this time they're having to face up to some pretty terrifying interlopers!

• Girlfight | DVD | (15/10/2001) from £4.90   |  Saving you £15.09 (307.96%)   |  RRP £19.99

  This Sundance Festival award winning film is a quick-tempered young woman who finds discipline, self-respect and love in the most unlikely place: a boxing ring.

• The Blade | DVD | (17/04/2000) from £29.95   |  Saving you £-9.96 (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Legendary Hong Kong Director Tsui Hark blends violent action and stunning swordplay in his remake of the Shaw Brothers classic One-Armed Swordsman. The Blade is a sweeping epic which highlights the incredible fighting talent of Chiu Cheuk Hong Kong's latest action start. When a master sword-maker adopts the son of a murdered friend (Chiu Cheuk) the boy learns the master's craft well. As a young man he learns about his fathers death at the hand of a mysterious tattooed killer (Xiong-Xin-Xin). He takes fathers broken blade and sets out to seek vengeance. The daughter Ling follows but is caught in a bloody ambush. When he tries to rescue her his arm is hacked off in the battle and he is believed dead by all except Ling and his friend who set out in search of him. But he is saved by a hermit girl who nurses him back to health where he finds an old kung fu manual and practices with the broken blade to perfect the art of one armed swordfighting. In a breathtaking finale unlike anything you have seen before our hero sets off once again to find the tattooed assassin a quest that leads to an explosive and spectacular showdown.

• Catherine Cookson - Birth, Death, Love And Marriage | DVD | (21/08/2006) from £29.99   |  Saving you £10.00 (33.34%)   |  RRP £39.99

  Catherine Cookson was born Catherine McMullen in 1906. Her life began in poverty and she grew up believing her real mother was her sister. In a life that could have been taken from any of her own novels Catherine aspired to achieve more than many of her time. From poverty to wealth she left the sadness behind to start a new life in Hastings where she was to meet her husband Tom Cookson. As a form of therapy Catherine began to write and never stopped and became one of the world's be

• Auf Wiedersehen Pet - Series 2 - Vol. 2 : Episodes 4-6 | DVD | (08/07/2002) from £7.94   |  Saving you £5.05 (63.60%)   |  RRP £12.99

  First broadcast in 1983 with its second series airing in 1986, Auf Wiedersehen Pet was an unlikely comedy hit about a group of British labourers forced to work in Germany during the recession. Scripted by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, (previously responsible for Porridge and The Likely Lads) its main players are likable stereotypes from all over England: Barry (Timothy Spall), the bumbling, haplessly pretentious Brummie; gentle West Country giant Bomber (Pat Roach); amiable scouse Moxey (Christopher Fairbank); and the three Geordies, nervous Neville (Kevin Whately), loudmouth xenophobic lummox Oz (Jimmy Nail) and put-upon Dennis (Tim Healy), the reluctant gaffer of the mob. The second series saw the lads reunited to work for a dubious entrepreneur called Ally Fraser to whom Dennis owes money, and the location varying from Spain to Derbyshire. Gary Holton (cheeky cockney Wayne) died during the making of the series and Clement and La Frenais farmed out several episodes to other writers, such as Stan Hey, but the characters were well established by this point and the comedy held up. An episode in which the gang upset the locals of a stuffy country pub with their very presence is particularly memorable. A belated third series followed in 2002. --David Stubbs

• Digging Up The Marrow | DVD | (22/06/2015) from £3.19   |  Saving you £12.80 (80.10%)   |  RRP £15.99

  In Digging Up The Marrow, filmmaker Adam Green receives a package from a strange man (Ray Wise, Twin Peaks, X Men First Class, Robocop) claiming that he can prove that monsters exist. As the lines between fantasy and reality are increasingly blurred, he and his crew are taken on a mysterious, fantastical, and terrifying journey into the shadows and deep underground. Written and directed by Green an inspired by the original monster genre art of artist and Executive Producer, Alex Pardee, Digging Up The Marrow was an Official Selection at Frightfest.

• Killers | DVD | (01/09/2014) from £9.99   |  Saving you £8.00 (80.08%)   |  RRP £17.99

  In this bloody and violent Japanese action thriller from the makers of The Raid a serial killer based in Tokyo murders women and posts videos of the deaths to YouTube. He notices a similar video posted by a man in Jakarta named Bayu. Bayu's killing was in self-defence but in an odd sense of blood lust he posted the murders online. The serial killer believes he's found his soul mate and tries to get the normally mild-mannered journalist Bayu to embrace his new found murderous streak.

• The Blues Brothers | DVD | (07/11/2005) from £14.89   |  Saving you £15.10 (101.41%)   |  RRP £29.99

  The Blues Brothers (Dir. John Landis 1980): They'll never get caught. They're on a mission from God. After the release of Jake Blues (John Belushi) from prison he and brother Elwood (Dan Aykroyd) go to visit the orphanage where they were raised by nuns. They learn that the church stopped its support and will sell the place unless the tax on the property is paid within 11 days. The brothers decide to raise the money by putting their blues band back together and stagin

• Rob the Mob | DVD | (12/01/2015) from £7.13   |  Saving you £8.86 (124.26%)   |  RRP £15.99

  In the vein of True Romance Rob the Mob chronicles the lives of a real-life Bonnie and Clyde who made the bold move to rob and humiliate some of New York City's most powerful mobsters. Fresh from prison for a small-time crime reunited lovers Thomas (Pitt) and Rosie (Arianda) find themselves in need of cash. After hearing testimony from John Gotti's high-profile trial that mob social clubs are gun-free Thomas and Rosie brazenly rob these underground spots operated by the major crime families in the city. Unwittingly they come across something much more valuable than money: a list of every mobster in the families. Now the feds family members and rival mobsters are on the hunt for the most notorious lovers since Romeo and Juliet.

• Raffles | DVD | (09/02/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £59.99

  All of the classic TV series featuring the debonair A J Raffles - the idol of society at the end of the nineteenth century who was also an accomplished jewel thief and safe-cracker.