A serious film on a serious subject, Dead Man Walking (1995) is enriched by two excellent performances: Sean Penn as a murderer and rapist facing execution on Death Row, and Susan Sarandon as a nun who visits and befriends him. Tim Robbins, the writer and director of the film (and Sarandon's husband), based the film on a true story, and there's not much narrative tension since it's obvious Penn will not escape his fate. But the film is a clear-eyed look at the realities of capital punishment and its grisly rituals, which at the same time never sentimentalises the people or the issues. There is no shying away from the evil of the murderer's acts and their effects on the victims' families, but this is balanced against the heartlessness and cynicism of those in the prison system and their political masters. It's hard to say whether the film is ultimately against capital punishment; it certainly encourages you to think for yourself. On the DVD: The image and sound quality is excellent, in widescreen ratio 16:9. There's a theatrical trailer and a TV commercial for the film, which also has language tracks in English, French and Spanish and subtitles in English, French, Spanish, Dutch and Hungarian. There's also an audio commentary on the film by director Tim Robbins which gives valuable insights into the political background of the film and the shooting process. --Ed Buscombe
A future history as scripted by the visionary writer H.G. Wells, Things To Come set a high benchmark for science fiction with its fantastic design, gigantic sets and spectacular special effects. Acknowledged as a landmark within the genre, Oscar-winning William Cameron Menzies creates an astounding vision of post-war desolation and utopian futurism. Starring Oscar-nominated Raymond Massey as John Cabal and his descendants and the award-winning Ralph Richardson as The Boss, Things To Come showcases a gorgeous, and instantly recognisable, score by Arthur Bliss. Presented for the first time in High Definition, this version of Things To Come has been painstakingly restored from the remaining film elements and represents the most complete version known to exist.It's Christmas 1940 and the people of Everytown, unprepared and ill-equipped, find themselves at war against an enemy who has been planning such a conflict for years. The land is devastated by the horrors of aerial bombardment as the war drags on for thirty years, causing a period of despair, with feudal tyrants ruling a downtrodden populace suffering famine and pestilence. Can the human race rise above its desperate circumstances and build a scientific utopia?
K2 is a thrilling action adventure about two men Taylor Brooks (Michael Biehn) and Harold Jamieson (Matt Craven) attempting to conquer the most feared mountain in the world. Their quest takes them from America to the sheer peaks of Alaska where they encounter and join a group preparing for the mammoth expedition. Then on to the mighty Karakoram mountain range in Northern Pakistan where K2 ""The Savage Mountain"" awaits. One by one the mountaineers are faced with setbacks and disast
Rapid Fire was the penultimate film starring Brandon Lee before his untimely death on the set of The Crow. It's a standard martial arts thriller in which Lee plays Jake Lo, a young arts student who witnesses a gangland execution and is unwittingly drawn into a pitched standoff between the mafia, a Chinese drug syndicate and Ryan, a downbeat but resolute Chicago cop (Powers Boothe) determined to nail his prey. With a plot that careens through every genre cliché, Lee's smouldering looks and showy fighting skills carry the film. The martial arts sequences (which Lee co-choreographed) are nicely staged, but given the unusual settings--the penultimate fight takes place in a Chinese laundry--could have been even more inventive. The workmanlike direction by Dwight H Little (Marked for Death, Free Willy 2) fails to inject much into the material. In particular, traumatised by seeing his Special Agent father die in the Tiananmen Square massacre, Jake Lo's attraction to both a corrupt FBI agent and Ryan as surrogate father figures could have been given more resonance given the loss of Brandon Lee's own father at an early age. With hundreds of bloodless deaths, cringe-worthy dialogue and a dated power rock soundtrack, Rapid Fire looks and feels like a TV film. And on that level, at least, it's entertaining. On the DVD: The main feature is presented in letterboxed widescreen. Sound and picture quality are very good. Subtitles are provided for ten languages (Czech, Danish, Finnish, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Norweigian, Polish, Portuguese, Swedish) and in English for the hard of hearing. Extra features are limited to chapter selection and a theatrical trailer. --Chris Campion
This comedy stars Rob Schneider ("Deuce Bigalow")as a police cadet who, after nearly dying in a car accident while driving through a remote area, is rescued by a strange beast who performs surgery on him in a barn, using animal parts as transplants.
A fascinating adventure into the unknown! When an ordinary businessman encounters a mysterious radioactive mist during a boating trip his life takes a bizarre and frightening twist. Soon he finds he is shrinking and within weeks he's just two inches tall battling cats and spiders.
"That damned elusive Pimpernel" finds a dashing embodiment in Leslie Howard, who has the steel to be an action hero and the wit to hide behind his alter ego: a British fop. Based on Baroness Orczy's novel, The Scarlet Pimpernel focuses on the efforts of this British dandy to aid members of the French aristocracy in escaping the guillotines of the French revolution. He also romances Merle Oberon, a beauty forgotten by recent generations and engages in a wonderfully wicked duel of wits with the humourless enforcer for the French Republicans (Raymond Massey). If somewhat short on swashbuckling, it's long on the kind of costume drama that Hollywood seems to have forgotten how to do. The film was remade in 1982 for television, in an equally engaging version starring Anthony Andrews. --Marshall Fine
Giant (1956): George Stevens' sweeping Oscar-winning epic about the cataclysmic effect the discovery of oil in Texas has on the lifestyle of the former cattle barons. Dean is Jett Rink a sullen-farm hand who becomes a millionaire overnight. Tough always angry restless bewildered and reckless Rink's animal charm and tycoon's magnetism means he always gets his way. But when he fails in love with Leslie he loses his way with an equal violence... East Of Eden (1955): J
The Pixar-like roll of Judd Apatow (The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Superbad) continues with another sure-fire hit. In charting the meteoric rise, catastrophic fall and Lazarus-like comeback of rocker Dewey Cox, Walk Hard parodies the classic Hollywood bio-pic, cashing in mostly on Walk the Line. John C. Reilly, one of Hollywood's most solid character actors, makes the most of his Golden Globe-nominated star turn as Dewey, whose road to stardom is paved with a childhood tragedy that claims the life of his prodigiously talented brother ("The wrong kid died," is his father's mantra), instant stardom (his first record is a hit just 35 minutes after it was recorded), sex and drugs, and the inevitable "dark (effen) period" that leads him to rehab. Reilly gets solid back-up from current and former Saturday Night Live alumni, including Kirsten Wiig as his incredibly fertile first wife who has no faith in his musical aspirations ("You're never going to make it," she cheerily ends one phone call); Tim Meadows (never better) as Dewey's drummer, who, in one of the film's best scenes, does a poor job of dissuading him from trying marijuana); and Chris Parnell as his bass player. Jenna Fischer leaves Pam back at The Office as Darlene, Dewey's virtuous duet partner. Hilarious cameos give Walk Hard a great "Hey!" factor: Hey, that's Frankie Muniz as Buddy Holly. Hey, that's "Kenneth" from 30 Rock. Hey, there's Jack Black and Paul Rudd as--no kidding--Paul McCartney and John Lennon revealing "a rift in the Beatles." Some of the jokes are obvious (come on; the guy's last name is Cox), others inspired. But the decades-spanning music, echoing the styles of gritty Johnny Cash, romantic Roy Orbison, obtuse Bob Dylan, trippy Brian Wilson, and even a bit of anachronistic punk rock, is as pitch perfect and affectionately observed as in The Rutles, This Is Spinal Tap and A Mighty Wind. Walk Hard earns its R-rating, particularly for a sure-to-be-talked-about scene of hotel-room debauchery. But: Hilarious? Outrageous? Twisted? To quote the title of one of Dewey's hit songs, "Guilty as Charged." --Donald Liebenson
During the 1940s the Rank Organisation was a phenomenal success in the film world boasting five studios two newsreels a great many production companies a staff of 31 000 650 cinemas and an incredible turnover of 45 million. To celebrate 70 years of Britain's most acclaimed film studio this fantastic collection encompasses some of Ranks most prestigious and successful films. The Red Shoes The tragic and romantic story of Vicky Page the brilliant young dancer who must giv
She gave her innocence her passion her body. The one thing she couldn't give was her love. Indochina 1929. On a ferry a 27-year-old Chinese man spots an alluring but poor French teenager. They soon begin a forbidden but fiercely passionate romance. While the man truly loves the girl she remains aloof for her involvement with him is more out of rebellion towards her family -- and for sexual excitement -- rather than love. However when the gentleman is forced to marry a wom
Tally Atwater (Michelle Pfeiffer) has a dream: to be a prime-time network newscaster. She pursues this dream with nothing but ambition raw talent and a homemade demo tape. Warren Justice (Robert Redford) is a brilliant hard edged veteran newsman. He sees Tally has talent and becomes her mentor. Tally’s career takes a meteoric rise and she and Warren fall in love. The romance that results is as intense and revealing as television news itself. Yet each breaking story ev
Alongside Sanders of the River and The Four Feathers, this rip-roaring Technicolor adventure completes what became known as Alexander Korda's 'Empire trilogy', made by London Films in the late 1930s.An unabashed celebration of the British Raj, The Drum made a star of Sabu, the young Indian actor who was to become a firm favourite in both British and American films over the coming decade. Also starring Roger Livesey as an Army captain working undercover to monitor arms smuggling and featuring a brilliantly malevolent performance from Oscar nominee Raymond Massey as a murderous royal usurper intent on fomenting rebellion, The Drum is featured here in a brand-new transfer from original film elements, in its original theatrical aspect ratio.SPECIAL FEATURES: Image Gallery Promotional Materials PDF
A 1991 comedy, Delirious stars John Candy as the head writer on a soap opera set in the fictional small town of Ashford Falls, whose naff power dressing and power wrangling is distinctly reminiscent of Dynasty. Candy has a crush on the somewhat imperious and Joan Collins-esque star of the show, played by Emma Samms, although waiting in the wings to be written into the show is the more wholesome and unaffected actress Mariel Hemingway. Delirious takes a turn when Candy is felled in an accident and awakes, supernaturally, to find himself in the very world of his own soap, with Ashford Falls a real town and its fictional characters, including Samms, now real people. Candy discovers, however, that in this world he has the power to "write" situations as they suit him--in this case, by casting himself as a dashing, wealthy and mysterious Wall Street hero, able to sweep Samms off her feet. The film is in some ways a precursor of Pleasantville (in which two teens are sucked into the world of a "Honey, I'm home" black and white 1950s sitcom). However, between them the star, writers and director (Tom Mankiewicz) make a ham fist of Delirious. The parody of soap mores is quite well done but quickly palls in its obviousness; Candy's performance is misjudged, as if trying too hard to make the best of a bad job; while overall, the film feels cheap, tacky and broad, once again raising the question why in the 1980s and 90s America produced such great sitcoms but such poor film comedies. On the DVD: Delirious is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. It's a decent enough edition but looks its age in places, in terms of colour definition in particular. The only extra is the original trailer. --David Stubbs
Based on John Steinbeck's novel and directed by Elia Kazan, East of Eden was James Dean's breakout big-screen performance, one that will forever be remembered in Hollywood history. The emotionally charged film tells the story of lonely youth Cal (Dean), who view for the affection of his hardened father (Raymond Massey) and favored brother, Aron (Richard Davalos). The film received four Academy Award nominations, and Jo Van Fleet won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role as Cal's wayward mother. Product Features On-Disc Special Features 4K: Commentary by Richard Schickel BD: Documentary Forever James Dean Featurette East of Eden: Art in Search of Life 1955 New York City Premiere Actors' Screen Tests Wardrobe Tests Deleted Tests Theatrical Trailer
In a quiet French coastal resort chaos reigns when it is invaded by a noisy group of holidaymakers who want some fun in the sun. A charming movie with Tati starring as well as directing the film. This version was seen as a landmark in his illustrious career.
Holland (Charles Bronson) a professional killer is persuaded to come out of retirement when his friend a Latin American journalist is tortured to death by his country's dictator - the sadistic Dr. Clement Moloch. The journalist's widow Rhiana (Theresa Saldana) and her daughter Sarah provide cover for Holland by posing as his family. As Holland gets closer to Moloch and his coterie he begins to fear more for 'his' family's safety and insists they leave so he can get on with his deadly mission but the idealistic Rhiana is determined to witness the death of her husband's killer.
Collection of three classic James Dean films. In 'East of Eden' (1955) two brothers compete for the love of their stern, overbearing, widowed father. However, when Cal (Dean), the rejected 'rebel' son, discovers that his mother is not dead but running a nearby brothel he tells his brother Aron (Richard Davalos). This leads to the destruction of not only his relationship with Aron but also his father. 'Giant' (1956) is an epic saga which begins when Texas cattle baron Bick Benedict (Rock Hudson) takes a non-Texan wife, Leslie (Elizabeth Taylor). The story then traces two generations of his family, alongside the life of disreputable ranch-hand Jett Rink (Dean), who strikes it rich on an oil well and falls in love with Leslie. Director George Stevens won an Oscar for his work and the film garnered nine more nominations, including one for Dean, who was killed soon after filming. Finally, 'Rebel Without a Cause' (1955) takes place over a 24-hour period and follows Jim Stark (Dean), a restless teenager who is always in trouble with the law. When Jim is picked up for being drunk and disorderly he notices Judy (Natalie Wood) at the police station and determines to ask her on a date at high school the next day, which leads him into conflict with her boyfriend Buzz (Corey Allen).
An archaic document found in a bombsite reveals that the London district of Pimlico has for centuries technically been part of France. The local residents embrace their new found continental status seeing it as a way to avoid the drabness austerity and rationing of post-war England. The authorities do not however share their enthusiasm... A whimsical and charming British film 'Passport To Pimlico' is one of the finest examples of the classic Ealing comedies.
International action superstar Jean Claude Van Damme teams with Powers Boothe in a Tension-packed suspense thriller set against the back-drop of a Stanley Cup game. Van Damme portrays a father whose daughter is suddenly taken during a championship hockey game. With the captors demanding a billion dollars by game's end Van Damme frantically sets a plan in motion to rescue his daughter and abort an impending explosion before the final buzzer...
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