"Actor: Red West"

• Dances With Wolves | DVD | (23/04/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Dances with Wolves is the film that sent director-producer-actor Kevin Costner on his hubristic way; yet it is such a resonant and powerful film that we can almost forgive him for inflicting upon us his later "epic" The Postman. Here Costner plays a Union solder stationed at the far edges of the West, and left there to rot at his post. He finally sees the wisdom of the Lakota Sioux and finds peace within their community. But his decision to "go native" is greatly frowned upon by his military commanders, and the subsequent culture clash forms the backbone of the narrative. The story is told simply, and wastes not one word of dialogue, while the South Dakota locations provide a magnificent backdrop. Costner is sympathetic and accessible as an American Everyman who awakens to himself and the world around him... --Rochelle O'Gorman, Amazon.com

• Road House | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £7.25   |  Saving you £5.74 (79.17%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Road House is one of those movies that helped usher out the era of action films that had feasible plot lines (and also helped reverse the direction of Patrick Swayze's career arc). Swayze stars as Dalton: a handsome, existential bouncer who owns both a degree in philosophy and a Mercedes and that's perhaps the most believable aspect of the whole movie. Dalton runs afoul of Wesley (Ben Gazzara), the meanest SOB round these parts, by taking up with his former girlfriend, Doc (Kelly Lynch)--the only woman in town with an IQ approaching double digits, even if she had unfathomably hooked up with such a lowlife. Swayze had complained about being typecast as beefcake when this was made, but that didn't stop him from revealing as much skin as possible. It's so insulting to its audience that it's nice to be able to turn the tables and laugh at the filmmakers.--David Kronke, Amazon.com

• Indecent Proposal | DVD | (01/07/2002) from £5.75   |  Saving you £10.24 (178.09%)   |  RRP £15.99

  One million dollars no questions asked: David and Diana can end their financial worries if they accept the offer of billionaire financier John Gage. One night with Diana nothing more: that's what Gage wants in return. But will David and Diane accept? If they do can their marriage survive? One irresistible movie 'Indecent Proposal': the sizzling controversial exploration of modern love and morality.

• Dances with Wolves (Three Disc Special Edition) | DVD | (11/10/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Kevin Costner's 1990 epic won a bundle of Oscars for a moving, engrossing story of a white soldier (Costner) who singlehandedly mans a post in the 1870 Dakotas, and becomes a part of the Lakota Sioux community who live nearby. The film may not be a masterpiece, but it is far more than the sum of good intentions. The characters are strong, the development of relationships is both ambitious and careful, the love story between Costner and Mary McDonnell's character is captivating. Only the third-act portrait of white intruders as morons feels overbearing, but even that leads to a terribly moving conclusion. Costner's direction is assured, the balance of action and intimacy is perfect--what more could anyone want outside of an unqualified masterpiece? --Tom Keogh

• Persuasion | DVD | (01/11/1999) from £14.29   |  Saving you £5.70 (39.89%)   |  RRP £19.99

  After a slow beginning, in which the complex tangle of relationships is initially confusing, this BBC adaptation of Jane Austen's last novel, Persuasion, develops into an elegant romantic comedy. Austin combines a subtle dissection of the folly of class with a slow-burning, intensely passionate love story. Anne Elliot (Amanda Root) has loved Captain Wentworth (Ciaran Hinds) ever since she was persuaded to reject him years before. Now he has returned from the Napoleonic wars, but will love be allowed to blossom? Especially when Anne is surrounded by the selfish, petty-minded Mary, misguided by Lady Russell, and burdened by a father obsessed with fairness of countenance above all other considerations. Excepting a basic booklet, on-screen character biographies and a Dolby Digital soundtrack, there is nothing to distinguish this DVD from the video version. The picture is very good, but showing some grain, not exceptional, so unless you have a large television there is little advantage over tape. In any format, what makes this adaptation work is the sharp screenplay by Nick Dear and the naturalistic style of director Roger Mitchell (who joined the A-list with Notting Hill, 1999), together eliciting fine performances from the ensemble cast. Less flamboyant than Pride and Prejudice (1995), this is a civilised treat. --Gary S Dalkin

• Howard's End | DVD | (17/09/2007) from £7.77   |  Saving you £8.22 (105.79%)   |  RRP £15.99

  'Only connect.' This famous command is the catalyst which brings together two very different Edwardian families - the one passionate and progressive the other hidebound by wealth and social status - with irreversible and devastating consequences. A dying woman's impulsive wish marks a turning point in the relationship between the cosmopolitan Schlegel sisters Margaret and Helen and the wealthy Wilcox family when Ruth Wilcox bequeaths her idyllic country house Howards End to Marg

• John Grisham's The Rainmaker | DVD | (09/04/2001) from £6.50   |  Saving you £6.49 (99.85%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Francis Ford Coppola directs and scripts an exciting star-packed adaptation of John Grishams novel about an idealistic young attorney who takes on the case of a lifetime. Matt Damon (Good Will Hunting) plays Rudy Baylor a rookie lawyer in over his head on a high-profile case. Opposing him: an army of seasoned legal sharks (led by Jon Voight). On Rudys side: Deck Shifflet (Danny DeVito) a feisty paralawyer who specialises in flunking the bar exam. Rudys chances are slim to n

• Howard's End | DVD | (24/02/2003) from £12.96   |  Saving you £-7.98 (N/A%)   |  RRP £1.99

  Howards End is E M Forster's beautifully subtle story of the criss-crossing paths of the privileged and those they disdain--and of a remarkable pair of women who can see beyond class distinctions. Dramatic and tragic but also surprisingly funny, this James Ivory film focuses on a pair of unmarried sisters (Emma Thompson, who won an Oscar, and Helena Bonham Carter) who befriend a poor young clerk (Sam West) and, without meaning to, ruin his life. Meanwhile, Thompson also makes the acquaintance of a dying neighbour (Vanessa Redgrave), who leaves her a family home in her will--which her husband (Anthony Hopkins) destroys. But, ironically, he meets and falls in love with Thompson, even as their paths once more intersect with the increasingly miserable young clerk. Ruth Prawer Jhabvala's beautifully economical script also won an Oscar.--Marshall Fine

• Nicholas And Alexandra | DVD | (02/12/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Perhaps the quintessential example of the intimate epic, Nicholas and Alexandra is the compelling story of Nicholas II (Michael Jayston), the last Czar of Russia, and his wife Alexandra (Janet Suzman). Director Franklin J Schaffner frames the intimate lives of the Imperial Couple against the dramatic backdrop of the Russian Revolution, creating the filmic equivalent of a monumental frieze. Private and public lives intersect when Alexandra, who has clearly read Macbeth, influences Nicholas into several misguided actions while coping with her haemophilic newborn son. Schaffner builds suspense wonderfully as he illuminates the couple's mysterious bond to the mystical Rasputin (Tom Baker) and the events leading to their execution. Nominated for Best Picture, the splendidly lensed Nicholas and Alexandra earned two Oscars for its delicious eye candy (Art Direction, Costume Design). --Kevin Mulhall

• Howards End | DVD | (27/11/2017) from £10.20   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Howards End is E M Forster's beautifully subtle story of the criss-crossing paths of the privileged and those they disdain--and of a remarkable pair of women who can see beyond class distinctions. Dramatic and tragic but also surprisingly funny, this James Ivory film focuses on a pair of unmarried sisters (Emma Thompson, who won an Oscar, and Helena Bonham Carter) who befriend a poor young clerk (Sam West) and, without meaning to, ruin his life. Meanwhile, Thompson also makes the acquaintance of a dying neighbour (Vanessa Redgrave), who leaves her a family home in her will--which her husband (Anthony Hopkins) destroys. But, ironically, he meets and falls in love with Thompson, even as their paths once more intersect with the increasingly miserable young clerk. Ruth Prawer Jhabvala's beautifully economical script also won an Oscar.--Marshall Fine

• Howards End | Blu Ray | (27/11/2017) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Howards End is E M Forster's beautifully subtle story of the criss-crossing paths of the privileged and those they disdain--and of a remarkable pair of women who can see beyond class distinctions. Dramatic and tragic but also surprisingly funny, this James Ivory film focuses on a pair of unmarried sisters (Emma Thompson, who won an Oscar, and Helena Bonham Carter) who befriend a poor young clerk (Sam West) and, without meaning to, ruin his life. Meanwhile, Thompson also makes the acquaintance of a dying neighbour (Vanessa Redgrave), who leaves her a family home in her will--which her husband (Anthony Hopkins) destroys. But, ironically, he meets and falls in love with Thompson, even as their paths once more intersect with the increasingly miserable young clerk. Ruth Prawer Jhabvala's beautifully economical script also won an Oscar.--Marshall Fine

• Howards End (the Merchant Ivory Collection) | DVD | (06/09/2004) from £20.00   |  Saving you £-10.01 (-100.20%)   |  RRP £9.99

  ""Only Connect"". This famous command is the catalyst which brings together two very different Edwardian families - the one passionate and progressive the other hidebound by wealth and social status - with irreversible and devastating consequences. A dying woman's impulsive wish marks a turning point in the relationship between the cosmopolitan Schlegel sisters Margaret and Helen and the wealthy Wilcox family when Ruth Wilcox bequeaths her idyllic country house Howards End to Margaret (Emma Thompson). Convinced that he is acting in the best interests of his family the patriarcal Henry Wilcox destroys his wife's ""unofficial"" will. But as the lonely repressed Henry falls in love with Margaret and Helen's willful attacks on class and convention strike at the very heart of the Wilcox family fate decrees that Henry must pay dearly for his deceit.

• King Lear | DVD | (20/03/2006) from £20.00   |  Saving you £-0.01 (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Adapted from the acclaimed 1997 production by the Royal National Theatre Ian Holm stars as the tragic monarch King Lear; wise headstrong but blind to his weaknesses. Proposing to divide his kingdom between his three daughters Gonreil Regan and Cornelia Lear devises a test for his offspring to convince him of their suitability and compassion for rule. As the scheme unfolds Gonreil and Regan's true colours emerge uncovering a vast conspiracy of greed lust for power and cruelty

• Wagner: Tristan und Isolde | DVD | (15/05/2000) from £26.75   |  Saving you £3.24 (12.11%)   |  RRP £29.99

  Waltraud Meier is the stuff of which great Isoldes are made--a passionate actress who sings her heart out at every point and yet somehow keeps something in reserve from the narration and curse of the first act for the love duet of the second and the "Liebestod" of the third. Her Tristan, Jon Fredric West, is more or less her equal--he is particularly impressive in the mad death agony of the third act; his Tristan is an ordinary hero who becomes something larger. Among the other principals, Kurt Moll's Mark stands out in its eloquent heart-break, not so much a cuckold as a man who wants everything to work out right; Weikl's Kurwenal and Lipovsek's Brangane are, credibly, ordinary people caught up in great tragedy. Mehta's account of the score is solid and professional--he gets nothing wrong and everything right in a performance which survives occasionally perversely innovative staging to touch greatness. On the DVD: The DVD includes subtitles in French, German, English and Dutch. --Roz Kaveney

• The Lodger | DVD | (09/03/2009) from £12.99   |  Saving you £7.00 (53.89%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Alfred Molina (Spider-Man 2) Hope Davis (About Schmidt) Shane West (The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) and Simon Baker (TV's The Mentalist) star in this terrifying thriller. The Lodger follows a seasoned detective on the trail of a ruthless killer intent on slaughtering prostitutes along West Hollywood's Sunset Strip. It appears that the murderer's grisly methods are identical to that of London's infamous 19th century psychopath Jack the Ripper - a relentless serial killer who was never caught by police. To make matters worse the detective soon notices the parallels between the crimes committed by the West Hollywood stalker and those of a serial murderer incarcerated years ago. Could the wrong man be behind bars? Also starring Rachael Leigh Cook (Nancy Drew).

• The Expert | DVD | (04/03/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £3.99

  John Lomax a special operations expert finds out that his sister has been murdered. In his attempt to discover the perpetrator he helps the police. However when the killer gets a minor sentence Lomax turns vigilante and decides to take justice into his own hands.

• The Brave | DVD | (14/04/2003) from £8.76   |  Saving you £4.22 (73.14%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Raphael (Johnny Depp also making his directorial debut) and his young family live in Morgantown on the edge of the American Dream. With one step over the poverty line he sees only one way out... money. Raphael meets the monstrous snuff movie maker McCarthy (Marlon Brando). He offers Raphael $30 000 to be the star of one of his movies. He accepts and has $5 000 in his hand $25 000 to go to his family and just one week to live the rest of his life. Determined to make something good o

• And The Ship Sails On | DVD | (13/03/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Italian cinematic maestro Federico Fellini (La Dolce Vita 8 1/2) shows that even in his mid-sixties he had lost none of his power to shock entertain and amaze with And The Ship Sails On his haunting and majestic `comedy of arias'. Made in 1983 the film is set on the eve of the first world war but this matters little to the peacock parade of opera celebrities who cast off on a luxury liner to scatter the ashes of the world's greatest diva near her native adriatic island.

• Renegades (Retro VHS Packaging) | Blu Ray | (19/10/2021) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Goodbye Solo | DVD | (08/02/2010) from £5.98   |  Saving you £12.00 (300.75%)   |  RRP £15.99

  On the lonely roads of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, two men forge an improbable friendship that will change both of their lives forever.