Legendary Monster Hunter Van Helsing is sent by the Vatican to distant Transylvania, a land terrorised by the powerful Count Dracula. Joining forces with a valiant Gypsy Princess who is determined to end an ancient curse on her family by defeating the infamous vampire, Van Helsing continues his quest to rid the world of evil.
Starring sitcom legends David Jason and Richard Wilson, this sharply scripted series details the multifarious difficulties involved in 'Getting Things Done' as experienced by young married couple Peter and Sheila Barnes.From trying to book a holiday to being a best man, life seems to hand Peter Barnes more than his fair share of frustration. The only certainty is that whatever it is he's trying to arrange, it will entail an encounter with a jobsworth whose regulation response is a perfectly timed 'sharp intake of breath'...David Jason is 'everyman' Peter, and Jacqueline Clarke his beleaguered spouse; Richard Wilson and Alun Armstrong play a variety of infuriatingly petty officials and disobliging professionals. Running for four hugely popular series, this set contains every episode along with the pilot episode, transmitted as part of the Sound of Laughter series.
Blood Of Fu Manchu: The treacherous villain Fu Manchu brought to life by Christopher Lee kidnaps ten of the world's most beautiful women administers a drug with the power to kill any man who kisses their lips and plots the end for his 10 most hated enemies. Fu Manchu sends the deadly ladies around the world to inflict the 'kiss of death' on his enemies. First stop his arch-nemesis Nayland Smith (Richard Greene)... Castle Of Fu Manchu: The malevolent Fu Manchu unleashes a device that if all goes to his twisted plan will cause the Earth's oceans to freeze over...
THE ENTIRE EPIC ADVENTURE SEE ALL THREE FILMS in director Peter Jackson’s trilogy based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s enduring masterpiece on Blu-ray 3D™ and Blu-ray™ in one complete collection. THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY™ Follow Bilbo Baggins who – along with the Wizard Gandalf and 13 Dwarves led by Thorin Oakenshield – is swept into an epic and treacherous quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor. THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG™ Bilbo and the Dwarves escape the giant Spiders and Wood-elves of Mirkwood before encountering the mysterious Bard who smuggles them into Lake-town. Finally reaching the Lonely Mountain they confront the Dragon Smaug. THE HOBBIT: THE BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES™ The Dwarves of Erebor have reclaimed their homeland but face the consequences of unleashing Smaug. As five great armies go to war Bilbo fights for his life and the races of Dwarves Elves and Men must unite or be destroyed.
Set in 1899, this musical drama from director Baz Luhrmann ("Romeo + Juliet") stars Ewan McGregor as a young poet who begins a passionate but doomed affair with the most famous courtesan in Paris (Nicole Kidman).
On The Buses: Stan's job is secure as bus drivers are hard to come by and his overtime prospects are good until the bus company decide to revoke a long standing rule and employ women bus drivers. Aghast at the thought of no overtime and therefore less wages he joins forces with his long time work colleague Jack to sabotage the new female employees. Mutiny On The Buses: Bus driver Stan Butler agrees to marry Suzy much to the anguish of Mum her son-in-law Arthur and her daughter Olive. How they wonder will they ever manage without Stan's money coming in? Arthur learns to drive a bus and Stan blackmails the Depot Manager into giving him the job of driver on the new money-making Special Tours Bus. A great idea if only the inspector hadn't taken Stan on his trial run to Windsor Safari Park! Holiday On The Buses: A small matter of three crashed buses one piece of mutilated council property and a written off car belonging to the Bus Depot Manager adds up to instant dismissal for Stan Jack and Inspector Blakey. Jack and Stan think that all is saved when they find work in a Welsh holiday camp running the camps transport. Then they discover that Blakey has been installed as Camp Security Inspector!
A noir crime drama set in Aberystwyth, Wales, where troubled DCI Tom Mathias solves murders while searching for redemption.
The legend that had it coming Robin Hood: Men In Tights wipes away the mystery - and the dignity! - of England's most infamous stocking-filler as Robin of Loxley and his merry men bring a dose of sheer mayhem to Sherwood Forest! Throwing away their titles and their trousers Robin and his nylon-clad crew battle to bring down evil Prince John and hideous side-kick the Sheriff of Rottingham to procure the key to Maid Marian's heart... and her chastity belt!
Miracle On 34th Street (1947): Discover that miracles really do happen with one of the most spellbinding Christmas classic tales of all time. When Kris Kringle is hired to be Santa Claus in a department store's 34th Street branch, his success is overwhelming, much to the disdain of a rival store. When their attempts to discredit Santa take hold, threatening all that is sacred and magical about Christmas, prepare to find out that miracles really do happen... Miracle O...
Hammer Volume Five: Death & Deceit collects four films from the early sixties which found the studio looking beyond the horror genre for its next box-office success. Visa to Canton (1961, released in the US as Passport to China) is a torn-from-the-headlines spy thriller; The Pirates of Blood River (1962), starring Kerwin Mathews (The 7th Voyage of Sinbad) and Christopher Lee (The Face of Fu Manchu), is a swashbuckling adventure; The Scarlet Blade (1963, released in the US as The Crimson Blade) is an English Civil War-set actioner which follows the fortunes of Cromwell's Roundheads; and The Brigand of Kandahar (1965) takes Hammer to the North-West Frontier for an action-adventure starring Ronald Lewis (Taste of Fear) and Oliver Reed (The System). All four films are presented for the first time on Blu-ray in the UK, while Visa to Canton, The Scarlet Blade and The Brigand of Kandahar make their world Blu-ray premieres. Extras INDICATOR LIMITED BLU-RAY EDITION BOX SET SPECIAL FEATURES: VISA TO CANTON High Definition remaster Original mono audio Two presentations of the film: Visa to Canton, and Passport to China, with the alternative US titles Audio commentary with film historian Kevin Lyons (2020) Hammer's Women: Lisa Gastoni (2020): profile of the Hammer star by critic and writer Virginie Sélavy Ticket to Ride (2020): film historian Vic Pratt discusses ethnocentrism in sixties British cinema David Huckvale on Edwin Astley (2020): appreciation of the film's score by the author of Hammer Film Scores and the Musical Avant-Garde Original theatrical trailer Image gallery: promotional and publicity materials New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing Limited edition exclusive booklet with a new essay by Josephine Botting, an account of the RB-47 affair which inspired Visa to Canton, an overview of promotional materials, and film credits World premiere on Blu-ray THE PIRATES OF BLOOD RIVER High Definition remaster Original mono audio Audio commentary with screenwriter Jimmy Sangster, art director Don Mingaye and Hammer historian Marcus Hearn (2008) Hammer's Women: Marla Landi (2020): profile of the Hammer star by film historian Kat Ellinger Stephen Laws Introduces The Pirates of Blood River' (2020): an appreciation by the acclaimed horror author Andrew Keir at the Manchester Festival of Fantastic Films (1993): archival video recording of the acclaimed actor in conversation with Stephen Laws Did I Write That? (2020): Jonathan Rigby, author of English Gothic, discusses the career of Jimmy Sangster David Huckvale on Gary Hughes (2020): appreciation of the film's score by the author of Hammer Film Scores and the Musical Avant-Garde Yes, We Have No Piranhas (2020): video essay on the censorship history of The Pirates of Blood River Original theatrical trailer Brian Trenchard-Smith trailer commentary (2013): short critical appreciation Image gallery: promotional and publicity materials New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing Limited edition exclusive booklet with a new essay by Lindsay Hallam, Jimmy Sangster on The Pirates of Blood River, a selection of promotional materials, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and film credits UK premiere on Blu-ray THE SCARLET BLADE High Definition remaster Original mono audio Two presentations of the film: The Scarlet Blade, and The Crimson Blade, with the alternative US titles Audio commentary with film historian Kevin Lyons (2020) Hammer's Women: June Thorburn (2020): profile of the Hammer star by film historian Josephine Botting Stephen Laws Introduces The Scarlet Blade' (2020): an appreciation by the acclaimed horror author Interviews with Hugh Harlow and Pauline Wise (2020): the second assistant director and continuity person discuss the making of The Scarlet Blade Almost an Auteur (2020): horror author and critic Kim Newman on the eclectic career of writer-director John Gilling David Huckvale on Gary Hughes (2020): appreciation of the film's score by the author of Hammer Film Scores and the Musical Avant-Garde Original US theatrical trailer Image gallery: promotional and publicity materials New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing Limited edition exclusive booklet with a new essay by Neil Sinyard, an extract from Oliver Reed's autobiography, a selection of promotional materials, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and film credits World premiere on Blu-ray THE BRIGAND OF KANDAHAR High Definition remaster Original mono audio Audio commentary with film historian Vic Pratt (2020) Hammer's Women: Yvonne Romain (2020): profile of the Hammer star by film historian Melanie Williams Stephen Laws Introduces The Brigand of Kandahar' (2020): an appreciation by the acclaimed horror author Swashbuckling (2020): writer and historian Neil Sinyard looks at writer-director John Gilling's films for Hammer David Huckvale on Don Banks (2020): appreciation of the film's score by the author of Hammer Film Scores and the Musical Avant-Garde Original theatrical trailer Image gallery: promotional and publicity materials New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing Limited edition exclusive booklet with a new essay by Naman Ramachandran, an extensive selection of promotional materials, and film credits World premiere on Blu-ray
Using a faulty thriller for his soapbox as an outspoken critic of China, a devout follower of the Dalai Lama, and an influential supporter of Tibetan freedom, Richard Gere resorts to the equivalent of propagandistic drama to deliver a heavy-handed message. In other words, Red Corner relies on a dubious strategy to promote political awareness, but director Jon Avnet appeals to the viewer's outrage with such effective urgency that you're likely to forget you're being shamelessly manipulated. Gere plays a downtrodden TV executive who sells syndicated shows on the global market, and during a business trip to China he finds himself framed for the murder of the sexy daughter of a high Chinese official. Once trapped in a legal system in which his innocence will be all but impossible to prove, Gere must rely on a Chinese-appointed lawyer (played by Bai Ling) who first advises him to plead guilty but gradually grows convinced of foul play. Barely attempting to hide its agenda, Red Corner effectively sets the stage for abundant anti-Chinese sentiment, and to be sure, the movie gains powerful momentum with its tale of justice gone awry. It's a serious-minded, high-intensity courtroom drama with noble intentions, but one wonder if it has to be so conspicuously lacking in subtlety. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com
This fascinating 6-hour collection of entertaining short dramas, humorous trade films, perceptive documentaries and archival newsreel items is an essential history of the British boozer on film. From Arnold Miller’s swinging Under the Table You Must Go, Philip Trevelyan’s beautifully expressionistic The Ship Hotel – Tyne Main and German director Peter Nestler’s Workingmen’s club in Sheffield to the local quirks and characters of Richard Massingham’s wartime Down at the Local, the whirlwind regional tour of A Round of Bass and Michael Palin and Terry Jones’ humorous trade film Henry Cleans Up, this must-have double measure of DVDs is full to the brim with the sights and sounds of the great British pub, exploring its role as a place of communal gathering, game playing and opinion debating throughout the ages.
Michel Poiccard (Jean-Paul Belmondo), an ex-airline steward turned hoodlum, steals a car and heads to Paris. Discovering a gun in the car's glove department, he uses it to shoot and kill a cop who tries to wave him down. He wants to escape to Italy with his American girlfriend Patricia (Jean Seberg), but the police are after him, and he is distracted by all the pleasures Paris has to offer.Story-wise, Jean-Luc Godard's A Bout De Souffle (1960) (aka Breathless) is pretty thin, but as its director always proclaimed, you don't need much in the way of narrative to make a movie. Sometimes a girl and a gun are quite enough. The effortlessly cool and laconic Belmondo mirrors the director's mischief and flamboyance. With his fat cigarette stub perched on his bottom lip, his shades, his felt hat and white socks, he looks like a cross between a left-bank intellectual and an American gumshoe (perhaps his beloved Bogart). With her close-cropped hair and New York Herald Tribune T-shirt, his girlfriend (Jean Seberg) is equally stylish. A Hollywood star (she had appeared in the lead in Otto Preminger's Saint Joan in 1957 when she was still a teenager), the Iowa-born Seberg is turned by Godard into the lithe embodiment of European radical chic.The film has a spontaneity that studio-bound offerings of the time missed by a mile. Cameraman Raoul Coutard uses natural light and real locations whenever possible. Lots of the pet tricks in the movie--jump cuts, whip pans and improvised tracking shots--have been copied relentlessly by imitators ever since. A Bout De Souffle, though, is unique: anarchic, liberating and hugely stylish, "the best film around now", as its trailer proclaimed. It made Godard, almost overnight, into "the world's most discussed, interviewed and quoted filmmaker". --Geoffrey MacnabOn the DVD: Godard's greatest movie has been lovingly transferred to disc by Optimum, and comes with several extras including trailers and production notes and an old Godard short, Charlotte Et Son Jules, also starring the swaggering, arrogant Belmondo. --Geoffrey Macnab
Oliver Stone used such words as "liberating" and "fun" to talk about U-Turn's relatively quick production schedule of 42 days. Stone's ideas of film fun, however, are something older generations would call sick. This film is a Southwestern noir tale about Bobby Cooper (Sean Penn), a hotshot who is stuck in the tight confines of Superior, Arizona, when his car breaks down. His subsequent adventure is a meatball comedy--loud, obnoxious and violent, and stuffed with diffused light, a hot cast and a no-fat Ennio Morricone score. This film has plenty of odd characters but you never really find out much about them. Bobby's first encounters include a repulsive mechanic (Billy Bob Thornton under the grease) and a blind Indian (Jon Voight under the makeup). Then there's Grace McKenna (a sizzling Jennifer Lopez), who is as dangerous as the curves of her red sundress. Bobby's got time to kill and Grace seems more than willing. Unfortunately, it seems that Bobby has never seen a movie such as A Touch of Evil; if he had, he would know it can only get worse. About the time Grace's husband, Jake (Nick Nolte), shows up, Bobby is knee-deep in murder plots and double-crosses. The first 40 minutes or so are "fun" to a point. Penn is the perfect near-creep to root for and as he wanders back into town after meeting Grace, the eclectic characters pile up. But soon it gets monotonous, tiring and just plain ugly. And when incest and bloody fights begin, the fun is gone. If Penn wasn't so solid an actor and able to be empathetic in the most morose situations, the movie would be unwatchable in stretches. Lopez makes another good impression but this is not a performance that stands out. Nolte, raspy and ill-looking, is the Lee Marvin of the 90s. Before U-Turn is over, you are already wondering if Oliver Stone will do something else, something more important, soon. --Doug Thomas
A baby suffering with AIDS and abandoned in a hospital is given a home by a nurse who fights for custody... Based on a true story.
Part road film, part romantic comedy, part thriller, and a whole lotta fun, The Mexican could get by on star power alone, but it offers Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts and a clever plot full of delightful surprises. It's a thoroughly enjoyable shaggy-dog story in which the downtrodden Jerry Welbach (Pitt) copes with a dual dilemma: his girlfriend Samantha (Roberts) has just dumped him to pursue solo ambitions in Las Vegas, and a manipulative mobster has ordered Jerry to Mexico to retrieve a coveted antique pistol (the "Mexican" of the title) that carries a legacy of legend, death and danger. Jerry soon has his hands full with bandits, bloodshed and a grizzly hound dog that vanishes and reappears with amusing regularity. En route to Vegas, Samantha's taken hostage by a burly assassin (James Gandolfini) who's attached to the gun-fetching scheme and is, in more ways than one, not who he seems to be. Like a good magic act, JH Wyman's original screenplay distracts you from its gaps of logic using unexpected revelations to fuel its strategic vitality. It also provides a wealth of character development, director Gore Verbinski (Mouse Hunt) giving his stellar cast equal time to shine. It hardly matters that Pitt and Roberts spend most of the film apart; their time together is worth waiting for, and the machinations that separate them play out like a cross between vintage Peckinpah and Romancing the Stone. And why is the accursed pistola so valuable? That's just another surprise, setting the stage for the arrival of yet another big-name star, whose motivations are pure in a film full of double-crosses and darkly shaded humour. With a giddy plot such as this, star power is just icing on the cake. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.co.uk
Richard E. Grant plays a successful advertising executive who cracks up while trying to think up a campaign for a new spot cream. He then develops a spot himself, which soon enough grows a face and begins talking to him.
A BRAND NEW RESTORATION COMMEMORATING THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ORIGINAL WWII RAID A much-loved British classic, Michael Anderson's 1955 drama captures the tension and bravery of an audacious raid on the center of Nazi Germany's industrial complex and the quintessentially English combination of inventiveness and dogged determination. Split into two distinct sections, the film deals first with the fraught, but the ultimately successful development of a new bomb, by Dr. Barnes N. Wallis (Michael Redgrave). The second deals with the mission itself during the British raid on the Ruhr Dams, and its associated costs for the enemy and for the British airmen. Adapted by R.C. Sherriff from Paul Brickhill's book Enemy Coast Ahead and featuring superlative special effects photography by Gilbert Taylor (to say nothing of Eric Coates' stirring theme tune), The Dam Busters was Britain's biggest box office the success of 1955
The West's most violent story... The West's most valiant hour! John Ford's criminally overlooked western (the first collaboration between Ford and James Stewart) finally makes its way to DVD for the first time! A group of children are held captive by the Indians. A Lieutenant enlists the help of a Texas Marshall in a rescue attempt. Based on the novel by Will Cook.
If you're a fan of brooding comic-book anti-heroes, got a nihilistic jolt from The Crow (1994) and share director Alex Proyas's highly developed preoccupation for style over substance, you might be tempted to call Dark City an instant classic of visual imagination. It's one of those films that exists in a world purely of its own making, setting its own rules and playing by them fairly, so that even its derivative elements (and there are quite a few) acquire their own specific uniqueness. Before long, however, the film becomes interesting only as a triumph of production design. And while that's certainly enough to grab your attention (Blade Runner is considered a classic, after all), it's painfully clear that Dark City has precious little heart and soul. One-dimensional characters are no match for the film's abundance of retro-futuristic style, so it's best to admire the latter on its own splendidly cinematic terms. Trivia buffs will be interested to know that the film's 50-plussets (partially inspired by German expressionism) were built at the Fox Film Studios in Sydney, Australia, home base of director Alex Proyas and producer Andrew Mason. The underground world depicted in the film required the largest indoor set ever built in Australia. --Jeff Shannon
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