"Actor: Robert Hall"

• CSI: Crime Scene Investigation - Season 1 Part 1 | DVD | (01/07/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £39.99

  The latest in a long line of successful US police dramas, the forensic cop show Crime Scene Investigation varies the formula by focusing on a team of civilian scientists who work the night shift in Las Vegas, poring over crime scenes for fingerprints, blood spatters, DNA-laced mucus and (especially) maggots. Star William Petersen plays a variation of his role from Manhunter, the cool puzzle-solving genius who can rattle off mystifying speeches with aplomb, while his contrasting partner is Marg Helgenberger, cast as a single mother/ex-stripper who is as concerned with the emotional as well as the physical mess left by crime. While most US cop shows (witness NYPD Blue) tend towards soap, neglecting the cases in favour of personal crises, CSI gives its regulars enough life to make them human but is essentially puzzle-based, with individual episodes following two or three cases à la Homicide: Life on the Street. The occasional special focuses on a major job with the team investigating the slaughter of a whole family ("Blood Drops") or a death in first class on a plane over Vegas ("Unfriendly Skies"). A few continuing threads are laid down, with a recurrent villain who gets away, but will inevitably return, but on the whole these shows play pretty well as one-offs. Very high-tech in style, with lots of zooms into microscopic examinations of hair follicles or stomach contents and distinctive visualisations of the different stories told by witnesses and evidence, this is one of the best shows currently airing. On the DVD: CSI's first DVD box set contains the show's first 12 episodes: the pilot followed by "Cool Change", "Crate & Burial", "Pledging Mr Johnson"; "Friends and Lovers", "Who Are You?", "Blood Drops"; "Anonymous", "Unfriendly Skies", "Sex Lies and Larvae"; "The I-15 Murders" and "Fahrenheit 932". In addition to inventive menus, the three-disc set offers character profiles, a trailer, some B-roll on-set footage, a subtitle option, and snippet-like interviews with the cast and creatives. --Kim Newman

• Supernova | DVD | (26/12/2000) from £3.59   |  Saving you £12.40 (77.50%)   |  RRP £15.99

  The makers of Supernova are apparently counting on the fact that generational turnover renders old formulas fresh again for new audiences. This is the only explanation for a sci-fi thriller that could charitably be called a "homage" to Ridley Scott's trend setting Alien. A medical rescue ship responds to a distress call from a mining colony and finds only one survivor: a strange young man (Peter Facinelli), who comes aboard carrying an even stranger alien artefact. But the plot of this film, which was directed and then disowned by Walter Hill, grows confused as it tries to explain the sinister force that will lead to a star transforming to supernova status, causing a universe-shattering explosion. Some nice sexual tension between James Spader (as the recovering drug-addict co-pilot) and Angela Bassett (as the ship's doctor). Notable mostly, however, for the eerie resemblance, both physical and vocal, between Facinelli and Tom Cruise. --Marshall Fine, Amazon.com

• C.S.I. Season 6 Part 1 | DVD | (26/02/2007) from £17.99   |  Saving you £17.00 (94.50%)   |  RRP £34.99

  C.S.I. is an acclaimed edgy fast-paced drama series about a passionate team of forensic investigators (among them William Petersen and Marg Helgenberger) who work the graveyard shift at the Las Vegas Criminalistics Bureau. Their job - to find the missing pieces at the scene that will help to solve the crime and vindicate those who often cannot speak for themselves - the victims. Between the hidden clues and the buried motives lies the trail to the truth because people lie... but the evidence never does. Following on from the explosive Season 5 finale which saw the kidnap of team member Nick Stokes Season 6 sees the once fractured team reunited. With Las Vegas's bright lights and glamour as the backdrop the Clark County CSI night shift once more takes on the task of cleaning up what lies beneath the neon and the money. In this 3-disc release we learn of Warrick taking a walk down the aisle Nick tries to cope with his near death experience and Grisson will begin to open up and engage with his emotions and people. Features Part 1 of Series 6 Episodes 1 - 12

• Soapdish | DVD | (14/10/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Sally Field leads an all-star cast in this side splittingly funny look at the scandal-ridden TV soap opera. Kevin Kline Robert Downey Jr. Whoopi Goldberg Cathy Moriarty and Elisabeth Shue star as the zany cast and crew of 'The Sun Also Sets' America's hottest ""soap "" where on-screen drama and off-screen craziness combine for outrageous hilarity! There's enough dirty laundry to keep everyone in hot water in this unadulterated comedy hit that's ""99 and 44/100 percent fun!"" (J

• In a Stranger's Hand | DVD | (29/01/2007) from £5.98   |  Saving you £0.01 (0.17%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Wealthy Jack Bauer (Urich) comes to the aid of a mother Laura McKillin whose daughter has been abducted. Together to their horror they discover a dedicated ring of professional child snatchers...

• C.S.I. - Series 4 Part 1 | DVD | (09/05/2005) from £7.99   |  Saving you £32.00 (400.50%)   |  RRP £39.99

  C.S.I. is an acclaimed edgy fast-paced drama series about a passionate team of forensic investigators (among them William Petersen and Marg Helgenberger) who work the graveyard shift at the Las Vegas Criminalistics Bureau. Their job - to find the missing pieces at the scene that will help to solve the crime and vindicate those who often cannot speak for themselves - the victims. Between the hidden clues and the buried motives lies the trail to the truth because people lie... but t

• Air America | DVD | (20/05/2002) from £9.45   |  Saving you £6.54 (69.21%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Mel Gibson and Robert Downey Jr. are two renegade pilots ensnared in the madness of covert operations over Laos during the Vietnam conflict. They lead the crew of Air America a not-so-secret airline that drops everything from live pigs to opium over villages throughout the Vietnam countryside. Join Mel Robert and the crazy crew of wartime flyers in the funniest action-comedy since 'Lethal Weapon 2' and 'Good Morning Vietnam'!

• Midnight Run | DVD | (24/07/2000) from £9.98   |  Saving you £10.01 (100.30%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Director Martin Brest rocketed to the top of Hollywood's A list with the blockbuster success of Beverly Hills Cop, and this 1988 follow-up is even better. Midnight Run is a genuine rarity--an action comedy that's dramatically satisfying--thanks to a sharp script by George Gallo, the superb teaming of Robert De Niro and Charles Grodin, and Brest's consummate skill in combining suspense and humour with well-developed characters. De Niro plays a maverick bounty hunter whose latest assignment is Grodin, an accountant accused of embezzling from the Mob. De Niro thinks he's in for an easy job, transporting Grodin (who's afraid to fly) from New York to Los Angeles, but soon discovers that both the FBI and the Mafia are hot on Grodin's trail. Equal parts road trip, action thriller, and a quirky character study, Midnight Run moves at a breakneck pace but still gives De Niro and Grodin time to create rich, memorable performances as two men who seem to be opposites, but gradually develop mutual respect and admiration. Mainstream entertainment at its best. --Jeff Shannon

• Heaven's Prisoners | DVD | (19/03/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Based on James Lee Burke's bestseller, Heaven's Prisoners is a sweaty revenge thriller with a twist. On the Louisiana rivers, Dave Robicheaux (Alec Baldwin) is an ex-cop and ex-alcoholic with a boat business hiding him and his wife Annie (Kelly Lynch) away from the world. When a light airplane crashes into the water right in front of them, and Dave rescues the surviving little girl who happens to be an illegal immigrant, all the peace and quiet is dashed away. Embroiled in an underground criminal element, Dave is forced to face the demons of his past all over again. Along the way he reunites with Bubba Rock (Eric Roberts), a high school classmate who turned into the local heavy, his scheming wife Claudette (Teri Hatcher), and boozy strip dancer Robin (Mary Stuart Masterson). These three character cameos are enormous fun to watch, as are the oily New Orleans street locations. Even if the revelation of who's behind all the skulduggery isn't all that much of a shock, the movie still has plenty to say about the emotions of family loyalty that drive us. On the DVD: The DVD release includes the trailer, a five-minute featurette, a brief look behind the scenes and interviews with cast and crew. --Paul Tonks

• CSI: Crime Scene Investigation - Season 1 Part 2 | DVD | (07/10/2002) from £5.34   |  Saving you £34.65 (648.88%)   |  RRP £39.99

  The second half of CSI's first year takes Grissom and his untiring team down some darker paths than before. Nick finally gives in to his urges and sleeps with the hooker who has a crush on him in "Boom"--with predictably disastrous consequences. Sarah is badly affected by the rape and attempted murder of an unknown woman in "Too Tough to Die"; and even Grissom is shaken when dealing with the sudden death of an infant in "Gentle, Gentle". The final episode of the year, "Strip Strangler", is a real shocker, as the team track a brutal serial killer. Elsewhere, the morbid business of investigating corpses and crime scenes is enlivened with flashes of welcome humour: when a horse is found dead with packets of uncut diamonds concealed in its uterus, Grissom deadpans "This horse is a mule". Throughout, the show remains focused on its scientific remit, only revealing enough of the characters' private lives to provide added piquancy to each investigation: Sarah's complete lack of a life outside her work; Warrick's old gambling habit; Catherine's attachment to her daughter and troubles with ex-husband Eddie; Nick's over-eagerness to please. Grissom, meanwhile, like the Dalai Lama, is the model of inscrutable wisdom. The show itself, like a millennial antidote to a decade of X-Files, is relentlessly empirical: everything that initially seems mysterious--from spontaneous human combustion to an apparent case of vampirism--is always explicable and explained by the team's scientific dedication. On the DVD: CSI, Series 1 Part 2 contains 11 episodes on three discs. Extra features consist of a brief promo featurette, production notes and a series of on-set interviews with the cast. Oddly for such a cutting-edge show, picture is old-fashioned 4:3 with basic Dolby stereo sound. --Mark Walker

• The Chase | DVD | (06/12/2004) from £11.97   |  Saving you £1.02 (8.52%)   |  RRP £12.99

  A breathless explosive story! When a convict (Robert Redford) escapes from the state penitentiary heads for home and becomes involved in a murder the peace of a small Texas town is shattered. Most of the citizens led by a banker/oil tycoon (E.G. Marshall) see him as a criminal to be hounded and brought to justice. Only the town sheriff (Brando) believes him to be innocent and prepares to stand by him; but when the mob decide to take the law into their own hands even he is power

• Farewell My Lovely | DVD | (10/04/2000) from £26.89   |  Saving you £-19.90 (N/A%)   |  RRP £6.99

  Of all the Philip Marlowes, Robert Mitchum's in Farewell, My Lovely resonates most deeply. That's because this is Marlowe past his prime, and Mitchum imbues Raymond Chandler's legendary private detective with a sense of maturity as well as a melancholy spirit. And yet there is plenty of Mitchum's renowned self-deprecating humour and charismatic charm to remind us of his own iconic presence. As in the previous 1944 film version, Murder, My Sweet, Marlowe searches all over L.A. for the elusive girlfriend of ex-con Moose Malloy, a loveable giant who might as well be King Kong. In typical Chandler fashion, the weary Marlowe uncovers a hotbed of lust, corruption and betrayal. Like Malloy, he's disillusioned by it all, despite his tough exterior, and possesses a tinge of sentimentality for the good old days. About the only current dream he can hold onto is Joe DiMaggio and his fabulous hitting streak. Made in 1975, a year after Chinatown (shot by the same cinematographer, John Alonzo), Farewell, My Lovely is more straightforward and nostalgic, but still possesses a requisite hard-boiled edge, and the best kind of angst the 1970s had to offer. (By the way, you will notice Sylvester Stallone in a rather violent cameo, a year before his Rocky breakthrough.) --Bill Desowitz, Amazon.com

• The Four Feathers | DVD | (14/06/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  What it lacks in grandeur, this 1978 TV version of The Four Feathers makes up for in fidelity to AEW Mason's classic novel. By cannibalising the superior 1939 production for epic shots and sequences, this modest adaptation draws attention to its meagre production values, relying heavily on casting and chemistry to compensate. That it succeeds, more or less, in capturing the essence of Mason's grand adventure is largely due to the appeal of Beau Bridges and Jane Seymour in the prime of their early careers. (Bridges' film career was gaining momentum; Seymour would rise from here to the similarly romantic Somewhere in Time.) Bridges is the shamed soldier Harry Faversham, transcending cowardice by rescuing his closest friends during Britain's bloody campaign in 1870s Sudan; Seymour is his beloved back home, torn between Harry and the seemingly braver Jack (Robert Powell). TV veteran Don Sharp provides tepid direction, while screenwriter Gerald DiPego would continue his prolific career for decades to come. --Jeff Shannon

• Undercover Brother | DVD | (04/05/2009) from £5.11   |  Saving you £10.88 (212.92%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Hipper-than-hip Afro-sporting superhero-of-sorts Undercover Brother (the multi-talented Eddie Griffin) stands up for oppressed people everywhere and looks damn good doing it. But when The Man and his demonic henchman Mr. Feather (Chris Kattan) drug a wildly popular black presidential candidate (Billy Dee Williams) Undercover Brother must team up with the positive underground group the B.R.O.T.H.E.R.H.O.O.D. in order to restore peace and unity within the community. Employing his see

• My Family - Series 1-7 Box Set | DVD | (22/10/2007) from £38.28   |  Saving you £31.71 (82.84%)   |  RRP £69.99

  The complete boxed set of the BBC1 comedy series My Family where put-upon dentist Ben Harper (Robert Lindsay) is long suffering husband to Susan (Zoe Wannamaker) and father to three very different and often difficult children - nice but dim Nick (Kris Marshall) shopaholic student Janey (Daniela Denby-Ashe) and prodigy Michael (Gabriel Thomson). For individual series episode listings please refer to the individual products.

• Out - The Complete Series (Two Discs) | DVD | (02/06/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  For his part in a failed bank robbery Frank Ross has served years in prison. Now he's out and looking for the cuplrit responsible for his incarceration...

• CSI: Crime Scene Investigation - Complete Season 1 | DVD | (08/12/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £58.99

  It's all here. All the cases. All the evidence. All the solutions. All 23 episodes of the Golden Globe nominated first season of CSI. Now available in this special edition DVD set. Episodes comprise: 1. Pilot 2. Cool Change 3. Crate 'n Burial 4. Pledging Mr. Johnson 5. Friends & Lovers 6. Who Are You? 7. Blood Drops 8. Anonymous 9. Unfriendly Skies 10. Sex Lies and Larvae 11. I-15 Murders 12. Fahrenheit 932 13. Boom 14. To Halve And To Hold 15. Table Stakes 16.

• T.J.Hooker - Series 1 And 2 | DVD | (26/09/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £34.99

  The classic 80's cop show available on DVD for the first time! William Shatner stars as Sgt. T.J. Hooker a veteran cop who rejected a detective's badge to return to the streets and train young recruits in ""T. J. Hooker "" an hour-long contemporary police drama series produced by Spelling/Goldberg Productions in association with Columbia Pictures Television. Also starring in the series are Adrian Zmed as Vince Romano; a young Vietnam veteran who finds a new home on the force as Hook

• Apocalypse Now | DVD | (22/04/2002) from £11.26   |  Saving you £11.72 (141.72%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Francis Ford Coppola's 1979 classic tale of the Viet Nam war, re-released with almost an hour of additional footage. Captain Willard (Martin Sheen) is given the task of sailing upriver to find and execute renegade military officer Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Br

• CSI: Crime Scene Investigation - Season 2 Part 1 | DVD | (28/07/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £39.99

  These first 12 episodes from the second series of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation consolidate the show's well-deserved popular appeal, while beginning to explore (gently at first) beneath the slickly professional surface of the investigators themselves. Gradually we learn more about what makes Grissom and his astonishingly gifted forensics team tick, beyond merely that they're workaholics who seem to require no sleep at all. The show's trademark reveals of vital evidence--be it on the autopsy slab or under the microscope--add a fresh spin to what is, at heart, a good old-fashioned whodunit series. William Petersen brings the requisite air of antiquarianism to a character whose meticulous demeanour and love of order consciously inherits the mantle of Sherlock Holmes (whose vast collection of tobacco samples and bottles of chemicals are the ancestors of CSI's high-tech crime lab). This is a series in which scientific evidence-gathering is elevated to the status of a religion. "When a tree falls in the forest, even if no one is around to hear, it does make a sound", affirms Grissom with the calm assurance of a yogi on the path to Enlightenment. And just when CSI starts to seem a little too pat, just when the trail of clues seems too neat, the show always seems able to throw a surprise or two at us: perhaps there has been no crime after all; perhaps the evidence concerns a completely different crime altogether; or perhaps, as in one brave episode concerning brothers implicated in multiple murders, the evidence simply isn't good enough to convict the right man, even when Grissom knows which one really is guilty. As a result, every episode is simply compulsive viewing. On the DVD: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Series 2 Part 1 comes in a three-disc set with several worthwhile extras. There are cast and crew interviews, an on-set tour, a peek at the workshop where all the bloody body parts are created, and, most informative, selected episode commentaries featuring writer-creator Anthony E Zuiker and director and producer Danny Cannnon among others. Picture and Dolby Digital sound are impeccable. --Mark Walker