"Actor: Steve Mak"

• Inside No. 9 Series 4 | DVD | (12/02/2018) from £7.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  A fourth anthology from Steve Pemberton & Reece Shearsmith. A unique mixture of comedy, drama, love, intrigue, ancient curses, industry gossip, room service, and murderous intent. Guest stars include Zoë Wanamaker (Harry Potter); Noel Clarke (Kidulthood); Emilia Fox (Silent Witness); Monica Dolan (W1A); Sian Gibson (Car Share); Fenella Woolgar (War And Peace); Rory Kinnear (Count Arthur Strong); Marcia Warren (Sherlock); Bill Paterson (Fleabag); Tanya Franks (Chewing Gum); Hattie Morahan (Outnumbered), Nicola Walker (Unforgotten) and Weruche Opia (Bad Education).

• Stargate SG-1: Season 3 | DVD | (24/02/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £59.99

  With a well-established framework of back-story and an increasing list of adversaries, the third series of Stargate SG-1 was the place where casual viewers began to fall away. Unless you were taking notes it was becoming ever harder to stay on top of the Goa'uld history and their constant scheming. Fortunately by now a solid fanbase had appeared worldwide--with clubs, conventions and Web sites galore--so the ratings didn't slip even while ancient gods kept appearing and reappearing. Daniel Jackson could always be trusted to illuminate any relevant myth or legend (or find them in five minutes on the internet), while Carter's memory download from last year supplied the necessary ties with the rebellious Tok'ra. Away from the story arc the show's all-important stand-alone tales gave some thorny old subjects a new SF spin, including organised religion, the use of children in the passing on of knowledge, and leading an alternative life. O'Neill's sarcastic wit went into overdrive this year and Teal'c could be relied upon for a sneer or fish-out-of-water joke. Further comic relief came from Sam "Flash Gordon" Jones and Dom DeLuise, but perhaps the funniest thing of all was the wig Carter would apparently be wearing in an alternate universe. --Paul Tonks

• The Sand Pebbles | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £16.17   |  Saving you £-6.18 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Director Robert Wise chose to film Robert McKenna's award-winning novel The Sand Pebbles as his follow-up to the success of The Sound of Music. Shot in Taiwan and Hong Kong, the film combines historical sweep and intimate human drama in several parallel stories, all revolving around US Navy machinist's mate Jake Holman (Steve McQueen), a skilful but fiercely independent sailor who joins the "sand pebble" crew of the USS San Pablo, a Navy gunboat patrolling the Yangtze River on the eve of the Chinese revolution in 1926. The San Pablo's inexperienced captain (Richard Crenna) obsessively defends the Navy's mission-however unnecessary or unwanted--to protect American missionaries and businessmen, blind to the more dangerous implications of American involvement with China's opposing political factions. Holman is a defiant voice of humanity in this clash between outmoded values and inevitable change; his final line of dialogue ("What the hell happened?") is a tragic summation of misguided policy, expressing the film's criticism of the Vietnam War. Rather than preach, however, Wise lets McKenna's potent drama emerge from finely drawn relationships: between Holman and a young American teacher (19-year-old Candice Bergen, in her second film); between Holman and the Chinese "coolie" (Mako), whose heart-breaking fate transcends all issues of racial or political difference; and between crewmate "Frenchy" Burgoyne (Richard Attenborough) and the Chinese woman he's sworn to love and protect at all costs. Combined with the film's colourful supporting cast, adventurous scope, and climactic battle scenes, these personal dynamics bring substance and spirit to a complex story of good intentions gone awry. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com

• Inside No. 9 Series 4 BD | Blu Ray | (12/02/2018) from £13.05   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  A fourth anthology from Steve Pemberton & Reece Shearsmith. A unique mixture of comedy, drama, love, intrigue, ancient curses, industry gossip, room service, and murderous intent. Guest stars include Zoë Wanamaker (Harry Potter); Noel Clarke (Kidulthood); Emilia Fox (Silent Witness); Monica Dolan (W1A); Sian Gibson (Car Share); Fenella Woolgar (War And Peace); Rory Kinnear (Count Arthur Strong); Marcia Warren (Sherlock); Bill Paterson (Fleabag); Tanya Franks (Chewing Gum); Hattie Morahan (Outnumbered), Nicola Walker (Unforgotten) and Weruche Opia (Bad Education).

• Harsh Realm - Season 1 | DVD | (26/07/2004) from £21.46   |  Saving you £8.53 (39.75%)   |  RRP £29.99

  The dark and fantastic Harsh Realm, a science fiction series about a war fought by flesh-and-blood humans trapped inside virtual reality, was launched by The X-Files creator Chris Carter in 1999 and died a regrettable, premature death on the Fox channel after three episodes. The remaining six shows found sanctuary on the FX network, and then Harsh Realm slipped into history, its wild story, based on a comic book, far from resolved. Perhaps Harsh Realm's ratings failure had something to do with its broad similarities to the hugely popular The Matrix, released only a few months before, or, for that matter, David Cronenberg's 1999 eXistenZ, in which characters fight for their lives inside a video game. Whatever the reason, enough time has passed to take an objective look at Harsh Realm, and there is a lot to be admired in its high level of imagination, complex plotting, and cutting-edge production values. Scott Bairstow stars as U.S. Army Lieutenant Tom Hobbes, a decorated hero who risked his life rescuing a buddy, Major Mel Waters (Max Martini), during a peacekeeping mission in the former Yugoslavia. Set to return to civilian life and marry his fiancée, Sophie (Samantha Mathis), Hobbes is summoned by a mysterious superior (Lance Henriksen) and asked to test-run Harsh Realm, a virtual reality war game devised by the Pentagon. Once he begins, however, Hobbes is mentally imprisoned in the dangerous game (his body, along with those of hundreds of other "volunteers," is cared for in a secret military hospital), where he is identified by other, desperate captives as the savior they've been awaiting. D.B. Sweeney is very good as another soldier, Mike Pinocchio, whose sense of mission is re-awakened by Hobbes and who becomes a partner in an endless effort to defeat a madman named Santiago (Terry O'Quinn), who rules Harsh Realm from within. As with The X-Files, the nine episodes in this boxed set are each very striking on their own terms, with post-apocalyptic sets, constant surprises, and that special Chris Carter touch (fans of his Millennium will like Harsh Realm, too) that makes every story look and feel like a collision of a nightmare and a crisis of faith. --Tom Keogh

• You've Got Mail / Addicted To Love | DVD | (21/03/2006) from £9.01   |  Saving you £1.98 (18.00%)   |  RRP £10.99

  You've Got Mail: A modern to modem romance in which a superstore book chain magnate (Hanks) and a cozy children's bookshop owner (Ryan) are anonymous e-mail cyberpals who fall head-over-laptops in love unaware they are combative business rivals! (Dir. Nora Ephron 1998 Cert. PG) Addicted To Love: What would you do if that special someone dumped you? After seeing the delightful 'Addicted to Love' the better question is what wouldn't you do? Meg Ryan and Matthew Brode

• You've Got Mail/City of Angels/Addicted to Love | DVD | (27/09/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £20.99

  You've Got Mail: A modern to modem romance in which superstore book chain magnate Hanks and cozy children's bookshop owner Ryan are anonymous e-mail cyberpals who fall head-over-laptops in love unaware they are combative business rivals! City Of Angels: Nicolas Cage is Seth an angel who must decide if he'll forsake his immortality and become human - on the chance that the woman of his dreams might love him. That woman is Maggie (Meg Ryan) a pragmatic heart surgeon who doesn't believe in angels. Until she meets Seth. Will love be their mutual destiny? Will they take that shape that destiny? The choice is theirs to make... Addicted To Love: What would you do if that special someone dumped you? After seeing the delightful 'Addicted to Love' the better question is what wouldn't you do? Meg Ryan and Matthew Broderick take a funny look at love's obsessive side as Maggie and Sam teaming for revenge when their former flames (Kelly Preston and Tcheky Karyo) team for romance.

• The Sand Pebbles | DVD | (18/04/2005) from £14.68   |  Saving you £-1.69 (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  'The Sand Pebbles' tell many stories. It's the story of China a slumbering giant that rouses itself to the cries of its people - and of the Americans who are caught in its bloody awakening. It's the story of Frenchy (Richard Attenborough) a crewman on the USS San Pablo who kidnaps his Chinese bride from the auction block. Most of all it's the story of Jake Holman (Steve McQueen) a sailor who had given up trying to make peace with anything: including himself. Nominated for nine A

• The Sand Pebbles | DVD | (06/05/2002) from £5.38   |  Saving you £7.61 (58.60%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Director Robert Wise chose to film Robert McKenna's award-winning novel The Sand Pebbles as his follow-up to the success of The Sound of Music. Shot in Taiwan and Hong Kong, the film combines historical sweep and intimate human drama in several parallel stories, all revolving around US Navy machinist's mate Jake Holman (Steve McQueen), a skilful but fiercely independent sailor who joins the "sand pebble" crew of the USS San Pablo, a Navy gunboat patrolling the Yangtze River on the eve of the Chinese revolution in 1926. The San Pablo's inexperienced captain (Richard Crenna) obsessively defends the Navy's mission-however unnecessary or unwanted--to protect American missionaries and businessmen, blind to the more dangerous implications of American involvement with China's opposing political factions. Holman is a defiant voice of humanity in this clash between outmoded values and inevitable change; his final line of dialogue ("What the hell happened?") is a tragic summation of misguided policy, expressing the film's criticism of the Vietnam War. Rather than preach, however, Wise lets McKenna's potent drama emerge from finely drawn relationships: between Holman and a young American teacher (19-year-old Candice Bergen, in her second film); between Holman and the Chinese "coolie" (Mako), whose heart-breaking fate transcends all issues of racial or political difference; and between crewmate "Frenchy" Burgoyne (Richard Attenborough) and the Chinese woman he's sworn to love and protect at all costs. Combined with the film's colourful supporting cast, adventurous scope, and climactic battle scenes, these personal dynamics bring substance and spirit to a complex story of good intentions gone awry. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com

• Marked For Death / Rising Sun / Unlawful Entry | DVD | (15/09/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Marked For Death: Just retired from the Drug Enforcement agency John Hatcher (Seagal) returns to his hometown and quickly discovers that drugs have infiltrated his old neighbourhood. Determined to drive the dealers out Hatcher crosses paths with a ferocious Jamaican druglord who vows that Hatcher and his family are now marked for death... Rising Sun: Special liaison officer (Snipes) is called to investigate the murder of a call-girl in the boardroom of a Japanese corporation. Accompanied by a detective with unusual knowledge of the Japanese culture (Connery) the two men must unravel the mystery behind the murder by entering an underground shadow world of futuristic technology ancient ways and confusing loyalties... Unlawful Entry: After an armed robbery attempt on their suburban home a young couple (Kurt Russell and Madeleine Stowe) do what anyone would do - they call the police. That's when they meet Los Angeles Policeman Pete Davis (Ray Liotta) and immediately warm up to his caring and sensitive attitude. He makes the couple's safety his personal concern and begins frequent patrols of their property. But this friendship turns into a twisted obsession as Davis's relationship with the couple develops and forces his way into their lives. Plunged into a nightmare where protector becomes predator the couple must somehow escape from the web of security that has become their ultimate enemy...

• Duel Of The Tough | DVD | (24/04/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  A young Kung Fu practitioner man is given the task of escorting some sacred Buddhist scriptures back to Shaolin from Canton. On his journey he encounters untold merciless fighters and masters of the martial arts. Are the young man's skills up to the job?