Lesley Bruce 's drama series about a woman who can't help helping others.
The early 1980s experienced a wave of technology fever, and it seemed like every machine wanted to be bionic. There was K.I.T.T. the car, Street Hawk the motorbike, Airwolf the helicopter, and Blue Thunder--which looked like the Mechano version of Airwolf. In what seems a moment of Austin Powers humour, it's explained that this super chopper cost "five million dollars"! Its supposed reason for being is aerial crowd control, but as Murphy (Roy Scheider) discovers--when not suffering 'Nam flashbacks--there's a government plot to silence a Senator who's disgruntled with urban pacification standards. Director John Badham obviously loved fiddling about with technology--he directed Wargames after all--and here there are lingering shots of buttons and switches, multiple takes of turns in the air, and any excuse used for a bit of primitive computer imagery. The secondary characters quickly begin to seem like wallpaper: Daniel Stern's spunky co-pilot has but one plot device to execute, and Malcolm McDowell plays the same tired old Brit baddie he's played for years. Ultimately it's the protracted aerial battle finale (which played havoc with LA air traffic control) that stays with you. Oh, and a gratuitous cameo from a nude contortionist! On the DVD: There are no special features here, except a trailer and filmographies. --Paul Tonks
The controversy that surrounded Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of Anthony Burgess's dystopian novel A Clockwork Orange while the film was out of circulation suggested that it was like Romper Stomper: a glamorisation of the violent, virile lifestyle of its teenage protagonist, with a hypocritical gloss of condemnation to mask delight in rape and ultra-violence. Actually, it is as fable-like and abstract as The Pilgrim's Progress, with characters deliberately played as goonish sitcom creations. The anarchic rampage of Alex (Malcolm McDowell), a bowler-hatted juvenile delinquent of the future, is all over at the end of the first act. Apprehended by equally brutal authorities, he changes from defiant thug to cringing bootlicker, volunteering for a behaviourist experiment that removes his capacity to do evil.It's all stylised: from Burgess' invented pidgin Russian (snarled unforgettably by McDowell) to 2001-style slow tracks through sculpturally perfect sets (as with many Kubrick movies, the story could be told through decor alone) and exaggerated, grotesque performances on a par with those of Dr Strangelove (especially from Patrick Magee and Aubrey Morris). Made in 1971, based on a novel from 1962, A Clockwork Orange resonates across the years. Its future is now quaint, with Magee pecking out "subversive literature" on a giant IBM typewriter and "lovely, lovely Ludwig Van" on mini-cassette tapes. However, the world of "Municipal Flat Block 18A, Linear North" is very much with us: a housing estate where classical murals are obscenely vandalised, passers-by are rare and yobs loll about with nothing better to do than hurt people. On the DVD: The extras are skimpy, with just an impressionist trailer in the style of the film used to brainwash Alex and a list of awards for which Clockwork Orange was nominated and awarded. The box promises soundtracks in English, French and Italian and subtitles in ten languages, but the disc just has two English soundtracks (mono and Dolby Surround 5.1) and two sets of English subtitles. The terrific-looking "digitally restored and remastered" print is letterboxed at 1.66:1 and on a widescreen TV plays best at 14:9. The film looks as good as it ever has, with rich stable colours (especially and appropriately the orangey-red of the credits and the blood) and a clarity that highlights previously unnoticed details such as Alex's gouged eyeball cufflinks and enables you to read the newspaper articles which flash by. The 5.1 soundtrack option is amazingly rich, benefiting the nuances of performance as much as the classical/electronic music score and the subtly unsettling sound effects. --Kim Newman
In Gone to the Dogs Alison Steadman, Warren Clarke, Jim Broadbent, Sheila Hancock, Martin Clunes and in his TV drama debut Harry Enfield star in this six-part comedy drama set in the lucrative world of greyhound racing.Self-made millionaire Larry Patterson is powerful and charismatic, with the best dogs in the greyhound racing world. Jim Morley is one of life's losers, always 'just one business away' from making his fortune; his only link to the world of greyhound racing is a three-legged dog called Highland Fling. On the financial scale, they're as far removed as it's possible to be. But they have one thing in common: they both love the same woman... Gone to Seed re-unites the principal cast in entirely new roles: Alison Steadman, Jim Broadbent and Warren Clarke are Hilda, Monty and Winston Plant triplets who are anything but identical with Sheila Hancock as domineering matriarch Mag; comedy legend Peter Cook stars as Mag's old flame, conman Welsey Willis. An-thony Newley, Ron Davies and Stephen Marcus guest-star. The Plant family has run a garden centre in Rotherhithe since Dickens' time, surviving both war and redevel-opment. But now, family rivalry threatens to poison their unlikely paradise. The frumpy Hilda has only one pas-sion in life: Milwall FC. Country and Western singer Monty dreams of turning the run-down nursery into a floral oasis in the heart of Docklands and jobless builder and part-time wrestler Winston doesn't know a begonia from a buttercup!
A groundbreaking, high-calibre police drama, Wolcott was the first British production purposefully broadcast in the mini-series format and also the first British police drama to feature a black actor in a leading role. Displaying the same rough, streetwise vibe as The Sweeney, Wolcott stars the charismatic George William Harris as a tough, loner detective with a gift for rubbing people up the wrong way. Winning massive viewing figures, its controversially unflinching depiction of racism and crime ensured that it has never been repeated or released in any format until now. With all four episodes now transferred from the original film elements, Wolcott includes early roles for Christopher Ellison, Hugh Quarshie, Warren Clarke and Rik Mayall cast against type as a racist policeman. Fresh out of uniform, supremely confident and keen to make waves, Wolcott is a man in the middle, facing hostility both from the community he polices and his colleagues in the Force. His investigations into the fatal stabbing of an old woman soon uncover a brutal drug war being fought between rival criminal gangs... SPECIAL FEATURES: Clean titles (at end of episode four) Image gallery
What private eye Harry Moseby doesn't know about the girl he's looking for... just might get him killed. Gene Hackman stars as Harry Moseby a second-rate gumshoe working on low-end cases while trying to straighten out his own muddled life. When he is contacted by a mother looking for her young movie-actress daughter Harry supposes it is just another dull case. He finds the girl and brings her home with little trouble. But soon Harry learns of the girl's death shortly after her return. He discovers the death of one of her boyfriends as well and connecting the two 'accidents' tries to unravel an ever-growing mystery.
Maurice Riley and Syd Woolsey are old friends who return from the good life on the Costa del Crime to a quiet Devon fishing village. They plan to eke out their retirement fishing and availing themselves of the NHS. However the quiet life is not for them. As their ill-gotten gains run short they find themselves drawn back into a life of crime only crime has moved on and they've got new things to learn.
James Shelley is trying to show willing. Exasperated by his constant procrastination wife Fran has now given him his marching orders and there are even the rumblings of divorce proceedings. So Shelley becomes something of a regular at the 'Easy Job' agency in an effort to find tolerable work and win back Fran's respect - his travails taking him from a hard day's slog in the City to the joys of the 'Dust-Bowl' Burger Bar... A long-running success for ITV - lasting for ten series over thirteen years - Shelley featured a masterful performance by Hywel Bennett as the bone-idle graduate philosopher cast adrift on a sea of unemployment. This set contains the complete fifth series originally screened in 1982 and also starring Belinda Sinclair as Fran Warren Clarke (Dalziel and Pascoe) as Shelley's friend and giver of temporary refuge Paul and Garfield Morgan (The Sweeney) as ever-present hall porter Desmond.
An adaptation from maverick Alex Cox of Thomas Middleton's celebrated play from 1607 Revenger's Tragedy tells the story of a man whose wife is murdered on their wedding day and his desire to exact revenge on the murderer. In a post-apocalyptic Liverpool of the future Vindici (Christopher Eccleston) returns from a self-imposed exile to bring down those responsible for his wife's murder. While Vindici's family have fallen on hard times the murderer - known as the Duke (Derek Jacobi) - has become rich powerful and virtually untouchable. Employing all his wit and cunning Vindici sets out to gain the Duke's confidence and get close enough to kill him. Vibrant and pulsating with colour and style Revenger's Tragedy is a masterpiece of reinvention set to astound and astonish.
The Manageress: Series 1 (2 Discs)
Green Street (Dir. Lexi Alexander 2005): Stand your ground. Expelled unfairly from Harvard Matt Buckner (Elijah Wood) flees to England to his sister (Claire Forlani). Once there he is befriended by her charming and dangerous brother-in-law Pete Dunham (Charlie Hunnam) and introduced to the underworld of British football hooliganism. Matt learns to stand his ground through a friendship that develops against the backdrop of his street and often violent world. Green Street is a story of loyalty trust and the sometimes brutal consequences of living close to the edge. I.D. (Dir. Philip Davis 1995): When you go undercover remember one thing: who you are. In an effort to halt the escalating violence of fanatical football supporters four young policemen are sent undercover. One of these John (Reece Dinsdale) soon finds his own personality changing and feels a sense of belonging he never felt on the force...
Made for televison comedy which follows the antics of trio anxious to make it big on the greyhound racing circuit...
In 1989 a TV drama series hit the screens that rocked the world of football. Cherie Lunghi stars as Gabriella Benson a woman executive raised on the game by an often absent father. When her mother dies he reaches out to her - by cutting a deal with the faltering Blackburn Rovers to have her replace their current corrupt manager making her the first ever female manager of a football team. Rampant sexism political incorrectness corruption drugs fistfights and foul play. Nudity in the locker room is the least of Gabriella's worries as she comes up against fierce resistance from the team and their trainer up-front and the constant risk of Boardroom backstabbing from behind. But with astute business skills and a keen eye for the game she has loved all her life Gabriella Benson is about to show her team and the world that she's got what it takes to be The Manageress.
In 1588 a Spanish ship from the defeated Armada puts into a British port for repairs. The dastardly Captain Robeles (Lee) instructs his men to persuade the villagers that the invaders were successful and that the British should bend to the Spanish will. When this fails and an organised resistance is formed Robeles resorts to ever more terrifying means to quell the insurrection while his ship is being repaired...
The complete first series of this hugely successful television series starring John Thaw as the legendary Jack Regan and Dennis Waterman as sidekick George Carter. This is first of four box sets featuring all 13 episodes from series 1. Most of these episodes are new to DVD and 2 episodes have never been previously released on any format. Episodes comprise: 1. Ringer 2. Jackpot 3. Thin Ice 4. Queen's Pawn 5. Jigsaw 6. Night Out 7. The Placer 8. Cover Story 9. Golden Boy 10. Stoppo Driver 11. Big Spender 12. Contact Breaker 13. Abduction
The Pirates' story is inextricably linked to one of the most exciting and tumultuous periods of seafaring history. As Europe battled to extend her colonies and trade routes flourished so men of all ages hungry for adventure and keen to capitalise upon the New World braved the open seas. Lured by the promise of golden treasure and an easy life they soon joined ranks to sail under the black flag. Meet some of the wiliest and most cunning characters ever to have set sail. Many of the myths and romances that surround them are dispelled but the reality proves to be just as colourful.
Stomping whomping stealing singing tap-dancing violating. Derby-topped teddy-boy hooligan Alex has his own way of having a good time. He has it at the tragic expense of others. Alex's journey from amoral punk to brainwashed proper citizen forms the dynamic arc of Stanley Kubrick's future-shock vision of Anthony Burgess' novel. Unforgettable images startling musical counterpoints the fascinating language used by Alex and his pals - Kubrick shapes them into a shattering whole. Hugely controversial when first released A Clockwork Orange won the New York Film Critics Best Picture and Director honors and earned four Academy Award nominations including best picture. The power of its art is such that it still entices shocks and holds us in its grasp.
Stomping whomping stealing singing tap-dancing violating Derby-topped teddy-boy hooligan Alex (Malcolm McDowell) has his own way of having a good time. He has it at the tragic expense of others. Alex's journey from amoral punk to brainwashed proper citizen forms the dynamic arc of Stanley Kubrick's future-shook vision of Anthony Burgess's novel. Unforgettable images startling musical counterpoints the fascinating language used by Alex and his pals - Kubrick shapes them into a shattering whole.
Acclaimed writer Andrew Davies turns his talents to one of Charles Dicken's most brilliant novels - arguably the greatest ever depiction of Victorian London from its glittering heights to its very lowest depths - adapting it into a series of half-hour episodes. At the court of Chancery the interminable suit of Jarndyce and Jarndyce becomes the centre of a web of relationships at all levels - from aristocrat Sir Leicester Dedlock to Little Jo the lowly crossing sweeper - and a metaphor for the decay and corruption at the heart of English society. A skillfully crafted thriller; an epic feast of characters and storylines; and a passionate indictment of the legal system Bleak House is as searingly relevant today as it was in the mid-19th Century.
When you go undercover remember one thing: who you are. In an effort to halt the escalating violence of fanatical football supporters four young policemen are sent undercover. One of these John (Reece Dinsdale) soon finds his own personality changing and feels a sense of belonging he never felt on the force...
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