"Director: George Englund"

• Zachariah | DVD | (08/04/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Advertised in 1970 as "the first electric Western", Zachariah is an endearingly pretentious effort that prefigures such genre oddities as Jodorowsky's El Topo and Alex Cox's Straight to Hell. The story is the archetypal one about two friends who become gunslingers and must inevitably face off against each other in the finale, but it's treated here as if it Meant Something Deeper--which means that after enjoying 75 minutes of violence we can all agree that peace and love and harmony is on the whole better for children and other living things. Curly haired farmboy Zachariah (John Rubinstein) and eternally grinning apprentice blacksmith Matthew (Don Johnson) are the fast friends who run away from home to join up with a gang of outlaws known as the Crackers (played by hippie folk-rock collective Country Joe and the Fish). These apparent 19th-century Westerners tote electric guitars and are given to staging free festival freak-outs at one end of town to distract from the bank robbery at the other. The boys soon hook up with Job Cain (Elvin Jones), an all-in-black master gunfighter who is also an ace drummer (his solo is impressive), but then drift apart as Zachariah has a liaison with Old West madame Belle Starr (Pat Quinn) in a town that consists of fairground-style brightly painted wooden cut out buildings (a gag reused in Blazing Saddles), then gets rid of his outrageous all-white cowboy outfit to settle down on a homestead and grow his own dope and vegetables. Matthew, of course, goes for the black leather look after outdrawing Cain, and comes a gunning for the only man who might be faster than him, but the hippie-era message is once these kids have killed everyone else they can still make peace with each other and the desert or something, man. Aside from a Beatle-haired teenage Johnson making a fool of himself by over-emoting to contrast with Rubinstein's non-performance, the film offers a lot of beautiful "acid Western" scenery and excellent prog rock and bluegrass music from the James Gang, White Lightnin' and the New York Rock Ensemble. Comedy troupe the Firesign Theatre (huge on album in 1970) provided the script, which explains satirical touches like the horse-and-buggy salesman (Dick Van Patten) spieling like a used car dealer and the madame's claim to have had affairs with gunslingers from Billy the Kid to Marshal McLuhan. The DVD extras are skimpy, but the print quality is outstanding. --Kim Newman

• Marlon Brando Box Set | DVD | (22/11/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £35.99

  A collection of classic and unusual Marlon Brando movies including The Wild One One The Waterfront The Ugly American and The Appaloosa. The Wild One (1954) An angry young Marlon Brando scorches the screen as The Wild One in this powerful 50s cult classic. Brando plays Johnny the leader of a vicious biker gang that involves a small sleepy California town. The leather-jacketed young biker seems hell-bent on destruction until he falls for Kathie (Mary Murphy) a 'good-girl' w

• Marlon Brando - The Wild One/On The Waterfront/The Ugly American/The Appaloosa | DVD | (20/09/2010) from £14.83   |  Saving you £15.16 (102.22%)   |  RRP £29.99

  Titles Comprise: The Wild One: Brando plays Johnny the leader of a vicious biker gang that involves a small sleepy California town. The leather-jacketed young biker seems hell-bent on destruction until he falls for Kathie (Mary Murphy) a good-girl whose father happens to be a cop. Unfortunately for Johnny his one shot at redemption is threatened by a psychotic rival Chino (Lee Marivn) plus the hostility and prejudice of the townspeople. All their smouldering passions explode in an electrifying climax. On The Waterfront: Marlon Brando is the longshoreman who finds himself increasingly isolated when he challenges the might and power of the tough New York City dockers' Union. Rod Steiger is his elder brother torn between loyalty to union and love of family. Lee J. Cobb is the powerful union boss while Eva Marie Saint is the girl with whom Brando falls in love. The Ugly American: Harrison MacWhite has just been named ambassador to the (fictional) Southeast Asian country of Sarkhan but may regret taking the job. When he arrives there MacWhite discovers a country in turmoil and he can't help becoming involved in the nation's incendiary politics. Furthermore MacWhite's naivete -- and cockiness -- only make things worse... The Appaloosa: Marlon Brando star as Matt Fletcher a Mexican-American buffalo hunter who sets out to get revenge on the local bandit (played by John Saxon) that steals his beloved horse.