"Director: Sergio Leone"

• Gunfight At The OK Corral/Hud/Once Upon A Time In The West | DVD | (06/10/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Titles Comprise: Gunfight At The O.K Corral: Acclaimed actors Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas team up to rid Tombstone Arizona of the murderous Clanton gang in this all-star action-packed classic. When lawman Wyatt Earp (Lancaster) and gunfighter ""Doc"" Holiday (Douglas) ride into town they find themselves pitted against one of the biggest foes ever encountered in the form of Ike Clanton (Lyle Bettger) and his ruthless gang. It isn't long before the confrontation explodes into a survival-at-all-costs battle with Rhonda Fleming Jo Van Fleet John Ireland Dennis Hopper Deforest Kelley Martin Milner and Lee Van Cleef among those swept into the drama and excitement of one of the Wild West's most legendary events! Hud: Paul Newman is Hud a man at odds with his father tradition and himself. Hud's only interests are fighting drinking hot-rodding his Cadillac and womanising. Melvyn Douglas is the father an old-line cattle rancher and Patricia Neal is the understanding and appealing housekeeper. Academy Awards went to Patricia Neal Melvyn Douglas and James Wong Howe's brilliant cinematography. Once Upon A Time In The West: Sergio Leone's monumental epic 'Once Upon A Time In The West' ranks among the five or six all-time Western masterpieces. The picture itself is as big as its Monument Valley locations as grand as its fine distinguished cast. Henry Fonda plays the blackest character of his long career. He's Frank the ruthless murderous psychopath who suffers conscience pangs after annihilating an entire family. Jason Robards is the half-breed falsely accused of the terrible slaughter. Charles Bronson plays the harmonica playing man who remembers how his brother was savagely tortured. Brilliantly directed by Leone and accompanied by one of Ennio Morriconne's greatest scores this glorious picture helped re-establish the Western's significance. Watch out for that lengthy opening titles sequence...

• Clint Eastwood Collection - A Fistful Of Dollars/The Good, The Bad And The Ugly/For A Few Dollars More/Hang 'Em High | Blu Ray | (30/08/2010) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £23.99

  A Fistful Of Dollars: The first of the 'spaghetti westerns' A Fistful Of Dollars became an instant cult hit and launched the film careers of Italian Writer-Director Sergio Leone and a little known American television actor named Clint Eastwood. As the lean cold eyed cobra-quick gunfighter - Clint became the first of the 'anti heroes'. A Fistful Of Dollars is the western taken to the extreme - with unremitting violence gritty realism tongue-in-cheek humour and striking visuals. For A Few Dollars More: A Fistful of Dollars had proven so successful that a sequel was inevitable. The superbly scripted For A Few Dollars More tells the tale of a ruthless quest to track down the notorious bandit El Indio played by Gian Maria Volonte by an unforgettable alliance between ruthless gun-slingers Eastwood and Lee Van Cleef. Sergio Leone's direction is both violent and operatic and Ennio Morricone's atmospheric score keeps the tension taut as the action moves from jail breaks and hold ups to spectacular gun battles. The Good The Bad And The Ugly: In the third of Eastwood's spaghetti trilogy Director Sergio Leone substitutes the upright puritan Protestant ethos so familiar in Hollywood westerns for a seedy cynical standpoint towards death and morality. The complex plot of bloodshed and betrayal winds its way through the American Civil War following a team of brutal bandits battling to unearth a fortune buried beneath an unmarked grave and boasts a fine Ennio Morricone score featuring a main theme that reached No.1 in the world's pop charts. Hang 'Em High: They riddled him with bullets. They strung him up. They left him to die. But they made two fatal mistakes: they hanged the wrong man... and they didn't finish the job. In his first American-made western Clint Eastwood indelibly carves his niche as the quintessential tough guy - cool-headed iron-willed and unrelenting in the pursuit of revenge.

• For a Few Dollars More | Blu Ray | (03/06/2013) from £8.99   |  Saving you £7.00 (77.86%)   |  RRP £15.99

  When two rival bounty hunters (Oscar Winner Clint Eastwood and Lee Van Cleef) learn they're both after the same murderous bandit, they join forces in hopes of bringing him to justice. But all is not as it seems in the hard-hitting second installment of Sergio Leone's trilogy starring Eastwood as the famed Man With No Name.

• For A Few Dollars More (Special Edition) | DVD | (18/04/2005) from £11.73   |  Saving you £8.26 (70.42%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The man with no name is back... The man in black is waiting... a walking arsenal - he uncoils strikes and kills! Clint Eastwood had proven so successful in his first foray into European Westerns with 'A Fistful Of Dollars' that a follow up sequel was inevitable. Superbly scripted by Luciano Vincenzoni featuring an unforgettable alliance between ruthless gun-slingers Eastwood and Lee Van Cleef. 'For A Few Dollars' More tells the tale of a ruthless quest to track down the no

• A Fistful Of Dynamite (AKA Duck, You Sucker!) (Masters of Cinema) Limited Edition Blu-ray | Blu Ray | (09/12/2019) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Eureka Entertainment to release A FISTFUL OF DYNAMITE (AKA DUCK YOU SUCKER!), Sergio Leone's criminally underrated final western starring Rod Steiger and James Coburn, available for the first time on Blu-ray in the UK as part of The Masters of Cinema Series from 25 November 2019. Presented with a Limited Edition 60-page Collector's Book and Hardbound Slipcase. From Sergio Leone, the acclaimed director of A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and Once Upon a Time in the West comes his final Western, A Fistful of Dynamite (aka Duck, You Sucker! and released in some territories as Once Upon A Time... the Revolution). Starring acting giants Rod Steiger (In the Heat of the Night) as Juan Miranda, an amoral peasant-turned-outlaw, and James Coburn (Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid) as John Mallory, a dynamite-tossing Irish revolutionary who has fled to Mexico after becoming a fugitive in his own country. Together, they're a devilishly volatile mix of anti-establishment philosophies and violent tendencies as they attempt to liberate political prisoners, defend their compatriots against a well-equipped militia, and risk their lives on a train filled with explosives. Featuring a haunting and rousing score by iconic composer Ennio Morricone, A Fistful of Dynamite has risen in stature over the years and is now recognised alongside The Dollars Trilogy and Once Upon A Time in the West as a true masterpiece. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present A Fistful of Dynamite in its UK debut on Blu-ray. Blu-Ray Special Features: Hardbound Slipcase PLUS: A LIMITED EDITION 60-PAGE Perfect Bound Collector's book featuring new and archival writing on the film Two versions of the film presented in 1080p across two Blu-ray disc, including a transfer from the 2K restoration completed by Cineteca di Bologna in 2009. Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing Original Mono Audio available on both versions Audio Commentary by filmmaker Alex Cox Audio Commentary by film historian Sir. Christopher Frayling A brand new and exclusive interview with film critic and writer Kim Newman A brand new and exclusive interview with Austin Fisher, author of Radical Frontiers in the Spaghetti Western: Politics, Violence and Popular Italian Cinema The Myth of Revolution [22 mins] Sir Christopher Frayling on Duck, You Sucker! Sergio Donati Remembers Duck, You Sucker! [7 mins] Sorting Out The Versions: An Analysis of Duck, You Sucker! [12 mins] Once Upon A Time in Italy [6 mins] featurette Restoration, Italian Style [6 mins] Location Comparisons [9 mins] Radio Spots Trailer

• Once Upon A Time In America (2 Disc Special Edition) | DVD | (07/08/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £13.99

  They grew up in the violent immigrant ghetto of New York's Lower East Side: Max and Noodles Cockeye and Patsy Deborah and Fat Moe. They grew up on the streets and they grew up fast. Fighting their way to the top of the heap they took a vow to stick together but that's not how things worked out. Leone's commanding epic traces the destinies of four men from childhood on the streets through their violent rise to power and maturity during Prohibition as fully fledged hoods. De Niro is magnificent as ""Noodles"" Aaronson one of the four forced by murder and betrayal to flee New York in 1933. When he is mysteriously summoned back in 1968 he discovers that the tragic and bloody events surrounding his betrayal are not as they once seemed... 'Once Upon A Time In America' is director Sergio Leone's astonishing gangster melodrama an epic exploration of the dark side of the American dream. Ten years in the planning Leone's film is the work of a master storyteller - grandly conceived rich in detail and thrilling in the depth and originality of its vision.

• The Good, The Bad and The Ugly -- 2-disc Special Edition | DVD | (26/04/2004) from £9.95   |  Saving you £10.04 (100.90%)   |  RRP £19.99

  This two-disc Special Edition presents the restored, extended English-language version of Leone's The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, now clocking in at almost three hours (actually 171 minutes on this Region 2 DVD as a result of the faster frames-per-second ratio of the PAL format). It includes some 14 minutes of previously cut scenes, with both Clint Eastwood and Eli Wallach returning to the editing suite in 2003 to add their voices to scenes that had never before been dubbed into English (Wallach's voice is noticeably that of a much older man in these additional sequences). The extra material contains nothing of vital importance, but it's good to have the movie returned to pretty much the way Leone originally wanted it. The anamorphic widescreen picture is now also accompanied by a handsome Dolby 5.1 soundtrack, making this the most complete and satisfactory version so far released. Film historian Richard Schickel provides an authoritative and engaging commentary on Disc 1. On the second disc there are featurettes on Leone's West (20 mins), The Leone Style (24 mins), Reconstructing The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (11 mins) and a documentary about the historical background of the Sibley campaign, The Man Who Lost the Civil War (15 mins). In addition, there's a two-part appreciation of composer Ennio Morricone, Il Maestro, by film-music expert John Burlinghame. Tuco's extended torture scene can be found here, along with a reconstruction of the fragmentary "Socorro Sequence". In short, exemplary bonus features that will satisfy every Leone aficionado. --Mark Walker

• A Fistful of Dollars | Blu Ray | (03/06/2013) from £8.27   |  Saving you £7.72 (93.35%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Oscar Winner Clint Eastwood blends a quiet steadiness with a palpable ferocity as the iconic gunslinger The Man With No Name in Sergio Leone's gritty spaghetti western. When a steely blue-eyed mercenary arrives in a dusty border town where two rival bands of smugglers terrorize the impoverished citizens, he pits the gangs against each other in one of the most exhilarating frontier adventure films in cinema history.

• Once Upon a Time in America | Blu Ray | (07/02/2011) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Once Upon a Time in America has a chequered history, having been chopped from its original 229-minute director's cut to 139 minutes for its theatrical release. The longer edition presented here benefits from having the complete story (the short version has huge gaps) about turn-of-the-century Jewish immigrants in America finding their way into lives of crime, as told in flashback by an ageing Jewish gangster named Noodles (Robert De Niro). On the other hand, it's almost four hours long, and this sometimes-indulgent Sergio Leone film is no Godfather. Still, it is notable for the contrast between Leone's elegiac take on the gangster film and his occasional explosive action, as well as for the mix of the stoic, inexpressive De Niro and the hyperactive James Woods as his lifelong friend and rival. --Marshall Fine

• Robert De Niro Box Set | DVD | (11/07/2011) from £18.88   |  Saving you £11.11 (58.85%)   |  RRP £29.99

  Titles Comprise: Once Upon A Time In America: They grew up in the violent immigrant ghetto of New York's Lower East Side: Max and Noodles Cockeye and Patsy Deborah and Fat Moe. They grew up on the streets and they grew up fast. Fighting their way to the top of the heap they took a vow to stick together but that's not how things worked out. Leone's commanding epic traces the destinies of four men from childhood on the streets through their violent rise to power and maturity during Prohibition as fully fledged hoods. De Niro is magnificent as Noodles Aaronson one of the four forced by murder and betrayal to flee New York in 1933. When he is mysteriously summoned back in 1968 he discovers that the tragic and bloody events surrounding his betrayal are not as they once seemed... Once Upon A Time In America is director Sergio Leone's astonishing gangster melodrama an epic exploration of the dark side of the American dream. Ten years in the planning Leone's film is the work of a master storyteller - grandly conceived rich in detail and thrilling in the depth and originality of its vision. Heat: When Al Pacino and Robert De Niro square off Heat sizzles. Written and Directed by Michael Mann Heat includes dazzling set pieces and a bank heist that USA Today's Mike Clark calls the greatest action scene of recent times. It also offers the most impressive collection of actors in one movie this year (Newsweek). Val Kilmer Jon Voight Tom Sizemore and Ashley Judd are among the memorable supporting players in this tale of a brilliant LA cop (Pacino) following the trail from a deadly armed robbery to a crew headed by an equally brilliant master thief (De Niro). Heat goes way beyond the expectations of the cops-and-criminals genre - and into the realm of movie masterpieces. Goodfellas: Based on the true life best seller 'Wiseguy' by Nicholas Pileggi and backed by a dynamic pop/rock oldies soundtrack was named 1990's best film by the New York Los Angeles and National Society of Film Critics. And it earned six Academy Award Nominations. Robert De Niro received wide recognition for his performance as veteran criminal Jimmy The Gent Conway. And as the volatile Tommy DeVito Joe Pesci walked off with the Best Supporting Actor Oscar Academy Award nominee Lorraine Bracco Ray Liotta and Paul Sorvino also turned in electrifying performances. You have to see it to believe it. The Mission: The Mission: Set in the quasi-mystical rain forests of South America 'The Mission' presents each man with his greatest challenge. The priest (Irons) has come to spread the word of God amongst the Guarani Indians; the mercenary (De Niro) has come to enslave them. With the passing of time their destinies become entwined...

• The Good, The Bad And The Ugly | DVD | (02/06/2014) from £3.85   |  Saving you £6.14 (159.48%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Sergio Leone's The Good the Bad and the Ugly is even gutsier on Blu-ray! With a saddlebag full of special features including commentaries featurettes deleted scenes and more it's the most exciting version of this groundbreaking western available! The inimitable Man With No Name (Clint Eastwood) teams with two gunslingers (Lee Van Cleef and Eli Wallach) to pursue a fortune in stolen gold. But teamwork doesn't come naturally to the outlaws and they soon discover that their greatest challenge is to stay alive in a country ravaged by war. Forging a vibrant and yet detached style of action never before seen and not matched since The Good the Bad and the Ugly shatters the western mold in true Eastwood style!

• Spaghetti Western Collection - A Fistful Of Dollars/The Good, The Bad And The Ugly/For A Few Dollars More | Blu Ray | (07/06/2010) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £39.99

  The Sergio Leone Spaghetti Westerns did not simply add a new chapter to the genre... they reinvented it. From his shockingly violent and stylized breakthrough A Fistful Of Dollars to the film Quentin Tarantino calls the best directed movie of all time The Good The Bad And The Ugly Leone's vision did for westerns what talkies did for all movies back in the 1920s: it elevated them to an entirely new art form. Fully restored presented with their best-ever audio and including audio commentaries featurettes and more these films are much more than just the definitive Leone collection... they are the most ambitious and influential westerns ever made. Titles Comprise: A Fistful Of Dollars: The first of the spaghetti westerns A Fistful Of Dollars became an instant cult hit. It also launched the film careers of Italian Writer-Director Sergio Leone and a little known American television actor named Clint Eastwood. As the lean cold-eye cobra-quick gunfighter - Clint became the first of the anti-heroes. The cynical enigmatic loner with a clouded past is the same character Eastwood fans have been savouring ever since. A Fistful Of Dollars is the western taken to the extreme - with unremitting violence gritty realism and tongue-in-cheek humour. Leone's direction is taut and stylish and the visuals are striking - from the breathtaking panoramas (in Spain) to the extreme close-ups of quivering lips and darting eyes before the shoot-out begins. And all are accented by renowned film composer Ennio Morricone's quirky haunting score. For A Few Dollars More: Clint Eastwood had proven so successful in his first foray into European Westerns with A Fistful Of Dollars that a follow up sequel was inevitable. Superbly scripted by Luciano Vincenzoni featuring an unforgettable alliance between ruthless gun-slingers Eastwood and Lee Van Cleef. For A Few Dollars More tells the tale of a ruthless quest to track down the notorious bandit El Indio played by Gian Maria Volonte. The film is also noted for its array of weaponry a veritable arsenal of rifles that became so operatic and Ennio Morricone's atmospheric score keeps the tension taut as the action moves from Jail breaks and hold-ups to spectacular gun battles. The Good The Bad And The Ugly: The third and last western in Clint Eastwood's spaghetti trilogy. Director Sergio Leone substitutes for the upright puritan Protestant ethos so familiar in Hollywood westerns a seedy cynical standpoint towards death and mortality as a team of brutal bandits battle to unearth a fortune buried beneath an unmarked grave. Joining Clint clearly The Good is the irredeemably Bad Lee and the resolutely Ugly Eli Wallach. The complete plot of bloodshed and betrayal winds its way through the American Civil War filmed to resemble the French battlefields of World War One to end in the climatic Dance Of Death. Arguably the quintessential Italian Western this 1966 film boasts a fine Ennio Morricone score featuring a main theme that reached No. 1 in the world's pop charts.

• Spaghetti Western Collection - A Fistful Of Dollars/The Good, The Bad And The Ugly/For A Few Dollars More | DVD | (28/09/2009) from £27.99   |  Saving you £-15.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Spaghetti Westerns (3 Discs)

• A Fistful Of Dollars (Special Edition) | DVD | (18/04/2005) from £8.98   |  Saving you £11.01 (122.61%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The first collaboration between Eastwood and Leone. The story of the man with no name, who tries to turn a gang feud to his own advantage.

• Westerns Triple -True Grit (1969), Once Upon a Time in the West, Shane | DVD | (04/07/2011) from £15.16   |  Saving you £0.83 (5.47%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Titles Comprise: True Grit: In 1970 John Wayne earned an Academy Award for his larger-than-life performance as the drunken uncouth and totally fearless one-eyed U.S. Marshal Rooster Cogburn. The cantankerous Rooster is hired by a headstrong young girl (Kim Darby) to find the man who murdered her father and fled with the family savings. When Cogburn's employer insists on accompanying the old gunfighter sparks fly. And the situation goes from troubled to disastrous when the inexperienced but enthusiastic Texas Ranger (Glen Campbell) joins the party. Laughter and tears punctuate the wild action in this extraordinary Western which features performances by Robert Duvall and Strother Martin. Once Upon A Time In The West: Acclaimed director Sergio Leone's monumental epic stars Henry Fonda Jason Robards and Charles Bronson. Fonda in an out-of-character chilling performance plays one of the meanest villains ever to ride the big country in this power sweeping saga of blood and lust. Shane: Director George Stevens' legendary rendition of the archetypal Western myth earned six Academy Award nominations and made Shane one of the timeless classics of American cinema. Based on Jack Schaefer's novel the story brings Alan Ladd a drifter and retired gunfighter to the assistance of a homestead family terrorised by an ageing cattleman and his hired gun. In fighting a last decisive battle Shane sees the end of his own way of life. Mysterious moody and atmospheric the film is enhanced by the intense performances of its splendid cast and stunning location photography.

• Western Collection (Gunfight at the OK Corral, Once Upon A Time in the West, True Grit, The Sons of Katie Elder) | DVD | (24/11/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Gunfight At The OK Corral (1957): A gang of ruthless outlaws...a pair of larger-than-life heroes...a timeless tale of good versus evil. Acclaimed actors Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas team up to rid Tombstone Arizona of the murderous Clanton gang in this all-star action-packed classic. When lawman Wyatt Earp (Lancaster) and gunfighter Doc Holiday (Douglas) ride into town they find themselves pitted against one of the biggest foes ever encountered in the form of Ike Clanton (Lyle Bettger) and his ruthless gang. It isn't long before the confrontation explodes into a survival-at-all-costs battle with Rhonda Fleming Jo Van Fleet John Ireland Dennis Hopper Deforest Kelley Martin Milner and Lee Van Cleef among those swept into the drama and excitement of one of the Wild West's most legendary events! Once Upon A Time In The West (1969): Sergio Leone's monumental epic 'Once Upon A Time In The West' ranks among the five or six all-time Western masterpieces. The picture itself is as big as its Monument Valley locations as grand as its fine distinguished cast. Henry Fonda plays the blackest character of his long career. He's Frank the ruthless murderous psychopath who suffers conscience pangs after annihilating an entire family. Jason Robards is the half-breed falsely accused of the terrible slaughter. Charles Bronson plays the harmonica playing man who remembers how his brother was savagely tortured. Brilliantly directed by Leone and accompanied by one of Ennio Morriconne's greatest scores this glorious picture helped re-establish the Western's significance. Watch out for that lengthy opening titles sequence... True Grit (1969): In 1970 John Wayne earned an Academy Award for his larger-than-life performance as the drunken uncouth and totally fearless one-eyed U.S. Marshal Rooster Cogburn. The cantankerous Rooster is hired by a headstrong young girl (Kim Darby) to find the man who murdered her father and fled with the family savings. When Cogburn's employer insists on accompanying the old gunfighter sparks fly. And the situation goes from troubled to disastrous when the inexperienced but enthusiastic Texas Ranger (Glen Campbell) joins the party. Laughter and tears punctuate the wild action in this extraordinary Western which features performances by Robert Duvall and Strother Martin. The Sons Of Katie Elder (1965): Katie Elder bore four sons. The day she is buried they all return home to Clearwater Texas to pay their last respects. John Wayne is the eldest and toughest son the gunslinger. Tom (Dean Martin) is good with a deck of cards and good with a gun when he has to be. Matt (Earl Holliman) is the quiet one - nobody ever called him yellow... twice. Bud (Michael Anderson Jr.) is the youngest. Any hope for respectability lies with him. Directed by Henry Hathaway (True Grit) an acknowledged master of the western the story has a dual theme: not only is this a he-man's story but it is also a drama of the maternal influence of Katie Elder movingly portrayed from beginning to conclusion.

• The Good, The Bad And The Ugly / The Gunfighter / The Alamo | DVD | (16/10/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The Good, The Bad and The Ugly Clint Eastwood ("the man with no name") is good, Lee Van Cleef (named Angel Eyes Sentenza here) is bad, and Eli Wallach (Tuco Benedito Pacifico Juan Maria Ramirez) is ugly in the final chapter of Sergio Leone's trilogy of spaghetti Westerns (the first two were A Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More). In this sweeping film, the characters form treacherous alliances in a ruthless quest for Confederate gold. Leone is sometimes underrated as a director, but the excellent resolution on this DVD should enhance appreciation of his considerable photographic talent and gorgeous widescreen compositions. Ennio Morricone's jokey score is justifiably famous. The DVD includes about a quarter-hour of footage not seen in the original release. -- Amazon.com The Gunfighter Numerous films have used The Gunfighter as a title, but if you're looking for the film classic of that name, this is the one. Gregory Peck followed his powerful performance in Twelve O'Clock High (also for director Henry King) with an arguably even stronger portrayal: Jimmy Ringo, celebrated shootist just stepping into middle age and mortally weary of having to defend his legend every time he turns around. His trail takes him to a small town where an old comrade, Mark Strett (the great Millard Mitchell), now serves as marshal, and where Ringo's estranged wife and the son he has never seen also reside, under an assumed name. Over one night and one day, hoping against hope, he dares to dream of a normal life. But there are avengers not far behind, and other threats yet to be counted. Although critically praised, The Gunfighter was a box-office disappointment. Darryl F. Zanuck blamed the soup-strainer moustache Henry King had Peck grow for the role, but perhaps the film's virtues of intelligence and restraint weighed against it. The Gunfighter properly deserves the credit (awarded to High Noon two years later) for ushering in the "adult Western," that '50s subgenre that emphasized psychological intensity over action and spectacle. (Most of The Gunfighter unfolds at the Palace Bar where Ringo waits for his family to be brought to him.) In any event, latter-day audiences should have no trouble appreciating the solid performances, literate writing, and impeccable Fox craftsmanship, including the final studio assignment for ace cinematographer Arthur Miller. --Richard T. Jameson, Amazon.com The Alamo John Wayne drew on what he learned from John Ford, Howard Hawks, and practically everyone who directed him during his long career when he made his own directorial debut on this labour of love. The Alamo is a sprawling, unabashedly patriotic epic of the sacrifice made by 187 men defending the Alamo from Santa Ana's bigger and better equipped army. Wayne stars as Col. Davy Crockett, the straight-talking, fun-loving frontiersman turned senator, with Laurence Harvey as the stiff, by-the-book Col. William Travis and Richard Widmark as the legendary Jim Bowie who bristles under Travis's military protocol. The mix of regular army soldiers, Texican irregulars, scouts, and civilians makes for a volatile melting pot, but they all come together in a time of crisis in this metaphor for Wayne's heroic vision of America. Wayne spared no expense in this, one the last of the old fashion Westerns, re-creating the Alamo in exacting detail and corralling a cast of Western icons and old friends, including Richard Boone, Chill Wills (who earned an Oscar nomination), Hank Worden, Denver Pyle, Ken Curtis, and Olive Carey, in addition to teen heartthrob Frankie Avalon and Wayne's son Pat. Even old pal and spiritual godfather John Ford lent a hand shooting second-unit footage. Wayne is no Ford, but despite himself (and a talky script), he delivers an entertaining film full of intriguing characters and excellent action scenes, earning the film an Oscar nomination for Best Picture in 1960. Remember the Alamo! --Sean Axmaker, Amazon.com

• The Good, The Bad And The Ugly - Limited Edition Steelbook | Blu Ray | (26/05/2014) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £21.99

  This two-disc Special Edition presents the restored, extended English-language version of Leone's The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, now clocking in at almost three hours (actually 171 minutes on this Region 2 DVD as a result of the faster frames-per-second ratio of the PAL format). It includes some 14 minutes of previously cut scenes, with both Clint Eastwood and Eli Wallach returning to the editing suite in 2003 to add their voices to scenes that had never before been dubbed into English (Wallach's voice is noticeably that of a much older man in these additional sequences). The extra material contains nothing of vital importance, but it's good to have the movie returned to pretty much the way Leone originally wanted it. The anamorphic widescreen picture is now also accompanied by a handsome Dolby 5.1 soundtrack, making this the most complete and satisfactory version so far released. Film historian Richard Schickel provides an authoritative and engaging commentary on Disc 1. On the second disc there are featurettes on Leone's West (20 mins), The Leone Style (24 mins), Reconstructing The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (11 mins) and a documentary about the historical background of the Sibley campaign, The Man Who Lost the Civil War (15 mins). In addition, there's a two-part appreciation of composer Ennio Morricone, Il Maestro, by film-music expert John Burlinghame. Tuco's extended torture scene can be found here, along with a reconstruction of the fragmentary "Socorro Sequence". In short, exemplary bonus features that will satisfy every Leone aficionado. --Mark Walker

• The Good, The Bad and the Ugly | Blu Ray | (03/06/2013) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  This two-disc Special Edition presents the restored, extended English-language version of Leone's The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, now clocking in at almost three hours (actually 171 minutes on this Region 2 DVD as a result of the faster frames-per-second ratio of the PAL format). It includes some 14 minutes of previously cut scenes, with both Clint Eastwood and Eli Wallach returning to the editing suite in 2003 to add their voices to scenes that had never before been dubbed into English (Wallach's voice is noticeably that of a much older man in these additional sequences). The extra material contains nothing of vital importance, but it's good to have the movie returned to pretty much the way Leone originally wanted it. The anamorphic widescreen picture is now also accompanied by a handsome Dolby 5.1 soundtrack, making this the most complete and satisfactory version so far released. Film historian Richard Schickel provides an authoritative and engaging commentary on Disc 1. On the second disc there are featurettes on Leone's West (20 mins), The Leone Style (24 mins), Reconstructing The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (11 mins) and a documentary about the historical background of the Sibley campaign, The Man Who Lost the Civil War (15 mins). In addition, there's a two-part appreciation of composer Ennio Morricone, Il Maestro, by film-music expert John Burlinghame. Tuco's extended torture scene can be found here, along with a reconstruction of the fragmentary "Socorro Sequence". In short, exemplary bonus features that will satisfy every Leone aficionado. --Mark Walker

• Once Upon a Time in America (Limited Edition Steelbook--Exclusive to Amazon.co.uk) | Blu Ray | (27/10/2014) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Once Upon a Time in America has a chequered history, having been chopped from its original 229-minute director's cut to 139 minutes for its theatrical release. The longer edition presented here benefits from having the complete story (the short version has huge gaps) about turn-of-the-century Jewish immigrants in America finding their way into lives of crime, as told in flashback by an ageing Jewish gangster named Noodles (Robert De Niro). On the other hand, it's almost four hours long, and this sometimes-indulgent Sergio Leone film is no Godfather. Still, it is notable for the contrast between Leone's elegiac take on the gangster film and his occasional explosive action, as well as for the mix of the stoic, inexpressive De Niro and the hyperactive James Woods as his lifelong friend and rival. --Marshall Fine