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• Robocop Trilogy | DVD | (04/02/2002) from £39.99   |  Saving you £-7.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £32.99

  Paul Verhoeven was almost unknown in Hollywood prior to the release of RoboCop in 1987. But after this ultra-violent yet strangely subversive and satirical sci-fi picture became a huge hit his reputation for extravagant and excessive, yet superbly well-crafted filmmaking was assured. Controversial as ever, Verhoeven saw the blue-collar cop (Peter Weller) who is transformed into an invincible cyborg as "an American Jesus with a gun", and so the film dabbles with death and resurrection imagery as well as mercilessly satirising Reagan-era America. No targets escape Verhoeven's unflinching camera eye, from yuppie excess and corporate backstabbing to rampant consumerism and vacuous media personalities. As with his later sci-fi satire Starship Troopers the extremely bloody violence resolutely remains on the same level as a Tom and Jerry cartoon. The inevitable sequel, competently directed by Irvin Kershner, thankfully continues to mine the dark vein of anti-consumerist satire while being reflexively aware that it is itself a shining example of that which it is lampooning. Sadly the third instalment in the series, now without Peter Weller in the title role, is exactly the kind of dumbed-down production-line flick that the corporate suits of OCP might have dreamed up at a marketing meeting. Its only virtue is a decent music score from regular Verhoeven collaborator Basil Poledouris, whose splendid march theme returned from the original score. On the DVD: Packaged in a fold-out slipcase these three discs make a very collectable set. All are presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic prints, although only the first movie has any extra material worth mentioning. Here the Director's Cut option allows the viewer to see Paul Verhoeven's more explicitly violent versions of Murphy's "assassination", ED-209's bloody malfunction and the shootout finale. These extended sequences are handily signposted in the scene selection menu, and the filming of them can be seen in a sequence of Director's Cut footage. Deleted scenes include "Topless Pizza" ("I'll buy that for a dollar!") and there are two contemporary "making of" featurettes plus a good, new half-hour retrospective. Both the latter and the director's commentary make abundantly clear the Reagan-era satire and are chock full of quotable lines from Verhoeven--"I wanted to show Satan killing Jesus"--and his producer--"Fascism for liberals". Stop-motion animator Phil Tippett gives a commentary on the storyboard-to-film comparisons, and there are the usual trailers and photos. Showing just how much the sequels are rated in comparison, the second and third discs have nothing but theatrical trailers and their sound is just Dolby 2.0 whereas the original movie has been remastered into Dolby 5.1.--Mark Walker

• Sonic The Hedgehog (Blu-ray) | Blu Ray | (08/06/2020) from £7.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Based on the global blockbuster videogame franchise from Sega, SONIC THE HEDGEHOG tells the story of the world's speediest hedgehog as he embraces his new home on Earth. In this live-action adventure comedy, Sonic and his new best friend Tom (James Marsden) team up to defend the planet from the evil genius Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey) and his plans for world domination. The family-friendly film also stars Tika Sumpter and Ben Schwartz as the voice of Sonic.

• The Flash: Season 6 | DVD | (24/08/2020) from £9.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  After years of battling villains and repeatedly saving Central City, Barry and his wife Iris thought they could finally find time to enjoy being newlyweds, but their wedded bliss was interrupted by the appearance of their future daughter Nora West-Allen (Jessica Parker Kennedy), a speedster known as XS, who made a big mistake and needed her parents' help to get home. Team Flash rallied to find a way to help Nora return to her time, only to discover her presence had altered the timeline and brought the early arrival of the most ruthless, vicious, and relentless villain Team Flash has ever faced: Cicada (Chris Klein). They enlisted the help of Sherloque Wells (a master detective from Earth-221) to aid in the search for Cicada, while Barry taught Nora everything he knew about being a speedster and what it means to be a hero. As XS, Nora assisted Team Flash with the takedown of a surge of new metahumans, but her place on the team was threatened when it was revealed that she was in league with none other than one of The Flash's earliest arch-enemies, Eobard Thawne (The Reverse-Flash). Ultimately, Nora was innocent in the grand scheme of Thawne's plan and helped Team Flash realize a way to defeat both Cicada AND Thawne. Yet, vanquishing their foes yielded an agonizing loss as Nora erased herself from the timeline, leaving all of Team Flash devastated. Reeling from the loss of Nora, Barry throws himself into work, defeating a record number of metas over the summer, while the rest of Team Flash deals with changes of their own Cisco, having taken the meta-human cure, is no longer Vibe, Joe is now Captain of CCPD, D.A. Cecile Horton (Danielle Nicolet) is now considering leaving the district attorney's office, and Ralph Dibny is now searching for a missing heiress named Sue Dearbon. But all of that is put on hold when Dr. Ramsey Rosso (recurring guest star Sendhil Ramamurthy), intent on curing death, is overtaken by his own desperation and ambition giving birth to a new villain... Bloodwork.

• Platoon | DVD | (10/09/2001) from £5.83   |  Saving you £14.16 (242.88%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Winning a raft of awards, not least of which four Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director, Oliver Stone's Platoon was a box-office smash heralding Hollywood's second wave of Vietnam war films. Where predecessors The Deer Hunter (1978) and Apocalypse Now (1979) were elaborate epics, Platoon simply showed the daily reality of the war from the point of view of ordinary soldiers. Stone's own service in Vietnam gives his work a unique authenticity. Charlie Sheen gives his best performance to date, enduring a series of increasingly large-scale and bloody battles which retrospectively make one wonder why Saving Private Ryan was hailed as so new. Against this gruelling verity the film falters over the symbolic conflict between good and evil sergeants played by Willem Dafoe and Tom Berenger. Even though this was also based in real life, it strikes a too conventionally Hollywood-like note in a film which otherwise maintains much of the raw power of Stone's other film from 1986, Salvador. Johnny Depp fans should look out for an early appearance by the star. Stone would return to Vietnam with the more sophisticated Born on the Fourth of July (1989) and Heaven and Earth (1993). On the DVD: The 50-minute documentary "Tour of the Inferno" goes beyond the usual "making-of" to present a personal account both of the film and of Stone's own time in Vietnam. Likewise the two audio commentaries--one by Stone, the other by Captain Dale Dye, fellow veteran and military technical advisor--range between the making of the film and the degree to which the actors came to inhabit their parts, to their own wartime experiences. Both commentaries bring a fresh level of appreciation and understanding to the film. Also included is the original trailer and three TV commercials, together with well-presented stills galleries of behind-the-scenes photos and poster art. Following a credit sequence marred by dirt on the print, the anamorphically enhanced 1.77:1 image is sharp and clear. The many night scenes are very dark but remain easily comprehensible. The three-channel Dolby Digital sound is suitably raw and powerful, though an early sequence featuring rain in the jungle suffers from very distracting repeated drop-outs in the left channel. --Gary S Dalkin

• Bad Boys 2 | DVD | (23/02/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Narcotics cops Mike and Marcus are back - this time investigating the flow of ecstasy into Miami and a dangerous criminal kingpin whose plan to control the city's drug traffic has touched off an underground war.

• Dirty Harry | Blu Ray | (09/06/2008) from £8.39   |  Saving you £11.60 (138.26%)   |  RRP £19.99

  A rooftop sniper (Andy Robinson) calling himself Scorpio has killed twice and holds the city ransom with the threat of killing again. Harry Callahan (Clint Eastwood) is a tough streetwise San Francisco cop whom they call Dirty Harry will nail him one way or the other no matter what the 'system' prescribes. Filming on location director Don Siegel made the City by the Bay a vital part of Dirty Harry a practice continued in its four sequels. The original remains one of the most gripping police thrillers ever made.

• Vampire Academy | DVD | (14/07/2014) from £5.95   |  Saving you £10.04 (168.74%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Rose and Lissa are two high school students trying to get through the normal dramas - vicious rumours, ex-boyfriends and bloodlust. Late nights and high stakes are normal at St Vladimir's, better known as the Vampire Academy.

• Hands Of Steel | Blu Ray | (26/12/2016) from £12.39   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Sci-fi action directed by Sergio Martino starring Daniel Greene and Janet Agren. In a dystopian world, a ruthless industrialist devises a means of destroying a group which stands in the way of his designs. He creates a cyborg named Paco Queruak (Greene) with the objective to kill the leader of the opposing faction. Paco fails in his task however, and flees to the desert junkyards of Arizona. He is pursued by those who made him, and in facing them must choose whether to embrace the machine or the person inside him.

• The Final Countdown | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £6.19   |  Saving you £-0.20 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  With a tantalising "what-if?" scenario and a respectable cast of Hollywood veterans, The Final Countdown plays like a grand-scale episode of The Twilight Zone. It's really no more than that, and time-travel movies have grown far more sophisticated since this popular 1980 release, but there's still some life remaining in the movie's basic premise: what if a modern-era navy aircraft carrier--in this case the real-life nuclear-powered USS Nimitz--was caught in an anomalous storm and thrust 40 years backwards in time to the eve of Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor? Will the ship's commander (Kirk Douglas) interfere with history? Will the visiting systems analyst (Martin Sheen) convince him not to? Will a rescued senator from 1941 (Charles Durning) play an unexpected role in the future of American politics? Veteran TV director Don Taylor doesn't do much with the ideas posed by this potentially intriguing plot; he seems more interested in satisfying aviation buffs with loving footage of F-14 "Jolly Roger" fighter jets, made possible by the navy's generous cooperation. That makes The Final Countdown a better navy film than a fully fledged time-travel fantasy, but there's a nice little twist at the end, and the plot holes are easy to ignore. James Cameron would've done it better, but this popcorn thriller makes an enjoyable double bill with The Philadelphia Experiment. --Jeff Shannon

• Blade Runner: The Final Cut (5-Disc Ultimate Collectors' Edition) | DVD | (03/12/2007) from £50.99   |  Saving you £-20.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £30.99

  This is Blade Runner: The Final Cut Ridley Scott's definitive new version of his science-fiction masterpiece. This multi-disc Special Edition release will also contain three alternate versions of Blade Runner: the Original U.S. Theatrical Cut (never before available in the UK); the Expanded International Theatrical Cut; and the 1992 Director's Cut. Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) prowls the steel-and-microchip jungle of 21st-century Los Angeles. He's a ""blade runner"" stalking geneticaly made criminal replicants. His assignment: kill them. Their crime: wanting to be human.

• The Karate Kid/The Karate Kid Part 2/The Karate Kid Part 3 | DVD | (22/09/2008) from £21.59   |  Saving you £3.40 (15.75%)   |  RRP £24.99

  The Karate Kid Pt. 1: When Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) is plagued by attacks and the cruel jokes of a gang of vengeful kids the young teenager takes karate lessons in the hope that it will make him strong. In the end his tutor Mr Miyagi (Noriyuki 'Pat' Morita) teaches him a more important lesson: that fighting is the last answer to a problem not the first... The Karate Kid Pt. 2: Daniel and Mr Miyagi travel to Okinawa where they find they are no longer part of a game played by the rules... The Karate Kid Pt. 3: When Daniel decides not to compete in a karate championship he becomes the target of a vicious competitor who wants the title back. But when the relentless abuse becomes blackmail Daniel ignores the sound advice of Mr Miyagi and enters the competition alienating the only person who can help him...

• Mission Of Darkness | DVD | (12/04/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  In this adult anime from Japan a meteorite strikes Earth and mayhem begins. Women are found murdered all over Japan and the evidence points to aliens killing and depositing sperm in the victims. When the government tries to step in they only make things worse but suddenly an enormous Venus arrives with what may possibly be a solution...

• El Cid | DVD | (16/05/2011) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Sumptuous in every way, visually magnificent, with grandiose sets, panoramic Spanish vistas and intricately detailed costumes, possessor of one of cinema's greatest music scores, boasting vast and astonishingly kinetic battles, and breathing heroic virtue in every scene, El Cid is the very epitome of epic. For this reworking of the medieval legend of the Cid (Arabic for "Lord") who united warring factions and saved 11th-century Spain from invasion, producer Samuel Bronston and director Anthony Mann insisted every set had to be created from scratch, every costume specially made for this movie alone; they also shot entirely on location in La Mancha and along the Mediterranean coast of Spain to enhance the film's authenticity. The cinematography is saturated with the burnished hues of the Spanish landscape, as are the palatial sets and rich costumes; Miklos Rozsa's resplendent score is also the result of painstaking research into medieval Spanish sources. The screenplay is imbued with knightly gravitas and more than a little salvation imagery, from the opening scene of the young Rodrigo rescuing a cross from a burning church, to the movie's indelible finale as The Cid rides "out of the gates of history into legend". Charlton Heston is at his most indomitable as Rodrigo, "The Cid", a natural leader of men and the embodiment of every manly virtue (note that he fathers twins--a sure token of his virility); Sophie Loren is ravishing as Chimene, the woman whose love for Rodrigo conflicts with her filial instincts after he kills her father, the king's champion, over a point of honour. Their scenes together create a humane warmth at the heart of this vast movie: the moment when Chimene finally declares her love (beneath a shrine of three crosses--more symbolism) to the exiled Rodrigo forms a pivotal and very intimate centrepiece. Shortly thereafter he must rise from their rural marriage bed to lead his followers into battle, and the tension between his public and private lives adds a piquancy to the film's stunning battle sequences. The international supporting cast sometimes look like makeweights, especially when chewing on the occasionally stilted dialogue, but any such faults are easily forgiven as the scale and spectacle of El Cid carries the viewer away on a tide of chivalry. --Mark Walker

• Spider-Man | Blu Ray | (08/07/2019) from £19.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) is an ordinary guy who lives with his beloved aunt and uncle and quietly pines for the girl next door, Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst). But when a geneticallymodified 'superspider' bites him while on a school trip, Peter develops unusual skills  fantastic acrobatic strength, supernatural awareness and a talent for webspinning. It's not until tragedy strikes at home that Peter decides to use his new powers to fight crime under a secret identity: SPIDERMAN! When the evil Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe) attacks the good people of New York and endangers the life of Mary Jane, Peter commits himself to the ultimate tests: to thwart his archenemy and to win the heart of the girl that he loves. Features: Cast & Crew Commentary SpiderMan: The Mythology of the 21st Century featurette Making of SpiderMan featurette SpiderMania E! Entertainment Special Blooper Reel Director & Composer Profiles BehindTheScenes featurettes Screen Tests Music Videos Easter Eggs Trailers

• CHINA O'BRIEN I + II (Eureka Classics) Special Edition 2-Disc Blu-ray | Blu Ray | (29/04/2024) from £24.57   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  The inimitable martial arts superstar Cynthia Rothrock stars in two of the most gloriously entertaining films of her career! In China O'Brien, city cop and formidable martial artist Lori China O'Brien (Rothrock) is forced to resign from the force and return home to a small Utah town after her involvement in an accidental death. But upon arrival in Beaver Creek, she finds that her lawman father Sheriff John O'Brien (David Blackwell) is desperately trying to bring down local crime boss Edwin Sommers (Steven Kerby), and it isn't long before she steps into the fray. Then, in China O'Brien II, Lori must once again protect her hometown when it becomes a hideout for a dangerous fugitive: the escaped drug lord Charlie Baskin (Harlow Marks). Helmed by Richard Clouse, the celebrated director of Enter the Dragon and Game of Death, the China O'Brien films firmly established Cynthia Rothrock as an International action star following a successful string of hits in Hong Kong. Product Features SPECIAL EDITION TWO DISC BLU-RAY FEATURES* Limited-edition O-card slipcase featuring new artwork by Gregory Sacre (Gokaiju) [First print run of 2000 copies only] | 1080p HD presentations on Blu-ray from brand new 4K restorations of the original film elements | Uncompressed restored English audio | Brand new feature length audio commentaries on both films | Brand new interview with Cynthia Rothrock | Brand new interviews with cast and crew (TBC) | Trailers | PLUS: A Limited-edition collector's booklet featuring new essays by James Oliver and film scholar Eddie Falvey [First print run of 2000 copies only] * All extras subject to change

• Die Another Day | Blu Ray | (20/10/2008) from £19.93   |  Saving you £0.05 (0.25%)   |  RRP £19.98

  Pierce Brosnan returns as James Bond, who comes up against a North Korean Generan, who gets his hands on a device that lets him change his facial features. Bond must travel to Iceland to unmask the traitor and prevent a war of catastrophic consequence.

• Never Say Never Again | DVD | (23/04/2001) from £17.90   |  Saving you £-1.91 (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  After years of enduring Roger Moore in the role of James Bond, it was good to have Sean Connery back in 1983 for Never Say Never Again, a one-time-only trip down 007's memory lane. Connery's Bond, a bit of a dinosaur in the British secret service at (then) 52, is still in demand during times of crisis. Sadly, the film is not very good. In this rehash of Thunderball, Bond is pitted against a worthy underwater villain (Klaus Maria Brandauer); and while the requisite Bond Girls include beauties Kim Basinger and Barbara Carrera, they can't save the movie. The script has several truly dumb passages, among them a (gasp) video-game duel between 007 and his nemesis that now looks utterly anachronistic. For Connery fans, however, this widescreen print of the Irvin Kershner (The Empire Strikes Back) film is a chance to say a final goodbye to a perfect marriage of actor and character. --Tom Keogh

• Chronicles Of Narnia - The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe/Prince Caspian | DVD | (19/10/2009) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £22.99

  The Lion The Witch And The Wardrobe (2005): C.S. Lewis' timeless adventure The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe follows the exploits of the four Pevensie siblings - Lucy Edmund Susan and Peter. Set in World War II England the children enter the world of Narnia through a magical wardrobe while playing a game of 'hide-and-seek' in the rural country home of an elderly professor. Once there the children discover a charming peaceful land inhabited by talking beasts dwarfs fauns centaurs and giants that has become a world cursed to eternal winter by the evil White Witch Jadis. Under the guidance of a noble and mystical ruler the lion Aslan the children fight to overcome the White Witch's powerful hold over Narnia in a spectacular climactic battle that will free Narnia from Jadis' icy spell forever. Prince Caspian (2008): The three siblings Peter Susan Edmund and Lucy are pulled back into the land of Narnia where a thousand years has passed since they left. The children are once again enlisted to join the colorful creatures of Narnia in combating an evil villain who prevents the rightful Prince from ruling the land.

• The Hunt for Red October | Blu Ray | (26/09/2011) from £7.99   |  Saving you £12.00 (150.19%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Before Harrison Ford assumed the mantle of playing Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan hero in Patriot Games, Alec Baldwin took a swing at the character in this John McTiernan film and hit one to the fence. If less instantly sympathetic than Ford, Baldwin is in some respects more interesting and nuanced as Ryan, and drawing comparisons between both actors' performances can make for some interesting post-movie discussion. That aside, The Hunt for Red October stands alone as a uniquely exciting adventure with a fantastic co-star: Sean Connery as a Russian nuclear submarine captain attempting to defect to the West on his ship. Ryan must figure out his true motives for approaching the US. McTiernan (Predator, Die Hard) made an exceptionally handsome movie here with action sequences that really do take one's breath away. --Tom Keogh

• The Cold Light of Day | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £6.07   |  Saving you £9.92 (163.43%)   |  RRP £15.99

  This heart pounding thriller follows a young American (Henry Cavill), whose family is kidnapped whilst on vacation in Spain. A cat and mouse chase ensues, but time is running out.