The Bounty is the third screen version of one of the best-known stories in naval history, here with Anthony Hopkins as Lieutenant William Bligh and Mel Gibson as Fletcher Christian heading an extraordinary cast including Laurence Olivier, Edward Fox, Daniel Day-Lewis, Liam Neeson, Bernard Hill and Dexter Fletcher. HMS Bounty's voyage to Tahiti of 1787-9 and its infamous consequences are recounted with far greater historical accuracy than in the 1935 or 1962 Mutiny on the Bounty. The movie is gorgeously shot on location in Tahiti, England and New Zealand as well as on a full-size recreation of the original Bounty. Roger Donaldson's film benefits from a literate screenplay by Robert Bolt, who here as in Lawrence of Arabia (1962), brings real insight into the English institutional mind in conflict. Hopkins is at his complex best and Gibson offers more depth than his usual two-dimensional hero persona; here Bligh and Christian emerge as complex men gripped by circumstances beyond their control. The haunting score by Vangelis contributes immensely to a very underrated film which deserves to be considered a modern classic. On the DVD: There is an excellent 52-minute "making of" documentary that mixes historical information with on-location interviews. A 12-minute overview of previous screen versions of the story is narrated by the film's historical consultant, Stephen Walters, who also provides a somewhat stilted but nevertheless informative audio commentary. The second audio commentary is from director Roger Donaldson, Producer Bernie Williams and Production Designer John Graysmark, who genuinely appear to enjoy reminiscing and have real enthusiasm for the movie. Also included is a fascinating 28-page booklet. This is the stuff Special Editions should always be made of, and this would be one of the finest DVDs on the market were it not for the transfer of the film itself, which appears to be a reprocessed version of the same NTSC anamorphic 2.35:1 transfer found on the bare-bones Region 1 DVD, with no sign of PAL speed-up. The picture not only shows considerable grain in some scenes, but also demonstrates marked compression artefacting and enhancement shimmer on all horizontal lines, making some scenes extremely ugly. For such a beautiful film it is a most disappointing transition to the digital format. Most unusually for a UK release, the disc is region free.--Gary S Dalkin
A new age of darkness is dawning... With the help of a famous high-kicking Hong Kong bus driver two girls who just want to have fun confront the grave responsibility of safekeeping the world from vampire domination! The Duke one of the most dangerous of the undead is determined to bring a new age of darkness upon the earth as he hunts the Fifth Prince with a vial of blood and the ancient Vampire Bible. But ace vampire slayer Reeve will not rest until the fight is over and wit
Dragon Lord (1982): Dragon (Jackie) and his buddy Cowboy get mixed up in a plot to swipe some valuable Chinese antiques and are forced to kick butt. However the real attraction here is a number of showstopping set pieces that involve Jackie and Cowboy playing some pretty demented versions of Badminton and Football all while trying to win the heart of a local beauty. Also known as Young Master In Love and Dragon Strike! Crime Story (1993): Jackie Chan plays a police man assigned to track down kidnappers unaware that his partner is also a villian. Blazing through incredible stunts car chases and brutal rooftop brawls (not forgetting the heart attack victim brought back to life with jump leads and a revving engine!) we see Jackie the maverick cop in full throttle to bring this case to its final and bloody conclusion. Heart Of The Dragon (1985): Respected cop Fung (Jackie Chan) gives up his dreams of sailing around the world in order to care for his mentally disabled brother (Sammo Hung). However having been innocently caught up in a gangland dispute the brother is kidnapped to force Fung to divulge the identity of a police informant... A DVD premiere for this Jackie Chan thriller offering a decidedly different change of pace with heart-wrenching drama and action choreography by Yuen Biao. Heromakers: Experience an action-packed stunt filled journey behind the scenes of the world famous Hong Kong action cinema industry. Join Jackie Chan Sammo Hung and the leading members of the Hong Kong Stuntman Association as they reveal the secrets of their trade and disclose fascinating anecdotes relating to their groundbreaking work in some of the most daring and innovative action movies ever made. Featuring a series of exclusive interviews recorded for the first time with the official approval of the HHSA Heromakers will illuminate the raw courage ingenuity and selfless dedication of the men and women who have elevated movies like Project A Police StoryThe Killer into cinematic legend!
The largest lake in California becomes a symbol of a lost idyll in DJ Caruso's excellent noir-ish thriller The Salton Sea. Val Kilmer is superb as lowlife Danny Parker, or perhaps trumpeter Thomas Van Allen; a man so far over the edge in tragedy, duplicity and drugs he no longer knows or cares who he is. A warped revenge drama occupying similar territory to Memento, The Salton Sea is not as ingenious as that instant classic, but is more elegantly stylised, boasting superb production design, cinematography and music, the latter by Thomas Newman. Along for the ride is Deborah Kara Unger, and those who remember her from The Game will do well to take Kilmer's narration to heart when he says nothing is as it seems. Distinguishing what could have been simply a good thriller are elements not just of humour, but of laugh-out-loud hilarity funnier than most recent comedies; indeed, The Salton Sea is the most striking fusion of laughter and darkness since the admittedly very different An American Werewolf in London (1981). In this respect, Vincent D'Onofrio delivers a side-splitting and audacious performance as drug baron Pooh Bear. Watch out for the rabid badger. On the DVD: The Salton Sea is presented anamorphically enhanced at 1.77:1, with a flawless picture that captures the rich tones and extreme visual contrasts to perfection. The Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack is crystal clear and deeply atmospheric. Extras are the theatrical trailer, plus features on the production design (eight minutes) and cast and crew (nine minutes). More intelligent than the expected Electronic Press Kit material, the running length means they are still fairly perfunctory. --Gary S Dalkin
NOTICE: Polish Release, cover may contain Polish text/markings. The disk has English audio.
Agent Cody Banks Cody Banks (Muniz) seems like a typical teenager - he loves skateboarding hates maths his mum drives him crazy and he feels like a complete idiot around girls. But Cody has a really big secret even his family and best friends don't know: he's actually an elite undercover agent for the CIA. Cody is living every kid's dream. Specially trained at a top secret facility disguised as summer camp Cody can drive like a stuntman jump kick like a pro and has an ar
On the verge of the breakthrough of his career an ambitious young journalist learns that his mother is dying. The discovery forces him to re-evaluate his life and responsibilities; particularly when he inherits he care of his younger sister Roberta who has Down's Syndrome and has always lived at home. At first he protests but gradually these mismatched siblings achieve a hard-won kind of rapprochement one which transforms all of their lives in unexpected ways...
Returning in the second kinetic outing in the series Chan Ho Nam has become a branch leader within the Hung Hing Society celebrating by launching his first club with childhood sweetheart Smartie into the ambivalent festives of a flourishing triad society Taiwanese figure-head Liu King arrives to form an uneasy alliance with the Hung Hing Society. And in tow comes with him his Japanese mistress Ting Siu Yiu with whom ""Chicken"" has become entangled with whilst on the run in Taiw
When a football star is convicted of drunk driving and sentenced to community service teaching kids a martial arts Guardian Angel helps him overcome his own ego and learn the meaning of responsibility.
Huang Jiang and Qi Xi are both very capable crime investigators. However Huang has his heart and soul attached to truth and justice while Qi Xi works as an informer for the triads and works as an accomplice of the crime lord Mang Chao... Hong Kong superstars aplenty (Jordan Chan Anthony Wong Gillian Chung of 'Twins' fame) populate this slick cop thriller in the vein of 'Infernal Affairs' and 'Cop On A Mission'.
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