"Actor: Anthony Zerbe"

• Papillon | DVD | (04/12/2000) from £5.39   |  Saving you £7.60 (141.00%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Franklin J Schaffner's Papillon is quite possibly the definitive prison escape drama. Not as thrilling as The Great Escape, nor as emotionally cathartic as The Shawshank Redemption, its unflinching emphasis on the barbarism of "civilised" societies is nevertheless unparalleled. Significantly, the only characters to display any real kindness in this film are the social outcasts: the lepers and native Indians; everyone else has been corrupted and debased by the true villain, the penal system itself. Based on Henri Charrière' s heavily fictionalised "autobiography", the film's timeless themes of man's insatiable desire for freedom and the indomitability of the human spirit are thankfully not dependent for their impact on the source material's veracity. Dalton Trumbo's liberal-minded screenplay echoes the themes of his earlier script for Spartacus, and Schaffner's innate gift for epic cinema (this was made just two years after his great war biography Patton) is fully equal to the task of realising it on screen. The director's painterly eye for widescreen composition and his careful pacing impart a gravitas to proceedings even during the film's most squalid depictions of brutality, of which there are many emphasising the cheapness of human life among the convicts and their equally criminal prison guards in the penal colony of French Guiana. Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman form a remarkable screen pairing, with Hoffman outstanding as the pusillanimous Dega. McQueen magnificently overcomes his tough-guy persona in the extraordinary solitary confinement sequences as he is gradually reduced to a shambling, cockroach-eating wreck. Longtime collaborator Jerry Goldsmith, who had previously scored Schaffner's Planet of the Apes and Patton, attained yet another career high with his music. On the DVD: The anamorphic widescreen print of the original Panavision 2. 35:1 ratio looks fine without being as stunning as some more modern prints; the Dolby 5.1 audio does however do great service to Jerry Goldsmith's score, which can also be selected separately from the Audio Setup menu as an isolated track (note that there's no music at all in the first 20 minutes of the film). The 12-minute "Magnificent Rebel" featurette was made at the time of the film's release , and includes some fascinating footage of Henri Charrière touring the prison se t, reminiscing about his experiences and pontificating ("Society does not want free men, society wants conditioned men"). --Mark Walker

• See No Evil, Hear No Evil | DVD | (11/09/2000) from £6.99   |  Saving you £6.00 (85.84%)   |  RRP £12.99

  See No Evil, Hear No Evil is a comedy thriller about disability that teeters perpetually on the brink of execrable taste, but more often ends up being bland. Brash blind Wally (Richard Pryor) and mild-mannered, cute deaf Dave (Gene Wilder) form a working partnership based partly on mutual regard and partly on desperation. A man is killed at the counter of their cigar store and neither of them can quite account for their actions or identify the killer, Eve (Joan Severance). They find themselves arrested and subsequently on the run. Eve and her henchman--a surprisingly sinister Kevin Spacey--pursue them remorselessly, searching for a gold coin that is more and less than it appears. Mild sexual chemistry between Wilder and the villainess is perhaps one of the few elements here not entirely watered down from late-period Hitchcock. Playing disability for slapstick is perhaps not the most enlightened way to increase sympathy for the disabled: this is a crass film whose good intentions are more than usually fragile. On the DVD: the disc includes a rather smug featurette and filmographies of the two stars. --Roz Kaveney

• Papillon (1973) | Blu Ray | (17/09/2018) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £7.00

  Henri 'Papillon' Charriere's account of life in the infamous and reputedly inescapable Devil's Island prison, brought to the screen with Steve McQueen as its eponymous hero. Refusing to surrender to the cruelty of the prison regime, Papillon protects the bespectacled Louis Dega (Dustin Hoffman) from an abusive guard, makes a bid for freedom, and ends up spending a long spell in solitary confinement. When he is finally released back into the main prison, he again refuses to surrender and, along with Dega, makes another escape attempt.

• Star Trek 9: Insurrection | DVD | (05/06/2000) from £8.35   |  Saving you £7.64 (47.80%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Star Trek fans were decidedly mixed in their reactions to this, the ninth big-screen feature in Paramount's lucrative Trek franchise. Die-hard loyalists will appreciate the way this Next Generation adventure rekindles the spirit of the original Trek TV series while combining a tolerable dose of New-Age philosophy with a light-hearted plot for the Next Gen cast. This time out, Picard (Patrick Stewart) and his executive crew must transport to a Shangri-la-like planet to see why their android crewmate Data (Brent Spiner) has run amok in a village full of peaceful Ba'ku artisans who--thanks to their planet's "metaphasic radiation"--haven't aged in 309 years.It turns out there's a conspiracy afoot, masterminded by the devious, gruesomely aged Ru'afo (F. Murray Abraham, hamming it up under makeup resembling a cosmetic surgeon's worst nightmare), who's in cahoots with a renegade Starfleet admiral (Anthony Zerbe, in one of his final screen roles). They covet the fountain-of-youth power of the Ba'ku planet, but because their takeover plan violates Starfleet's Prime Directive of non-interference, it's up to Picard and crew to stop the scheme. Along the way, they all benefit from the metaphasic effect, which manifests itself as Worf's puberty (visible as a conspicuous case of Klingon acne), Picard's youthful romance with a Ba'ku woman (the lovely Donna Murphy), the touching though temporary return of Geordi's natural eyesight, and a moment when Troi asks Dr. Crusher if she's noticed that her "boobs are firming up".Some fans scoffed at these humorous asides, but they're what make this Trek film as entertaining as it is slightly disappointing. Without the laughs (including Data's rousing excerpt from Gilbert & Sullivan's HMS Pinafore), this is a pretty routine entry in the franchise, with no real surprises, a number of plot holes, and the overall appearance of a big-budget TV episode. As costar and director, Jonathan Frakes proves a capable carrier of the Star Trekflame--and it's nice to see women in their 40s portrayed as smart and sexy--but while this is surely an adequate Trek adventure, it doesn't quite rank with the best in the series. --Jeff Shannon

• The Liberation of L.B. Jones (Limited Edition) | Unknown | (18/08/2025) from £17.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Legendary director William Wyler (The Collector, Ben-Hur) concluded his filmmaking career with The Liberation of L.B. Jones, a searing indictment of institutional racism starring Lee J Cobb (The Dark Past), Anthony Zerbe (The Omega Man), and Roscoe Lee Browne (Cisco Pike).When Black funeral director L B Jones (Browne) finds that his pregnant wife Emma (Lola Falana) is having an affair with white policeman Worth (Zerbe), he demands a divorce. Worth and his racist colleagues exact brutal revenge upon Jones, and conspire to cover up their actions with the assistance of the local District Attorney (Cobb)With supporting performances from Barbara Hershey (Hannah and Her Sisters) and Yaphet Kotto (Blue Collar), and with a screenplay by Jesse Hill Ford (adapting his own novel) and Stirling Silliphant (Murphy's War), The Liberation of L.B. Jones is a shocking tale of intolerance and injustice.INDICATOR LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURESHigh Definition remasterOriginal mono audio Audio commentary with journalist and author Bryan Reesman and film critic and filmmaker Mike Sargent (2025)Neil Sinyard on ˜The Liberation of L.B. Jones' (2025): the film historian and writer of A Wonderful Heart: The Films of William Wyler delves into the making of, and reception to, the film Isolated music & effects trackImage gallery: promotional and publicity materialNew and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing Limited edition exclusive booklet with a new essay by Fintan McDonagh, archival interviews with writer Jesse Hill Ford and actor Roscoe Lee Brown, archival production report, and film creditsUK premiere on Blu-rayLimited edition of 3,000 copies for the UKAll features subject to change

• Rooster Cogburn | DVD | (05/06/2006) from £9.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Two of the most popular stars in screen history are brought together for the first time in the follow up to True Grit. The film returns John Wayne to the role of the rapscallion eye patched whiskey guzzling Deputy Marshall that won him an Academy Award. Katharine Hepburn is prim Eula Goodnight a Bible thumping missionary who teams up with the gun fighter to avenge the death of her father. While in pursuit of the outlaws a warm rapport develops between the rough n' tumble lawman and the flirty reverend's daughter.

• Licence to Kill | DVD | (01/10/2012) from £2.27   |  Saving you £10.72 (472.25%)   |  RRP £12.99

  One of Latin America's most powerful drug-dealers, Franz Sanchez (Robert Davi), aims to extend his dealings into the Orient while strengthening his holdings in the Americas. His only problem: a bitterly vengeful James Bond, who has lost his position with Her Majesty's Secret Service.Look for a cameo by Wayne Newton and excellent performances by two glorious Bond beauties: Carey Lowell and Talisa Soto. Licence to Kill is a gritty story filled with spectacular action and suspense that has made the James Bond film series the best-loved and most successful in cinema history.

• The Molly Maguires | DVD | (05/07/2004) from £14.43   |  Saving you £1.56 (10.81%)   |  RRP £15.99

  From acclaimed Oscar & BAFTA-nominated director Martin Ritt 'The Molly MaGuires' is a gritty compelling drama about a group of Irish immigrant miners who use sabotage and murder to fight the corruption of the Pennsylvanian mining company they work for. Starring Sean Connery as the leader of the immigrant band known as The Molly Maguires and Richard Harris as the man paid to infiltrate and bring down the gang the film depicts an era of brutal repression and the struggle to maintai

• The Omega Man | DVD | (29/09/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £13.99

  Science fiction took a grim turn in the 1970s--the heyday of Agent Orange, nuclear peril and Watergate. Suddenly, most of our possible futures took on a "last man on Earth" flavour, with The Omega Man topping the doom-struck heap. Charlton Heston plays the government researcher behind the ultimate biological weapon, a deadly plague that has ravaged humanity. There are two groups of survivors: a dwindling band of immune humans and an infected, psychopathic mob of light-hating quasi-vampires. The infected are led by Mathias, a clever, charismatic man set on destroying the last remnants of the civilisation that produced the plague. Heston has a vaccine--but he and the few remaining normals are outnumbered and outgunned. By day, he builds a makeshift version of the nuclear family (with Rosalind Cash as his afro-wearing, gun-toting little lady). They plan for the future while roaming freely through an empty urban landscape, taking what few pleasures life has left. By night, they defend themselves against the growing horde of plague victims. Both a bittersweet romance and a gothic cautionary tale, The Omega Man paints a convincing portrait of hope and despair. It ain't pretty, but it's a great movie. --Grant Balfour

• Dog Soldiers | DVD | (21/02/2005) from £20.00   |  Saving you £-7.01 (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Two kilograms of heroin are at the center of this intense action-drama. Ray Hicks smuggles the drugs into the country but now ruthless thieves want to take it from him. With the crooks in hot pursuit and his best friend's wife in tow Ray goes on the run leading to an amazing showdown between both sides that will knock you out...

• Rooster Cogburn | DVD | (02/05/2005) from £6.40   |  Saving you £3.59 (56.09%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Two of the most popular stars in screen history are brought together for the first time in the follow up to True Grit. The film returns John Wayne to the role of the rapscallion eye patched whiskey guzzling Deputy Marshall that won him an Academy Award. Katharine Hepburn is prim Eula Goodnight a Bible thumping missionary who teams up with the gun fighter to avenge the death of her father. While in pursuit of the outlaws a warm rapport develops between the rough n' tumble lawman and the flirty reverend's daughter.

• Licence to Kill | DVD | (03/11/2003) from £4.59   |  Saving you £15.40 (335.51%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Timothy Dalton's second and last James Bond assignment in Licence to Kill is darker and harder-edged than anything from the Roger Moore years, dropping the sometimes excruciating in-jokes that had begun to dominate the series in favour of gritty, semi-realistic action. When CIA colleague and close friend Felix Leiter (David Hedison) gets married immediately after arresting villainous drug baron Franz Sanchez (with a little help from Bond), the crime lord's retribution is swift and terrible. Bond goes on a personal vendetta against Sanchez after his licence to kill is revoked. There are plenty of spectacular stunt scenes, of course, but the meaty story of revenge is this film's distinguishing feature. Dalton's portrayal of the iconic hero as tough but flawed was a brave decision that the producers subsequently retreated from after Licence to Kill's relatively poor box-office showing. On the DVD: Timothy Dalton's insistence that Bond was a man not a superhero, and "a tarnished man" at that encouraged the producers to redefine Bond with a tougher edge more in keeping with Fleming's original conception of the character. Licence to Kill is Bond's darkest assignment. The production team experienced their usual difficulties in bringing it to the screen, the "making-of" documentary reveals, including a haunted road in Mexico and a mysterious flaming hand that appeared out of the fire during the climactic tanker explosion. There are two commentaries here, both montage selections of interviews from cast and crew. The first features director John Glen and many of the actors; the second has producer Michael G Wilson and the production team. Gladys Knight pops up in the first music video, Patte La Belle in the second ("If You Asked Me To"). There are the usual trailers, gallery of stills and a feature on the Kenworth trucks specially adapted for the movie's stunt work. --Mark Walker

• They Call Me Mr Tibbs! | DVD | (03/02/2003) from £12.74   |  Saving you £0.25 (1.96%)   |  RRP £12.99

  In this suspenseful sequel to In The Heat Of The Night Sidney Poitier reprises his role as the intrepid investigator who this time must solve a puzzling murder in the City by the Bay. Featuring an original score by Quincy Jones and co-starring Martin Landau and Edward Asner They Call Me Mister Tibbs! is an absorbing mystery that ranks as one of the best. When a prostitute is murdered in San Francisco's ritzy Nob Hill district an anonymous tip implicates minister and political

• Jack Reed - Death And Vengeance | DVD | (09/06/2008) from £12.73   |  Saving you £-7.74 (N/A%)   |  RRP £4.99

  Golden Globe-winner Brian Dennehy is back as star director and co-writer of a hard-hitting crime-thriller featuring Jack Reed Chicago's toughest and most incorruptible cop. A multiple murder takes place in broad daylight in a Chicago cemetery. Jack Reed is called in to investigate - and finds himself up against Sergei a brutal Russian mobster.

• Papillon | DVD | (01/02/2010) from £7.37   |  Saving you £2.62 (35.55%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Franklin J Schaffner's Papillon is quite possibly the definitive prison escape drama. Not as thrilling as The Great Escape, nor as emotionally cathartic as The Shawshank Redemption, its unflinching emphasis on the barbarism of "civilised" societies is nevertheless unparalleled. Significantly, the only characters to display any real kindness in this film are the social outcasts: the lepers and native Indians; everyone else has been corrupted and debased by the true villain, the penal system itself. Based on Henri Charrière' s heavily fictionalised "autobiography", the film's timeless themes of man's insatiable desire for freedom and the indomitability of the human spirit are thankfully not dependent for their impact on the source material's veracity. Dalton Trumbo's liberal-minded screenplay echoes the themes of his earlier script for Spartacus, and Schaffner's innate gift for epic cinema (this was made just two years after his great war biography Patton) is fully equal to the task of realising it on screen. The director's painterly eye for widescreen composition and his careful pacing impart a gravitas to proceedings even during the film's most squalid depictions of brutality, of which there are many emphasising the cheapness of human life among the convicts and their equally criminal prison guards in the penal colony of French Guiana. Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman form a remarkable screen pairing, with Hoffman outstanding as the pusillanimous Dega. McQueen magnificently overcomes his tough-guy persona in the extraordinary solitary confinement sequences as he is gradually reduced to a shambling, cockroach-eating wreck. Longtime collaborator Jerry Goldsmith, who had previously scored Schaffner's Planet of the Apes and Patton, attained yet another career high with his music. On the DVD: The anamorphic widescreen print of the original Panavision 2. 35:1 ratio looks fine without being as stunning as some more modern prints; the Dolby 5.1 audio does however do great service to Jerry Goldsmith's score, which can also be selected separately from the Audio Setup menu as an isolated track (note that there's no music at all in the first 20 minutes of the film). The 12-minute "Magnificent Rebel" featurette was made at the time of the film's release , and includes some fascinating footage of Henri Charrière touring the prison se t, reminiscing about his experiences and pontificating ("Society does not want free men, society wants conditioned men"). --Mark Walker

• The Dead Zone | DVD | (04/03/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  One of the very best Stephen King film adaptations, The Dead Zone is imbued with an ever-present atmosphere of dread. Shot in a permanently wintry Canada (standing in for New England), the icy backdrops are subtly employed by director David Cronenberg to accentuate the story’s fatalistic tone. Cronenberg’s welcome emphasis for the most part on psychological terror over physical shocks (something of a change of direction for him after The Brood and Scanners) is further enhanced by composer Michael Kamen’s marvellously chilly music score and Christopher Walken’s understated yet dominating central performance as high school teacher Johnny Smith, who wakes from a coma following a car crash to learn that he has been cursed with the gift of second sight. That his uncanny ability is indeed a curse and definitely not a blessing is made abundantly clear: even when Johnny is able to save people’s lives, there is always a price to pay. The cosmic law of Karma is grimly unforgiving. Herbert Lom, as Johnny’s sympathetic doctor, sums up the character’s plight, "Some things just weren’t meant to be." And even when Johnny learns the terrible secret of future Presidential candidate Greg Stillson (a villainous Martin Sheen), he knows he cannot act without accepting the fatal consequences. Brooke Adams, as the love of Johnny’s life, and Tom Skerrit, as the quietly desperate sheriff on the trail of a serial killer, are excellent in support. On the DVD: this disc comes with a chunky accompanying booklet with background notes on the film, cast and director, as well as a script excerpt for the originally planned pre-credits sequence (in the finished film we assume Johnny’s second sight is a result of the car accident--this earlier screenplay follows the book more closely). The movie itself--which features the "scissor-suicide" scene uncut--is accompanied by a chatty and informative commentary from film critics Stephen Jones and Kim Newman (a regular Amazon.co.uk contributor). Both the 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen picture and the Dolby 5.1 sound are adequate if unexceptional. --Mark Walker

• Licence To Kill | Blu Ray | (14/09/2015) from £7.99   |  Saving you £10.00 (125.16%)   |  RRP £17.99

  James Bond turns renegade to hunt down a master criminal in this pulse-pounding thrill ride that's packed with awesome stunts, subtle humour and explosive confrontations. Timothy Dalton brings urgency, charm and deadly determination to his portrayal of the superagent, who leaves the British Secret Service and begins a fierce vendetta after his friend Felix Leiter (David Hedison) is brutally attacked by drug lord Franz Sanchez (Robert Davi).

• Licence to Kill | Blu Ray | (04/02/2013) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Timothy Dalton's second and last James Bond assignment in Licence to Kill is darker and harder-edged than anything from the Roger Moore years, dropping the sometimes excruciating in-jokes that had begun to dominate the series in favour of gritty, semi-realistic action. When CIA colleague and close friend Felix Leiter (David Hedison) gets married immediately after arresting villainous drug baron Franz Sanchez (with a little help from Bond), the crime lord's retribution is swift and terrible. Bond goes on a personal vendetta against Sanchez after his licence to kill is revoked. There are plenty of spectacular stunt scenes, of course, but the meaty story of revenge is this film's distinguishing feature. Dalton's portrayal of the iconic hero as tough but flawed was a brave decision that the producers subsequently retreated from after Licence to Kill's relatively poor box-office showing. On the DVD: Timothy Dalton's insistence that Bond was a man not a superhero, and "a tarnished man" at that encouraged the producers to redefine Bond with a tougher edge more in keeping with Fleming's original conception of the character. Licence to Kill is Bond's darkest assignment. The production team experienced their usual difficulties in bringing it to the screen, the "making-of" documentary reveals, including a haunted road in Mexico and a mysterious flaming hand that appeared out of the fire during the climactic tanker explosion. There are two commentaries here, both montage selections of interviews from cast and crew. The first features director John Glen and many of the actors; the second has producer Michael G Wilson and the production team. Gladys Knight pops up in the first music video, Patte La Belle in the second ("If You Asked Me To"). There are the usual trailers, gallery of stills and a feature on the Kenworth trucks specially adapted for the movie's stunt work. --Mark Walker

• The Dead Zone (Imprint Limited Edition) | Blu Ray | (23/07/2021) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Will Penny | Blu Ray | (27/06/2023) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A