"Actor: Cassandra Gava"

• Conan the Barbarian | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £8.09   |  Saving you £-2.10 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  The film that launched Arnold Schwarzenegger's international career, Conan the Barbarian is still regarded by many as his finest hour. Limited to a mere handful of lines and expertly directed to play up the Nietzschean strength of the character by John Milius, the Austrian Oak has never looked more suited to a role, his muscle flexing and sword twirling apparently effortless. The extraordinarily finely detailed production design ensures that the barren Spanish countryside perfectly suits the Hyborean-era backdrop envisioned by author Robert E Howard. Whether dressed in rags or riches, Schwarzenegger and companions Subotai (Gerry Lopez) and Valeria (Sandahl Bergman) look believably born to their surroundings. Backing their own very fine performances are brilliant supporting roles from James Earl Jones as serpentine baddie Thulsa Doom and Max Von Sydow as doomed King Osric. Plot-wise the film is simply the transformation of a wild barbarian into a worldly-wise king who, via a quest for revenge, finally learns the riddle of steel. The script is highly regarded for its dazzling set-pieces (the opening village raid, the orgy of body parts) and quotable dialogue ("They shall all drown in lakes of blood"), and it comes complete with an anti-peace movement reactionary subtext for anyone who cares to look close enough. One other element deserving mention is the extraordinary score by Basil Poledouris, which inspires the film with a sense of operatic grandeur. On the DVD: Conan the Barbarian appears as a suitably mythic special edition DVD. Sadly the magnificent score can only be heard in a mono mix, but the very fine picture is presented in 2.35:1. The extras package is phenomenal, too. Several deleted scenes have been re-edited into the film, but are available to view independently as well. There's a quick split-screen special effects feature showing how the ghostly spirits were added to Conan's resurrection. "The Conan Archives" is an 11-minute slide show of drawings, costumes and advertising. Best of all is the fantastic 53-minute "Conan Unchained" documentary interviewing every conceivable contributor who all reminisce with great fondness. It's slightly better seeing Schwarzenegger and Milius than hearing them talk in their commentary, which inevitably re-tells many of the same anecdotes in between puffs of Arnie's stogies. --Paul Tonks

• The Amityville Curse | DVD | (09/10/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  In the fifth installment of the ""Amityville"" series six friends move into the infamous haunted home. Soon their lives are turned upside-down when supernatural forces residing in the cellar wreak bloody havoc upon them.

• Conan the Barbarian - Limited Edition Steelbook | Blu Ray | (02/12/2013) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Zavvi Exclusive Limited Edition Steelbook. Arnold Schwarzenegger stars as the legendary warrior and hero Conan the Barbarian. When his parents are killed by a band of brutal marauders and the gang's cold-blooded cult leader (James Earl Jones) the orphaned Conan endures a childhood of merciless slavery only to become a gladiator for the amusement of his captors. Eventually set free Conan begins a dangerous full-blooded quest to avenge his parents' massacre. Now the sword-wielding warrior must vanquish his bloodthirsty enemies in this death-defying action-adventure about courage strength character and the triumph of good over evil.

• Ninja | DVD | (26/09/2016) from £7.98   |  Saving you £5.01 (38.60%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Reeve is a highly trained member of an elite unit of Ninja Warriors, when he is captured and being tortured he must use all of his training in order to escape. Aided by the former Director of Defense, who wakes up in a strange room with nothing but the a phone, Reese must fight, guns blazing, words swinging in order to stop an evil conglomerate from gaining access to a dangerous weapon.