"Actor: Christian Oliver"

• Walking with Cavemen | DVD | (31/03/2003) from £24.74   |  Saving you £-6.75 (N/A%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Breaking the mould of previous "Walking with" offerings, the BBC's Walking with Cavemen sees Professor Robert Winston follow in the footsteps of ancient man in a series that traces the history of humanity from bipedal ape-men (Australopithecus Aphaeresis) to the awakening of the human mind's potential with Homo Erectus. Spread over four fascinating half-hour instalments, Wilson presents an accessible and populist, but still suitably anthropological study on how apes became human and the traits that we inherited from our earliest ancestors. Unlike Dinosaurs and Beasts, Cavemen combines CGI with actors to portray the characters in the story of man. Initially this seems to make it far less technically impressive than the earlier programmes--memories of Kubrick's 2001 are inevitable--but fortunately the acting is superb and the viewer soon forgets that these are people in monkey suits. The series also makes use of a special effect called "deep time-lapse", which shows in a matter of dramatic seconds the thousands of years of geological changes that sped up our ancestors' evolution. Wilson himself takes part in the action as if he is a modern-day naturalist following lions across the Serengeti rather than creatures long extinct. This approach makes for a more immediate as well as poignant interpretation of history: the result is an enlightening and moving tribute to the human journey. On the DVD: Walking with Cavemen on disc has production interviews with series producer Peter Georgi, executive producer and director Richard Dale, director of animated extras Ben Palmer and actor David Rubin. There are also location interviews, the best of which is two of the actors in full costume explaining the difficulties involved in eating lunch. There are sequences explaining the creation of the digital effects, and the original score can be accessed as an audio-only option. A fact file for each episode and a picture gallery complete the extras package. --Kristen Bowditch

• Valkyrie | Blu Ray | (08/06/2009) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Tom Cruise stars as a high ranking German officer, who along with a small group of peers hatches a plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler in an attempt to end the war.

• House Of Good & Evil | DVD | (12/05/2014) from £7.15   |  Saving you £3.84 (53.71%)   |  RRP £10.99

  Some Things are Best Kept Apart. After a family tragedy Chris and Maggie Conley in a last-ditch effort to save their dying marriage purchase an isolated home in a secluded forest. When Chris leaves for days at a time to continue his training as a fire-fighter Maggie is left alone in their new house. But her emotional state deteriorates rapidly after a series of disturbing events. She becomes convinced that there is something unnatural sharing their house intent on her psychological destruction. But does some malicious presence really have the key to their front door or is there something even more alarming happening in the house of good and evil?

• One Hundred Men And A Girl | DVD | (07/03/2011) from £6.98   |  Saving you £6.01 (46.30%)   |  RRP £12.99

  The daughter of a struggling musician forms a symphony orchestra made up of his unemployed friends and leads them to a radio contract.

• Das Experiment | DVD | (21/04/2003) from £4.99   |  Saving you £11.00 (220.44%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Inspired by a famous 1971 psychological experiment, Oliver Hirschbiegel's German-language movie Das Experiment finds a group of 20 volunteers randomly divided into 12 prisoners and eight guards and asked to play out their roles for a fortnight while scientists study their reactions. A conflict arises between undercover reporter Fahd (Moritz Bleibtreu), a con with a hidden agenda and the apparently mild-mannered Berus (Justus von Dohnanyi), a guard with a megalomaniac streak. The film begins as a psychological drama as ordinary people settle into the game, with joking displays of resistance by the "prisoners" greeted with increasing brutality from the "guards", but detours into suspense and horror as Fahd, who needs the experiment to get out of hand in order to make his story more saleable, deliberately ratchets up the tension between the factions only to see the situation spiral nightmarishly out of control as various test subjects in both camps edge closer to snapping. With a terrific display of ensemble acting and unforced use of the currently popular claustrophobic semi-documentary look, Hirschbiegel's movie takes its time to get underway, with apparently irrelevant cutaways to Fahd's outside girlfriend (Maren Eggert), but works up to a powerful second half that delivers a sustained symphony of psychological and physical anguish. On the DVD: Das Experiment on disc has an excellent-looking anamorphic widescreen transfer with English subtitles. The only extra feature is the trailer. --Kim Newman

• Velvet Goldmine | DVD | (07/06/2004) from £19.99   |  Saving you £-14.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Somewhat misleadingly described by many as a mock-biopic based on the life of David Bowie, Velvet Goldmine is so much more than that. Journalist Arthur Stuart (Christian Bale) who sets out to discover whatever happened to Ziggy Stardust-like Brian Slade (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers), the famous bisexual glam star who crashed and burned spectacularly, but in the process helped Arthur awaken his own sexuality. It's an insane homage to 1970s glam rock in the UK as only American, who knew the movement from a distance, would make; it's a tribute to film director Nicolas Roeg's best work, particularly Performance and the Bowie-vehicle The Man Who Fell to Earth; it's a sci-fi movie about an alternative reality (the film's "present" is a 1984 that never existed and frustratingly never clearly explained); it's a queer Citizen Kane with lashings of eye-glitter, a complete mess, an absolute delight and a chance to see Ewan McGregor naked in case you didn't catch him in The Pillow Book as the Iggy Pop-like Curt Wild, Slade's lover/protégé.Director Todd Haynes, who made the incredibly spare Safe and a biopic about Karen Carpenter with Barbie dolls, crams in everything--including the kitchen sink, all the washing-up and half the larder--as if terrified he'll never get another chance to shoot even a commercial again. The pacing drags like catwalk-queen's glittery taffeta train at times, but then glorious swooping musical numbers and clever bits of allusive business arrive that will brighten the day of many a pop-fan and film-buff. Never anything less than ruthlessly inventive and demanding of patience and an open mind, it's one for connoisseurs. Viewers who prefer easy-viewing eye candy are well advised to stick with fluff like Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. --Leslie Felperin

• Das Experiment | DVD | (04/05/2009) from £9.17   |  Saving you £-3.18 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  The Experiment is based on the infamous Stanford Prison Experiment conducted in 1971. A makeshift prison is set up in a research lab complete with cells bars and surveillance cameras. For two weeks 20 male participants are hired to play prisoners and guards. The 'prisoners' are locked up and have to follow seemingly mild rules and the 'guards' are told simply to retain order without using physical violence. Everybody is free to quit at any time thereby forfeiting payment. In the beginning the mood between both groups is insecure and rather emphatic. But soon quarrels arise and the wardens employ ever more drastic sanctions to confirm their authority.

• Nora Roberts - Tribute | DVD | (15/03/2010) from £10.62   |  Saving you £4.37 (41.15%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Cilla McGowan intends to renovate her film legend grandmother's farm house but someone is trying to drive her away. With the help of her handsome neighbour Ford Sawyer she is determined to find out who is behind the threats and uncover the truth about her grandmother's death.

• Hercules | DVD | (21/07/2014) from £2.50   |  Saving you £10.49 (419.60%)   |  RRP £12.99

  During a bloody coup, a ruthless Greek general seizes the bride of an officer in his army. When the officer, Arias, turns to legendary Hercules for help, he discovers the fallen hero has been living in exile, banished for killing his family. Initially Hercules refuses, but when he sees this as a chance for salvation, he agrees to help Arius. Together they must battle the general s army, as well as the demi-god s demons, in order to rescue the bride and reclaim the honor of Hercules.

• Ninja Apocalypse | DVD | (15/09/2014) from £4.98   |  Saving you £10.01 (201.00%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Framed for assassinating the Grandmaster, the Lost Ninja Clan must battle their way up an underground nuclear bunker filled with hordes of supernatural enemies, mutants and flesh eating zombies. Trapped a thousand feet below the earth's crust, these ninjas will face hell.