"Actor: Derek Mitchell"

• Jabberwocky | Blu Ray | (20/11/2017) from £17.44   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Welcome to the kingdom of Terry Gilliam: his solo-directing debut, a gonzo medieval comedy Amid the filth and muck of England in the Dark Ages, a fearsome dragon stalks the land, casting a shadow of terror upon the kingdom of Bruno the Questionable. Who should emerge as the town's only possible saviour but Dennis Cooper (Life of Brian's MICHAEL PALIN), an endearingly witless bumpkin who stumbles onto the scene and is flung into the role of brave knight? The first outing as a solo director by TERRY GILLIAM (Brazil)inspired by Lewis Carroll's poem Jabberwocky and made on the heels of Gilliam's success as a member of the iconic comedy troupe Monty Pytho - showcases his delight in comic nonsense, with a cast chock-full of beloved British character actors. A giddy romp through blood and excrement, this fantasy remains one of the filmmaker's most uproarious visions of society run amok. BONUS FEATURES DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES New 4K digital transfer from a restoration by the BFI National Archive and The Film Foundation, approved by director Terry Gilliam 5.1 surround mix, supervised by Gilliam and presented in DTS-HD Master Audio Audio commentary from 2001 featuring Gilliam and actor Michael Palin New documentary on the making of the film, featuring Gilliam, producer Sandy Lieberson, Palin and actor Annette Badland New interview with Valerie Charlton, designer of the Jabberwock, featuring her collection of rare behind-the-scenes photographs Selection of Gilliam's storyboards and sketches PLUS: An essay by critic Scott Tobias

• Jabberwocky | DVD | (17/02/2003) from £6.91   |  Saving you £6.08 (87.99%)   |  RRP £12.99

  A medieval comedy-adventure starring Michael Palin and directed by Terry Gilliam, Jabberwocky is an episodic adaptation of Lewis Carrolls surreal poem. Having previously directed Monty Python and The Holy Grail (1975) with Terry Jones, Jabberwocky marked Gilliams solo directorial debut--is it coincidental that Jones is killed by the titular monster in the opening scene? Palin plays the naive Dennis Cooper, a man seeking his fortune just as the Jabberwocky is laying waste to the country. Its much the same world as Holy Grail, with all the trappings of the romantic Hollywood epic being liberally coated with literal and metaphorical muck. Palins character causes unwitting mayhem wherever he goes--one stand-out scene involves the destruction of a maintenance shop for damaged knights-in-armour--though as much humour comes from exposing the foibles of the people he meets. And those people constitute a roll call of contemporary British comedy: Harry H Corbett as a sex-mad squire, Warren Mitchells Mr Fishfinger, plus Annette Badland, Max Wall, John Le Mesurier, Rodney Bewes, John Bird, Neil Innes and John Gorman. Jabberwocky lacks the hilarity of Holy Grail, but is a consistently amusing, exceptionally atmospheric, gleefully gory yarn which points the way to Gilliams Time Bandits (1981) and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988). On the DVD Jabberwocky is distinguished by an engaging and enthusiastic commentary from Gilliam and Palin, in which they delight in the amazing cast and ponder how such a handsome film was made. Otherwise the extras are a short sketch-to-screen comparison, three posters and three trailers (only one for Jabberwocky). Transferred anamorphically enhanced at 1.77:1, the picture is variable, with many beautifully lit indoor scenes looking fine, while other exterior, daylight shots appear washed out. There is some minor print damage. The sound is a revelation for a low-budget 1970s film originally released in mono. Given a full Dolby Digital 5.1 remix the tremendously detailed, rich and involving soundscape really brings Gilliams world alive and puts many much more recent and expensive titles to shame. --Gary S Dalkin

• Hobson's Choice / The Sound Barrier | DVD | (14/04/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £16.99

  Hobson's Choice (1953) and The Sound Barrier (1952) is a double bill of cleverly juxtaposed films from David Lean's early canon, demonstrating that even without the landmark epics to come, British cinema would have been an infinitely poorer place without his tremendous contribution. Both films reflect his endlessly penetrating view of human behaviour and its perseverance through obstacles great and small. And both are effectively prisms that reflect all the aspects of that view, keeping the audience's sympathies constantly on the move. Hobson's Choice, based on Harold Brighouse's eternally popular 1916 comedy, boasts fine turns from Charles Laughton--at his brilliant, physical best--as the boot-shop owner with three troublesome daughters, and John Mills as the lowly boot maker, elevated and improved by the eldest daughter Maggie in a neat inversion of the Pygmalion fable. But both are kept in their place by Brenda de Banzie's portrayal of Maggie, a performance that glows with intelligence, truth and increasing warmth. The Sound Barrier is a drama about the race for a supersonic aeroplane. Superficially, its setting is quintessential post-World War II Britain: stiff upper lips, twin beds and clipped Rattigan dialogue. But it's prescient stuff. Ralph Richardson's aircraft manufacturer, sinister in his obsession, is an ominously skilful film performance. And Lean's take on the unthinkable cost of human achievement, interwoven with some spectacular cinematography, absorbs and unsettles. It's especially poignant now that the supersonic age has been summarily ended by Concorde's retirement. On the DVD: Hobson's Choice and The Sound Barrier are both black-and-white films presented in 4:3 picture format, from reasonable prints, and with a mono soundtrack of suitably robust quality for Malcolm Arnold's inventive scores. There are no extras, apart from scene indexes. --Piers Ford

• The Avengers : The Definitive Dossier 1967 (Box Set 1) | DVD | (04/06/2001) from £13.93   |  Saving you £11.06 (79.40%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Further adventures of the oh so dapper John Steed and his sidekick Emma Peel. Features six episodes from the 1967 season: 'From Venus With Love' 'The Fear Merchants' 'Escape In Time' 'The See-Through Man' 'The Bird Who Knew Too Much' and 'The Winged Avenger'.

• The Saint - Vol. 1 - Episodes 1 And 2 - The Talented Husband / The Latin Touch | DVD | (10/07/2000) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Stepping into the role of Leslie Charteris' "modern-day Robin Hood" Simon Templar (formerly played in films by smoothies like George Sanders), Roger Moore swiftly struck the right poses, adding a raised eyebrow to the character's established trademarks--a stick figure with halo, a whistled theme (co-composed by Charteris himself) and a quixotic commitment to adventure rather than decency. More clean-cut than the vigilante of the novels, Moore's Templar is a reformed thief (with an accent on reformed) whose adventures invariably involve a beautiful girl in trouble, an exotic locale established by stock shots and pantomime-level barroom sets with revolving fans on the ceiling, and "foreign" villains, played by familiar British character actors in false moustaches. The Saint ran from 1962 to 1969. Connoisseurs reckon the earlier, black and white shows are superior to the later colour seasons. From 1979 to 1980, there was a follow-up, The Return of the Saint, in which sufficiently ironic Ian Ogilvy donned Templar's polo neck, but the format seemed outmoded in comparison with The Sweeney and The Professionals. Volume One contains: "The Talented Husband" in which a playwright is found dead in suspicious circumstances, with guest star Shirley (Goldfinger) Eaton; and "The Latin Touch" which concerns a kidnapping in Rome, with Suzan Farmer and Warren (Alf Garnett) Mitchell. --Kim Newman

• Voices Of Seduction | DVD | (02/07/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99