"Actor: Don James"

• Iron Monkey | DVD | (26/03/2001) from £6.58   |  Saving you £13.41 (203.80%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Iron Monkey is a thrilling 1993 adventure directed by Yuen Woo-Ping, now better known as the action director of The Matrix and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Audiences who approach Iron Monkey after seeing the latter two Hollywood-produced hit movies will not be disappointed here, either by the physical prowess of the stars or the astonishing action set-pieces (especially an interlude atop a set of "Chinese poles"), which are staged for maximum dynamism. The story concerns the real-life Cantonese patriot Wong Fei-Hung, who is first introduced as an earnest boy travelling with his upright pugilist father (Donnie Yen) and drawing inspiration from the activities of the benevolent masked bandit known as the Iron Monkey (Yu Rong-Guang), a sort of Oriental Robin Hood. Ever since the late 1800s Wong Fei-Hung has evolved into an icon of Chinese pop culture and he's been a central figure in Hong Kong cinema since the 1950s, notably in Tsui Hark's Once Upon a Time in China series. Yuen Woo-Ping's fight sequences for his version of the legend are a powerful combination of the older, Baltic style of kung fu action and the newer body-slamming style pioneered by Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung. If you thought you were allergic to martial arts but loved Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, this is the perfect picture to continue your exploration of the genre. --David Chute, Amazon.com On the DVD: This is a handsome-looking anamorphic (16:9) widescreen transfer, although the soundtrack is in mono. You can select either the dubbed English version or the original Cantonese with English subtitles. Extra features include trailers, photo galleries, biographies and interviews with both star Donnie Yen (in English) and director Yuen Woo-Ping (subtitled).

• Coogan's Bluff | DVD | (06/06/2005) from £5.19   |  Saving you £0.80 (15.41%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Clint Eastwood is Walt Coogan, a deputy sheriff from Arizona on the loose in the urban jungle of New York. Searching for a violent prisoner he has let slip ("It's got kinda personal now"), Coogan, in Stetson and cowboy boots, runs up against hippies, social workers and a bluntly hostile New York police chief played by Lee J. Cobb. It's a key film in the Eastwood oeuvre, the one in which his definitive persona first emerges, marrying the cool, laid-back westerner of the Rawhide TV series and the Italian westerns to the street-wise, kick-ass toughness which would be further developed in the Dirty Harryfilms. Directed by Eastwood's mentor, Don Siegel, Coogan's Bluff has pace, style and its share of typical Eastwood one-liners (to a hoodlum: "You better drop that blade or you won't believe what happens next"). Like all Eastwood's successful movies, it cunningly plays it both ways. Coogan represents the old-fashioned conservatism of the west in conflict with the decadence of city life. Yet he's the perennial outsider, hostile to authority, a radical loner who gets the job done where bureaucracy and legal niceties fail. The film was to be the inspiration behind the TV series McCloud, in which Dennis Weaver took the Eastwood role. --Edward Buscombe

• Replicant | DVD | (07/01/2002) from £6.73   |  Saving you £13.26 (66.30%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Jean-Claude Van Damme plays two roles in Replicant, a surprisingly good action thriller that also stars Michael Rooker as Jake Riley, a cop who's been tracking a serial killer called "The Torch" (Van Damme). Frustrated, Riley decides to retire--and the National Security Department makes him an offer: they've cloned "The Torch" as part of a programme to track down terrorists; they'll turn this replicant (Van Damme again, of course) over to Riley as a sort of test run for the programme. The idea is that the replicant will slowly recall the original person's memories and lead the cops to the original. It's ridiculous, but no more ridiculous than the setup for the highly successful Face/Off, and it works just as well as the engine for an effective action flick. What makes Replicant more unusual is that the writers actually put some thought into the relationship between Riley and the replicant, which starts to mirror parent-child relationships in emotionally complex ways. Furthermore, while it's no surprise that Rooker gives a solid performance, it is surprising that Van Damme does just as good a job in both of his roles--he's perfectly creepy as the serial killer and genuinely affecting as the quickly developing replicant, projecting a mixture of innocence and turmoil. Replicant was directed by Hong Kong director Ringo Lam, the man behind Full Contact and City on Fire. He was clearly working on a limited budget, but the movie looks good, moves with lean efficiency, and has some riveting action sequences and good quality effects--the scenes where Van Damme (inevitably!) fights himself are completely convincing. A satisfying movie.--Bret Fetzer, Amazon.com

• Metalocalypse - Series 1 | DVD | (22/06/2009) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Metalocalypse

• The Babe | DVD | (05/12/2005) from £6.88   |  Saving you £3.11 (45.20%)   |  RRP £9.99

  A Biographical film charting the life loves and losses of legendary baseball player George Herman ""Babe"" Ruth. The Babe begins with Ruth's days in a Baltimore boys' school where Brother Mathias takes Babe under his wing and teaches him to play baseball. The film then follows him through his phenomenal career and chaotic personal life.

• Young Soul Rebels | DVD | (26/10/2009) from £18.05   |  Saving you £1.94 (10.75%)   |  RRP £19.99

  From the acclaimed artist and filmmaker Issac Julien comes this powerful drama set on an East London housing estate in the summer of 1977. Focussing on Chris and Caz a pair of pirate radio DJs living amongst punks and skinheads Julien's film explores the social and sexual tensions that arise in a community following the murder of a local black gay man.

• When Hope Calls: Season 1 | DVD | (03/11/2020) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• The Doug McClure Fantasy Adventure Triple Pack | DVD | (21/03/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £29.99

  Three cracking Doug McClure titles in one fantastic box set. The Land That Time Forgot: The adventure you will never forget... Edgar Rice Burroughs collaborated with Michael Moorcock to write the script for The Land Before Time adapted from his own novel. A German U-boat torpedos a British ship during WW1 and the survivors are taken onboard. But the U-boat gets lost and drifts into a mist-filled prehistoric land. Soon they find themselves battling dinosaurs neanderthals

• Bridget Jones 1 & 2 (Box Set) | DVD | (25/02/2005) from £12.99   |  Saving you £17.00 (130.87%)   |  RRP £29.99

  Bridget Jones' Diary: In the screen adaptation of 'Bridget Jones Diary' Helen Fielding's international best-selling phenomenon documentary filmmaker Sharon Maguire has managed a rare feat: a film as captivating as the novel! Bridget Jones (Renee Zellweger) is a pretty and neurotic thirtysomething singleton (in her vernacular) who vows to take control of her life after being humiliated by handsome standoffish barrister Mark Darcy (Colin Firth) at her parents' New Year's party. Determined to lose weight and cut back on vices like wine cigarettes and workaholic-alcoholic-misogynistic men Bridget begins a diary to chart her progress. Unfortunately the P.R. executive hits a snag when her boss gorgeous cad Daniel (Hugh Grant) instigates a sexy e-mail flirtation. Despite her tendency to bungle book launch parties and any situation involving the ever-disapproving Mark Darcy Bridget's winning combination of charm vulnerability and wit intrigues not only the seductively dangerous Daniel but also the arrogant barrister. Featuring a note-perfect performance by Zellweger a devilish one by Grant and the inspired casting of Firth (the object of Bridget's lusty fantasies in the book) 'Bridget Jones Diary' is a clever delightful romantic comedy guaranteed to please old fans and win new ones. Bridget Jones's Diary 2 - The Edge Of Reason: She's back! The perfect boyfriend the perfect life what could possibly go wrong? Four weeks into her relationship with Mark Darcy (Colin Firth) Bridget Jones (Renee Zellweger) is already becoming uncomfortable. With the reappearance of old flame daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant) things are about to get very complicated...

• The Hills Have Eyes | DVD | (25/09/2006) from £8.40   |  Saving you £-2.41 (-40.20%)   |  RRP £5.99

  The Lucky Ones Die First... The Carter family taken a wrong turn when crossing the desert for California and are attacked by a savage group of cannibals. For the Carters who have to revert to their own primitive instincts it is a battle for survival: the lucky ones died first...

• The Spiral Staircase | DVD | (08/04/2002) from £3.11   |  Saving you £4.14 (223.78%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Hitchcockian thriller about a woman who because of a childhood incident is unable to speak. Now she's working as a maid in a spooky New England manor where a murderer lurks about the premises -- a murderer who specializes in killing those burdened by afflictions... Ethel Barrymore was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for her outstanding performance.

• Buffy Season 2 | DVD | (18/09/2017) from £11.49   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  At the heart of the first years of Joss Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer was the romance between Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar), slayer of all things evil, and hunky Angel (David Boreanaz), the tortured vampire destined to walk the earth with a soul. The second season of Buffy took the Buffy-Angel pas de deux from ecstasy to agony in a now-classic plot arc that catapulted the show from WB teen drama to true TV greatness. You see, if the cursed Angel ever experiences true happiness for a moment, he'll revert to being an evil vampire again. And guess what happens after Buffy and Angel finally declare their love for one another and consummate their relationship... Buffy found its true momentum during the second season, as geeky Xander (Nicholas Brendon) fell in love with popular girl Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter), Willow (Alyson Hannigan) gave up her crush on Xander in favour of werewolf boy Oz (Seth Green), and watcher Giles (Anthony Stewart Head) began a sweetly tentative relationship with computer teacher (and witch) Jenny Calendar (Robia LaMorte). Mayhem came to Sunnydale, though, in the form of evil vampires Drusilla (Juliet Landau) and Spike (drolly wicked James Marsters), who were more than ready to aid and abet Angel as he turned bad. It all sounds like horror-action mayhem (and there are great fight scenes), but Buffy took on its plotlines with amazing depth, intelligence, and humour. And oh, man, the love story! Buffy and Angel's tragic relationship is one of the most heartbreaking you'll ever find. Buffy's final dilemma finds her having to save the world at Angel's expense, and Gellar (who deserves a passel of Emmys for her work) is phenomenal at telegraphing Buffy's swirling conflicts between love and duty. This is some of the best TV ever made, period. --Mark Englehart

• The River | DVD | (23/04/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Starring Mel Gibson in his second Hollywood film, The River celebrates traditional American values through the Garvey family's determination to hold onto their farm against all odds. The drama opens with the threat of flooding from the river that adjoins the Garvey's land, then depicts their struggles through ailing livestock, accident and risk of crop failure. Add to these a local businessman, Scott Glenn, planning to turn the valley into a dam, a subplot echoing Deliverance (1972), also filmed in Eastern Tennessee, and all the elements are in place for an emotional triumph-over-adversity movie. Much of The River has a realistic tone, unflinchingly depicting numerous hardships, especially when Gibson has to earn extra money as a strike-breaking hired hand in a steel mill. Against this, and a surprisingly left-wing tone advocating cooperation over competition, the more upbeat moments resort to feel-good cliché with John Williams' lilting score seemingly wandered in from a Spielberg fantasy. Nevertheless the cast, including Sissy Spacek as Gibson's wife, deliver first-rate performances and cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond expertly captures the harshness and the beauty of the land. The River was one of a trio of major US farming movies in 1984, the others being Country and Places in the Heart. On the DVD: The 1.85:1 anamorphically enhanced image is virtually flawless, capturing the many subtle effects of light on water throughout the film. Released theatrically in stereo, the opening and closing sequences demonstrate the power of a Dolby Digital 5.1 remix in generating atmosphere through natural sound. Elsewhere the audio is less striking, but always clean and powerful. Extras are routine: the US trailer, four brief biographies, and interesting though short production notes. --Gary S. Dalkin

• Fatal Instinct | DVD | (14/07/2003) from £12.98   |  Saving you £3.00 (30.03%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Fatal Instinct is a hilarious no-holds-barred send-up of such stylish thrillers as Basic Instinct and Fatal Attraction. Ned Ravine (Armande Assante) is a cop and a lawyer. His wife wants to kill him his secretary wants to sleep with him and there's a mysterious client who wants to sleep with him and kill him. That's Monday. Who knows what Tuesday will bring?

• Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Season 5 (New Packaging) | DVD | (03/10/2011) from £26.98   |  Saving you £1.01 (3.60%)   |  RRP £27.99

  The fifth season of Joss Whedon's hit series started out in excellent form as slayer extraordinaire Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar) did battle with the most famous of vampires (that Dracula guy) and then went on to spar with another nemesis, little sister Dawn (Michelle Trachtenberg). Wait--Buffy has a teenage sister? Where has she been the past four years? And why is everyone acting like she's always been around? Turns out that young Dawn is actually "The Key," a form of pure energy that, true to its name, helps open the gates between different dimensions. To protect said key from falling into the wrong hands, a group of monks gave it human form and sent it to the fiercely protective Buffy for safekeeping, creating new memories of Dawn for everyone as if she'd existed... well, always. Why all the super secrecy? There's this very, very, very bad girl named Glory (Clare Kramer) who wants the key very badly, and will do anything to get it. Oh, and by the way, Glory isn't just a run-of-the-mill demon... she's way worse. Some fans will tell you that Buffy "jumped the shark" with the introduction of Dawn, when in actuality this season was the pinnacle of the show's achievement, as there was superb comedy to be had ("Buffy Vs. Dracula," the double-Xander episode "The Replacement," the introduction of the "Buffybot" in "Intervention") as well as some of television's best drama. The Whedon-scripted and -directed "The Body" remains one of Buffy's best episodes, when the young woman who faces down supernatural death on a daily basis finds herself powerless in the wake of her mother's sudden passing. The first third or so of the season was a bit choppy, but once the evil Glory came into her own, Buffy was a television force to be reckoned with. Kramer was the show's best villain (after the evil Angel, natch), and the supporting cast was never better. But as always, it was the superb Gellar who was the powerful centre of the show, sparking opposite lovelorn vampire Spike (James Marsters) and wrestling with moral dilemmas rarely seen on television. With this season, Buffy Summers became, like Tony Soprano, one of television's true greats. --Mark Englehart

• Buffy The Vampire Slayer - The Complete DVD Collection | DVD | (30/10/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £179.99

  A specially created box set containing all 7 seasons of Buffy The Vampire Slayer: over 100 hours of vampire ass-kicking action!

• Bride Of Chucky | DVD | (11/03/2002) from £12.48   |  Saving you £-2.49 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Ten years ago, after a heated pursuit, psycho killer Charles

• Telling Secrets | DVD | (03/12/2001) from £11.45   |  Saving you £-6.47 (N/A%)   |  RRP £1.99

  Detective Jay Jensen (Ken Olin) investigates the brutal murder of Stacey Eckhart a young mother who has been having an affair with the husband of a respected socialite Faith Kelsey (Cybill Shepherd). When the police follow up all the possivle leads they discover that Faith is a woman without conscience. She's capable of seducing cops manipulating her lovers and planning the most cold-blooded murders. She is a woman who will stop at nothing to get equal with those who betray her and she always gets what she wants. Based on a true story.

• Pot O' Gold | DVD | (25/08/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £4.99

  While 'Born To Dance' is the movie musical most associated with James Stewart the largely forgotten Pot o' Gold is the one in which he is most involved with music. The plot has Stewart as Jimmy Haskell a music-loving harmonica-playing man who comes across a poor but excellent band (led by Horace Heidt) that rehearses on a boarding-house roof. Jimmy becomes interested in the people who own the boarding-house Ma McCorkle (Mary Gordon) and her lovely daughter Molly (Paulette Goddard). Jimmy and Molly combine forces to promote the career of Horace and the lads but that task is made difficult by Jimmy's wealthy Uncle Charley. This is a rare opportunity to hear Stewart sing with surprisingly pleasant results. Songs from a group of writers include: Do You Believe In Fairy tales? (Mack David Vee Lawnhurst) When Johnny Toots His Horn (Hy Heath Fred Rose) Slap happy Band Hi Cy What's Cookin'? Pete The Piper Broadway Cabellero (Henry Sullivan Lou Forbes). The movie was produced by James Roosevelt son of FDR.

• Floodtide - DVD | DVD | (20/06/2011) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Floodtide is a romantic drama from 1949 directed by Frederick Wilson about the son of a Scottish farmer who dreams of a life in the city. Against his father's wishes David Shields obtains a job in the shipyards where his flair for design moves him swiftly up the ladder. This is resented by many of his colleagues as is his impatience and dislike for performing menial tasks. However David designs a revolutionary ship which impresses his boss whose daughter he is deeply in love with. Will he succeed in all he wishes to achieve? This DVD edition features a restored version of the film.