"Actor: Franco Columbu"

• Pumping Iron | DVD | (25/05/2009) from £5.99   |  Saving you £12.00 (200.33%)   |  RRP £17.99

  In 1977 an independent documentary movie shone a light on the world of bodybuilding becoming a huge box office hit and creating an international sensation. It launched one man's multi-million dollar career and changed the world of bodybuilding and physical exercise forever: Pumping Iron.

• 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

• Pumping Iron | Blu Ray | (17/03/2023) from £15.90   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Pumping Iron - 25th Anniversary | DVD | (19/01/2004) from £6.95   |  Saving you £12.04 (173.24%)   |  RRP £18.99

  In 1977's hit documentary, Pumping Iron Arnold Schwarzenegger works the crowds, plots strategies for defeating multiple opponents, shares his parents' values with the press and inspires legions of admirers with his resolute optimism about the future. And all of this long before he decided to run for governor of California. Larger than life, though not necessarily larger than his rivals for the Mr Universe and Mr Olympia bodybuilding titles (especially a young Lou Ferrigno, hot on Schwarzenegger's competitive trail but much less interesting), he still comes across, at age 28, as a consummate politician, smart, likable, and crafty about exploiting others' psychological weaknesses. The film still feels redundant (there's only so much beefcake the human eye will tolerate), but the emotional dramas--the unrewarded hard work, the unanswered hopes--are compelling. This 25th Anniversary edition includes a revealing 2003 interview with Schwarzenegger and a reunion of the film's bodybuilders and director. --Tom Keogh

• Mafia Docks | DVD | (27/08/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  In the large industrial part of an Italian city - sailors women black market traffickers sleazy nightclubs and dingy narrow alleys make up a world of danger where a young American girl vanishes without a trace while an Italian man tries to track her down. On the way he encounters the strangest of characters: a beautiful and ambitious prostitute a girl ravaged by drugs and the ferocious Joe Narescu who is battling against a rival gang so that he can gain control of the port. Thro