"Actor: Gary Greer"

• Planet of the Apes Triple | Blu Ray | (27/11/2017) from £17.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Billed as a "re-imagining" of the original film, Tim Burton's extraordinary Planet of the Apes constantly borders on greatness, adhering to the spirit of Pierre Boulle's original novel while exploring fresh and inventive ideas and paying honourable tribute to the '68 sci-fi classic. Burton's gifts for eccentric inspiration and visual ingenuity make this a movie that's as entertaining as it is provocative, beginning with Rick Baker's best-ever ape make-up (hand that man an Oscar®!), and continuing through the surprisingly nuanced performances and breathtaking production design. Add to all this an intelligent screenplay that turns Boulle's speculative reversal--the dominance of apes over humans--into a provocative study of civil rights and civil war. The film finally goes too far with a woefully misguided ending that pays weak homage to the original, but everything preceding that misfire is astonishingly right. While attempting the space-pod retrieval of a chimpanzee test pilot, Major Leo Davidson (Mark Wahlberg) enters a magnetic storm that propels him into the distant future, where he crash-lands on the ape-ruled planet. Among the primitively civilized apes, treatment of enslaved humans is a divisive issue: senator's daughter Ari (Helena Bonham Carter) advocates equality while the ruthless General Thade (Tim Roth) promotes extermination. While Davidson ignites a human rebellion, this conflict is explored with admirable depth and emotion, and sharp dialogue allows Burton's exceptional cast to bring remarkable expressiveness to their embattled ape characters, most notably in the comic relief of orangutan slave trader Limbo (played to perfection by Paul Giamatti). Classic lines from the original film are cleverly reversed (including an unbilled cameo for Charlton Heston, in ape regalia as Thade's dying father), and while this tale of interspecies warfare leads to an ironic conclusion that's not altogether satisfying, it still bears the ripe fruit of a timeless what-if idea. --Jeff Shannon

• Planet of the Apes Triple | DVD | (27/11/2017) from £6.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Billed as a "re-imagining" of the original film, Tim Burton's extraordinary Planet of the Apes constantly borders on greatness, adhering to the spirit of Pierre Boulle's original novel while exploring fresh and inventive ideas and paying honourable tribute to the '68 sci-fi classic. Burton's gifts for eccentric inspiration and visual ingenuity make this a movie that's as entertaining as it is provocative, beginning with Rick Baker's best-ever ape make-up (hand that man an Oscar®!), and continuing through the surprisingly nuanced performances and breathtaking production design. Add to all this an intelligent screenplay that turns Boulle's speculative reversal--the dominance of apes over humans--into a provocative study of civil rights and civil war. The film finally goes too far with a woefully misguided ending that pays weak homage to the original, but everything preceding that misfire is astonishingly right. While attempting the space-pod retrieval of a chimpanzee test pilot, Major Leo Davidson (Mark Wahlberg) enters a magnetic storm that propels him into the distant future, where he crash-lands on the ape-ruled planet. Among the primitively civilized apes, treatment of enslaved humans is a divisive issue: senator's daughter Ari (Helena Bonham Carter) advocates equality while the ruthless General Thade (Tim Roth) promotes extermination. While Davidson ignites a human rebellion, this conflict is explored with admirable depth and emotion, and sharp dialogue allows Burton's exceptional cast to bring remarkable expressiveness to their embattled ape characters, most notably in the comic relief of orangutan slave trader Limbo (played to perfection by Paul Giamatti). Classic lines from the original film are cleverly reversed (including an unbilled cameo for Charlton Heston, in ape regalia as Thade's dying father), and while this tale of interspecies warfare leads to an ironic conclusion that's not altogether satisfying, it still bears the ripe fruit of a timeless what-if idea. --Jeff Shannon

• Dawn of the Planet of the Apes | DVD | (24/11/2014) from £3.49   |  Saving you £16.50 (472.78%)   |  RRP £19.99

  A growing nation of genetically evolved apes led by Caesar is threatened by a band of human survivors of the devastating virus unleashed a decade earlier. They reach a fragile peace, but it proves short-lived.

• Dawn of the Planet of the Apes | Blu Ray | (24/11/2014) from £4.94   |  Saving you £21.05 (426.11%)   |  RRP £25.99

  A growing nation of genetically evolved apes led by Caesar is threatened by a band of human survivors of the devastating virus unleashed a decade earlier. They reach a fragile peace but it proves short-lived as both sides are brought to the brink of a war that will determine who will emerge as Earth’s dominant species.

• Dawn of the Planet of the Apes | Blu Ray | (24/11/2014) from £4.67   |  Saving you £25.32 (542.18%)   |  RRP £29.99

  A growing nation of genetically evolved apes led by Caesar is threatened by a band of human survivors of the devastating virus unleashed a decade earlier. They reach a fragile peace but it proves short-lived as both sides are brought to the brink of a war that will determine who will emerge as Earth’s dominant species.

• Leaving | DVD | (16/06/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Set in 1960 in Greenock the hub of the Clyde's shipbuilding industry. Three friends are about to leave school - they are about to be released into a wilderness of a town that seems to offer them nothing. Wonderful acting witty dialogue nostalgic footage of Greenock Endearing characters and some hilarious classroom scenes combine to create a realistic gritty often harrowing and sometimes funny portrayal of school life in 1960's Scotland. Leaving is one of the prestigious films screened under the BBC2 Screen Two banner. Released for the first time on DVD it was originally broadcast in 1988. Written by Daniel Boyle who went on to write Hamish McBeth Inspector Morse Taggart Rebus and Lewis TV dramas.

• Dawn of the Planet Of The Apes | 4K UHD | (03/07/2017) from £9.99   |  Saving you £9.88 (98.90%)   |  RRP £19.87

  Matt Reeves directs this big budget action sequel to 'Rise of the Planet of the Apes' (2011) starring Andy Serkis, Gary Oldman, Jason Clarke, Kodi Smit-McPhee and Keri Russell. With Ceasar (Serkis), the hyper-intelligent ape produced by human experimentation, now the leader of a growing band of cognisant simians, a fragile truce prevails between the apes and humans. Many consider the outbreak of war to only be a matter of time, however, since the human population has been vastly reduced by a devastating virus and their role as the dominant species on Earth is in question. As the tension ratchets up, it may only take a single spark to trigger an explosive war that will pit the humans against the apes in an all-out battle for survival.