Cattle king John Chisum is determined to protect his empire against a land-grabbing developerin New Mexico's 1878 Lincoln County War...
A master at manipulating audiences, Kaufman could generate belly laughs, stony silence, tears or brawls.
When the most catastrophic earthquake of all time rips through Southern California it levels Los Angeles and sends shockwaves through the lives of all who live there... Charlton Heston stars as a construction engineer whose life is devastated when the quake hits in a disaster film which showcases some of the most chilling special effects ever filmed!
Muhammad Ali's 1974 knockout of George Foreman to regain the heavyweight championship of the world at the age of 32 was probably the greatest sporting moment of the 20th century. Leon Gast's documentary on the "Rumble In The Jungle", When We Were Kings, eventually released in 1996, is probably the finest ever boxing film. The background to the contest was almost as dramatic as the fight itself. It was the first major coup for promoter Don King, a character described in this film as "very clever but completely amoral"--yet this was his finest hour. President Mobutu, unsavoury dictator of Zaire and a more frightening figure than either boxer, had spent millions of his country's money to host the event. George Foreman, like Sonny Liston before him and Mike Tyson after him, was considered unbeatable, expected to slaughter Ali. Seeing him pounding a dent the size of a grapefruit into a heavy bag during training, you can understand why. Ringside American journalists George Plimpton and in particular Norman Mailer offer exceptionally shrewd insights. As we stare into Ali's face during the minute interval at the end of round one, Mailer talks us through his probable thought processes. "That was the only time I ever saw fear in his eyes." Ali, of course, is the star, besting the sullen Foreman in the build-up with his freewheeling, hilarious braggadocio then outfoxing him in the fight with his "rope-a-dope" technique. Like Ali, the "Rumble In The Jungle" transcended sports in its inspirational significance. --David Stubbs
Writer-director Woody Allen's 1975 comedy finds the familiar Allen persona transposed to 19th-century Russia, as a cowardly serf drafted into the war against Napoleon, when all he'd rather do is write poetry and obsess over his beautiful but pretentious cousin (Diane Keaton). A total disaster as a soldier, Allen's cowardice serves him well when he hides in a cannon and is shot into a tent of French soldiers, suddenly making him a national hero. After his cousin agrees to marry him, thinking he'll be killed in a duel he miraculously survives, the couple must hatch a ludicrous plot to assassinate Napoleon in order to keep the coward Allen out of yet another war. Allen and Keaton show what a perfect comic team they make in this film, even predating their most celebrated pairing in Annie Hall. Working so well as the most unlikely of comedies, of all things a hilarious parody of Russian literature, Love and Death is a must-see for fans of Woody Allen films. --Robert Lane
It's more of Leslie Nielsen's Lt Frank Drebin, the bumbling cop from the old Police Squad! television series. This time, Drebin uncovers a plot--led by supervillain Robert Goulet!--to sabotage America's energy policy. The jokes don't stick as well as those of the first film (Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!), but there are some very funny slapstick moments, including several involving former First Lady Barbara Bush (played by an actress, of course). --Tom Keogh
""Theorizing that one could time travel within his own lifetime Dr. Sam Beckett stepped into the Quantum Leap accelerator and Vanished...He woke to find himself trapped in the past facing mirror images that were not his own and driven by an unknown force to change history for the better. His only guide on this journey is Al an observer from his own time who appears in the form of a hologram that only Sam can see and hear. And so Dr. Beckett finds himself leaping from life to lif
Academy Award winning director and master storyteller James Cameron journeys back to the site of his greatest inspiration -- the legendary wreck of the Titanic.
The little red-head orphan is back in this film based on the classic Harold Gray comic strip. This time she and her faithful canine Sandy visit England after Daddy Warbucks is called over to be knighted by the Queen.
An elegant comedic story of a Polish acting troupe who help in their small way to resist the Nazi occupation. When it is discovered that a Polish hero residing in Britain is actually a German agent a Polish RAF officer is deployed to stop him. Upon arriving in Poland the RAF officer together with the already forewarned actors concoct a convoluted charade designed to collect the information from the spy kill him and pass on the false information to the Gestapo.
It's hilarious fun for all the family when penniless tramp Hughie Wagstaffe suddenly discovers he's a Lord with a grand stately home in this 1970s ITV comedy classic getting its first ever release on DVD! Hugh Lloyd (Hugh & I Hancock) stars as Hughie whose life changes overnight when he discovers he's heir to a massive estate complete with servants! Hughie finds it pretty difficult to adjust - and isn't about to give up his old tramp ways in a hurry - much to the horror of his snooty neighbours! His staff are a little perplexed too and housekeeper Miss Pratt (Joan Sims - Carry On) leads the fight to turn grubby old Hughie into a fine upstanding gentleman! With guest stars including Alfie Bass Leslie Dwyer and Jack Watling Lord Tramp first ran on ITV from 1st August to 12th September 1977. All six episodes are included here.
All aboard for runaway action and suspense in this riveting masterpiece from writer/director Michael Crichton! Starring Sean Connery Donald Sutherland and Lesley-Anne Down it's a spine-tingling and suavely performed adventure based on history's first great train robbery. This ingenious and wonderful crime caper delivers mile-a-minute thrills and breathtaking excitement. Connery is Edward Pierce a master thief who conceives a brilliant plan to steal a fortune in gold bars from a railway payroll car. But to pull off the most daring heist in history Pierce must join forces with a safecracker (Sutherland) and his own beautiful girlfriend (Down) in a series of intricately-plotted thefts that will test all of their nerve camaraderie and larcenous skill.
Take a non-stop flight with an all-star cast to a world of tension-filled human drama in this trend-setting box office blockbuster. Based on Arthur Hailey's runaway best seller the emotion-charged adventure stars Burt Lancaster as the manager of a glamorous international airport who must juggle personal crisis with professional responsibilities as he attempts to keep his blizzard torn facility open to rescue a bomb-damaged jetliner. The lavish Ross Hunter production co-stars a ve
John Flynn has directed some good, tough, pacy thrillers and Best Seller, along with the 1973 The Outfit, can claim to be the best of them. It kicks off with not one but two slam-bang action sequences and then, having grabbed our attention, pitches us straight into its twisty plot premise. Brian Dennehy, reliably watchable as ever, plays an ageing cop-turned-novelist who has hit a writer's block since his wife died. James Woods at his most suavely sinister is a hitman with dirt to dish on the head of a big corporation. Woods proposes a Faustian pact. He provides Dennehy with the full crooked story on the mobster-turned-corporate boss and the cop writes it up. Dennehy gets a best seller; Woods gets his revenge and comes out looking like a hero. The dialogue, courtesy of screenwriter and horror-movie director Larry Cohen (It's Alive; Q--The Winged Serpent), is satisfyingly hard-boiled and slips in plenty of subversive sideswipes at rampant capitalism. ("It's the American Way, Dennis," says Woods, detailing how he helped his boss rise via robbery and murder. "I'm a businessman, an executive.") This certainly isn't the only movie to get mileage out of the symbiotic relationship between cop and crook (see Michael Mann's Heat), but it works several neat variations on the theme, with Dennehy and Woods both at the top of their respective forms. If the film never quite lives up to its potential--the required final confrontation between the two principals doesn't materialise and Victoria Tennant is thrown away as Dennehy's love-interest--it remains a way better than average thriller with its roots deep in the best B-movie traditions. On the DVD: Best Seller on disc has no extras apart from the theatrical trailer. The transfer is good and clean, and preserves the original's full-width framing. --Philip Kemp
Apache Rifles: A young cavalry officer is assigned the job of bringing in a band of Apaches who have been terrorizing the countryside. Days Of Jessie James: Roy Rogers is sent to investigate a recent bank robbery believed to have been carried out by the 'James Gang'. Roy manages to join the posse and finds out that Jesse and the boys did not commit the crime. Now he must uncover who in fact did rob the bank... Riders Of The Whistling Pines: When an insect plague ravages the forest evil loggers plan on harvesting protected land. They murder a forest ranger so they can carry out the plan and they frame Gene Autry for the crime. Autry is cleared but the loggers' devious plan continues when they spray the forest to kill the insects yet wind up killing much of the wildlife too. Autry must step in and utilize his patented brand of cowboy justice.
The name says it all--Star Trek III: The Search for Spock--so you didn't think Mr. Spock was really dead, did you? When Spock's casket landed on the surface of the Genesis planet at the end of Star Trek II, we had already been told that Genesis had the power to bring "life from lifelessness". So it's no surprise that this energetic but somewhat hokey sequel gives Spock a new lease of life, beginning with his rebirth and rapid growth as the Genesis planet literally shakes itself apart in a series of tumultuous geological spasms. As Kirk is getting to know his estranged son (Merritt Butrick), he must also do battle with the fiendish Klingon Kruge (Christopher Lloyd), who is determined to seize the power of Genesis from the Federation. Meanwhile, the regenerated Spock returns to his home planet, and Star Trek III gains considerable interest by exploring the ceremonial (and, of course, highly logical) traditions of Vulcan society. The movie's a minor disappointment compared to Star Trek II, but it's a--well, logical--sequel that successfully restores Spock (and first-time film director Leonard Nimoy) to the phenomenal Trek franchise ... as if he were ever really gone. With Kirk's wilful destruction of the USS Enterprise and Robin Curtis replacing the departing Kirstie Alley as Vulcan Lt Saavik, this was clearly a transitional film in the series, clearing the way for the highly popular Star Trek IV. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com
With hindsight, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock is the satisfactory middle instalment of a well-rounded trilogy that began with The Wrath of Kahn and ended with The Voyage Home (after which this crew really should have retired gracefully). But on its first release, few fans knew what to expect and initial impressions were disappointing. The biggest talking points were that the film was Leonard Nimoy's directorial debut and that his name wasn't in the opening credits. Naturally, the biggest question was just how would the loss of Spock affect the franchise? That question was neatly dodged and what audiences got instead was a tale of team-spiritedness, sacrifice and rebellion that ended on a question mark. In other words it was a fun ride without many answers. The centrepiece of the movie has to be stealing The Enterprise, a beautifully conceived sequence that remains at the heart of classic Trek's filmic storyline: sacrificing all for the sake of friendship, Kirk and co. set out to rescue their lost companion; this single action defines everything the characters had ever meant to each other, and has an effect on everything that followed. And if the loss of Spock had left audiences eager for more, that was as nothing compared to the loss of The Enterprise. On the DVD: Star Trek III on disc does not come in a new transfer as the previous two special edition DVDs, and you won't find any deleted or new scenes either. The extras package is fascinating, nonetheless, especially with the contributions from Nimoy. His fond reminiscences in the commentary track are priceless, with good support from writer-producer Harve Bennett, director of photography Charles Correll, and Robin Curtis (Saavik). The text commentary from the Okudas isn't as involving as the others, sadly, but this is made up for by the trivia dished out in documentaries covering: model-making, costume design, the science of Terraforming, and how to speak Klingon. The best inclusion is "Captain's Log" featuring interviews with an enthusiastic Nimoy, a sarcastic Shatner, an appreciative Curtis and the rarely seen Christopher Lloyd. --Paul Tonks
Disney's irresistible talking puppies return in a heartwarming all-new holiday adventure! Take a fantastic journey with your beloved Buddy friends to the magical world of the North Pole!
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