All ten episodes of the award-winning mini-series based on the real-life experiences of American paratroopers who fought in Europe during the Second World War. From their training in Camp Toccoa, Georgia, through their landing in Normandy as part of the D-Day offensive, their participation in the Battle of the Bulge, and all the way up to the final surrender of the German forces, the series follows the adventures of Easy Company, a unit noted for its skill and bravery, but which also suffered a high number of casualties in its journey across Europe. Each episode also features excerpts from actual interviews with surviving members of the company.
Footloose Teenager Ren MacCormack sends ripples through Bomont a small Midwestern town that could stand some shaking up when he arrives from Chicago with his mother Ethel to settle with her relatives. The adults tend to view him with suspicion as a possible contaminant from the outer world. Some of his male peers eye him as a threat and most of the girls just plain eye him. It's a tough time for Ren whose father deserted him and his mother leaving them financially and
First time on Blu-Ray in the UK. Waterloo is the 1970 epic period war film directed by Sergei Bondarchuk and produced by legendary producer Dino De Laurentis. It depicts the story of the preliminary events and the Battle of Waterloo and is famous for its lavish battle scenes. Starring Rod Steiger as Napoleon Bonaparte and Christopher Plummer as the Duke of Wellington with a cameo by Orson Welles as Louis XVIII of France, and Jack Hawkins all contribute fine portraits of great men against a magnificent backdrop of battle and bloodshed.
ECHO IN THE CANYON is a look at how The Byrds, The Beach Boys, Buffalo Springfield, and The Mamas & the Papas birthed the beginnings of the Laurel Canyon music scene and how the echo of these artists creations reverberated between each other and ultimately across the world. With appearances by Tom Petty, Brian Wilson, Stephen Stills, David Crosby, Graham Nash, Michelle Phillips, Jackson Browne, Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton, Roger McGuinn, John Sebastian, Lou Adler, Jakob Dylan, Norah Jones, Beck, Regina Spektor, Cat Power, and others. The film is presented by Jakob Dylan. Dylan journeys to those who wrote the iconic songs and uncovers never before heard personal details behind the recordings from those who made them popular.
The BBC's lavish, glowingly designed adapation of Mervyn Peake's eccentrically brilliant novels Titus Groan and Gormenghast is a triumph of casting. Ian Richardson's Lear-like depiction of the mad earl of a remote, vast, ritual-obsessed building is matched by the brutal pragmatism of Celia Imrie as his wife, the synchronised madness of Zoe Wanamaker and Lynsey Baxter as his twin sisters and the duplicitous charm of Jonathan Rhys-Meyer as Steerpike, the kitchen-boy determined to take over no matter how many deaths it costs. John Sessions is surprisingly touching as Prunesquallor, the family doctor who realises almost too late what Steerpike intends. It is always tricky to film a book dear to the hearts of its admirers: Wilson and his design team achieve a look rather more pre-Raphaelite than Peake's own illustrations, shabby velvets, garish sunlight and dank stone passages. The score by Richard Rodney Bennett is full of attractive surprises--fanfares and waltzes and apotheoses--and John Tavener's choral additions are plausibly parts of the immemorial ritual of Gormenghast. On the DVD: The double DVD comes with scene selection, an informative half-hour documentary on the making of the serial and a slide gallery of costume designs, characters and their dooms. --Roz Kaveney
Kramer vs. Kramer: Kramer vs Kramer is the box office smash that gathered 5 Oscars including Best Picture Best Actor for Dustin Hoffman and Best Supporting Actress for Meryl Streep. Returning home late from work one night a career-obsessed Ted Kramer is told by his wife that she is leaving him. After a life of being 'somebody's daughter' or 'somebody's wife ' she's going off to find herself - leaving Ted to care for their 6 year-old son. Ted while trying to hold down his job gets to really know his son: cooking his meals taking him to the park understanding every need and fear. For the first time in his life he feels like a fulfilled parent. But then Joanna returns. And she wants her son back... Born Free: A New Adventure: Set in the heart of Africa Elsa the Lioness tranforms the lives of two American teenagers struggling to come to terms with a family move from downtown Chicago. Lorenzo's Oil: A five-year-old boy Lorenzo Odone is diagnosed as having a brain disease known as ALD a condition so rare that no medical body has undertaken to research the ailment and develop a cure. Desperate Lorenzo's parents (Nolte and Sarandon) embark on a desperate search for a cure and must battle the medical establishment when they make astounding progress using humble olive oil...
Sylvester Stallone never courted as much controversy as he did with the screen violence of the Rambo trilogy. From 1982 to 1988, they kept his name above Schwarzenegger's in the muscle hero league, with "Rambo" becoming a descriptive phrase in the language to describe gung-ho aggression (in Japanese, "rambo" means "violence"). The strangest part of the character's success is that originally he had none. Both David Morrell's novel and the original incarnation of First Blood had the Vietnam vet committing suicide after his rampage through small town America. The un-Hollywood ending was changed when Stallone and the producers recognised here was a character with possibilities. First Blood: Part II was co-written by James (Titanic) Cameron, a man who has always recognised box office possibilities. Stallone took a very relevant (to 1985) issue of surviving POWs and created an alternative end to the Vietnam War. This was achieved courtesy of the Cold War animosity that still existed towards the Russians, embodied in a suitably vile cameo from Steven Berkoff. A little love interest helped ground the movie and prevent it from completely turning into a video game, as did the best of Jerry Goldsmith's stirring scores for the trilogy. After saving himself and then his Country, Rambo III was simply about saving his friend Richard Crenna. The code of honour was by this point watered down into a song lyric, "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother". Nevertheless the final instalment continues to say something about the indomitable American spirit that will not accept defeat lightly. Patriotism may never have been portrayed quite so bloodily before Rambo's arrival, but at least a generation learned to question attitudes to war veterans, as well as the benefits of carrying a compass in your hunting knife. On the DVD: The Rambo trilogy on disc brings together all three movies in crisp 2.35:1 widescreen transfers. Sadly the extras are a little thin considering how much more was on the old Laser Discs. The first film has but a trailer; the third has a few minutes of behind the scenes material; the second has quite a few mini-documentaries that could really have done with being edited together, and having repeated interviews cut out. But there's still fun to be had hearing how deep and meaningful the movies were in conception.--Paul Tonks
When small town Washington sheriff Will Teasle (Brian Dennehy) detains a vagrant drifter for resisting arrest, little does he realise that he has set in motion a series of events that bring mayhem and bloody reckoning to his community. The shabby vagrant is in fact former Green Beret John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone), a hero of the Vietnam War who has returned home to find America no longer wants him. Responding to brutal treatment from Teasle's Deputies with sudden ferociousness, Rambo makes a daring escape from the town jail, steals a motorcycle and roars off towards the wilderness with the sheriffs not far behind Based on the bestselling novel by David Morrell, filmed during a brutal winter in British Columbia, First Blood is a breathtaking portrayal of America at odds with itself. Features: Rambo takes the '80s Part 1 Drawing First Blood - Making Of Alternate Ending Outtake Deleted scene: Dream in Saigon Original Trailer Sylvester Stallone Audio commentary Screenwriter David Morell Audio commentary
Upon its release The Godafther: Part II was hailed as the best sequel to a movie ever made however this film is much more than that. Coppolla utilised a quite brilliant screenplay and turned it into a visually captivating treat as well as using his directorial skills to make the audience view the rise and demise of the ill-fated Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) as first-person participants with masterful skill. Add to this an astounding performance by Pacino and an Oscar-winning portra
It has not taken long for Without a Trace to emerge from the shadows of CSI and become a ratings force in its own right. Jerry Bruckheimer produced both series, and both feature the-face-is-familiar character actors with extensive and diverse resumes who have been catapulted to primetime stardom. Jack Malone, head of a crack FBI missing persons unit, is the Australian-born Anthony LaPaglia's breakout role after years of portraying enough Italian mobsters and criminals to populate a season of The Sopranos. LaPaglia was a surprise Golden Globe Award-winner for this inaugural season. Without a Trace is instantly arresting. "The clock is ticking" in each episode, as Malone and company race against time to find a missing person. "After 48 hours," Malone explains to the rookie member of the team in the series pilot, "they're gone." To solve each baffling case, Malone and fellow agents Samantha Spade (Poppy Montgomery), Vivian Johnson (Marianne Jean-Baptiste of Secrets and Lies), Danny Taylor (Enrique Murciano), and new guy Martin Fitzgerald (Eric Close), must work from the inside out. "Once we find out who she is," Malone says of one victim, "odds are we'll find out where she is." Among the inaugural season's most wrenching episodes are "Between the Cracks" and "Hang On to Me," both featuring Charles Dutton in his Emmy Award-winning performance as a father whose son has been missing for five years. The powerful season finale, "Fallout," presented in this four-disc set in a "creator's cut," concerns a man who lost his wife in the 9/11 attacks. The riveting episodes mostly stand alone, but some cases do return to haunt Malone, as witness "In Extremis," a case that ends tragically and leads to an internal investigation that threatens to subvert the close-knit unit in the episode. "Are You Now or Have You Ever Been?" Sharp writing, authentic procedurals, taut direction, and effective use of music make Without a Tracea series worth finding on DVD. --Donald Liebenson
Simulacron 1 is a highly advanced project designed to elevate conventional computer technology to a new level by creating a virtual reality inhabited by computer-generated people or 'identity units'. When the head of the project dies mysteriously after showing signs of mental disturbance Dr Stiller becomes his successor. However Stiller also begins to behave bizarrely. He speaks of people disappearing whom no one else knows belives someone is trying to murder him and has nausea attacks. As he begins to probe deeper into Simulacron the line between the real and virtual world becomes increasingly blurred and his own existence is questioned. Rainer Werner Fassbinder's 2 part TV production is a science-fiction classic that explores the notion of a computer-generated other world pre-dating The Matrix by 26 years. Since its original broadcast in 1973 it has rarely been shown and following increasing demand the Fassbinder Foundation have restored this remarkable film under the artistic direction of the film's highly acclaimed cinematographer Michael Ballhaus.
50 years on from its first transmission, the BBC's Play for Today anthology series remains one of British television's most influential and celebrated achievements. Between 1970 and 1984, plays which combined some of the era's finest writing, acting and directing talents were broadcast direct to living rooms, regularly challenging viewers and pushing the boundaries of TV drama. Featuring plays by the likes of Ingmar Bergman, Julia Jones and Colin Welland and featuring a roster of eminent British actors, Play for Today: Volume One brings together seven iconic dramas on Bluray for the very first time, in a collection that exemplifies the breadth and brilliance of this groundbreaking series. The set includes five plays which have been restored from the original negatives held in the BBC archive. The Plays: The Lie (Written by Ingmar Bergman | Dir. Alan Bridges, 1970) Shakespeare or Bust (Written by Peter Terson | Dir. Brian Parker, 1973) Back of Beyond (Written by Julia Jones | Dir. Desmond Davis, 1974) Passage to England (Written by Leon Griffiths | Dir. John Mackenzie, 1975) Our Flesh and Blood (Written by Mike Stott | Dir. Pedr James, 1977) A Photograph (Written by John Bowen | Dir. John Glenister, 1977) Your Man from Six Counties (Written by Colin Welland | Dir. Barry Davis, 1976)
From the director of "This Year's Love", a romantic comedy about single Londoners looking for love, against a backdrop of Salsa.
Golden Globe winner Ian McShane stars as a lovable rogue antiques dealer Lovejoy in this final series of the popular BBC TV drama. The curtain finally comes down on Lovejoy's dodgy dealings with stories set across ten episodes. Includes appearances from guest stars such as Christopher Fairbanks John Bardon Martin Jarvis Frank Finlay Gavin Richards Phil Cornwell and Julia Sawalha. Episodes comprise: 1. Fair Exchange 2. Day of Reckoning 3. Somewhere Over the Rainbow 4. Do
One of Britain's greatest dramatists the award-winning playwright Jack Rosenthal created some of the most critically-acclaimed and popular single plays of the last forty years. Instantly recognisable by their warmth and humour Rosenthal's scripts were always popular with the viewing public and were invariably big ratings winners. Alongside single plays he also honed his craft on a diverse range of television shows - from Coronation Street (for which he was one of the key writ
Robert Redford, usually a pretty good judge of material, got snookered badly in Legal Eagles, an Ivan Reitman comedy which also stars Debra Winger and Daryl Hannah. Redford is a rising assistant D.A. who is prosecuting a woman (Hannah) for theft of a painting by her father. Before he knows whats hit him, hes involved romantically both with the defendant and with her scattered lawyer (Winger). Redford is as good as he can be, given the circumstances but this is a film that doesnt know where its going. Originally intended as a serious film about the legal wrangling over the estate of the late Mark Rothko, this film quickly degenerated when the script was turned over to Jim Cash and Jack Epps Jr, whose sparkling oeuvre includes Turner and Hooch. --Marshall Fine, Amazon.com
Sean Connery gives another powerful and charismatic performance as a Scandinavian security chief battling to thwart the deadly plans of a terrorist leader played by Ian McShane. Beautifully photographed by double Oscar-winning Swedish cinematographer Sven Nykvist and complemented by Jerry Goldsmith's memorably haunting score Ransom takes us through a tightly plotted relentless race against time. Presented here in a brand-new transfer from the original film elements this intelligent atmospheric thriller has never looked better. Following a series of bomb attacks in London a group of terrorists seize Britain's ambassador to the ficititious state of 'Scandinavia'. With the ambassador now a hostage in his residence another group hijacks an airliner at the capital's airport announcing that the passengers will not be freed until their demands are met. Colonel Nils Tahlvik Scandinavia's resourceful and ruthless head of security seeks to take an uncompromising stance against the terrorists – yet his attempts meet resistance from unknown forces at every turn... Special Features: Original theatrical teaser and trailer Image Gallery Promotional material PDF
A truly epic saga of dynastic conflict at the heart of Imperial Rome, I Claudius was the landmark BBC drama series of the 1970s. Originally transmitted as 13 50-minute episodes, the series dramatises the human face of ancient Rome as interpreted by Robert Graves in his two enormously complex novels, I, Claudius and Claudius The God. Derek Jacobi gives one of the greatest television performances ever as Claudius, the appalled chronicler of the decadence, corruption, intrigue and carnage which comes with the absolute power of his ruling family. Augustus (Brian Blessed) is Emperor and Livia (Sian Phillips) his scheming, ambitious wife, Claudius's aunt. By virtue of his stammer and uncontrollable twitches, Claudius passes for a fool, thus escaping the poisonous machinations of Livia, all the while recording the comings and goings of the Imperial household. Events become increasingly frenzied as Caligula (John Hurt playing the tyrant with psychotic fury) bloodily slaughters his way to power, making a senator of his favourite horse along the way. Claudius eventually becomes Emperor himself, and Jacobi is simply magnificent in the intensely moving finale, which is not to overlook the rest of a fine cast, including: George Baker; Ian Ogilvy; Christopher Guard; Stratford Johns; John Rhys-Davies; Bernard Hepton and Patrick Stewart as the murderous Praetorian Guard Captain Sejanus. Inevitably lacking the visual scale of cinematic features such as Ben-Hur, and today looking more studio-bound than ever, I, Claudius remains a television masterpiece of intelligently written and rivetingly intense character drama. --Gary S Dalkin
Generally acknowledged as a bona fide classic, this Francis Ford Coppola film is one of those rare experiences that feels perfectly right from beginning to end--almost as if everyone involved had been born to participate in it. Based on Mario Puzo's bestselling novel about a Mafia dynasty, Coppola's Godfather extracted and enhanced the most universal themes of immigrant experience in America: the plotting-out of hopes and dreams for one's successors, the raising of children to carry on the good work, etc. In the midst of generational strife during the Vietnam years, the film somehow struck a chord with a nation fascinated by the metamorphosis of a rebellious son (Al Pacino) into the keeper of his father's dream. Marlon Brando played against Puzo's own conception of patriarch Vito Corleone, and time has certainly proven the actor correct. The rest of the cast, particularly James Caan, John Cazale, and Robert Duvall as the rest of Vito's male brood--all coping with how to take the mantle of responsibility from their father--is seamless and wonderful. --Tom Keogh
Matt Damon returns as the amnesiac assassin Jason Bourne who must return to the world he has so tried to leave behind him when a murder is committed in his name.
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