"Actor: Joan Rhodes"

• Earth vs The Flying Saucers | DVD | (14/10/2002) from £14.49   |  Saving you £-1.50 (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Notable neither for its director nor its stars, Earth vs the Flying Saucers has been given the widescreen DVD treatment rather because of its special-effects man, the legendary Ray Harryhausen. A Twilight Zone styled voiceover introduces Dr Marvin Russell and his wife of two hours as they're buzzed by an overhead flying saucer--the first of many. When a translation device reveals the saucer-occupants' fiendish plan to take over the world, it's time for a good old army-alien punch-up. Cue screenfuls of avuncular patriarchs, loads of techno-flannel space-speak and plenty of gratuitous American-monument destruction. A by-numbers B-movie, this is only really notable for Harryhausen's stop-motion FX work--and though this, his fifth feature, isn't a patch on his later Technicolor masterpieces, his trick of demolishing facsimiles of recognisable landmarks is cited by many premier filmmakers as being hugely influential on their work. This is very much of its time, the saucer-people arousing few of the thrills engendered by his later creations (Sinbad's Cyclops, for example). And with Cold War fears now just a memory, the Ruskies, or rather aliens, can no longer prevail upon a zeitgeist of xenophobic paranoia for their power. On the DVD: Earth vs the Flying Saucers's black-and-white picture is clean and crisp in this anamorphic 1.85:1 widescreen transfer and the Dolby digital mono soundtrack is clear enough. The theatrical trailer will please fans of kitsch, as will the featurette "This Is Dynamation" produced at the same time as the first Sinbad movie. The real corker here though is the generously proportioned documentary "The Harryhausen Chronicles": narrated by Leonard Nimoy, it features a stellar cast of devotees (George Lucas among them) waxing lyrical about the influence of Harryhausen's films, and allows the man himself to ramble fascinatingly over clips of his filmic canon. If you're a fan, it's Harryhausen heaven. --Paul Eisinger

• Dick Turpin - The Complete Second Series | DVD | (19/07/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  From the producers of 'Robin Of Sherwood' and 'The Adventures Of Black Beauty' Richard O'Sullivan stars as the notorious highwayman in the complete second series of the 1978 London weekend television show. Episode titles: The Fox - Part One The Fox - Part Two Blood Money Deadlier Than the Male The Elixir of Life The Thief-Taker The Judge Sentence of Death - Part One Sentence of Death - Part Two The Godmother The Secret Folk The King's Shilling The Hanging.

• 3 Classic Sci-Fi Films Of The Silver Screen - Missile To The Moon / Earth Vs The Flying Saucers / Planet Outlaws | DVD | (04/04/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £4.99

  Missile to the Moon: An expedition to the moon arrives to find a sinister female presiding over a race of moon-women. A remake of 'Cat Women of the Moon'. Earth Vs The Flying Saucers: Aliens travel to Earth to seek help for their dying planet. However when they arrive at a U.S Army base the Army mistakenly greet them with gunfire... Planet Outlaws (aka Destination Saturn): The re-edited version of the 1939 Universal serial 'Buck Rogers'. Buck and his comrade Buddy are released from suspended animation after 500 years on ice. The world which they once knew is now under the control of Killer Kane a terrifying mobster. Needless to say the duo quickly get onboard a plan to take down the criminal mastermind and his band of futuristic assasins.

• Just My Luck | DVD | (12/11/2001) from £6.94   |  Saving you £3.05 (43.95%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Just My Luck was an important step in the career of Norman Wisdom for several reasons. It's principally notable for the introduction of actor Edward Chapman, whom many would come to know as series regular Mr Grimsdale. Here he's the stuffy foil to Norman's romantic plans regarding his jewel-making job, where he'll do anything to possess some of the wealth about him. The chance comes in the form of an accumulator bet at Goodwood races thanks to a slimy Leslie Phillips. Another star cameo of note was a second appearance by Margaret Rutherford (after Trouble in Store) as an eccentric animal owner. But the real advance with the Wisdom formula was that--after a reasonably serious plot line--Norman finally gets the girl. On the DVD: This is a straight transfer from video. So although the mono sound and 4:3 ratio don't improve on anything previously available, at least it won't deteriorate further.--Paul Tonks

• Dick Turpin - The Complete First Series | DVD | (10/03/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Returning from military service in Flanders Dick Turpin discovers he has been cheated out of his inheritance by an unscrupulous landowner. Bitter and penniless Turpin takes to the open road as a highwayman in this first series of swashbuckling eighteenth century adventure...