James Cameron's 1989 aquatic epic The Abyss was, quite literally, a watershed in the annals of filmmaking: not only was it the first (and only) movie to be shot almost entirely underwater, in the largest tank ever used for a movie set, and to use live dialogue from specially designed headsets, it also pushed forward the boundaries of computer animation in one gigantic leap. The famous water tentacle sequence is now regarded as the defining moment when CGI came of age; ironically perhaps, its very success has ensured that the punishing realism of the setting, which is the best thing about the movie, is likely never to be attempted again. But the impressive technical aspects aside, is the movie any good? Granted it contains any number of striking moments, from forcing a rat to breathe liquid (it really works, apparently) to resurrecting a drowned Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio. But the story is a slim one for the running time, especially in the extended Special Edition version which plays almost half an hour longer than the theatrical cut and contains a completely excised subplot featuring much too much heavy-handed moralising: "How all the world can stop fighting and learn to get along with each other", by James Cameron esq. All you need is love, apparently. Here is one rare example of the theatrical cut being preferable to the director's. Now, if only he had cut the love story from Titanic too On the DVD: The Abyss Special Edition two-disc set has plenty of neat extra features, but is let down a little by the non-anamorphic 2.35:1 letterboxed picture. Sound, on the other hand, is vivid THX mastered Dolby 5.1. Happily, the first disc contains both the original theatrical cut and the extended special-edition version. There's a reasonably informative though inevitably rather dry text-only commentary. The principal extra on Disc 2 is a 60-minute documentary, "Under Pressure", with retrospective interviews in which cast and crew detail the extraordinary challenges involved in making the film, and more than one near-death experience. In addition there's the complete screenplay, various different pieces on the effects sequences, storyboards, artwork, DVD-ROM features--in short, plenty to keep even jaded DVD enthusiasts amused for hours. The menu interfaces for both discs are a treat and the set comes with a good 12-page booklet. --Mark Walker
You wouldn't think that a movie, which mostly consists of two old guys talking could be a thriller, but that's exactly what L'Homme du Train is. French singer Johnny Hallyday plays a professional criminal who comes to a small town to take part in a robbery. By chance, he meets talkative Jean Rochefort, who invites the laconic Hallyday to stay at his house because the hotel is closed. The two form an unlikely friendship, each curious about (and envious of) the other's life. But all the while plans for the robbery continue, while Rochefort is preparing for a dangerous event of his own. The pitch-perfect performances make L'Homme du Train completely involving. Rochefort and Hallyday play off of each other beautifully; it's impossible to put your finger on what makes these subtle, supple scenes so magnetic. The whole is directed with spare authority by Patrice Leconte (La Veuve de Saint-Pierre). --Bret Fetzer
The Breakfast Club (Dir. John Hughes 1985): Without doubt John Hughes' The Breakfast Club is one of the greatest teen movies of all-time if not the best. Without it we might not have witnessed the phenomenal rise of the 'Brat Pack'; the group of actors synonymous with the teen films of the '80s. They were five teenage students with nothing in common faced with spending a Saturday detention together in their High School library. At 7am they had nothing to say but
He's a doll. He's a dreamboat. He's a delinquent. Cry Baby finally makes it to DVD for the first time! Cult director John Waters goes mainstream (well sort of) in this send-up of 1950s teen melodramas. Heart-throb Johnny Depp stars in the title role as a glamorous delinquent who heads a gang of hoods known as the Drapes. Wade 'Cry-Baby' Walker (Depp) is the coolest toughest hood in his Baltimore high school. His ability to shed one single tear drives all the
Hollywood screen couple Doris Day and Rock Hudson light up the screen with laughter in three delightful comedy gems! Join them as they fall in, out, and back in love again in a series of misadventures including Pillow Talk, Lover Come Back and Send Me No Flowers. Co-starring the hilarious Tony Randall, the Dirus and Rock Hudson Romantic Comedy Collection captures one of cinema's most popular and enduring couples at their very best! Bonus Features Back in Bed with Pillow Talk Chemistry 101: The Film Duo of Doris Day and Rock Hudson Pillow Talk Feature Commentary with Film Historians Jeff Bond, Julie Kirgo and Nick Redman Theatrical Trailers
Sidney Poitier and James Garner put in excellent performances as men on either side of the colour divide forced to fight side by side against the might of the Apache Indians...
This is the twilight world of half-truths and half-lives where the obsessive apparatus of state security interlocks with sinister and furtive forces from big business. It is the hidden battleground where private grief and individual suffering and death are dwarfed by the struggle for absolute power and the nightmare of nuclear catastrophe. Part One - 'Into The Shadows': His investigation into his daughter's murder reveals to Ronald Craven her involvement in nuclear power politics terrorism and death. Despite the agonies of his grief Craven finds himself drawn into Emma's secret world. Part Two - 'Northmoor': Craven and renegade US agent Jedburgh pursue their mission to discover the deadly secret of an underworld nuclear facility and begin a desperate race to avert catastrophe with mysterious wisdom of GAIA.
A kampy kult favorite about a spaceship disguised as a circus tent which lands in a small town. The klown passengers are not happy makers of merriment however but instead demented homicidal aliens with rather unique ways of killing their victims. (Acid pie anyone?). Naturally the kruel killer klowns kreate khaos for the kops until someone discovers the aliens' weakness -- by a nose...
On one side is an army of gunmen dead set on springing a murderous cohort from jail. On the other is Sheriff John T. Chance (John Wayne) and two deputies: a recovering drunkard (Dean Martin) and an old codger (Walter Brennan). Also in their ragtag ranks are a trigger-happy youth (Ricky Nelson) and a woman with a shady past (Angie Dickinson) - and her eye on Chance. Director Howard Hawks lifted the Western to new heights with Red River and does it again here. Included on 4K disc - Commentary by Director John Carpenter and Historian/Critic Richard Schickel
When it comes down to naming the best Western of all time, the list usually narrows to three completely different pictures: Howard Hawks' Rio Bravo, Hawks' Red River and John Ford's The Searchers. About the only thing they all have in common is that they all star John Wayne. But while The Searchers is an epic quest for revenge and Red River, a sweeping cattle-drive drama, Rio Bravo is a much calmer film. Basically, it comes down to Sheriff John T Chance (Wayne), his alcoholic friend Dude (Dean Martin), the hotshot new kid Colorado (Ricky Nelson), and deputy-sidekick Stumpy (Walter Brennan), sittin' around in the town jail, drinkin' black coffee, shootin' the breeze, and occasionally singin' a song. Hawks--who, like his pal Ernest Hemingway, lived by the code of "grace under pressure"--said he made Rio Bravo as a rebuke to High Noon, in which sheriff Gary Cooper begged for townspeople to help him. So, Hawks made Wayne's Sheriff Chance a consummate professional--he may be getting old and fat, but he knows how to do his job, and he doesn't want amateurs getting mixed up in his business; they could get hurt. If the configuration of characters sounds familiar, it should: Hawks remade Rio Bravo two more times--as El Dorado in 1967, with Wayne, Robert Mitchum, and James Caan; and as Rio Lobo in 1970, with Wayne, Jack Elam, and Christopher Mitchum. The film achieved additional notoriety in the 90s when Quentin Tarantino revealed that he uses it as a litmus test for prospective girlfriends. --Jim Emerson, Amazon.com
This harrowing but rewarding 1984 drama concerns the real-life relationship between New York Times reporter Sidney Schanberg and his Cambodian assistant Dith Pran (Haing S. Ngor), the latter left at the mercy of the Khmer Rouge after Schanberg--who chose to stay after American evacuation but was booted out--failed to get him safe passage. Filmmaker Roland Joffé, previously a documentarist, made his feature debut with this account of Dith's rocky survival in the ensuing madness of the Khmer Rouge's genocidal campaign. The script of The Killing Fields spends some time with Schanberg's feelings of guilt after the fact, but most of the movie is a shattering re-creation of hell on Earth. The late Haing S. Ngor--a real-life doctor who had never acted before and who lived through the events depicted by Joffé--is outstanding, and he won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar. Oscars also went to cinematographer Chris Menges and editor Jim Clark. --Tom Keogh
Academy Award winning director and master storyteller James Cameron journeys back to the site of his greatest inspiration -- the legendary wreck of the Titanic.
A 4 disc box set featuring a quartet of the finest films starring motormouth funnyman Richard Pryor! R.I.P Ritchie... Car Wash ((Dir. Michael Schultz 1976): An earthy irreverent but affectionate look at a typical day in Los Angeles car wash! An ensemble piece which interweaves the lives of employees customers and passers-by Car Wash stars a galaxy of gifted actors most of whom are relatively unknown to movie goers and spotlights an array of guest stars in vivid cameo rol
On one side is an army of gunmen dead-set on springing a murderous sidekick from jail. On the other is Sheriff John T. Chance and his two deputies: one a drunk the other a cripple. Place your bets! John Wayne is Chance in Rio Bravo a lean Western classic packing solid heroics around a strong emotional core. He's joined by Dean Martin as the deputy coming off a two-year drunk Walter Brennan as the old coot whose fiery spirit outmatches his hobbled stride Ricky Nelson as a youngster out to prove himself by joining the lawmen and Angie Dickinson as a woman with a past who hopes to rope Chance. Director Howard Hawks already lifted the Western to new heights with Red River. With Rio Bravo Hawkes does it again capturing the straight-from-the-barrel Old West many grew up with - a legendary West that fits all the tall talents of Wayne and Hawkes like a Colt 44 fits a weathered holster.
Step aside Pennywise These Killer Klowns from Outer Space are outta this world literally! and they're packing deadly popcorn guns and cotton candy cocoons! When Mike and his girlfriend Debbie warn the local police that a gang of homicidal alien-clowns have landed in the nearby area (in a spaceship shaped like a circus big-top, no less), the cops are naturally sceptical. Before long however, reports are coming in from other anxious residents detailing similar run-ins with the large-shoed assailants. There can no longer be any doubt the Killer Klowns from Outer Space are here, and they're out to turn the Earth's population into candy floss! Written and produced by the Chiodo brothers knowns for their work on a host of special-effects laden hits such as Team America: World Police and the Critters movies Killer Klowns from Outer Space is a cinematic experience unparalleled in this galaxy, now newly restored by Arrow Video for this stellar edition. Features: Brand new restoration from a 4K scan of the original camera negative High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation Newly remastered stereo 2.0 and 5.1 DTS-HD MA audio options Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing Archive audio commentary with the Chiodo Brothers Let the Show Begin! Anatomy of a Killer Theme Song an all-new interview with the original members of the American punk band, The Dickies The Chiodos Walk Among Us: Adventures in Super 8 Filmmaking - all-new documentary highlighting the making of the Chiodo Brothers childhood films, from the giant monster epics made in their basement to their experiments in college New HD transfers of the complete collection of the Chiodo Brothers 8mm and Super 8 films, including Land of Terror, Free Inside, Beast from the Egg, and more! Tales of Tobacco an interview with star Grant Cramer Debbie's Big Night an interview with star Suzanne Snyder Bringing Life to These Things a tour of Chiodo Bros. Productions The Making of Killer Klowns archive production featurette Visual Effects with Gene Warren Jr. archive interview with co-writer/producer Charles Chiodo and visual effects supervisor Gene Warren Jr. Kreating Klowns archive interview with Charles Chiodo and creature fabricator Dwight Roberts Komposing Klowns archive interview with composer John Massari Klown Auditions Deleted Scenes with filmmaker's audio commentary Bloopers Image Galleries Original Theatrical Trailer Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Sara Deck
Monsters Inc.Loveable Sulley (John Goodman) and his wisecracking sidekick Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal) are the top scare team at Monsters Inc. the scream-processing factory in Monstropolis. When a little girl named Boo wanders into their world it's the monsters who are scared silly and it's up to Sulley and Mike to keep her out of sight and get her back home. Monsters UniversityThe story of how two mismatched monsters met and became lifelong friends in a movie screaming with laughter and oozing with heart. Ever since college-bound Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal) was a little monster he has dreamt of becoming a Scarer-and he knows better than anyone that the best Scarers come from Monsters University (MU). But during his first semester at MU Mike's plans are derailed when he crosses paths with hotshot James P. Sullivan 'Sulley' (John Goodman) a natural-born Scarer. The pair's out-of-control competitive spirit gets them both kicked out of the University's elite Scare Program. With their dreams temporarily dashed they realise they will have to work together along with an odd bunch of misfit monsters if they ever hope to make things right. BraveTake a heroic journey with Merida a skilled archer and headstrong daughter of King Fergus and Queen Elinor. Determined to carve her own path in life Merida defies an age-old custom sacred to the unruly and uproarious lords of the land. When Merida's actions inadvertently unleash chaos in the kingdom she must harness all of her skills and resources to undo a beastly curse before it's too late and discover the meaning of true bravery. CarsHotshot race car Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) is living life in the fast lane - until he hits a detour and gets stranded in Radiator Springs a forgotten town on Route 66. There he meets Sally Mater Doc Hudson (Paul Newman) and a heap of hilarious characters who help him discover there's more to life than trophies and fame. Feel the sound of roaring engines and rock to the rhythm of some smokin'roadhouse riffs. Cars 2Star race car Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) and the incomparable tow truck Mater (Larry the Cable Guy) take their friendship to exciting new places when they head overseas to compete in the first-ever World Grand Prix to determine the world's fastest car. But the road to the championship is filled with plenty of potholes detours and hilarious surprises when Mater gets caught up in an intriguing adventure of his own: international espionage! Toy StoryAn astonishing world where toys play while their owners are away. Woody (Tom Hanks) Buzz Light-year (Tim Allen) and all their friends in an adventure filled with humour heart and friendship. This groundbreaking computer-generated classic started it all and set the stage for the equally amazing Toy Story 2 and Toy Story 3. Toy Story 2While Andy is away at summer camp Woody is toy napped by Al a greedy collector who needs Andy's favourite toy to complete his Roundup Gang collection. Together with Jessie Bull's-eye and the Prospector Woody is on his way to a museum where he'll spend the rest of his life behind glass. It's up to Buzz Mr. Potato Head Hamm Rex and Slinky Dog to rescue their friend and remind him what being a toy is all about. Toy Story 3In Toy Story 3 Woody (voiced by Tom Hanks) Buzz Light-year (voiced by Tim Allen) and the rest of the Toy Story gang return for a new adventure along with a few new faces - some plastic some plush - including Barbie's counterpart Ken (voiced by Michael Keaton) a thespian hedgehog named Mr. Pricklepants (voiced by Timothy Dalton) and a strawberry-scented bear named Lots-o'-Huggin' Bear (voiced by Ned Beatty). As Andy prepares to depart for college Woody Buzz Jessie and the rest of Andy's faithful toys wonder what will become of them. But when a mix-up lands them at Sunnyside Day care. UpCarl Fredricksen a retired balloon salesman is part rascal part dreamer who is ready for his last chance at high-flying excitement. Tying thousands of balloons to his house Carl sets off to the lost world of his childhood dreams. Unbeknownst to Carl Russell an overeager 8-year-old Wilderness Explorer who has never ventured beyond his backyard is in the wrong place at the wrong time - Carl's front porch! The world's most unlikely duo reach new heights and meet fantastic friends like Dug a dog with a special collar that allows him to speak and Kevin a rare 13-foot-tall flightless bird. Stuck together in the wilds of the jungle Carl realises that sometimes life's biggest adventures aren't the ones you set out looking for. Wall-EAfter hundreds of lonely years of doing what he was built for the curious and lovable WALL-E discovers a new purpose in life when he meets a sleek search robot named EVE. Join them and a hilarious cast of characters on a fantastic journey across the universe. RatatouilleIn one of Paris' finest restaurants Remy a determined young rat dreams of becoming a renowned French chef. Torn between his family's wishes and his true calling Remy and his pal Linguini set in motion a hilarious chain of events that turns the City of Lights upside down. Ratatouille is a rare treat you'll enjoy again and again. The IncrediblesKnown to the world as superheroes Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl Bob Parr and his wife Helen were among the world's greatest crime fighters saving lives and battling evil on a daily basis. Fifteen years later they have been forced to adopt civilian identities and retreat to the suburbs to live 'normal' lives with their three kids Violet Dash and Jack-Jack. Itching to get back into action Bob gets his chance when a mysterious communication summons him to a remote island for a top secret assignment. He soon discovers that it will take a super family effort to rescue the world from total destruction. Finding NemoIn the depths of the Great Barrier Reef Marlin (Albert Brooks) an overly protective clownfish embarks on a daring rescue mission when his beloved son Nemo gets scooped up by a diver. With his unforgettable friend Dory (Ellen DeGeneres) by his side Marlin encounters an ocean full of memorable comedic characters on his momentous journey - to find Nemo. A Bug's LifeOn behalf of 'oppressed bugs everywhere ' an inventive ant named Flik hires 'warrior bugs' to defend his colony from a horde of greedy grasshoppers led by Hopper. But when Flik's cavalry turns out to be a motley group of flea circus performers the stage is set for comic confusion... as well as unlikely heroes! Cars Toon: Mater's Tall TalesCars Toons starring Mater the loveable and hilarious tow-truck from the hit movie Cars. Nine highly entertaining 'Tall Tales' involving bull fights drag races rock concerts monster truck showdowns and even UFOs. Join Mater the heart and soul of Radiator Springs! Includes Pixar Shorts: Volume 1 and 2
Sci-fi action thriller in which a scientist creates an android version of herself and equips it with both the passionate emotions she lacks and a nuclear bomb. The trouble begins when the android, named EVE VIII (Renee Soutendijk), is taken out for a test run and ends up in the midst of a bank robbery where its internal bomb is accidentally activated. The situation escalates when EVE becomes emotionally unglued and launches into a destructive rampage while enacting out its repressed creator's darkest desires. Col. Jim McQuade (Gregory Hines) and EVE's creator Dr. Eve Simmons (also Soutendijk) are tasked with stopping her but can they succeed in outsmarting the android?
Kermit's Swamp Years is the full-length version of a one-off American cable television feature that sets out to show us the formative years of the future host of The Muppet Show. Its focus is a childhood adventure involving Kermit and his two best friends: a somewhat delinquent frog called Croaker, and a tremulous toad named Goggles. Though the film was, obviously, made some years after the death of Kermit's creator, Jim Henson, the wit, spirit and joy that informed Sesame Street and The Muppet Show are all discernible here. Henson's resounding genius was to understand that children can tell when they are being treated like idiots, and that they don't much care for it, which is why The Muppet Show is still enjoyed by adults who grew up with the programme, and why none of those adults will object to sitting through Kermit's Swamp Years with their children. On the DVD: Kermit's Swamp Years is presented anamorphically in 1.78:1 widescreen. Extras include behind-the-scenes footage, which reinforces the fact that the human magic necessary to animate the muppet characters is far more interesting and impressive than any amount of the computer wizardry now favoured by most similar films. There are also some quite well-done muppet pastiches of the common DVD special features, interviews with, and commentary from, the stars, and a collection of bloopers and out-takes. --Andrew Mueller
Al Pacino plays a Maryland lawyer who takes on a judicial system rife with deal making in And Justice for All, an awkward blend of satire and sentimentality. Topical director Norman Jewison can't seem to help Pacino get comfortable with the mismatched material, which pushes the film into outrageousness at some turns and mawkishness at others. The script by Barry Levinson and Valerie Curtin is more an accumulation of random ideas and moments than a congruent story. However, it's interesting to see the large cast of good actors, most of whom were unknowns at the time including Christine Lahti who made her film debut here. --Tom Keogh, Amazon.com
In Space No One Can Eat Ice Cream... Clowns can be terrifying at the best of times - especially when they're Killer Klowns from Outer Space! When Mike and his girlfriend Debbie turn up at the local police station warning that a gang of homicidal alien clowns have arrived in the town of Crescent Grove the cops are naturally sceptical. Talk of popcorn-firing guns and a spaceship shaped like a circus tent out in the woods hardly helps to convince them. Before long however reports start coming in from anxious locals reporting similar run-ins with the colourfully-dressed large shoe-wearing assailants. There can no longer be any doubt - the Killer Klowns from Outer Space are here and they're out to turn the population into candy floss! The sole directorial effort from the Chiodo brothers - the special effects team behind such hits as Critters and Team America: World Police - Killer Klowns from Outer Space is the wacky 1988 horror comedy classic against which all other knowing B-movie efforts should be measured. So in the words of the film's opening theme song hop aboard the 'nightmare merry-go-round' and brace yourself for a cinematic experience unparalleled in this galaxy! Special Features: High definition digital transfer Audio Commentary with the Chiodo Brothers The Making of Killer Klowns - a 20-minute featurette comprising interviews and behind-the-scenes footage Komposing Klowns - interview with composer John Massari Visual Effects with Gene Warren Jr. Kreating Klowns - with Charles Chiodo and creature fabricator Dwight Roberts Chiodo Brothers' Earliest Films - a look back on the first Chiodo Brothers' productions 2 Deleted Scenes with Director's Commentary Killer Bloopers Klown Auditions Theatrical Trailer Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork to be revealed! [Amaray only] Collector's booklet featuring new writing on the film
Please wait. Loading...
This site uses cookies.
More details in our privacy policy