"Actor: John Richards"

• Time Bandits | DVD | (30/09/2002) from £9.07   |  Saving you £13.91 (228.78%)   |  RRP £19.99

  With Time Bandits, only his second movie as director, Terry Gilliam's barbed humour and hyperactive visual imagination got themselves gloriously into full gear. Sketched out in a matter of weeks over Michael Palin's kitchen table while Gilliam struggled to get his dream project Brazil off the ground, this is a children's film made by a director who "hates kid films" and all the "mawkish sentimental crap" that goes with them. The 11-year-old hero, Kevin, finds himself lugged out of his suburban bedroom and off through a series of wormholes in time and space by a gang of rapacious, bickering midgets in search of loot, en route encountering (and casually despoiling) a gallery of eminent historical figures that include Agamemnon, Napoleon and Robin Hood, along with assorted ogres, giants and monsters. As co-screenwriters, Gilliam and Palin cheerfully filch ideas from everyone from Homer and Jonathan Swift to Lewis Carroll and Walt Disney, while the sets--as always with Gilliam--ingeniously work towering miracles on puny budgets. "The whole point of fairy tales", according to Gilliam, "is to frighten the kids" and Time Bandits taps into some archetypal nightmare imagery. But the whole farrago is much too good-humoured to be seriously scary. Not least of the movie's pleasures are a series of ripe cameos from the likes of Ian Holm as an irascible Bonaparte, Sean Connery good-humouredly spoofing his own image as Agamemnon, John Cleese's version of Robin Hood as inanely condescending minor royalty ("So you're a robber too! Jolly good!"), David Warner hamming it up gleefully as the Evil Genius, and the great Ralph Richardson playing the Supreme Being as a tetchy public-school headmaster. On the DVD: Time Bandits on disc comes with a generous wealth of extras. Along with the expected trailer--sent up Python-style by a disaffected voice-over--we get excerpts from Gilliam's storyboard and notated script, filmographies for Gilliam, Palin, Connery and David Rappaport (the leader of the vertically challenged gang), stills, production shots, a scrapbook with cast photos and drawings, notes on the film and plenty more background data, plus a cheerfully relaxed 27-minute interview with Gilliam and Palin. There's also an informative and appealingly unpretentious full-length commentary shared between Gilliam, Palin, Cleese, Warner and Craig Warnock, who played Kevin. The transfer, clean and crisp, is in the original full-width ratio, and there's a choice of Dolby Stereo or Dolby 5.1 sound. --Philip Kemp

• Richard III (Laurence Olivier) | DVD | (26/07/2004) from £4.99   |  Saving you £1.00 (20.04%)   |  RRP £5.99

  A classic adaptation of Shakespeare's play. Richard III has helped to put his older brother Edward on the throne of England. But jealousy and resentment cause Richard to seek the crown for himself and he conceives a lengthy and carefully calculated plan using deception manipulation and outright murder to achieve his goal. His plotting soon had tumultuous consequences both for himself and for England when after Edward IV is murdered - drowned in a vat of wine - Richard finds his kingdom in dire peril and must defend his realm at the battle of Bosworth.

• Watership Down | DVD | (25/06/2001) from £8.96   |  Saving you £7.03 (78.46%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Much like Richard Adams' wonderful novel this animated tale of wandering rabbits is not meant for small children. It is, however, rich storytelling, populated with very real individuals inhabiting a very real world. The animation is problematic, sometimes appearing out of proportion or just below par; but it seems to stem from an attempt at realism, something distinguishing the film's characters from previous, cutesy, animated animals. A band of rabbits illegally leave their warren after a prophecy of doom from a runt named Fiver (voiced by Richard Briers). In search of a place safe from humans and predators, they face all kinds of dangers, including a warren that has made a sick bargain with humankind, and a warren that is basically a fascist state. Allegories aside, Down is engaging and satisfying, and pulls off the same amazing trick that the novel did--you'll forget that this is a story about rabbits. --Keith Simanton, Amazon.com

• Wagner | DVD | (18/07/2011) from £24.99   |  Saving you £-2.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £22.99

  Tony Palmer's epic film was made in 1982/3 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Wagner's death. Filmed in 200 locations throughout Europe, many where the actual historical events took place, with a team from 19 different countries, the entire production was completed in less than a year. Sadly Wagner was to be Richard Burton's last major role, but the stellar cast - including Laurence Oliver, John Gielgud, Ralph Richardson, Vanessa Redgrave, Lszl Gllfi, Gemma Craven, Ekkehardt Schall, Richard Pasco, Marthe Keller, Gabriel Byrne, Franco Nero, Ronald Pickup, Corin Redgrave, Cyril Cusack, Prunella Scales, Andrew Cruickshank, Joan Greenwood, Liza Goddard, Bill Fraser, Arthur Lowe, Joan Plowright, with composer Sir William Walton in a cameo role - assembled partly because of him.Only now is the film being released on DVD as its director Tony Palmer wishes it to be viewed. Previously it's been seen in badly edited versions and been made available on DVD (reproduced from poor-quality VHSs) with sub-standard pictures and sound. Finally, here is the restored presentation as it was originally edited by Tony Palmer in its complete 7 hours 46 minutes duration, issued in wide-screen, re-mastered in Hi-Definition. The music, performed by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Sir Georg Solti with singers including Dame Gwyneth Jones and Peter Hofmann, has never sounded better, and the astonishing images of cameramen Vittorio Storaro and Nic Knowland have never looked better.The script by Charles Wood remains a miracle of historical compression and accuracy, given that Wagner himself was an appalling fantasist and the truth often hard to ascertain. And Richard Burton, who towers above the production, reminds us what a great actor he was. This is a fitting tribute to his - and to Wagner's - genius.

• Wagner | DVD | (09/05/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £39.99

  Even now Richard Wagner (1813-83) remains an enigma. His was a rags-to-riches saga with a fairy tale ending. He was loved yet hated admired yet despised a villain yet a hero who was worshipped a man whose fame and exploits were the gossip of Europe. Above all he was an incurable romantic whose love affair with Liszt's illegitimate daughter rivals that of Romeo and Juliet in excitement and drama. But he was also a dangerous political revolutionary whose influence penetrated the

• The Four Feathers | Blu Ray | (01/09/2014) from £12.98   |  Saving you £4.00 (36.40%)   |  RRP £14.99

  A classic tale of cowardice and bravery Alexander Korda's Oscar-nominated adaptation of A.E.W. Mason's iconic novel is undoubtedly one of the most spectacular of the early Technicolor films. With sweeping battle scenes and a tightly constructed script by Oscar-nominated R.C. Sherriff this is a bold military epic featuring evocative locations and a pounding score by Miklos Rozsa. Showcasing outstanding performances from both John Clements and Ralph Richardson The Four Feathers is featured here in a High Definition transfer made from original film elements in its as-exhibited theatrical aspect ratio. Harry Faversham born into a distinguished military family automatically joins the army with three close childhood friends – Durrance Willoughby and Burroughs. Quickly feeling that he is unsuited to the army life and newly engaged to Ethne he resigns his commission only to be accused of cowardice by his friends. Each sends him the traditional white feather in contempt; the fourth is plucked from Ethne's fan. Realising the disgrace he has brought to himself and his family Harry sets out alone to the distant war to redeem himself... Special Features: Original theatrical trailer A Day at Denham newsreel film Archive 1975 interview with Ralph Richardson Image gallery

• The Vengeance Of She | DVD | (29/01/2007) from £8.99   |  Saving you £4.00 (44.49%)   |  RRP £12.99

  When beautiful young Carol is taken over by the spirit of Ayesha queen of the lost city of Kuma an eccentric millionaire gives her refuge unaware that she brings the dark shadow of death to everything she touches...

• Prancer | DVD | (17/11/2003) from £5.84   |  Saving you £2.15 (36.82%)   |  RRP £7.99

  A reindeer doesn't have to fly to be magical to someone, and Prancer proves the point in an unassuming and plainspoken way. This 1989 family film stars Rebecca Harrell as nine-year-old Jessica, a motherless schoolgirl raised (and largely ignored) by her bereaved and embittered father (Sam Elliot), an apple farmer. While Jessica's dad struggles to keep food on the family table, the little heroine worries over the fate of a wounded reindeer she meets and wistfully identifies as a member of Santa's sled crew. The story may sound overly precious, but the film is grittier and more realistic than that. Far more concerned with wobbly family relationships than gilded escapism, Prancer is a rare family film that can entertain without invoking fluffy enchantment. It was followed 12 years later by a sequel, Prancer Returns. --Tom Keogh

• The Car | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £4.99   |  Saving you £5.00 (50.10%)   |  RRP £9.99

  There's nowhere to turn nowhere to hide no way to stop... A monstrous black sedan roars out of the desert without warning and mercilessly begins to terrorize the residents of a small New Mexico town. Is it a phantom a demon...or even the Devil himself?

• On A Clear Day You Can See Forever | DVD | (06/06/2005) from £6.73   |  Saving you £9.26 (137.59%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Daisy Gamble an unusual woman who hears phones before they ring and does wonders with her flowers wants to quit smoking to please her fiance Warren. She goes to a doctor of hypnosis to do it. But once she's under her doctor finds out that she can regress into past lives and different personalities and he finds himself falling in love with one of them!

• Man Of La Mancha | DVD | (05/12/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Peter O'Toole Sophia Loren and James Coco dream the impossible dream. The hit stage musical given the movie treatment. A skinny old gentleman with wispy white hair dreams the impossible dream... He is Don Quixote de La Mancha the knight errant. Don Quixote is the mad aging nobleman who embarrasses his respectable family by his adventures. Backed by his faithful sidekick Sancho Panza he duels windmills and defends his perfect lady Dulcinea (who is actually a downtrodden w

• Kidnapped | DVD | (23/05/2005) from £5.25   |  Saving you £-1.26 (N/A%)   |  RRP £3.99

  In the politically divided Scotland of 1751 orphaned Davie Balfour leaves the peace of his idyllic Lowland home to seek out his inheritance from his estranged uncle. But before he can claim his rightful fortune young Davie is launched on an extraordinary and amazing adventure where he must battle with slave-traders evade capture by the British army's finest troops and learn some harsh truths about himself along the way' Fortunately for Davie he is helped in his quest by the one ma

• Torso | Blu Ray | (25/09/2017) from £17.82   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Sergio Martino directs this Italian horror starring Suzy Kendall and Tina Aumont. Two college girls are butchered by a masked killer who leaves a scarf at the scene. A classmate of the dead girls has seen the scarf before - but where? Her attempts to track down the culprit become more urgent as the hacksaw-wielding maniac sets about a killing spree across the Italian countryside.

• The Wrong Box - Limited Edition | Blu Ray | (26/11/2018) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Two warring elderly brothers and their respective heirs are determined that each will outlive the other in an attempt to hold onto the family fortune and will stop at nothing even murder to achieve their goal. Bryan Forbes' riotous black comedy, based on the 1889 novel by Robert Louis Stevenson and Lloyd Osbourne, stars some of the greatest talents of the day, including Peter Sellers, Michael Caine, Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Tony Hancock, Ralph Richardson, Nanette Newman and John Mills. Extras: INDICATOR LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES: High Definition remaster Original mono audio The British Entertainment History Project Interview with Bryan Forbes (1994): archival audio recording of the celebrated filmmaker in conversation with Roy Fowler New and exclusive audio commentary with film historians Josephine Botting and Vic Pratt Interview with Nanette Newman (2018): the award-winning actor talks about The Wrong Box and her work with husband Bryan Forbes Original theatrical trailer Image gallery: promotional photography and publicity material New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing Limited edition exclusive booklet with a new essay by Vic Pratt, an overview of contemporary critical responses and historic articles on the film World premiere on Blu-ray LIMITED EDITION OF 3,000 copies

• Merlin | DVD | (15/07/2002) from £8.77   |  Saving you £1.22 (13.91%)   |  RRP £9.99

  What kind of guy was the wizard Merlin, anyway? He lives a long time, raises a boy to be a king, props up a Utopian empire with his magic and wisdom, and then watches as it all crumbles under such banal forces as vengeance and betrayal. This four-hour mini-series re-tells the story of Camelot and King Arthur from the perspective of the magic man who sacrifices a great deal to guide mortals toward a better destiny. Sam Neill plays Merlin as an accessible, flesh-and-blood fellow of real passion, powerless to undo the spell of a rival (Rutger Hauer) who has virtually imprisoned Merlin's great love, Nimue (Isabella Rossellini), but gifted enough to counter the treachery of Morgan Le Fey (Helena Bonham Carter) and the wicked Queen Mab (Miranda Richardson). The battle sequences and special effects are striking and original, and it is great fun to see such art-house movie actors as Richardson, Carter, Neill, etc., in fantasy entertainment the whole family can enjoy. (An unrecognizable Martin Short must be singled out, however, for a wonderful, largely dramatic performance as Mab's sidekick, Frik.) Directed by Steve Barron (The Adventures of Pinocchio), Merlin is a nice bit of glossy revisionism of a beloved legend. --Tom Keogh

• The Rolling Stones Rock And Roll Circus | Blu Ray | (18/10/2019) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Home | DVD | (15/02/2010) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  This simultaneously heartbreaking and hilarious play, from Booker Prize-winning author, David Storey, follows the interaction of five patients over the course of a single afternoon in the garden of what we can fairly assume is an English mental hospital. A classic pairing of two of the world's greatest English-speaking actors.

• Richard III | Blu Ray | (01/09/2014) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Directed and produced by and starring Laurence Olivier this iconic 1955 feature is for many the definitive film adaptation of Shakespeare's famous history play – a damning characterisation of the last Plantagenet king that has resonated through the centuries. Earning Olivier an Oscar nomination and BAFTAs for Best British Actor and Best British Film among numerous other awards this star-studded adaptation features towering performances from his co-stars including John Gielgud Ralph Richardson Cedric Hardwicke Claire Bloom Esmond Knight and Stanley Baker. Richard III is presented in a brand-new Film Foundation High Definition restoration from original film elements in its as-exhibited theatrical aspect ratio. Soon after Edward IV is crowned his brother Richard a hunchback whose disfigured body houses a twisted soul begins scheming for the throne of England. He woos and wins the Lady Anne then poisons Edward's mind against their brother Clarence later securing his death. But even after his coronation Richard continues with his villainous campaign to secure his position as king... Special Features: Original Intermission Cards Original Theatrical and TV Trailers Extensive Image Galleries The Trial of Richard III

• Black Sunday Dual Format | Blu Ray | (04/02/2013) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £22.99

  STARE INTO THESE EYES... discover deep within them the unspeakable terrifying secret of BLACK SUNDAY... it will paralyze you with fright! Legendary Scream Queen Barbara Steele (Shivers, Caged Heat) stars in this classic slice of gothic terror from the father of fantastic Italian cinema Mario Bava (Lisa & the Devil). A beautiful witch is sentenced to death for her evil deeds by her own brother, condemned to die by having a metal mask hammered onto her face before being burnt at the stake. As...

• Hobson's Choice / The Sound Barrier | DVD | (14/04/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £16.99

  Hobson's Choice (1953) and The Sound Barrier (1952) is a double bill of cleverly juxtaposed films from David Lean's early canon, demonstrating that even without the landmark epics to come, British cinema would have been an infinitely poorer place without his tremendous contribution. Both films reflect his endlessly penetrating view of human behaviour and its perseverance through obstacles great and small. And both are effectively prisms that reflect all the aspects of that view, keeping the audience's sympathies constantly on the move. Hobson's Choice, based on Harold Brighouse's eternally popular 1916 comedy, boasts fine turns from Charles Laughton--at his brilliant, physical best--as the boot-shop owner with three troublesome daughters, and John Mills as the lowly boot maker, elevated and improved by the eldest daughter Maggie in a neat inversion of the Pygmalion fable. But both are kept in their place by Brenda de Banzie's portrayal of Maggie, a performance that glows with intelligence, truth and increasing warmth. The Sound Barrier is a drama about the race for a supersonic aeroplane. Superficially, its setting is quintessential post-World War II Britain: stiff upper lips, twin beds and clipped Rattigan dialogue. But it's prescient stuff. Ralph Richardson's aircraft manufacturer, sinister in his obsession, is an ominously skilful film performance. And Lean's take on the unthinkable cost of human achievement, interwoven with some spectacular cinematography, absorbs and unsettles. It's especially poignant now that the supersonic age has been summarily ended by Concorde's retirement. On the DVD: Hobson's Choice and The Sound Barrier are both black-and-white films presented in 4:3 picture format, from reasonable prints, and with a mono soundtrack of suitably robust quality for Malcolm Arnold's inventive scores. There are no extras, apart from scene indexes. --Piers Ford