"Actor: John Ring"

• El Cid | DVD | (30/10/2000) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Sumptuous in every way, visually magnificent, with grandiose sets, panoramic Spanish vistas and intricately detailed costumes, possessor of one of cinema's greatest music scores, boasting vast and astonishingly kinetic battles, and breathing heroic virtue in every scene, El Cid is the very epitome of epic. For this reworking of the medieval legend of the Cid (Arabic for "Lord") who united warring factions and saved 11th-century Spain from invasion, producer Samuel Bronston and director Anthony Mann insisted every set had to be created from scratch, every costume specially made for this movie alone; they also shot entirely on location in La Mancha and along the Mediterranean coast of Spain to enhance the film's authenticity. The cinematography is saturated with the burnished hues of the Spanish landscape, as are the palatial sets and rich costumes; Miklos Rozsa's resplendent score is also the result of painstaking research into medieval Spanish sources. The screenplay is imbued with knightly gravitas and more than a little salvation imagery, from the opening scene of the young Rodrigo rescuing a cross from a burning church, to the movie's indelible finale as The Cid rides "out of the gates of history into legend".Charlton Heston is at his most indomitable as Rodrigo, "The Cid", a natural leader of men and the embodiment of every manly virtue (note that he fathers twins--a sure token of his virility); Sophie Loren is ravishing as Chimene, the woman whose love for Rodrigo conflicts with her filial instincts after he kills her father, the king's champion, over a point of honour. Their scenes together create a humane warmth at the heart of this vast movie: the moment when Chimene finally declares her love (beneath a shrine of three crosses--more symbolism) to the exiled Rodrigo forms a pivotal and very intimate centrepiece. Shortly thereafter he must rise from their rural marriage bed to lead his followers into battle, and the tension between his public and private lives adds a piquancy to the film's stunning battle sequences. The international supporting cast sometimes look like makeweights, especially when chewing on the occasionally stilted dialogue, but any such faults are easily forgiven as the scale and spectacle of El Cid carries the viewer away on a tide of chivalry.On the DVD: This disc is a sadly missed opportunity to present a classic epic in its original form. Although formatted for 16:9 widescreen TVs, which initially gives hope that this might be an anamorphic widescreen presentation, only the opening and closing titles appear in the correct cinematic ratio. Otherwise this is essentially the same picture as the pan & scan VHS version with the same poor print quality. Since a restored 35mm print of El Cid has been shown at cinemas and on TV in recent years there seems to be no excuse for this cut-down presentation. Add some decidedly minimal extras and the result is a disappointing disc. --Mark Walker

• The New Statesman - The Complete First Series | DVD | (23/04/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  The New Statesman is a multi-award winning masterpiece of political satire. Rik Mayall stars as the ruthless Alan B'Stard the egocentric MP who will stop at nothing to further his political career. Episodes comprise: Happiness Is A Warm Gun / Passport To Freedom / Sex Is Wrong / Waste Not Want Not / Friends Of St. James / Three Line Whipping / Baa Baa Black Sheep

• All Things Must Pass | DVD | (16/05/2016) from £3.75   |  Saving you £9.24 (246.40%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Established in 1960, Tower Records was once a retail powerhouse with two hundred stores, in thirty countries, on five continents. From humble beginnings in a small-town drugstore, Tower Records eventually became the heart and soul of the music world, and a powerful force in the music industry. In 1999, Tower Records made $1 billion. In 2006, the company filed for bankruptcy. What went wrong? Everyone thinks they know what killed Tower Records: The Internet. But that's not the story. All Things Must Pass is a feature documentary film examining this iconic company's explosive trajectory, tragic demise, and legacy forged by its rebellious founder, Russ Solomon. Click Images to Enlarge

• Clockwork Orange | DVD | (13/11/2000) from £8.99   |  Saving you £11.00 (122.36%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The controversy that surrounded Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of Anthony Burgess's dystopian novel A Clockwork Orange while the film was out of circulation suggested that it was like Romper Stomper: a glamorisation of the violent, virile lifestyle of its teenage protagonist, with a hypocritical gloss of condemnation to mask delight in rape and ultra-violence. Actually, it is as fable-like and abstract as The Pilgrim's Progress, with characters deliberately played as goonish sitcom creations. The anarchic rampage of Alex (Malcolm McDowell), a bowler-hatted juvenile delinquent of the future, is all over at the end of the first act. Apprehended by equally brutal authorities, he changes from defiant thug to cringing bootlicker, volunteering for a behaviourist experiment that removes his capacity to do evil.It's all stylised: from Burgess' invented pidgin Russian (snarled unforgettably by McDowell) to 2001-style slow tracks through sculpturally perfect sets (as with many Kubrick movies, the story could be told through decor alone) and exaggerated, grotesque performances on a par with those of Dr Strangelove (especially from Patrick Magee and Aubrey Morris). Made in 1971, based on a novel from 1962, A Clockwork Orange resonates across the years. Its future is now quaint, with Magee pecking out "subversive literature" on a giant IBM typewriter and "lovely, lovely Ludwig Van" on mini-cassette tapes. However, the world of "Municipal Flat Block 18A, Linear North" is very much with us: a housing estate where classical murals are obscenely vandalised, passers-by are rare and yobs loll about with nothing better to do than hurt people. On the DVD: The extras are skimpy, with just an impressionist trailer in the style of the film used to brainwash Alex and a list of awards for which Clockwork Orange was nominated and awarded. The box promises soundtracks in English, French and Italian and subtitles in ten languages, but the disc just has two English soundtracks (mono and Dolby Surround 5.1) and two sets of English subtitles. The terrific-looking "digitally restored and remastered" print is letterboxed at 1.66:1 and on a widescreen TV plays best at 14:9. The film looks as good as it ever has, with rich stable colours (especially and appropriately the orangey-red of the credits and the blood) and a clarity that highlights previously unnoticed details such as Alex's gouged eyeball cufflinks and enables you to read the newspaper articles which flash by. The 5.1 soundtrack option is amazingly rich, benefiting the nuances of performance as much as the classical/electronic music score and the subtly unsettling sound effects. --Kim Newman

• Snow White - A Tale Of Terror | DVD | (06/02/2006) from £8.47   |  Saving you £1.52 (17.95%)   |  RRP £9.99

  The fairy tale is over. If you thought Snow White was only a fairy tale you're about to discover the truth but lock up your children first. The real tale of Snow White is a tale of relentless terror and unimaginable horror. When young Lillian's mother dies during childbirth the father soon remarries the well-intentioned Lady Claudia. However Claudia's heart is ruled not by her husband but by an evil mirror with the power to make Claudia Queen over all living things until

• JAG Season 7 | DVD | (22/03/2010) from £13.99   |  Saving you £21.00 (150.11%)   |  RRP £34.99

  JAG: Season 7 (5 Discs)

• Emergancy Ward 10 Vol. 1 | DVD | (31/03/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £39.99

  Set in the fictitious Oxbridge General Hospital Emergency - Ward 10 concentrated as much on the private lives of the staff as it did on their jobs setting the template for today's modern medical soaps. It also introduced the viewers to medical procedures earning praise from the British Medical Council for helping to allay the public's fears of hospitals. This series no longer exists in its entirety; included in this set are 24 of the earliest surviving episodes from 1959 and 1960: 247 - 30 June 1959 254 - 24 July 1959 255 - 28 July 1959 260 - 14 August 1959 261 - 18 August 1959 262 - 21 August 1959 263 - TX 25 August 1959 265 - TX 1 September 1959 266 - TX 4 September 1959 268 - TX 11 September 1959 269 - TX 15 September 1959 270 - TX 18 September 1959 385 - TX 25 October 1960 386 - TX 28 October 1960 387 - TX 1 November 1960 388 - TX 4 November 1960 389 - TX 8 November 1960 390 - TX 11 November 1960 392 - TX 18 November 1960 393 - TX 22 November 1960 394 - TX 25 November 1960 396 - TX 2 December 1960 397 - TX 6 December 1960 399 - TX 13 December 1960

• Emergency Ward 10 Volume 2 | DVD | (14/01/2009) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £29.99

  Set in the fictitious Oxbridge General Hospital Emergency - Ward 10 concentrated as much on the private lives of the staff as it did on their jobs setting the template for today's modern medical soaps. It also introduced the viewers to medical procedures earning praise from the British Medical Council for helping to allay the public's fears of hospitals.

• Prey Series 2 (ITV) | DVD | (11/01/2016) from £8.58   |  Saving you £14.40 (257.60%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Philip Glenister takes the role of Prison Officer David Murdoch whose life becomes complicated when on a routine visit to a Manchester hospital with female prisoner Jules Hope (MyAnna Buring) events spiral out of control. David takes a phone call, which will change his life forever, and he suddenly finds him on the wrong side of the law. With the life of his heavily pregnant daughter, Lucy (Sammy Winward), threatened, David has no alternative but to go on the run and inadvertently becomes the prey. Unaware of the danger to Emma, DS Susan Reinhardt, whose personal happiness seems forever blighted, tries to unravel why David is suddenly behaving totally out of character. With his reputation as a prison officer intact, Reinhardt attempts to unravel why he makes every effort to strenuously dodge the Police.

• Plan 9 From Outer Space | DVD | (11/04/2009) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Sometimes a movie achieves such legendary status that it can't quite live up to its reputation. Plan 9 from Outer Space is not one of these movies. It is just as magnificently terrible as you've heard. Plan 9 is the story of space aliens who try to conquer the Earth through resurrection of the dead. Psychic Criswell narrates ("Future events such as these will affect you in the future!") as police rush through the cemetery, occasionally clipping the cardboard tombstones in their zeal to find the source of the mysterious goings-on. More than just a bad film, Plan 9 is something of a one- stop clearinghouse for poor cinematic techniques: The time shifts whimsically from midnight to afternoon sun, Tor Johnson flails desperately in an attempt to rise from his coffin, and flying saucers zoom past on clearly visible strings. Fading star Bela Lugosi tragically died during filming, but such a small hurdle could not stop writer-producer-director Ed Wood. Lugosi is ingeniously replaced with a man who holds a cape across his face and might as well have "NOT BELA LUGOSI" stamped on his forehead. Plan 9 is so sweetly well- intentioned in both its message and its execution that it's impossible not to love it. And if you don't, well, as Eros says, "You people of Earth are idiots!" --Ali Davis

• The Early Hitchcock Collection | DVD | (26/02/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £34.99

  Contains the following early Hitch' classics: 1. Blackmail (1929) 2. Champagne (1928) 3. Murder! (1930) 4. The Ring (1927) 5. Farmer's Wife (1928) 6. Rich & Strange (1931) 7. Skin Game (1931) 8. Manxman (1929) 9. Number Seventeen (1932)

• The Tao Of Steve | DVD | (13/08/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Dex (Donal Logue) is a man who believes can charm any woman, with the help of quotes from his favourite philosophers. However when he meets his old college friend Syd he finds someone who doesn't respond well to his seductive techniques!

• Echo in the Canyon | DVD | (10/09/2019) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• The Changeling | DVD | (21/10/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  John Russell (Scott) a composer and music professor loses his wife and daughter in a tragic accident. Seeking solace he moves into an old mansion unoccupied for twelve years. But a child-like presence seems to be sharing the house and trying to share its secrets with him. Through research into the house's past and a seance held within Russell discovers the horrific secret of the house's past a secret that the presence will no longer allow to be kept...

• 8.1/2 Women | DVD | (30/06/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Storey Emmenthal and his father travel between Tokyo and Geneva acquiring exotic lovers on the way while their Geneva home becomes a high class brothel...

• Prime Suspect | DVD | (12/05/2003) from £13.85   |  Saving you £-3.86 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  The first Prime Suspect introduces Helen Mirren's detective chief inspector Jane Tennison, the only female DCI on an old boy's club London homicide squad. She is like a phantom lurking around the edges of the action while the men rush through their latest murder case, joshing and winking with the kind of male camaraderie the cop genre has celebrated for decades. When DCI Shefford dies of a sudden heart attack, Tennison demands to take over. Despite her superintendent's resistance ("Give her this case and she'll start expecting more"), she becomes the squad's first woman to head a murder investigation. Scrutinised at every moment by her superior officers, Tennison is faced with a case that spirals out from a single murder to a serial spree, a second-in-command who undermines her authority and her investigation at every turn, a team resistant to taking orders from a woman and a private life unravelling due to her professional diligence. Lynda La Plante's script is a compelling thriller riddled with ambiguity that turns dead ends, blind alleys, and the mundane legwork of real-life cops into fascinating details. Mirren commands the role of Tennison with authority, intelligence, and a touch of overachieving desperation. Superb performances, excellent writing, and understated direction make this BBC miniseries one of the most involving mysteries in years. Look for future stars Ralph Fiennes and Tom Wilkinson in supporting roles. --Sean Axmaker

• The Beatles - All You Need Is Love | DVD | (05/08/2013) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £6.99

  In the mid-70s, at the suggestion of John Lennon, the celebrated journalist and film director Tony Palmer decided to document the 'Story of Popular Music' and set about interviewing and filming all the major players in the industry at that time, past and present. Even in the mid-70s this was seen as a monumental task, but despite the scale of the undertaking, Tony Palmer made a series of films that set the standard to which all subsequent biographers and documentary makers aspired to.

• The Piglet Files - The Complete Series 3 | DVD | (12/11/2012) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Nicholas Lyndhurst Clive Francis and Michael Percival star in the hit sitcom that truly lifts the lid on the shadowy world of espionage during the early nineties – with quite startling results.

• Hard Days Night | DVD | (25/04/2011) from £8.08   |  Saving you £11.91 (59.60%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Available for the first time on DVD and with re-mastered sound and picture A Hard Day's Night is due once again to take the world by storm. Arriving as a two disc set packed with highly collectable exclusive bonus material this is a must-own DVD for all Beatle fans and DVD enthusiasts. The year is 1964 and four young lads from Liverpool are set to make history; if only they could escape from their hotel room...

• Born 2 Race | DVD | (28/01/2013) from £7.87   |  Saving you £-2.88 (N/A%)   |  RRP £4.99

  Danny Krueger, a rebellious young street racer, is on a collision course with trouble. After an accident at an illegal street race, he is sent to a small town to live with his estranged father, a washed up NASCAR racer. When Danny decides to enter the National Hot Rod High School Drags, he's forced to seek his father's help in taking down the local hot shot. To win it all, Danny needs to rise to the challenge in a world where old rivalries run deep, outsiders are rarely welcome and racing is a way of life.