"Actor: John S"

• Thunderheart | DVD | (08/03/2004) from £17.98   |  Saving you £-11.99 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Tough but moving, Thunderheart is an unusual story about an arrogant FBI agent (Val Kilmer) who participates in a federal investigation of a murder on an Oglala Sioux reservation. Kilmer's character is part Sioux himself, a detail that leaves him cold as he sets about pushing his way through the community to find facts on the case. In time, however, he begins to feel an ethnic tug and grows increasingly sympathetic to the locals and hostile toward his fellow G-men, much to the dismay of his agency mentor (Sam Shepard). The script is based on real events that occurred on the Pine Ridge Reservation in 1975 in South Dakota (involving an armed stand-off between Indian activists and the FBI, an event that prompted Thunderheart director Michael Apted to make a companion documentary, Incident at Oglala). The conclusion of Thunderheart feels like politically charged whimsy, but the real strength of the film is Kilmer's outstanding performance as a man in transformation. Apted's clear-eyed depiction of the Sioux's spiritual and cultural continuity with the past has none of the cloying romanticism of other films about Indians. Produced by Robert De Niro. --Tom Keogh, Amazon.com --This text refers to the VHS edition of this video

• The Sound Barrier (Restored) | DVD | (11/04/2016) from £10.35   |  Saving you £7.64 (73.82%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Directed by DAVID LEAN and written by TERENCE RATTIGAN, THE SOUND BARRIER is about the men who challenged the speed of sound, told from the viewpoint of central character, Sir John Ridgefield (RALPH RICHARDSON). The oil tycoon and aircraft constructor is determined to manufacture a supersonic jet that will travel faster than the speed of sound. Ridgefield's desire to reach this goal has already led to the death of his test pilot son (DENHOLM ELLIOTT), and his daughter Susan's (ANN TODD) fighter-pilot husband (NIGEL PATRICK). Shocked at the death of her husband and her father's disregard of human life in his single-minded determination to achieve his goal, Susan walks out on him. Unperturbed, Ridgefield approaches another pilot with the challenge of piloting his test craft. The film marked a departure from the domestic or literary concerns which had characterized the director David Lean's choice of subject matter to date. Its heroics pre-empted his later films Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) and Lawrence of Arabia (1962).

• The Beatles - The First US Visit | DVD | (09/02/2004) from £20.00   |  Saving you £-2.01 (N/A%)   |  RRP £17.99

  The Beatles - First US Visit

• In Which We Serve | DVD | (26/09/2008) from £5.97   |  Saving you £10.02 (167.84%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Noel Coward's great British war film made at the height of World War II in 1942 tells the story of a naval destroyer and its crew as they fight for their lives in a life raft after their ship is sunk.

• Butterflies - Series 1 | DVD | (07/10/2002) from £16.40   |  Saving you £3.59 (21.89%)   |  RRP £19.99

  This classic poignant BBC comedy starring Wendy Craig as the bored suburban housewife Ria looking for more from life. Ria is seemingly happy with two teenage sons but after 19 years of marriage she feels that everyone is taking her for granted and that life is passing her by. A chance encounter with a handsome businessman Leonard leaves her dreaming of being swept off her feet. But dreaming is about as close as Ria gets before her lugubrious husband - the butterfly collecting d

• Circle Of Friends | DVD | (16/02/2004) from £5.03   |  Saving you £0.96 (19.09%)   |  RRP £5.99

  The same year as the BBC's Pride and Prejudice (1995) writer Andrew Davies and star Colin Firth were also hard at work on Circle of Friends, an Irish romance brought to the big screen by director Pat O'Connor (Dancing at Lughnasa). It's 1957 and three small-town friends Benny (Minnie Driver), Eve (Geraldine O'Rawe) and Nan (Saffron Burrows) arrive at university in Dublin, the scene set for an entertaining obstacle course along the path to true love. Jack, an excellent Chris O'Donnell, is the object of Benny's affections, and as the still unsure young woman beginning to find her way Driver gives an extremely engaging performance. Alan Cummings has a rather stereotyped role, which involves him in an attempted rape scene, one not only out-of-character with the rest of the film, but not even in the original novel. The transfer of 1990s mores onto 1950s Catholic Ireland jars a little towards the end, but whereas the cinema usually portrays Ireland as either a backdrop to "The Troubles", or--Angela's Ashes-style--as a land of hard working-class struggle, it's appealing to see it taking a look at the adventures of decent, ordinary middle-class people. The plot never springs any serious surprises, but makes for beautifully photographed Sunday-night TV-style nostalgia. --Gary S. Dalkin

• Destricted | DVD | (25/09/2006) from £17.01   |  Saving you £2.98 (17.52%)   |  RRP £19.99

  A compilation of erotic short films illuminating the point where art meets sexuality... The most controversial and sexually explicit film ever to receive an 18 certificate from UK censors Destricted pushes straight through the boundaries that were only hinted at in 9 Songs and Battle In Heaven. A wide range of vignettes from the most acclaimed directors of our time Destricted boasts a heavyweight lineup as the distinctive and entirely uncensored films portray very different points of view to reveal diverse attitudes about how we represent ourselves sexually. The result is a collection of sexy humorous stimulating and provocative scenarios from the likes of Larry Clark (Kids) and Gaspar Noe Irreversible).

• Rope | DVD | (04/06/2007) from £18.23   |  Saving you £-8.24 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  James Stewart stars with Farley Granger and John Dall in this highly charged 1948 Alfred Hitchcock thriller that has intrigued fans because of its chilling subject based on a true story and its unique 'unedited' cinematic style. Granger and Dall are two friends who strangle a classmate for intellectual thrills and then proceed to invite his family and mutual friends for dinner - with the body stuffed inside the trunk they use for a buffet table. Their former teacher (Stewart) suspects wrongdoing. Before the night is over he finds out how brutally his students have twisted his own academic theories.

• Sweet Charity (Limited Edition) | Blu Ray | (02/11/2020) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  The feature debut of the great Bob Fosse based on the Broadway hit, Sweet Charity is a musical re-imagining of Federico Fellini's Nights of Cabiria, starring the wonderful Shirley MacLaine as a taxi dancer looking for love and escape in hippy-era New York. Special Features: 4K restoration of the 157-minute Roadshow version, complete with Overture, Entr'acte and Exit Music 4K restoration of the general release version, with the original and alternative endings Alternative 2.0 stereo, 4.0 stereo and 5.1 surround soundtrack options Audio commentary with film historians Lee Gambin, Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and Cara Mitchell (2020) The John Player Lecture with Shirley MacLaine (1971): archival audio recording of the celebrated actor in conversation at London's National Film Theatre From Stage to Screen: A Director's Dilemma (1969): original promotional film featuring interview material with Bob Fosse and rare behind-the-scenes footage The Art of Exaggeration (1969): original promotional film profiling the work of famed costume designer Edith Head Interview with Sonja Haney (2020): audio recording of the dance assistant in conversation with Lee Gambin Now and Then: Sammy Davis Jr (1968): archival interview featuring the actor and singer in conversation with broadcaster Bernard Braden Super 8 version: original cut-down home-cinema presentation Image gallery: publicity and promotional material Original theatrical trailer New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing Limited edition exclusive 80-page book with new essays by Pamela Hutchinson and Bill Rosenfield, Neil Simon on Sweet Charity, archival press coverage of the film's release including an interview with Shirley MacLaine, extracts from the pressbook, Federico Fellini on Sweet Charity, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and film credits Limited edition exclusive double-sided poster UK premiere on Blu-ray Limited edition of 3,000 copies

• Capturing The Friedmans | DVD | (26/07/2004) from £4.35   |  Saving you £15.64 (359.54%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Extraordinary documentary about a seemingly typical, upper-middle class family whose world is destroyed when the father and his youngest son are arrested and charged with shocking and horrible crimes.

• V/H/S | Blu Ray | (28/01/2013) from £8.95   |  Saving you £6.04 (67.49%)   |  RRP £14.99

  When a group of petty criminals are hired by a mysterious party to retrieve a rare piece of found footage from a rundown house in the middle of nowhere, they soon realise that the job isn’t going to be as easy as they thought. In the living room, a lifeless body is slumped before a hub of old television sets, surrounded by stacks of VHS tapes. As they search for the right one they are treated to a seemingly endless number of horrifying videos, each more terrifying than the last.

• Walkabout | DVD | (03/11/2008) from £24.34   |  Saving you £-14.35 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Very few films achieve subliminal greatness with cross-cultural impact, but Walkabout is one of those films--a visual tone poem that functions more as an allegory than a conventionally plotted adventure. Considered a cult favourite for years, Nicolas Roeg's 1971 film centres upon two British children who are rescued in the Australian outback by a young aborigine. Through exquisite cinematography and a story of subtle human complexity, the film continues to resonate on many thematic and artistic levels. Just as Roeg intended, it is a cautionary morality tale in which the limitations and restrictions of civilisation become painfully clear when the two children (played by Jenny Agutter and Roeg's young son, Lucien John) cannot survive without the aborigine's assistance. They become primitives themselves, if only temporarily, while the young aborigine proves ultimately and tragically unable to join the "family" of civilisation. With its story of two worlds colliding, Walkabout now seems like a film for the ages, hypnotic and open to several compelling levels of interpretation. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com

• Amazing Journey: The Story Of The Who/ Quadrophenia - Ultimate Fan Boxset | DVD | (15/06/2015) from £19.45   |  Saving you £-1.46 (-8.10%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Double bill of films featuring the Who. 'Amazing Journey: The Story of the Who' (2007) details the highs and lows of the career of British rock band The Who. The film-makers speak with surviving band members Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend who discuss the group's origins and influences and how they have gone on to become rock legends in spite of the excesses and tragedies which have plagued them over the years. 'Quadrophenia' (1979) follows Jimmy (Phil Daniels) a young Mod looking for pills thrills and a sense of identity in 1960s London. His increasing reliance on the buzz provided by the gang mentality of his friends reaches its height in the Brighton Bank Holiday confrontations with the Rockers. An inevitable comedown follows when he is expected to return to the plodding banality of everyday life.

• John Bishop Live - The Rollercoaster Tour | DVD | (12/11/2012) from £2.19   |  Saving you £17.80 (89.00%)   |  RRP £19.99

  On his last tour, John Bishop played to over 400,000 fans since topping the charts with the fastest selling debut stand-up DVD of all time. He has been regularly broadcasting into the homes of over 6.5m viewers in his own primetime BBC One show (John Bishop's Britain) as well as starring in A League of Their Own (Sky1), but the public clearly haven't seen enough of him yet. Due to overwhelming popular demand, this 'Comedy Superstar' (Telegraph) embarks on a brand new set of dates later in 2012 to be filmed for DVD and Blu-ray, making the official announcement that, despite everything, he is not quite ready for a holiday.... just yet.

• Shakespeare: The Animated Tales | DVD | (28/03/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £39.99

  This Animated Shakespeare Box Set winner of 2 Emmy awards contains 12 of the bard's plays that were originally broadcast on BBC2 in 1994. The scripts for the 'Animated Tales' have been adapted from the original Shakespeare by Leon Garfield. A reknowed Shakespearean scholar Garfield worked closely with a panel of academic experts to create plays that are masterfully abridged to only 30 minutes yet are faithful to Shakespeare's language and plots. The 12 episodes are : 1.

• Napoleon Dynamite | DVD | (04/12/2006) from £6.94   |  Saving you £9.05 (130.40%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Napoleon Dynamite (Special Edition)

• The Flintstones/the Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas | DVD | (05/06/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  The Flintstones: After an aptitude test mix-up Fred Flintstone (John Goodman) trades his job as Slate & Company Bronto-crane operator for a vice presidency. But there's trouble brewing in Bedrock: An evil executive (Kyle MacLachlan) and his sinister secretary (Halle Berry) are now plotting to use Fred as the fall guy in an embezzlement scheme! (Dir. Brian Levant 1994) The Flintstones Viva Rock Vegas: Best pals Fred (Mark Addy) and Barney (Stephen Baldwin) down tools at Bedrock Mining Company to woo Wilma (Kristen Johnston) and Betty (Jane Krakowski) during a long vacation in Rock Vegas. All goes well until Fred's gambling addiction gets the better of him and he is framed for stealing Wilma's prized pearl necklace by love rival Chip Rockerfeller (Thomas Gibson) who oozes malice out of every prehistoric pore. Meanwhile Wilma's high fallutin mother Pearl (Joan Collins taking over from Elizabeth Taylor) thinks that Fred is too downmarket for her daughter and does everything within her power to push Wilma and Chip together... (Dir. Brian Levant 2000)

• Summer Rental | DVD | (16/02/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  An overworked air traffic controller takes a well-earned seaside holiday. He soon discovers that with his wife three kids a dog and the inflated ego of a devious tycoon to cope with relaxation is the last thing he's likely to get!

• Island In The Sky | DVD | (14/05/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  The frozen unforgiving terrain of subarctic Canada is the setting as screen giant John Wayne heads an all-star cast in this meticulously restored adventure drama. Set after World War II Wayne play Dooley a former army pilot flying transport missions who is forced to crash-land his fuel-starved plane on a frozen lake after is strays from its course. A desperate game of survival begins as Dooley and his men confront a meager food supply limited shelter inadequate clothing a primitive emergency radio transmitter and an impending arctic storm. Meanwhile Dooley's fellow pilots and their crews launch a seemingly overwhelming air search of the bleak uncharted landscape - grimly realizing that the rescue of the missing men diminishes with each tick of the clock. Lloyd Nolan Walter Abel James Arness Andy Devine and Harry Carey Jr. also star in this engrossing tale of bravery hope and survival of the human spirit.

• Shackleton - The Complete Series (1983) | DVD | (13/03/2017) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Directed by BAFTA-nominee Martyn Friend (New Tricks) and produced by BAFTA-nominee John Harris (The Singing Detective), the series also proved popular in the US, where it was nominated for a CableACE award in 1985 for Best Movie or Mini-series. Shackleton was shot on location in Greenland and features cinematography from BAFTA-winner David Whitson (The Voyage of Charles Darwin), who is no stranger to creating atmospheric journeys of historical figures. The chilling original music score was composed by Francis Shaw. Undeterred by the dangers faced by Roald Amundsen (first to reach the South Pole) and Robert Falcon Scott and his team (who perished on their treacherous journey), Shackleton, in 1914, chooses to lead a team on their famous journey aboard the Endurance. However, when disaster strikes and the ship is trapped and crushed by pack-ice, Shackleton and five of his men must embark on a desperate 800-mile journey from Elephant Island to South Georgia with only the James Caird, a 20-foot lifeboat, to protect them against the furious Southern Ocean. Based on the true stories, recorded in Shackleton's own journals which he kept during his expeditions, this series does not shy away from the harsh realities the men faced in the Antarctic from dwindling supplies to emergency amputations and provides a gripping account of the dangers, frustrations and suffering the determined explorers endured. Unlike recent film and TV adaptations of the story, the BBC's 1983 drama delivers a widely acknowledged true account of the events as they unfolded. It opens with Shackleton planning the expedition and reveals the challenges he faced in finding sponsors. It presents the perilous journey on the James Caird and the South Georgia mountain crossing in keeping with journal records. And, unlike later versions, the BBC's Shackleton delves into his complex relationships with those around him as they all battle to succeed and survive. David Schofield stars as Ernest Shackleton in a remarkable early performance. He would later go on to star in the epic blockbusters: Gladiator, The Walking Dead and Pirates of the Caribbean. David Rodigan (A Woman called Moses) is outstanding as Shackleton's trusted deputy Frank Wild. This critically acclaimed, fact-based drama will definitely appeal to an audience interested in historical biopics and true-life adventures. Generally, fans of brilliantly cast and well-written drama with high production values will be thrilled to hear of Shackleton's long-awaited DVD release.