"Actor: John"

• Somewhere In Time | DVD | (10/11/2003) from £7.96   |  Saving you £2.03 (25.50%)   |  RRP £9.99

  It's silly, it's superficial, it's so desperately earnest about its tale of time-spanning love that you almost wish for a cheap flatulence gag just to break the solemn mood. But there is something so unabashedly gushy and entertaining about Somewhere in Time that you can't begrudge its enduring popularity. The film has become a staple of romantic-movie lovers since its release in 1980, and endless showings on cable TV have turned it into a dubious classic of sorts--a three-hanky weepy that anyone can enjoy as a guilty pleasure or a beloved favourite, with no apologies necessary. In his first film after the star-making success of Superman, Christopher Reeve stars as a contemporary playwright who visits a posh hotel and sees the portrait of an actress (Jane Seymour) who had performed there in 1912. He becomes obsessed with this beautiful woman and learns all he can about her, and then discovers a method of hypnotically transporting himself backward in time to meet her. "Is it ... you?" she says upon seeing the lovestruck playwright, and it's clearly a mutual attraction. But even the slightest reminder of the playwright's modern time can jar him from his seemingly real existence in the past, so his wonderful love affair is constantly just a step from being stolen away. Based on Richard Matheson's novel Bid Time Return, this flaky film may strain one's tolerance for plot holes and corny romance, but it's hard to deny its lasting appeal--and let's face it, guys, it'll make wives and girlfriends swoon if they are in a tearjerker mood. --Jeff Shannon

• Gathering Storm | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £7.19   |  Saving you £6.80 (94.58%)   |  RRP £13.99

  The Gathering Storm is a fictionalised portrayal of Winston Churchill and his wife Clementine during their wilderness years of the 1930s. It deservedly won numerous awards, including an Emmy, BAFTA and Golden Globe in recognition of Albert Finney's wonderful central performance. Equally deserving were those for all aspects of the production design: period wardrobe, set dressing and use of location are equally impressive, apparently ensuring that this production has everything going for it in its depiction of pre-War Britain. The snag is that its restriction to TV movie format, a mere 90 minutes, excludes a lot of historical context that ought not to have been left out. Seeing Churchill's adoration of his wife (Vanessa Redgrave) or the family woes troubling Ralph Wigram (Linus Roache) is all very emotionally dramatic, but it uses precious screen time that might have been better devoted to highlighting the political situation abroad, or indeed the monarchy's situation at home. The enterprise smacks a little too much of sentimental contrivance, lionising Churchill in rose-tinted retrospect. True, some attempt is made to acknowledge the personality traits that excluded him both from office and popularity prior to Germany's re-building, but like so much else pertinent to the machinations of anticipating the war, these are glossed over for familial feel-goodery and button-pushing poignancy. This is a film that's easy to admire, but ought not to be mistaken for well-rounded history. On the DVD: The Gathering Storm doesn't look or sound quite as crisp and clear as you'd hope for a recent TV-movie transfer. That's down to some obvious grain in the picture, and the 2.0 surround audio that tends to lose quieter dialogue moments. There are extensive cast and crew biographies that will no doubt help international viewers place the naggingly familiar British faces. There's also the accumulatively enthusiastic commentary from director Richard Loncraine and producer Frank Doelger, which happily points many of them out. --Paul Tonks

• DIE NIBELUNGEN (Masters of Cinema) (BLU-RAY) | Blu Ray | (29/10/2012) from £14.79   |  Saving you £3.20 (21.64%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Perhaps the most stately of Fritz Lang's two-part epics, the five-hour Die Nibelungen is a courageous and hallucinatory work. Its extraordinary set-pieces, archetypal themes, and unrestrained ambition have proved an inspiration for nearly every fantasy cycle that has emerged on-screen since - from Star Wars to The Lord of the Rings.In Part One, Siegfried, the film's eponymous hero acquires the power of invincibility after slaying a dragon and bathing in the creature's blood. Later, an alliance through marriage between the hero and the royal clan of the Nibelungen turns treacherous, with Siegfried's sole weakness exploited. In Part Two, Kriemhilds Rache [Kriemhild's Revenge], Siegfried's widow travels to the remote land of the Huns to wed the monstrous Attila, and thereby enlist his forces in an act of vengeance that culminates in massacre, conflagration, and, under the auspices of Lang, one of the most exhilarating and terrifying end-sequences in all of cinema.Adapted from the myth that was also the basis for Wagner's Ring cycle of operas, Lang's epic offers its own startling expressionistic power - a summit of the director's artistry. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present Die Nibelungen in a spectacular new HD restoration.

• Loving Vincent | DVD | (12/02/2018) from £4.99   |  Saving you £1.00 (20.04%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Loving Vincent is a biographical drama film about the life of painter Vincent van Gogh. It is the world's first fully oil painted animated film and brings his artwork to life in an exploration of the death of one of history's most celebrated artists. A true labour of love, written and directed by Dorota Kobiela and Hugh Welchman, each of the film's 65,000 frames is an oil painting on canvas, using the same technique as Van Gogh, created by a team of 115 painters.

• The Creator | DVD | (15/01/2024) from £6.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Amid a future war between the human race and the forces of artificial intelligence, Joshua, a hardened ex-special forces agent grieving the disappearance of his wife, is recruited to hunt down and kill the Creator, the elusive architect of advanced AI who has developed a mysterious weapon with the power to end the war - and mankind itself.

• The Manchurian Candidate | DVD | (25/10/2004) from £13.28   |  Saving you £-3.29 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  John Frankenheimer's Award-winning 1962 classic THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE has been fully restored and will be back in cinemas this spring.

• The Fifth Element Special Edition | DVD | (24/11/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £22.99

  Luc Besson's high-octane film The Fifth Element incorporates presidents, rock stars and cab drivers into its peculiar plot, traversing worlds and encountering some pretty wild aliens. Bruce Willis stars as a down-and-out cabbie who must win the love of Leeloo (Milla Jovovich) to save Earth from destruction by Jean-Baptiste Emmanuel Zorg (Gary Oldman) and a dark, unearthly force that makes Darth Vader look like an Ewok. Ancient curses, all-powerful monsters, shape-changing assassins, scantily-clad stewardesses, laser battles, huge explosions, a perfect woman, a malcontent hero--what more can you ask of any big-budget science fiction movie? --Geoff Riley

• Gladiator (2000) - Two Disc Set | DVD | (20/11/2000) from £5.44   |  Saving you £19.55 (359.38%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Upon the sudden death of Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, his trusted and successful general Narcissus Meridas is unlawfully imprisoned and condemned to the gladiator games by Marcus's twisted son Commodus.

• Doctor Who - Inferno Special Edition | DVD | (27/05/2013) from £7.49   |  Saving you £12.50 (166.89%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Another adventure for everyone's favourite Time Lord. Still chafing at his exile to the planet Earth, the Doctor (Jon Pertwee) is called in to observe the Inferno drilling experiment of Professor Stahlman (Olaf Pooley). Stahlman's search for a new form of energy goes horribly wrong when a green slime emitted from the drill site transforms any who come into contact with it into primeval monsters. Meanwhile, after experimenting with the TARDIS console, the Doctor finds himself transported sidew...

• What's Eating Gilbert Grape | DVD | (06/10/2008) from £9.52   |  Saving you £3.47 (36.45%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Life is a terrible thing to sleep through. Meet Gilbert Grape (Johnny Depp) a young man who lives in Endora Iowa population 1 091. Gilbert lives with his mother whose 36 stone frame is slowly destroying the fragile Grape homestead his brother Arnie (Leonardo DiCaprio) who was never expected to survive childhood and his two sisters. Gilbert's only excitement is his affair with Mrs. Betty Carver (Mary Steenburgen). Besides that Gilbert's life is weird. And he doesn't seem to enjoy it. But one day a mysterious beautiful girl named Becky (Juliette Lewis) moves into town with her grandmother and Gilbert's world begins to change...

• The Nightmare On Elm Street (Seven Disc Collector's Edition) | DVD | (25/10/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £39.99

  A Nightmare On Elm Street Nancy (Heather Langenkamp) is having grisly nightmares. Meanwhile her high-school friends who are having the very same dreams are being slaughtered in their sleep by the hideous fiend of their shared nightmares. When the police ignore her explanation she herself must confront the killer in his shadowy realm... From modern horror master Wes Craven comes a timeless shocker that remains the standard bearer for terror. Featuring Johnny Depp in his fi

• Quatermass | Blu Ray | (27/07/2015) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £29.99

  John Mills brings a stoic intensity to the role of Professor Bernard Quatermass in this key piece of British dystopian fiction from visionary writer Nigel Kneale. Unsettling in its vision of a crumbling society coming under alien attack, Quatermass is directed with characteristic style by BAFTA winner Piers Haggard and features the high production values associated with Euston Films. Shot on 35mm, the original negatives have been used for this stunning, brand-new High Definition restoration a new 5.1 mix from original triple-track audio elements is also presented here alongside the original mono soundtrack.Bernard Quatermass, former head of the British Rocket Group, lives in seclusion in western Scotland, watching in appalled silence as Britain slowly turns into a vision of violence, gang rule and governmental collapse. A desperate search for his missing granddaughter plunges him into a terrifying situation when he comes to realise that the mass disappearance of thousands of youths is nothing less than the culling of the human species by an unknown alien intelligence...Special Features: Brand-new 5.1 mix for episodic versionBrand-new HD restoration of The Quatermass Conclusion in its original theatrical aspect ratioMusic-only tracks for all four episodesEpisode recapsTextless titles Image GalleryBooklet by archive TV historian Andrew Pixley

• High Society | DVD | (27/01/2020) from £5.00   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• The Boy Next Door | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £4.96   |  Saving you £15.03 (303.02%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Jennifer Lopez leads the cast in The Boy Next Door a psychological thriller that explores a forbidden attraction that goes much too far. Directed by Rob Cohen (The Fast and the Furious) and written by Barbara Curry the film also stars Ryan Guzman John Corbett and Kristin Chenoweth.

• Ant Man | DVD | (30/11/2015) from £5.99   |  Saving you £1.00 (16.69%)   |  RRP £6.99

  Please note this is a region 2 DVD and will require a region 2 or region free DVD player in order to play.  Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly and Michael Douglas star in this sci-fi action movie following the Marvel Comics superhero. Decades earlier scientist Hank Pym (Douglas) invented a special suit that would allow him to transform to the size of an ant and give him super strength. The ageing hero approaches petty thief Scott Lang (Rudd) and, with the help of his daughter Hope Van Dyne (Lilly), Hank trains him to become the new Ant-Man. After Darren Cross (Corey Stoll) takes over his former mentor Pym's business he produces a similar suit to be worn by the military as well as a more powerful suit for himself, transforming him into Yellowjacket. This results in chaos and it's up to Ant-Man to use both his thieving skills and his newfound abilities to save the day.

• Tomorrow We Live (Limited Edition) | Blu Ray | (17/06/2024) from £16.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  John Clements (The Four Feathers), Godfrey Tearle (Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps), Hugh Sinclair (The Four Just Men), and Greta Gynt (Sexton Blake and the Hooded Terror) star in Tomorrow We Live, a thrilling tale of wartime resistance. In occupied France, Baptiste (Clements) arrives in a small town armed with details of a German submarine base. As the resistance humiliates the occupiers, and the Gestapo exacts deadly reprisals upon the local population, Baptiste works with the local mayor (Tearle) and his daughter (Gynt) to plan his escape to Britain. Released in the US as At Dawn We Die, and directed by Tod Slaughter collaborator George King (Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street), Tomorrow We Live shocked audiences upon its release with its unflinching portrayal of Nazi brutality. INDICATOR LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES New restoration from a 4K scan by Powerhouse FilmsOriginal mono audio Audio commentary with film historians Josephine Botting and Robert Murphy (2024) Pamela Hutchinson on Greta Gynt (2024): the film historian discusses the life and career of the famed Norwegian actorThe BEHP Interview with Roy Douglas (2005): archival video recording, made as part of the British Entertainment History Project, featuring composer Roy Douglas in conversation with Alex GibsonImage gallery: promotional and publicity materials New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearingLimited edition exclusive booklet with a new essay by Philip Kemp, archival interviews and articles, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and film credits World premiere on Blu-rayLimited edition of 4,000 copies for the UK and the US All extras subject to change

• Baby's Day Out | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £7.99   |  Saving you £7.00 (116.86%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Baby Bink is out on the town for the day visiting wonderous places and seeing fantastic sights. The only problem is he is travelling alone. Frantically hunted by his mother and turned into a celebrity by the media Baby Bink is cool calm collected and totally unaware of the havoc he wreaks this daytrip is a hilarious mix of comedy and groundbreaking special effects.

• The Black Cauldron | DVD | (30/08/2010) from £3.40   |  Saving you £1.59 (46.76%)   |  RRP £4.99

  Walt Disney's 25th full-length animated classic The Black Cauldron is a spectacular fantasy adventure to leave your whole family spellbound. In the mystical land of Prydrain a young boy named Taran undertakes a heroic task. With a magic sword at his side Taran must prevent the evil Horned King from unleashing the supernatural powers of a mysterious black cauldron! Helped by the beautiful Princess Eilonwy a funny and furry creature named Gurgi and an adorable clairvoyant pig Taran defeats his loathsome enemy and learns along the way that friendship is a powerful source! In the tradition of such timeless classics as Peter Pan and The Sword in the Stone The Black Cauldron blends unparalleled animation and unforgettable characters into an action-packed adventure that will thrill you again and again.

• Desperately Seeking Susan | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £11.63   |  Saving you £4.36 (37.49%)   |  RRP £15.99

  This likeable, feminist screwball comedy about several incidents of mistaken identity is remembered more as the film that made Madonna a movie star. She's flip, hip and energetic as Susan, the wild tramp with whom bored, suburban New Jersey housewife Roberta Glass (Rosanna Arquette) becomes obsessed after reading of her sexual conquests in the personal ads. Of course, since Madonna essentially played herself, the role's hardly a stretch. Director Susan Seidelmen presents a series of zany incidents too complicated to recount, but the result is that Roberta swaps lifestyles with her fixation to explore New Wave culture on New York's Lower East Side. It's territory Seidelmen knew well as her more offbeat, indie debut, Smithereens, revelled in the same setting. But where Smithereens took a more edgy approach to its characters, Susan is a fairy tale romantic comedy, and eventually becomes as conventional as the suburban characters it mocks by settling conflicts with predictable Hollywood formulae. Still, there's much to be enjoyed. The film's at its funniest when juxtaposing New York hip and New Jersey suburbia, like when Arquette's straight, suit-and-tie husband dances with Madonna in a punk club. The performances, too, are engaging, especially Arquette and Aidan Quinn, playing a romantic film projectionist who becomes her grubby Prince Charming. --Dave McCoy, Amazon.com --This text refers to the VHS edition of this video

• Indiana Jones: The Complete Collection | DVD | (10/11/2008) from £16.98   |  Saving you £-1.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £13.99

  Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark It's said that the original is the greatest, and there can be no more vivid proof than Raiders of the Lost Ark, the first and indisputably best of the initial three Indiana Jones adventures cooked up by the dream team of Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. Expectations were high for this 1981 collaboration between the two men, who essentially invented the box office blockbuster with `70s efforts like Jaws and Star Wars, and Spielberg (who directed) and Lucas (who co-wrote the story and executive produced) didn't disappoint. This wildly entertaining film has it all: non-stop action, exotic locations, grand spectacle, a hero for the ages, despicable villains, a beautiful love interest, humour, horror… not to mention lots of snakes. And along with all the bits that are so familiar by now--Indy (Harrison Ford) running from the giant boulder in a cave, using his pistol instead of his trusty whip to take out a scimitar-wielding bad guy, facing off with a hissing cobra, and on and on--there's real resonance in a potent storyline that brings together a profound religious-archaeological icon (the Ark of the Covenant, nothing less than "a radio for speaking to God") and the 20th century's most infamous criminals (the Nazis). Now that's entertainment. --Sam Graham Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom It's hard to imagine that a film with worldwide box office receipts topping US$300 million worldwide could be labeled a disappointment, but some moviegoers considered Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, the second installment in Steven Spielberg and George Lucas' 1980s adventure trilogy, to be just that. That doesn't mean it's a bad effort; any collaboration between these two cinema giants (Spielberg directed, while Lucas provided the story and was executive producer) is bound to have more than its share of terrific moments, and Temple of Doom is no exception. But in exchanging the very real threat of Nazi Germany for the cartoonish Thuggee cult, it loses some of the heft of its predecessor (Raiders of the Lost Ark); on the other hand, it's also the darkest and most disturbing of the three films, what with multiple scenes of children enslaved, a heart pulled out of a man's chest, and the immolation of a sacrificial victim, which makes it less fun than either Raiders or The Last Crusade, notwithstanding a couple of riotous chase scenes and impressively grand sets. Many fans were also less than thrilled with the new love interest, a spoiled, querulous nightclub singer portrayed by Kate Capshaw, but a cute kid sidekick ("Short Round," played by Ke Huy Quan) and, of course, the ever-reliable Harrison Ford as the cynical-but-swashbuckling hero more than make up for that character's shortcomings. --Sam Graham Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade The third episode in Steven Spielberg's rousing Indiana Jones saga, this film recaptures the best elements of Raiders of the Lost Ark while exploring new territory with wonderfully satisfying results. Indy is back battling the Nazis, who have launched an expedition to uncover the whereabouts of the Holy Grail. And it's not just Indy this time--his father (played with great acerbic wit by Sean Connery, the perfect choice) is also involved in the hunt. Spielberg excels at the kind of extended action sequences that top themselves with virtually every frame; the best one here involves Indy trying to stop a Nazi tank from the outside while his father is being held within. For good measure, Spielberg reveals (among other things) how Indy got his hat, the scar on his chin, and his nickname (in a prologue that features River Phoenix as the young Indiana). --Marshall Fine Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Nearly 20 years after riding his last Crusade, Harrison Ford makes a welcome return as archaeologist/relic hunter Indiana Jones in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, an action-packed fourth installment that's, in a nutshell, less memorable than the first three but great nostalgia for fans of the series. Producer George Lucas and screenwriter David Koepp (War of the Worlds) set the film during the cold war, as the Soviets--replacing Nazis as Indy's villains of choice and led by a sword-wielding Cate Blanchett with black bob and sunglasses--are in pursuit of a crystal skull, which has mystical powers related to a city of gold. After escaping from them in a spectacular opening action sequence, Indy is coerced to head to Peru at the behest of a young greaser (Shia LaBeouf) whose friend--and Indy's colleague--Professor Oxley (John Hurt) has been captured for his knowledge of the skull's whereabouts. Whatever secrets the skull holds are tertiary; its reveal is the weakest part of the movie, as the CGI effects that inevitably accompany it feel jarring next to the boulder-rolling world of Indy audiences knew and loved. There's plenty of comedy, delightful stunts--ants play a deadly role here--and the return of Raiders love interest Karen Allen as Marion Ravenwood, once shrill but now softened, giving her ex-love bemused glances and eye-rolls as he huffs his way to save the day. Which brings us to Ford: bullwhip still in hand, he's a little creakier, a lot grayer, but still twice the action hero of anyone in film today. With all the anticipation and hype leading up to the film's release, perhaps no reunion is sweeter than that of Ford with the role that fits him as snugly as that fedora hat. --Ellen A. Kim