"Actor: Lois"

• Twister | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £5.14   |  Saving you £6.85 (133.27%)   |  RRP £11.99

  Twister was a mega-million-dollar blockbuster--helmed by a director (Dutchman Jan de Bont) hot off another scorcher hit (Speed)--that flaunted state-of-the-art digital effects and featured a popular leading actress (Helen Hunt) who would win an Academy Award for her next film (As Good As It Gets). But ask anybody who's seen it and they'll tell you who the real star of Twister is: the cow. Not to give anything away, but the cow is one of those inspired little touches (like, say, Bronson Pinchot's career-making cameo in Beverly Hills Cop) that adds a touch of personality to a gigantic Hollywood production. The story is blown out the window after an impressive prologue in which Hunt's character, as a little girl, witnesses her daddy being sucked into a tornado. Basically, Hunt and Bill Paxton are thrill-seeking meteorologists chasing twisters in order to study them (and help warn people of them, of course) with a new technology they've developed. If you thought the Kansas tornado in The Wizard of Oz was every bit as scary as the Wicked Witch of the West, then this may be the movie for you. --Jim Emerson

• The Way We Were | DVD | (24/07/2000) from £7.55   |  Saving you £12.44 (164.77%)   |  RRP £19.99

  A classic early 1970s weepie, The Way We Were stars Barbra Streisand as a Communist activist in the late 30s and 40s and Robert Redford as the ambitious young writer who marries her, cheats on her and eventually leaves her in the early days of McCarthyism for the sake of his Hollywood screenwriting career. Arthur Laurent's intelligent screenplay, remarkable performances from the two stars and Marvin Hamlisch's Oscar-winning score and theme song combined to produce a film that even as hostile a critic as Pauline Kael had to admit worked. On the DVD: The DVD re-release includes the usual subtitling facilities, the theatre trailer and a documentary on the film's making, which includes one of the more political scenes deleted for commercial release; it is also possible to watch the film with a detailed commentary from Sydney Pollack about the problems of its making, problems which included writing new scenes so that Redford was not entirely upstaged by Streisand in the audience's sympathies. --Roz Kaveney

• Meet Joe Black | DVD | (29/05/2006) from £6.10   |  Saving you £3.89 (63.77%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Meet Joe Black seemed almost fated to fail when it was released in 1998, but this romantic fantasy--a remake of 1934's Death Takes a Holiday--deserves a chance at life after box-office death. Although many moviegoers were turned off by director Martin Brest's overindulgent three-hour running time, those who gear into its deliberate pace will find that Meet Joe Black offers ample reward for your attention. Brad Pitt plays Death with a capital D, enjoying some time on Earth by inhabiting the body of a young man who'd been killed in a shockingly sudden pedestrian-auto impact. Before long, Death has ingratiated himself with a wealthy industrialist (Anthony Hopkins) and pursues romance with the man's beautiful daughter (newcomer Claire Forlani), whom he'd briefly encountered while still an earthbound human. Under the assumed identity of "Joe Black", he samples all the pleasures that corporeal life has to offer--power, romance, sex and such enticing pleasures as peanut butter by the spoonful. But Death has a job to do, and Meet Joe Black addresses the heart-wrenching dilemma that arises when either father or daughter (the plot keeps us guessing) must confront his or her inevitable demise. The film takes its own sweet time to establish this emotional crisis and the love that binds Hopkins's semi-dysfunctional family so closely together. But if you've stuck with the story this far, you may find yourself surprisingly affected. And if Meet Joe Black has really won you over, you'll more than appreciate the care and affection that gives the film a depth and richness that so many critics chose to ignore. --Jeff Shannon

• Moonraker | DVD | (03/11/2003) from £4.99   |  Saving you £15.00 (300.60%)   |  RRP £19.99

  This was the first James Bond adventure produced after the success of Star Wars, so it jumped on the sci-fi bandwagon by combining the suave appeal of Agent 007 (once again played by Roger Moore) with enough high-tech hardware and special effects to make Luke Skywalker want to join Her Majesty's Secret Service. After the razzle-dazzle of The Spy Who Loved Me, this attempt to latch onto a trend proved to be a case of overkill, even though it brought back the steel-toothed villain Jaws (Richard Kiel) and scored a major hit at the box office. This time Bond is up against Drax (Michel Lonsdale), a criminal industrialist who wants to control the world from his orbiting space station. In keeping with his well-groomed style, Bond thwarts this maniacal Neo-Hitler's scheme with the help of a beautiful, sleek-figured scientist (played by Lois Chiles with all the vitality of a department store mannequin). There's a grand-scale climax involving space shuttles and ray guns, but despite the film's popular success, this is one Bond adventure that never quite gets off the launching pad. It's as if the caretakers of the James Bond franchise had forgotten that it's Bond-and not a barrage of gizmos and gadgets (including a land-worthy Venetian gondola)--that fuels the series' success. Despite Moore's passive performance (which Pauline Kael described as "like an office manager who is turning into dead wood but hanging on to collect his pension"), there are even a few renegade Bond-philes who consider it one of their favourites. --Jeff Shannon]In the new "making of" featurette the enormous complexities of putting together a feature of this scope are talked about by all those involved, from genius production designer Ken Adam to special effects whiz and Thunderbirds alumnus Derek Meddings (Lois Chiles reveals that to this day she is delighted to have had the most obscene name of any Bond girl; the behind-the-scenes tale of the boat hanging over the waterfall is astonishing). Sensibly enough the supplementary documentary celebrates the work of the special effects men from John Stears to Derek Meddings and John Richardson. The audio commentary has executive producer Michael Wilson in conversation with director Lewis Gilbert, screenwriter Christopher Wood and associate producer William Cartlidge, who are all obviously having a good time watching the movie together again. Altogether, another handsome DVD presentation in this impeccable series. --Mark Walker

• The Haunting | Blu Ray | (04/05/2020) from £7.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  It was an evil house form the beginning , a house that was born bad. The place is the 90-year-old mansion called Hill House. No one lives in there. Or so it seems. But come in. Because even if you don't believe in ghosts, there's no denying the terror of The Haunting. Robert Wise, returned to psychological horror for this much admired, first screen adaptation of Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House. Four people (Julie Harris, Claire Bloom, Richard Johnson and Russ Tamblyn) come to the house to study its supernatural phenomena. Or has the house drawn at least one of them to it? The answer will unnerve you in this elegantly sinister scare movie. It's good fun (Pauline Kael, 5001 Nights at the Movies).

• The Haunting | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £4.79   |  Saving you £9.20 (192.07%)   |  RRP £13.99

  Certain to remain one of the greatest haunted-house movies ever made, Robert Wise's The Haunting (1963) is antithetical to all the gory horror films of subsequent decades, because its considerable frights remain implicitly rooted in the viewer's sensitivity to abject fear. A classic spook-fest based on Shirley Jackson's novel The Haunting of Hill House (which also inspired the 1999 remake directed by Jan de Bont), the film begins with a prologue that concisely establishes the dark history of Hill House, a massive New England mansion (actually filmed in England) that will play host to four daring guests determined to investigate--and hopefully debunk--the legacy of death and ghostly possession that has given the mansion its terrifying reputation. Consumed by guilt and grief over her mother's recent death and driven to adventure by her belief in the supernatural, Eleanor Vance (Julie Harris) is the most unstable--and therefore the most vulnerable--visitor to Hill House. She's invited there by anthropologist Dr. Markway (Richard Johnson), along with the bohemian lesbian Theodora (Claire Bloom), who has acute extra-sensory abilities, and glib playboy Luke Sanderson (Russ Tamblyn, from Wise's West Side Story), who will gladly inherit Hill House if it proves to be hospitable. Of course, the shadowy mansion is anything but welcoming to its unwanted intruders. Strange noises, from muffled wails to deafening pounding, set the stage for even scarier occurrences, including a door that appears to breathe (with a slowly turning doorknob that's almost unbearably suspenseful), unexplained writing on walls, and a delicate spiral staircase that seems to have a life of its own. The genius of The Haunting lies in the restraint of Wise and screenwriter Nelson Gidding, who elicit almost all of the film's mounting terror from the psychology of its characters--particularly Eleanor, whose grip on sanity grows increasingly tenuous. The presence of lurking spirits relies heavily on the power of suggestion (likewise the cautious handling of Theodora's attraction to Eleanor) and the film's use of sound is more terrifying than anything Wise could have shown with his camera. Like Jack Clayton's 1961 chiller, The Innocents, The Haunting knows the value of planting the seeds of terror in the mind, as opposed to letting them blossom graphically on the screen. What you don't see is infinitely more frightening than what you do, and with nary a severed head or bloody corpse in sight, The Haunting is guaranteed to chill you to the bone. --Jeff Shannon

• Falling Down | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £6.45   |  Saving you £7.54 (116.90%)   |  RRP £13.99

  This film, about a downsized engineer (Michael Douglas) who goes ballistic, triggered a media avalanche of stories about middle-class white rage when it was released in 1993. In fact, it's nothing more than a manipulative, violent melodrama about one geek's meltdown. Douglas, complete with pocket protector, nerd glasses, crewcut and short-sleeved white shirt, gets stuck in traffic one day near downtown LA and proceeds to just walk away from his car--and then lose it emotionally. Everyone he encounters rubs him the wrong way--and a fine lot of stereotypes they are, from threatening ghetto punks to rude convenience store owners to a creepy white supremacist--and he reacts violently in every case. As he walks across LA (now there's a concept), cutting a bloody swath, he's being tracked by a cop on the verge of retirement (Robert Duvall). He also spends time on the phone with his frightened ex-wife (Barbara Hershey). Though Douglas and Duvall give stellar performances, they can't disguise the fact that, as usual, this is another film from director Joel Schumacher that is about surface and sensation, rather than actual substance. --Marshall Fine, Amazon.com --This text refers to the VHS edition of this video

• From Russia with Love | DVD | (03/11/2003) from £5.28   |  Saving you £14.71 (278.60%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Directed with consummate skill by Terence Young, From Russia With Love, the second James Bond spy thriller, is considered by many fans to be the best of them all. Certainly Sean Connery was never better as the dashing Agent 007, whose mission takes him to Istanbul to retrieve a top-secret Russian decoding machine. His efforts are thwarted when he gets romantically distracted by a sexy Russian double agent (Daniela Bianchi), and is tracked by an assassin (Lotte Lenya) with switchblade shoes, and by a crazed killer (Robert Shaw), who clashes with Bond during the film's dazzling climax aboard the Orient Express. From Russia with Love is classic James Bond, before the gadgets, pyrotechnics and Roger Moore steered the movies away from the more realistic tone of the books by Ian Fleming. --Jeff ShannonOn the DVD: The "making of" documentary details the many problems that beset this production: actor Pedro Armendariz (Kerim Bey) was diagnosed with terminal cancer halfway through shooting so all his scenes had to be done before he became too ill to work (he died shortly afterwards); a helicopter carrying the director and designer crashed into a lake, but despite being narrowly rescued from drowning Young was shooting half an hour later; and Italian actress-model Daniela Bianchi's car crashed en route to location. Key scenes had to be reshot after the production had wrapped, and because of script problems and rewrites, much of the film's structure was assembled in the editing room. The audio commentary is another montage of interviews from cast and crew that is alternately absorbing and irritating (exhaustive biogs of every player too often run over key scenes that would have benefited from analysis). An appreciation of flamboyant co-producer Harry Saltzman, trailers and stills complete the package. --Mark Walker

• Goldfinger | DVD | (03/11/2003) from £8.88   |  Saving you £11.11 (125.11%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Dry as ice, dripping with deadpan witticisms, only Sean Connery's Bond would dare to disparage the Beatles, that other 1964 phenomenon. No one but Connery can believably seduce women so effortlessly, kill with almost as much ease, and then pull another bottle of Dom Perignon 53 out of the fridge. Goldfinger contains many of the most memorable scenes in the Bond series: gorgeous Shirley Eaton (as Jill Masterson) coated in gold paint by evil Auric Goldfinger and deposited in Bond's bed; silent Oddjob, flipping a razor-sharp bowler like a Frisbee to sever heads; our hero spread-eagled on a table while a laser beam moves threateningly toward his crotch. Honor Blackman's Pussy Galore is the prototype for the series' rash of man-hating supermodels. And Desmond Llewelyn reprises his role as Q, giving Bond what is still his most impressive car, a snazzy little number that fires off smoke screens, punctures the tyres of vehicles on the chase, and boasts a handy ejector seat. Goldfinger's two climaxes, inside Fort Knox and aboard a private plane, have to be seen to be believed.--Raphael Shargel, Amazon.com-- On the DVD: Featuring interviews with Honor Blackman, Shirley Eaton, the late Desmond Llewelyn and most of the surviving core cast and crew members, great on-set footage (Blackman and Connery look like they clearly had the hots for each other even when the camera weren't rolling) and a strong argument about how this firmed up the gadget-orientated, thrills-and-spills formula for the franchise, John Cork's "making of" featurette for this DVD is one of the most rewarding in this series. The two commentary tracks have moderately interesting observations by director Guy Hamilton, the cast and crew (many of their comments recycled from the documentary), and on both Bond superfan-and-author Lee Pfeiffer filling in blanks and explaining in exhaustive detail the history of the Aston Martin DB5 that first appeared in this film. Also included is an open-ended 1964 interview with Sean Connery, designed so that American radio disc jockeys could pretend they had an exclusive interview with the star, in which he extols the series' "sadism for the family" among other things. --Leslie Felperin

• Mean Streets (Special Edition) | DVD | (02/02/2009) from £6.79   |  Saving you £11.20 (164.95%)   |  RRP £17.99

  A study of four young Italian-Americans and their involvement with the Mafia and local crooks.

• The Roger Moore Collection | DVD | (23/10/2017) from £7.92   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Live and Let Die - Roger Moore finds himself immersed in the world of heroin, voodoo and black magic in his debut as Bond. The Man with The Golden Gun - Bond is assigned to retrieve a top secret solar power converter, but finds himself the target of the world's greatest professional assassin. The Spy Who Loved Me - Britain and Russia both send their best agents to negotiate for a tracking system that has lost them each a nuclear submarine. Moonraker - When a Moonraker space shuttle disappears the chase leads Bond into outer space. For Your Eyes Only - In the race to beat the Russians to a missing communications device Bond finds himself involved with the Greek underworld. Octopussy - Stolen art treasures lead to a plan that will see Europe fall to a Russian invasion unless Bond can stop it in time A View To A Kill - In pursuit of new computer super chips, Bond uncovers a plan which could destroy Silicon Valley and the West's computer industries.

• Lady Bird (DVD Plus Digital download) | DVD | (02/07/2018) from £4.95   |  Saving you £2.04 (41.21%)   |  RRP £6.99

  In Lady Bird, Greta Gerwig reveals herself to be a bold new cinematic voice with her directorial debut, excavating both the humor and pathos in the turbulent bond between a mother and her teenage daughter. Christine Lady Bird McPherson (Saoirse Ronan) fights against but is exactly like her wildly loving, deeply opinionated and strong-willed mom (Laurie Metcalf), a nurse working tirelessly to keep her family afloat after Lady Bird's father (Tracy Letts) loses his job. Set in Sacramento, California in 2002, amidst a rapidly shifting American economic landscape, Lady Bird is an affecting look at the relationships that shape us, the beliefs that define us, and the unmatched beauty of a place called home.

• Fatal Attraction | DVD | (02/09/2002) from £6.19   |  Saving you £9.80 (158.32%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Fatal Attraction was the most controversial hit of 1987, a film nominated for six Oscars that launched a whole up-market psycho sub-genre. In an elaboration of Play Misty for Me (1971), Michael Douglas plays a married middle-class everyman who has an opportunistic weekend affair with New York publishing executive, Glenn Close. The twist is that Close's Alex is a borderline psychotic. She won't let go, and the film moves from a study of modern sexual mores to an increasingly tense thriller about neurotic obsession. The performances are exceptional and two set-pieces, one which gave us the term "Bunny Boiler" and another in a fairground, provide metaphorical and literal rollercoaster rides. Only a laughable sex scene--in a sink, anyone?--and a melodramatic finale shamelessly ripping-off the 1955 French classic Les Diaboliques and Psycho (1960) prevent a good thriller being a great one. Even so, Fatal Attraction is still a film worth seeing again, even if it's hard to wonder what all the fuss was about in 1987. On the DVD: Fatal Attraction on disc has a new 28-minute documentary featuring the principal players explaining how wonderful each other are. More substantial is a 19-minute feature on creating the visual look, with sections on cinematography, costume and make-up design. A worthwhile 10-minute piece examines the social impact of the movie and the controversy it generated. Seven minutes of the three stars in rehearsal is intriguing, but more interesting is the opportunity to see the original, low-key ending, rejected after test screenings. Much of the best documentary material focuses on how the finally released ending came about, while Lyne's commentary is thoughtful and illuminating. The original trailer is included and there are 16 sets of subtitles, including English for the hard of hearing, as well as an alternative German dub. The sound has been remixed from stereo into a subtly involving Dolby Digital 5.1, and the 1.78:1 anamorphic transfer looks fine, though there is some very minor print damage. --Gary S Dalkin

• Death On The Nile | Blu Ray | (23/10/2017) from £10.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  A visually sumptuous and quintessentially British production, Death on the Nile won an Oscar® for Anthony Powell's costume design and introduced Peter Ustinov in his first portrayal as the Belgian detective Poirot. Abroad a luxury Nile steamer a mystery assassin takes the life of an heiress. EXTRAS Making Of Interview with costume designer Anthony Powell Interview with Dame Angela Lansbury Interview with producer Richard Goodwin Behind the scenes stills gallery Costume designs stills gallery

• James Bond - Dr No (Ultimate Edition 2 Disc Set) | DVD | (17/07/2006) from £5.37   |  Saving you £11.62 (216.39%)   |  RRP £16.99

  The very first of James Bond's 20 (and counting) adventures featuring a young Sean Connery stepping into the role of Britain's super-suave secret agent. Bond's mission takes him to the steamy island of Jamaica where mysterious energy waves are interfering with U.S. missile launches. As he unravels the astonishing truth Bond must fight deadly assassins sexy femme's fatales and even a poisonous tarantula. With the help of crack CIA agents Felix Lieter (Jack Lord) and the beautiful Honey Ryder (Ursula Andress) he searches for the headquarters of Dr. No who is implementing an evil plan of world domination. Only Bond with his combination of wit charm and skill can confront the madman and save the human race from a horrible fate. With breathtaking chases amazing stunts and a bold nerve-shattering climax this outrageously entertaining adventure pushes the envelope for non-stop thrills and magnificently sets the standard for the most popular movie series in film history.

• Creepshow 2 | Blu Ray | (12/10/2020) from £16.39   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Titans of terror George A. Romero and Stephen King deliver yet another selection of blood-curdling tales in Creepshow 2, the follow-up to the 1982 horror classic. In Old Chief Wood'nhead, a group of young hoodlums face retribution from an unlikely source after looting a local hardware store. Meanwhile, The Raft sees a group of horny teens wishing they'd read the warning signs first before taking a dip in a remote lake. Finally, an uptight businesswoman finds herself with some unwanted company following a hit-and-run incident in The Hitch-hiker. Retaining the same EC comic book flavour that made the original such a hit, Creepshow 2, this time directed by long-time Romero collaborator Michael Gornick, is a standout horror anthology from the minds of two of the genre's master craftsmen. SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS High Definition Blu-ray™ (1080p) presentation Original Uncompressed PCM Mono 1.0, Stereo and 5.1 DTS-HD MA Surround Audio Options Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing Audio Commentary with director Michael Gornick Poncho's Last Ride an interview with actor Daniel Beer The Road to Dover an interview with actor Tom Wright Screenplay for a Sequel an interview with screenwriter George A. Romero Tales from the Creep an interview with actor and make-up artist Tom Savini Nightmares in Foam Rubber archive featurette on the special effects of Creepshow 2, including interviews with FX artists Howard Berger and Greg Nicotero My Friend Rick Berger on his special effects mentor Rick Baker Behind-the-Scenes Footage Image Gallery Trailers & TV Spots Original Screenplay (BD-ROM Content) Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Mike Saputo

• Lolita | DVD | (01/06/2006) from £6.19   |  Saving you £7.80 (126.01%)   |  RRP £13.99

  Stanley Kubrick's 1961 version of Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov's notorious 1953 novel, prompted a scandal in its day: even to address the issue of paedophilia on screen was deemed to be as perverted as the hapless protagonist Humbert Humbert. James Mason plays Humbert, the suave English Professor whose gentlemanly exterior peels away as quickly as his scruples once exposed to Sue Lyons' well-developed teenage beauty. In order to be close to her, he marries her mother, the lonely and pathetically pretentious Charlotte (Shelley Winters) only for her to expire conveniently, leaving Humbert free to embark on a motel-to-motel trek across America with Lolita in tow, evading suspicions that theirs is more than a father-daughter relationship. Peter Sellers, meanwhile, gives a Dr Strangelove-type tour de force performance as Clare Quilty, a TV writer also in pursuit of Lolita, who harasses Humbert under several guises, including a psychiatrist. As a movie, Lolita is flawed, albeit interestingly so. The sexual innuendo (a summer camp called Camp Climax, for example) seems jarring and pointless, while Sellers' comic turn detracts from any sense of guilt, tension or tragedy. It's as if the real purpose of the film is to offer a sort of silent, mocking laughter at the wretched Humbert and systematically divest him of his dignity. By the end, he is a babbling wretch while Sue Lyons' Lolita is pragmatic and self-possessed. It's Mason and Lyons' performances, which lift the film from its mess of structural difficulties. Decades on, their central relationship still makes for pitifully compulsive viewing. On the DVD: Few extras, sadly, though the brief original trailer is excellent, built around the question, "How could they make a film out of Lolita?". The original black and white picture and mono sound are excellent. --David Stubbs

• Green Card | DVD | (20/05/2002) from £11.25   |  Saving you £3.74 (33.24%)   |  RRP £14.99

  In the delightful romantic comedy Green Card, Georges (Gérard Depardieu), a composer and one-time petty thief who grew up in poverty, attempts to escape his life in Paris and begin anew in America by illegally marrying Bronte (Andie MacDowell), a prim and repressed young lady from a privileged life in Connecticut. Bronte, who has agreed to the scheme for her own self-serving reasons, is exasperated when the Immigration & Naturalisation Service investigates their case, and she and Georges, whom she detests, must spend time together studying each other's lives to avoid disaster. The fallout is infinitely better handled than any run-of-the-mill Hollywood romantic comedy, and the very ending itself stops deliciously short of where Hollywood would feel compelled to drag the story. Fine performances are given by MacDowell, Depardieu--who is fiercely charming pounding the keyboard of a Steinway at an upper class Manhattan dinner party--and Bebe Neuwirth, who is perfect as an upper-class child turned artist who revels in her irresponsibility. --James McGrath, Amazon.com

• Death On The Nile | DVD | (23/10/2017) from £7.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  A visually sumptuous and quintessentially British production, Death on the Nile won an Oscar® for Anthony Powell's costume design and introduced Peter Ustinov in his first portrayal as the Belgian detective Poirot. Abroad a luxury Nile steamer a mystery assassin takes the life of an heiress. EXTRAS Making Of Interview with costume designer Anthony Powell Interview with Dame Angela Lansbury Interview with producer Richard Goodwin Behind the scenes stills gallery Costume designs stills gallery

• Thunderball | DVD | (03/11/2003) from £4.00   |  Saving you £15.99 (399.75%)   |  RRP £19.99

  James Bond's fourth adventure takes him to the Bahamas, where a NATO warplane with a nuclear payload has disappeared into the sea. Bond (Sean Connery) travels from a health spa (where he tangles with a mechanised masseuse run amuck) to the casinos of Nassau and soon picks up the trail of SPECTRE's number-two man, Emilio Largo (Adolfo Celi), and his beautiful mistress, Domino (Claudine Auger), whom Bond soon seduces to his side. Equipped with more gadgets than ever, courtesy of the resourceful Q (Desmond Llewellyn), agent 007 escapes an ambush with a personal-size jet pack and takes to the water as he searches for an underwater plane, battles Largo's pet sharks, and finally leads the battle against Largo's scuba-equipped henchmen in a spectacular underwater climax. This thrilling Bond entry became Connery's most successful outing in the series and was remade in 1983 as Never Say Never Again, with Connery returning to the role after a 12-year hiatus. Tom Jones belts out the bold theme song to another classic Maurice Binder title sequence. --Sean Axmaker, Amazon.com--On the DVD: The absence of any new contribution from Sean Connery leaves a hole in the behind-the-scenes selection, but the "making of" documentary still has plenty to talk about, including why Bond wore a crash helmet for the jet-pack flight, and what was for the time the utterly unique situation of having to stage an underwater battle (one of the Bond series' enduring legacies is its pioneering stunt work). A supplemental documentary describes the "Thunderball Phenomenon" that swept the world on the release of what was the most successful Bond movie to date (back in those innocent days when blanket retail saturation of movie merchandise was still a novelty). Two audio commentaries flesh out even more of the background: the first is another edited selection of various interviews, the second has editor Peter Hunt in conversation with the host John Quark of the Ian Fleming Foundation, as well as more sundry interview snippets, notably from screenwriter John Hopkins. Any contribution from series composer John Barry is also sadly absent. --Mark Walker