"Actor: Martin Egel"

• The Prince Of Egypt | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £7.99   |  Saving you £14.00 (233.72%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Nearly every biblical film is ambitious, creating pictures to go with some of the most famous and sacred stories in the Western world. DreamWorks' first animated film, The Prince of Egypt was the vision of executive producer Jeffrey Katzenberg after his ugly split from Disney, where he had been acknowledged as a key architect in that studio's rebirth (The Little Mermaid, etc.). His first film for the company he helped create was a huge, challenging project without a single toy or merchandising tie-in, the backbone du jour of family entertainment in the 1990s. Three directors and 16 writers succeed in carrying out much of Katzenberg's vision. The linear story of Moses is crisply told, and the look of the film is stunning; indeed, no animated film has looked so ready to be placed in the Louvre since Fantasia. Here is an Egypt alive with energetic bustle and pristine buildings. Born a slave and set adrift in the river, Moses (voiced by Val Kilmer) is raised as the son of Pharaoh Seti (Patrick Stewart) and is a fitting rival for his stepbrother Rameses (Ralph Fiennes). When he learns of his roots--in a knockout sequence in which hieroglyphics come alive--he flees to the desert, where he finds his roots and heeds God's calling to free the slaves from Egypt. Katzenberg and his artists are careful to tread lightly on religious boundaries. The film stops at the parting of the Red Sea, only showing the Ten Commandments--without commentary--as the film's coda. Music is a big part (there were three CDs released) and Hans Zimmer's score and Stephen Schwartz's songs work well--in fact the pop-ready, Oscar-winning "When You Believe" is one of the weakest songs. Kids ages 5 and up should be able to handle the referenced violence; the film doesn't shy away from what Egyptians did to their slaves. Perhaps Katzenberg could have aimed lower and made a more successful animated film, but then again, what's a heaven for? --Doug Thomas

• Wagner - Die Meistersinger (Stein, Horst) | DVD | (15/05/2006) from £19.95   |  Saving you £-4.96 (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Stage and directed by Richard Wagner's grandson Wolfgang at the Bayreuther Festspiele in 1984 this production of Wagner's only comedy dispenses with the common cliches to reveal the humanity of each character. Here Beckmesser is no longer a foolish caricature but a cultivated intellectual; Stolzing emerges as a thoughtful individual rather than aggressive aristocrat; and Hans Sachs sheds his solemn patriarchal veneer to become a likeable middle-aged man.

• Wagner - Das Rheingold (Boulez, Mcintyre, Schwarz) | DVD | (11/07/2005) from £15.04   |  Saving you £1.95 (11.50%)   |  RRP £16.99

  In Patrice Chereau's illuminating violent Bayreuth production of Das Rheingold Wotan wears the brocade coat of feudal times while the Rhine seems to be a reservoir with modern-day power station. Yet as Chereau says it could also be many other things ... perhaps a mythological presence the mythology of our time ... The gods' ascent to Valhalla (is) a defiant flight into the future.

• The Point Men | DVD | (10/09/2001) from £5.35   |  Saving you £14.64 (273.64%)   |  RRP £19.99

  In any war there are covert groups whose moral flexibility makes them ideal for intelligence and assassination duties: they are The Point Men. Tony Eckhart (Christopher Lambert) heads up one such team protecting the Middle East peace process. In what seems to be a bungled operation, he's the only one who believes they've killed the wrong man. When the other members of his team start dropping dead, the matter becomes a personal vendetta. Unfortunately, that's exactly what the master of disguise Amar (Vincent Regan) is hoping for (aided by some fast-healing plastic surgery). Personal back stories become clear as the plot ranges all over the world from Luxembourg to Jerusalem, Zurich, Tel Aviv, New York and Monaco. There's lots of espionage intrigue and assassins' technology in this adaptation of the novel The Heat of Ramadan by Steven Hartov. Director John Glen, who helmed the James Bond films during the Roger Moore-to-Timothy Dalton era, knows how to choreograph action, and with Maryam d'Abo (from The Living Daylights) plus the fiery Kerry Fox as Maddy he also maintains a believable pair of love interests. A cross between Ronin and Face/Off, The Point Men inhabits familiar film territory, but as always Lambert is eminently watchable.On the DVD: A crisp 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer and 5.1 Surround makes this as clean a presentation of a modern film as possible. One trailer and page-long filmographies of Christopher Lambert and director John Glen also make it a cheap one. --Paul Tonks

• Slackers | DVD | (21/04/2003) from £13.49   |  Saving you £2.50 (18.53%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Dave, Sam and Jeff are about to graduate from university with honours but the three college roommates have proudly scammed their way through the last four years. Then a socially inept nerd realises what they're up to and threatens to blow the whistle...

• Wagner: Das Rheingold | DVD | (15/10/2001) from £3.54   |  Saving you £22.71 (996.05%)   |  RRP £24.99