"Actor: Martin"

• The King And I | DVD | (08/03/2004) from £5.97   |  Saving you £10.02 (167.84%)   |  RRP £15.99

  In 1955 this lavish production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Broadway hit The King and I, starring Yul Brynner as the King of Siam and Deborah Kerr as the governess sent to look after his children, was the most expensive film ever mounted by 20th Century Fox. The 40 sets in ripe decors by Walter M Scott and Paul S Fox included a ballroom of black marble with jade and silk tapestries and a banqueting scene with a table that gives the impression of stretching to infinity. The costumes by Irene Sharaff, notably the hoop ballroom gown for Deborah Kerr and those for the ballet "The Small House of Uncle Thomas", dazzle the eye in their delineation of Western manners and Oriental splendour. Brynner remains impressive as the King but his pidgin dialogue, inherited from Hammerstein's book, with the dropping of the definite article takes some adjustment. Alfred Newman put his unique stamp on the music: the Overture offers an example of his luminous divided string sound, the climactic ballroom scene a full bodied orchestral reprise of "Shall We Dance?" as the camera pulls away to a high angle producing an exultant visual finish to this celebrated polka. On the DVD: To view The King and I in its original format (thanks to this DVD release) is a revelation. Over the years the production values of the film have been compromised through inadequate presentation on television and video. Now the eye can appreciate once more the novelty of the wide-screen process CinemaScope 55 which offers in-depth vision, breathtaking employment of Eastman colour and an enhanced sound system that ensures a well-upholstered backdrop for the sumptuous musical arrangements under conductor Alfred Newman. DVD supplements here include the original theatrical trailer, a Movietone news of the Oscar ceremony of 56-57 and three songs lifted from the movie itself. Marni Nixon overdubbed Deborah Kerr's vocals on screen--those moments where one voice takes over from another are more clearly delineated on the DVD with the result that there is some discrepancy between Kerr's spirited playing and Nixon's over careful (rather) twee enunciation of the lyrics. --Adrian Edwards

• The American President | DVD | (01/03/2010) from £6.35   |  Saving you £9.64 (151.81%)   |  RRP £15.99

  What sounds like a high-concept romantic comedy pitch from hell--widower president falls for smart lobbyist while the world watches--is actually intelligent, charming, touching and quite funny. Granted, it's wish fulfilment all the way (when was the last time you saw a president who was truly presidential?) but in the capable hands of writer Aaron Sorkin (TV's Sports Night) and director Rob Reiner, TheAmerican President is incredibly enjoyable entertainment with quite a few ideas about both romance and the government. Michael Douglas stars as the president, who after three years in office starts thinking about the possibility of dating. When he auspiciously encounters cutthroat environmental lobbyist Sydney Ellen Wade (Annette Bening), sparks begin to crackle and the two begin a tentative but heartfelt romance. Of course, his job gets in the way--their first kiss is interrupted by a Libyan bombing--but darn it if these two kids aren't going to try and make it work! However, they hadn't counted on the president's Republican antagonist (Richard Dreyfuss), who starts carping about family values. The predictable plot--Douglas finally goes to bat for his lady and his country--is leavened by Sorkin's wonderful, snappy dialogue and a light touch from the usually subtle-as-a-sledgehammer Reiner. Both manage to create a believable White House-office atmosphere (with a crack staff including Martin Sheen, Michael J. Fox, Anna Deavere Smith and Samantha Mathis) as well as a plausible and funny dating scenario. The true success of the movie, though, rides squarely on Douglas and Bening; this is unequivocally Douglas's best comedic performance (ergo his best performance, period) and Bening, usually such a good bad girl, takes a standard career-woman role and fleshes it out magnificently. You can see in an instant why Douglas would fall for her. One of the best unsung romantic comedies of the 90s. --Mark Englehart

• A Horseman Riding By (Box Set) | DVD | (12/07/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £30.06

  A Horseman Riding By is a magnificent saga adapted from the book by R.F. Delderfield of rural Edwardian England from 1900 to the end of the Great War. Nigel Havers stars as Paul Craddock invalided out of the army during the Boer War to become Squire of the long neglected Devonshire Estate of Shallowford. The series charts Craddock's new life in the Valley which is challenging because of the Valley's inhabitants and the harsh consequences of war.

• Blue Lights: Series 2 | DVD | (27/05/2024) from £9.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• The Disappearance | DVD | (04/07/2016) from £19.98   |  Saving you £10.01 (50.10%)   |  RRP £29.99

  All eight episodes from the French drama series starring Francois-Xavier Demaison as Bertrand Molina, a detective sent to investigate the mysterious disappearance of a young teenager at a music festival in Lyon. With the grieving family pressing for answers, it's not long before Molina uncovers a number of shocking secrets which could push them to breaking point.

• The Banana Splits Movie | DVD | (26/08/2019) from £6.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  American horror comedy based on the 1968 Hanna-Barbera TV series. On his birthday, young Harley (Finlay Wojtak-Hissong) and his family attend a live recording of 'The Banana Splits' TV show. However, when it is announced that the show is going to be cancelled, the fun-filled afternoon turns to one of horror as the show's fuzzy robotic characters take over the studio and embark on a gruesome killing spree.

• The Krays | DVD | (20/09/1999) from £8.43   |  Saving you £1.56 (18.51%)   |  RRP £9.99

• The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy Special Edition | DVD | (01/10/2018) from £7.99   |  Saving you £5.00 (62.58%)   |  RRP £12.99

  For the first time, discover the meaning of life with newly re-mastered episodes in 5.1 surround sound. Unbeknownst to its inhabitants, Earth is to be demolished to make way for an intergalactic highway. Arthur Dent (Simon Jones), an unassuming Englishman, is whisked off the planet to safety by his alien friend Ford Prefect (David Dixon), and launched on a dizzying journey through space and time (with only a towel, and a fish to help them) to discover the meaning of life itself. Includes over 5 ½ hours of extras.

• Brides In The Bath | DVD | (12/08/2013) from £7.00   |  Saving you £5.99 (85.57%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Martin Kemp stars as serial killer George Joseph Smith in this made-for-TV crime drama based on a true story. In order to accumulate wealth Smith commits bigamy under various pseudonyms and kills three of his wives between 1910 and 1915. He tries to make it look as though the women died by accidentally drowning in their bathtubs but the deaths are eventually linked with Detective Inspector Arthur Neil (Alan Mckenna) working to solve the case.

• Black Panther | Blu Ray | (11/06/2018) from £14.35   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  After tragedy forces yound Prince T'Challa to assume Wakanda's throne, he is faced with the ultimate test, putting the fate of his country and the entire world at risk. Pitted against his own family, the new king must rally his allies and release the full power of Black Panther to defeat his foes and embrace his future as an Avenger. Features: Play Movie With Director Ryan Coogler's Intro Featurettes From Page To Screen: A Roundtable Discussion Marvel Studios: The First Ten Years - Connecting The Universe Exclusive Sneak Peek At Ant-Man And The Wasp Gag Reel Deleted Scenes Audio Commentary

• James Martin's American Adventure | DVD | (23/04/2018) from £8.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  All 20 episodes of James Martin's brand new ITV series on 5-DVD set. An action-packed, sun-soaked, food-filled road trip across the USA, James Martin s American Adventure is the next leg of the celebrated chef's journey around the world exploring the food, people and places that inspire him. Travelling around the US on Harley Davidson bikes, pick up trucks, classic cars and super cars, James takes us through the Napa Valley, down the West Coast, slingshots across the great plains of Texas and takes in the swamps of the Deep South before a final leg back up the East Coast, and finally New York, where he returns to the scene of what he describes as the best meal of his life . Along with his trusty crew, the open roads await James voyage of discovery, across a country that has beguiled him of all his life, at perhaps one of the most important periods in its history.

• Quatermass and The Pit | Blu Ray | (12/11/2018) from £11.29   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Andre Morell stars as Professor Bernard Quatermass in this landmark television classic. Now available on Blu-Ray for the very first time, in a brand new high-definition remaster from the original film elements. When a strange capsule is unearthed at an archaeological excavation in London, an unexploded bomb is initially suspected. However, with a history of supernatural events in the area going back many centuries and with events at the dig site about to take an unexpectedly alien turn, the origins of the capsule are soon revealed to be far more distant than anyone could have imagined. When the capsule is finally opened, something is unleashed upon the streets of London that nobody can control and mankind's past and future collide with devastating consequences. Includes an 8-page collectors booklet SPECIAL FEATURES: Brand new commentaries featuring members of the original cast and crew. Presented by Toby Hadoke. A newly compiled photo gallery, including images of a number of previously unreleased images from the show's original production. A complication of alternate title sequences from the BBC Archives. Making Demons visual effects featurette. Archive documentary content, covering the 1958 production.

• Ocean's 11 | Blu Ray | (07/05/2018) from £20.28   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Eleven friends who know each other from World War II service plan to rob five of the biggest casinos in Las Vegas in one night. They develop a master plan but after the whole thing is over, something goes wrong...

• Dirty Rotten Scoundrels | Blu Ray | (26/05/2025) from £9.98   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Steve Martin and Michael Caine are Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, and they're absolutely ruining the Riviera in this wonderfully crafted, absolutely charming, classy and consistently amusing (Variety) comedy. Martin is Freddy Benson, a small-time con man sleazing his way through Europe on whatever handouts he can scam. Caine is Lawrence Jamieson, an impeccably dressed and high-minded artiste who thinks Freddy is giving him - and all con men - a bad name. At first, Lawrence agrees to help Freddy spruce up his talents and his wardrobe. But when it becomes apparent that the Riviera isn't big enough for the both of them, they make a winner-take-all wager over the fortunes of a naive American soap heiress (Glenne Headly). Charged with hysterical performances, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is a hilarious battle of wits and double-crosses (Boxoffice) that couldn't be more delightful (The Wall Street Journal)!

• The Wild Bunch | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Here's how director Sam Peckinpah described his motivation behind The Wild Bunch at the time of the film's 1969 release: "I was trying to tell a simple story about bad men in changing times. The Wild Bunch is simply what happens when killers go to Mexico. The strange thing is you feel a great sense of loss when these killers reach the end of the line." All of these statements are true, but they don't begin to cover the impact that Peckinpah's film had on the evolution of American movies. Now the film is most widely recognized as a milestone event in the escalation of screen violence, but that's a label of limited perspective. Of course, Peckinpah's bloody climactic gunfight became a masterfully directed, photographed, and edited ballet of graphic violence that transcended the conventional Western and moved into a slow-motion realm of pure cinematic intensity. But the film--surely one of the greatest Westerns ever made--is also a richly thematic tale of, as Peckinpah said, "bad men in changing times." The year is 1913 and the fading band of thieves known as the Wild Bunch (led by William Holden as Pike) decide to pull one last job before retirement. But an ambush foils their plans, and Peckinpah's film becomes an epic yet intimate tale of betrayed loyalties, tenacious rivalry, and the bunch's dogged determination to maintain their fading code of honor among thieves. The 144-minute director's cut enhances the theme of male bonding that recurs in many of Peckinpah's films, restoring deleted scenes to deepen the viewer's understanding of the friendship turned rivalry between Pike and his former friend Deke Thornton (Robert Ryan), who now leads a posse in pursuit of the bunch, a dimension that adds resonance to an already classic American film. The Wild Bunch is a masterpiece that should not be defined strictly in terms of its violence, but as a story of mythic proportion, brimming with rich characters and dialogue and the bittersweet irony of outlaw traditions on the wane. --Jeff Shannon

• Ocean's 11 | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £6.17   |  Saving you £11.82 (191.57%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Leave it to the Chairman of the Board to rope in a great director for the first Rat Pack movie, Ocean's Eleven. Lewis Milestone (All Quiet on the Western Front) did indeed direct this 1960 caper movie starring Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr, Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop; but the results now seem like more of a historical artefact than a good piece of entertainment. The tone of the film is curiously serious--much more so than Steven Soderbergh's fluffy 2002 remake--one somehow expected that the Rat Pack would have made a more buoyant first picture. But it is something to see these guys together, if only for reasons of nostalgia.--Tom Keogh, Amazon.com

• The West Wing - Complete Season 5 | DVD | (25/04/2005) from £6.99   |  Saving you £55.00 (786.84%)   |  RRP £61.99

  Features the complete episodes from the fifth series of the drama. President Bartlet must tackle, amongst other things: terrorist threats, the devastation caused by a tornado, a hostage situation, and a Christmas family gathering...

• Spider-Man: Far from Home - | Blu Ray | (11/11/2019) from £26.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Peter Parker returns in Spider-Man™: Far From Home, the next chapter of the Spider-Man™: Homecoming series! Our friendly neighborhood Super Hero decides to join his best friends Ned, MJ, and the rest of the gang on a European vacation. However, Peter's plan to leave super heroics behind for a few weeks are quickly scrapped when he begrudgingly agrees to help Nick Fury uncover the mystery of several elemental creature attacks, creating havoc across the continent! Click Images to Enlarge

• Star Trek: Discovery - Season Four | Blu Ray | (05/12/2022) from £26.98   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Season Four of Star Trek: Discovery finds Captain Burnham and the crew of the U.S.S. Discovery facing a threat unlike any they've ever encountered. With Federation and non-Federation worlds alike feeling the impact, they must confront the unknown and work together to ensure a hopeful future for all.

• Wild Bill | DVD | (29/07/2019) from £8.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  US police chief Bill Hixon lands in Lincolnshire with his 14 year-old daughter Kelsey, hoping to flee their recent painful past. New community forces Bill to question everything about himself.