"Actor: Matthew"

• The Lion King Special Edition | DVD | (31/10/2003) from £10.46   |  Saving you £12.53 (119.79%)   |  RRP £22.99

  Disney's 1994 animated feature, The Lion King, was a huge smash in cinemas and continues to enjoy life in an acclaimed stage production. The story finds a lion cub, son of a king, sent into exile after his father is deposed by a jealous uncle. The little hero finds his way into the "circle of life" with some new friends and eventually comes back to reclaim his proper place. Characters are very strong, vocal performances by the likes of Jeremy Irons, Nathan Lane and Whoopi Goldberg are terrific, the jokes are aimed as much (if not more) at adults than kids, the animation is sometimes breathtaking and the songs from Tim Rice and Elton John, accompanied by a colourful score, are more palatable than in many recent Disney features. --Tom Keogh On the DVD: The Lion King Special Edition is a superb restoration: take a look at the serviceable but dull film clips incorporated in the plethora of extras and compare them to the vivid gorgeousness of the film presentation. This special edition also adds a 90-second song ("Morning Report") that originated in the lavish stage musical. To Disney's credit, the original theatrical version is also included, both restored and featuring two 5.1 soundtracks: Dolby Digital and a new Disney Enhanced Home Theater Mix, which does sound brighter. As with the Disney Platinum line, everything is thrown into the discs, except an outsider's voice (the rah-rahs of Disney grow tiresome at times). The excellent commentary from the directors and producer, originally on the laser disc, is hidden under the audio set-up menu. The second disc is organised by 20-minute-ish "journeys" tackling the elements of story, music and so on, including good background on the awkward Shakespearean origins at Disney where it was referred as "Bamlet". The most interesting journey follows the landmark stage production, and the kids should be transfixed by shots of the real African wildlife in the animal journey. Three deleted segments are real curios, including an opening lyric for "Hakuna Matata". Most set-top DVD games are usually pretty thin (DVD-ROM is where it's at), but the Safari game is an exception--the kids should love the roaring animals (in 5.1 Surround, no less). One serious demerit is the needless and complicated second navigation system that is listed by continent but just shows the same features reordered. --Doug Thomas

• Mary Poppins Returns Doublepack | DVD | (15/04/2019) from £6.95   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  In Depression-era London, a now-grown Jane and Michael Banks, along with Michael's three children, are visited by the enigmatic Mary Poppins following a personal loss. Through her unique magical skills, and with the aid of her friend Jack, she helps the family rediscover the joy and wonder missing in their lives.

• Pride and Prejudice | Blu Ray | (17/05/2010) from £21.95   |  Saving you £-1.96 (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Keira Knightley and Matthew MacFadyen star in this adaptation of Jane Austen's classic novel.

• Resident Evil: The Complete Collection | DVD | (12/06/2017) from £14.99   |  Saving you £10.00 (66.71%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Given that Resident Evil is a Paul Anderson movie based on a computer game which was itself highly derivative (especially of George A Romero and James Cameron films), it's probably unfair to complain that it hasn't got an original idea or moment in its entire running time. In the early 1980s, Italian schlock films such as Zombie Flesh Eaters and Zombie Creeping Flesh tried to cram in as many moments restaged from American originals as possible, strung together by silly characters wandering between monster attacks. This is a much-improved, edited, photographed and directed version of the same gambit. As amnesiac Milla Jovovich remembers amazing kung fu skills and anti-globalist Eric Mabius mutters about evil corporations, a gang of clichéd soldiers with nary a distinguishing feature between them (except for Michelle Rodriguez as a secondary tough chick) are trapped in an underground scientific compound at the mercy of a tyrannical computer--which manifests as a smug little-girl-o-gram--fending off flesh-eating zombies (though gore fans will be disappointed by the film's need to stay within the limits of the 15 certificate) and CGI mutants, not to mention the ever-popular zombie dogs. It's tolerably action-packed, but zips past its borrowings (Aliens, Cube, Deep Blue Sea) without adding anything that future schlock pictures will want to imitate. On the DVD: Resident Evil on disc has the expected trailers, both teaser and theatrical; a half-hour making-of; zombie make-up tests; featurettes on music (with Marilyn Manson), production design and costume. A lively commentary track features Anderson, Jovovich, Rodriguez and producer/zombie Jeremy Bolt--Jovovich upbraids Anderson for talking about different gradings of film stock over her nude scene and everyone else talks about how much she hurt them by punching them out during action sequences. Anderson mentions an alternate commentary track with visual effects designer Richard Yuricich, but it isn't included. --Kim Newman

• Glory | DVD | (19/06/2000) from £7.25   |  Saving you £12.74 (175.72%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The negroes fought gallantly and were headed by as brave a Colonel as ever lived", was one Confederate soldier's eyewitness verdict on the 54th Massachusetts Volunteers immediately after 247 of their 600-man regiment had fallen in bloody swathes beneath the withering fire from Fort Wagner near Charleston, South Carolina in 1863. Glory is their story: the mustering of the first black regiment in the US Army, their battles with the Southerners as well as with the Northern military authorities, and their own moment of glory when they paid a terrible price for the opportunity to demonstrate to the world their courage. In telling this little-known story, director Ed Zwick single-handedly changed perceptions of the American Civil War: when a Grand Review of the Armies was held in Washington at the end of the war, none of the almost 180,000 coloured troops who fought for the Union were present; when that parade was restaged in 1990 a year after the movie was released, the 54th Massachusetts re-enactors were at the front of the procession. Zwick's stirring, factually accurate account is greatly enhanced by obsessive period detail and frighteningly realistic battle reconstructions (which were not to be surpassed in scale until 1993's Gettysburg). But Zwick also illuminates individual characters in the regiment with great sensitivity. As crucial as the military set-pieces are the scenes of the men together: talking in the tent or baring their souls in song. Denzel Washington, as the embittered ex-slave, gives a performance of real depth; he richly deserved his Oscar win for the heartbreaking flogging scene alone. Morgan Freeman brings great gravitas to his paternalistic role, and Matthew Broderick's idealistic Colonel Shaw is the centre around which the story revolves. With a clutch of remarkable lead performances, a sensitive and touching script, one of James Horner's finest musical scores, and a director with both the vision and heart to pull it off it's easy to agree with the backcover blurb: "Glory is one of the greatest war movies ever made". Without even a hint of hyperbole, it undoubtedly is. On the DVD: This is a superb looking (anamorphic) and sounding (Dolby 5.1) print, and the disc has some excellent additional features. Ed Zwick's commentary is insightful and extremely detailed: here's a director who obviously cares deeply about this movie. Of the three featurettes, one is a short-ish promo piece but the other two are genuinely impressive: there's a 20-minute "Making of" feature with major contributions from Zwick, Freeman and Broderick, and best of all a 45-minute "The True Story Continues" feature narrated by Freeman which tells the complete story of the 54th Massachusetts from beginning to end using footage from the movie as well as archive material and film of battle re-enactments. Also included are two deleted scenes, although a third scene which was shot for the movie but not used (the Frederick Douglass' speech) crops up in the "True Story" piece. James Horner's emotive score gets an isolated track all to itself and there are also some filmographies and trailers. All in all, this is a superb DVD. --Mark Walker

• Karas Collection | Blu Ray | (10/10/2010) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Modern day Tokyo where humans spirits and demons co-exist in two overlapping dimensions. For time immemorial the balance and order between the two dimensions has been maintained by a guardian known as the Karas a raven-like creature and its masters. But now that balance is under threat from a former Karas named Eko. Disgusted by human arrogance Eko has turned his back on the ancient laws he helped uphold for so long and is determined to seize power and bring order to the city's streets. Standing against Eko is Yurine a spiritual entity who represents the will of the people accompanied by a newly risen Karas of her own. An ageless battle arise one that will stretch across both dimensions killing humans and spirits alike. Produced by legendary studio Tatsunoko Productions (Speed Racer Gatchaman) and featuring the voices of Jay Hernandez (Grindhouse Hostel) Matthew Lillard (Scream Scooby Doo) and Piper Perabo (Coyote Ugly).

• Amistad | DVD | (29/01/2001) from £6.77   |  Saving you £13.22 (195.27%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Steven Spielberg's most simplistic, sanitised history lesson, Amistad, explores the symbolic 1840s trials of 53 West Africans following their bloody rebellion aboard a slave ship. For most of Schindler's List (and, later, Saving Private Ryan) Spielberg restrains himself from the sweeping narrative and technical flourishes that make him one of our most entertaining and manipulative directors. Here, he doesn't even bother trying, succumbing to his driving need to entertain with beautiful images and contrived emotion. He cheapens his grandiose motives and simplifies slavery, treating it as cut- and-dry genre piece. Characters are easy Hollywood stereotypes--"villains" like the Spanish sailors or zealous abolitionists are drawn one-dimensionally and sneered upon. And Spielberg can't suppress his gifted eye, undercutting normally ugly sequences, such as the terrifying slave passage, which is shot as a gorgeous, well-lit composition. At its core, Amistad is a traditional courtroom drama, centred by a tired, clichéd narrative: a struggling, idealistic young lawyer (Matthew McConaughey) fighting the crooked political system and saving helpless victims. Worse yet, Spielberg actually takes the underlying premise of his childhood fantasy, E.T. and repackages it for slavery. Cinque (Djimon Hounsou), the leader of the West African rebellion, is presented much like the adorable alien: lost, lacking a common language, and trying to find his way home. McConaughey is a grown-up Elliot who tries communicating complicated ideas such as geography by drawing pictures in the sand or language by having Cinque mimic his facial expressions. Such stuff was effective for a sci-fi fantasy about the communication barriers between a boy and a lost alien; here, it seems like a naive view of real, complex history. --Dave McCoy, Amazon.com

• The Paperboy | DVD | (29/07/2013) from £5.19   |  Saving you £12.80 (246.63%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Directed by Oscar nominee Lee Daniels (Precious) The Paperboy follows two brothers: Ward (Matthew McConaughey Magic Mike) a reporter for the esteemed daily newspaper The Miami Times and Jack (Zac Efron The Lucky One) a recent college dropout. When Ward shows up with his writing partner Yardley (David Oyelowo Lincoln) to investigate a story Ward asks Jack to accompany them as their driver. Ward is in town because a local woman named Charlotte (Nicole Kidman Stoker) has convinced them that Hillary Van Wetter (John Cusack Grosse Point Blank) an unsavory alligator hunter from the backwoods was wrongly convicted at a trial that took place near their hometown. As the investigation unravels it becomes clear that these brothers are on a journey that is filled with betrayal. The only thing that remains constant is that there is this strange beautiful woman who falls in love with killers and her passion could be everyone's downfall.

• Death and Nightingales | DVD | (04/02/2019) from £7.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Death and Nightingales is a riveting story of love and revenge, set in the beautiful countryside of Fermanagh, Ireland in 1885; a world of spies, deception and betrayal, with simmering tensions of class, politics and religion that threaten to tear the country apart. Set over a desperately tense 24-hour period, it is Beth Winters 23rd birthday the day she has decided to join her secret lover, the charming, mysterious Liam Ward and escape from her limited life and difficult and complex relationship with her Protestant landowner stepfather, Billy. Beth and the overbearing Billy live alone, bonded not by blood but the horrific death of Catherine, Billy's wife and Beth's mother. But their world comes crashing down around them when the young lovers attempt to steal Billy's gold. When he learns of their betrayal and when Beth discovers a fresh grave dug by Liam that is meant for her a devastating chain of events is set in motion in this thrillingly dark and haunting tale.

• Doctor Who - The Complete Series 5 | DVD | (08/11/2010) from £29.95   |  Saving you £40.04 (133.69%)   |  RRP £69.99

  Brand New Doctor! Exciting New Adventures! Episodes Comprise: 1. The Eleventh Hour 2. The Beast Below 3. Victory of the Daleks 4. The Time of Angels 5. Flesh and Stone 6. The Vampires of Venice 7. Amy's Choice 8. The Hungry Earth 9. Cold Blood 10. Vincent and the Doctor 11. The Lodger 12. The Pandorica Opens 13. The Big Bang

• Dirty Sanchez - European Invasion - The Complete 3rd Series | DVD | (21/11/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Over four hours of gut-emptying side-splitting humour! Disc 1: All the episodes from the third series! 1. Scandinavia 2. Germany 3. Eastern Europe 4. Greece 5. Italy 6. Spain Disc 2: International relations Sanchez style; the unbroadcast story of the boyos! Over two hours of previously unbroadcast footage completely exclusive to this DVD!

• I Know What You Did Last Summer Trilogy - Standard Edition | Blu Ray | (05/04/2021) from £28.85   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Leatherface had his chainsaws, Freddie has his glove... now there's a new slasher icon, and he's got a hook. In I Know What You Did Last Summer a group of kids pay the price for not reporting a hit and run a year later when their victim comes back for revenge, apparently from beyond the grave, and he doesn't finish with them then, chasing down the survivors for more slicing and dicing in I Still Know What You Did Last Summer. And if that wasn't enough, he finds all new targets for more hook-heavy payback in I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer. From the creators of Scream and starring Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr., 88 Films are proud to present these three modern slasher classics for the first time on UK blu-ray, completely uncut.

• Yonderland: Series 2 | DVD | (14/12/2015) from £6.99   |  Saving you £3.00 (42.92%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Written by and starring the cast of Horrible Histories, Yonderland is a wonderful and weird comedy for adults and kids alike. Yonderland follows 33-year old mum Debbie Maddox (Martha Howe-Douglas) who is bored of being an unappreciated stay-at-home mum. Little does she know this is all about to change when she unexpectedly finds herself on a quest through Yonderland, with only an Elf by her side. This extraordinary world is only accessible via her kitchen cupboard that is inhabited by a collection of eccentric (and usually idiotic) characters, some of whom happen to be puppets. Through Debbie's eyes, we're exported to a strange but spectacular getaway packed full of mayhem, Monty Python-esque silliness and humour that will have mum and dad in stiches too, guaranteeing giggles for the whole family. In Series Two, Debbie, The Chosen One is thrown back into the fantastical world of Yonderland, constantly called upon by the Council of Elders to overcome their latest challenge. But bigger issues are at stake now that Debbie's nemesis Imperatrix has determined to capture her, fulfil the prophecy and destroy Yonderland. Meanwhile Debbie's husband Peter starts to fixate on the strange goings on in the kitchen cupboard as he becomes increasingly suspicious about her absences from home.

• Friends: Complete Series 2 - New Edition | DVD | (25/10/2004) from £5.99   |  Saving you £44.00 (734.56%)   |  RRP £49.99

  Arguably the best series, this season's episodes really developed the characters as the show's popularity took off. Love is in the air as Rachel and Ross, both finally realising they're attracted to each other, nearly get it together, don't, and then finally do. Joey gets that role as Dr Drake Ramoray in Days of Our Lives and moves out of the flat he shares with Chandler, precipitating a bust-up between the two best buddies. Monica dates Richard, the hunky, older eye-doctor played by Tom Selleck, and Phoebe makes a video of that seminal song for a generation, "SmellyCat". --Leslie Felperin

• Legally Blonde | DVD | (11/03/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  When a blonde sorority queen is dumped by her boyfriend, she decides to follow him to law school to get him back and, once there, learns she has more legal savvy than she ever imagined!

• Vienna Blood Season 1/2/3/4 | DVD | (16/09/2024) from £29.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Sorted | DVD | (28/07/2003) from £9.93   |  Saving you £-3.94 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  A young man travels to London to investigate his brother's mysterious death and throws himself into the hedonistic world of club culture.

• All Creatures Great & Small Series 1&2 Boxset | DVD | (29/11/2021) from £14.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Series OneFresh out of Glasgow Veterinary College, James Herriot (Nicholas Ralph) follows his dream to become a vet in the magnificent Yorkshire Dales. He soon discovers that treating the animals is as much about treating their owners, and the Dalesʼ farmers are a tough crowd to please.Includes the Christmas Special: The Night Before ChristmasSeries TwoA visit back home presents James with a dilemma when he's offered a position at his old mentor's forward-thinking practice in Glasgow. On his return to the Dales, James is reminded of how much he loves the place and one person in particular. Will he choose to be with his family or follow his heart?Special Features:Interviews with CastSet WalkthroughPicture GalleriesSubtitles

• Match Point | DVD | (08/05/2006) from £7.01   |  Saving you £10.98 (156.63%)   |  RRP £17.99

  A clandestine affair is the subject of this London based movie from Woody Allen.

• Doctor Who - Four To Doomsday | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £5.59   |  Saving you £14.40 (257.60%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Peter Davidson's recently regenerated Fifth Doctor finds that they are Four to Doomsday when the Tardis materialises inside a vast starship with a multiracial crew from Earth's distant past. Downloaded into computer chips are the memories of the three billion survivors of the Urbankan race and the Earth is to be their new home. Can the Doctor save humanity from total destruction?