"Actor: Michael Roof"

• XXX - 15th Anniversary Edition | Blu Ray | (09/01/2017) from £11.26   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  For a movie that would like to think of itself as the future of the action / espionage picture, xXx uses a surprising number of jokes and stunts lifted directly from the Roger Moore Bond era while the actual premise resembles a sex-change for Nikita. Vin Diesel's Xander Cage--an extreme sports daredevil recruited by spymaster Samuel L Jackson for a covert mission in Prague--may be Blofeld-bald, pumped-up with testosterone, tattooed like a graffiti-covered wall and given to driving sports cars off bridges for fun, but he turns out to be a disappointingly square goodie-goodie when the quips and bullets are flying. Even the slinky heroine (Asia Argento), a double agent within a mad ex-Soviet gang called Anarchy 99, laughs at the idea that a walking cue ball with three Xs tattooed on his neck could ever be a secret agent. There's one stunt scene that will be remembered as a classic, as xXx triggers an avalanche and snowboards ahead of the fall. But there's too much of the falling-out-of-planes, straddling-and-defusing-jet-propelled-germ-bombs, blasting-every-baddie-in-the-place business that makes it too familiar. Enough material for several great trailers, but next time they'll need a script. --Kim Newman On the DVD: xXx comes loud and proud to DVD, with Dolby 5.1 sound and the kind of sharp screen transfer you'd expect for a movie of this magnitude. From beautiful scrolling menus based on the tattoo artwork to the brash music, this disc epitomises everything an extreme sports release should be: special features are offered in the "Zander Zone" and include a whole host of behind-the-scenes action and commentaries, made all the more interesting by Rob Cohen's reluctance to use CGI and Vin Diesel's willingness to be thrown in at the deep end. If there's one thing you should avoid, though, it's the Gavin Rossdale music video--unless of course you want to see a grown man's vanity on screen. --Nikki Disney

• XXX 2 - The Next Level | DVD | (29/08/2005) from £4.97   |  Saving you £15.02 (302.21%)   |  RRP £19.99

  With a core audience of gameboys and hot-rodders aged 25 and under, xXx 2 is the kind of action movie that requires literally no thought to enjoy. With Vin Diesel's original character just killed in Bora Bora (for details, see the uncensored unrated director's cut of xXx), Ice Cube steps in to play bad-ass, and the whole franchise takes on a hip-hop edge that's almost admirably absurd. The asinine plot is anarchy in Washington, D.C., as an insanely hawkish Secretary of State (Willem Dafoe) plots a Capitol coup just as the President (Peter Strauss, playing it straight) is giving his state-of-the-union address. All of this is prefaced by Cube's recruitment as a former Navy SEAL turned new-xXx, escaping from jail (Dafoe's character put him there), hooking up with an old flame who runs a chop-shop full of the world's hottest wheels, and reuniting with his old commander (Samuel L. Jackson) for a bullet-train climax that feels like Mission Impossible Lite. You could argue that Diesel's the smartest guy in the franchise for cashing out early, but xXx 2 gets the job done in passable fashion, with action veteran Lee Tamahori delivering the goods while he waits for a grown-up script to come along. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com

• The Dukes of Hazzard | DVD | (09/01/2006) from £7.98   |  Saving you £11.01 (137.97%)   |  RRP £18.99

  Bo and Luke Duke, with a little help from Daisy and Uncle Jesse egg on the authorities of Hazzard County.

• XXX | DVD | (29/08/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Featuring both the big-budget high-octane action-thrillers in the XXX series. XXX(Triple X): A new brand of secret agent: this 'Xtreme' edition features an addtional 8 minutes of new content not seen in theatrical version! This amped action drama stars Vin Diesel as Xander (aka Triple X) a rebellious extreme sports star with a mission to defy authority and create anarchy. In the dramatic opening scene of the movie Xander pulls an outrageous series of stunts with the help

• XXX (Xtreme Edition) | DVD | (18/04/2005) from £3.69   |  Saving you £16.30 (441.73%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Vin Diesel stars as an extreme sports athlete called Triple X hired by a government agency who turn him into a secret agent and send him on a covert mission to destroy a dangerous terrorist cell.

• XXX (Wide Screen) (Superbit) | DVD | (08/09/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  This amped action drama stars Vin Diesel as Xander (aka Triple X) a rebellious extreme sports star with a mission to defy authority and create anarchy. In the dramatic opening scene of the movie Xander pulls an outrageous series of stunts with the help of a band of similar-minded jocks broadcasts the whole event live onto the Internet with a network of strategically placed digital cameras and then avoids being captured by the squadron of police who pursue him. When Triple X is later taken into custody Gibbons (Samuel L. Jackson) a representative from a government agency hires the chiseled athlete and turns him into a secret agent with a mission to travel to Prague and collapse a dangerous terrorist cell operated by Yorgi (Martin Csokas) and the seductive Yelena (Asia Argento). Triple X is quickly drawn into Yorgi's lair a stunning chateau situated in the mountains that is equipped with every high-tech modern amenity imaginable along with a sizeable team of extra-large Slav bodyguards a laboratory staffed by top scientists and an always-ready gaggle of gorgeous concubines. Non-stop stunts pounding hard-core music elaborate sets and inventive costumes make this Rob Cohen-directed adrenaline overload a visually exciting aurally engaging highly entertaining success.

• Dukes Of Hazzard | UMD | (09/01/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £20.99

• XXX | UMD | (01/09/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Vin Diesel is no James Bond, and he doesn't want to be. That's why XXX announced Diesel as the adrenalin-junkie Bond of the PlayStation generation, copying the Bond formula so shamelessly that this action-packed silliness would be a Bond movie if it starred Pierce Brosnan. Reuniting Diesel with his Fast and the Furious director Rob Cohen, XXX has an attitude (if not a brain) all its own, plucking Diesel's Xander Cage from his celebrity as an extreme sports renegade, recruited by a National Security Agency big shot (Samuel L. Jackson) to foil a nasty Czech villain (Marton Csokas) who's eager to depopulate Prague with remote-controlled biological weaponry. Toss in a sulky, sultry Russian agent (Asia Argento) and you've got extreme Bond-age for anyone who thinks tuxedos are passé. With a handful of eye-popping action sequences, XXX launched a movie franchise with a cool guy, another cool muscle car, and plenty of box-office sizzle. --Jeff Shannon

• Pitch Black / XXX / The Fast And The Furious | DVD | (03/10/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Pitch Black (Dir. David N. Twohy 2000): It's evil vs. evil in an electrifying showdown that USA Today calls the best excuse to root for the bad guy since Arnold in the original Terminator. The daylight can burn you but the darkness will kill you. From the mind of the writer of The Fugitive comes the pulse-pounding sci-fi thriller Pitch Black. Experience the psychological terror when a group of marooned passengers must face a pack of terrifying creatures whose only weakness is the light. With little power and dwindling numbers the doomed passengers turn to a vicious convict (Vin Diesel) with an appetite for destruction and eerie eyes that can guide them through the darkness. XXX (Triple X) (Dir. Rob Cohen 2002): This amped action drama stars Vin Diesel as Xander (aka Triple X) a rebellious extreme sports star with a mission to defy authority and create anarchy. In the dramatic opening scene of the movie Xander pulls an outrageous series of stunts with the help of a band of similar-minded jocks broadcasts the whole event live onto the Internet with a network of strategically placed digital cameras and then avoids being captured by the squadron of police who pursue him. When Triple X is later taken into custody Gibbons (Samuel L. Jackson) a representative from a government agency hires the chiseled athlete and turns him into a secret agent with a mission to travel to Prague and collapse a dangerous terrorist cell operated by Yorgi (Martin Csokas) and the seductive Yelena (Asia Argento). Triple X is quickly drawn into Yorgi's lair a stunning chateau situated in the mountains that is equipped with every high-tech modern amenity imaginable along with a sizeable team of extra-large Slav bodyguards a laboratory staffed by top scientists and an always-ready gaggle of gorgeous concubines. Non-stop stunts pounding hard-core music elaborate sets and inventive costumes make this Rob Cohen-directed adrenaline overload a visually exciting aurally engaging highly entertaining success. The Fast & The Furious (Dir. Rob Cohen 2001): A nitro-burning joyride that makes outstanding use of special effects innovative camera work and a nonstop throbbing soundtrack. From the opening sequence the film never drops below the red line. Roaring along at breakneck speed Dom (Vin Diesel) and his crew meet on the streets of L.A. each night to show off their high-powered racers. When new guy Brian (Paul Walker) wants to add his fuel to the fire he can't getup the money to race but offers up his car as collateral. In their tiny jacked compacts Dom Brian and Edwin (Ja Rule) burst into a high-gear race with Brian nearly beating perennial champion Dom. But in the final moments he loses the race and his car. Brian's debt is quickly cleared however when he saves Dom both from the cops and from a potentially violent encounter with Johnny Tran (Rick Yune) a rival gang lord. Dom takes Brian under his wing--a decision that disgusts his gang but delights his sister Mia (Jordana Brewster).

• xXx: The Next Level | UMD | (01/09/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Ice Cube replaces Vin Diesel as the extreme secret agent, handled by Samuel L. Jackson.