"Actor: Michael Will"

• Clint Eastwood Westerns Collection (3 Discs) | Blu Ray | (17/04/2019) from £16.15   |  Saving you £23.84 (147.62%)   |  RRP £39.99

  Classic westerns collection of 3 Blu-ray discs starring Clint Eastwood in 1080p High Definition.

• For Pete's Sake | DVD | (04/11/2002) from £25.00   |  Saving you £-12.01 (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  For Pete's Sake is a bright-eyed romantic comedy about a young couple, the eternally optimistic Henrietta (Barbra Streisand) and her husband Pete (Michael Sarrazin), who works by day as a cab driver while studying at night school. Money is tight, a fact constantly brought home to them by Pete's successful but tedious brother, Fred (William Redfield) and his bitchy wife Helen (Estelle Parsons, quite superb here). When Pete hears of an opportunity to make money on the stock market (on pork bellies, of all things) he's desperate to get his hands on $3,000, believing it will make everything come right. After conventional sources have turned them down, Henrietta secretly turns to a loan shark on the understanding that he'll be paid back in a week. The comedy arises when the shares in pork do a belly flop and her contract is sold on to increasingly dubious characters at increasingly exorbitant rates of interest. Thus, we have her taken on by a high-class madam and getting embroiled in bomb-planting and cattle-rustling. As a vehicle for Streisand-the-actress rather than Streisand-the-singer, it certainly works (though she does perform the vapid title-song), her manic comedic skill chiming well with the demands of her character in this amiable piece of froth. On the DVD: For Pete's Sake is pretty thin on the special features front: theatrical trailers; a director's commentary (reasonably worthwhile); and basic filmographies. The picture has come up surprisingly well given its age, and though it's in mono, there are no complaints about the sound either. --Harriet Smith

• The Eagle Has Landed | DVD | (19/07/2007) from £4.99   |  Saving you £1.00 (20.04%)   |  RRP £5.99

  This 1976 adventure story set in World War II concerns a Nazi plot to kidnap Churchill from his retreat--or murder him if need be. The large, great cast and a director, John Sturges, who's been down this road of ensemble action before (The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape) make this project exciting if not as memorable as Sturges' more famous works. The weak ending doesn't help. --Tom Keogh, Amazon.com

• Star Trek: The Next Generation - Complete Seasons 1-7 | Blu Ray | (15/12/2014) from £89.99   |  Saving you £-25.20 (N/A%)   |  RRP £64.79

  After Star Wars and the successful big-screen Star Trek adventures, it's perhaps not so surprising that Gene Roddenberry managed to convince purse string-wielding studio heads in the 1980s that a Next Generation would be both possible and profitable. But the political climate had changed considerably since the 1960s, the Cold War had wound down, and we were now living in the Age of Greed. To be successful a second time, Star Trek had to change too. A writer's guide was composed with which to sell and define where the Trek universe was in the 24th Century. The United Federation of Planets was a more appealing ideology to an America keen to see where the Reagan/Gorbachev faceoff was taking them. Starfleet's meritocratic philosophy had always embraced all races and species. Now Earth's utopian history, featuring the abolishment of poverty, was brandished prominently and proudly. The new Enterprise, NCC 1701-D, was no longer a ship of war but an exploration vessel carrying families. The ethical and ethnical flagship also carried a former enemy (the Klingon Worf, played by Michael Dorn), and its Chief Engineer (Geordi LaForge) was blind and black. From every politically correct viewpoint, Paramount executives thought the future looked just swell! Roddenberry's feminism now contrasted a pilot episode featuring ship's Counsellor Troi (Marina Sirtis) in a mini-skirt with her ongoing inner strengths and also those of Dr. Crusher (Gates McFadden) and the short-lived Tasha Yar (Denise Crosby). The arrival of Whoopi Goldberg in season 2 as mystic barkeep Guinan is a great example of the good the original Trek did for racial groups--Goldberg has stated that she was inspired to become an actress in large part through seeing Nichelle Nichols' Uhura. Her credibility as an actress helped enormously alongside the strong central performances of Patrick Stewart (Captain Picard), Jonathan Frakes (First Officer Will Riker), and Brent Spiner (Data) in defining another wholly believable environment once again populated with well-defined characters. Star Trek, it turned out, did not depend for its success on any single group of actors. Like its predecessor in the 1960s, TNG pioneered visual effects on TV, making it an increasingly jaw-dropping show to look at. And thanks also to the enduring success of the original show, phasers, tricorders, communicators and even phase inverters were already familiar to most viewers. But while technology was a useful tool in most crises, it now frequently seemed to be the cause of them too, as the show's writers continually warned about the dangers of over-reliance on technology (the Borg were the ultimate expression of this maxim). The word "technobabble" came to describe a weakness in many TNG scripts, which sacrificed the social and political allegories of the original and relied instead upon invented technological faults and their equally fictitious resolutions to provide drama within the Enterprise's self-contained society. (The holodeck's safety protocol override seemed to be next to the light switch given the number of times crew members were trapped within.) This emphasis on scientific jargon appealed strongly to an audience who were growing up for the first time in the late 1980s with the home computer--and gave rise to the clichéd image of the nerdy Trek fan. Like in the original Trek, it was in the stories themselves that much of the show's success is to be found. That pesky Prime Directive kept moral dilemmas afloat ("Justice"/"Who Watches the Watchers?"/"First Contact"). More "what if" scenarios came out of time-travel episodes ("Cause and Effect"/"Time's Arrow"/"Yesterday's Enterprise"). And there were some episodes that touched on the political world, such as "The Arsenal of Freedom" questioning the supply of arms, "Chain of Command" decrying the torture of political prisoners and "The Defector", which was called "The Cuban Missile Crisis of The Neutral Zone" by its writer. The show ran for more than twice as many episodes as its progenitor and therefore had more time to explore wider ranging issues. But the choice of issues illustrates the change in the social climate that had occurred with the passing of a couple of decades. "Angel One" covered sexism; "The Outcast" was about homosexuality; "Symbiosis"--drug addiction; "The High Ground"--terrorism; "Ethics"--euthanasia; "Darmok"--language barriers; and "Journey's End"--displacement of Indians from their homeland. It would have been unthinkable for the original series to have tackled most of these. TNG could so easily have been a failure, but it wasn't. It survived a writer's strike in its second year, the tragic death of Roddenberry just after Trek's 25th anniversary in 1991, and plenty of competition from would-be rival franchises. Yes, its maintenance of an optimistic future was appealing, but the strong stories and readily identifiable characters ensured the viewers' continuing loyalty. --Paul Tonks

• Above Us The Waves | DVD | (19/06/2007) from £6.25   |  Saving you £0.74 (11.84%)   |  RRP £6.99

  Directed by Ralph Thomas, Above Us the Waves (1955) tells of a Royal Navy mission to sink the "invincible" German battleship Tirpitz, off the Norwegian coast. John Mills is calm and confident as the mission commander, with strong support from John Gregson and Donald Sinden--all treated by the German personnel as fellow gentlemen when captured. Despite stirring music from Arthur Benjamin, the action sequences are visually no more than adequate, and the film is only a partial success.--Richard Whitehouse

• The Night Of | DVD | (24/10/2016) from £11.98   |  Saving you £-0.16 (N/A%)   |  RRP £11.82

  Eight-part crime drama starring John Turturro and Riz Ahmed. New York student Naz (Ahmed) embarks on a wild night out with a mysterious woman after picking her up in his dad's cab. The next morning he finds her stabbed to death in his bed. With no recollection of the previous night's events, Naz flees the scene but is quickly brought in by the city's police and identified as the main suspect for the victim's murder. After he is denied a legal representative, defence lawyer John Stone (Turturro) steps in to help Naz prove his innocence. As he awaits prosecution on Rikers Island, Naz adapts to the politics of life on the inside while his legal team try to piece together what happened on the night of the crime. The episodes are: 'The Beach', 'Subtle Beast', 'A Dark Crate', 'The Art of War', 'The Season of the Witch', 'Samson and Delilah', 'Ordinary Death' and 'The Call of the Wild'.

• Batman | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £4.96   |  Saving you £9.03 (182.06%)   |  RRP £13.99

  Thanks to the ambitious vision of director Tim Burton, the blockbuster hit of 1989 delivers the goods despite an occasionally spotty script, giving the caped crusader a thorough overhaul in keeping with the crime fighter's evolution in DC Comics. Michael Keaton strikes just the right mood as the brooding "Dark Knight" of Gotham City; Kim Basingerplays Gotham's intrepid reporter Vicki Vale; and Jack Nicholson goes wild as the maniacal and scene-stealing Joker, who plots a take over of the city with his lethal Smilex gas. Triumphant Oscar-winning production design by the late Anton Furst turns Batman into a visual feast, and Burton brilliantly establishes a darkly mythic approach to Batman's legacy. Danny Elfman's now-classic score propels the action with bold, muscular verve. --Jeff Shannon

• The Wire - Season 2 | DVD | (10/10/2005) from £7.84   |  Saving you £43.15 (550.38%)   |  RRP £50.99

  The most unvarnished uncompromising and realistic police drama ever returns for another hard hitting season. McNolty has been demoted to harbor patrol Daniels is in the police archive dungeon Prez is chafing in the suburbs and Gregs is stuck behind a desk. Meanwhile on the docks of the Baltimore harbor the rank and file scrounge for work and the union bosses take illegitimate measures to reinvigorate business but a horrific discovery is about to blow the whole port inside out. W

• Payroll | DVD | (11/02/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  A vicious gang of crooks plan to steal the wages of a local factory but their carefully laid plans go wrong...

• Big Wednesday | DVD | (01/06/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £13.99

  John Milius charts a decade of social change as three surfing buddies use the sport as a personal touchstone for their lives whilst growing up in the turbulent 1960s. Irresponsible hot-dogging legend Matt (Jan-Michael Vincent),serious and stable Jack (William Katt) and mad misfit Leroy, aka "Masochist" (Gary Busey), are teenage surf bums in 1963, living at the beach in a perpetual summer under the sway of surfboard-maker Bear (Sam Melville), guru, mentor, and keeper of the lore. But times are changing and boys grow up in the shadow of Vietnam while adulthood pushes them into hard decisions. John Milius mixes the nostalgia of American Graffiti with the reverence of a John Ford cavalry drama. Surfing becomes a kind of spiritual quest spoken of in awed mythic tones and photographed with the epic grandeur of a rite of passage. Milius's heavy-handed direction andr everent attitude slows the films and will turn off some viewers but Milius fans will appreciate his macho stylings and philosophical musings, and surfing fans will love the spectacular surfing footage, including the dazzling stylings of world champion Gerry Lopez (who Milius later cast in Conan the Barbarian). Lee Purcell costars as Matt's supportive wife, with Patti D'Arbanville, Barbara Hale and Robert Englund in supporting roles. Look for Ford stock player Hank Worden in a small role and Milius himself in a cameo role selling marijuana in Tijuana. --Sean Axmaker

• Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back | Blu Ray | (24/08/2020) from £8.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  The Rebels scatter after the Empire attacks their base on the ice planet Hoth. Han Solo and Princess Leia are pursued by Imperials, while Luke trains with Jedi Master Yoda. Luke battles Darth Vader and learns the shocking truth of his past. Special Features: Audio Commentary By George Lucas, Irvin Kershner, Carrie Fisher, Ben Burtt and Dennis Muren Archival Audio Commentary By The Cast And Crew Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back Bonus Disc Conversations: The Lost Interviews Discoveries From Inside: Matte Paintings Unveiled A Conversation With The Masters (2010) Dennis Muren: How Walkers Walk Hoth Overview George Lucas On Editing The Empire Strikes Back 1979 Irvin Kershner Interview Dagobah Overview Pursued by the Imperial Fleet Overview George Lucas On The Force: 2010 Cloud City Overview Han And Leia: Extended Echo Base Argument Luke's Recovery Luke And Leia: Medical Center Wampa Attacks The Fate of General Veers Yoda's Test Hiding In The Asteroid Alternate Han And Leia Kiss Lobot's Capture Leia Tends To Luke AT-AT Walker Fallen Model Snowspeeder Model Tauntaun Maquette Rebel Transport Model Hoth Landscape Matte Painting Leia Hoth Costume Han Solo Interior: Hoth Costume Yoda Model Luke's Severed Head Dagobah Bog Matte Painting Dagobah Matte Painting Luke's Tan Costume Star Destroyer Model Millennium Falcon Model Space Slug Darth Vader's Star Destroyer Model Star Destroyer Hull Model Executor Bridge Matte Painting Boba Fett Prototype Costume Imperial Officer Costume Rebel Cruiser Model Twin-Pod Cloud Car Model Cloud City Models Cloud City Matte Painting Cloud City Landing Platform Matte Painting Cloud City Core Vane Matte Painting Cloud City Core Vane Platform Matte Painting Lando Bespin Costume Cloud City Slave I Matte Painting

• Exit Wounds / Out For Justice | DVD | (21/03/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £10.99

  Exit Wounds: Sometimes you have to go undercover to bring justice to the law: sometimes you have to walk in the darkness to bring the truth to light. From the acclaimed producer of 'The Matrix' Joel Silver brings you action hit 'Exit Wounds'. Fifty kilos of heroin disappear from the property vaults of the toughest precinct in Detroit and no one knows how. Itll make someone $5 million richer - maybe someone in uniform - as long as no one talks. Stolen drugs crooked cops. T

• The Comedy of Errors | DVD | (28/05/2012) from £7.09   |  Saving you £5.90 (83.22%)   |  RRP £12.99

  A star cast including Judi Dench, Michael Williams, Roger Rees, Francesca Annis and Nickolas Grace features in a joyfully exuberant Royal Shakespeare Company production of one of Shakespeare s best-loved comedies. Conceived by Trevor Nunn, this musical presentation at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon is a carefree romp in which collapsing chairs, squirting soda siphons, funky wigs, uncompromising couplets and outrageous puns abound. The production features music by composer Guy Woolfenden, who received an Olivier Award for Best New Musical for the show s London production, and dance routines by world-renowned choreographer Gillian Lynne; Francesca Annis won a BAFTA award for her role as Luciana. The play itself is a comedy of mistaken identities involving two sets of twins. With their twin servants, they are separated in a shipwreck and thrown together by chance, and the plot twists and turns in total confusion!

• In Search Of The Castaways | DVD | (13/04/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  The exciting tale of two children who with the help of an eccentric professor set out in search of their shipwrecked father...

• Lovecraft Country: Season 1 | Blu Ray | (22/02/2021) from £14.89   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  A young African-American travels across the U.S. in the 1950s in search of his missing father.

• Educating Rita | DVD | (21/05/2018) from £6.34   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Assassin's Creed (Blu-ray + Digital HD UV) | Blu Ray | (15/05/2017) from £4.51   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Oscar® nominee Michael Fassbender stars in this big-screen action-adventure, based on the wildly popular gaming phenomenon. Fassbender plays Callum Lynch, who experiences the life of his 15th-century ancestor through a technology that unlocks his genetic memories. Callum discovers he once belonged to a secret society of assassins and amasses lethal skills to take on the oppressive Templars.Click Images to Enlarge

• Stargate SG-1: Season 2 | DVD | (27/01/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £59.99

  The success of the first year meant that Stargate SG-1's second series could afford to spread its wings. In only the second episode, Carter is temporarily possessed by a good Goa'uld. This immediately allowed for both any amount of quick fix inside knowledge as well as story off-shoots, now that the show was bent on franchise longevity. There appeared to be information overload (splinter group Tok'ra, Earth's second Gate, Machello, endless Apophis encounters), as the finely interwoven threads of alien histories and inter-relationships were developed. But thankfully, SG-1 never lost sight of the need for great individual stories. There was a planet of Native American Indians; a planet on the edge of a Black Hole; a planet of aliens sensitive to sound. Even a planet run by Dwight Schultz! Better still, they found time to have fun with their universe, too. "1969" remains one of the best comic romps the series has enjoyed, and is a near-perfect self-contained time-travel story to boot. The team of actors had obviously bonded early on in the first year. It may be a bit of a military faux pas that there is only ever four of them leading every major explorative expedition, but the limited number of principals is actually something else the show has always had in its favour, allowing quality screen time to be spent on each of them from the outset (although Richard Dean Anderson would probably rather not have spent an entire episode impaled by a spike). --Paul Tonks

• Batman 4-Film Collection 1989 - 1997 | Blu Ray | (21/09/2020) from £44.97   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Batman 4-Film Collection 1989 - 1997 includes Batman (1989), Batman Returns (1992), Batman Forever (1995) and Batman & Robin (1997), plus hours of special features, including must-see profiles, documentaries, making -of featurettes, director commentaries by Tim Burton and Joel Schumacher, theatrical trailers and music videos. Special Features: Includes Director Commentaries

• The Waltons - Season 1 | DVD | (01/11/2004) from £29.99   |  Saving you £11.00 (36.68%)   |  RRP £40.99

  The Walton' nearly 10-year run grew out of the popular, 1971 made-for-TV movie The Homecoming, which was derived from a Depression-era, rustic setting ("Walton's Mountain"), and characters based on Earl Hamner Jr.'s autobiographical novel Spencer's Mountain--itself the source for a very nice 1963 feature film starring Henry Fonda and Maureen O'Hara. That's a lot of entertainment sprouting from Hamner's prose. But something about his seminal story of family values, rugged independence, and big dreams amidst a hardscrabble existence captured the hearts of American audiences, many of whom personally recalled severe economic adversity in the 1930s. The Waltons: The Complete First Season collects those initial episodes from the series building on the strengths of the Homecoming pilot, which introduced the extended Walton clan led by a strong-willed mill owner, John (Andrew Duggan), and his equally resolute wife, Olivia (Patricia Neal). The Waltons recast those key roles (as well as a few others) with Ralph Waite and Michael Learned (yup, a female), but Richard Thomas carried over as oldest child John-Boy Walton, an aspiring writer whose cusp-of-manhood view informs the series. Will Geer (Seconds) replaced Edgar Bergen as Grandpa Walton, Ellen Corby remained as Grandma, and John and Olivia's large brood (seven kids in all) were filled out by largely unknown, young actors. The episodes, still delightful and touching, strong on production values and unusually tight and polished for primetime drama, tended to focus on creator Hamner's pet themes of self-sacrifice and heroic effort when the going got tough. Year 1 highlights include "The Carnival", in which the impoverished Waltons, who can't pay for tickets to see a circus performance, end up sheltering stranded carney folk. "The Typewriter" is a classic about John-Boy "borrowing" a museum's antique typewriter, only to have his sister Mary Ellen (Judy Norton) sell it as junk. "The Sinner" concerns the arrival of a fundamentalist minister on Walton's Mountain, finding comfort in the words of religious iconoclast John Walton after the clergyman makes a fool of himself with moonshine. That's Hamner himself providing touches of narration. During the long run of the multiple-award-winning The Waltons, there were many changes in casting and storylines. But this boxed set reveals a fine series in its pristine state. --Tom Keogh