"Actor: Peter Bart"

• The Rescuers Down Under (Disney) | DVD | (28/01/2002) from £6.46   |  Saving you £-1.47 (N/A%)   |  RRP £4.99

  The Rescuers Down Under isn't a quickie, direct-to-video sequel, cashing in on the success of the original 1977 animated hit about adventurous mice, but a full-blown theatrical effort. This time around, Bernard (voice of Bob Newhart) is trying to pop the question to Bianca (Eva Gabor) when they're summoned to Australia, where a young boy has been kidnapped by a pallid, grey-faced poacher (who looks like and is voiced by George C. Scott). Wilbur, a chatterbox of an albatross (John Candy, replacing the late Jim Jordan's character Orville), and Jake (Tristan Rogers), a kangaroo mouse--Bernard is jealous of the dashing rodent--assist the Rescuers in saving the day and imparting a mild environmental message. The film opens with an absolutely breathtaking aerial sequence--this was made near the beginning of Disney's animation renaissance--so impressive it would seem the story, literally, has nowhere else to go but down. However, some smart gags, excellent animation and rollicking adventures ensue. So why isn't it better known? It had the bad luck to open, in 1990, opposite another kids' film--Home Alone. --David Kronke

• The Sixth Sense | DVD | (08/01/2001) from £5.19   |  Saving you £14.80 (285.16%)   |  RRP £19.99

  I see dead people," whispers little Cole Sear (Haley Joel Osment), scared to affirm what is to him now a daily occurrence. This peaked nine-year old, already hypersensitive to begin with, is now being haunted by seemingly malevolent spirits. Child psychologist Malcolm Crowe (Bruce Willis) is trying to find out what's triggering Cole's visions, but what appears to be a psychological manifestation turns out to be frighteningly real. It might be enough to scare off a lesser man, but for Malcolm it's personal--several months before, he was accosted and shot by an unhinged patient, who then turned the gun on himself. Since then, Malcolm has been in turmoil--he and his wife (Olivia Williams) are barely speaking, and his life has taken an aimless turn. Having failed his loved ones and himself, he's not about to give up on Cole. The Sixth Sense, M Night Shyamalan's third feature, sets itself up as a thriller, poised on the brink of delivering monstrous scares, but gradually evolves into more of a psychological drama with supernatural undertones. Many critics faulted the film for being mawkish and New Age-y, but no matter how you slice it, this is one mightily effective piece of filmmaking. The bare bones of the story are basic enough, but the moody atmosphere created by Shyamalan and cinematographer Tak Fujimoto made this one of the creepiest pictures of 1999, forsaking excessive gore for a sinisterly simple feeling of chilly otherworldliness. Willis is in his strong, silent type mode here, and gives the film wholly over to Osment, whose crumpled face and big eyes convey a child too wise for his years; his scenes with his mother (Toni Collette) are small, heartbreaking marvels. And even if you figure out the film's surprise ending, it packs an amazingly emotional wallop when it comes, and will have you racing to watch the movie again with a new perspective. You may be able to shake off the sentimentality of The Sixth Sense, but its craftsmanship and atmosphere will stay with you for days. --Mark Englehart

• The Somme 1916 - From Both Sides of the Wire (BBC) | DVD | (08/08/2016) from £9.99   |  Saving you £10.00 (100.10%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The truth revealed On the centenary of the Battle of the Somme, this BBC 3-part history documentary presents the cataclysmic events that began on 1st July 1916 from, for the first time, both sides of No Man's Land. With access to little known German military archives, Peter Barton investigates documents which reveal a very different history, one that contradicts many of the myths and untruths which have grown up around the battle. Why, given German forces were sometimes outnumbered five to one by the British and their French ally, was this bloodiest military encounter hailed at the time and since - as a British victory? He argues that something like the opposite of this viewpoint is closer to the truth. And by accessing German records Peter Barton reveals genuinely revelatory insights not only about the failure of Allied strategy and tactics but the important tactical revolution that the German Army went through to ensure they held off their enemy. There are new answers to the questions that still haunt us a hundred years on why did it last so long and why was there such carnage.

• The OC - The Complete Season 2 | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £15.99   |  Saving you £44.00 (275.17%)   |  RRP £59.99

  The drama was poured on aplenty in the second season of The O.C. , as the sun-dappled denizens of Orange County found their lives massively upended and then some. At the end of the first season, the Cohen household had been reduced to two--parents Sandy and Kirsten (Peter Gallagher and Kelly Rowan)--as the boys had flown the coop, moody Ryan (Benjamin McKenzie) back to Chino and goofy Seth (Adam Brody) for the wide expanse of the Pacific (somehow ending up in Portland, Oregon). Once the prodigal sons returned home, thanks to a lot of persuading, both tried to mend relationships with their former girlfriends, Marissa (Mischa Barton) and Summer (Rachel Bilson). While friendships were solidified, everyone was dating someone else: Seth was with sultry club manager Alex (Olivia Wilde), Summer with sensitive polo jock Zach (Michael Cassidy), Ryan with smart girl Lindsay (Shannon Lucio), and Marissa with her family's pool guy and a bottle of vodka. That's just the first half of this year of The O.C. , and we haven't even gotten to the adults yet. Both Sandy and Kirsten found themselves tempted away by more-than-willing suitors, and wicked Julie (Melinda Clarke), Marissa's mom, cheated on new husband Caleb (Alan Dale) with ex-husband Jimmy (Tate Donovan). An extremely tangled web was woven, one from which the show almost didn't recover: the Lindsay storyline started out strong but went nowhere, Sandy's ex-girlfriend (Kim Delaney) was a bit of a bore, and the same-sex relationship between Marissa and Alex never really gelled. All seemed like sure-fire character additions, but it was the later peripheral characters, including Billy Campbell as a magazine editor smitten with Kirsten and the menacing yet sexy Logan Marshall-Green as Ryan's ex-con brother, who injected The O.C. with energy, and helped steer the show back on course. Brody, who became the show's de facto poster boy, got to show off his comedic talents with the wonderful Bilson (who rode the Zach-Seth-Summer romantic triangle most smoothly), and the heretofore sullen McKenzie got to lighten up quite a bit, until the show's violent yet effective season finale. Forsaking a good amount of its comedy for drama, The O.C. got a little too seriously soapy, but its characters were so compelling you couldn't stop watching--even waiflike Marissa grew some edges. Clarke's scheming Julie was a constant pleasure to watch, and Rowan turned Kirsten's late-season downturn into a steely yet heartfelt portrayal. Despite the bumps, The O.C. remained one of the most exciting shows to look forward to week after week, a soap with smarts thanks to its fresh dialogue, gifted cast, and careening plot arcs. --Mark Englehart

• 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea | DVD | (29/03/2004) from £5.85   |  Saving you £9.14 (156.24%)   |  RRP £14.99

  The swashbuckler genre bumped into science fiction in 1954 for one of Hollywood's great entertainments, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. The Jules Verne story of adventure under the sea was Walt Disney's magnificent debut into live-action films. A professor (Paul Lukas) seeks the truth about a legendary sea monster in the years just after the Civil War. When his ship is sunk, he, his aide (Peter Lorre), and a harpoon master (Kirk Douglas) survive to discover that the monster is actually a metal submarine run by Captain Nemo (James Mason). Along with the rollicking adventure, it's fun to see the future technology that Verne dreamed up in his novel, including diving equipment and sea farming. The film's physical prowess is anchored by the Nautilus, an impressive full-scale gothic submarine complete with red carpet and pipe organ. In the era of big sets, 20,000 Leagues set a precedent for films shot on the water and deservedly won Oscars for art direction and special effects. Lost in the inventiveness of the film and great set pieces including a giant squid attack are two great performances. Mason is the perfect Nemo, taut and private, clothed in dark fabric that counters the Technicolor dreamboat that is the beaming red-and-white-stripe-shirted Kirk Douglas as the heroic Ned Land. The film works as peerless family adventure nearly half a century later. --Doug Thomas

• Operation Amsterdam | DVD | (29/08/2011) from £3.99   |  Saving you £9.00 (225.56%)   |  RRP £12.99

  First time on DVD! The best kept secret of WWII! One of the covert operations at the beginning of World War II is enacted in this fast-paced thriller about a government-approved diamond heist. A Major from the British army (Tony Britton) joins up with a Dutch diamond expert (Alexander Knox) and another adventurous Dutchman (Peter Finch) to steal a fortune in diamonds from a bank vault in Amsterdam before the Nazis completely close off the city. The trio are launched under the covering fire of a British battleship in the harbour and then chauffeured into Amsterdam by Anna (Eva Bartok), one of many people they encounter who could be either friend or foe. There is no time to waste in emptying the bank vault because it is estimated that the city will be overrun by the Nazi army in just fourteen hours. Meanwhile, the war is intensifying all around them, and the Nazi soldiers already on patrol are a continual threat. Starring Peter Finch (A Town Like Alice), & Eva Bartok (The Crimson Pirate) Based on a true story and the adapted from the book Adventure in Diamonds by David E Walker

• Great British Movies - WWII | DVD | (01/10/2012) from £12.99   |  Saving you £7.00 (53.89%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Operation Amsterdam One of the covert operations at the beginning of World War II is enacted in this fast-paced thriller about a government-approved diamond heist. A Major from the British army (Tony Britton) joins up with a Dutch diamond expert (Alexander Knox) and another adventurous Dutchman (Peter Finch) to steal a fortune in diamonds from a bank vault in Amsterdam. There is no time to waste as it is estimated that the city will be overrun by the Nazi army in just fourteen hours. ...

• The Sixth Sense - 2 Disc Collector's Edition | DVD | (14/10/2002) from £7.17   |  Saving you £10.82 (150.91%)   |  RRP £17.99

  M Night Shyamalan's The Sixth Sense sets itself up as a thriller, poised on the brink of delivering monstrous scares, but gradually evolves into more of a psychological drama with supernatural undertones. Many critics faulted the film for being mawkish and New Agey, but no matter how you slice it, this is one mightily effective piece of filmmaking. The bare bones of the story are basic enough, but the moody atmosphere created by Shyamalan and cinematographer Tak Fujimoto made this one of the creepiest pictures of 1999, one that forsakes excessive gore for a sinisterly simple feeling of chilly otherworldliness. Bruce Willis is in his strong, silent type mode here, and gives the film wholly over to Haley Joel Osment, whose crumpled face and big eyes convey a child too wise for his years; his scenes with his mother (Toni Collette) are small, heartbreaking marvels. And even if you figure out the film's surprise ending, it packs an amazing emotional wallop when it comes; it will have you racing to watch the movie again with a new perspective. You may be able to shake off the sentimentality of The Sixth Sense, but its craftsmanship and atmosphere will stay with you for days. --Mark Englehart

• The Maltese Falcon | DVD | (01/06/2006) from £6.78   |  Saving you £7.21 (106.34%)   |  RRP £13.99

  The Maltese Falcon is still the tightest, sharpest, and most cynical of Hollywood's official deathless classics, bracingly tough even by post-Tarantino standards. Humphrey Bogart is Dashiell Hammett's definitive private eye, Sam Spade, struggling to keep his hard-boiled cool as the double-crosses pile up around his ankles. The plot, which dances all around the stolen Middle Eastern statuette of the title, is too baroque to try to follow, and it doesn't make a bit of difference. The dialogue, much of it lifted straight from Hammett, is delivered with whip-crack speed and sneering ferocity, as Bogie faces off against Peter Lorre and Sidney Greenstreet, fends off the duplicitous advances of Mary Astor, and roughs up a cringing "gunsel" played by Elisha Cook Jr. It's an action movie of sorts, at least by implication: the characters always seem keyed up, right on the verge of erupting into violence. This is a turning-point picture in several respects: John Huston (The African Queen) made his directorial debut here in 1941, and Bogart, who had mostly played bad guys, was a last-minute substitution for George Raft, who must have been kicking himself for years afterward. This is the role that made Bogart a star and established his trend-setting (and still influential) antihero persona. --David Chute END

• King Ralph | DVD | (16/02/2004) from £6.73   |  Saving you £-0.74 (-12.40%)   |  RRP £5.99

  This heart warming comedy starring John Goodman as the unlikliest king ever.... A freak accident kills off the whole Royal Family and a new heir must be found. The last person anyone expects it to be is lounge singer Ralph Jones who goes from one disaster to another as he reluctantly becomes King Ralph....

• Hell Night | Blu Ray | (13/12/2021) from £16.00   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  101 Films presents haunted house hazing horror Hell Night (1981), released on Blu-ray for the first time in the UK and title 020 on the 101 Films Black Label. Directed by Tom DeSimone (Reform School Girls, Angel III: The Final Chapter), this slasher classic benefits from a talented young cast including Linda Blair (The Exorcist), Vincent Van Patten (Rock ˜N' Roll High School), Peter Barton (Friday The 13th: The Final Chapter) and Kevin Brophy (The Seduction). As an initiation rite into Alpha Sigma Rho fraternity, four pledges must spend a night in Garth Manor, twelve years to the day after the previous resident murdered his entire family. Two of the pledges, Marti and Jeff ignore the rumors that the now-deserted mansion is haunted by a crazed killer, until one by one, members of their group mysteriously disappear. Could this be a part of a fraternity prank ... or is a demented former tenant seeking revenge? When this seemingly innocent night turns deadly, these college students will do anything to survive Hell Night. Special Features Transfer from a 4K scan of the best surviving archival 35mm film print with minor SD inserts to replace missing footage Linda Blair: The Beauty of Horror Hell Nights with Tom DeSimone Peter Barton: Facing Fear Producing Hell with Bruce Cohn Curtis Writing Hell with Randy Feldman Vincent Van Patten and Suki Goodwin in conversation Kevin Brophy and Jenny Neumann in conversation Gothic Design in Hell Night Anatomy of the Death Scenes On Location at Kimberly Crest Theatrical Trailer TV Spots Radio Spot Photo Gallery

• V - The Mini Series | DVD | (08/04/2002) from £13.90   |  Saving you £7.09 (51.01%)   |  RRP £20.99

  Nowadays, the word "event" is thrown around all too often when describing television programmes, but back in 1983 the debut of V: The Mini Series was a television event in the truest sense. The appearance of gigantic flying saucers over the world's largest cities heralds the arrival of aliens from a distant galaxy who look human and act benevolently. Of course, things aren't exactly what they seem, and when some suspicious humans start to question the visitors' intentions they uncover a vast alien conspiracy, along with some unusual culinary habits. Soon, the visitors have enslaved the Earth under their fascist rule, and small groups of human rebels are forced underground to fight for the freedom of their entire species. But with the future of the planet still in question the epic story comes to an abrupt end, forcing the viewer to wait for the resolution in V: The Final Battle and the on-going series. That's not to say that the original V isn't worth the price of admission: in over three hours, it manages to capture the spirit of the great classic science fiction of the 1950s and 60s. The feeling of paranoia and insecurity that runs throughout the whole thing makes it feel, at times, like an expanded episode of The Twilight Zone, only shinier (hey, it was the 1980s). The special effects were impressive for their day, inspiring similarly themed films in the 90s (the gigantic flying saucers were seen again in Independence Day, and the storage area of the mothership turns up in The X Files Movie and The Matrix). What does irritate, however, is the utter lack of subtlety in the allegorical storyline. In fact, it could only have been made more obvious by demanding that the entire cast wear "This is how it was in 1930s' Germany" t-shirts. But if V occasionally doesn't live up to its own high standards, it's still a remarkably high-quality slice of epic television drama. On the DVD: The picture is an impressive widescreen 1.85:1 ratio and the soundtrack is adequate Dolby stereo. The DVD boasts a feature-length commentary by writer and director Kenneth Johnson, as well as a 25-minute "Behind the Scenes" documentary. --Robert Burrow

• The OC - The Complete Season 3 | DVD | (04/09/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £59.99

  Senior year, Prom, Graduation, College visits, Old friends, New problems, And plenty of Korean popstars. Ryan's savior complex becomes a recipe for disaster. Seth and Summer's relationship hits the rocks thanks to Seth's compulsion to edit the truth. As Kirsten attempts to put her life back together, Sandy assumes leadership of the Newport Group and finds himself the heir-apparent to Caleb Nichol's legacy of scandal. Marissa spirals out of control after little sis Kaitlin - a Julie Cooper in the making - returns home to stir the pot. And speaking of Julie Cooper, she'scast out of her Palace - into the slums of the OC. No sign of senioritis here. All 25 episodes lead to the most shocking season finale yet. With humor, heart, great music and all the teen angst you could hope for (and more)

• Hell Night (Limited Edition) | Blu Ray | (26/07/2021) from £29.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  101 Films presents haunted house hazing horror Hell Night (1981), released on Blu-ray for the first time in the UK and title 020 on the 101 Films Black Label. Directed by Tom DeSimone (Reform School Girls, Angel III: The Final Chapter), this slasher classic benefits from a talented young cast including Linda Blair (The Exorcist), Vincent Van Patten (Rock ˜N' Roll High School), Peter Barton (Friday The 13th: The Final Chapter) and Kevin Brophy (The Seduction). As an initiation rite into Alpha Sigma Rho fraternity, four pledges must spend a night in Garth Manor, twelve years to the day after the previous resident murdered his entire family. Two of the pledges, Marti and Jeff ignore the rumors that the now-deserted mansion is haunted by a crazed killer, until one by one, members of their group mysteriously disappear. Could this be a part of a fraternity prank ... or is a demented former tenant seeking revenge? When this seemingly innocent night turns deadly, these college students will do anything to survive Hell Night. Special Features: Transfer from a 4K scan of the best surviving archival 35mm film print with minor SD inserts to replace missing footage Limited edition booklet: Includes The Scare Blair Bunch: Hell Night, Linda Blair and the Rise of the American Sorority Slasher by Andrew Graves and Haunted Houses on Film by Barry Forshaw Linda Blair: The Beauty of Horror Hell Nights with Tom DeSimone Peter Barton: Facing Fear Producing Hell with Bruce Cohn Curtis Writing Hell with Randy Feldman Vincent Van Patten and Suki Goodwin in conversation Kevin Brophy and Jenny Neumann in conversation Gothic Design in Hell Night Anatomy of the Death Scenes On Location at Kimberly Crest Theatrical Trailer TV Spots Radio Spot Photo Gallery

• The Kid Stays In The Picture | DVD | (29/09/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Adapted from his own tell-all autobiography, this acclaimed documentary traces the meteoric rise, fall, and rise again of legendary Hollywood producer Robert Evans, and takes the audience on an intimate journey into the mind of this Hollywood legend.

• The OC - The Complete Third Season | DVD | (04/09/2006) from £17.00   |  Saving you £45.98 (328.19%)   |  RRP £59.99

  The O.C. - also known as Orange County California - is an idyllic paradise a wealthy harbour-front community where everything and everyone appears to be perfect. But beneath the surface is a world of shifting loyalties and identities of kids living secret lives hidden from their parents and of parents living secret lives hidden from their children... Episodes Comprise: 1. The Aftermath 2. The Shape Of Things To Come 3. The End Of Innocence 4. The Last Waltz 5. The Perfec

• Sophie's Choice | DVD | (19/09/2005) from £6.50   |  Saving you £0.49 (7.54%)   |  RRP £6.99

  The sunny streets of Brooklyn, just after World War II. A young would-be writer named Stingo (Peter MacNicol) shares a boarding house with beautiful Polish immigrant Sophie (Meryl Streep) and her tempestuous lover, Nathan (Kevin Kline); their friendship changes his life. This adaptation of the bestselling novel by William Styron is faithful to the point of being reverential, which is not always the right way to make a film come to life. But director Alan J. Pakula (All the President's Men) provides a steady, intelligent path into the harrowing story of Sophie, whose flashback memories of the horrors of a Nazi concentration camp form the backbone of the movie. Streep's exceptional performance--flawless Polish accent and all--won her an Oscar, and effectively raised the standard for American actresses of her generation. No less impressive is Kevin Kline, in his movie debut, capturing the mercurial moods of the dangerously attractive Nathan. The two worlds of Sophie's Choice, nostalgic Brooklyn and monstrous Europe, are beautifully captured by the gifted cinematographer Néstor Almendros, whose work was Oscar-nominated but didn't win. It should have. --Robert Horton, Amazon.com

• On Golden Pond / Sophie's Choice | DVD | (17/03/2003) from £4.99   |  Saving you £8.00 (160.32%)   |  RRP £12.99

  The sunny streets of Brooklyn, just after World War II. A young would-be writer named Stingo (Peter MacNicol) shares a boarding house with beautiful Polish immigrant Sophie (Meryl Streep) and her tempestuous lover, Nathan (Kevin Kline); their friendship changes his life. This adaptation of the bestselling novel by William Styron is faithful to the point of being reverential, which is not always the right way to make a film come to life. But director Alan J. Pakula (All the President's Men) provides a steady, intelligent path into the harrowing story of Sophie, whose flashback memories of the horrors of a Nazi concentration camp form the backbone of the movie. Streep's exceptional performance--flawless Polish accent and all--won her an Oscar, and effectively raised the standard for American actresses of her generation. No less impressive is Kevin Kline, in his movie debut, capturing the mercurial moods of the dangerously attractive Nathan. The two worlds of Sophie's Choice, nostalgic Brooklyn and monstrous Europe, are beautifully captured by the gifted cinematographer Néstor Almendros, whose work was Oscar-nominated but didn't win. It should have. --Robert Horton, Amazon.com

• Milius | DVD | (18/11/2013) from £10.18   |  Saving you £9.81 (96.37%)   |  RRP £19.99

  This is the life story of one of the most influential and controversial film directors in the history of Hollywood John Milius. From his childhood aspirations to join the military to his formative years at the USC Film School his legendary work on films such as ‘Apocalypse Now’ ‘Jaws’ ‘Conan The Barbarian’ ‘Dirty Harry’ and ‘Red Dawn’ to his ultimate dismissal from Hollywood due to his radical beliefs and controversial behaviour.

• King Ralph | DVD | (24/12/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99