Boom!
Winston Smith (Hurt) endures a squalid existence in totalitarian Oceania under the constant surveillance of Big Brother. But his life takes a horrifying turn when he begins a forbidden love affair and commits the crime of independent thought. Sent to the chillingly labelled ""Ministry of Love"" he is placed at the mercy of O'Brien (Burton) a coolly treacherous leader determined to control his thoughts and crush his soul...
Faustus (Richard Burton) is a scholar at the University of Wittenberg when he earns his doctorate degree. His insatiable appetite for knowledge and power leads him to employ necromancy to conjure Mephistopheles (Elizabeth Taylor) out of hell. He bargains away his soul to Lucifer in exchange for living 24 years during which Mephistopheles will be his slave. Faustus signs the pact in his own blood and Mephistopheles reveals the works of the devil to Faustus.
In a prequel to legendary horror "The Exorcist," priest Lancaster Merrin encounters unspeakable evil in the deserts of East Africa.
The 1967 Franco Zeffirelli film of The Taming of the Shrew had all the ingredients to make it a high point in Shakespearian cinema. In Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor it starred the most bankable couple in Hollywood history as the sparring leads in the Bard's quick-firing comic battle of the sexes; and in Zeffirelli, it had a director with a Shakespearian pedigree second to none. But the reality is that this is Burton's picture all the way. His Petruchio is a weighty performance of such intelligence that the whole film is thrown off-kilter whenever he is on screen and the other performers just can't keep up. Apart from Michael Hordern's wonderfully distracted Baptista, Burton is the only actor in total, effortless command of the language. Taylor's bosomy glamour and fiery spirit are ample compensations for her occasionally murderous treatment of Katharina's verse. Whether or not she is really tamed by the end is another matter: those legendary violet eyes suggest otherwise. Ultimately it's a rich, bawdy and colourful romp, with Burton at the peak of his powers. The DVD includes the theatrical trailer, a "making-of" featurette and filmographies. --Piers Ford
Young Candy is a college girl who seeks truth and meaning in life encountering a variety of kookie characters and humorous sexual situations in the process... Based on Terry Southern's satirical novel a sendup of Voltaire's 'Candide'.
Alan Strang (Peter Firth) is a troubled teenager who suffers from an uncontrollable urge to blind horses. In court, facing prosecution for his actions, psychiatrist Dr Martin Dysart (Richard Burton) attempts to unravel the root causes of Alan's pathologic affliction. Adapted by Peter Shaffer from his own landmark, Tony-winning play, Equus is a gripping psychological thriller exploring how corrupted ideals can lead to grave consequences. Special Features: To Be Confirmed ***FIRST PRESSING ONLY*** Fully illustrated booklet with new essays
Bruce Willis's awful, 1991 vanity piece is an abuse of audience goodwill and a waste of a good cast and director (Michael Lehmann of Heathers). The story of Hudson Hawk, cowritten by Willis, concerns a cat burglar pressured into stealing precious art, including some from the Vatican. But the script is just a convenience upon which Willis piles his vaguely boorish brand of hip irony, assuming his audience will stay with him every step of the way. Certain, self-congratulatory scenes induce cringing--Willis and Danny Aiello, for instance, sing "Side by Side" (to brassy accompaniment on the soundtrack) every time they're working a job--but the overall effect is more irritating and baffling. Keep a good thought for Willis (an underrated actor better than the summer junk we usually see him in) by checking out his superior work in Pulp Fiction and his small but memorable role in Billy Bathgate. --Tom Keogh
The Longest Day is Hollywood's definitive D-day movie. More modern accounts such as Saving Private Ryan are more vividly realistic, but producer Darryl F Zanuck's epic 1962 account is the only one to attempt the daunting task of covering that fateful day from all perspectives. From the German high command and front-line officers to the French Resistance and all the key Allied participants, the screenplay by Cornelius Ryan, based on his own authoritative book, is as factually accurate as possible. The endless parade of stars (John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Robert Mitchum, Sean Connery, and Richard Burton, to name a few) makes for an uneasy mix of verisimilitude and Hollywood star-power, however, and the film falls a little flat for too much of its three-hour running time. But the set-piece battles are still spectacular, and if the landings on Omaha Beach lack the graphic gore of Private Ryan they nonetheless show the sheer scale and audacity of the invasion. --Mark Walker
A film adaptation of the play by Peter Shaffer, Equus stars Richard Burton as Martin Dysart, a psychiatrist who takes on an unusual case: a young stable boy (Peter Firth) who, in frenzy, has blinded six horses. Their sessions reveal that the boy has a quasi-religious fetish for horses and he rides them in the dead of night, experiencing an ecstasy unlike anything Dysart has ever known. Dysart begins to question: Is the pursuit of normalcy worth the loss of individual passions? Equus features a lot of hokum--its therapy scenes are absurd crescendos of revelation and insights--but its central question has substance, the direction is energetic, and the performances are powerful; Burton, handsome and haggard, brings a complex self-loathing to his role. It also features Jenny Agutter and Joan Plowright. --Bret Fetzer
Set in the Second World War when Nazi Germany occupied Italy. This film deals with the Vatican's involvement in the entire movement during the occupation of Rome.
The Longest Day is a vivid re-creation of the June 6 1944 allied invasion of France which marked the beginning of the end of Nazi domination in Europe. Featuring a stellar international cast and told from the perspectives of both sides this fascinating look at one of history's biggest battles ranks as one of Hollywood's truly Great War films.
A new 8-disc set celebrating the 60th anniversary of Woodfall Films. Includes eight iconic films (many newly restored and available on Blu-ray for the first time) that revolutionised British cinema and launched the careers of the likes of Albert Finney, Tom Courtenay and Rita Tushingham. Features: Look Back in Anger (Tony Richardson, 1959) The Entertainer (Tony Richardson, 1960) Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (Karel Reisz, 1960) A Taste of Honey (Tony Richardson, 1961) The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (Tony Richardson, 1962) Tom Jones (Tony Richardson, 1963) (New 4K digital restorations of the original theatrical version of the film and the 1989 director's cut) Girl with Green Eyes (Desmond Davis, 1964) The Knack...and how to get it (Richard Lester, 1965) Special Features: Presented in High Definition All films newly remastered for this release, excluding Saturday Night and Sunday Morning and The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner Extras TBC
The Exorcist The belief in evil - and that evil can be cast out. From these two strands of faith author William Peter Blatty and director William Friedkin wove The Exorcist the frightening and realistic story of an innocent girl inhabited by a malevolent entity. The Exorcist II: The Heretic Pasuzu the incarnation of evil cast out of little Regan by Father Merrin returns to torment her once again... The Exorcist III A serial killer haunts the streets of
Taken from a long-running DC Comics strip, Wonder Woman was made into a popular television series between 1978 and 1981, starring former Miss America, Lynda Carter. Capturing the hearts of TV audiences with her sexy outfit as much as her superheroine abilities, Wonder Woman quickly became a kitsch icon, battling the forces of evil with the unforgettably camp "garb of justice", including bullet-proof bangles, a golden lasso and the belt of strength built into her corset. She had an invisible plane, too. Originally Princess Diana of Paradise Island (an uncharted land of Amazon women in the Bermuda Triangle), Wonder Woman is sent as an emissary to the outside world to protect the human race from the forces of evil. And so she becomes Diana Prince, the geeky, bespectacled assistant to Steve Trevor of the Inter Agency Defence Command in Washington, whose father she assisted against the Nazis in the 1940s. --Laura Bushell
Still the most expensive movie ever made, Cleopatra nearly bankrupted 20th Century Fox. It also scandalised the world with the very public affair of its two major stars, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. But Joseph L Mankiewicz's 1963 epic deserves to be remembered for more than its off-screen troubles. An extravagantly elaborate production, the sets and costumes alone are awe-inspiring; Mankiewicz's own literate screenplay draws heavily on the classics and Shakespeare; while the supporting cast, led by Rex Harrison as Caesar and Roddy McDowall as his nephew (and future emperor) Octavian, are all first-rate thespians and generally put in more convincing performances than either of the two leads. Mankiewicz's original intention was to make two three-hour films: the first being Caesar and Cleopatra, the second Antony and Cleopatra. But before the films completion, and following a boardroom coup worthy of Ancient Rome itself, legendary mogul Darryl F Zanuck took back control of Fox and insisted that Cleopatra be cut to a more economical length. A heartbroken Mankiewicz was forced to trim his six-hour vision down to four. This was the "roadshow" version shown at the films premiere and now restored here for the first time. Then following adverse criticism and pressure from cinema chains Zanuck demanded more cuts, and the final released version ran a mere three hours--half the original length. Capitalising on the feverish publicity surrounding Burton and Taylor, the shortened version played up both their on- and off-screen romance. This longer four-hour roadshow version allows for a broader view of the film, adding some depth to the politics and manipulation of the characters. But the directors original six-hour edit has been lost. Perhaps one day it will be rediscovered in the vaults and Mankiewiczs much-maligned movie will finally be seen the way it was meant to be. Until then, Cleopatra remains an epic curiosity rather than the complete spectacle it should be. On the DVD: this handsome three-disc set spreads the restored four-hour print of the movie across two discs. The anamorphic widescreen print looks quite magnificent and Alex Norths wondrous score comes up like new in Dolby 5.1 sound. Theres a patchy and only intermittently revealing commentary from Chris Mankiewicz, Tom Mankiewicz, Martin Landau and Jack Brodsky. Much better is the comprehensive two-hour documentary that occupies disc three, which tells in hair-raising detail the extraordinary story of a film production that became totally out of control. This is accompanied by some short archival material, but the documentary alone is a compelling reason to acquire this set. --Mark Walker
All five films from the horror franchise. In 'Exorcist' (1973) actress Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn) has every reason to be content, having just completed a film with director Burke Dennings (Jack MacGowran). However, she becomes disturbed by the changes taking place in her 12-year-old daughter, Regan (Linda Blair). At first sullen and withdrawn, Regan becomes aggressive and blasphemous, and ugly welts appear on her face and body. No medical cure is forthcoming, and after Burke is killed by being thrown from Regan's window, Chris turns to local Jesuit priest Father Damien Karras (Jason Miller) for help. Karras then calls in exorcist Father Lankester Merrin (Max von Sydow), who confirms that Regan is possessed by the devil. In 'Exorcist 2 - The Heretic' (1977) Regan is now a relatively normal, happy teenager, living under the care of a psychiatrist (Louise Fletcher) and her mother's ex-secretary (Kitty Winn). When the demons return to haunt Regan, priest Father Lamont (Richard Burton), himself suffering a crisis of faith, is sent to investigate. In 'The Exorcist 3' (1990) 15 years have passed since Father Damien Karras died exorcising Regan MacNeil. Now his best friend Lt. Kinderman (George C. Scott) is troubled by a series of mysterious murders which are strangely reminiscent of those committed by the Gemini killer - who was executed on the night Karras died. Does the killer's spirit live on, and if so in whom? Kinderman's investigation leads him to an amnesiac in a mental hospital who has recently awoken from a 15-year coma, can describe the Gemini killings in detail, and bears an uncanny resemblance to Damien Karras... In 'Exorcist: The Beginning' (2004), set in Africa in 1949, Father Merrin (Stellan Skarsgård), his faith shattered by World War II, journeys to Kenya to join an archaeological dig that has uncovered a Byzantine church mysteriously untouched by the ravages of time. But an even greater mystery awaits: an ancient and horrific evil is now awakened and a soul-shattering death spree begins. Can Merrin summon the faith and courage to defeat humanity's oldest and most powerful foe? In 'Dominion - Prequel to the Exorcist' (2005), during an excavation in Africa, Father Merrin (Skarsgård)'s team finds a hidden church that contains an ancient evil, and a local boy begins to exhibit signs of demonic possession...
When unhappily married doctor Alec Harvey (Burton) removes a piece of grit from the eye of fellow train-traveller Anna Jesson (Loren) little do they suspect that this chance encounter will turn into a passionate relationship. Alec relentlessly pursues Anna but she is tormented by guilt as the fantasy dream becomes a nightmare of deceit and she realises she is betraying both her husband and children. Based on the 1936 Noel Coward playlet Still Life.
This box set contains the following four titles: Skeleton Coast: Colonel Smith's son a CIA agent is captured by some bad guys involved in an african civil war. Smith puts together a group of military pros to save him. The Klansman: When a black man is arrested for the rape of a white woman a showdown between the law and the clan is inevitable. Massacre In Rome: In the last days of the Nazi Occupation a group of partisans plan an attack on a German 'police' column. Return From The River Kwai: One of the last untold stories of World War II in the Far East. Starving British and Australian POW's make an attempt to escape Japanese brutality.
The Robe was designed by 20th Century-Fox to show off the wonders of CinemaScope, and taken simply as a vehicle for widescreen photography the movie is undeniably a visual treat. Perhaps the clumsy early 'Scope cameras were partly to blame, but from any other perspective--plot, dialogue and acting--The Robe is a flat, overly reverential and turgid piece of film making. Richard Burton is the Roman Centurion on duty at Christ's crucifixion who bets on and wins Jesus' robe, then spends the rest of the movie agonising about becoming a Christian. Victor Mature is his sanctimonious slave Demetrius. So confident were the producers of box-office success that they commissioned the sequel, Demetrius and the Gladiators, even before The Robe had been released. --Mark Walker
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