Out of the Age of Wonders one of the most wonderful motion pictures of our time! An all-time classic adventure, featuring the pioneering special effects of filmmaking legend Ray Harryhausen, presented here in a stunning restoration on Blu-ray. Extras: 4K restoration from the original negative Original mono audio Alternative 5.1 surround sound track Audio commentary with Ray Harryhausen, visual effects experts Phil Tippett and Randall William Cook, author Steven Smith, and producer Arnold Kuner The Secrets of Sinbad (2017, 11 mins): a new interview with Phil Tippett This Is Dynamation! (1958, 4 mins): original promotional teaser introducing Harryhausen's groundbreaking special effects process Remembering The 7th Voyage of Sinbad' (2008, 24 mins): with Ray Harryhausen A Look Behind the Voyage (1995, 12 mins): with Ray Harryhausen, producer Charles H. Schneer, and actor Kerwin Mathews Super 8 version in four instalments Sinbad May Have Been Bad, But He's Been Good to Me' (1958, 3 mins): promotional tie-in song, sung by Ann Leonardo The Music of Bernard Herrmann (2008, 27 mins): a tribute hosted by Herrmann biographer Steven Smith Isolated score: experience Bernard Herrmann's original soundtrack music Phil Tippett's birthday message to Ray Harryhausen (2006, 1 min) Brian Trenchard-Smith trailer commentary (2013, 5 mins): a short critical appreciation Theatrical trailer Image gallery: extensive promotional and on-set photography, poster art and archive materials New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
The pity of war has been a much-favoured film topic; the treachery of war much less so, though never more persuasively than in Paths of Glory, Stanley Kubrick's breakthrough feature from 1957. Kirk Douglas gives one of his finest screen performances as Colonel Dax, the idealistic First World War soldier appalled by the arbitrary court-marshal meted out to three of his men after an impossible attempt to storm German lines goes disastrously wrong. George Macready is an utterly believable Gerneral Mireau, obsessed with his own honour and standing, whom Adolphe Majou complements tellingly as the urbane and cynical General Bruler. Those who know Kubrick from his later sprawling epics will be surprised at the tautness and concision shown here, even though the screenplay--which he co-wrote--has a certain theatrical stiffness. On the DVD: Paths of Glory on disc reproduces well in full-screen format, and Gerald Fried's bitingly ironic score comes through powerfully. There are five dubbed and six subtitled languages. The original trailer is a masterpiece of gritty reportage, well worth reviving. Along with Dr Strangelove and 2001, this is Kubrick's most focussed and durable film. --Richard Whitehouse
Available for the first time on DVD! A New York limo driver wins a competition to become coach of the New York Knicks...
Hailed as one of the most successful adaptations of Shakespeare Derek Jarman's 'The Tempest' is also unsurprisingly one of the most unconventional. Though keeping the essence of the text the films greatness lies in Jarman's skill at creating a visually stunning erotically charged world of haunting imagery. Flamboyant highly atmospheric and full of Jarman's punk era attitude the famous finale in which Elizabeth Welch sings `Stormy Weather' surrounded by sailors is one of th
Presiding over the courtroom in which twenty one members of the Nazi High Command are accused of crimes against humanity is a small-town American judge who is determined to uphold justice and truth in the explosive conflict between freedom and tyranny...
A major Columbia Pictures release in glorious Technicolor, The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad was one of Hollywood's first modern fantasy action blockbusters. On a mission to rescue his fiancée, the Princess Parisa (Kathryn Grant), Kerwin Mathews acquits himself well as Sinbad, while Torin Thatcher is a suitably malevolent magician who has shrunken the princess in a bid to get Sinbad to undertake a perilous quest. Truth be told, no one remembers Ray Harryhausen films for the script or the acting; the real stars are the still impressive action set-pieces, a battle with a cyclops, a giant Roc, a dragon, and a duelling skeleton; this last anticipating a much more lavish battle with skeleton warriors in Jason and the Argonauts. The cast may be all-American rather than Arab but even so, everything about this film works, from the fabulous set design of the Sultan's palace which evokes a real fairytale atmosphere, to Bernard Herrmann's truly classic score. On the DVD: The film exhibits a strong anamorphically enhanced 1.85-1 ratio image, with powerful mono sound. At about 80 minutes, the extras last almost as long as the movie. The most important and extensive addition is "The Harryhausen Chronicles", a documentary, while "This is Dynamation" gives an introduction to the stop-motion animation process itself. Ray Harryhausen is an affable host, a modest man who talks engagingly about his work in a way that really makes one appreciate the sheer ingenuity and skill which went into making not just The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad, but also Jason and the Argonauts, the subject of a further featurette on the disc. On top of this there are trailers for the aforementioned films, plus one for the disappointing but still fun Golden Voyage of Sinbad. Overall, a first-class film on an equally good DVD. --Gary S. Dalkin
Ridley Scott brings the bloodiest battle in US History to life as you've never seen it before.
What's the worst that could happen? Probably being forced to watch What's the Worst That Could Happen? from start to finish without a pause button: it's more lame than a three-legged dog. The plot is straightforward enough: two men, each as crooked as the other, come into conflict when petty thief Kevin Caffrey (Martin Lawrence) breaks into the apparently unoccupied beach house of wealthy and unscrupulous businessman Max Fairbanks (Danny DeVito). The house turns out not to be empty: Fairbanks calls the cops, claims that Caffrey has stolen his ring and coolly claims it back in front of his uniformed audience. It's a ring that Caffrey values because it has just been given to him by his new girlfriend Amber (Carmen Ejogo). He's so desperate to get it back that he hounds Fairbanks through the rest of the film, breaking into various Fairbanks properties as he goes. Words like "zany" and "madcap" could be used in the interests of charity, but actually the film falls flat on its face. Lawrence is certainly no Eddie Murphy and the plot would need an injection of major talent to give it a chance. DeVito yet again relies on his stature to provide the laughs. John Leguizamo plays Caffrey's sidekick as best he can but the fake sheikhs-in-tea-towels scene induces more groans than laughs. This is one for diehard fans of the lead actors only. On the DVD: What's the Worst That Could Happen? comes to DVD with a choice of two spoken languages (English or French) and many subtitle options. There's also a generous selection of outtakes, an alternative ending, a music video ("Music" by Erick Sermon) and the original theatrical trailer. It's just a shame that the film itself isn't better. --Harriet Smith
Director William Wyler's suspense classic marks the only time cinema giants Humphrey Bogart and Fredric March worked together. And the result is everything you'd expect: taut terrifying and terrific. Bogart plays an escaped con who has nothing to lose. March is a suburban Everyman who has everything to lose - his family is held hostage by Bogart. As The Desperate Hours tick by the two men square off in a battle of wills and cunning that tightens into an unforgettable fear-drench
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