"Actor: Robert Ames"

• Cold Feet - Series 5 | DVD | (20/03/2006) from £7.22   |  Saving you £12.77 (176.87%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Rachel gave birth to a healthy baby boy after months of turmoil for her and Adam; Pete and Jo tied the knot after convincing everyone - including themselves - that they were meant for each other; and David was left reeling after Karen was forced to confess her affair. We pick up six months later on their return from Sydney. Adam and Rachel embark on family life with their little boy Matt with realisation dawning on Adam that baby definitely makes three. Pete and Jo return from Austra

• Blood On The Sun / James Cagney On Film | DVD | (01/03/2000) from £4.49   |  Saving you £-0.50 (N/A%)   |  RRP £3.99

  This is one of the first American martial arts movies and features some gripping action with James Cagney doing his own stunts for which he trained intensively with Ken Kuniyuki a fifth degree judo master before shooting. This is Cagney at his best.

• Lord Peter Wimsey - Five Red Herrings ) | DVD | (27/12/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Based on the series of novels written by Dorothy L Sayers in the 1920s and 30s, Lord Peter Wimsey was dramatised for TV by the BBC between 1972-5. Ian Carmichael, veteran of British film comedy, played the genial, aristocratic sleuth; Glyn Houston was his manservant Bunter. The pair are similar to PG Wodehouse's Jeeves and Bertie Wooster (whom Carmichael played in an earlier TV adaptation) though here the duo are equal in intelligence, breezing about the country together in Wimsey's Bentley and stumbling with morbid regularity upon baffling murder mysteries to test their wits. Those for whom this series forms hazy memories of childhood might be surprised at its somewhat stagy, lingering interior shots, the spartan paucity of music, the miserly attitude towards locations, especially foreign ones, and the rather genteel, leisurely pace of these programmes, besides which Inspector Morse seems like Quentin Tarantino in comparison. It seems that initially the BBC was reluctant to commission the series and ventured on production with a wary eye on the budget. The Britain depicted by Sayers is, by and large, populated by either the upper classes or heavily accented, rum-do-and-no-mistake lower orders, which some might find consoling. However, the acting is generally excellent and the murder mysteries are sophisticated parlour games, the televisual equivalent of a good, absorbing jigsaw puzzle. There were five feature-length adaptations in all. "Five Red Herrings" is the last and perhaps the least of the series, involving a trout fishing holiday interrupted by the death of a local artist. --David Stubbs

• Brotherhood of the Rose | DVD | (23/05/2011) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £4.99

• Love Me Tender | DVD | (14/02/2005) from £10.29   |  Saving you £-0.30 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  In his film debut singing idol Elvis Presley stars in this action filled romance set in the aftermath of the Civil War. After hearing his older brother (Richard Egan) has been killed in combat a young Texas farmer (Presley) marries the man's sweetheart (Debra Paget). But his brother returns sparking a bitter sibling rivalry and tragic confrontations with Union soldiers... Featuring four Presley hits on the film's soundtrack including the title track.

• The X Files: Existence | DVD | (05/11/2001) from £6.55   |  Saving you £9.44 (59.00%)   |  RRP £15.99

  The pretentiously titled Existence is another two-part X-Files yarn glued together to make a feature-length episode. Here the story concerns the birth of Scully's perhaps-alien-tinged child and proves the old maxim that you should stop watching any series when the characters start having babies. By now, newbie Robert Patrick is settled into the role of Agent Doggett, Scully's new partner on the X-Files, but David Duchovny's contract negotiations have enabled Fox Mulder, no longer in the FBI, to come back and hang about the delivery, clashing and then bonding with his replacement. The action content comes from a mild-mannered alien abductee transformed into an unstoppable killing machine, ripping through everything as he tries to prevent the upcoming nativity for reasons that (as ever) don't quite become clear. Also in the support cast are semi-regular Nicholas Lea as lurking plot-explaining conspirator Alex Krycek, and the more welcome Annabeth Gish, whose interestingly spiritual Agent Monica Reyes is being worked up as a replacement for Scully when Gillian Anderson gets out of her contract. Weirdly, The X-Files is in pretty good shape for a show that's been running this long--the performances and the direction are still strong, and outside the "continuing story" shows individual episodes hold up well. But this dreary muddle of running about (plus the odd decapitation) and agonised rumination (blathery philosophical musings about the miracle of life and childbirth) does not represent the series' strengths, suggesting that the best thing that could happen would be to get shot of the long-time stars and their played-out characters to make room for a revitalised show starring Patrick and Gish. On the DVD: The full-screen print, with the extra detail of the DVD image and Dolby Digital, allow you to pick up a lot more than from the murky telecasts. "Alex Krycek Revealed" Parts 1 and 2, a couple of character profiles, turn out to be very snippet-like Fox TV promo pieces, with some interview footage and behind-the-scenes stuff amid the usual teaser clips.--Kim Newman

• El Dorado (2012 re-pack) | DVD | (06/08/2012) from £7.05   |  Saving you £5.94 (84.26%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Cole Thornton, a gunfighter for hire, joins forces with an old friend, Sheriff J.P. Hara. Together with an old Indian fighter and a gambler, they help a rancher and his family fight a rival rancher that is trying to steal their water.

• Taggart - Vol. 2 | DVD | (01/01/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £29.99

  'Taggart' is the longest running police drama on TV. Thanks to its explosive storylines and tough-talking Glasgow detective Jim Taggart (Mark McManus) it has become a national institution with these next six feature length editions averaging over eleven million viewers. Set Comprises: 1. Cold Blood 2. Dead Giveaway 3. Root Of Evil 4. Double Jeopardy 5. Love Knot 6. Hostile Witness

• China Girl | DVD | (13/09/2004) from £15.20   |  Saving you £-9.21 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  A street-smart Italian youth falls in love with a shy Chinese girl. Their romance blossoms igniting an ugly all-out gang war led by his hot-head brother and her own brother the leader of the reigning Chinese gang.

• One Touch of Venus (Region 2) | DVD | (01/06/2019) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Bloodlust | DVD | (12/08/2024) from £10.75   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Australian horror written and directed by Jon Hewitt and Richard Wolstencroft. Roaming the streets of Melbourne, three vampires (Jane Stuart Wallace, Robert James O'Neill and Kelly Chapman) allow their urges to dictate their lives. Growing weary of all the sex, drugs and killing, the trio decide to rob the underground casino of mobster Steig (Paul Moder) for a major payday. Invoking Steig's wrath, the vampires find themselves fighting an army of gangsters, as well as the police and a wild preacher (Phil Motherwell) who is on a mission from God to rid the world of undesirables.

• The X Files: Season 9 | DVD | (07/06/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £34.99

  With so many promises to fulfil and questions left unanswered, the ninth and final series of The X-Files was inevitably going to short-change some of its audience. Mulder is missing, Scully is in and out with various baby concerns, Reyes frequently seems like she's only along for the ride and Doggett seems so right in the role that some fans wondered if he should have appeared sooner. Other cult cameos flitted across the screen in an attempt to keep viewers transfixed. Lucy Lawless, Cary Elwes and Robert Patrick's real-life wife were interesting diversions, but when Burt Reynolds appeared to be none other than God himself, it was apparent that nothing at all was sacred in this last year. Standalone episodes (for example, on Satanic possession and a Brady Bunch psycho) proved to be amongst the least interesting of the show's efforts. No doubt because everyone was focussing on the all-important arc story episodes. Was there more than one alien faction? Were they all in collusion? Who had control of the black oil virus? Who had been in charge of the abductions? More importantly, would Mulder and Scully finally get in bed together? Scattered through the 19 episodes (the fewest of any season), were answers to some of these points. Then as much as possible that remained was packed into the two-hour finale. After 200 episodes, it's just possible that The X-Files overstayed its welcome; nonetheless it will always be remembered for being the most influential TV product of the 1990s. And since this is science-fiction, don't assume it's completely dead either. --Paul Tonks

• The X-Files: The Truth | DVD | (27/01/2003) from £21.58   |  Saving you £-5.59 (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  The guest cast list for The X-Files: The Truth runs almost to the first commercial break, suggesting how many plot strands this season-and-series finale needs to make room for, with many old characters (including ghostly appearances for the dead ones) popping up. Mulder (David Duchovny), teasingly absent for the final season, is suddenly back, accused of murdering a super-soldier who isn't supposed to be able to die. He faces a military tribunal, defended by AD Skinner (Mitch Pileggi), as guest stars trot out testimony that fills the double-length episode with explanations recapping nine years of confusion as creator Chris Carter tries to spatchcock his impromptu conspiracy theories into a real plot. Last-season regulars Robert Patrick and Annabeth Gish are shunted aside as Scully (Gillian Anderson) and Mulder get to dodge a last-scene explosion and wind up in a pretty silly clinch-with-philosophy in the face of vaguely imminent apocalypse. Seriously, if the franchise is to continue on the big screen, how about ditching the embarrassing alien conspiracy mess and doing a monster story? On the DVD: The X-Files: The Truth comes to disc with a lovely widescreen transfer, a 13-minute "Reflections on the Truth" featurette that, though it hits the self-congratulation button a couple too many times, has a little more meat than the puff pieces included on previous releases, and a bonus episode ("William") that is unfortunately another of the maudlin ones, this time resolving the plotline about Scully's super-baby. --Kim Newman

• The X Files: Season 5 | DVD | (14/10/2002) from £22.98   |  Saving you £12.01 (34.30%)   |  RRP £34.99

  The fifth season of The X-Files is the one in which the ongoing alien conspiracy arc really takes over, building towards box-office glory for the inevitable cinematic leap in The X-Files Movie (1998). The series opener "Redux" begins with Mulder having been framed for everything going. Scully finally sees a UFO ("The Red and the Black") before being presented with a potential daughter (the two-part "Christmas Carol" and "Emily"). By "The End", there's an enormous tangle of threads for the big-screen adaptation to unravel (or not, as it turned out). Cigarette Smoking Man is being hunted, playing every side against the middle, as well as chasing after information on Mulder's sister. Krycek is back, too, as is an old flame for Mulder in the shape of Agent Diana Fowley. If that wasn't enough to goad viewers into the cinema, there was the Lone Gunmen's 1989-set back story ("Unusual Suspects", with Richard Belzer playing his Homicide: Life on the Streets character), a musical number in the black and white Frankenstein homage "Post Modern Prometheus", and scripts co-written by Stephen King ("Chinga"), William Gibson ("Kill Switch"), and even Darren McGavin (who had inspired the show as Kolchak: The Night Stalker) in "Travellers". On the DVD: The X-Files, Season 5 extras include Chris Carter's commentary over "Post Modern Prometheus", which reveals the decision making behind shooting in black and white as well as the problems it caused. A second commentary is from writer/coproducer John Shiban on "Pine Bluff Variant", where he openly admits the influence of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. Across the six discs (only 20 episodes because of the movie of course) you get credits for every episode, their TV promo spots, deleted and international versions of several scenes (some with commentary from Carter), and a couple of TV featurettes. The best of these is "The Truth About Season 5", talking to an excited Dean Haglund (Langly) amongst other crew members.--Paul Tonks

• Enter The Game Of Death | DVD | (22/09/2003) from £20.00   |  Saving you £-14.01 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Dynamic kung fu star Bruce Lee stars in this splendid re-make of Bruce Lee's 'Game Of Death' complete with Nunchaku master Snake Fist master plus and extra four levels to the Pagoda.

• Taggart - Vols. 38 To 41 | DVD | (08/09/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £39.99

  The longest running police drama on TV marks its' 20th anniversary in September 2003 with this box set release. Episode titles: Skin Deep Wavelength Football Crazy Falling In Love.

• Once Upon a Time in the Midlands | DVD | (04/10/2004) from £20.00   |  Saving you £-10.01 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Dek (Rhys Ifans) is a gentle giant with two passions in his life: his souped up Ford Sierra 'Baby' and his girlfriend Shirley (Shirley Henderson). But while supporting her friend Carol (Kathy Burke) on a TV chat show Shirley is stunned when Dek walks on to propose live on air! As Dek is left to contemplate his future with Shirley in Nottingham Shirley's rogue ex-boyfriend has been watching in Glasgow and decides it's time to reclaim his woman. Heading south (swiftly followed by the gang he's just conned) Jimmy (Robert Carlyle) gets ready for an emotional and physical showdown with Dek and Shirley... little knowing that his daughter Marlene is also up for a fight!

• The Hills Have Eyes | DVD | (06/02/2006) from £7.84   |  Saving you £-1.85 (-30.90%)   |  RRP £5.99

  The Carter family taken a wrong turn when crossing the desert for California and are attacked by a savage group of cannibals. For the Carters who have to revert to their own primitive instincts it is a battle for survival: the lucky ones died first...

• The Endless Summer | DVD | (16/06/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £7.99

  The Endless Summer is one of the first and most influential films of the surf movie genre creating and defining an entire category of cinema which has endured and evolved in the decades since its release in 1966. This powerful film has become a timeless masterpiece that continues to capture the imagination of every new generation. Director Bruce Brown follows two surfers Mike Hynson and Robert August on a trip around the world in search of the ultimate surfing adventure and the perfect wave. From the uncharted waters of West Africa to the shark-filled seas of Australia to the tropical paradise of Tahiti and beyond these California surfers accomplish in a few months what many people never achieve in a lifetime... they live their dream. The title comes from the last line in the film which expresses the idea that if one had enough time and money it would be possible to follow the summer around the world making it endless. The surf-rock soundtrack to the film was provided by The Sandals. In 2002 The Endless Summer was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being ""culturally historically or aesthetically significant"".

• The Lion King II: Simba's Pride | DVD | (16/02/2001) from £20.00   |  Saving you £-0.01 (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The Lion King II: Simba's Pride is another made-for-video sequel to a Disney masterpiece. As with the Beauty and the Beast and Pocahontas sequels, most of the recognisable vocal talents return, creating a worthwhile successor to the highest-grossing animated film ever. We pick up the story as the lion king, Simba (voiced by Matthew Broderick) and Nala (Moira Kelly) have a new baby cub, a girl named Kiara (Neve Campbell). Like her father before, she seeks adventure and ends up outside the Pridelands, where lions loyal to the evil Scar (who died in the original) have lived with revenge in their hearts. The leader, Zira (a spunky turn from Suzanne Pleshette), schemes to use her son Kovu (Jason Marsden) to destroy Simba. As luck with have it, Kiara has bumped into Kovu and fallen in love. This all sounds familiar since all of Disney's straight-to-video sequels have played it very safe, nearly repeating the originals' story, tone, and pace. Perhaps there were too many cooks for this production. Besides the two screenplay credits, there are eight other writers credited for additional written material. The look of the film has none of the surprise of the original but is far superior to other animated videos. In fact, the film played in European cinemas. For children, the sequel will be a favourite. The comic antics of Timon (Nathan Lane) and Pumba (Ernie Sabella) are enjoyable, as is Andy Dick as Nuka, the mixed-up older son of Zira. And there's plenty of action. The best element is the music. Relying on more African-influenced music, the five songs featured are far superior to those in Disney's other sequels. Zira's song of revenge, "My Lullaby," was cowritten by Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon. The oustanding opening number, "He Lives in You", was created for the Lion King Broadway smash and now finds a whole new audience. --Doug Thomas