"Actor: Robert Apisa"

• Nowhere to Run | DVD | (09/10/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Poor Rosanna Arquette ended up in this Van Damme potboiler about an escaped convict who moves onto the farm of a widow (Arquette) and her two kids. Stuff happens: a cop who likes her gets jealous and beats up the Muscles from Brussels (but only after handcuffing him), there's a fire in the barn, bad guys are trying to drive her away, etc. The story was first developed by screenwriter Joe Eszterhas (Basic Instinct) and the late director Richard Marquand (Eye of the Needle). Eszterhas wrote the script, but who knows what direction this story was originally going? Van Damme's best film is still Timecop, and this is a long way from the quality of that.

• Airwolf - Vol. 3 | DVD | (18/03/2002) from £9.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Moffett's Ghost: On a secret mission behind the Iron Curtain Hawke loses control of the onboard computer which was programmed on a timer by Airwolf's creator Dr. Moffett... now Airwolf is set to destroy any aircraft in its range. Severance Pay: When one of Hawke's friends is denied retirement benefits and in revenge threatens to divulge sensitive information Hawke attempts to bring the ex-employee to his senses. HX1: When an incredible helicopter the HX1 seems to have been

• Nowhere To Run | DVD | (01/10/1999) from £7.34   |  Saving you £-1.35 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Poor Rosanna Arquette ended up in this Van Damme potboiler about an escaped convict who moves onto the farm of a widow (Arquette) and her two kids. Stuff happens: a cop who likes her gets jealous and beats up the Muscles from Brussels (but only after handcuffing him), there's a fire in the barn, bad guys are trying to drive her away, etc. The story was first developed by screenwriter Joe Eszter has (Basic Instinct) and the late director Richard Marquand (Eye of the Needle). Eszter wrote the script but who knows what direction this story was originally going? Van Damme's best film is still Timecop and this is a long way from the quality of that. --Tom Keogh

• Airwolf - Vol. 2 | DVD | (01/10/2001) from £4.98   |  Saving you £5.01 (100.60%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Airwolf appeared only two years after Knight Rider and, perplexingly, the same year as the short-lived Blue Thunder series. However, creator Donald P Bellisario had spent more than a little time in fully conceptualising this series. Although the format allowed for stories-of-the-week, a B-plot always ran as background motivation for the individual tales. This was a trick Bellisario would also use to good effect later in Magnum P.I. and Quantum Leap. The hook that sustains the audience here is an extremely bitter sub-plot: Stringfellow Hawke (Jan-Michael Vincent) is a peculiar anti-hero to root for since he is effectively being held to ransom and doing the same in return. His brother St. John is held captive somewhere and until his release the Airwolf chopper is Hawke's to keep hidden and use under the covert instructions of "Archangel". His best friend Dominic Santini (the ever-appealing Ernest Borgnine) is a surrogate father figure caught up in the family history. All this pre-determined angst means this is never a show that plays itself for laughs. Very specific character flaws are upfront from the beginning. We are hammered over the head with the idea of Hawke being a tortured intellectual; hence the cello, log cabin retreat and inability to smile. Of course the real star is the spurious technology showcased in the Mach One helicopter armed to the teeth and able to defy the laws of physics on a regular basis. As the mid-80s looked increasingly to the lighter side in most television successes, Airwolf is a rare display of aggression. Justice is fought, but dig only a little way and the moral motivations are often in question. Toward the end of its third season things began to lose coherence and after a year's pause the show was magically resurrected with an all-new cast. It didn't last. --Paul Tonks

• Airwolf - Vol. 4 | DVD | (16/09/2002) from £7.85   |  Saving you £2.14 (27.26%)   |  RRP £9.99

  The ultimate in Eighties action! Stringfellow Hawke (Vincent) and his irascible mentor Dominic Santini (Borgnine) continue their fight for freedom justice and liberty with the mighty Airwolf experimental helicopter at their disposal... Includes the episodes Dambreakers Random Target and The American Dream.

• Airwolf - Vol. 1 | DVD | (09/04/2001) from £4.95   |  Saving you £5.04 (101.82%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Airwolf appeared only two years after Knight Rider and, perplexingly, the same year as the short-lived Blue Thunder series. However, creator Donald P Bellisario had spent more than a little time in fully conceptualising this series. Although the format allowed for stories-of-the-week, a B-plot always ran as background motivation for the individual tales. This was a trick Bellisario would also use to good effect later in Magnum P.I. and Quantum Leap. The hook that sustains the audience here is an extremely bitter sub-plot: Stringfellow Hawke (Jan-Michael Vincent) is a peculiar anti-hero to root for since he is effectively being held to ransom and doing the same in return. His brother St. John is held captive somewhere and until his release the Airwolf chopper is Hawke's to keep hidden and use under the covert instructions of "Archangel". His best friend Dominic Santini (the ever-appealing Ernest Borgnine) is a surrogate father figure caught up in the family history. All this pre-determined angst means this is never a show that plays itself for laughs. Very specific character flaws are upfront from the beginning. We are hammered over the head with the idea of Hawke being a tortured intellectual; hence the cello, log cabin retreat and inability to smile. Of course the real star is the spurious technology showcased in the Mach One helicopter armed to the teeth and able to defy the laws of physics on a regular basis. As the mid-80s looked increasingly to the lighter side in most television successes, Airwolf is a rare display of aggression. Justice is fought, but dig only a little way and the moral motivations are often in question. Toward the end of its third season things began to lose coherence and after a year's pause the show was magically resurrected with an all-new cast. It didn't last. --Paul Tonks

• Hard Target / Knock Off / Nowhere To Run | DVD | (04/07/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Hard Target (1993): The thrill of the hunt. It's the ultimate drug and the more intense the rush the higher the price. International superstar Jean-Claude Van Damme teams up with world-famous action director John Woo for this electrifying thriller that WGN Radio hails as 'Easily one of the year's best films!' Van Damme is the target of an evil mercenary (Lance Henriksen) who recruits homeless combat veterans for the 'amusement' of his clients - bored tycoons who will pay a half a million dollars to stalk and kill the most challenging prey of them all: Man. Laced with dark humour and slam-packed with electrifying action Hard Target is a must see for action fans. Nowhere To Run (1993): Action superstar Jean Claude Van Damme has nowhere to run and nothing to lose! An escaped prisoner hiding from the authorities Sam Gillen (Van Damme) always manages to be in the wrong place at the right time. Risking his hard-fought freedom he aids a beautiful young widow Clydie (Rosanna Arquette) and her children against a ruthless developer who's trying to drive them off their land. Hunted by both the police and the developer's hired killers Sam pulls no punches in his furious fight for survival - he'll do anything to protect the family who are protecting him. The result is more hard-hitting high kicking Van Damme action than you've ever seen! Knock Off (1998): Jean-Claude Van Damme stars in an explosive thriller set in Hong Kong's shady manufacturing scene during the 1997 handover to China. When a shipment of jeans to the US proves counterfeit Marcus Ray the ""King of the Knock-Offs"" (Van Damme) finds himself at the centre of a Russian Mafia plot to hold the United States' security for ransom. Thousands of tiny micro-bombs disguised within other manufactured goods are schedules for departure from Hong Kong to America. When Ray's company's jeans are found to be the housing for the explosives he's the one man the CIA can count on to prevent certain disaster! In a territory where loyalty can change hands overnight Marcus Ray's survival will depend on him knowing the fakes from the real thing!