"Actor: Ryan Locke"

• Robocop Trilogy | DVD | (04/02/2002) from £39.99   |  Saving you £-7.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £32.99

  Paul Verhoeven was almost unknown in Hollywood prior to the release of RoboCop in 1987. But after this ultra-violent yet strangely subversive and satirical sci-fi picture became a huge hit his reputation for extravagant and excessive, yet superbly well-crafted filmmaking was assured. Controversial as ever, Verhoeven saw the blue-collar cop (Peter Weller) who is transformed into an invincible cyborg as "an American Jesus with a gun", and so the film dabbles with death and resurrection imagery as well as mercilessly satirising Reagan-era America. No targets escape Verhoeven's unflinching camera eye, from yuppie excess and corporate backstabbing to rampant consumerism and vacuous media personalities. As with his later sci-fi satire Starship Troopers the extremely bloody violence resolutely remains on the same level as a Tom and Jerry cartoon. The inevitable sequel, competently directed by Irvin Kershner, thankfully continues to mine the dark vein of anti-consumerist satire while being reflexively aware that it is itself a shining example of that which it is lampooning. Sadly the third instalment in the series, now without Peter Weller in the title role, is exactly the kind of dumbed-down production-line flick that the corporate suits of OCP might have dreamed up at a marketing meeting. Its only virtue is a decent music score from regular Verhoeven collaborator Basil Poledouris, whose splendid march theme returned from the original score. On the DVD: Packaged in a fold-out slipcase these three discs make a very collectable set. All are presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic prints, although only the first movie has any extra material worth mentioning. Here the Director's Cut option allows the viewer to see Paul Verhoeven's more explicitly violent versions of Murphy's "assassination", ED-209's bloody malfunction and the shootout finale. These extended sequences are handily signposted in the scene selection menu, and the filming of them can be seen in a sequence of Director's Cut footage. Deleted scenes include "Topless Pizza" ("I'll buy that for a dollar!") and there are two contemporary "making of" featurettes plus a good, new half-hour retrospective. Both the latter and the director's commentary make abundantly clear the Reagan-era satire and are chock full of quotable lines from Verhoeven--"I wanted to show Satan killing Jesus"--and his producer--"Fascism for liberals". Stop-motion animator Phil Tippett gives a commentary on the storyboard-to-film comparisons, and there are the usual trailers and photos. Showing just how much the sequels are rated in comparison, the second and third discs have nothing but theatrical trailers and their sound is just Dolby 2.0 whereas the original movie has been remastered into Dolby 5.1.--Mark Walker

• Supercross | DVD | (18/09/2006) from £5.95   |  Saving you £7.04 (118.32%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Fear Nothing...Risk Everything. Deeply in love with motorcycles orphaned brothers K.C. (Steve Howey) and Trip (Mike Vogel) Carlyle clean pools to support their hunger for competitive motocross--dreaming of the day when they can get professional sponsorship and compete in the stadium event known as Supercross. Younger Trip is a loose cannon constantly taking risks that make him a liability for a professional team. As a result K.C. is the first to get sponsored. Unfortunately just before his first race he finds that he was hired simply to make sure that no one gets near the team's star Rowdy Sparks (Channing Tatum). K.C.'s jealousy gets the best of him until he embarks on a romance with a spirited young female rider Piper Cole (Cameron Richardson) whose biker father Robert Patrick (Terminator 2) sees a potential winner in Trip and decides to give him sponsorship. Loud and colorful with enough gravity-defying motorcross action to satisfy any fan former stuntman Steve Boynum's directorial debut conveys the dangers of the sport as well as the fierce competition and corporate backstabbing it involves.

• The Gingerbread Man | DVD | (22/05/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  In a quiet small-town diner a deranged patron Millard Findlemeyer (Gary Busey) opens fire on the Leigh family killing all but the daughter Sara Leigh (Robin Sydney). During the trial Sara's testimony sends Millard to the electric chair and his ashes are sent to his mother. In a vow of revenge Millard's mother mixes her son's ashes with a secret gingerbread cookie mix which makes its way into Sara Leigh's bakery. When one of the bakery employees Brick Fields (Jonathan Chase)

• The Gingerdead Man Trilogy Boxset | DVD | (31/12/2012) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• American Gun | DVD | (30/05/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £2.99

  American Gun

• American Gun | DVD | (15/09/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Penny Tillman (Virginia Madsen) travels home to Vermont to spend the holidays with her parents Martin (James Coburn) and Anne (Barbara Bain). Their warm reunion is cut tragically short when a last-minute errand ends in Penny's untimely death and the holiday cheer is abruptly silenced by the sorrow of burying a loved one.

• The Gingerdead Man | DVD | (31/12/2012) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• American Gun | DVD | (15/09/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99