"Actor: Silva"

• Cambridge Spies | DVD | (02/06/2003) from £19.58   |  Saving you £0.41 (2.09%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Cambridge Spies, the BBC's moody 2003 dramatisation of the most notorious debacle in the history of the British Secret Service, raises the spectre of the treachery of Philby, Burgess, MacLean and Blunt for a generation of viewers who can only imagine the shockwaves generated by their duplicity. Inevitably the story suffers from the basically repellent quality of its raw material. Determinedly non-judgemental, it frequently stumbles along a precarious path between romantic eulogy and fact-based fable of the perils of idealism. For all the handsome casting, the characters have little charm to compensate for their deeds. Their motivations are sketched only vaguely. Even in moments of personal vulnerability, however poignant the performances, sympathy is at a premium. But it has its high points as an atmospheric soap opera: the recreation of a period that stretches from the radical aspects of 1930s university life at Cambridge to Cold War London, dipping into the Spanish Civil War and the Washington diplomatic circle en route, is vivid. The acting, too, is fine. Tom Hollander's rampantly dissolute Burgess verges constantly on parody. But Toby Stephens (Philby), Samuel West (a frosty Blunt) and Rupert Penry-Jones (an emotionally wrung-out MacLean) work wonders with Peter Moffat's insubstantial script. On the DVD: Cambridge Spies is a handsome production with a cinematic quality enhanced by an appropriately edgy soundtrack and widescreen presentation. The main extra is the commentary shared by director Tim Fywell, producer Mark Shivas and writer Peter Moffat. It's a rather self-congratulatory affair, but includes some interesting insights: attempts to film some events in their real location met with refusal, suggesting that in some quarters, the outrage and embarrassment that Burgess, Philby and MacLean left in their wake is still very close to the surface. --Piers Ford

• Ghost Dog: The Way Of The Samurai | DVD | (10/06/2002) from £9.89   |  Saving you £0.10 (1.01%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Forest Whitaker makes an unlikely modern samurai with his laser-sighted pistols, shabby street clothes, and oddly graceful gait--but then Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai is an unusual film. Quirky, contemplative and at times absurd, it is just the kind of offbeat vision we have come to expect from the fiercely independent Jim Jarmusch (Stranger than Paradise, Dead Man). Whitaker is Ghost Dog, a mysterious New York hit man who lives simply on a tenement rooftop and follows a code of behaviour outlined in : Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai (passages of this book are interspersed throughout the film). When the local mob marks him for death in a complicated code of Mafiosi-style honour, Ghost Dog sends a cryptic message to his foes. "That's poetry. The poetry of war", remarks mobster Henry Silva, with sudden respect upon reading the verse. He could be describing the ethereal beauty of Jarmusch's vision, full of wonderful imagery (a night drive across town seems to float in time) and off-centre humour. Though it briefly stalls in a series of assassinations (Jarmusch is no action director), it settles back into character-driven drama in a quietly epic showdown, equal parts samurai adventure, spaghetti western and existential crime movie. The film is likely too unconventional and offbeat for general audiences, but cult-movie buffs and Jarmusch fans will appreciate his idiosyncratic vision. He finds a strange sense of honour in the clash of Old World traditions, and salutes his heroes with a skewed but sincere respect. --Sean Axmaker

• Life Is Beautiful | DVD | (22/01/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Italy's rubber-faced funnyman Roberto Benigni accomplishes the impossible in his World War II comedy Life Is Beautiful: he shapes a simultaneously hilarious and haunting comedy out of the tragedy of the Holocaust. An international sensation and the most successful foreign language film in US history, the picture also earned director-cowriter-star Benigni Oscars for Best Foreign Language Film and Best Actor. He plays the Jewish country boy Guido, a madcap romantic in Mussolini's Italy who wins the heart of his sweetheart (Benigni's real-life sweetie, Nicoletta Braschi) and raises a darling son (the adorable Giorgio Cantarini) in the shadow of fascism. When the Nazis ship the men off to a concentration camp in the waning days of the war, Guido is determined to shelter his son from the evils around them and convinces him they're in an elaborate contest to win (of all things) a tank. Guido tirelessly maintains the ruse with comic ingenuity, even as the horrors escalate and the camp's population continues to dwindle--all the more impetus to keep his son safe, secure and, most of all, hidden. Benigni walks a fine line mining comedy from tragedy and his efforts are pure fantasy--he accomplishes feats no man could realistically pull off--both of which have drawn fire from a few critics. Yet for all its wacky humour and inventive gags, Life Is Beautiful is a moving and poignant tale of one father's sacrifice to save not just his young son's life but his innocence in the face of one of the most evil acts ever perpetrated by the human race. --Sean Axmaker

• The Manchurian Candidate | DVD | (25/10/2004) from £9.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  John Frankenheimer's Award-winning 1962 classic THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE has been fully restored and will be back in cinemas this spring.

• Above the Law 4K UHD & Blu-ray | Blu Ray | (09/11/2026) from £24.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Alligator (Collector's Edition) | Blu Ray | (22/02/2022) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• The Blue Dahlia | Blu Ray | (19/09/2016) from £54.99   |  Saving you £-35.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Hollywood legends Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake (The Glass Key, This Gun For Hire) team up for a masterfully told tale of suspense and intrigue in the classic noir tradition. When discharged navy officer Johnny Morrison (Ladd) comes home from war to his old stomping ground in the Hollywood Hills, he is shocked to discover his wife Helen (Doris Dowling) having an affair with the proprietor of the glamorous Blue Dahlia nightclub. But when Helen is murdered and Johnny is fingered as the prime suspect, he is forced to prove his innocence, aided by a woman harbouring a dark secret, the beautiful and enigmatic Joyce (Lake). Directed by George Marshall (Destry Rides Again, How the West Was Won) from a script by acclaimed hard-boiled novelist Raymond Chandler his only produced original screenplay The Blue Dahlia sparkles with wit and old Hollywood glamour, showcasing some of the most celebrated talent of the golden age of the silver screen at their iconic best, making its high definition debut in this feature-packed release from Arrow Academy. SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation Original uncompressed PCM mono audio Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing Selected scene commentary by Frank Krutnik, author of In a Lonely Street: Film Noir, Genre, Masculinity Introduction to the film by Frank Krutnik Rare 1949 half-hour radio dramatization of The Blue Dahlia by The Screen Guild Theater, starring Veronica Lake and Alan Ladd Original theatrical trailer Extensive gallery of vintage stills and promotional materials Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Tonci Zonjic

• Ghost Dog | DVD | (12/05/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  In the samurai tradition, Ghost Dog has pledged his loyalty to one master, Louie (John Tormey), a small-time mobster who saved Ghost Dog's life many years ago.

• Ocean's 11 | Blu Ray | (07/05/2018) from £20.28   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Eleven friends who know each other from World War II service plan to rob five of the biggest casinos in Las Vegas in one night. They develop a master plan but after the whole thing is over, something goes wrong...

• Ocean's 11 | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £6.17   |  Saving you £11.82 (191.57%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Leave it to the Chairman of the Board to rope in a great director for the first Rat Pack movie, Ocean's Eleven. Lewis Milestone (All Quiet on the Western Front) did indeed direct this 1960 caper movie starring Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr, Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop; but the results now seem like more of a historical artefact than a good piece of entertainment. The tone of the film is curiously serious--much more so than Steven Soderbergh's fluffy 2002 remake--one somehow expected that the Rat Pack would have made a more buoyant first picture. But it is something to see these guys together, if only for reasons of nostalgia.--Tom Keogh, Amazon.com

• Wentworth: Series One | DVD | (04/11/2013) from £12.01   |  Saving you £12.98 (108.08%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Welcome to Wentworth Prison where everbody has a story but where one sentence can change your life. Remember Bea Smith as gutsy and fearless ruling Wentworth Correctional Centre with an iron fist. But who was Bea Smith before prison? How did a housewife and mother from the suburbs become Top Dog without rival? Having taken Australia by storm and now on air on Five Australia's most famous correctional centre opens its gates for the first time in 27 years in an edgy sexy and graphic re-imagining of the popular drama series Prisoner: Cell Block H. Featuring both new and original characters this no-holds-barred drama charts their struggle to survive in the violent pressure cooker environment of a contemporary women's prison. It's drama with conviction.

• Thirst (Limited Edition Blu-ray) | Blu Ray | (17/03/2025) from £17.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  INDICATOR LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES Brand-new 4K restoration from the original negative by Powerhouse Films Original mono audio Audio commentary with director Rod Hardy and producer Antony I Ginnane (2003) Thirst: A Contemporary Blend (2022): retrospective interview with Ginnane Archival TV interview with actor David Hemmings (1979) Archival audio interview with actor Chantal Contouri (1979) ˜Not Quite Hollywood' Interviews (2008): extensive selection of outtakes from Mark Hartley's acclaimed documentary on Australian cinema, featuring Hardy, Ginnane, cinematographer Vincent Monton, and actor Rod Mullinar Appreciation by the academic and Australian cinema specialist Stephen Morgan (2024) Isolated score Original theatrical trailer TV spots Image gallery: promotional and publicity material, and behind the scenes Limited edition exclusive 80-page book with a new essay by Diane A Rogers, exclusive extracts from producer Antony I Ginnane's unpublished memoirs, archival interviews with actors Chantal Contouri, David Hemmings and Henry Silva, and film credits Limited edition of 10,000 individually numbered units (6,000 4K UHDs and 4,000 Blu-rays) for the UK and US All features subject to change

• Wentworth Prison 5 | DVD | (09/10/2017) from £22.98   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Tough, gritty and totally compelling, this hard-edged re-imagining of the iconic Prisoner: Cell Block H remains unmissable drama. Both the staff and inmates of Wentworth Correctional Centre are struggling to come to terms with the trauma of Bea's death. Governor Vera Bennett, now under intense pressure, is increasingly forced to rely on her deputy, Jake, unaware that he is under Ferguson's control. A recovering Allie seeks vengeance against Ferguson, who claims that she killed Bea in self-defence. Meanwhile, as Liz prepares to appear as a prosecution witness in Sonia's trial, life on the outside becomes increasingly tough for Franky... This set contains all twelve episodes of Season Five.

• Wentworth Prison: Series One And Two | DVD | (24/11/2014) from £14.95   |  Saving you £25.04 (167.49%)   |  RRP £39.99

  SEASON 1: It is Bea Smith's first day at Wentworth Correctional Facility. Instantly thrown into a strange and violent new world of female prisoners where lesbian top dog Franky vies for power with Jacs Holt, the ruthless matriarch of a crime family, it seems like she isn't going to last long. This gripping drama follows Bea and how she copes being separated from both the outside world and more importantly, her very precious daughter Debbie. SEASON 2: The story picks up three months after Bea killed Jacs Holt. While Bea has been languishing in the slot, Franky has risen to top dog unopposed. But the sudden arrival of new governor Joan Ferguson is about to change all that. Ferguson's mandate is to clean up Wentworth and restore order, at any cost, to the inmates and her staff.

• Fanfan La Tulipe | DVD | (24/05/2004) from £11.10   |  Saving you £8.89 (80.09%)   |  RRP £19.99

  'Fanfan La Tulipe' is a swash-buckling romantic comedy full of fun and frolics directed with finesse by Christian Jacque and starring the legendary Gerard Philipe as the hero. Set during the reign of Louis XV Fanfan La Tulipe a known womaniser and skilled swordsman is forced by his countrymen to marry his latest conquest a peasant girl. But on his way to the wedding he encounters a 'fortune teller' who tricks him with predictions of marrying a Princess so he enlists in the King

• City Of Men | Blu Ray | (19/03/2012) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The struggle for survival amongst Rio's favelas continues, as "City Of Men" arrives on DVD on 23rd February 2009

• Van Der Valk: Series 4 | DVD | (30/03/2026) from £16.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Amistad | DVD | (29/01/2001) from £6.77   |  Saving you £13.22 (195.27%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Steven Spielberg's most simplistic, sanitised history lesson, Amistad, explores the symbolic 1840s trials of 53 West Africans following their bloody rebellion aboard a slave ship. For most of Schindler's List (and, later, Saving Private Ryan) Spielberg restrains himself from the sweeping narrative and technical flourishes that make him one of our most entertaining and manipulative directors. Here, he doesn't even bother trying, succumbing to his driving need to entertain with beautiful images and contrived emotion. He cheapens his grandiose motives and simplifies slavery, treating it as cut- and-dry genre piece. Characters are easy Hollywood stereotypes--"villains" like the Spanish sailors or zealous abolitionists are drawn one-dimensionally and sneered upon. And Spielberg can't suppress his gifted eye, undercutting normally ugly sequences, such as the terrifying slave passage, which is shot as a gorgeous, well-lit composition. At its core, Amistad is a traditional courtroom drama, centred by a tired, clichéd narrative: a struggling, idealistic young lawyer (Matthew McConaughey) fighting the crooked political system and saving helpless victims. Worse yet, Spielberg actually takes the underlying premise of his childhood fantasy, E.T. and repackages it for slavery. Cinque (Djimon Hounsou), the leader of the West African rebellion, is presented much like the adorable alien: lost, lacking a common language, and trying to find his way home. McConaughey is a grown-up Elliot who tries communicating complicated ideas such as geography by drawing pictures in the sand or language by having Cinque mimic his facial expressions. Such stuff was effective for a sci-fi fantasy about the communication barriers between a boy and a lost alien; here, it seems like a naive view of real, complex history. --Dave McCoy, Amazon.com

• The Italian Connection (Limited Edition) | Blu Ray | (26/08/2024) from £17.98   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  In the 1970s the crime film flourished in Italy as the country went through years of political and social unrest, the so-called ˜Years of Lead'. Italian movie producers would capitalise on these times by producing cheap, violent movies about national organised crime and corruption, establishing the genre of the poliziotteschi. One of the most celebrated poliziottesco directors was Fernando Di Leo, a director as concerned with telling entertaining stories as he was with creating socially relevant backdrops. In Di Leo's The Italian Connection, the New York mob dispatch two hitmen (Henry Silva, The Boss and Woody Strode, Once Upon a Time in the West) to apprehend pimp Luca Canali (Mario Adorf, Milano Calibro 9), who they believe to have stolen a shipment of heroin. The local mob also join the hunt, but despite being outnumbered Luca refuses to go quietly and fights back against his pursuers, leading a thrilling series of chases and shootouts, and a trail of bloody destruction. A noted influence on Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction, this is the poliziottesco at its most entertaining and action-packed.

• The Boss (Limited Edition) | Blu Ray | (29/04/2024) from £16.85   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  In the 1970s the crime film flourished in Italy as the country went through years of political and social unrest, the so-called ˜Years of Lead'. Italian movie producers would capitalise on these times by producing cheap, violent movies about the country's organised crime and corruption, establishing the genre of the poliziotteschi. One of the most celebrated poliziottesco directors was Fernando Di Leo, a director as concerned with telling entertaining stories as he was with creating socially relevant backdrops. In Di Leo's The Boss, Henry Silva plays mob enforcer Nick Lanzetta, who assassinates key members of a rival gang in order to put his boss in a position to seize power. However, one surviving member of the gang, Cocchi (Pier Paolo Capponi, The Cat o' Nine Tails) plots his revenge involving corrupt cop Torri (Gianni Garko, If You Meet Sartana Pray For Your Death), leading to a bloody series of double-crosses and power plays to find who will ultimately become the boss. Product FeaturesLIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES:2020 4K restoration of the original negative, presented in the original Italian version and the shorter English export cut, on Blu-ray for the first time in the UKUncompressed mono PCM audioAudio commentary by critic Rachael NisbetNew interview with Fernando Di Leo biographer Davide PuliciArchival documentary Mafia Stories featuring stars Gianni Garko, Pier Paolo Capponi, producer Armando Novelli and director Fernando Di Leo among others (24 mins)Original trailerImage galleryReversible sleeve featuring artwork based on original postersNew and improved English subtitle translationLimited edition booklet with new writing by Italian crime expert and scholar Giulio Olesen and an archival interview with Di LeoLimited edition of 3000 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with limited edition booklet and reversible sleeve