"Actor: Stathis Giallelis"

• Cast A Giant Shadow | DVD | (20/05/2002) from £11.42   |  Saving you £1.57 (13.75%)   |  RRP £12.99

  1966’s Cast a Giant Shadow is based on Ted Berkman’s biography of Colonel "Mickey" Marcus, the American soldier who served as an adviser in the fight to establish the state of Israel in 1948. It stars Kirk Douglas as the likeable "stiffneck" and WWII veteran persuaded to take up the cause. Israel back then was depicted as a negligible military force under threat of extinction at the hands of its Arab neighbours, hamstrung by a UN embargo on arms supplies. It takes Douglas at his most square-jawed to see off the Egyptian military and defy a blockade to beat a path through to Jerusalem. This is not cinema verité but Hollywood. Marcus’ dilemma--to settle into peacetime in America or follow his more natural, combative instincts abroad--is symbolised by a love triangle, involving wife Angie Dickinson and Santa Berger as Magda, the soldier whom he falls for in Palestine. Although lavish and spectacular, especially in the war scenes--filmed in the actual Middle Eastern locations in which they occurred--Cast a Giant Shadow is not entirely authentic (for a start, they’re driving 1950s vehicles in the 40s). Moreover, in the light of later troubles in the region, not everyone will be heart warmed by this depiction of plucky little Israel coping against Arab foes who are barely depicted as human throughout the film, merely as tanks and gunfire. Still, it’s an impressive enough relic of epic 1960s cinema, with cameos from Yul Brynner, John Wayne as Marcus’ wartime general, and Frank Sinatra as a pilot scattering the enemy by dropping soda dispensers on them. On the DVD: Cast a Giant Shadow‘s restoration here is visually immaculate. The mono sound, however, is often indistinct, with a good deal of sibilant hiss. Disappointingly, the only extra is the original trailer.--David Stubbs

• The Last Rampage (DVD) | DVD | (03/06/2019) from £5.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  NOTICE: Polish Release, cover may contain Polish text/markings. The disk has English audio.