"Actor: Stephen Rea"

• Star Trek 1: The Motion Picture - The Director's Edition | DVD | (06/05/2002) from £5.97   |  Saving you £10.02 (167.84%)   |  RRP £15.99

  It was an event that every fan had waited a decade for: the first Star Trek movie. But after its cinema release in 1979 Star Trek: The Motion Picture was quickly dubbed "The Slow-Motion Picture". In the opinion of general audiences, fans and critics alike, the snail-like pace of the film was a crippling flaw. It bothered one person even more, though: but Robert Wise finally got to scratch that itch when preparing this Director's Edition. In an unprecedented display of confidence from a movie studio, Wise has been allowed to re-edit the film and commission new visual effects sequences that were planned but unrealised for the original release. The result is frankly mind-boggling. Finally we are now able to see how Vulcan was supposed to amaze and alienate us, how integral the B-crew's role was to the mission, and just how spectacular the V'ger ship was imagined to be. Is the pace problem addressed? Undoubtedly it is. Scenes are trimmed and a new "busier" effects soundtrack helps considerably. Does it look better? Definitely. The shades of beige and puce have never seemed more crisply defined. Does it sound better? Jerry Goldsmith's music score (arguably one of the best ever written) is as majestically represented as the Enterprise herself. On the DVD: Star Trek: The Motion Picture two-disc set has oodles of extra features, including a complete library of all scenes deleted from both the original and new versions. The picture quality varies throughout, but it's worth putting up with for the (Wise-ly) excised material such as the unfinished effects work. An audio commentary from Wise, special effects director John Dykstra, composer Jerry Goldsmith and Commander Decker himself (Stephen Collins) provides an appraisal for movie aficionados more than Trek fans: the latter will be far more interested in a text commentary from Trek author and scholar Mike Okuda, who points out endless amounts of in-trivia. Better even than all these are three new documentaries that chronicle the film's history from then to now. Each is brightly put together (they don't drag), informative without being overly technical, and exude a pride without bragging. --Paul Tonks

• Michael Collins | Blu Ray | (07/03/2016) from £7.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Neil Jordan returns to the strife-torn Irish political landscape for this real-life epic set in 1920 and starring Liam Neeson as the legendary Irish revolutionary leader and Julia Roberts as his headstrong fiancée.

• The Crying Game (DVD + Blu-ray) | Blu Ray | (20/02/2017) from £18.75   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  The Crying Game offers a rare and precious movie experience. The film is an unclassifiable original that surprises, intrigues, confounds, and delights you with its freshness, humor, and honesty from beginning to end. It starts as a psychological thriller, as IRA foot soldier Fergus (the incomparable Stephen Rea) kidnaps a British soldier (Forest Whitaker) and waits for the news that will determine whether he executes his victim or sets him free. As the night wears on, a peculiar bond begins to form between the two men. Later, the movie shifts tone and morphs into something of a romantic comedy as Fergus unexpectedly becomes involved with the soldier's girlfriend Dil (Jaye Davidson) and discovers more about himself, and human nature in general, than he ever dreamed possible. Like Spielberg's E.T. , The Crying Game was supposed to be director Neil Jordan's "little, personal movie," the one he just had to make, even though no studio was willing to give him money because the story was so unusual. Instead, it became a surprise popular sensation, thanks in part to Miramax's cleverly provocative campaign playing up the hush-hush nature of the movie's big secret. The performances (including Miranda Richardson as one of Fergus's IRA colleagues) are subtly shaded, and the writing and direction are tantalizingly rich and suggestive; you're always trying to figure out the characters' true motives and feelings--even when they themselves are fully aware of their own motives and feelings. The Crying Game is a wise, witty, wondrous treasure of a movie. Director Jordan's credits include Mona Lisa, Interview with the Vampire, Michael Collins, and The Butcher Boy. --Jim Emerson

• I Didn't Know You Cared - The Complete First Series | DVD | (25/04/2005) from £19.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  From the books of Peter Tinniswood comes one of television's greatest comedy families The Brandons. There's miserable pessimist Uncle Mort his sharp-tongued sister Annie who is constantly arguing with husband Les their laid-back son Carter and his not so laid-back fianc Pat and finally old Uncle Stavely who carries his friend's ashes around his neck in a box and only enters the constant bickering with a cry of 'I 'eard that! Pardon?' Pat is desperately trying to turn reluctant

• Greta (DVD) | DVD | (26/08/2019) from £6.19   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Frances (Chloë Grace Moretz), a sweet, naïve young woman trying to make it on her own in New York City, doesn't think twice about returning the handbag she fi nds on the subway to its rightful owner. That owner is Greta (Isabelle Huppert), an eccentric French piano teacher with a love for classical music and an aching loneliness. Having recently lost her mother, Frances quickly grows closer to widowed Greta. The two become fast friends but Greta's maternal charms begin to dissolve and grow increasingly disturbing as Frances discovers that nothing in Greta's life is what it seems in this suspense thriller directed by Academy Award® winner Neil Jordan.

• The Butcher Boy | DVD | (15/10/2007) from £6.19   |  Saving you £6.80 (109.86%)   |  RRP £12.99

  A classic Irish movie, The Butcher Boy is set in a small town in Ireland in the mid part of the twentieth century. It tells the story of Francis 'Francie' Brady, a schoolboy who lives with his mother and alcoholic father. In the early part of the book it becomes apparent that Francie's mother is abused both verbally and physically by her belligerent husband, on a frequent basis. Francie's father, Benny, was raised in a tough religious school in Belfast, and it is suggested that this experience left him mentally traumatised. This mental trauma has left Benny bitter and angry, and he takes this anger out on his wife, his fury fuelled by alcohol. Francie's mother considers suicide and is committed for a time to a mental health facility.

• DCI Banks: Series 4 | DVD | (15/08/2016) from £10.93   |  Saving you £9.06 (82.89%)   |  RRP £19.99

• The Miracle Club | Blu Ray | (18/12/2023) from £7.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Ballygar, Dublin, Ireland, 1968: close friends Lily (Maggie Smith), Eileen (Kathy Bates), and Dolly (Agnes O'Casey) win the trip of a lifetime - a pilgrimage to Lourdes. With each woman desperately in need of a personal miracle, the trip seems like an answer to all their prayers. But when they are joined by Chrissie (Laura Linney), returning to Dublin after decades in America, deep wounds from the past are re-opened and bitter truths exposed. As they confront one another and embrace their shared past, the group reckon with revelations that will change them forever. Directed by Thaddeus O'Sullivan, The Miracle Club is a heartfelt story of friendship, family, and forgiveness.

• Werewolf: The Beast Among Us | DVD | (22/10/2012) from £12.98   |  Saving you £-2.99 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Set in a 19th century village, a young man studying under a local doctor joins a team of hunters on the trail of a wolf-like creature.

• Copenhagen | DVD | (29/02/2016) from £4.99   |  Saving you £15.00 (300.60%)   |  RRP £19.99

  A television adaptation of Michael Frayn's celebrated and award-winning stage play about the meeting between physicists Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg in 1941 Copenhagen. At this time the young Heisenberg was leading a faltering German research program into nuclear energy, while the middle-aged and apparently isolated Bohr was in contact with allied agents, and still held a position of great influence in the nuclear physics research community. After the meeting the two men put different interpretations or impressions of why Heisenberg requested the meeting, and what he hoped to gain from it, a theme which mirrors the ambiguity of the 'Copenhagen' interpretation widely used in quantum physics. Did Heisenberg go to the avuncular Bohr to seek his blessing for his role in nuclear research? Why did Heisenberg concentrate on the development of a nuclear reactor, and not perform the calculations which would show that a bomb could be made to work via a fast-neutron reaction in Uranium 235?

• Werewolf: The Beast Among Us | Blu Ray | (22/10/2012) from £10.78   |  Saving you £2.21 (20.50%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Set in a 19th century village, a young man studying under a local doctor joins a team of hunters on the trail of a wolf-like creature.

• Interview With The Vampire | Blu Ray | (13/10/2008) from £7.99   |  Saving you £12.00 (150.19%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Drink From Me And Live Forever Brad Pitt is Louis lured by Lestat into the immortality of the damned then tormented by an unalterable fact of vampire life; to survive he must kill Stephen Rea Antonio Banderas Christian Slater and newcomer Kirsten Dunst also star. One lifetime alone offers plenty of opportunities for the savage revelries of the night. Imagine what an eternity can bring. Hypnotically directed by Neil Jordan this film offers enough thrills shocks and fiendish fun to last a lifetime and beyond...

• The Musketeer | DVD | (10/03/2003) from £9.07   |  Saving you £8.91 (146.55%)   |  RRP £14.99

  The Musketeer is director-cinematographer Peter Hyams fresh new take on Alexandre Dumas' classic adventure tale, The Three Musketeers.

• Blackthorn | DVD | (04/06/2012) from £10.99   |  Saving you £5.00 (45.50%)   |  RRP £15.99

  It's been said that Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid were killed in a standoff with the Bolivian military in 1908. In Blackthorn, Cassidy (Sam Shepard) survived and is quietly living out his years under the name James Blackthorn in a secluded Bolivian village. Tired of his long exile from the US and hooing to see his family again before he dies, Cassidy sets out on the long journey home. However, when an unexpected encounter with an ambitious young criminals derails his plans, he is thrust into one last adventure, the likes of which he hasnt experience since he glory days with the Sundance Kid. Also stars Nickolaj Coster-Waldau (Game of Thrones) and Oscar nominee Stephen Rea

• Breakfast On Pluto | DVD | (15/05/2006) from £5.99   |  Saving you £14.00 (233.72%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Cillian Murphy stars as a transvestite fantasist in this magical and surreal tale from director Neil Jordan.

• Underworld: Awakening | DVD | (14/05/2012) from £4.75   |  Saving you £15.24 (320.84%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Kate Beckinsale, star of the first two films, returns in her lead role as the vampire warrioress Selene, who escapes imprisonment to find herself in a world where humans have discovered the existence of both Vampire and Lycan clans...

• On The Buses / Mutiny On The Buses / Holiday On The Buses | DVD | (04/08/2003) from £24.56   |  Saving you £-7.57 (N/A%)   |  RRP £16.99

  On The Buses: Stan's job is secure as bus drivers are hard to come by and his overtime prospects are good until the bus company decide to revoke a long standing rule and employ women bus drivers. Aghast at the thought of no overtime and therefore less wages he joins forces with his long time work colleague Jack to sabotage the new female employees. Mutiny On The Buses: Bus driver Stan Butler agrees to marry Suzy much to the anguish of Mum her son-in-law Arthur and her daughter Olive. How they wonder will they ever manage without Stan's money coming in? Arthur learns to drive a bus and Stan blackmails the Depot Manager into giving him the job of driver on the new money-making Special Tours Bus. A great idea if only the inspector hadn't taken Stan on his trial run to Windsor Safari Park! Holiday On The Buses: A small matter of three crashed buses one piece of mutilated council property and a written off car belonging to the Bus Depot Manager adds up to instant dismissal for Stan Jack and Inspector Blakey. Jack and Stan think that all is saved when they find work in a Welsh holiday camp running the camps transport. Then they discover that Blakey has been installed as Camp Security Inspector!

• Babylon 5: Season 3 | DVD | (10/11/2003) from £10.49   |  Saving you £44.50 (424.21%)   |  RRP £54.99

  Matters of Honour" launches the third series of Babylon 5 with the introduction of the White Star, a spacecraft added to enable more of the action to take place away from the static space station. Also introduced is Marcus Cole (Jason Carter) who, in another nod to The Lord of the Rings, is a Ranger not so far removed from JRR Tolkien's Strider. In "Voices of Authority" the show finds an epic scale as Ivanova seeks the mysterious "First Ones" for allies against the Shadows, and evidence is discovered pointing to the truth behind President Santiago's assassination. A third of the way through the series "Messages from Earth", "Point of No Return" and "Severed Dreams" prove pivotal, changing the nature of the story in a way previously unimaginable on network TV. Earth slides into dictatorship, the fascistic Nightwatch takes control of off-world security and Sheridan takes decisive action by declaring Babylon 5 independent. "Interludes and Examinations" presents the death of a major supporting character, while the two-part "War Without End" reaches apocalyptic dimensions in a complex tale resolving the destiny of Sinclair and the fate of Babylon 4 (dovetailing elegantly with the events of Year One's "Babylon Squared"), resolving a 1,000-year-old paradox and presenting a vision of a very dark future for Sheridan and Delenn. All this is trumped by the monumental "Z'ha'dum". In the preceding "Shadow Dancing", Anna Sheridan (Melissa Gilbert, Bruce Boxleitner's real-life wife) returns from the dead, no longer entirely human. In the mythologically resonant climax Anna invites Sheridan back to the Shadow homeworld with no hope of survival. Just as Gandalf fell into the abyss at Khazad-Dum, so Sheridan takes a comparable leap into the unknown on an alien world. On the DVD: Babylon 5, Series 3 presents all 22 episodes anamorphically enhanced at 16:9 for widescreen TVs. While not up to blockbuster movie standards these are the finest looking B5 discs yet. Likewise the remixed Dolby Digital 5.1 sound packs a considerable punch in the many action scenes while remaining clear and atmospheric throughout. Reasonable though unremarkable extras are in line with previous box sets, with detailed and informative commentaries by series creator J Michael Straczynski on episodes "Z'Ha'Dum", and the Hugo Award-winning "Severed Dreams". Actors Bruce Boxleitner, Jerry Doyle, Richard Biggs and Ed Wasser offer a more jokey and backslapping appraisal of "Interludes and Examinations". Introduction to Point of Return is essentially a six-minute trailer for the season, while Behind the Mask: Creating the Aliens of B5 offers make-up artist John Vulich, JMS, and producer John Copland reflecting on the creation of various races. Complementing this is a seven-minute look at Building a Better Narn. Designing Tomorrow: The Look of Babylon 5 focuses on the work of production designer John Iacovelli. Finally The Universe of Babylon 5 presents five short character profiles. The set offers an alternative French soundtrack and subtitles in English, English for the hard-of-hearing, French and Dutch. --Gary S Dalkin

• 10 Days To War | DVD | (04/05/2009) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  On March 20th five years ago the UK and US went to war. Thousands of Iraqis died millions were displaced and cities were practically destroyed. But why and how? Now a groundbreaking drama goes behind scenes of the countdown to the Iraq war. Part thriller part political drama 10 Days to War has a relentless ticking-clock intensity with all events unfolding in real time. From Tony Blair selling the idea of war to his sceptical party and cynical public and the American marketing of Ahmed Chalabi as the George Washington of Iraq to the shock and awe of the first strike this distinctive and compelling film lifts the lid on the back-room bullying and gripping human dramas played out privately in the corridors of power. On March 20th five years ago the UK and US went to war. Thousands of Iraqis died millions were displaced and cities were practically destroyed.

• Angel | DVD | (12/05/2008) from £5.49   |  Saving you £10.50 (191.26%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Director Neil Jordan's gothic outing is a unique excursion into horror.