"Actor: Van"

• Offenbach: Des Contes D'Hoffmann | DVD | (25/04/2001) from £19.85   |  Saving you £6.40 (34.43%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Unfortunately the qualities that make Jacques Offenbach's operetta The Tales of Hoffmann an irresistible melodic profusion of wit, dash and unfailing high spirits are only in evidence in the playing of the Lyon Opera Orchestra under Kent Nagano: operetta, more than its serious cousin, continues to be fair game for the whims of producers and designers. In this case an excellent cast including Daniel Galvez-Vallejo as Hoffmann, Natalie Dessay as Olympia, Brigitte Balley as Nicklausse and Isabelle Vernet as Giulietta, as well as Gabriel Bacquier who sings three roles, are obliged to perform Offenbach's operetta in a lunatic asylum designed by Philippe Starck as a three-dimensional grey set, topped with barbed wire. The production by Louis Erlo adapts and cuts scenes to fit this concept, so the tavern scene where Hoffmann sings his celebrated number "The Legend of Kleinzack" disappears, as do the chorus who are banished to the wings. In this environment there's no room for charm or even a kind of mad-hatter behaviour. The cast are reduced to stereotypes and of necessity singularly unlovable ones. What a wasted opportunity. The sound is excellent as it is on two fillers: a short film of Penderecki conducting his choral work, The Seven Gates to Jerusalem from the Midem festival at Cannes and a trailer for a Lyon Opera House production of Berlioz's Damnation of Faust. --Adrian Edwards

• Nowhere To Run / Double Team / Maximum Risk | DVD | (06/09/2004) from £12.99   |  Saving you £2.00 (15.40%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Nowhere To Run: 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! Double Team: Though he's the nation's top counter-terrorist Jack Quinn (Jean-Claude Van Damme) wants to get out of the spy game. But on his final mission he misses his target and wakes up in a place they call the Colony a think tank for spies who are too dangerous to roam the world but too valuable to be killed. With his target the dangerous enigmatic terrorist Stavros (Mickey Rourke) still on the loose and out to get his family. Quinn's only hope is the flamboyant but deadly gun dealer Yaz (Dennis Rodman). Maximum Risk: Action mega star Jean-Claude Van Damme is back with a vengeance in this exhilarating thrill-packed adventure also starring sexy Natasha Henstridge. Alain Moreau's (Van Damme) investigation into the death of his identical twin brother leads him from the south of France to the mean streets of New York City... and into the arms of his brother's beautiful girlfriend. Pursued by ruthless Russian mobsters and renegade FBI agents the duo race against time to solve his brother's murder and expose an international conspiracy. There's only one problem: all traces of his brother's life are rapidly disappearing and the one person who knew him best may not be telling all she knows.

• The Sopranos: Series 1 (Vol. 1) | DVD | (16/04/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  The Sopranos, writer-producer-director David Chase's extraordinary television series, is nominally an urban gangster drama, but its true impact strikes closer to home: This ambitious TV series chronicles a dysfunctional, suburban American family in bold relief. And for protagonist Tony Soprano, there is the added complexity posed by heading twin families, his collegial mob clan and his own, nouveau riche brood.The series' brilliant first season is built around what Tony learns when, whipsawed between those two worlds, he finds himself plunged into depression and seeks psychotherapy--a gesture at odds with his mid-level capo's machismo, yet instantly recognisable as a modern emotional test. With analysis built into the very spine of the show's elaborate episodic structure, creator Chase and his formidable corps of directors, writers and actors weave an unpredictable series of parallel and intersecting plot arcs that twist from tragedy to farce to social realism. While creating for a smaller screen, they enjoy a far larger canvas than a single movie would afford, and the results, like the very best episodic television, attain a richness and scope far closer to a novel than movies normally get.Unlike Francis Coppola's operatic dramatisation of Mario Puzo's Godfather epic, The Sopranos sustains a poignant, even mundane intimacy in its focus on Tony, brought to vivid life by James Gandolfini's mercurial performance. Alternately seductive, exasperated, fearful and murderous, Gandolfini is utterly convincing even when executing brutal shifts between domestic comedy and dramatic violence. Both he and the superb team of Italian-American actors recruited as his loyal (and, sometimes, not-so-loyal) henchman and their various "associates" make this mob as credible as the evocative Bronx and New Jersey locations where the episodes were filmed.The first season's other life force is Livia Soprano, Tony's monstrous, meddlesome mother. As Livia, the late Nancy Marchand eclipses her long career of patrician performances to create an indelibly earthy, calculating matriarch who shakes up both families; Livia also serves as foil and rival to Tony's loyal, usually level-headed wife, Carmela (Edie Falco). Lorraine Bracco makes Tony's therapist, Dr Melfi, a convincing confidante, by turns "professional", perceptive and sexy; the duo's therapeutic relationship is also depicted with uncommon accuracy. Such grace notes only enrich what is not merely an aesthetic high point for commercial television, but an absorbing film masterwork that deepens with subsequent screenings. --Sam Sutherland, Amazon.com

• Van Damme Box Set | DVD | (12/11/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  A collection of Van Dammes Greatest movies Titles Comprise: No Retreat No Surrender (1986): Bruce Lee fan Jason Stillwell is not the best student in his martial arts class. Beaten numerous times he is horrified when the local crime syndicate runs his teacher out of town. Training hard using pearls of wisdom from the ghost of Lee Stillwell sets his newly acquired skills upon the syndicate and its' champion the deadly Ivan... The Quest (1996): Jean-Claude Van Damme directs and stars in this exciting fast moving action packed film which centres around Chris Dubois and the Ghan-Gheng a legendary 'special invite only' tournament that brings together the greatest fighters of the world in a winner takes all test of skill and courage. Hard Target (1993): Van Damme is the target of an evil mercenary Van Damme is the target of an evil mercenary 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. Lionheart (1990): Upon receiving news that his brother in Los Angeles is seriously injured Lyon Gaultier deserts the French Foreign Legion from a remote outpost in North Africa. Fleeing from two of the Legion's security force who have orders to bring him back at any cost Lyon reluctantly turns to the illegal bare-knuckles underground fighting circuit to raise the money he needs to help his brother's family. Sudden Death (1995): Van Damme portrays a father whose daughter is suddenly taken during a championship hockey game. With the captors demanding a billion dollars by game's end Van Damme frantically sets a plan in motion to rescue his daughter and abort an impending explosion before the final buzzer...

• Duty Free Complete | DVD | (08/03/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Duty Free' is a pure British sit-com following David Pearce and his wife Amy on a package holiday in sunny Spain where they meet another unsuspecting couple. The cocktail of comedy antics take their course when David sets his eyes on Linda Cochrane. They pursue each other's every move in order to prolong their steamy affair in privacy. It is far from sunshine all the way and by the end they have bags to declare! This 3 DVD box set includes all three series of Duty Free plus the christmas special A Duty Free Christmas.

• Jean-Claude Van Damme: Behind Closed Doors | DVD | (16/05/2011) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  ITV have gone ‘Behind Closed Doors’ and into the life of legendary kick boxer and action superstar Jean-Claude Van Damme in this inspiring and entertaining documentary. Van-Damme gave ITV unprecedented insight into his life as he prepares for a kick boxing fight for the first time since 1982 and also takes us behind the scenes of his latest movies. We get to see the real Van-Damme in this documentary and see what kind of life he leads outside of his movies.

• Wake Of Death | DVD | (08/08/2005) from £5.98   |  Saving you £14.01 (234.28%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Action superstar Jean-Claude Van Damme is back and at his hard-hitting best as Ben Archer an ex-mob enforcer seeking revenge against a ruthless Chinese kingpin responsible for his wife's brutal murder. When Archer joins forces with his old underworld friends an all-out war is waged against the Chinese Triads... Hong Kong favourite Simon Yam faces off against the Muscles From Brussels in this pulse-pounding action thriller!

• Coach - Series 1 | DVD | (07/08/2006) from £4.69   |  Saving you £0.38 (8.10%)   |  RRP £5.07

  Hayden Fox is the head coach of a university football team and eats sleeps and lives football. His partner however does not... Episodes Comprise: 1. Kelly And The Professor 2. Love Me Tender 3. Kelly Meet Christine 4. I'm In Love With A Boy Named Stuart 5. The Loss Weekend 6. Gambling For Meat 7. 19 Candles 8. Parents' Weekend 9. Define Romance 10. Define Romance 11. Whose Team Is It Anyway? 12. Hoot Hoot Hike 13. Dauber's Blow-Out

• Reich of the Dead | DVD | (08/06/2015) from £4.18   |  Saving you £10.81 (258.61%)   |  RRP £14.99

  It s the height of World War 2, and in their never-ending quest for victory at all costs, the Nazi s have taken genetic experimentation to new heights - using the prisoners of the camps to create bloodthirsty army of the undead! Alongside the usual carnage of the trenches and terror of combat, the oncoming Allied soldiers are now faced with battling an ever-expanding and near indestructible hoard of Zombies! They have just one night to save their own lives and escape the soulless grip of their lifeless enemy, or face becoming part of the Zombie army themselves...

• Dracula 3000 | DVD | (17/10/2005) from £10.83   |  Saving you £6.16 (56.88%)   |  RRP £16.99

  In space there is no daylight... A salvage ship on a routine mission discovers a transporter vessel that had been reported missing 100 years earlier. When the salvage crew boards the vessel they discover 50 long black coffins. In the blackness of space where the sun never rises the ancient curse that this mysterious cargo carries begins to eliminate the crew one by one...

• WWE - King Of The Ring 2001 / Invasion 2001 | DVD | (18/01/2010) from £109.99   |  Saving you £-90.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  WWE: King Of The Ring 2001 / Invasion 2001

• Herbert von Karajan: Beethoven - Symphony No. 9 | DVD | (31/03/2008) from £15.05   |  Saving you £9.94 (66.05%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Beethoven:Symphony No.9

• Battle Cry | DVD | (21/07/2003) from £15.99   |  Saving you £-2.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £13.99

  The most interesting--and entertaining--aspect of Battle Cry, a long, episodic World War II drama, is that it marked the debut of one Justus E McQueen, who subsequently took the name of the good ol' Arkansas boy he played in the movie: LQ Jones. He's only one of eight or nine marine recruits who divide the screen time with commanding officer Van Heflin and James Whitmore as a lifer sergeant named Mac, "just Mac", who ramrods their squad and also delivers the movie's overbearing narration. Unfortunately, the narration is necessary to maintain continuity as the CinemaScope production galumphs its way from rounding up the melting-pot cast to seeing them through basic training and sundry, mostly amatory misadventures in San Diego, to further training in New Zealand and finally to baptism of fire on Guadalcanal. Trouble is, among the recruits only McQueen/Jones (whose job is mostly comic relief) and Aldo Ray (as a brawling lumberjack who's never known family life) have any charisma or acting chops--and that's not forgetting Tab Hunter, whose matinee-idol status at the time does not speak well for the 50s. Battle Cry is also a cardinal example of Hollywood's penchant for buying big, lusty, profane bestsellers (by Leon Uris, in this case) and then bowdlerising all the lustiness and profanity to appease the censors. Raoul Walsh, the poet laureate of lowdown gusto, does what he can in the circumstances, and as one of the first guys ever to direct a widescreen movie (1930's The Big Trail), he makes the battle scenes roar. --Richard T. Jameson

• WWE: Straight To The Top: The Money In the Bank Ladder Match Anthology | Blu Ray | (04/11/2013) from £12.49   |  Saving you £22.50 (180.14%)   |  RRP £34.99

  Hosted by The Miz the compilation features every Money in the Bank Ladder Match in history. The match debuted at WrestleMania 21 in 2005 quickly becoming a WrestleMania tradition and in 2010 proved so popular that it was given its own annual PPV event. Several top Superstars have been Money in the Bank winners including John Cena Kane Edge CM Punk (twice!) Rob Van Dam and many more. 11 of the first 12 winners have used the match as a springboard to winning a championship and several times the match has helped a Superstar who has never win a World Championship break through to claim their first. Much like the Royal Rumble Match the Money in the Bank match represents a golden opportunity for a Superstar to achieve immortality and its entire lineage is presented here.

• X: The Man with X-Ray Eyes DVD Region 2 | DVD | (28/05/2012) from £20.00   |  Saving you £-5.01 (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  A doctor uses special eye drops to give himself x-ray vision, but the new power has disastrous consequences.

• Tanguy | DVD | (28/06/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  What do you do when your 28 year old son won't leave home? He leaves his washing on the floor brings girls home all the time and treats the place like a hotel. Every time you see him you feel sick. Still you love him. You can't ask him to leave so what to do? Drive him out! Hoover at 4am. Put smelly fish behind his radiator. Have sex in the lounge. Cut off the electricity while he is working. Make him want to move! A riotous French comedic farce from Etienne Chatiliez.

• Rage of Honor | DVD | (28/12/2015) from £11.19   |  Saving you £1.80 (16.09%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Hot off of PRAY FOR DEATH (1985), Sho Kosugi, the Japanese John Wayne of ninja cinema, is back in ninja action! When his partner is murdered by sadistic drug dealers, narcotics cop Shiro Tanaka (Kosugi) vows revenge. Disobeying orders,he tracks the killers from Singapore to Buenos Aires. But in a cruel twist, the killers kidnap Tanaka's girlfriend and take her deep into the jungles of South America. Now, armed with an arsenal of deadly weapons, Tanaka must use all his powers to destroy a battalion of highly trained terrorists and get her back.

• A.W.O.L. | DVD | (17/06/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Jean-Claude Van Damme is Leon a French legionnaire who has no choice but to go A.W.O.L. after hearing that his brother is mortally wounded. Arriving penniless in New York Leon is forced to enter the underworld of bare-knuckle boxing under the control of 'The Lady'. However after Leon goes against her will she matches him against the formidable champion. Will Leon find the inner strength to take the championship or will he die like his brother?

• Death Warrant | DVD | (21/03/2016) from £7.79   |  Saving you £5.20 (66.75%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Jean-Claude Van Damme stars as maverick cop Lou Burke, the only lawman tough enough to go undercover in a prison recently plagued by suspicious deaths. Posing as a prisoner, Burke encounters brutal inmates, corrupt guards, death and betrayal at every turn. But when he unearths the shocking secret behind the penitentiary's inner workings, Burke must attempt a daring escape that pits him against not only hundreds of murderous inmates...but also a deadly enemy from his own past.

• Subway In The Sky | DVD | (22/03/2010) from £11.23   |  Saving you £1.76 (15.67%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Subway In The Sky