"Director: Allan Lee"

• Stargate SG-1: Season 4 | DVD | (31/03/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £59.99

  It wasn't until the beginning of Stargate SG-1's fourth season that fans knew to take the Replicator threat seriously. The spidery nasties had only seemed like one of many new enemies introduced in previous years. But when the one seemingly omnipotent backbone of the galaxy was asking Earth for help, clearly we were in real trouble! In fact, the team's list of enemies expanded and got far more complicated this year. Proving without a shadow of a doubt that this is science fiction, the Russians reveal they have their own Stargate program and ask the Americans for help. This twist allows for exploration of all the political machinations occurring behind the scenes of the SG-C, all of which appear to stem from the embittered Senator Kinsey (Ronny Cox). There were quite a few Earth-based stories in the year, but not all the new enemies were originally local. Willie Garson comically guest-starred as Martin, a geekily suspicious guy with too much knowledge of the Stargate. More sinister was an old flame of Daniel's turning into something far more painful than an old wound (thanks to an ancient Egyptian curse). Thankfully, the writers hadn't forgotten the importance of one-off storylines too. In "Upgrades" the team learns a lesson in abuse of power. In "The Other Side" (featuring DS9's Rene Auberjonois) they learn about blind trust. In "Scorched Earth" a dangerous claim for a planet's ownership means they learn to value Daniel's contribution to the group dynamic. If only this last lesson were learned better, season 5 might not have ended up as muddled as it did. --Paul Tonks

• The Classic War Collection - Bridge On The River Kwai/Das Boot/Guns Of Navarone/All Quiet On The Western Front/Sands Of Iwo Jima | DVD | (02/06/2008) from £23.90   |  Saving you £11.09 (46.40%)   |  RRP £34.99

  This Box Set Includes: Bridge On The River Kwai (Dir. David Lean) (1957): Set in Burma during World War II the story tells of British P.O.Ws who are forced to build a large bridge for the Japanese while a British Commando team is sent to destroy it. Winner of seven Academy Awards. Das Boot (Dir. Wolfgang Peterson) (1981): Das Boot is a graphic and gripping tale that follows the daring patrol of U-96 one of the famed German U-Boats known as 'The Grey Wolves'. Prowling the North Atlantic they challenged the British Navy at every turn. The crew abroad the U-96 is portrayed in a desperate life-and-death struggle coping with life beneath the waves quickly gives way to terror when confronting the enemy... Guns Of Navarone (Dir. J. Lee Thompson) (1961): Exciting war film based on a novel by Alistair Maclean which tells of the attempts of a British raiding team to sabotage two giant German guns on a Greek island in the Aegean Sea. Carl Foreman brought Allistar MacLean's best-selling novel to the screen winning nominations for seven Academy Awards in 1961. All Quiet On The Western Front (Dir. Delbert Mann) (1980): A devastating story of war and a generation destroyed. In 1914 a group of German schoolboys idealistic and inflamed with youthful patriotism set off to fight in the ""glorious"" war. During their brutal basic training disenchantment begins. Then boarding a train for the front they see the wounded being rushed back to the hospitals and they begin to grasp the grim reality of war. On their first night in action they come under heavy attack. In the trenches they begin to fall. Their youth is stripped away by the violence and the boys become as sullen as veterans. Sands Of Iwo Jima (Dir. Allan Dwan) (1949): Blazing action and spectacle are on the menu as battle-toughened sergeant John M Stryker (John Wayne) prepares a group of soldiers for action in the Pacific. The men have got their biggest test ahead on Iwo Jima where they have to inch their way up Mt. Suribachi under constant Japanese fire.