"Director: David Brooks"

• The Great Epics | DVD | (17/10/2016) from £38.99   |  Saving you £-16.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £22.99

  Based on the true story of the building of a bridge on the Burma railway by British prisoners-of-war held under a savage Japanese regime in World War II, The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) is one of the greatest war films ever made. The film received seven Oscars, including Best Picture, Director, Performance (Alex Guinness), for Sir Malcolm Arnold's superb music, and for the screenplay from the novel by Pierre Boulle (who also wrote Monkey Planet, the inspiration for Planet of the Apes). The story does take considerable liberties with history, including the addition of an American saboteur played by William Holden, and an entirely fictitious but superbly constructed and thrilling finale. Made on a vast scale, the film reinvented the war movie as something truly epic, establishing the cinematic beachhead for The Longest Day (1962), Patton (1970) and A Bridge Too Far (1977). It also proved a turning-point in director David Lean's career. Before he made such classic but conventionally scaled films as In Which We Serve (1942) and Hobson's Choice (1953). Afterwards there would only be four more films, but their names are Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Dr Zhivago (1965), Ryan's Daughter (1970) and A Passage to India (1984). On the DVD: Too often the best extras come attached to films that don't really warrant them. Not so here, where a truly great film has been given the attention it deserves. The first disc presents the film in the original extra-wide CinemaScope ratio of 2.55:1, in an anamorphically enhanced transfer which does maximum justice to the film's superb cinematography. The sound has been transferred from the original six-track magnetic elements into 5.1 Dolby Digital and far surpasses what many would expect from a 1950s' feature. The main bonus on the first disc is an isolated presentation of Malcolm Arnold's great Oscar-winning music score, in addition to which there is a trivia game, and maps and historical information linked to appropriate clips. The second disc contains a new, specially produced 53-minute "making of" documentary featuring many of those involved in the production of the movie. This gives a rich insight into the physical problems of making such a complex epic on location in Ceylon. Also included are the original trailer and two short promotional films from the time of release, one of which is narrated by star William Holden. Finally there is an "appreciation" by director John Milius, an extensive archive of movie posters and artwork, and a booklet that reproduces the text of the film's original 1957 brochure. --Gary S Dalkin

• Atm | DVD | (14/10/2013) from £5.57   |  Saving you £10.42 (187.07%)   |  RRP £15.99

  What should be a routine stop off turns into a desperate struggle for survival when an unknown man appears outside. Realising they are trapped and with the wintry temperatures dipping below freezing and sunrise still hours away they have no choice but to play the man's deadly game of cat-and-mouse... Written by Chris Sparling (Buried) this tense and gripping thriller is sure to give you nightmares!

• Atm | Blu Ray | (14/10/2013) from £10.78   |  Saving you £9.21 (85.44%)   |  RRP £19.99

  What should be a routine stop off turns into a desperate struggle for survival when an unknown man appears outside. Realising they are trapped and with the wintry temperatures dipping below freezing and sunrise still hours away they have no choice but to play the man's deadly game of cat-and-mouse... Written by Chris Sparling (Buried) this tense and gripping thriller is sure to give you nightmares!

• Holidaze | DVD | (26/10/2009) from £5.71   |  Saving you £3.27 (120.22%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Rusty Reindeer stumbles into a support group where the Easter Bunny Cupid and other down-and-out holiday icons congregate Featuring the voices of Fred Savage Emily Osment Cole Sprouse Dylan Sprouse Gladys Knight and Fred Willard.

• Classic Cuts Collection - Modern Epics | DVD | (26/03/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  The Guns Of Navarone (Dir. J. Lee Thompson): One of the most exciting action films ever made! It's W.W. II and concealed deep within the solid rock of a cliff impregnable to assault by sea or air are the German Army's mighty guns of Navarone. Because they control a strategic channel in the Aegean Sea it's imperative that the guns are destroyed. A specialised commando team is assembled. Included are mountaineer Keith Mallory explosive expert Corporal Miller Greek resistance fighter Andrea Stravos and British Major Franklin. Led by Mallory the team's goal is to reach Navarone and sabotage the colossal guns. The tense down-to-the-wire ending is spellbinding. The Man Who Would Be King (Dir. John Huston): Two soldiers of fortune in 19th Century India carry out a plan to become rulers in the small isolated land of Kafiristan. The Bridge On The River Kwai (Dir. David Lean): 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. Lord Jim (Dir. Richard Brooks): Peter O'Toole stars in Joseph Conrad's compelling tale of an idealistic Marine officer betrayed by his own overactive imagination. Based on Joseph Conrad's classic novel Jim serves an apprenticeship on a tramp liner and graduates to first officer on a ship which is mercilessly lashed by a hurricane. In a moment of desperation the idealistic Jim abandons the ship and leaves its passengers to their fate. To redeem himself he agrees to take a shipment of dynamite and deliver it to a tribe who are located in uncharted territory.