"Director: Tony"

• Farscape 4.4 | DVD | (14/07/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  The fourth volume of Farscape's fourth (and final) series does all those things that the later stages of any season should do: individual episodes play interesting games with how we think television works, while the tension of the overall story arc builds and builds. Of the individual episodes here, "Mental as Anything" is an ensemble piece for the male members of Moya's crew: D'Argo's back-story gets some sort of resolution and Scorpius puts John Crichton through hell for the best of reasons. "Bringing Home the Beacon" is rather more fun-- the women of Moya frustrate a Sebacean/Scarren peace treaty--but ends in stark tragedy. In "Constellation of Doubt", Moya picks up, and the crew obsessionally watch, a documentary from American television about their recent visit to earth: Crichton gets to see human paranoia and wishful thinking through cold, intelligent alien eyes. Finally, in "Prayer", Aeryn suffers terribly at the hands of her Scarren captors and Crichton makes a devil's bargain with Scorpius to save her. By this point the season is building to the surprises of its last episodes: Farscape was about to be cancelled, but it never lost its edge. On the DVDs: Farscape, Series 4 Vol. 4 includes a dictionary of alien slang and technical terms with illustrative clips from the show, as well as text files on the villainous Peacekeepers Braca and Grayza. The high point of the extras, though, is an interview with the wonderfully flakey Gigi Edgeley (Chiana) and a lot of deleted scenes from "Constellation of Doubt", with footage of Chiana, Aeryn and Noranti interacting with Crichton's family in bizarre and touching ways. --Roz Kaveney

• Lake Of Fire | DVD | (06/10/2008) from £15.79   |  Saving you £2.20 (13.93%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Tony Kaye's graphic shocking and controversial documentary which takes a look on both sides of the abortion debate.

• The Kindness Of Strangers - A Portrait Of Andre Previn | DVD | (01/04/2001) from £12.55   |  Saving you £7.44 (59.28%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Director Tony Palmer's appreciation of André Previn, The Kindness of Strangers, takes its title from Previn's biggest work to date, A Streetcar Named Desire, an opera based on the play by Tennessee Williams. Blanche Dubois, the leading character, speaks of her reliance on the kindness of strangers to see her through her troubles. The preparation for the opera cuts between Previn's other activities and forms the riveting climax to the film as opening night approaches, though it remains a moot point why these sequences should be accompanied by the 'Romanza' from Vaughan Williams' Fifth Symphony? Despite struggling to hear his singers in a hopelessly inadequate orchestra pit, Previn's common sense and humour win through. The film has many instances of this, as when reporting an anecdote to an orchestra of young musicians, Previn tells them that conducting is not an exalted calling of limousines and mistresses but more often a case of knowing where to get your underwear laundered. Previn always has enjoyed the thrill of hearing his music performed fresh off the printed page from his first MGM title, The Sun Comes Up (starring Jeanette Macdonald and Lassie) to the San Francisco premiere of Streetcar. This beautifully shot film runs the gamut of his versatility, taking us to Germany to hear him conducting Ravel, advising a young conductor at Tanglewood on the complexity of a Richard Strauss score, playing Gershwin with bass player David Finck, and then at a haunt of yesteryear, a jazz club in New York: the nomadic life of an itinerant musician lives with him still it seems. This is an affectionate portrayal of a fine musician, sensitively directed. --Adrian Edwards

• MAN ON FIRE - STEELBOOK | Blu Ray | (04/06/2012) from £26.98   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Denzel Washington stars as a government operative/soldier of fortune who has pretty much given up on life. In Mexico City, he reluctantly agrees to take a job to protect a child whose parents are threatened by a wave of kidnappings. He eventually becomes close to the child and their relationship reawakens and rekindles his spirit. When she is abducted, his fiery rage is unleashed on those he feels responsible, and he stops at nothing to save her.

• Hardcase And Fist | DVD | (06/03/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £3.99

  If falsely accused ex-cop Bud McCall didn't have enough problems after being sent to prison for a crime he didn't commit he does now. The sadistic crime lord responsible for for putting him behind bars has taken his girlfriend hostage but Bud is not about to take things lying down. If he testifies to the FBI he could really get even... or get killed.

• Mulan Magical Gifts DVD Retail | DVD | (21/05/2012) from £8.99   |  Saving you £9.00 (50.00%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Ancient China faces invasion by the barbarian hordes of Shan-Yu, and calls all able bodied men to arms to defend their Emperor. Young girl Mulan (voiced by Ming-Na Wen) disguises herself as a boy and joins up in her aged father's place, accompanied by her protectors: guardian dragon Mushu (Eddie Murphy) and lucky cricket Cri-kee. Mulan trains under the handsome Captain Shang (B.D. Wong, with Donny Osmond handling the singing), with whom she is soon falling in love, and shows herself to be a capable warrior. When Mulan is wounded in battle, however, the secret of her gender is discovered and she faces exposure and disgrace.

• Farscape 4.5 | DVD | (25/08/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  This last ever sequence of Farscape episodes is as effective and powerful a climax as those of earlier seasons. The three-parter "We're So Screwed" (a title censored by the BBC in the UK) starts with "Fetal Attraction", in which the crew of Moya attempt to rescue the pregnant Aeryn Sun from her Scarren captors and end up starting a dangerous epidemic on a space station. They get Aeryn back and lose Scorpius; in "Hot to Katratzi", the necessity of saving his worst enemy--who just knows too much to be left a captive--forces John Crichton to gate-crash the Sebacean-Scarren peace conference and bluff his way to success. Seemingly betrayed by Scorpius, John snatches victory in "La Bomba", striking another deadly blow against the Scarren empire. The title of the last episode "Bad Timing" refers both to the show's cancellation--the cast and crew felt real bitterness towards the SciFi Channel over this--and to the cliff-hanger ending; the crew of Moya have to prevent a Scarren ship finding its way through the worm-hole to Earth. Farscape was perhaps the best ever television space opera and certainly the most sexy, stylish, funny and dramatic; it will be greatly missed. On the DVD: Farscape, Series 4 Part 5 presents the shows in 16:9 format with impressively loud Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. The special features include a documentary about the cancellation of Farscape, in which the cast talk about their shock and grief and fans talk about the "Save Farscape" campaign. There are a couple of extended versions of scenes from these episodes and an extensive blooper reel, much of it hilarious. Also included is an illustrated glossary of terms from the Uncharted Territories and a collection of interesting facts about these last four episodes. --Roz Kaveney

• True Romance | UMD | (12/06/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £18.99

• Farscape 3.5 | DVD | (16/09/2002) from £15.98   |  Saving you £9.01 (36.10%)   |  RRP £24.99

  The final four episodes of Farscape's remarkable third season prove conclusively that this is the show's best and bravest year to date. Powerful issues of love, loyalty and sacrifice remain to be resolved, but after enduring a vertiginous emotional roller-coaster ride in recent episodes, Moya's reunited crew have no time to recuperate as Crichton determinedly calls them to arms for their sternest challenge yet. Scorpius and his Wormhole research must be destroyed at any price. Thus the scene is set to conclude the series' biggest story arc in a climactic confrontation aboard the Peacekeeper Command Carrier. In "I-Yensch, You-Yensch" the plan is set in motion, as a canny Rygel bargains with Scorpius and gains his grudging respect during an unexpected and tragi-comic heist by two murderously incompetent criminals. Then the two-parter "Into the Lion's Den" takes everyone onto the Command Carrier, where Aeryn is confronted by her past, Crichton's subconscious finally releases its Wormhole secrets, and Crais persuades Talyn to do something extraordinarily noble. By the end, it's hard not to sympathise with poor put-upon Scorpius. In the final episode, "Dog with Two Bones", Moya's crew seem finally free to go their separate ways as a mysterious refugee helps Crichton confront his worst fears about Aeryn. Emotions reach a climax and remain tantalisingly unresolved at the cliffhanger ending. On the DVD: Farscape, Volume 3.5 carries all the usual gallery of extra features--including deleted scenes, "Info-Pods" on Rygel, Crais and Scorpius, "Farscape Facts", trailers and stills--plus of course four uncut episodes. --Mark Walker

• Man On Fire (Special Edition) | DVD | (08/02/2006) from £12.13   |  Saving you £10.86 (47.20%)   |  RRP £22.99

  Denzel Washington is a disillisioned soldier of fortune who grows close to a child he is paid to protect. When she is abducted, his fiery rage is unleashed on those he feels responsible, and he stops at nothing to save her.

• Farscape 3.2 | DVD | (06/05/2002) from £12.97   |  Saving you £15.01 (150.40%)   |  RRP £24.99

  With the third season well under way, it's clear that Farscape has developed into a grown-up show. There's a new self-confidence and a new maturity here that's entirely welcome after the often wildly erratic tone of the second season. The production design and high-quality effects work remain true to the show's original quirky style, although both the look and the more adult-themed scripts have become progressively darker. This second box set of Season 3 features five of the nastiest, most shocking and incident-packed episodes to date. Things start badly when psychotic madman Kaarvok kills D'Argo and Chiana and sucks out their brains. Only later do we discover he's "twinned" them when the same fate befalls Crichton--though both Crichton "twins" survive. Life just gets more and more complicated thereafter. Crichton twin 1 stays on Moya with D'Argo, Chiana and Jool, while Crichton twin 2 transfers to Talyn with Aeryn, Crais, Rygel and Stark. Talyn is being pursued by a Peacekeeper retrieval squad led by Aeryn's mum, Xhalax Sun, and is then swallowed by a Budong (in the Ben Browder-penned episode "Green-Eyed Monster") before Mrs Sun catches up with her daughter and pals. Back on Moya a mysterious "Energy Rider" possesses the crew in turn. Meanwhile on Talyn, Aeryn and Crichton twin 2 have been blissfully having sex, while Crais lusts vainly for Aeryn. Just wait until Scorpius gets involved. On the DVD: This box set contains the usual "Info Pods" and other extras, plus the first Region 2 commentary, for the episode "Relativity", with actor Lani Tupu and director Peter Andrikidis; it's a shame that they don't have a lot to say. --Mark Walker

• John Osborne And The Gift Of Friendship | DVD | (08/05/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  With his 1956 play 'Look Back in Anger' British dramatist John Osborne renewed the emotional and rhetorical intensity of English theatre. Unfortunately misunderstanding and controversy surrounded most of his career. This program reconstructs Osborne's life and artistic journey using rarely seen archival films and firsthand accounts from the author's inner circle. A veritable who's who of the London stage appears here-including Laurence Olivier Albert Finney Nicol Williamson Rich

• Callan - Series 1 - Part 1 Of 3 - Episodes 1 - 3 | DVD | (03/09/2001) from £6.98   |  Saving you £9.01 (129.08%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Introduced in "A Magnum for Schneider", the hour-long 1967 Armchair Theatre episode of Callan written by James Mitchell about a disillusioned British secret agent of the same name (starring Edward Woodward), went on to offer four popular (if downbeat) series, a spin-off movie remaking the original story and a some-years-later wrap-up play "Wet Job". Remembered for its very distinctive opening titles, with a swinging broken-light bulb and a memorable theme tune, the series adopted a Deighton-LeCarré approach to the grim, treacherous, grubby business of Cold War espionage and made a TV star of the intense Woodward as the sweaty, sometimes conscience-stricken, sometimes robotic Callan. Even in the 21st century this still seems as strong, its complex stories and impressive performances outweighing a low-budget mix of video and film in the production that makes it seem less "professional" than other shows of the time. A great deal of the series opener is devoted to bringing on new regulars. Theres a fresh Mr Hunter who, like Number Two on The Prisoner--with which Callan shares series editor George Markstein--was a title not a name, so several actors held the position over the course of the show. Theres also the trendily mulleted thug Cross (Patrick Mower), who would go spectacularly off the rails in the next series and a half. In a dramatic device that has long since fallen out of fashion in television, Callan episodes tend to wind up by leaving the audience to work out all the connections of the plot while Callan himself sits gloomily and ponders the wretchedness of his squalid world. --Kim Newman

• Family Fun Collection | DVD | (22/09/2014) from £3.99   |  Saving you £11.00 (275.69%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Adventures of Roborex - When a robot dog from the future pops up in their backyard on a mission to help them, 11-year-old James and his beloved golden retriever, Rex, learn that it is up to them to save the world from Dr. Apocalypse, an evil scientist, and a robotic Destructo-Cat. Skyforce - Sky Force is the most elite emergency fighting team in the sky. After hot-shot team member Ace breaks ranks on a dangerous mission and it results in tragedy, he leaves Sky Force for a dreary job in cargo hauling. But Ace can't forget his former life or his friends at Sky Force. When his cruel boss puts his cargo co-workers in danger, Ace takes action. Knowing that he can't be a hero on his own, Ace overcomes his fears and calls on Sky Force to help save the day! Fantastic 4orce - Four kids are bound together to travel through time on a mission to save the world. With endless foes intent on stopping them, from evil government agents to a giant octopus, the Fantastic 4orce will voyage through underwater cities, jungles, and outer space in order to complete their quest.

• Jason Statham Blu-ray Boxset (Chaos/The Bank Job/War) | Blu Ray | (12/12/2011) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £29.99

  Titles Comprise:Chaos: After a deadly bank heist, Detectives Quentin Conners (Jason Statham) and Shane Dekker (Ryan Phillippe) are drawn into a mysterious case where nothing is what it seems. Pulling the strings is a criminal mastermind (Wesley Snipes) who seems to kill without warning or reason. Abound with random acts of violence and deception - the only hope for survival is finding an order to the chaos.The Bank Job: A highly-charged heist thriller based upon the infamous 1971 robbery that took place at the Lloyds Bank in Marylebone London.Starring Jason Statham as Terry, a car dealer with a dodgy past and Saffron Burrows as Martine, the woman with the plan, The Bank Job interweaves corruption, murder and scandal with 1970s England!When Martine offers Terry a lead on a foolproof bank hit on London's Baker Street, he recognizes the opportunity of a lifetime! The plan: to target a roomful of safe deposit boxes worth millions in cash and jewellery. However Terry and his crew don't realize the boxes also contain a treasure trove of dirty secrets - secrets that will thrust them into a deadly web of corruption and illicit scandal that spans London's criminal underworld, the highest echelons of the British government, and the Royal Family itself.War: After his partner Tom Wynne (Terry Chen) and family are killed apparently by the infamous and elusive assassin Rogue (Jet Li), FBI agent Jack Crawford (Jason Statham) becomes obsessed with revenge as his world unravels into a vortex of guilt and betrayal. Rogue eventually resurfaces to settle a score of his own, setting off a bloody crime war between Asian mob rivals Chang (John Lone) of the Triad's and Yakuza boss Shiro (Ryo Ishibashi). When Jack and Rogue finally come face to face, the ultimate truth of their pasts will be revealed....

• Hello Kitty's Paradise | DVD | (27/09/2010) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Hello Kitty was born on November 1st and she lives in London England with her parents and her twin sister Mimi. These third graders have lots of friends at school with whom they share many adventures. Most often it's Hello Kitty who leads the group and usually they all end up learning an important lesson in the process. Her hobbies include eating yummy cookies her sister Mimi bakes and best of all as Hello Kitty always says You can never have too many friends. Collections Comprise: Hello Kitty's Paradise: A Blooming Good Morning and Five other stories Hello Kitty's Paradise: Paper Play and Four other stories Hello Kitty's Paradise: Happy Birthday Papa and Four other stories Hello Kitty's Paradise: Minding Manners and Five other stories Hello Kitty's Paradise: Making Cookies and Four other stories Hello Kitty's Paradise: A Fair Share and Four other stories

• Paramount 90th Anniversary | DVD | (02/12/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £49.99

  Tomb Raider Exploring lost empires finding priceless treasures punishing villains in mortal combat: it's all in a day's work for adventurer Lara Croft (Angelina Jolie). A secret from her father's (Jon Voight) past is about to lead Lara to her greatest challenge: the Triangle of Light a legendary artefact with the power to alter space and time. Lara must find the Triangle before it falls in to the clutch of the Illuminati a secret society bent on world domination. To stop the Illuminati Lara will have to survive a cross-continental chase filled with unimaginable danger. But for the Tomb Raider danger is the name of the game. Mission Impossible 2 How do you prevent terrorists from unleashing mayhem on the entire world? You don't. This is a job for IMF agent Ethan Hunt. The world's greatest spy returns in the movie event of the year M:I-2. Top action director John Woo brings his own brand of excitement to the mission that finds Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) partnering up with the beautiful Nyah Hall (Thandie Newton) to stop renegade agent Sean Ambrose (Dougray Scott) from releasing a new kind of terror on an unsuspecting world. But before the mission is complete they'll traverse the globe and have to choose between everything they love and everything they believe. Top Gun Top Gun takes a look at the danger and excitement that awaits every pilot at the Navy's prestigious fighter weapons school. Tom Cruise is superb as Maverick Mitchell a daring young fighter who's out to become the best. And Kelly McGillis sizzles as the civilian instructor who teaches Maverick a few things you can't learn in a classroom. Forrest Gump Forrest Gump is the movie triumph that became a phenomenon. Tom Hanks gives an astonishing performance as Forrest an everyman whose simple innocence comes to embody a generation... The Untouchables Brian De Palma's 'The Untouchables' is a must-see masterpiece: set to a classic Ennio Morricone score this is the glorious and fierce depiction of the larger than life mob warlord who ruled Prohibition-era Chicago - and the law enforcer who vowed to bring him down. This classic confrontation between good and evil stars Kevin Costner as federal agent Eliot Ness Robert De Niro as gangland kingpin Al Capone and Sean Connery winning an Oscar as Malone the cop who teaches Ness how to beat the mob: shoot fast and shoot first.

• The Salzburg Festival | DVD | (18/01/2010) from £13.69   |  Saving you £0.30 (2.19%)   |  RRP £13.99

  Director and composer Tony Palmer covers decades in the history of the Salzburg Festival with this documentary. Boasting both archival footage and contemporary interviews Tony Palmer's Film About The Salzburg Festival chronicles almost a century of iconic performances.

• Phoenix Blue | DVD | (05/03/2007) from £5.38   |  Saving you £-1.39 (N/A%)   |  RRP £3.99

  Blue Phoenix isn't just a multi-platinum recording artist he's an enigma. No interviews have ever been released. No photos have ever been released. In fact no one knows who where or what Blue Phoenix is. But young journalist Rachel Delaney is determined to find out...

• Farscape 4.3 | DVD | (19/05/2003) from £7.65   |  Saving you £17.34 (226.67%)   |  RRP £24.99

  In the episodes contained in this third volume, Farscape's fourth series finally kicks into gear and does some of the most surprising things a television show has ever done. The first three episodes are all Farscape classics, which take our expectations and jump up and down on them. "Unrealised Realities" takes John Crichton (Ben Browder) through a wormhole to be interrogated by a creature who regards the Ancients who put the knowledge of wormhole technology in his brain as annoying bumblers and who tells him a lot about time and about alternate universes. This gives the cast a chance to play each other again--Claudia Black's performance as Chiana is particularly disorientating. In "Kansas" John finds himself finally back on Earth, during his own adolescence, with the task of ensuring that his father does not die in the Challenger explosion and alter his personal history. The visit to his long-missed home continues in "Terra Firma" where the crew of Moya have to cope with Bush's America and John discovers the hard way--politics, family, old girlfriends, alien assassins--that you cannot go home again. Lastly in the moderately weaker "Twice Shy", Chiana (Gigi Edgeley) and the others learn that no good deed goes unpunished as a slave they rescue turns out to be one of the more deadly individual menaces they have ever faced. --Roz Kaveney