New Releases

• 24 - Season 1 | DVD | (15/09/2008) from £15.93   |  Saving you £34.06 (213.81%)   |  RRP £49.99

  Such a simple idea--yet so fiendishly complex in the execution. 24, as surely everyone knows by now, is a thriller that takes place over 24 hours, midnight to midnight, in 24 one-hour episodes (well, 45-minute episodes if you extract the ad breaks). Everything to take place in real time--on-screen and off-screen time the same--which means no flash-backs, no flash-forwards, no nice handy time-dissolves. Every strand of the plot has to be dovetailed and interlocked to make sure that things happen just when they should, in the right amount of time. Not that easy. Creator Robert Cochran and his team of writers and directors have done a pretty impressive job in putting the jigsaw together and keeping the tension ratcheted up high, as Federal Agent Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) hares around LA trying to stall an assassination attempt on a black Presidential candidate and rescue his wife and daughter from the clutches of the Balkan baddies. Twists, turns, revelations and cliffhangers are tossed at us with satisfying regularity. It’s not perfect: we get some hokey plot devices (instant amnesia, anybody?) and the final twist, once you start thinking back, makes no sense whatsoever. There are altogether too many huggy family moments ("I love you, Dad." "I love you, son"); and as for überbaddie Dennis Hopper’s "Serbian" accent… Even so, this is undeniably mould-breaking TV. Sutherland, rescuing his career from the doldrums in one heroic leap, fully deserves his Golden Globe. Sets and locations are artfully deployed--we gain a real sense of LA’s splayed-out geography--and Sean Callery’s score is a powerful, brooding presence. Like Murder One and The Sopranos, 24 is one of those series future TV thrillers will have to measure themselves against. On the DVDs: 24 is released in a six-disc box set. On discs 1- 5 there are no extras, but disc 6 includes the "alternative" ending and a preview of Series 2, presented by an urbane Kiefer Sutherland, that tells us precisely nothing. The transfer, in 16x9 widescreen and 2.0 Dolby Digital sound, does the high production values of the original every justice.--Philip Kemp

• Rod Stewart - One Night Only! | DVD | (15/09/2008) from £8.08   |  Saving you £-2.09 (-34.90%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Rod Stewart: One Night Only: Live at The Royal Albert Hall

• Wild China | Blu Ray | (15/09/2008) from £12.98   |  Saving you £17.01 (56.70%)   |  RRP £29.99

  With splendour scale and romance Wild China lifts the veil on the world's most enigmatic and magnificent country delving into its vibrant habitats to reveal a land of unbelievable natural complexity. Journey across China from the glittering peaks of the Himalayas to the barren steppe the sub-Arctic to the tropical islands through deserts both searingly hot and mind-numbingly cold and see in pioneering images a dazzling array of mysterious beautiful wild and rare creatures.

• Thunderbirds | Blu Ray | (15/09/2008) from £21.04   |  Saving you £13.95 (66.30%)   |  RRP £34.99

  When evil threatens International Rescue blasts-off to sort things out. Somewhere in the Pacific the rescue organisation is always on the lookout for trouble. The founder and co-ordinator of the group is astronaut Jeff Tracy whose sons serve as pilots of the group's five super-secret craft - the Thunderbirds. As the Tracys work for the good of mankind they must try to stop the villainy of The Hood who is determined to undermine the organisation and learn the secrets of the Thunderbirds aircraft. Thunderbirds delivers high-flying action and adventure through the imaginative use of Gerry Anderson's Supermarionation and the special effects of Academy Award' winner Derek Meddings.

• Doctor Zhivago | DVD | (15/09/2008) from £4.99   |  Saving you £10.00 (200.40%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Stunning adaptation of Boris Pasternak's most celebrated novel scripted by acclaimed dramatist Andrew Davies (Pride And Prejudice Bridget Jones's Diary Othello). The sweep and scale of the Russian Revolution acts as the backdrop for the intense and ultimately heart-breaking love story of Doctor Yury Zhivago the physician and poet who wrestles with the anguish of being torn between the love of two women Tonya and Lara. Starring Sam Neill Keira Knightley and Hans Matheson. Now the winner of 4 major awards from the New York Film Festivals 2004.

• Three and Out | DVD | (15/09/2008) from £3.04   |  Saving you £12.95 (425.99%)   |  RRP £15.99

  "Three And Out" is a compelling mix of sharp dialogue, comedic capers, painfully funny, and often painful, truths about how far we would go to change our lives.

• Charlie Bubbles | DVD | (15/09/2008) from £18.94   |  Saving you £-10.95 (N/A%)   |  RRP £7.99

  Charlie Bubbles is a writer from working-class Manchester but he has gotten caught up in his riches and fame and has forgotten his ability to connect to people. He sets out to reconnect with the important people in his life and re-establish his roots and family.

• La Boheme | DVD | (15/09/2008) from £14.25   |  Saving you £-2.26 (N/A%)   |  RRP £11.99

  Angela Gheorghiu leads a magnificent cast in Franco Zeffirelli's iconic production of Puccini's La Boh''me - filmed live at the Metropolitan Opera in Hi-Definition. This grand sumptuous production of Puccini's timeless masterpiece is brought to you on DVD by EMI Classics continuing its collaboration with the Metropolitan Opera and its hugely successful Metropolitan Opera : Live in High-Definition series. La Boh''me set in Paris around 1830 depicts a society fraught with conflict. Amid the turmoil it is the love that blossoms between two young artists in a time that appears both bleak and turbulent that makes this story so very special. Mim'' and Rodolfo sung by Angela Gheorghiu and Ram''n Vargas respectively charm as the young couple that fall in love while Marcello and Musetta are sung by Ludovic Tezier and Ainhoa Arteta. Gheorghiu the leading Puccini soprano of our time reprises the role of Mim'' at the MET for the first time in twelve years. She sings the role with the beauty and perfection that is expected by an artist of her great stature and experience. Following its debut at the Metropolitan Opera in 1981 Franco Zeffirelli's stunning production is as loved and as magnificent today as the day it was first staged over 27 years ago. This live broadcast is therefore the 347th time Zeffirelli's Boh''me has been performed making this the most performed production in the MET's history. Only the hardest of hearts will remain untouched by this passionate and unforgettable story depicting the joys and sorrows of love and loss.

• Cool Hand Luke | Blu Ray | (15/09/2008) from £10.98   |  Saving you £11.00 (122.36%)   |  RRP £19.99

  His crime: nonconformity. His sentence: the chain gang. In Cool Hand Luke Paul Newman plays one of his best-loved roles as the loner who won't or can't conform to the arbitrary rules of his captivity. A cast of fine character actors including George Kennedy in his Academy Award-winning role of Dragline gives Newman solid support as fellow prisoners. And Strother Martin is the Captain who taunts Luke with the famous line 'What we've got here is...failure to communicate. No failure here. With rich humour and vibrant storytelling power Cool Hand Luke succeeds resoundingly.

• Madeleine | DVD | (15/09/2008) from £9.98   |  Saving you £5.00 (62.58%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Lean's accomplished film of the famous Scottish Madeleine Smith case in which a woman from a wealthy family is accused of the murder of her lover.

• Wimbledon 2008 Official Film | DVD | (15/09/2008) from £6.89   |  Saving you £6.10 (88.53%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Narrated by Sam Hazeldine written by Andrew Longmore of the Sunday Times and featuring exclusive contributions from Rafael Nadal Venus Williams Roger Federer Bjorn Borg Billie Jean King Martina Navratilova and Boris Becker this documentary is a highly entertaining record of the proceedings at The Lawn Tennis Championships at Wimbledon 2008

• Pre And Post Natal | DVD | (15/09/2008) from £18.98   |  Saving you £3.00 (17.66%)   |  RRP £19.99

  This box set combines a fun and practical prenatal workout with three postnatal exercise progressions to ease you back into shape. 1. Pre-natal: For women looking to stave off pregnancy weight gain and keep their bodies fit for the rigours of childbirth . A unique programme that quickly and effectively conditions your growing body. Includes: Modified Pilates kegels sports conditioning true-blue body sculpting seamlessly blend together in Erin's workouts fat-burning cardio muscle toning strength training and tension-relieving stretches. 2. Post-natal: Featuring three exercise progressions to ease you back into shape without hurting or overextending yourself. With 15 minute workouts to do each day which focus on back abdominals buttocks inner thighs and hips - all affected by pregnancy and delivery . This programme can be used from the very beginning of your recovery up to one year after the birth.

• Forgetting Sarah Marshall | DVD | (15/09/2008) from £3.74   |  Saving you £6.25 (167.11%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Devastated Peter takes a Hawaiian vacation in order to deal with the break-up with his TV star girlfriend, Sarah. Little does he know that Sarah's travelling to the same resort as her ex ... and she has a surprise in store for him.

• Dodgeball - A True Underdog Story | Blu Ray | (15/09/2008) from £10.75   |  Saving you £9.23 (85.86%)   |  RRP £19.98

  Vince Vaughn and Ben Stiller dodge speeding balls in this comedy about an underdog local gym fighting off a takeover from a mammoth chain.

• Oliver Twist | DVD | (15/09/2008) from £9.16   |  Saving you £5.09 (64.43%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Oliver Twist orphaned at birth and raised in the workhouse is expelled for daring to ask the Beadle for more food. Unhappily apprenticed to an Undertaker Oliver escaped to London where he meets the cheeky Artful Dodger the villainous Fagin the aggressive Bill Sykesand the kindly but doomed Nancy. Torn constantly between the forces of good and evil Oliver eventually seals his fate by picking the pocket of a rich gentleman.

• The Messengers | Blu Ray | (15/09/2008) from £6.00   |  Saving you £16.99 (283.17%)   |  RRP £22.99

  An ominous darkness invades a seemingly serene sunflower farm in North Dakota, and the Solomon family is torn apart by suspicion, mayhem and murder.

• WWE - WWE Live In The U.K. April 2008 | DVD | (15/09/2008) from £9.22   |  Saving you £8.77 (48.70%)   |  RRP £17.99

  During April 2008 the three biggest brands in sports-entertainment took over London England on the WrestleMania Revenge Tour. Now for the second time on DVD WWE presents Live in the UK.

• Office Sex | DVD | (15/09/2008) from £5.38   |  Saving you £-0.39 (N/A%)   |  RRP £4.99

• Midsomer Murders : The Christmas Collection | DVD | (15/09/2008) from £19.95   |  Saving you £5.04 (25.26%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Nothing is as it seems behind the well-trimmed hedges of the picturesque cottages in the idyllic English county of Midsomer. Beneath the tranquil surface of sleepy village life exist dark secrets scandals and downright evil. John Nettles stars as the humorous thoughtful and methodical Detective Chief Inspector Barnaby. This Christmas Collection includes four fantastic episodes! Ghosts Of Christmas Past: It is Christmas in Midsomer. A shot rings out from Draycott House. Nine years later the whole Villiers family come together again. At the police station DCI Barnaby heads home and asks Sgt Scott to contact him if anything happens warning him that: 'Things have a habit of happening around Christmas time.' Death Of A Stranger: Detective Chief Inspector Barnaby and Sergeant Troy investigate a murder. DCI Barnaby returns from a winter holiday to discover an unidentified tramp has been beaten to death in the woods near the village of Marshwood. While he was away Supt Ronald Pringle just before his retirement quickly arrested a local young man. But Barnaby suspects that he is innocent which is only reinforced when there is an apparent suicide at the same spot. A Talent For Life: In Malham Bridge former socialite and feisty pensioner Isobel Hewitt is accused of assault by fellow fly fisher Margaret Seagrove. When Barnaby and Troy investigate the allegations they discover that all is not well on the Midsomer riverbanks. The investigation takes a more serious turn when two bodies are discovered in the river. Are they the victims of an uncalculated attack by poachers or was there a more sinister motive? Shot At Dawn: The Court Marshall and execution of Tommy Hicks for desertion during World War I ignites a feud between the Hammonds and the Hicks which lasts for 90 years. Duggie Hammond always felt guilty about his forced involvement in Tommy's unjust death. During a ceremony at the village war memorial Tommy's son Lionel unveils a plaque for his father. Colonel Henry Hammond who supported the execution finds the ceremony farcical and lets his feelings be known. When Henry is later executed Barnaby and Jones investigate.

• Street Kings | Blu Ray | (15/09/2008) from £16.95   |  Saving you £9.04 (53.33%)   |  RRP £25.99

  Keanu Reeves stars as troubled veteran LAPD officer, Tom Ludlow, in this dark tale of good cop versus a very bad cop.