Science Fiction

• Ascension | DVD | (18/08/2016) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• The X Files: Providence | DVD | (16/09/2002) from £7.86   |  Saving you £8.13 (103.44%)   |  RRP £15.99

  As with earlier releases, The X-Files: Providence splices together two episodes, "Provenance" and "Providence", into a pseudo-movie. Again, the results fall way below the series average as the long-dead alien conspiracy business is flogged, with a lot of running around and ominous rumbling still not adding up to anything like an actual story. FBI agent Neal McDonaugh (of Minority Report) inexplicably survives a flaming motorcycle crash, leaving behind brass rubbings taken from an alien spaceship, then shows up and tries to murder Scully's psychokinetic baby, who is promptly kidnapped by a UFO cult. In Part 2, Scully (Gillian Anderson) and Reyes (Annabeth Gish) fend off enemies and friends within the bureau as they track down the cultists, who are having trouble with a spaceship they've dug up, and a typical pointless climax has things happen without the characters doing anything to contribute. Even at this late, post-Duchovny stage in the game, The X-Files has turned out some fine stand-alone episodes, but these dreary wallowings go a long way towards explaining why only diehards are still watching. After the child says "I made this" at the end of the credits, it's becoming very hard not to shout "well, clean it up then". On the DVD: The X-Files: Providence, as with Nothing Important Happened Today, arrives in a great-looking anamorphic widescreen transfer. There are two slight promotional "featurettes"--three-minute clips/talking heads promos focusing on the episode "Providence" and actor Cary Elwes' character. --Kim Newman

• Men In Black II | DVD | (23/04/2012) from £2.29   |  Saving you £3.70 (61.80%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith are back in black as the scum-fighting super-agents Kay and Jay – regulators of all things alien on planet Earth. Their latest mission: to save the world from a total intergalactic disaster! When a renegade Kylothian monster disguised as a lingerie model threatens the survival of the human race, the boys of the MIB get the call to step up and get busy. With their headquarters under siege and time running out, Agents Kay and Jay enlist the help of Frank the Pug and a posse of hard-living worms to help them kick some seriously sexy alien butt!

• The short films of David Lynch | DVD | (20/10/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  6 films all introduced by David Lynch Set Comprises: Six Men Getting Sick (1967): 1 minutes film projected on sculptured screen. The Alphabet (1968): 16mm 4 minutes The Grandmother (1970): 16mm 34 minutes The Amputee (1973): Video - 2 versions 5 minutes / 4 minutes The Cowboy And The Frenchmam (1988): 35mm 26 minutes Lumiere (1995): 35mm 55 seconds using original Lumiere Brothere's camera.

• Chocky's Children | DVD | (21/06/2010) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Chocky's Children the second part of the Chocky trilogy was created by Doctor Who writer Anthony Read based on the characters created by respected science fiction author John Wyndham (The Day Of The Triffids). A year has passed since Matthew said goodbye to his alien friend Chocky. With the arrival of the summer holidays Matthew goes to visit his aunt in the countryside. While exploring he meets Albertine a young mathematical prodigy. They soon become friends and discover they can communicate telepathically. One day Chocky returns to warn Matthew that they are both in danger. Matthew realises where the danger must lay - a scientist who wants to test Albertine's exceptional abilities. When he goes to warn her he finds she has disappeared. Matthew needs help but where is Chocky and will she return in time to help them?

• Star Trek: Films 1-10 Remastered Special Edition Box Set | DVD | (16/11/2009) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £69.99

  Titles Comprise: Star Trek I: The Motion Picture: When an unidentified alien destroys three powerful Klingon cruisers Captain James T. Kirk returns to the newly transformed U.S.S. Enterprise to take command. Leonard Nimoy DeForest Kelley and the cast from the acclaimed original Star Trek televsion series mobilise at warp speed to stop the alien intruder from its relentless flight toward Earth. Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan: It is the 23rd century the Federation Starship U.S.S. Enterprise is on routine training manoeuvres and Khan is back! Aided by his exiled band of genetic supermen Khan - the brilliant renegade of 20th century Earth - is scheming to set a most deadly trap for his old enemy Kirk... with the threat of a universal Armageddon! Star Trek III: The Search For Spock: Admiral Kirk's defeat of Khan and the creation of the Genesis planet are empty victories. Spock is dead and McCoy is inexplicably being driven insane. Then a surprise visit from Sarek Spock's father provides a startling revelation: McCoy is harbouring Spock's living essence. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home: A mysterious alien power is threatening Earth by evaporating the oceans and destroying the atmosphere. In a frantic attempt to save mankind Kirk and his crew must time travel back to 1986 San Francisco where they find a world of punk pizza and exact-change buses that are as alien as anything they've ever encountered in the far reaches of the galaxy. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier: It's Stardate 8454.130 and a vacationing Captain Kirk faces two challenges: Climbing Yosemite's El Capitan and teaching campfire songs to Spock. But vacations are cut short when a renegade Vulcan hijacks the Enterprise and pilots it on a journey to uncover the universe's innermost secrets. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country: After years at war the Federation and the Klingon empire prepare for a peace summit. But the prospect of intergalactic glasnost with sworn enemies is an alarming one to Admiral Kirk. When a Klingon ship is attacked and the Enterprise is held accountable the dogs of war are unleashed again as both worlds brace for what may be their final deadly encounter... Star Trek VII: Generations:: Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew of Enterprise-D rescue a physicist named Soran. Unbeknownst to Picard Soran harbors a deadly plan that includes the destruction of the Enterprise and millions of lives. Now Picard's only hope for a future rests within in the Nexus and a legendary captain from the past. Star Trek VIII: First Contact: They call themselves the Borg - a half-organic half machine collective with a sole purpose: to conquer and assimilate all races. Led by their seductive and sadistic queen the Borg are headed to Earth with a devious plan to alter history. Star Trek IX: Insurrection: From the beginning of the Federation the Prime Directive was clear: no Starfleet expedition may interfere with the natural development of other civilizations. But now Picard is confronted with orders that undermine that decree and must rebel against Starfleet to lead the insurrection to preserve Paradise. Star Trek X: Nemesis: Learning that the Romulans have undergone a political upheaval and their new Praetor Shinzon wants to discuss a peace treaty with the Federation Picard and his crew must investigate the situation and determine Shinzon's sincerity.

• Starman | DVD | (08/04/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Starman is easily director John Carpenter's warmest and most beguiling film, and the only one that ever earned him an Oscar nomination. While most movie buffs are likely to call Halloween the best movie from Carpenter, die-hard romantics and anyone who cried while watching E.T. will vote in favour of the director's 1984 hit. Jeff Bridges is the alien visitor to Earth who is knocked off course and must take an interstate road trip to rendezvous with a mothership from his home planet. To complete this journey he assumes the physical form of the dead husband of a Wisconsin widow (Karen Allen) who responds first with fear, then sympathy, and finally love. Carpenter's graceful strategy is to switch the focus of this E.T.-like film from science fiction to a gentle road-movie love story, made believable by the memorable performances of Bridges and Allen. It's a bit heavy-handed with tenacious government agents who view the Starman as an alien threat (don't they always?), but Carpenter handles the action with intelligent flair, sensitivity and lighthearted humour. If you're not choked up during the final scene, well, you just might not be human. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com On the DVD: Starman on disc is presented in anamorphic widescreen transferred from NTSC and letterboxed at 2.35.1. The picture is clear and sharp with very little grain. The soundtrack is crisp, perfectly complementing the romantic nature of this film. The overriding reason to shell out on this special edition is the commentary from John Carpenter and Jeff Bridges, in which director and actor show a genuine affection for the film. Other extras are a featurette filmed around the original release in 1884, a music video starring Bridges and costar Karen Allen covering The Everly Brothers classic "All I Have to Do is Dream", and a trailer for Close Encounters of the Third Kind. --Kristen Bowditch

• The Moon | Blu Ray | (24/06/2024) from £19.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Seven years after Korea's first fully manned mission to the moon ends in disaster, a second human spaceflight is launched successfully - until a strong solar wind causes the spacecraft to malfunction. With an astronaut left stranded in space and quickly running out of oxygen, the Naro Space Center turns to its former managing director to avert yet another fatal catastrophe.

• Vesper Chronicles - Steelbook (4K Ultra HD) (+ Blu-ray) | Blu Ray | (26/01/2023) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Dark Matter - Season 1 & 2 Boxed Set | DVD | (10/10/2016) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £40.99

  In DARK MATTER Season One, the crew of the Raza, a derelict spaceship, awakens with no memories of who they are or how they got there. Facing threats at every turn, they have to work together to survive a voyage fuelled by vengeance, betrayal and hidden secrets. In Season Two, the crew find themselves prisoners on the Hyperion-8 Maximum Security Galactic Detention Facility. They are soon embroiled in an intergalactic conspiracy, seeking a mysterious device that may hold the key to victory in a looming all-out corporate war. With nonstop action and spectacular visual effects, DARK MATTER was made by Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie, the creators of the graphic novel of the same name and the executive producers and writers of STARGATE. This DVD set includes all 26 episodes from Seasons One and Two as well as 26 accompanying mini-featurettes.

• Alien - Limited Edition Steelbook | Blu Ray | (14/04/2014) from £26.98   |  Saving you £-3.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £21.99

  In the first chapter of the terrifying Alien saga, the crew of the spaceship Nostromo answers a distress signal from a desolate planet, only to discover a deadly life form that breeds within human hosts. Now the crew members must fight not only for their own survival, but for the survival of all mankind.

• The X Files: Season 8 | DVD | (15/03/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £79.99

  The eighth series of The X-Files was a year of brave decisions. David Duchovny's increasing dissatisfaction with the role meant he only appeared in a few episodes. The solution: enter Agent John Doggett (Robert Patrick) who basically stole the show within his first two minutes of screen time (and watch out for several Terminator 2 in-jokes too). Scully switched roles to being the believer alongside Doggett's sceptic in a year that was more reliant on the background story arc than ever before. Her pregnancy remained at the foreground, while a more prominent Skinner joined in a hunt for the abducted Mulder that drew upon the black oil, cloning and bounty hunting aspects of the convoluted alien conspiracy story. A distinct lack of guest stars or writers indicated maturity beyond the need for ratings stunts: dedicated fans were pleased to see cameos from sinister Krycek, the reliable Lone Gunmen and the return of the show's very first abductee. The real strengths of the series came from new characters, including alternative female role model Special Agent Monica Reyes (Annabeth Gish), and some terrific standalone episodes. Investigations covered a man going backwards in time, deaths aboard an oil rig, a contagion in the Boston subway tunnels and creatures resembling bats and slugs. Agent Leyla Harrison (named after an X-Files fan who died of cancer) got to ask all the petty questions regular viewers want to know themselves. This year turned out to be a remarkable achievement so late in the show's life. On the DVD: The X-Files, Series 8 is a six-disc box set with all the episodes presented in anamorphic 16:9 format with Dolby 2.0 sound. The extras are mainly confined to the final disc, though there are selected deleted scenes and "international" clips from the dubbed German, Japanese and Italian versions of the show on the other discs. Two audio commentaries for the episodes "Alone" (from director Frank Spotnitz) and "Existence" (from director Kim Manners) are supplemented by a routine 30-minute behind-the-scenes documentary, more deleted scenes (with optional commentary), character profiles and special effects clips. --Paul Tonks

• Loki - Staffel 1 UHD BD (Lim. Steelbook): 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray + Blu-ray / Steelbook / Staffel 01 | Blu Ray | (08/12/2023) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Nemesis | Blu Ray | (18/05/2015) from £12.99   |  Saving you £3.00 (23.09%)   |  RRP £15.99

  In the industrial wasteland just outside of Los Angeles, circa 2027,there's a covert war raging between the cyborgs and the humans. "86.5% is still human", insists superagent Alex (Jean-Claude Van Damme wannabe Olivier Gruner, complete with kick-boxing credentials and thick Euro-warble) but as the cyborg conspiracy builds around him he discovers that humanity is more than simply a matter of flesh and blood. Borrowing elements from Blade Runner, The Terminator, Escape from New York and The Road Warrior and looking ahead to digital "data couriers" of Johnny Mnemonic, director Albert Pyun turns the sci-fi spy story into an engine for a visceral thrill ride of sleekly designed action sequences driven by a dancing camera and a breakneck editing rhythm. It's a glorious triumph of style over substance, the vigorous pace leaving the story far behind and nimble set pieces belying a tiny budget with ambitious action choreography and impressive displays of property damage. Apart from a few clumsy special effects at the conclusion and the requisite collection of scene-chewing performances, Nemesis is a thoroughly entertaining piece of sci-fi trash, a classic example of cinematic energy overcoming the obstacles of plot. --Sean Axmaker

• Supernova - Steelbook | Blu Ray | (25/05/2023) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Class of 1999 | DVD | (24/09/2007) from £13.48   |  Saving you £2.51 (18.62%)   |  RRP £15.99

  When Miles Langfore (Malcolm McDowell) the head of Kennedy High School decides to take his school back from the gangs robotics specialist Dr. Robert Forrest (Stacy Keach) provides ""tactical education units"". These are amazingly human-like androids that have been programmed to teach and are supplied with devastatingly effective solutions to discipline problems. So when the violent out-of-control students of Kennedy High report for class tomorrow they're going to get a real education... in staying alive!

• Alien Predator | DVD | (18/03/2019) from £2.95   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• The Green Mile: Ultimate Collector's Edition | Blu Ray | (07/03/2022) from £52.25   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• I Am Legend | UMD | (28/04/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  A mainstream Hollywood actor who seems committed to igniting science fiction features, Will Smith chalked up another sizeable hit in the shape of I Am Legend, the latest cinematic adaptation of Richard Matheson’s book of the same name. This time, Smith plays Robert Neville, the last man on an Earth emptied by a deadly virus that he continues to try and find a working vaccine for. With just his dog for company, and the fear of the vampires that haunt the night never far away, I Am Legend quickly establishes itself as a taut, highly watchable blockbuster, with plenty of reasons to gnaw at your nail. Where I Am Legend really scores is in the excellent first half. The scenes of a deserted New York are quite staggering, and it’s also to Smith’s immense credit that he holds the attention even though for the most part he’s the only person on the screen. It’s a quite wonderful opening hour that the film enjoys, and one that easily stands repeat viewings alone. The back half of I Am Legend is, almost inevitably, not quite the match of what’s gone before, as the threats of the night don’t, when you finally see them, live up to expectations. Nonetheless, for Smith’s performance, and the sheer quality of the build up, I Am Legend can stand side-by-side with the last take on the story, the Charlton Heston-starrer The Last Man On Earth. Take either home, and you’re in for a rollicking good night in front of the telly. --Jon Foster

• Star Trek: Discovery - Season Four Steelbook | Blu Ray | (05/12/2022) from £35.00   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Season Four of Star Trek: Discovery finds Captain Burnham and the crew of the U.S.S. Discovery facing a threat unlike any they've ever encountered. With Federation and non-Federation worlds alike feeling the impact, they must confront the unknown and work together to ensure a hopeful future for all.