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• Saving Private Ryan | DVD | (06/11/2000) from £3.99   |  Saving you £12.00 (300.75%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Since its release in 1998, Steven Spielberg's D-Day drama Saving Private Ryan has become hugely influential: everything, from the opening sequence of Gladiator ("Saving Marcus Aurelius") to the marvellous 10-hour TV series Band of Brothers, has been made in its shadow. There have been many previous attempts to recreate the D-Day landings on screen (notably, the epic The Longest Day), but thanks to Spielberg's freewheeling hand-held camerawork, Ryan was the first time an audience really felt like they were there, storming up Omaha Beach in the face of withering enemy fire. After the indelible opening sequence, however, the film is not without problems. The story, though based on an American Civil War incident, feels like it was concocted simply to fuel Spielberg's sentimental streak. In standard Hollywood fashion the Germans remain a faceless foe (with the exception of one charmless character who turns out to be both a coward and a turncoat); and the Tom Hanks-led platoon consists of far too many stereotypes: the doughty Sergeant; the thick-necked Private; the Southern man religious sniper; the cowardly Corporal. Matt Damon seems improbably clean-cut as the titular Private in need of rescue (though that may well be the point); and why do they all run straight up that hill towards an enemy machine gun post anyway? Some non-US critics have complained that Ryan portrays only the American D-Day experience, but it is an American film made and financed by Americans after all. Accepting both its relatively narrow remit and its lachrymose inclinations, Saving Private Ryan deserves its place in the pantheon of great war pictures. On the DVD: Saving Private Ryan on disc comes in a good-quality anamorphic 1.85:1 transfer with a suitably dynamic Dolby Digital 5.1 sound mix in which bullets fly all around your living room. Extra features are pretty minimal, with a standard 30-minute "making of" piece called "Into the Breach" and two trailers. There are text notes on the cast and crew as well as the production, and a brief message from Mr Spielberg himself about why he decided to make the movie. --Mark Walker

• The Bridge On The River Kwai | DVD | (04/12/2000) from £4.65   |  Saving you £18.34 (394.41%)   |  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

• Full Metal Jacket (Delux Edition) | DVD | (03/03/2008) from £4.24   |  Saving you £12.75 (300.71%)   |  RRP £16.99

  Full Metal Jacket begins by following the trials and tribulations of a platoon of fresh Marine Corps recruits focusing on the relationship between Gunnery Sergeant Hartman and Privates Pyle and Joker. We see Pyle grow into an instrument of death as Hartman has foreseen of all of his recruits. Through Pyle's torment and Joker's unwillingness to stand up against it the climax of part one is achieved with all three main characters deciding their fates by their action or inaction. The second chapter of Full Metal Jacket delves into Joker's psyche and the repeated referral to the fact that he joined the Corps to become a killer. When his mostly behind the scenes job as a combat correspondent is interfered with by the Tet offensive he is thrust into real combat and ultimately must choose if he really is a killer.

• Midway | Blu Ray | (09/03/2020) from £4.37   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Midway is the epic, real-life saga about an undermanned American fleet and the brave Navy leaders and pilots who triumphed, against the odds, over a powerful adversary. With democracy and freedom at stake, these U.S. brothers-in-arms conquered the Imperial Japanese Navy at the Battle of Midway, a most stunning clash by air and sea which marked a heroic feat of naval warfare and pivoted the Allies toward victory in the Pacific Theater during WWII.

• Hamburger Hill | DVD | (02/06/2008) from £5.99   |  Saving you £7.00 (116.86%)   |  RRP £12.99

  The men of Bravo Company are facing a battle that's all uphill... up Hamburger Hill. Fourteen war-weary soldiers are battling for a mud-covered mound of earth so named because it chews up soldiers like chopped meat. They are fighting for their country their fellow soldiers and their lives. War is hell but this is worse. Hamburger Hill tells it the way it was the way it really was. It's a raw gritty and totally unrelenting dramatic depiction of one of the fiercest battles of America's bloodiest war. Dodge the gunfire. Get caught behind enemy lines. Go into battle beside the brave young men who fought and died. Feel their desperation and futility. This happened. Hamburger Hill - war at its worst men at their best.

• Oh! What a Lovely War | DVD | (23/01/2007) from £6.90   |  Saving you £9.09 (131.74%)   |  RRP £15.99

  The tragedy of World War I is redefined in bawdy music-hall terms presented as the ""new attraction"" at the Brighton Amusement Pier complete with syrupy cheer-up songs shooting galleries free prizes and a scoreboard toting up the dead The Story focuses mainly on the members of one family (last name Smith) whose five sons enlist and end up as cannon fodder. Much of the action in the movie revolves around the words of the marching songs of the soldiers and many scenes portray some o

• Battle of The Bulge: Extended Version | DVD | (27/01/2020) from £6.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• The Edge Of Love | DVD | (27/10/2008) from £6.19   |  Saving you £13.80 (222.94%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Two feisty, free-spirited women are connected by the brilliant and charismatic poet Dylan Thomas who loves them both. Released Nationwide on Friday 27th June.

• Hart's War | DVD | (14/10/2002) from £4.25   |  Saving you £15.74 (370.35%)   |  RRP £19.99

  A law student becomes a lieutenant during World War II, is captured by the Germans and asked to defend a black prisoner of war falsely accused of murder.

• Where Hands Touch | DVD | (27/05/2019) from £3.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Germany 1944: 15-year old Leyna (Amandla Stenberg), daughter of a white German mother and a black father, lives in fear due to the colour of her skin. When she meets Lutz (George MacKay), the son of a prominent SS officer and a member of the Hitler Youth - mandatory for all Aryan boys since 1936 - the two fall helplessly in love, putting both their lives at risk.

• Battle Of The River Plate | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £4.85   |  Saving you £8.14 (167.84%)   |  RRP £12.99

  It is the early years of World War II and the Royal Navy must fight a desperate battle to stop Germany's best battleship, the Admiral Graf Spee, from sailing to the South Atlantic.

• 303 Squadron | Blu Ray | (29/04/2019) from £6.29   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  'Never was so much owed by so many to so few' Winston Churchill, 1940. 303 Squadron is the powerful and true story of No.303 Fighter Squadron, the forgotten legends of the Battle of Britain and their incalculable contribution towards Britain's World War II victory. 303 Squadron is the authentic and historically accurate portrayal of how the Polish pilots of 303 Squadron turned the tide in the most seminal battle of World War II and paved way to victory. At a time when every day could be the last, they didn't hesitate to perform extreme airborne manoeuvres to hit their targets. No-one flew quite like them. Their extraordinary skills and genuine patriotism can be an example for future generations of Poles, of what true heroism is. The film not only tells about the spectacular actions in which they took part in the Battle of Britain, but also shows their private lives: Who they loved, lost and missed. Includes subtitles for the Hard Of Hearing

• La Vie En Rose | DVD | (13/10/2008) from £4.22   |  Saving you £8.77 (207.82%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Marion Cotillard takes the lead in this long awaited biopic of the legendary French chanteuse Edith Piaf - La Vie en Rose.

• Mimi and the Mountain Dragon | DVD | (15/11/2021) from £2.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Children's animated feature based on the book by Michael Morpurgo, who also narrates. When quiet young girl Mimi (voice of Esther Greaves) discovers a baby dragon she makes the bold decision to travel the snowy mountains of Switzerland to return it to its mother.

• Inglourious Basterds | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £8.15   |  Saving you £11.84 (145.28%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Quentin Tarantino presents a look at WWII the likes of which you have never seen before in the hotly anticipated "Inglorious Basterds".

• Ill Met By Moonlight | DVD | (17/05/2004) from £3.99   |  Saving you £6.00 (150.38%)   |  RRP £9.99

  In Nazi-occupied Crete British officers Fermor (Bogarde) and Moss (Oxley) aided by local patriots are assigned the job of kidnapping German commander-in-chief Kreipe (Goring). The operation if successful will be an incredible propaganda coup for the Allies; while the abduction goes smoothly the resultant chase across the rocky Cretan landscape proves anything but...

• Hurricane | Blu Ray | (22/10/2018) from £4.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  HURRICANE tells the story of the Polish fliers who found themselves fighting for the freedom of their own country in foreign skies. Seen through the eyes of Jan Zumbach (Rheon), fighter ace and adventurer, it tells how the Poles, driven across Europe by the German war machine, finally made their last stand. Flying Hurricanes for the RAF over Britain, they became a key component in the legend of The Few . Up against the might of the Luftwaffe they hoped that, by saving Great Britain from Nazi invasion, they were keeping the dream of a free Poland alive. In the lethal melee above England in that summer of 1940, they fought with a tenacity and skill that earned them the admiration of the whole British nation. The dogfights against superior planes cost some of the men their lives. The constant strain of gladiatorial combat took away the sanity of others. But, as Zumbach discovers as the war stutters to a close, becoming the best in the RAF is a hollow victory for the Poles. This powerful and gripping WWII RAF story is directed by David Blair (The Messenger, Away, Accused) and includes an impressive ensemble cast including Iwan Rheon (Game of Thrones, Marvel s Inhumans), Milo Gibson (Hacksaw Ridge), Stefanie Martini (Crooked House, Prime Suspect 1973), Krystof Hadek (Under the Skin, Dark Blue World) and Marcin Dorocinski (Pitbull Anthropoid).

• Battle Of The Bulge | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £6.98   |  Saving you £9.01 (129.08%)   |  RRP £15.99

  The last desperate fight that changed the course of history. Five months after D-Day most American soldiers think the German army is broken. The Germans think otherwise. In an attempt to buy time to fill the skies with their invincible new jets they launch one fast furious offensive: the Battle of the Bulge. For this epic recreation of one of World War II's most crucial confrontations director Ken Annakin (The Longest Day) captures the explosive action of massive f

• Hurricane | DVD | (22/10/2018) from £4.89   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Days Of Glory | DVD | (28/07/2008) from £4.92   |  Saving you £1.07 (21.75%)   |  RRP £5.99

  "Days Of Glory" chronicles the story of the forgotten Algerians who fought alongside the French in WW2.