Video Find the Perfect Gift    Send a Gift Certificate
Search 
Home › Action & Adventure
Review 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment / Big Trouble In Little China [1986]
Actors & Directors
  • John Carpenter|Kurt Russell|Kim Cattrall|Dennis Dun
Run time: 96 min.
RRP: £10.99
Price: £2.17

Review Big Trouble In Little China [1986] / 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment:

Once you've realised this 1986 John Carpenter (Halloween) film is not going to be one of the director's more masterful works, Big Trouble in Little China just becomes a full-tilt comic blast. Kurt Russell is hilarious as a drawling, would-be John Wayne hero who steps into the middle of a supernatural war in the heart of Chinatown. While kung-fu warriors and otherworldly spirits battle over the fate of two women (Kim Cattrall and Suzee Pai), Russell's swaggering idiot manages to knock himself out or underestimate the forces he's dealing with. The whole thing is dopey, but it's supposed to be dopey and Russell's game performance brings an ironic edge. Carpenter directs some nifty spook effects (the sudden arrival of three martial-arts demigods from out of nowhere is worth applause), and he also wrote the music. -Tom Keogh, Amazon. com.

Review Cartoon 'Arislan' / The Heroic Legend Of Arislan - Part 2
Release date: 1993-11-01
Run time: 58 min.
RRP: £5.99
Price: £7.95

Review The Heroic Legend Of Arislan - Part 2 / Cartoon 'Arislan':


Review Mia Video Entertainment Ltd / The Call Of The Wild [1973]
Actors & Directors
  • Maria Rohm
  • George Eastman
  • Ken Annakin
  • Raimund Harmstorf
  • Michèle Mercier
  • Charlton Heston
Release date: 1996-08-12
Run time: 100 min.
Price: £10.99

Review The Call Of The Wild [1973] / Mia Video Entertainment Ltd:


Review Exploited Films / Vigilante
Actors & Directors
  • Robert Forster
  • Carol Lynley
  • Woody Strode
  • Fred Williamson
  • William Lustig
Release date: 1998-11-02
Run time: 86 min.
Price: £12.99

Review Vigilante / Exploited Films:


Review Ctr 2 / Miles From Home [1988]
Actors & Directors
  • Gary Sinise|Michael Talbott|Terry Kinney|Laurie Metcalf
Release date: 1997-10-13
Run time: 104 min.
RRP: £6.99
Price: £5.00

Review Miles From Home [1988] / Ctr 2:


Review Warner Home Video / The Big Sleep [1946]
Actors & Directors
  • Lauren Bacall
  • Howard Hawks
  • John Ridgely
  • Humphrey Bogart
  • Dorothy Malone
  • Martha Vickers
Release date: 2000-03-06
Run time: 110 min.
RRP: £9.99
Price: £3.49

Review The Big Sleep [1946] / Warner Home Video:

Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall made screen history together more than once, but they were never more popular than in this 1946 adaptation of Raymond Chandler's novel, directed by Howard Hawks (To Have and Have Not). Bogart plays private eye Philip Marlowe, who is hired by a wealthy socialite (Bacall) to look into troubles stirred up by her wild, young sister (Martha Vickers). Legendarily complicated (so much so that even Chandler had trouble following the plot), the film is nonetheless hugely entertaining and atmospheric, an electrifying plunge into the exotica of detective fiction. William Faulkner wrote the screenplay. -Tom Keogh.

Review Cartoon 'Arislan' / The Heroic Legend Of Arislan - Part 2
Release date: 1993-11-01
Run time: 58 min.
RRP: £5.99
Price: £7.95

Review The Heroic Legend Of Arislan - Part 2 / Cartoon 'Arislan':


Review 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment / Big Trouble In Little China [1986]
Actors & Directors
  • John Carpenter|Kurt Russell|Kim Cattrall|Dennis Dun
Run time: 96 min.
RRP: £10.99
Price: £2.17

Review Big Trouble In Little China [1986] / 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment:

Once you've realised this 1986 John Carpenter (Halloween) film is not going to be one of the director's more masterful works, Big Trouble in Little China just becomes a full-tilt comic blast. Kurt Russell is hilarious as a drawling, would-be John Wayne hero who steps into the middle of a supernatural war in the heart of Chinatown. While kung-fu warriors and otherworldly spirits battle over the fate of two women (Kim Cattrall and Suzee Pai), Russell's swaggering idiot manages to knock himself out or underestimate the forces he's dealing with. The whole thing is dopey, but it's supposed to be dopey and Russell's game performance brings an ironic edge. Carpenter directs some nifty spook effects (the sudden arrival of three martial-arts demigods from out of nowhere is worth applause), and he also wrote the music. -Tom Keogh, Amazon. com.

Review 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment / Dark Angel - Season 1 [2001]
Actors & Directors
  • Morgan Beggs
  • Les Landau
  • David Straiton
  • Bryan Spicer
  • Kenneth Biller
Release date: 2003-02-24
Run time: 919 min.
RRP: £44.99
Price: £19.98

Review Dark Angel - Season 1 [2001] / 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment:

One of TV's more interesting tough-girl action shows, Dark Angel is a distinctive blend of the personal, the adventurous and the politically aware. Cocreators James Cameron (yes, that James Cameron) and Charles Eglee present a complex scenario of biological super-science and social collapse in which their gene-manipulated heroine and hacker/journalist hero can genuinely make a difference. In this first series they also provide an adversary who is a lot more than just a conventional villain. Jessica Alba is impressive as Max, bred and trained as a super-soldier but reclaiming her individual humanity; Michael Weatherly is scruffily attractive as Eyes Only, who sits semi-paralysed in his eyrie above Seattle uncovering crime, corruption and other skulduggeries and sending the woman whom he hopelessly loves out on deadly errands. Jon Savage has real authority as Lydeker, a man who has stretched his conscience to breaking point, but is not personally corrupt. Some of the best episodes here-"Prodigy" for example-are ones in which Lydeker and Max are forced into temporary alliance. Early on the relationship between Max and the other workers at Jam Pony-the courier firm that provides her with a cover identity-is a little forced, but later on the two parts of Max's life are more successfully integrated: "Shorties in Love", for example, is a genuinely touching tale about Diamond, the doomed criminal ex-lover of Max's lesbian roommate. Dark Angel was never a perfect show, but at its occasional best it manages to be simultaneously funny and dramatic. On the DVD: Dark Angel, Series 1's Region 2 DVD is ungenerous with special features, providing only short interviews with James Cameron and Charles Eglee and with the stars, and giving us a preview of the Dark Angel computer game. The episodes are presented in widescreen and have excellent Dolby Digital sound which gives vivid presence to both the dialogue and the hard-driving contemporary rock score that is part of the show's style. [+]
-Roz Kaveney.

Review 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment / Dark Angel - Season 1 [2001]
Actors & Directors
  • Morgan Beggs
  • Kenneth Biller
  • David Straiton
  • Bryan Spicer
  • Les Landau
Release date: 2003-02-24
Run time: 919 min.
RRP: £44.99
Price: £19.98

Review Dark Angel - Season 1 [2001] / 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment:

One of TV's more interesting tough-girl action shows, Dark Angel is a distinctive blend of the personal, the adventurous and the politically aware. Cocreators James Cameron (yes, that James Cameron) and Charles Eglee present a complex scenario of biological super-science and social collapse in which their gene-manipulated heroine and hacker/journalist hero can genuinely make a difference. In this first series they also provide an adversary who is a lot more than just a conventional villain. Jessica Alba is impressive as Max, bred and trained as a super-soldier but reclaiming her individual humanity; Michael Weatherly is scruffily attractive as Eyes Only, who sits semi-paralysed in his eyrie above Seattle uncovering crime, corruption and other skulduggeries and sending the woman whom he hopelessly loves out on deadly errands. Jon Savage has real authority as Lydeker, a man who has stretched his conscience to breaking point, but is not personally corrupt. Some of the best episodes here-"Prodigy" for example-are ones in which Lydeker and Max are forced into temporary alliance. Early on the relationship between Max and the other workers at Jam Pony-the courier firm that provides her with a cover identity-is a little forced, but later on the two parts of Max's life are more successfully integrated: "Shorties in Love", for example, is a genuinely touching tale about Diamond, the doomed criminal ex-lover of Max's lesbian roommate. Dark Angel was never a perfect show, but at its occasional best it manages to be simultaneously funny and dramatic. On the DVD: Dark Angel, Series 1's Region 2 DVD is ungenerous with special features, providing only short interviews with James Cameron and Charles Eglee and with the stars, and giving us a preview of the Dark Angel computer game. The episodes are presented in widescreen and have excellent Dolby Digital sound which gives vivid presence to both the dialogue and the hard-driving contemporary rock score that is part of the show's style. [+]
-Roz Kaveney.

Review Contender Entertainment Group / The New Avengers - Mission Three Of Four : (3 complete and uncut episodes) - Cat Amongst The Pigeons / Target ! / Gnaws (Tv-Series) (1976]
Actors & Directors
  • Vladek Sheybal
  • Patrick Macnee
  • John Hough
  • Ray Austin
  • Gareth Hunt
  • Keith Barron
  • Joanna Lumley
Release date: 1998-10-12
Run time: 150 min.
Price: £12.99

Review The New Avengers - Mission Three Of Four : (3 complete and uncut episodes) - Cat Amongst The Pigeons / Target ! / Gnaws (Tv-Series) (1976] / Contender Entertainment Group:

Sometimes dismissed as a pale descendant of a great original, The New Avengers deserves a second look and is perhaps best considered as a largely successful attempt to re-imagine its predecessor for 1970s audiences. Patrick McNee was never the most convincing of action heroes, and the decision to make his John Steed the supervisor and mentor of two younger agents was a sensible one-Steed's virtues are style, wisdom and fortitude rather than physical prowess. Gareth Hunt's Gambit has an unattractively smug side, but has also a louche charm. Joanna Lumley's Purdey is one of the most attractive heroines of genre television, astonishingly leggy and beautiful. Those who only know her later incarnation as Patsy in Absolutely Fabulous will understand now why such a fuss is made over her. The script team overlaps heavily with that of the original series; the new show has the same quirkiness, only occasionally varying it with a rather darker leCarrésque complexity or sudden outbreaks of Hammer Horror. If it lacks some of the sheer style of the original, that is a reflection of its period-the 1970s were less visually imaginative than the 60s. Tightly plotted, imaginatively cast with interesting guest stars, it is only with The Avengers that The New Avengers suffers by comparison. -Roz Kaveney.

Review Playback / Hercules - The Legendary Journeys - 3.41 / 3.42 / 3.43
Actors & Directors
  • Alan J. Levi
  • Mark Beesley
  • Gary Jones
  • Rodney Charters
  • James Whitmore Jr.
Release date: 2000-10-02
Run time: 126 min.
RRP: £10.99
Price: £9.98

Review Hercules - The Legendary Journeys - 3.41 / 3.42 / 3.43 / Playback:


Review 4 Front Video / The Big Sky [1952]
Actors & Directors
  • Howard Hawks|Kirk Douglas|Dewey Martin|Elizabeth Threatt
Release date: 1998-08-10
Run time: 122 min.
Price: £5.99

Review The Big Sky [1952] / 4 Front Video:


Review Warner Home Video / San Antonio [1945]
Actors & Directors
  • Raoul Walsh
  • Alexis Smith
  • David Butler
  • S.Z. Sakall
  • Victor Francen
  • Robert Florey
  • Errol Flynn
  • Florence Bates
Release date: 2000-04-03
Run time: 104 min.
RRP: £5.99
Price: £7.99

Review San Antonio [1945] / Warner Home Video:


Review Contender Entertainment Group / The New Avengers - Mission Three Of Four : (3 complete and uncut episodes) - Cat Amongst The Pigeons / Target ! / Gnaws (Tv-Series) (1976]
Actors & Directors
  • Patrick Macnee
  • Keith Barron
  • John Hough
  • Gareth Hunt
  • Vladek Sheybal
  • Joanna Lumley
  • Ray Austin
Release date: 1998-10-12
Run time: 150 min.
Price: £12.99

Review The New Avengers - Mission Three Of Four : (3 complete and uncut episodes) - Cat Amongst The Pigeons / Target ! / Gnaws (Tv-Series) (1976] / Contender Entertainment Group:

Sometimes dismissed as a pale descendant of a great original, The New Avengers deserves a second look and is perhaps best considered as a largely successful attempt to re-imagine its predecessor for 1970s audiences. Patrick McNee was never the most convincing of action heroes, and the decision to make his John Steed the supervisor and mentor of two younger agents was a sensible one-Steed's virtues are style, wisdom and fortitude rather than physical prowess. Gareth Hunt's Gambit has an unattractively smug side, but has also a louche charm. Joanna Lumley's Purdey is one of the most attractive heroines of genre television, astonishingly leggy and beautiful. Those who only know her later incarnation as Patsy in Absolutely Fabulous will understand now why such a fuss is made over her. The script team overlaps heavily with that of the original series; the new show has the same quirkiness, only occasionally varying it with a rather darker leCarrésque complexity or sudden outbreaks of Hammer Horror. If it lacks some of the sheer style of the original, that is a reflection of its period-the 1970s were less visually imaginative than the 60s. Tightly plotted, imaginatively cast with interesting guest stars, it is only with The Avengers that The New Avengers suffers by comparison. -Roz Kaveney.

Review MGM Entertainment / For Your Eyes Only [1981]
Actors & Directors
  • Lynn-Holly Johnson
  • Roger Moore
  • John Glen (II)
  • Topol
  • Carole Bouquet
  • Julian Glover
Release date: 2000-02-01
Run time: 123 min.
RRP: £14.99
Price: £9.85

Review For Your Eyes Only [1981] / MGM Entertainment:

After the lavish, effects-heavy splash of Moonraker, the twelfth Bond film and the seventh with Roger Moore concentrates more on core car-chase-and-crumpet values, evoking an almost retro feel that harks back to the first pressings of the Bond vintage in the 1960s. Starting to look a little wrinkly around the edges by this point, Roger Moore toughens his usually smarmy act up here with a gratuitous bit of killing, casually kicking a baddie and his car over a precipice, reviving memories of the ruthless streak with which Sean Connery made his name. Good old-fashioned Cold War politics lie at the heart of the plot, concerning a weapons system hijacked in the Mediterranean Bond must rescue. He's assisted by the exquisite Carole Bouquet, the only actress in history who can claim to have been both a 'Bond girl' and the star of a Luis Buñuel movie (That Obscure Object of Desire). Sadly, this is the first film to lack Bernard Lee's spymaster M, the actor having died beforehand, although British comedienne Janet Brown is on hand for an amusing Margaret Thatcher impersonation. -Leslie FelperinOn the DVD: The first audio commentary here is another one of those edited selections of interviews with sundry cast and crew members, tied together by an over-earnest host. Producer Michael G Wilson and others provide a somewhat more illuminating second commentary track. Once again the best extra feature is the "making of" documentary, which gives an almost scene-by-scene breakdown of the movie. The animated storyboard sequences will appeal to filmmaking aficionados. Avoid, if at all possible, the Sheena Easton video of arguably the most forgettable Bond song of all time (both song and score were perpetrated by series newcomer Bill Conti, not the estimable John Barry). [+]
-Mark Walker.

Review Universal Pictures UK / Men In Black / Spider-Man / Jurassic Park [1993]
Actors & Directors
  • Bob Peck
  • Steven Spielberg
  • Laura Dern
  • Sam Neill
  • Jeff Goldblum
  • Richard Attenborough
Release date: 2003-09-15
Run time: 331 min.
RRP: £12.99
Price: £3.44

Review Men In Black / Spider-Man / Jurassic Park [1993] / Universal Pictures UK:

On remote Isla Nuba entrepreneur John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) has built the ultimate theme-park, populated by genetically engineered dinosaurs painstakingly reconstructed from DNA extracted from prehistoric amber. and, of course, frogs! Adapted from Michael Crichton's novel, Steven Spielberg's classic blockbuster became a cultural and commercial phenomenon thanks in part to the enduring appeal of all things prehistoric. But the film's extraordinarily realistic digital dinosaurs also showcased the spectacular computer-generated effects which have since become ubiquitous in Hollywood filmmaking. Indeed, in the years since 1993 it is debatable whether any film has revolutionised special effects to such an extent, and this DVD release offers the perfect opportunity to relive its visual and aural splendour (the film was also the first to be released with a DTS soundtrack). Given the rather insipid team of experts (including Sam Neill, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum) sent to approve Hammond's site, there is no doubt that the dinosaurs are the real stars of Spielberg's film. From the benign majesty of the towering brachiosaurus to the reptilian menace of the velociraptors, the inhabitants of Jurassic Park were a radical departure from their stop-motion predecessors, and remain compellingly real in their animalistic pursuit of survival at all costs. Most memorable of all is the T-rex, displaying a spine-chilling combination of physical ferocity and child-like bewilderment in the face of its reincarnation in the modern world. It was no surprise that in The Lost World sequel the T-rex once again took centre stage, but this first appearance still retains a unique power and a seminal place in film history. [+]
-Steve Napleton.

Review Cartoon Arislan / The Heroic Legend Of Arislan - Part 1
Release date: 1993-07-05
Run time: 57 min.
Price: £5.99

Review The Heroic Legend Of Arislan - Part 1 / Cartoon Arislan:


Review 4 Front Video / Game Of Death 2 [1981]
Actors & Directors
  • Roy Horan
  • Bruce Lee
  • Ng See-Yuen
  • Hoi San Lee
  • Tong Lung
  • Huong Cheng-Li
Release date: 1997-03-17
Run time: 92 min.
RRP: £5.99
Price: £2.95

Review Game Of Death 2 [1981] / 4 Front Video:


Review 4 Front Video / Timecop [1995]
Actors & Directors
  • Mia Sara
  • Peter Hyams
  • Ron Silver
  • Jean-Claude Van Damme
  • Gloria Reuben
  • Bruce McGill
Release date: 1999-09-13
Run time: 94 min.
RRP: £5.99
Price: £3.98

Review Timecop [1995] / 4 Front Video:

Pay no attention to the fact that Timecop is an insult to intelligent science fiction, and that it gradually succumbs to an acute case of the sillies. It is a Jean-Claude Van Damme movie, after all, so check your brain at the door and enjoy this action flick set in the year 2004. Van Damme plays an officer in the Time Enforcement Police, assigned to prevent criminals from travelling to the past with the intent of altering the future. Ron Silver plays the evil politician who plots to retrieve a stockpile of gold from the Civil War to finance his latest campaign. The film is clever to a point, and entertaining if you can ignore the dumb jokes and inconsistencies. Best of all, it's an above-average vehicle for Van Damme (relatively speaking), who gets to kick some villainous butt and share a few scenes with Mia Sara, who plays the Timecop's wife. As Van Damme fans can tell you, this is one of the action star's better movies. - Jeff Shannon, Amazon. com.

Browse Action & Adventure:

Models & Brands:
Big Trouble In Little China [1986], The Heroic Legend Of Arislan - Part 2, The Call Of The Wild [1973], Vigilante, Miles From Home [1988], The Big Sleep [1946], The Heroic Legend Of Arislan - Part 2, Big Trouble In Little China [1986], Dark Angel - Season 1 [2001], Dark Angel - Season 1 [2001], The New Avengers - Mission Three Of Four : (3 complete and uncut episodes) - Cat Amongst The Pigeons / Target ! / Gnaws (Tv-Series) (1976], Hercules - The Legendary Journeys - 3.41 / 3.42 / 3.43, The Big Sky [1952], San Antonio [1945], The New Avengers - Mission Three Of Four : (3 complete and uncut episodes) - Cat Amongst The Pigeons / Target ! / Gnaws (Tv-Series) (1976], For Your Eyes Only [1981], Men In Black / Spider-Man / Jurassic Park [1993], The Heroic Legend Of Arislan - Part 1, Game Of Death 2 [1981], Timecop [1995]

Top headlines:
Search 
DVD Rental: try it for free