Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines starts in high gear and never slows down. The apocalyptic "Judgment Day" of T2 was never prevented, only postponed: John Connor (Nick Stahl, replacing T2's Edward Furlong), now 22 and disconnected from society, is being pursued yet again, this time by the advanced T-X, a sleek "Terminatrix" (coldly expressionless Kristanna Loken) programmed to stop Connor from becoming the saviour of humankind. Originally programmed as an assassin, a disadvantaged T-101 cyborg (Arnold Schwarzenegger, bidding fond farewell to his signature role) arrives from the future to join Connor and future wife Kate (Claire Danes) in thwarting the T-X's relentless pursuit. The plot presents a logical fulfilment of T2's prophecy, disposing of Connor's mother (Linda Hamilton is sorely missed) while computer-driven machines assume control, launching a nuclear nightmare that Connor must survive. With Breakdown and U-571 serving as rehearsals for this cautionary epic of mass destruction, director Jonathan Mostow wisely avoids any stylistic connection to James Cameron's classics; instead he's crafted a fun, exciting popcorn thriller, humorous and yet still effectively nihilistic, and comparable to Jurassic Park III in returning the Terminator franchise to its potent B-movie roots. -Jeff Shannon On the DVD: Terminator 3 two-disc set has only one deleted scene, but it's first-class. The "Sgt Candy Scene" is a must-see and, unfortunately, the best thing on the second disc. The rushed HBO documentary shows us far more flash than substance. Better is the Visual Effects Lab that goes more in-depth with four sequences, although you need to wade through a weak interface for each segment. Making your "own" effects isn't that much fun; you can only choose a few effects that change in two scenes. [+]

Get mindless for awhile with this 1997 disaster flick, starring the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles as a funky place for lava to spew, plus Tommy Lee Jones and Anne Heche as the brave souls who know how to shut off the spout. Director Mick Jackson (The Bodyguard) wastes no time getting to the good stuff-it's happening in Volcano even before opening credits are over-and neither should anyone in the mood for technical efficiency without the burden of art. -Tom Keogh.

Timothy Dalton's second and last James Bond assignment in Licence to Kill is darker and harder-edged than anything from the Roger Moore years, dropping the sometimes excruciating in-jokes that had begun to dominate the series in favour of gritty, semi-realistic action. When CIA colleague and close friend Felix Leiter (David Hedison) gets married immediately after arresting villainous drug baron Franz Sanchez (with a little help from Bond), the crime lord's retribution is swift and terrible. Bond goes on a personal vendetta against Sanchez after his licence to kill is revoked. There are plenty of spectacular stunt scenes, of course, but the meaty story of revenge is this film's distinguishing feature. Dalton's portrayal of the iconic hero as tough but flawed was a brave decision that the producers subsequently retreated from after Licence to Kill's relatively poor box-office showing. On the DVD: Timothy Dalton's insistence that Bond was a man not a superhero, and "a tarnished man" at that encouraged the producers to redefine Bond with a tougher edge more in keeping with Fleming's original conception of the character. Licence to Kill is Bond's darkest assignment. The production team experienced their usual difficulties in bringing it to the screen, the "making-of" documentary reveals, including a haunted road in Mexico and a mysterious flaming hand that appeared out of the fire during the climactic tanker explosion. There are two commentaries here, both montage selections of interviews from cast and crew. The first features director John Glen and many of the actors; the second has producer Michael G Wilson and the production team. [+]

Among a plethora of recent Asian "street movies", most of them little more than action sequences with MTV-like backdrops, Bangkok Dangerous stands out. Its harsh amalgam of guns, sex and crime is typical of the genre, but Danny and Oxide Pang have put together more than just a filmed video game. The comradeship between Kong, deaf mute and quick-witted hit man, and Joe, accident-blighted marksman turned mentor, is strong enough to withstand whatever the city can throw at them. The love element, in which Kong falls for the wide-eyed chemist's assistant Fon, hardly detracts from the violence and mayhem, but is enough to make Kong face up to his existence on the margins of society and his inability to choose another course. As high-impact as the visuals are, it's the balance between stasis and dynamism-with virtuoso camera work and editing-that makes for compulsive filmmaking. On the DVD: Bangkok Dangerous has an anamorphic widescreen picture that gives the visuals a garish immediacy. English subtitles are included, as are a selection of promo pictures and filmographies for the Pang brothers and star Pawalit Mongkolpisit. Mark Wyatt's film notes set the background succinctly, but an interview with either or both of the Pangs, or a location feature would have been even more welcome as context. As it is, those drawn to the idea of hard-hitting action with substance will not be disappointed. -Richard Whitehouse.

A young boy, who dreams of seeing the grandfather he never knew, gets his chance when an inventor friend constructs a time machine. After arriving in the past, it soon becomes apparent that his knowledge of the future could change the course of history. Starring Peter Coyote, Huckleberry Fox and Art Carney.

Al Pacino cuts a noble figure in this very enjoyable drama by director Brian De Palma (Scarface), based on a pair of books by Edwin Torres. Pacino plays a Puerto Rican ex-con trying hard to go straight, but his loyalty to his lowlife attorney (a virtually unrecognisable Sean Penn) and enemies on the street make that choice difficult. Penelope Ann Miller plays, somewhat unlikely, a stripper who has a romance with Pacino's character. The film finds De Palma tempering his more outlandish moves (think of Body Double or Snake Eyes) just as he did with the popular Untouchables and Mission: Impossible. But while Carlito's Way was not as commercially successful as those two movies, it is a genuinely compelling work graced with a fine performance by Pacino and a surprising one from Penn. -Tom Keogh Al Pacino cuts a noble figure in Carlito's Way, an enjoyable drama by director Brian De Palma (Scarface), based on a pair of books by Edwin Torres. Pacino plays a Puerto Rican ex-con trying hard to go straight, but his loyalty to his lowlife attorney (a virtually unrecognisable Sean Penn) and enemies on the street make that choice difficult. In a somewhat unlikely role, Penelope Ann Miller plays a stripper who has a romance with Pacino's character. The film finds De Palma tempering his more outlandish moves (think of Body Double or Snake Eyes) just as he did with the popular The Untouchables and Mission: Impossible. But while Carlito's Way was not commercially successful and never rises to the level of greatness, it is a genuinely compelling movie graced with a fine performance by Pacino and a surprising one from Penn. [+]

Charles Crichton is fondly remembered for his Ealing comedies, The Lavender Hill Mob and The Titfield Thunderbolt as well as for his later swansong, A Fish Called Wanda, but long before those he directed this little-known Ealing drama in 1944. For Those in Peril belongs to that peculiar genre of wartime features that are part-fiction, part-documentary, part-propaganda (Coastal Command in 1942 was another in similar vein). In this case, the flimsy story is designed to raise awareness of a little-known branch of the RAF, the Sea Rescue Boats. Pilot Officer Rawlings (Ralph Michael) reluctantly joins the crew of a rescue boat and is introduced to nautical life by skipper Murray (David Farrar). After experiencing the mundane day-to-day routine, Rawlings learns how important their task is when they are called in to rescue the crew of a bomber shot-down in mid-channel. Not only is there thick fog and a minefield to deal with, but a German gunboat is looking for the airmen, too. And just when they seem to have accomplished the rescue, they are shelled by long-range guns from the French coast and strafed by the Luftwaffe. All in a day's work. Crichton injects some melodrama into proceedings-one of the principal characters dies at the end-but his close ups of nervous faces and effects shots of exploding ships and planes exist simply to enhance the documentary aspect of the story. Actors and dialogue take second place to the depiction of what was, at the time of filming, an important part of the war effort. [+]

James Bond's fourth adventure takes him to the Bahamas, where a NATO warplane with a nuclear payload has disappeared into the sea. Bond (Sean Connery) travels from a tony health spa (where he tangles with a mechanised masseuse run amuck) to the casinos of Nassau and soon picks up the trail of SPECTRE's number-two man, Emilio Largo (Adolfo Celi) and his beautiful mistress, Domino (Claudine Auger), whom Bond soon seduces to his side. Equipped with more gadgets than ever, courtesy of the resourceful "Q" (Desmond Llewelyn), agent 007 escapes an ambush with a personal-size jet pack and takes to the water as he searches for the undersea plane, battles Largo's pet sharks, and finally leads the battle against Largo's scuba-equipped henchmen in a spectacular underwater climax. This thrilling Bond entry became Connery's most successful outing in the series and was remade in 1983 as Never Say Never Again, with Connery returning to the role after a 12-year hiatus. Tom Jones belts out the bold theme song to another classic Maurice Binder title sequence. -Sean Axmaker.

Based on the novel by Frederick Forsyth, The Dogs of War is an uneasy mix of espionage and combat that never really succeeds in either role. Based around the character of Paul Shannon, the film follows events in the fictional African state of Zagaro. Hired on a reconnaissance mission by a nameless multi-national corporation, Shannon is captured and tortured before his release, only to return to the country to lead a small band of mercenaries (the dogs of the title) in a bloody coup. The first section of the movie works best, building a real sense of tension and unease, not least through a typically understated performance by Christopher Walken as the paranoid loner who keeps a pistol in his fridge (watch too for a brief appearance from a young Jim Broadbent). There are obvious references to the by-then obsolete school of Vietnam filmmaking in the second section, with the Asian enemy replaced by an African one. The gung-ho mentality of the soldiers is, however, so two-dimensional that the viewer develops little empathy for their plight. The action is slow and drawn out, with the seemingly endless pregnant pauses operating as a means for enabling the film to achieve a reasonable running time. On the DVD: little is on offer here aside from the usual scene selection, audio and subtitle options and original cinema trailer. -Phil Udell.