![Review Contender Entertainment Group / The Avengers - The M. Appeal Collection - Mission 3 [1961]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51CKE3Y9YVL._SL160_.jpg)
Actors & Directors
- Don Leaver
- James Hill
- Sidney Hayers
- Diana Rigg
- Patrick Macnee
Run time: 148 min.
Price: £12.99
Review The Avengers - The M. Appeal Collection - Mission 3 [1961] / Contender Entertainment Group:
![Review 2 Entertain Video / The Hitch Hikers Guide To The Galaxy - The Complete Series [1981]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/516MBHDEDDL._SL160_.jpg)
Actors & Directors
- Martin Benson
- Cleo Rocos
- Steve Conway
- Alan J.W. Bell
- Joe Melia
- Andrew Mussell
Run time: 193 min.
RRP: £15.99
Price: £4.44
Review The Hitch Hikers Guide To The Galaxy - The Complete Series [1981] / 2 Entertain Video:The original BBC radio adventures of Arthur Dent (an ape-descendant whose anger at the apparently inexplicable destruction of his home planet Earth, situated in an obscure corner of the outer spiral arm of the galaxy, is expressed in frequent irritation at friendly automatic doors and vending machines) and his travelling companions, Ford Prefect (an itinerant towel-carrying hitch-hiker originally from a small planet somewhere in the vicinity of Betelgeuse), Zaphod Beeblebrox (the notorious ex-Galactic President and patron of Eccentrica Galumbits, the triple-breasted whore of Eroticon Six) and Marvin the Paranoid Android (who's still suffering from that terrible pain in all the diodes down his left side) proved to be such a success for the BBC that its transition to TV was (almost) inevitable. In 1981 several key members of the radio cast made the move to the small screen. Simon Jones' bewildered Arthur Dent remains the central character, shambling around in his dressing gown (a fact easy to forget on radio); Mark Wing-Davey's Zaphod Beeblebrox is the same as his boastful radio persona, even if the second head utterly fails to convince. Unfortunately, newcomers David Dixon (as Ford Prefect) and the irritating Sandra Dickinson (as Trillian) are no match for their radio predecessors. The problem here is not so much the low-budget look as the script itself, which is lovingly faithful to the radio series in a way that Douglas Adams' novels aren't. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was a lucid, satirical, occasionally profound, utterly unique comic invention on radio. As such, it has nothing to gain from TV. The script needs no visual elaboration-that's best left to the listener's own imagination. Only the animated renditions of the Guide itself enhance Peter Jones' wonderfully dry narration; otherwise-paradoxically, perhaps-by supplying images the concept is oddly diminished here. On the DVD: A suitably eclectic not to say eccentric collection of extra features makes this a wholly satisfying two-disc set, neatly packaged in a fold-out slipcase. [+]On the second disc there's an hour-long "making of" documentary from 1992 featuring contributions from the cast and crew, including Douglas Adams; and then there's even more in a 20-minute section entitled "Don't Panic!". A fascinating behind-the-scenes peek at filming as the clock runs out on studio time and a look at the recording of the original radio series complete the first part. Then navigate to the "Outer Planets" to find outtakes, a deleted scene, Zaphod's animatronic second head on Tomorrow's World and Peter Jones's witty and shambolic introduction to the first episode, plus more besides. The series itself is presented in standard 4:3 ratio and Dolby stereo. -Mark Walker.
![Review 2 Entertain Video / Doctor Who - The Creature From The Pit [1979]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51ZJS5JNP3L._SL160_.jpg)
Release date: 2002-07-15
Run time: 97 min.
RRP: £12.99
Price: £14.49
Review Doctor Who - The Creature From The Pit [1979] / 2 Entertain Video:The 1979 Doctor Who adventure "The Creature from the Pit" finds Tom Baker's fourth Doctor in decidedly tongue-in-cheek mode on the planet Cloris, a world where metal is in such short supply its possession means power, and where a very large green alien is annoyed at being kept prisoner in a pit. As so often the Doctor gets caught between two feuding parties, here the power-crazed Lady Adrasta (Myra Frances) and her court, and a bunch of Pythonesque bandits led by John Bryans. This motley crew reveal the influence of script editor Douglas Adams, while more fun is to had from Baker's interaction with the astrologer Organon, played by Geoffrey "Catweazle" Bayldon in a role which recalls Adams' Slartibartfast from The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy. At four episodes a thin story is over-stretched, the finale seems tacked on, and the shoddy creature effects are more remarkably phallic than anything in the same year's cinema release, Alien. On the plus side, Lalla Ward in her third story grows nicely into her role as Romana, David Brierley takes over from John Leeson as the voice of robot dog K-9 and the set design and costumes are well up to the show's late-70s high standards. Not a patch on the immediately preceding "City of Death", but an entertaining Whovian pantomime nonetheless. -Gary S Dalkin.
![Review 2 Entertain Video / Doctor Who - Castrovalva [1982] [1963]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51T2P85ASRL._SL160_.jpg)
Release date: 1992-03-02
Run time: 95 min.
RRP: £10.99
Price: £3.70
Review Doctor Who - Castrovalva [1982] [1963] / 2 Entertain Video:
Price: £15.00
Review automatic / first independent:
![Review Warner Home Video / Babylon 5 - Vol. 19 - In The Shadow Of Z'Ha'Dum / Confessions And Lamentations [1994]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41JEGBXY73L._SL160_.jpg)
Actors & Directors
- Andreas Katsulas
- Mary Kay Adams
- David J. Eagle
- Claudia Christian
- Peter Jurasik
- Bruce Boxleitner
- Kevin G. Cremin
Run time: 84 min.
RRP: £12.99
Price: £0.75
Review Babylon 5 - Vol. 19 - In The Shadow Of Z'Ha'Dum / Confessions And Lamentations [1994] / Warner Home Video:
![Review 2 Entertain Video / Doctor Who - K9 And Company [1981]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51ZGWKH80JL._SL160_.jpg)
Release date: 1995-08-07
Run time: 49 min.
Price: £9.99
Review Doctor Who - K9 And Company [1981] / 2 Entertain Video:
![Review Contender Entertainment Group / The Avengers - The M. Appeal Collection - Mission 4 [1961]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/516SRQHVD7L._SL160_.jpg)
Actors & Directors
- Robert Asher
- Patrick Macnee
- Roy Ward Baker
- Sidney Hayes
- Diana Rigg
Run time: 147 min.
Price: £12.99
Review The Avengers - The M. Appeal Collection - Mission 4 [1961] / Contender Entertainment Group:
Price: £14.44
Review DOCTOR WHO - WARRIORS GATE / BBC:
Actors & Directors
- Michael Pare
- William Gray
- Eric Christmas
- Bobby Di Cicco
- Nancy Allen
- Stewart Raffill
Price: £7.99
Review The Philadelphia Experiment / New World Pictures:
![Review Warner Home Video / Babylon 5 - Vol. 17 - Hunter, Prey / And Now For A Word [1994]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41FGDDJBMHL._SL160_.jpg)
Actors & Directors
- Peter Jurasik
- Mary Kay Adams
- Menachem Binetski
- Bruce Boxleitner
- Claudia Christian
- Andreas Katsulas
Run time: 84 min.
RRP: £12.99
Price: £0.95
Review Babylon 5 - Vol. 17 - Hunter, Prey / And Now For A Word [1994] / Warner Home Video:
![Review 4 Front Video / Invasion Of The Body Snatchers [1956]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/510FQZV3EWL._SL160_.jpg)
Actors & Directors
- King Donovan
- Kevin McCarthy
- Don Siegel
- Dana Wynter
- Carolyn Jones
- Larry Gates
Run time: 80 min.
RRP: £5.99
Price: £19.99
Review Invasion Of The Body Snatchers [1956] / 4 Front Video:Invasion of the Body Snatchers is considered one of the best science fiction films of the 1950s and 1960s. The classic paranoid thriller was widely interpreted as a criticism of the McCarthy era, which was characterised by anti-Communist witch-hunts and fear of the dreaded blacklist. Some hailed it as an attack on the oppressive power of government as Big Brother. However viewers interpret it, this original 1956 version of Invaders of the Body Snatchers (based on Jack Finney's serialised novel The Body Snatchers) remains a milestone movie in its genre, directed by Don Siegel with an inventive intensity that continues to pack an entertaining wallop. Dr. Miles Bennell (Kevin McCarthy) is unconcerned when the townsfolk accuse their loved ones of acting like emotionless impostors. But soon the evidence is overwhelming-Santa Mira has been invaded by alien "pods", which are capable of replicating humans and taking possession of their identities. It's up to McCarthy to spread the word of warning, battling the alien invasion at the risk of his own life. Look closely and you'll find future director Sam Peckinpah (an uncredited cowriter of this film) making a cameo appearance as a meter reader! -Jeff Shannon.
![Review 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment / Fantastic Voyage [1966]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51MY9E1G1GL._SL160_.jpg)
Actors & Directors
- Stephen Boyd
- Edmond O'Brien
- Arthur O'Connell
- Donald Pleasence
- Raquel Welch
- Richard Fleischer
Run time: 96 min.
RRP: £10.99
Price: £2.50
Review Fantastic Voyage [1966] / 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment:Fantastic Voyage is the original psychedelic inner-space adventure. When a brilliant scientist falls into a coma with an inoperable blood clot in the brain, a surgical team embarks on a top-secret journey to the centre of the mind in a high-tech military submarine shrunk to microbial dimensions. Stephen Boyd stars as a colourless commander sent to keep an eye on things (though his eyes stay mostly on shapely medical assistant Raquel Welch), while Donald Pleasance is suitably twitchy as the claustrophobic medical consultant. The science is shaky at best, but the imaginative spectacle is marvellous: scuba-diving surgeons battle white blood cells, tap the lungs to replenish the oxygen supply, and shoot the aorta like daredevil surfers. The film took home a well-deserved Oscar for Best Visual Effects. Director Richard Fleischer, who had previously turned Disney's 1954 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea into one of the most riveting submarine adventures of all time, creates a picture so taut with cold-war tensions and cloak-and-dagger secrecy that niggling scientific contradictions (such as, how do miniaturised humans breathe full-sized air molecules?) seem moot. -Sean Axmaker.
Actors & Directors
- Gillian Anderson
- Chris Carter
- David Duchovny
- Kim Manners
- David Nutter
- R.W. Goodwin
- Rob Bowman
RRP: £79.99
Price: £4.90
Review The X Files : Season 3 Collectors Box Set / 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment:
Actors & Directors
- Colin Baker
- Kate O'Mara
- Nicola Bryant
Run time: 89 min.
RRP: £11.99
Price: £4.95
Review Doctor Who - The Mark Of The Rani / 2 Entertain Video:
![Review 2 Entertain Video / Doctor Who The Monster of Peladon [1974]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51AYYXQ2ZPL._SL160_.jpg)
Actors & Directors
- Jon Pertwee
- Elisabeth Sladen
- Lennie Mayne
Run time: 146 min.
RRP: £16.99
Price: £19.99
Review Doctor Who The Monster of Peladon [1974] / 2 Entertain Video:
Actors & Directors
- Bob Balaban
- Teri Garr
- François Truffaut
- Richard Dreyfuss
- Steven Spielberg
- Melinda Dillon
Run time: 146 min.
RRP: £14.99
Price: £0.99
Review Close Encounters Of The Third Kind [1978] / Sony Pictures Home Entertainment:Released in 1977, Close Encounters of the Third Kind was that year's cerebral alternative to Star Wars. It's arguably the archetypal Spielberg film, featuring a fantasy-meets-reality storyline (to be developed further in E. T. ), a misunderstood Everyman character (Richard Dreyfuss), apparently hostile government agents (long before The X-Files), a sense of childlike awe in the face of the otherworldly, and a sweeping feel for epic film-making learned from the classic school of David Lean. Contributing to the film's overall success are the Oscar-winning cinematography from Vilmos Zsigmond, Douglas Trumbull's lavish effects and an extraordinary score from John Williams that develops from eerie atonality à la Ligeti to the gorgeous sentiment of "When You Wish Upon a Star" over the end credits. Not content with the final result, Spielberg tinkered with the editing and inserted some new scenes to make a "Special Edition" in 1980 which ran three minutes shorter than the original, then made further revisions to create a slightly longer "Collector's Edition" in 1998. This later version deletes the mothership interior scenes that were inserted in the "Special Edition" and restores the original ending. On the DVD: CE3K is packaged here with confusing documentation that fails to make clear any differences between earlier versions of the film and this "Collector's Edition"-worse, the back cover blurb misleadingly implies that this disc is the 1980 "Special Edition" edit. It is not. A gorgeous anamorphic widescreen print of Spielberg's 1998 "Collector's Edition" edit occupies the first disc: this is the version with the original theatrical ending restored but new scenes from the "Special Edition" retained. [+]The second disc rounds up sundry deleted scenes that were either dropped from the original version or never made it into the film at all-fans of the "Special Edition" can find the mothership interior sequence here. The excellent "making-of" documentary dates from 1997 and has interviews with almost everyone involved, including the director speaking from the set of Saving Private Ryan. Thankfully the superb picture and sound of the feature make this set entirely compelling and more than compensate for the inadequate packaging. -Mark Walker.
![Review Contender Entertainment Group / The Avengers - The M. Appeal Collection - Mission 2 [1961]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51EQQBPCZZL._SL160_.jpg)
Actors & Directors
- Robert Day
- Patrick Macnee
- Ronald Radd
- Naomi Chance
- Cecil Parker
- Diana Rigg
- Peter Graham Scott
Run time: 150 min.
Price: £12.99
Review The Avengers - The M. Appeal Collection - Mission 2 [1961] / Contender Entertainment Group:
![Review 2 Entertain Video / Doctor Who - Kinda [1982]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/5130KJ6V84L._SL160_.jpg)
Actors & Directors
- Peter Grimwade
- Peter Davison
Run time: 98 min.
RRP: £11.99
Price: £8.99
Review Doctor Who - Kinda [1982] / 2 Entertain Video:
![Review Contender Entertainment Group / The Avengers - Celebrity Guest Collection - Vol. 2 [1964]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51G9WFQGYCL._SL160_.jpg)
Actors & Directors
- Stratford Johns
- James Hill
- Linda Thorson
- Don Leaver
- Don Chaffey
- Patrick Macnee
- Ronald Lacey
- Richard Hurndall
Run time: 150 min.
Price: £12.99
Review The Avengers - Celebrity Guest Collection - Vol. 2 [1964] / Contender Entertainment Group:
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The Avengers - The M. Appeal Collection - Mission 3 [1961], The Hitch Hikers Guide To The Galaxy - The Complete Series [1981], Doctor Who - The Creature From The Pit [1979], Doctor Who - Castrovalva [1982] [1963], automatic, Babylon 5 - Vol. 19 - In The Shadow Of Z'Ha'Dum / Confessions And Lamentations [1994], Doctor Who - K9 And Company [1981], The Avengers - The M. Appeal Collection - Mission 4 [1961], DOCTOR WHO - WARRIORS GATE, The Philadelphia Experiment, Babylon 5 - Vol. 17 - Hunter, Prey / And Now For A Word [1994], Invasion Of The Body Snatchers [1956], Fantastic Voyage [1966], The X Files : Season 3 Collectors Box Set, Doctor Who - The Mark Of The Rani, Doctor Who The Monster of Peladon [1974], Close Encounters Of The Third Kind [1978], The Avengers - The M. Appeal Collection - Mission 2 [1961], Doctor Who - Kinda [1982], The Avengers - Celebrity Guest Collection - Vol. 2 [1964] |
