Video Find the Perfect Gift    Send a Gift Certificate
Search 
Home › Science Fiction & Fantasy › Science Fiction
Review 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment / Solaris [2003]
Actors & Directors
  • Natascha McElhone
  • George Clooney
  • Ulrich Tukur
  • Steven Soderbergh
  • Jeremy Davies
  • Viola Davis
Release date: 2003-07-21
Run time: 94 min.
RRP: £14.99
Price: £5.89

Review Solaris [2003] / 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment:

Solaris is a remake of Andrei Tarkovsky's Russian film (often called the "Soviet 2001"), itself an adaptation of the Polish Stanislaw Lem's novel, and is anything but a typical American science fiction film. Psychologist Chris Kelvin (George Clooney, playing it very cool and introverted) is sent to a space station orbiting the perhaps-living planet Solaris to investigate a loss of communication with Earth, and finds only two survivors: a free-associating neurotic (Jeremy Davies) and a control freak (Viola Davis), along with several corpses and evidence of recent violence. Kelvin is shocked to wake up next to his wife Rhea (Natascha McElhone), who committed suicide back on Earth years ago, and treats her like a body-snatched alien, disposing of the creature by jettisoning her into space. But she comes back again, and Kelvin realises she isn't a soulless monster out to get him but a genuinely self-aware construct built from his own memories. Though warned against getting involved, Kelvin tries to maintain a relationship with the non-human woman, hoping to avoid this time the mistakes he made that led to Rhea's death. Steven Soderbergh, the most versatile and unpredictable director in Hollywood, stages a few big space moments, fascinated by the red and stringy ball of Solaris itself, but mostly sticks to interiors that have a Bergman-esque austerity, with Clooney and McElhone inhabiting their own room and going through deep emotional traumas while avoiding actual outbursts. It may be too interior a film for mainstream audiences, though at a clipped hour-and-a-half it isn't as hard going for non-devotees as the three-hour Tarkovsky version, but there is a lot of real meat here none the less. -Kim Newman.

Review Moonstone Pictures / Alienator [1989]
Actors & Directors
  • Jan-Michael Vincent
  • John Philip Law
  • Fred Olen Ray
  • Dawn Wildsmith
  • P.J. Soles
Release date: 1994-03-28
Run time: 87 min.
RRP: £12.99
Price: £2.95

Review Alienator [1989] / Moonstone Pictures:


Review Fabulous Films Ltd. / Blake's 7 - Bounty / Deliverance - Episodes 11 And 12 [1978]
Actors & Directors
  • Jonathan Wright-Miller
  • Vivienne Cozens
  • Viktors Ritelis
  • Fiona Cumming
  • Douglas Camfield
Release date: 1998-06-29
Run time: 101 min.
RRP: £10.99
Price: £3.54

Review Blake's 7 - Bounty / Deliverance - Episodes 11 And 12 [1978] / Fabulous Films Ltd.:


Review Adv Films / Neon Genesis Evangelion - Part 7 [1997]
Actors & Directors
  • Tetsuya Iwanaga
  • Masahiko Ôtsuka
  • Tomokazu Seki
  • Kôichi Yamadera
  • Hideaki Anno
  • Tsuyoshi Kaga
  • Yûko Miyamura
  • Junko Iwao
  • Hiroyuki Ishidô
  • Kazuya Tsurumaki
Release date: 1998-03-02
Run time: 50 min.
RRP: £12.99
Price: £28.31

Review Neon Genesis Evangelion - Part 7 [1997] / Adv Films:


Review Metrodome Distribution / Invaders, The - Vol. 1 - Beachhead / The Experiment [1967]
Actors & Directors
  • Roy Thinnes|Diane Baker|J.D. Cannon|James Daly
Release date: 1993-10-18
Run time: 97 min.
Price: £12.99

Review Invaders, The - Vol. 1 - Beachhead / The Experiment [1967] / Metrodome Distribution:


Review Vision Replays / The Lost World [1925]
Actors & Directors
  • Harry O. Hoyt|Wallace Beery|Lewis Stone|Lloyd Hughes
Run time: 60 min.
Price: £12.99

Review The Lost World [1925] / Vision Replays:

The granddaddy of giant monster movies, The Lost World was one of the most expensive movies ever made in 1925, costing more than a million dollars, and has remained one of the most influential. Every larger-than-life creature feature since-from King Kong to Godzilla and Jurassic Park-owes a debt to this original adventure fantasy based on Arthur Conan Doyle's novel. It's the story of a maverick scientist (Wallace Beery under a bushy beard) who finds a land that time forgot on a plateau deep within the South American jungles and comes back to London with a captured brontosaurus to prove it. His expedition includes Bessie Love, the daughter of an explorer who disappeared on the previous expedition, and big game hunter Lewis Stone. The ostensible stars of the picture are all upstaged by Willis O'Brien's dinosaurs, simple models brought to life with primitive stop-motion animation (the technique was soon to be perfected by O'Brien for King Kong). Hardly realistic by any measure, these pioneering special effects are still a sight to behold, especially the lumbering brontosaurus which receives the most care from O'Brien, both foraging in his jungle and rampaging through the streets of London. With the coming of talkies, The Lost World became obsolete: all known American prints were destroyed in favour of a sound remake (which became King Kong) and the film only survived in a severely truncated form (even the original negative was lost). For this release David Shepard meticulously "rebuilt" the film using material from eight different surviving prints from all over the world, cleaning and restoring along the way. The result is 50% longer than previously extant prints, still not complete but closer than any version since its 1925 debut. The difference is not merely in restored scenes but in a rediscovered sense of grace in scenes filled out to their original detail and pace. [+]
The film moves and breathes once again like a silent film. On the DVD: From the attractive solid slipcase to the wonderful "period" menu interface, this is a delightful DVD package. The film itself looks surprisingly good-a real tribute to the restoration team's efforts-with careful tinting in the style of the period (blues for evening, reds for dawn etc. ). The disc features the choice of either an original score by The Alloy Orchestra or a classical orchestral score compiled and conducted by Robert Israel (both enjoyable and effective), 13 minutes of O'Brien's animation outtakes (including a couple of isolated frames that capture O'Brien manipulating his models) and a well-meaning but basic commentary by Arthur Conan Doyle historian Roy Pilot. There's also a text biography of Conan Doyle and a display of original postcards, posters and other promotional items. -Sean Axmaker, Amazon. com.

Review Paramount Home Entertainment / Star Trek : Deep Space Nine - Vol. 11 - The Homecoming / The Circle [1995]
Actors & Directors
  • Corey Allen
  • Cirroc Lofton
  • Avery Brooks
  • Rene Auberjonois
  • Terry Farrell
  • Siddig El Fadil
  • Winrich Kolbe
Release date: 1994-03-07
Run time: 88 min.
RRP: £5.99
Price: £21.64

Review Star Trek : Deep Space Nine - Vol. 11 - The Homecoming / The Circle [1995] / Paramount Home Entertainment:

From the outset, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was about conflict. Producers Rick Berman and Michael Piller challenged the utopian ideals of Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek universe to create something totally different from its predecessors. That meant no familial camaraderie, squeaky-clean Federation diplomacy, or beige décor. Instead they wanted interpersonal friction, ruthless enemies (Gamma Quadrant Imperialists-The Dominion) and rebellion at every turn. The DS9 concept was originally facilitated by introducing the Cardassian/Bajoran war during The Next Generation's final days. After a muted first reception fans gradually came to accept the new look, but no one liked Star Trek without a starship and eventually the producers capitulated to viewers' wishes by introducing the USS Defiant (an apt name) in Season 3. Relying far less on technobabble than TNG, DS9 was unafraid to focus on matters of the spirit instead, demonstrating a ballsy independence from its parent shows. Taking up the gauntlet thrown down by Babylon 5, improved CGI space battles also became a fan favourite. Throughout the increasingly serialised story arc there were rebellious factions within the different establishments: Kira had belonged to the Shakaar resistance cell; the Maquis was Starfleet vs Cardassians; section 31 was a secret Starfleet group; the True Way was a Bajoran group opposed to peace; the Cardassians had their Obsidian Order and the Romulans their Gestapo-like Tal Shiar. Yet for all its constant bickering and espionage (even Bashir got to be James Bond), there was always some contemporary social commentary lurking: the Ferengi were used as a comedic foil to frown on materialistic greed; drugs were looked at via the Jem'Hadar foot soldiers' addiction to Ketracel White. [+]
Perhaps Sisko summed up the real heart of things: "Bajor doesn't need a man, it needs a legend". A future vision that retains a place for religion and spirituality turned out to be Deep Space Nine's first best destiny. -Paul Tonks.

Actors & Directors
  • Peter Murnik
  • Troy Cook
  • Stephen Nichols
  • Denice Duff
  • Billy Drago
  • Brad Dourif
Release date: 1998-02-16
Run time: 182 min.
Price: £12.99

Review Phoenix / Phoenix II [1995] / Metrodome Video:


Review Urotsukidoji 3 / Urotsukidoji III - The Return Of The Overfiend - Episode 2 [1993]
Release date: 2002-08-01
Run time: 51 min.
RRP: £7.99
Price: £1.50

Review Urotsukidoji III - The Return Of The Overfiend - Episode 2 [1993] / Urotsukidoji 3:


Review Metrodome Distribution / Invaders, The - Vol. 2 - The Mutation / The Leeches [1967]
Actors & Directors
  • Roy Thinnes|Suzanne Pleshette|Edward Andrews|Arthur Hill
Release date: 1993-10-18
Run time: 98 min.
Price: £12.99

Review Invaders, The - Vol. 2 - The Mutation / The Leeches [1967] / Metrodome Distribution:


Review Warner Music Vision / Human Highway - A Film By Neil Young [1982]
Actors & Directors
  • Sally Kirkland
  • Dennis Hopper
  • Charlotte Stewart
  • Bernard Shakey
  • Geraldine Baron
  • Dean Stockwell
  • Dean Stockwell
Release date: 1995-09-25
Run time: 83 min.
RRP: £4.99
Price: £24.99

Review Human Highway - A Film By Neil Young [1982] / Warner Music Vision:


Review Urotsukidoji III / Urotsukidoji III - The Return Of The Overfiend - Episode 1
Release date: 1996-02-21
Run time: 54 min.
Price: £7.99

Review Urotsukidoji III - The Return Of The Overfiend - Episode 1 / Urotsukidoji III:


Review Fabulous Films Ltd. / Blake's 7 - Cygnus Alpha / Time Squad - Episodes 3 And 4 [1978]
Actors & Directors
  • Viktors Ritelis
  • Vivienne Cozens
  • Fiona Cumming
  • Douglas Camfield
  • Jonathan Wright-Miller
Release date: 1998-03-02
Run time: 103 min.
RRP: £10.99
Price: £0.01

Review Blake's 7 - Cygnus Alpha / Time Squad - Episodes 3 And 4 [1978] / Fabulous Films Ltd.:


Review Paramount Home Entertainment / Star Trek : Deep Space Nine - Vol. 7 - Battlelines / The Storyteller [1995]
Actors & Directors
  • Terry Farrell
  • Nana Visitor
  • Siddig El Fadil
  • Paul Lynch
  • Rene Auberjonois
  • Avery Brooks
  • David Livingston
Release date: 1993-11-07
Run time: 87 min.
RRP: £5.99
Price: £1.48

Review Star Trek : Deep Space Nine - Vol. 7 - Battlelines / The Storyteller [1995] / Paramount Home Entertainment:

From the outset, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was about conflict. Producers Rick Berman and Michael Piller challenged the utopian ideals of Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek universe to create something totally different from its predecessors. This meant no familial camaraderie, squeaky-clean Federation diplomacy or beige décor. Instead they wanted interpersonal friction, ruthless enemies (Gamma Quadrant Imperialists-The Dominion) and rebellion at every turn. The DS9 concept was originally facilitated by introducing the Cardassian/Bajoran war during The Next Generation's final days. After a muted first reception fans gradually came to accept the new look, but no one liked Star Trek without a starship and eventually the producers capitulated to viewers' wishes by introducing the USS Defiant (an apt name) in Season 3. Relying far less on technobabble than TNG, DS9 was unafraid to focus on matters of the spirit demonstrating a gutsy independence from its parent shows. Taking up the gauntlet thrown down by Babylon 5, improved CGI space battles also became a fan favourite. Throughout the increasingly serialised story arc there were rebellious factions within the different establishments: Kira had belonged to the Shakaar resistance cell; The Maquis was Starfleet vs. Cardassians; Section 31 was a secret Starfleet group; The True Way was a Bajoran group opposed to peace; the Cardassians had their Obsidian Order and the Romulans their Gestapo-like Tal Shiar. [+]
Yet for all its constant bickering and espionage (even Bashir got to be James Bond) there was always some contemporary social commentary lurking: the Ferengi were used as a comedic foil to frown on materialistic greed; drugs were looked at via the Jem'Hadar foot soldiers' addiction to Ketracel White. Perhaps Sisko summed up the real heart of things: "Bajor doesn't need a man, it needs a legend". A future vision that retains a place for religion and spirituality turned out to be Deep Space Nine's first best destiny. -Paul Tonks.

Review Paramount Home Entertainment / Star Trek : Deep Space Nine - Vol. 12 - The Siege / Invasive Procedures [1995]
Actors & Directors
  • Colm Meaney
  • Terry Farrell
  • Rene Auberjonois
  • Les Landau
  • Siddig El Fadil
  • Winrich Kolbe
  • Cirroc Lofton
Release date: 1994-04-05
Run time: 88 min.
RRP: £5.99
Price: £8.74

Review Star Trek : Deep Space Nine - Vol. 12 - The Siege / Invasive Procedures [1995] / Paramount Home Entertainment:

From the outset, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was about conflict. Producers Rick Berman and Michael Piller challenged the utopian ideals of Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek universe to create something totally different from its predecessors. That meant no familial camaraderie, squeaky-clean Federation diplomacy, or beige décor. Instead they wanted interpersonal friction, ruthless enemies (Gamma Quadrant Imperialists-The Dominion) and rebellion at every turn. The DS9 concept was originally facilitated by introducing the Cardassian/Bajoran war during The Next Generation's final days. After a muted first reception fans gradually came to accept the new look, but no one liked Star Trek without a starship and eventually the producers capitulated to viewers' wishes by introducing the USS Defiant (an apt name) in Season 3. Relying far less on technobabble than TNG, DS9 was unafraid to focus on matters of the spirit instead, demonstrating a ballsy independence from its parent shows. Taking up the gauntlet thrown down by Babylon 5, improved CGI space battles also became a fan favourite. Throughout the increasingly serialised story arc there were rebellious factions within the different establishments: Kira had belonged to the Shakaar resistance cell; the Maquis was Starfleet vs Cardassians; section 31 was a secret Starfleet group; the True Way was a Bajoran group opposed to peace; the Cardassians had their Obsidian Order and the Romulans their Gestapo-like Tal Shiar. Yet for all its constant bickering and espionage (even Bashir got to be James Bond), there was always some contemporary social commentary lurking: the Ferengi were used as a comedic foil to frown on materialistic greed; drugs were looked at via the Jem'Hadar foot soldiers' addiction to Ketracel White. [+]
Perhaps Sisko summed up the real heart of things: "Bajor doesn't need a man, it needs a legend". A future vision that retains a place for religion and spirituality turned out to be Deep Space Nine's first best destiny. -Paul Tonks.

Review Fabulous Films Ltd. / Blake's 7 - Mission To Destiny / Duel - Episodes 7 And 8 [1978]
Actors & Directors
  • Douglas Camfield
  • Fiona Cumming
  • Viktors Ritelis
  • Vivienne Cozens
  • Jonathan Wright-Miller
Release date: 1998-04-06
Run time: 102 min.
RRP: £10.99
Price: £11.73

Review Blake's 7 - Mission To Destiny / Duel - Episodes 7 And 8 [1978] / Fabulous Films Ltd.:


Review Fabulous Films Ltd. / Blake's 7 - The Web / Seek, Locate, Destroy - Episodes 5 And 6 [1978]
Actors & Directors
  • Vivienne Cozens
  • Fiona Cumming
  • Viktors Ritelis
  • Jonathan Wright-Miller
  • Douglas Camfield
Release date: 1998-04-06
Run time: 101 min.
RRP: £10.99
Price: £24.99

Review Blake's 7 - The Web / Seek, Locate, Destroy - Episodes 5 And 6 [1978] / Fabulous Films Ltd.:


Review Mia Video Entertainment Ltd / A.P.E.X. [1993]
Actors & Directors
  • Phillip J. Roth
  • Adam Lawson
  • Lisa Ann Russell
  • Mitchell Cox
  • Marcus Aurelius
  • Richard Keats
Release date: 1995-09-24
Run time: 98 min.
Price: £10.99

Review A.P.E.X. [1993] / Mia Video Entertainment Ltd:


Review Paramount Home Entertainment / Star Trek : Deep Space Nine - Vol. 8 - Progress / If Wishes Were Horses [1995]
Actors & Directors
  • Rene Auberjonois
  • Les Landau
  • Avery Brooks
  • Nana Visitor
  • Robert Legato
  • Colm Meaney
  • Terry Farrell
Release date: 1993-11-08
Run time: 87 min.
RRP: £5.99
Price: £1.49

Review Star Trek : Deep Space Nine - Vol. 8 - Progress / If Wishes Were Horses [1995] / Paramount Home Entertainment:

From the outset, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was about conflict. Producers Rick Berman and Michael Piller challenged the utopian ideals of Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek universe to create something totally different from its predecessors. That meant no familial camaraderie, squeaky-clean Federation diplomacy, or beige décor. Instead they wanted inter-personal friction, ruthless enemies (Gamma Quadrant Imperialists-The Dominion) and rebellion at every turn. The DS9 concept was originally facilitated by introducing the Cardassian/Bajoran war during The Next Generation's final days. After a muted first reception fans gradually came to accept the new look, but no one liked Star Trek without a starship and eventually the producers capitulated to viewers' wishes by introducing the USS Defiant (an apt name) in Season 3. Relying far less on technobabble than TNG, DS9 was unafraid to focus on matters of the spirit instead, demonstrating a ballsy independence from its parent shows. Taking up the gauntlet thrown down by Babylon 5, improved CGI space battles also became a fan favourite. Throughout the increasingly serialised story arc there were rebellious factions within the different establishments: Kira had belonged to the Shakaar resistance cell; The Maquis was Starfleet vs. Cardassians; Section 31 was a secret Starfleet group; The True Way was a Bajoran group opposed to peace; the Cardassians had their Obsidian Order and the Romulans their Gestapo-like Tal Shiar. [+]
Yet for all its constant bickering and espionage (even Bashir got to be James Bond!), there was always some contemporary social commentary lurking: the Ferengi were used as a comedic foil to frown on materialistic greed; drugs were looked at via the Jem'Hadar foot soldiers' addiction to Ketracel White. Perhaps Sisko summed up the real heart of things: "Bajor doesn't need a man, it needs a legend". A future vision that retains a place for religion and spirituality turned out to be Deep Space Nine's first best destiny. -Paul Tonks.

Review Tartan Video / Tetsuo 2 - Body Hammer [1991]
Actors & Directors
  • Shinya Tsukamoto
Release date: 2002-04-22
Run time: 79 min.
RRP: £15.99
Price: £0.99

Review Tetsuo 2 - Body Hammer [1991] / Tartan Video:

Two years after leaving the grungy cyberpunk calling card of the original Tetsuo, Shinya Tsukamoto re-enters the world of flesh and metal metamorphoses with Tetsuo II: The Body Hammer, a more narratively ambitious film that is neither sequel nor remake, but a rethinking of the ideas on a bigger scale with more impressive effects. The film begins in the recognisable world of the thriller, where a young middle-class couple see their son kidnapped by mysterious hoodlums, and then takes an abrupt turn into an underworld of cybermen led by a mad scientist performing twisted experiments. The father (Tomoroh Taguchi, returning from the first film), filled with rage and shame at his powerlessness, suddenly transforms into a robotic warrior and becomes overwhelmed by the power, simultaneously terrified and ecstatic. Unlike in the original, Tsukamoto offers an explanation, for what it's worth, but the power lies not in the story but the nightmarish imagery and the themes of the marriage of flesh and technology, metal and magic. With an ample budget at his disposal (not to mention colour), Tsukamoto ups the conflict to a battle of biblical proportions while maintaining the brooding, terrifying, nightmarish quality. Tsukamoto's gory, violent vision of technology run amok is not for everyone, but fans of David Lynch and David Cronenberg will find his dangerous visions just as creatively disturbing. -Sean Axmaker.

Models & Brands:
Solaris [2003], Alienator [1989], Blake's 7 - Bounty / Deliverance - Episodes 11 And 12 [1978], Neon Genesis Evangelion - Part 7 [1997], Invaders, The - Vol. 1 - Beachhead / The Experiment [1967], The Lost World [1925], Star Trek : Deep Space Nine - Vol. 11 - The Homecoming / The Circle [1995], Phoenix / Phoenix II [1995], Urotsukidoji III - The Return Of The Overfiend - Episode 2 [1993], Invaders, The - Vol. 2 - The Mutation / The Leeches [1967], Human Highway - A Film By Neil Young [1982], Urotsukidoji III - The Return Of The Overfiend - Episode 1, Blake's 7 - Cygnus Alpha / Time Squad - Episodes 3 And 4 [1978], Star Trek : Deep Space Nine - Vol. 7 - Battlelines / The Storyteller [1995], Star Trek : Deep Space Nine - Vol. 12 - The Siege / Invasive Procedures [1995], Blake's 7 - Mission To Destiny / Duel - Episodes 7 And 8 [1978], Blake's 7 - The Web / Seek, Locate, Destroy - Episodes 5 And 6 [1978], A.P.E.X. [1993], Star Trek : Deep Space Nine - Vol. 8 - Progress / If Wishes Were Horses [1995], Tetsuo 2 - Body Hammer [1991]

Top headlines:
Search 
DVD Rental: try it for free