Review, buy War Films & Westerns: The Alamo [1960], Duel at Diablo [1966], Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid [1969], The Desert Rats [1953], Sagebrush Trail [1935], Randy Rides Alone [1935], The Man From Utah [1935], Shalako [1969], Enemy Below [1957], The Longest Day [1962], D-Day The Sixth Of June [1956], Broken Lance [1954], The Lawless Frontier [1935], The Desert Trail [1935], Blue Steel [1935], The Big Trail [1931], The Horse Soldiers [1960], War And Peace [1967], The Bravados [1958], The Train VHS Video

Dating from 1969, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid has never lost its popularity or its unusual appeal as a star-driven Western that tinkers with the genre's conventions and comes up with something both terrifically entertaining and-typical of its period-a tad paranoid. Paul Newman plays the legendary outlaw Butch Cassidy as an eternal optimist and self-styled visionary, conjuring dreams of banks just ripe for the picking all over the world. Robert Redford is his more level-headed partner, the sharp-shooting Sundance Kid. The film, written by William Goldman (The Princess Bride) and directed by George Roy Hill (The Sting), basically begins as a freewheeling story about robbing trains but soon becomes a chase as a relentless posse-always seen at a great distance like some remote authority-forces Butch and Sundance into the hills and, finally, Bolivia. Weakened a little by feel-good inclinations (a scene involving bicycle tricks and the song "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" is sort of Hollywood flower power), the film maintains an interesting tautness, and the chemistry between Redford and Newman is rare. (A factoid: Newman first offered the Sundance part to Jack Lemmon. ) -Tom Keogh, Amazon. com On the DVD: This anamorphic widescreen print of the 2. 35:1 Panavision original looks marvellously crisp, highlighting the sepia tinting and washed-out, over-exposed look of the film nicely and making the best of the deep focus cinematography. The mono soundtrack sounds clean and clear in Dolby 2. [+]

0. The commentary track is hosted by documentary-maker Robert Crawford with contributions from George Roy Hill, cinematographer Conrad Hall, and lyricist Hal David (who chips in during the "Raindrops" sequence). The 40-minute documentary dates from 1968 and is narrated by director Hill, who talks in detail about the making-of process, comments on his relationship with the three principals (Katharine Ross was the difficult one apparently), and adds little nuggets such as how they sprayed the bull's testicles to make him charge at the end of the bicycle scene. Also included are a series of absorbing 1994 interviews with all the main players: Newman, Redford, Ross, writer William Goldman, and composer Burt Bacharach. Trailers, Production Notes and an Alternate Credit Roll complete an attractive package. -Mark Walker.

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Review 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment / The Desert Rats [1953]

The Desert Rats [1953] (20th Century Fox Home Entertainment)

Actors & Directors

Richard Burton
Robert Wise
Torin Thatcher
Robert Newton
Robert Douglas
Chips Rafferty

Release date: 1998-08-24
Run time: 84 min.
RRP: ~~£5.99~~
Price: £8.95

Review The Desert Rats [1953] / 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment:

In The Desert Ratshis second Hollywood role-between Oscar-nominated turns in My Cousin Rachel and The Robe-Richard Burton stars as a Scottish commando put in charge of a battalion of the Ninth Australian Division defending Tobruk. The Aussies don't like him, and with a year of grim North African duty already under his belt, he's not too crazy about his new responsibilities either. The outfit is charged with staving off the battering assaults of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel for two months to give the British Army time to regroup in Cairo and prepare for a counterattack. In the end, the "Desert Rats" play hell with the Desert Fox for 242 days, during which they and their commander develop some mutual respect. This is a solid, workmanlike World War Two picture that, having been made in 1953 rather than 1943, can acknowledge a degree of eccentric humanity and soldierly professionalism in the enemy. Featured guest star James Mason reprises his Rommel from The Desert Fox (1951)-playing all his scenes in German except for a scene of ironical repartee with Burton. Another distinguished Brit, Robert Newton, gets co-star billing as a boozy, self-confessed coward who used to be Burton's schoolmaster once upon a time. However, a goodly number of Australians-including Chips Rafferty and Charles "Bud" Tingwell (still going strong nearly 50 years later in Paul Cox's wonderful Innocence)-rate as much screentime. Robert Wise directed, with a trimness that reminds us he started out as an editor, and Lucien Ballard provides the pungent black-and-white cinematography. -Richard T Jameson, Amazon. [+]

com.

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Review Second Sight Films Ltd. / Sagebrush Trail [1935]

Sagebrush Trail [1935] (Second Sight Films Ltd.)

Actors & Directors

Armand Schaefer
John Wayne
Lane Chandler
Nancy Shubert
Henry Hall
Yakima Canutt

Release date: 1998-03-16
Run time: 54 min.
RRP: ~~£5.99~~
Price: £2.50

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Review Second Sight Films Ltd. / Randy Rides Alone [1935]

Randy Rides Alone [1935] (Second Sight Films Ltd.)

Actors & Directors

John Wayne
George 'Gabby' Hayes
Alberta Vaughn
Earl Dwire
Yakima Canutt
Harry L. Fraser

Release date: 1998-03-16
Run time: 52 min.
RRP: ~~£5.99~~
Price: £0.86

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Review Ilc Entertainment / The Man From Utah [1935]

The Man From Utah [1935] (Ilc Entertainment)

Actors & Directors

Anita Campillo
John Wayne
Yakima Canutt
George 'Gabby' Hayes
Polly Ann Young
Robert N. Bradbury

Run time: 51 min.
RRP: ~~£4.99~~
Price: £11.99

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Review Warner Home Video / Shalako [1969]

Shalako [1969] (Warner Home Video)

Actors & Directors

Stephen Boyd
Sean Connery
Peter van Eyck
Edward Dmytryk
Jack Hawkins
Brigitte Bardot

Release date: 1996-02-26
Run time: 108 min.
RRP: ~~£5.99~~
Price: £3.39

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Review 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment / Enemy Below [1957]

Enemy Below [1957] (20th Century Fox Home Entertainment)

Actors & Directors

Dick Powell
Theodore Bikel
Curd Jürgens
Russell Collins
Robert Mitchum
David Hedison

Release date: 1998-05-04
Run time: 93 min.
Price: £5.99

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Review 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment / The Longest Day [1962]

The Longest Day [1962] (20th Century Fox Home Entertainment)

Actors & Directors

Richard Beymer
Ken Annakin
Jean-Louis Barrault
Arletty
Eddie Albert
Andrew Marton
Paul Anka
Darryl F. Zanuck
Bernhard Wicki

Release date: 1998-04-06
Run time: 170 min.
RRP: ~~£12.99~~
Price: £12.89

Review The Longest Day [1962] / 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment:

After seeing Saving Private Ryan, this epic tale about the Normandy invasion will look sanitised. But in its re-creation of events leading to the epochal battle, The Longest Day is captivating and grand, and the parade of famous actors who cross the screen naturally give the already charged action even more of a boost. Three directors worked on it: Ken Annakin (Battle of the Bulge), Andrew Marton (Crack in the World) and Bernhard Wicki (this film being his only credit). -Tom Keogh The Longest Day is Hollywood's definitive D-day movie. More modern accounts such as Saving Private Ryan are more vividly realistic, but producer Darryl F Zanuck's epic 1962 account is the only one to attempt the daunting task of covering that fateful day from all perspectives. From the German high command and front-line officers to the French Resistance and all the key Allied participants, the screenplay by Cornelius Ryan, based on his own authoritative book, is as factually accurate as possible. The endless parade of stars (John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Robert Mitchum, Sean Connery, and Richard Burton, to name a few) makes for an uneasy mix of verisimilitude and Hollywood star-power, however, and the film falls a little flat for too much of its three-hour running time. But the set-piece battles are still spectacular, and if the landings on Omaha Beach lack the graphic gore of Private Ryan they nonetheless show the sheer scale and audacity of the invasion. -Mark Walker.

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Review 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment / D-Day The Sixth Of June [1956]

D-Day The Sixth Of June [1956] (20th Century Fox Home Entertainment)

Actors & Directors

Richard Todd
Edmond O'Brien
Dana Wynter
Henry Koster
John Williams (II)
Robert Taylor

Release date: 1998-04-27
Run time: 101 min.
RRP: ~~£5.99~~
Price: £8.91

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Review 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment / Broken Lance [1954]

Broken Lance [1954] (20th Century Fox Home Entertainment)

Actors & Directors

Jean Peters
Katy Jurado
Robert Wagner
Spencer Tracy
Edward Dmytryk
Richard Widmark

Release date: 1998-03-23
Run time: 92 min.
RRP: ~~£5.99~~
Price: £11.99

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Review Second Sight Films Ltd. / The Lawless Frontier [1935]

The Lawless Frontier [1935] (Second Sight Films Ltd.)

Actors & Directors

Jack Rockwell
Robert N. Bradbury
Sheila Terry
Jay Wilsey
George 'Gabby' Hayes
John Wayne

Release date: 1998-03-16
Run time: 48 min.
RRP: ~~£5.99~~
Price: £1.77

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Review Second Sight Films Ltd. / The Desert Trail [1935]

The Desert Trail [1935] (Second Sight Films Ltd.)

Actors & Directors

Mary Kornman
Eddy Chandler
Paul Fix
Carmen Laroux
John Wayne
Lewis D. Collins

Release date: 1998-03-16
Run time: 54 min.
RRP: ~~£5.99~~
Price: £0.75

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Review Second Sight Films Ltd. / Blue Steel [1935]

Blue Steel [1935] (Second Sight Films Ltd.)

Actors & Directors

Eleanor Hunt
Robert N. Bradbury
John Wayne
George 'Gabby' Hayes
Yakima Canutt
Edward Peil Sr.

Release date: 1998-03-16
Run time: 54 min.
Price: £5.99

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Review 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment / The Big Trail [1931]

The Big Trail [1931] (20th Century Fox Home Entertainment)

Actors & Directors

Tyrone Power Sr.
Tully Marshall
El Brendel
Marguerite Churchill
Raoul Walsh
Louis R. Loeffler
John Wayne

Release date: 1998-06-01
Run time: 116 min.
Price: £5.99

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Review MGM Entertainment / The Horse Soldiers [1960]

The Horse Soldiers [1960] (MGM Entertainment)

Actors & Directors

John Wayne
Judson Pratt
Constance Towers
Hoot Gibson
John Ford
William Holden

Release date: 2000-02-01
Run time: 115 min.
RRP: ~~£5.99~~
Price: £3.45

Review The Horse Soldiers [1960] / MGM Entertainment:

A crisp retelling of a true-life episode from the Civil War, The Horse Soldiers is a latter-day sorta-Western from John Ford, falling midway between The Searchers (1956) and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962). In 1863 a Union colonel named Grierson (Marlowe in the film, and John Wayne by any name) led his cavalry several hundred miles behind Confederate lines to cut the railway track between Newton Station and soon-to-be-embattled Vicksburg. Grierson's raid was as successful as it was daring, and remarkably bloodless. Never fear that the screenplay makes up for that un-Hollywood lapse-as well as supplying amatory distraction for the colonel in the form of a feisty Southern belle (Constance Towers) who has to be dragged along to protect secrecy. There's a certain amount of bombast in the running arguments about wartime ethics between Marlowe and the new regimental surgeon (William Holden), who don't take to each other at all. But Ford more than makes up for it with such tasty scenes as an encounter with a couple of redneck Rebel deserters (Denver Pyle and Strother Martin), an ethereal swamp crossing led by a cornpone deacon (Hank Worden), and above all the famous skirmish with a hillside full of young cadets from a venerable military academy. The film ends rather abruptly because Ford abandoned a climactic battle scene-the veteran stunt man and bit player Fred Kennedy having been killed in a horse-fall. Golden-age cowboy star Hoot Gibson, who acted in Ford's directorial debut, Straight Shooting (1917), appears as Sergeant Brown. -Richard T. Jameson, Amazon. [+]

com.

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