CD-Charts Position 1
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Indiana Jones: The Complete Collection (Raiders of the Lost Ark, Temple of Doom, Last Crusade & Kingdom of the Crystal Skull) [1981]

starring: Harrison Ford, Julian Glover, Shia LaBeouf, Cate Blanchett, Ray Winstone
directed by: Steven Spielberg

Release Date November 10, 2008
Dr Indiana Jones has long been known as a serious explorer and scholar by all readers of the National Geographic. His canon of work stands unchallenged by anyone in the world today.

Finally his in-depth documentaries have been collected together, collated, and organised, so we can see his achievements in the field of Anthropology, Archaeology, Primitive Religion and Cultural Raiding, and Driving At Speed Across Dusty Landscapes.

This particular collection has been edited and compiled by a Mr Spielburg (ed. check spelling), who, whilst generally keeping to the facts, makes each documentary slightly too fantastical for serious Archaeologists and Academics to be comfortable with. A better, more level-headed editor may ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 2
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Indiana Jones - Raiders Of The Lost Ark - Special Edition [1981]

starring: Harrison Ford, Frank Marshall, George Harris, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman
directed by: Steven Spielberg

Release Date May 12, 2008
Indiana Jones - Raiders Of The Lost Ark - Special Edition [1981]
Steven Spielberg at HIS BEST. Another movie from my Dad's Collection. The action never stops and there's a carefully calculated high-point every 15 minutes at least. The effects are well co-ordinated, and the film is easily Spielberg's most genuinely riveting. The film is produced by George Lucas. Harrison Ford, discovered by Lucas, for STAR WARS, plays the title character, who is BOGART, FLASH GORDON and HAN SOLO rolled into one.

CD-Charts Position 3
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A Room With A View (Special Edition) [1985]

starring: Maggie Smith, Helena Bonham Carter, Rupert Graves, Daniel Day Lewis, Judi Dench
directed by: James Ivory

Release Date October 29, 2007
This is my favourite adaptation of a Forster novel and it has thankfully been re-released as a proper widescreen version which fills the full screen of my TV. (The original DVD was a failed experiment in adaptation resulting in a shrunken picture in which very little was visible whatever TV shape you were using). Despite being rooted in the uptight Edwardian social rectitude of 1908, the novel still has plenty to say about the present day. At the time Edward Morgan Forster was firmly cowering at the back of the closet and channelling his hidden homosexuality into a critique of his time. People behave as they think they should behave. They repress their wonderful true nature in order to conform to stereotypes and thereby diminish their own existence. If you feel ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 4
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Watership Down

starring: John Hurt, Joss Ackland, Richard Briers, Hanah Gordon, Ralph Richardson
directed by: Martin Rosen

Release Date August 29, 2005
I have loved this film since I first saw it as a child. The sense of menace and foreboding which hangs over it is truly disturbing, as are the flashes of savage violence. The 'Bright Eyes' moment about half way through turns the supposed death of Hazel into one of the most moving moments in cinema history, and the 'Black Rabbit of Inle' ending is hardly less moving.

Bigwig, Hazel and Fiver are brought to life with a huge amount of warmth and 'humanity'. Before reading the book I always thought the gull Keehar rather embarrassing, with his strange Middle-East-sounding accent, but after reading the book I think he actually is supposed to sound like this and I have come to really like the characterisation.

I always found the ending confusing, and after ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 5
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The Cruel Sea [1953]

starring: Jack Hawkins, Stanley Baker, Denholm Elliott, Moira Lister, Virginia McKenna
directed by: Charles Frend

Release Date January 08, 2007
The unrelenting echo of the sonar punctuates this understated J. Arthur Rank film with a taut atmosphere of suspense. Novelist Eric Ambler's intelligent script remains faithful to Nicholas Monserrat's novel about the last voyage of HMS Compass Rose and all who sailed on her. The splendid performances of Jack Hawkins as her captain and Donald Sinden as his #1 bring the novel to life, as do the performances of the entire ensemble cast, which includes Denholm Elliott. One of the best aspects of the Rank organization films of this era is the devotion that went into the delineation of even the minor characters.

Some viewers may shun this picture because it was filmed in black and white. This is a shame, because "The Cruel Sea" is so absorbing that such details as lack of ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 6
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Trading Places [1983]

starring: Eddie Murphy, Dan Aykroyd, Denholm Elliott, Maurice Woods, Richard D. Fisher Jr.
directed by: John Landis

Release Date December 02, 2002
Dan Aykroyd (The Blues Brothers) stars as Louis Winthorpe, a smart and rich businessman who gets his life turned around when he is kicked out of his house and is forced to live on the street, all because of 2 other businessmen who have placed a wager to see if a street thief would succeed in his place.

In this ambitious and dramatic tale, viewers are invited into the hard and cruel life of the business world and what goes on behind closed doors, and though unrealistic, is a tale of cunning and loyalty in a great comedy drama.

In his best ever role, Eddie Murphy (Beverly Hills Cop) stars as street urchin Billy Ray Valentine, a cheeky and egotistical man who can't believe his luck when he is invited to work for the Dukes, the two businessmen who are scamming against ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 7
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Hammer House Of Horror - Complete Collection [1980]

starring: Pierce Brosnan, Peter Cushing, Diana Dors, Denholm Elliott, Brian Cox

Release Date October 14, 2002
Hammer House of Horror, one of the best horror collections you can buy, quite often at a bargainous price, is not to be missed. Allowing for personal tastes the consensus seems to be that there are 10 or 11 of the episodes which are good or very good with 2 or 3 not so good but worth a watch. Personally I would say there is only one real duffer 'Growing Pains' but a few other reviewers have expressed their like for this episode so as I said it all boils down to personal preference.
I'll quickly run thru the episodes in their chronicological order on the disc for ease though as one reviewer stated this was not the order in which they were originally aired.

The House that Bled to Death - A lot of peoples favourite episode concerning a family who have moved into a house where a gruesome ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 8
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Sweeney! Movie Collection (Sweeney!/Sweeney 2) [1976]

starring: John Thaw, Dennis Waterman, Barry Foster, Ian Bannen, Colin Welland
directed by: David Wickes, Tom Clegg

Release Date February 12, 2007
Great stuff. A shameless world of birds, shooters, guvnors and cars like your dad drove..

This is how the Bill used to be before they adopted soap-opera style plots and policemen and women who look like catalogue models. The Sweeney movies are a wonderful mix of vicious villains and grumpy, randy, chain smoking, drink-driving policemen. Yes the clothes and decor are hilarious (check out Carter's migraine-inducing bathroom wallpaper in the 1st movie)but they are absorbing, exciting thrillers. Sweeney 2 is my favourite, as the action is offset by a surprising amount of humour. The bickering, occasionally bumbling policemen ( the brewery stake-out is hysterical)and the running gags of Regan and the telephonist and his frustration with his new driver make the characters that little bit more human than your ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 9
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The Indiana Jones Trilogy (4 DVD Box Set)

by: George Lucas
starring: Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Kate Capshaw, Ke Huy Quan, Amrish Puri
directed by: Steven Spielberg

Release Date October 20, 2003
The original trilogy all together in one FANTASTIC box set - the 4th disc being a stand alone special features Bonus DVD (Visual FX, stunts, character development, story arc etc). Very informative & detailed.
3 x Great movies; Raiders Of The Lost Ark (1981) - still the best! Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom (1984) - dark & moody! and Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade (1989) - closer in tone to the first film but perhaps slightly too comedic??
Great plots, memorable characters, fantastic action setpieces (some of the very best gun fights, fist fights & car chases ever filmed), stunning locations, stunning cinematography/editing & some truly awesome visual effects ( All 3 movies have supernatural elements, most prevalent in Raiders Of The Lost Ark).
And all this under the masterful direction ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 10
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Woody Allen Collection Vol. 3 - The Purple Rose Of Cairo/Hannah And Her Sisters/Radio Days/September/Another Woman

starring: Woody Allen, Tony Roberts, Denholm Elliott, Dianne Wiest, Jack Warden
directed by: Woody Allen

Release Date January 22, 2007
The original trilogy all together in one FANTASTIC box set - the 4th disc being a stand alone special features Bonus DVD (Visual FX, stunts, character development, story arc etc). Very informative & detailed.
3 x Great movies; Raiders Of The Lost Ark (1981) - still the best! Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom (1984) - dark & moody! and Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade (1989) - closer in tone to the first film but perhaps slightly too comedic??
Great plots, memorable characters, fantastic action setpieces (some of the very best gun fights, fist fights & car chases ever filmed), stunning locations, stunning cinematography/editing & some truly awesome visual effects ( All 3 movies have supernatural elements, most prevalent in Raiders Of The Lost Ark).
And all this under the masterful direction ... Read More: