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Displaying records 1 through 10 of 20 |
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Price: $59.98
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Sale: $29.94
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Brand: Warner Brothers
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Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
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Number of Items: 4
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Description: From the moment the young Kunta Kinte (LeVar Burton) is stolen from his life and ancestral home in 18th-century Africa and brought under inhumane conditions to be auctioned as a slave in America, a line is begun that leads from this most shameful chapter in U.S. history to the 20th-century author Alex Haley, a Kinte descendant. The late Haley's acclaimed book Roots was adapted into this six-volume television miniseries, which was a widely watched phenomenon in 1977. The programs cover several generations in the antebellum South and end with the story of "Chicken" George, a freed slave played by Ben Vereen whose family feels the agony of entrenched racism and learns to fight it. Between the lives of Kunta and George, we meet a number of memorable characters, black and white, and learn much about the emotional and physical torments of slavery, from beatings and rapes to the forced separation of spouses and families. Nothing like this had ever confronted so many mainstream Americans when the series was originally broadcast, and the extent to which the country was nudged a degree or two toward enlightenment was instantly obvious. Roots still has that ability to open one's eyes, and engage an audience in a sweeping, memorable drama at the same time. --Tom Keogh
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Price: $39.99
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Sale: $18.18
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Brand: Paramount
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Number of Items: 3
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Description: The 30th anniversary edition of Holocaust marks the first time this remarkable, nine-and-a-half-hour television miniseries has been released on DVD. Originally broadcast on NBC as part of an ongoing TV phenomenon in the 1970s called "The Big Event," Holocaust was an original story written by Gerald Green, who later scripted Kent State and Wallenberg: A Hero's Story, the latter another Holocaust-era tale. Holocaust narrowed the enormous story of the Nazis' systematic destruction of Jews by focusing on one family living in Berlin. Fritz Weaver plays Dr. Josef Weiss, a Pole with a longtime family practice. Weiss debates with his wife, Berta (Rosemary Harris), the wisdom of moving out of Germany with their family. She insists they should not be chased away by Hitler, and by the time she thinks otherwise, it's too late for her, her parents, Josef, and the three Weiss children: Karl (James Woods), Rudi (Joseph Bottoms), and Anna (Blanche Baker). Holocaust begins with the marriage of Karl to Inga (Meryl Streep), a Christian, an arrangement already frowned upon by the rising Nazi regime in 1935. In time, Karl, a harmless artist, is dragged off to the concentration camp at Buchenwald, leaving Inga vulnerable to a predatory camp officer who passes notes between the husband and wife. Poor young Anna meets a grim fate that reveals something of the way Hitler was determined to eliminate the mentally ill along with Jews, gypsies, homosexuals, and other groups of people. The rebellious Rudi ends up fighting the Germans from a different front, while Josef is deported to Warsaw, eventually joined by Berta. There, Holocaust details the plight of the walled-in, so-called Warsaw ghetto, and the despair of the people within. Meanwhile, the destiny of another important character, a rather effete lawyer named Erik Dorf (Michael Moriarty), offers a peek into the internal workings of the Holocaust machinery. Dorf takes a much-needed job as an aide to Reinhard Heydrich (David Warner), Gestapo head and chair of the 1942 Wannsee Conference, which finalized plans for the extermination of European Jews. Holocaust was criticized at the time of its broadcast for allegedly cheapening genocide by shrinking the dimensions of the Nazis' organized evil for commercial television. But as a story free to extend into different aspects of the war on Jews, Holocaust is a real eye-opener. Tom Bell, Ian Holm, Robert Stephens, and Sam Wanamaker are also featured in the cast. --Tom Keogh
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Price: $49.99
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Sale: $29.99
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Brand: Paramount
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Number of Items: 6
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Description: Could it be that with Hawaii Five-O’s fourth season, a third of the way into its remarkable '60s-'70s run, the show has gotten... well, cool? Actually, there are signs throughout this six-disc set of 24 digitally-remastered episodes that point to yes. Let’s not get carried away here; Five-O is still basically as square as Tiananmen and Trafalgar, and as long as Steve McGarrett (portrayed, as ever, by Jack Lord) is in charge, its groove factor will never rival that of, say, CSI: Miami, or any other glossy new millennium cop drama. Indeed, the show’s corniness and utter lack of irony remain integral to its charm. But there are a few interesting developments in this ’71-’72 season. There’s a good complement of snappy dialogue (one particularly large perp is "so big he could go bear-hunting with chopsticks"). And although the pacing can be pretty stodgy, the editing is a bit more deft; many scenes flow more naturally, and in at least one instance ("I Want Some Candy, and a Gun that Shoots," wherein a sniper is picking off cops on a coastal highway), the entire episode is more exciting than the Five-0 norm. The direction and lighting are also more stylish, while the music (not just Morton Stevens' classic theme song but the incidental sounds as well) and location scenery, two elements that have always been among the series’ strong suits, are as good as ever; in fact, the islands look so lush and inviting that one wonders why the bad guys can even get motivated to commit their dirty deeds. But they do, of course, and McGarrett and his faithful team (James MacArthur as Danno, Kam Fong as Chin Ho, and, in what remains one of the great TV credits ever, "Zulu as Kono") are there to stop 'em. This time around they’re dealing with everything from a big money travelers check scam ("3,000 Crooked Miles to Honolulu," with Jed Clampett... er, Buddy Ebsen as a guest villain), eco-terrorism ("Is This Any Way to Run a Paradise"), political assassination ("Rest in Peace, Somebody"), and racism-rape ("Skinhead"), along with the usual murders and encounters with Red Chinese nemesis Wo Fat (Khigh Dhiegh). McGarrett is for the most part still as stiff as his hair, but Lord occasionally displays considerable passion, as when he breaks down in tears upon being informed that a nasty car accident did not leave him paralyzed (in "The 90-Second War," a two-parter). As always, bonus material is limited to brief, previous-week promos for each episode. --Sam Graham
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Price: $36.98
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Sale: $19.85
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Brand: Paramount
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Number of Items: 4
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Description: William Conrad became television's first plus-sized detective in this Quinn Martin production that ran for six seasons. His girth makes him the butt of snide comments. In the episode, "Salinas Jackpot," a good 'ol boy invites Cannon to shoot a game of pool. Referring to The Hustler, he says, "Ever since I seen that movie, I've always wanted to take on a champion fat man." In the pilot episode, a little boy bluntly asks him, "How'd you get that fat?" But the balding, pipe-smoking Cannon has a style all his own (check out his boating shorts in the episode, "A Lonely Place to Die."). Fleeing miscreants may be just as surprised as viewers at just how fleet he is on his feet in a chase. The pilot episode fleshes out Cannon's backstory: He is a former Los Angeles cop-turned-private insurance investigator. He is introduced in his swank apartment (that comes complete with personal firing range), but the rest of the episodes find him in outlying locations that are at odds with his bon vivant lifestyle. Though expensive and "the best," he does handle desperate personal cases, as in the pilot episode, in which his investigation of a Korean War buddy's death leads him to "a town that reeks of bad money." Cannon is nothing but intuitive. He tracks down the bar from which a threatening phone call was made by noting the sound of a phone booth ceiling fan's faulty bearing. His imposing size, gruff manner, and blunt talk do not win him many friends. "Go back where you came from" is a representative greeting from those who don't want to be bothered by "the fella with all the questions." Among the most compelling episodes include "Death Chain," in which a married man turns to Cannon when his mistress is murdered, and "Stone Cold Dead," in which he defends a Viet Nam veteran falsely accused of murder. Cannon has no sidekick or office staff to banter with, but Conrad deftly carries the show on his hefty shoulders. Guest stars of note include Vera Miles, Earl Holliman, Keenan Wynn, and John "Tigger" Fiedler in the pilot, Tom Skerritt as a killer disguised as a rodeo clown in "Jackpot," and a pre-Star Wars Mark Hamill as a farm boy in "Country Blues." While Cannon may not rank in the pantheon of TV detectives, it's good to have him back pounding the beat on DVD. --Donald Liebenson
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Price: $24.95
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Sale: $8.96
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Brand: A&E
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Manufacturer: A&E Home Video
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Number of Items: 1
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Description: Based on the case that captivated the country in the early '80s, the BILLIONAIRE BOYS CLUB tells the shocking true story of Joe Hunt, a charismatic financial whiz kid who refused to let anything or anyone stand in the way of his pursuit of immense wealth.Starring Judd Nelson (The Breakfast Club, St. Elmo's Fire) in one of the most compelling performances of his career as the brazen and ambitious Joe Hunt, and Ron Silver (Ali, The West Wing) as the con man who ultimately becomes his victim, the BILLIONAIRE BOYS CLUB is a thrilling expos‚ of an era of excess and what happens when the desire for cold, hard cash trumps all.
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Price: $9.99
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Sale: $2.33
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Brand: Universal
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Manufacturer: Universal Studios
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Number of Items: 1
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Description: This enjoyable nonsense stars James Garner as a career military man (and private owner of a Sherman tank) who ends up on the wrong side of a redneck sheriff (G.D. Spradlin) by interfering in a bullying deputy's treatment of a prostitute. The corrupt lawman gets his revenge by arresting Garner's teenage son (C. Thomas Howell) on a phony drug charge and locking him away on a brutal prison farm. After taking some lumps there, the poor kid's dad decides to haul out his prized tank and do a little rearranging of the terrain. While the plot sounds like some antiauthority potboiler from the early '70s and the characters are all stick figures, Garner's golden warmth gives this movie some nice dimension. Directed by Marvin J. Chomsky (Victory at Entebbe). --Tom Keogh
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Price: $19.95
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Sale: $3.71
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Brand: A&E
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Manufacturer: A&E Home Video
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Number of Items: 1
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Description: Russian history occurs on a sweeping scale, but that takes a bigger budget than A&E can muster. So instead the cable network keeps its treatment of Russian empress Catherine II indoors as much as possible. That allows the camera to linger over the impossibly lovely face of Catherine Zeta-Jones, and the plot to focus on the political machinations of 18th-century Russia. Catherine goes from a bookish teen bride (her husband is the crazy and possibly impotent nephew of Russia's Empress Elizabeth) to the legendary empress who successfully concluded the Seven Years' War with Prussia, conquered Turkey, and put down a rebellion led by a Cossack pretending to be her long-dead husband. The movie stumbles a bit when it ventures outdoors--it's hard to imagine Russia really conquered the Ottoman Turks with a 12-man army--but sizzles inside. Zeta-Jones conveys both passion and hard-edged ambition as her character transforms herself from manipulated to manipulator. Many of those manipulations occur in the bedroom, and the movie takes some liberties in portraying her union with military leader Grigory Potemkin (Paul McGann); here he's practically a saint, although history remembers him a bit less nobly. The supporting cast includes Jeanne Moreau in a masterful portrayal of Empress Elizabeth, along with Ian Richardson, Mel Ferrer, and Omar Sharif. Although there's plenty of scenery for them to chew, they hold back, allowing Zeta-Jones her 100 minutes of greatness. --Kimberly Heinrichs
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Price: $14.98
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Sale: $8.29
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Brand: ANASTASIA (DVD MOVIE)
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Manufacturer: Allumination
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Number of Items: 1
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Description: The story of the woman who insisted she was Anastasia, the youngest daughter of the last czar of Russia, is complicated. This 1986 telefilm makes it even more so because it's one of those "fact-based" dramas. Its most annoying invention is Anastasia's romance with a prince who never actually existed. Fiction aside, the first two-thirds of the 210-minute movie are dramatic and captivating. The Romanov family is imprisoned and executed, yet Anastasia reappears years later in Berlin in 1923; Amy Irving becomes the iron-willed yet fragile Anna who battles to be recognized by the remaining Romanovs. Gently paced and beautifully shot and staged, the film only starts to lose steam when Anna comes to New York to make her case in the American press. It takes a bunch of Americans, including Susan Lucci as a stateside Romanov relative, to make the tale seem common. Back in London, Olivia de Havilland is a treasure as the dowager empress who won't recognize Anastasia, although there is much evidence in her favor. The film is a great introduction to the mystery, despite its fiction-augmented recounting of history. After watching the movie, get the book it was largely based on, Anastasia: The Riddle of Anna Anderson by Peter Kurth, for a gripping read that just might make you believe in this princess. --Valerie J. Nelson
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Price: $59.98
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Sale: $59.90
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Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
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Number of Items: 3
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Description: From the moment the young Kunta Kinte (LeVar Burton) is stolen from his life and ancestral home in 18th-century Africa and brought under inhumane conditions to be auctioned as a slave in America, a line is begun that leads from this most shameful chapter in U.S. history to the 20th-century author Alex Haley, a Kinte descendant. The late Haley's acclaimed book Roots was adapted into this six-volume television miniseries, which was a widely watched phenomenon in 1977. The programs cover several generations in the antebellum South and end with the story of "Chicken" George, a freed slave played by Ben Vereen whose family feels the agony of entrenched racism and learns to fight it. Between the lives of Kunta and George, we meet a number of memorable characters, black and white, and learn much about the emotional and physical torments of slavery, from beatings and rapes to the forced separation of spouses and families. Nothing like this had ever confronted so many mainstream Americans when the series was originally broadcast, and the extent to which the country was nudged a degree or two toward enlightenment was instantly obvious. Roots still has that ability to open one's eyes, and engage an audience in a sweeping, memorable drama at the same time. --Tom Keogh
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Price: $9.98
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Sale: $24.95
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Brand: BCI ECLIPSE LLC
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Manufacturer: BCI / Eclipse
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Number of Items: 2
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Description: Hooker Cult Murders A series bizarre murders are taking place all over Montreal and the victims are all prostitutes! When one is thrown off the roof of a twenty-story building the police investigation eventually leads to a madman's satanic cult. Karen Black stars as a high priced call girl in this heart pounding thriller.Runtime: 100 minutes: Hustling Based on Gail Sheehy's book this film chronicles how a reporter for a New York City magazine decided to investigate the city's prostitution industry to find out just who was making all the money. What she found out caused a firestorm of controversy - that many of the city's richest and most powerful families and corporations benefited directly and indirectly from the illegal sex business!Runtime: 120 minutesMidnight Cop Take an eerie walk into a spine-chilling murder mystery that will keep you glued to your seat as you move through a violent underground of murderers blackmailers and thieves! The streets of Berlin can be very dangerous at night especially when there's a serial killer on the loose!Runtime: 95 minutesLittle Ladies of the Night The sister of ex-pimp and current Los Angeles Police detective Kyle York (David Soul) was murdered working the streets a few years ago. Since his reform he has teamed with Officer Russ Garfield (Louis Gossett Jr.) to clear the streets of underage girls working in prostitution. Pretty young runaway Hailey Atkins (Linda Purl) wants to go straight but has had great difficulty escaping her pimp and doesn't even have a place to go. York and Garfield go out on a limb to try and help.Runtime: 120 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE Rating: R UPC: 787364454792 Manufacturer No: 44547-9
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Displaying records 1 through 10 of 20
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