Action - DVD

Oz - The Complete First Season

Amazon Price: $17.99 List Price: $39.98 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Warner Brothers - Model: HBOD99204D Amazon Marketplace: 129 new & used starting at $10.99

Buy at Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 122 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Such a wonderful show! 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I own and have watched every episode of OZ ranging from season 1-6. The story is compelling and very deep and of course for adult audiences only. I love how the characters unfold and progressively become more complex. This series portrays prison life as very brutal and unforgiving, but there is always a subtle reminder that these convicts are still humans with feelings and a heart. Season one starts off with a bang, and some of the annoyances are cleared up by season two. Save yourself the trouble and buy all the seasons when they are on sale through amazon. You won't regret it.

surprise season 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 2 people found this review helpful.

I had never seen this season and it came to me quickly and didn't disapoint.

Editorial Review:

Welcome to emerald city an experimental unit of the oswald maximum security prison or oz. Em city is about prisoner rehabilitation over public retribution. No matter how hardened a criminal or killer whether youre in for a few years of in for life you have a role to play. Studio: Hbo Home Video Release Date: 11/14/2006 Starring: Edie Falco Terry Kinney Run time: 480 minutes Rating: Nr

When Trumpets Fade

Amazon Price: $5.99 List Price: $9.98 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Hbo Home Video - Model: HBOD91480D Amazon Marketplace: 56 new & used starting at $2.95

Buy at Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 117 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Well Done 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I am always very happy to see something created that is well done. In the same caliber as Saving Private Ryan, this movie takes you too the decisions made by a reluctant participant who eventually has to deal with his overall responsibility to himself, his country, and his men. Well done, Bravo

When Trumpet Fade 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Not your standard war hero movie. Lots to think about, if you let yourself. Plenty of action, touched by fear and second guessing. I loved it.

well acted 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

When Trumpets fade is a well acted and well directed story that is sad in the loss of life that is now all but forgotten except for this film reminding us of the sacrifice. Up there with the best war films.

Editorial Review:

It is the fall of 1944 as the american army advances on germany. Attempting to secure a bridge flanked by enemy tanks death comes from all sides as shells rain on the men. In the midst of this madness four renegade soldiers share one desperate aim: to stay alive. Studio: Hbo Home Video Release Date: 08/30/2005 Starring: Ron Eldard Martin Donovan Run time: 92 minutes Rating: R Director: John Irvin

The Jack Bull

Amazon Price: $5.99 List Price: $9.98 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Hbo Home Video - Model: HBOD91574D Amazon Marketplace: 56 new & used starting at $3.49

Buy at Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 49 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

"Somebody steps on your rights, go after him. Never give up... never." 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 1 people found this review helpful.

The Jack Bull was presented on HBO in April, 1999. Why it never played on the big screen is a mystery to me. It certainly rivals any western to have come out of Hollywood in quite some time although without the graphic violence, sex and profanity. True, there are some scenes laced with profanity but these are few and far between. The violence is under-stated and restrained.

The film's title refers to the Jack Russell breed of terrier which is said to never let go once it latches on. Myrl Redding is like the Jack Russell in his tenacity. It is justice he wants and justice he will have, even if it means the loss of everything he holds dear.

His resolve will be sorely tested as he launches a very personal vendetta against rural Wyoming bully, Henry Ballard, masterfully played by L.Q. Jones.

The Jack Bull's plot is riveting and beautifully acted by the entire cast. Watch for an astonishing performance from Drake Bell. This star is a dead-ringer for a young John Cusack. I would not be surprised if he were a distant relative.

This reviewer was brought to tears during two key scenes in the film (once you watch it, you will know which I mean.) This is a rarity for a western. Interestingly, the screenplay for The Jack Bull was written by none other than Cusack family scion, Dick, who, in fact, had a different star in mind to play Myrl Redding, the horse trader. We can consider ourselves lucky that John won the role. He does his father and the film proud.

Editorial Review:

When wealthy henry ballard sets up a toll gate and takes two of myrl reddings horses in lieu of payment redding is enraged. But when those horses are starved and beaten almost to death he demands justice. So begins a personal feud that becomes a war a war that becomes a manhunt and a trial that will lead to justice Studio: Hbo Home Video Release Date: 02/08/2005 Starring: John Cusack John Goodman Run time: 116 minutes Rating: R Director: John Badham

Citizen X

Amazon Price: $5.99 List Price: $9.98 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Citizen - Model: HBOD91185D Amazon Marketplace: 56 new & used starting at $3.47

Buy at Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 82 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

police drama 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

this was a gift to my sister who had no luck in search for it. she was surprised and loves this dvd

Excellent true crime drama 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I rented Citizen X one evening when my local video shop hadn't anything else to offer. I was not expecting it to be very good, despite the casting of such heavyweight actors as Stephen Rea and Donald Sutherland. Sutherland is brilliant but erratic, while Rea is too often simply boring.

I was greatly surprised to find it brilliant. Rea's hangdog face and weary demeanour are perfect for the role of the hard-pressed forensic scientist Burakov (not a detective as sometimes stated, although he functioned like one on this case). Sutherland's feline turn as Rea's superior is one of the more subtle and fascinating pieces of acting he's done in the last few years - as Rea's character gets more and more stoical and unflappable, Sutherland's actually becomes less cynical and more hopeful as the film goes on. Max Von Sydow is wonderful as the psychiatrist whose crucial profile of the unknown killer becomes pivotal in the investigation. Some praise Joss Ackland as the bombastic and blinkered Party commissar who consistently refuses to accept that there is a serial killer at work, but I thought it was pretty much the same performance Ackland always does whenever he's playing a pompous and low-grade-evil functionary.

The real acting honours, in my opinion, go to Jeffrey DeMunn for his remarkable incarnation of Andrei Chikatilo. Blinking, stooped, bespectacled, mumbling in his rumpled raincoat, he's a harmless and dowdy shadow of a man who as soon as he's rendered his prey helpless becomes a slavering, wild-eyed, terrifying beast - and yet you can't help feeling weirdly sorry for him. Even when Chikatilo is on trial, it's almost as though he doesn't really understand why what he did was so wrong, and why people seem to hate him so much. The final line of the movie - 'Please don't turn around' - is one of the most chilling moments I've ever seen in cinema.

This film puts most American-set serial killer movies to shame. Understated, low on cheap suspense (no heavy breathing and stalking and handheld camera) and yet intensely dramatic, it's totally compelling. It incidentally demonstrates that the collapse of the Soviet Union was not, as Vladimir Putin has called it, 'the largest geopolitical catastrophe of the century'. It had to happen, if only because once you declare that your country is a place where serial killers can't possibly exist, you create the conditions for a Chikatilo to act out his obsessions without anyone having the will or the resources to stop him.

Editorial Review:

Based on the true story of the hunt for the most savage and elusive serial killer on record. 8 years 52 victims 1 killer. Studio: Hbo Home Video Release Date: 06/01/2004 Starring: Stephen Rea Joss Ackland Run time: 102 minutes Rating: R Director: Chris Gerolmo

The Tracker

Amazon Price: $5.99 List Price: $9.98 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Tracker - Model: HBOD90158D Amazon Marketplace: 39 new & used starting at $3.11

Buy at Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Formulaic HBO entry 3 out of 5 stars.
18 of 29 people found this review helpful.

Plot, drama, suspense, character development -- this western has them all, to reasonable measure. It seems awfully like other HBO movies I have seen. If you like westerns, this may be a candidate for an evening's entertainment. If you like exceptional westerns, try "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance", "A Big Hand for the Little Lady", "El Mariachi", "Stagecoach" or the Clint Eastwood spaghetti westerns.

Good morality tale 4 out of 5 stars.
15 of 15 people found this review helpful.

Westerns seem uniquely well suited for the presentation of (near) epic morality tales. Even when made for television they lend themselves to the Big Issues. Beautifully filmed in New Mexico, THE TRACKER is a 1988 HBO production that touches on the stuff with deep roots - need and obligation, trust and home. Mostly, though, it about vengeance and the fine line between the Good and the Bad.

The Bad is ably portrayed by Scott Wilson, who's probably best remembered as Robert Blake's killing-spree partner in In Cold Blood. Wilson plays fervent Danite and general sicko Jack `Red Jack' Stillwell. The legendary Danites, as the movie explains, were a perverted branch of Mormons who cleansed the Earth by indiscriminate murder. When Red Jack and gang invade New Mexico Federal Marshal Lane Crawford (David Huddleston) is called on to track them down, dead or alive. But Crawford isn't as young as he used to be, and he needs help. He calls on old friend and renowned tracker Noble Adams (Kris Kristofferson - `even the Apaches were afraid of Adams.') Although inwardly reluctant, Adams agrees to track down the bad guys. Even more reluctant is he to allow his half-son Tom (Mark Moses) to tag along, but the young man is set on it. And so it is three hunting six - four bad guys and two female hostages.

Although Kristofferson sometimes comes across a little detached he doesn't do anything here to embarrass Kevin Jarre's smart script or John Guillermin's taut direction. Noble Adams is more complex than Kristofferson plays him. He's a reluctant avenger, a brutal killer when the situation demands it, a man who sends his son off to college and learns that his return home may not be permanent. It's the type of character western fans like to cheer for, one that's best developed by an actor who can play all the angles. We cheer for Adams, alright, but we're a lot more interested when Wilson's Red Jack is on the screen. All that doesn't make THE TRACKER any less a very good western, nor one that I wouldn't hesitate to heartily endorse.

Editorial Review:

Legendary tracker and indian fighter noble adams is coaxed out of retirement to hunt down crazed killer and self-appointed avenging angel red jack stilwell. He and his gang are terrorizing the country on a vicious rampage leaving adams no choice but to take up his gun and hunt them down. Studio: Hbo Home Video Release Date: 02/08/2005 Starring: Kris Kristofferson Mark Moses Run time: 102 minutes Rating: R Director: John Guillermin

A Bright Shining Lie

Amazon Price: $5.99 List Price: $9.98 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Hbo Home Video - Model: HBOD91220D Amazon Marketplace: 76 new & used starting at $2.00

Buy at Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 30 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

A Bright Shining Lie 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 2 people found this review helpful.

This was a wonderful movie that told all about Vietnam and the horrors of war. Recommend for PG13

what went wrong? 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Bill Paxton is the anchor column of this lean HBO film, but the best acting comes courtesy of Donal Logue as the reporter whom Paxon's Lt. Colonel John Paul Vann befriends early on and Ed Lauter as General Weyand. There is some very stiff work from other members of the cast, but the film succeeds on the strength of the drama it portrays.

The story of what went wrong for the US operation in Vietnam is still amenable to two or three widely differing explanations, each of which has deep plausibility. LIE portrays Paxton's character understanding the nationalist nature of the communist insurrection early on when he was posted to Viet Nam as one of the United States' first military advisors there. Gradually, however, he becomes lulled into the failed ambition to solve 'Vietnam's problem' by military means as he rises to the opportunity to become 'America's warrior' over against North Vietnam's brilliant General Giap.

In spite of some contrived work, the realism of the film's subject matter is underscored by the use of some remarkable footage from the era, including tape from the astonishing Tet Offensive in 1968. Although this Viet Cong vie for the cities during the lull of the Vietnam New Year celebration was for them a military failure, it shook whatever American confidence in the enterprise remained at that date and brought high American casualty counts and images of brutal urban warfare into American living rooms.

BRIGHT SHINING LIE is a vital film for those of us who still want to understand the American failure in Vietnam, the origins of the conflict, and how best to assure that future military interventions begin with and are sustained by a comprehension of the facts on the ground and just how malleable they may or may not be.

Editorial Review:

One mans story through a decade of war villages taken and lost lovers taken and lost the truth corrupted lives destroyed and saved. This is the story of a man transformed as brutally as the war transformed two nations. Studio: Hbo Home Video Release Date: 08/30/2005 Starring: Bill Paxton Vivian Wu Run time: 119 minutes Rating: R Director: Terry George

First Time Felon

Amazon Price: $5.99 List Price: $9.98 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Hbo Home Video - Model: HBOD91465D Amazon Marketplace: 81 new & used starting at $1.73

Buy at Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 15 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Excellent Movie... You wont be sorry that you spent time watching it. 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

This is a type of movie someone usually looks at on the shelf and then passes it up for something else because they've never heard of it and it isnt one of those highly advertised block busters. If you fall in that category and cant make up your mind about spending a little money and time on this movie... stop thinking and go for it! You wont be sorry. This is a VERY good movie especially if you like heart warming and inspirational themes.

Basically, this movie is about a young adult(Age between 17 and 21) that gets into trouble for selling drugs. He is given the choice of going to jail for five years or going to a military style boot camp for I think three months.... Of course he chooses the bootcamp. The movie shows a great example of how behavioral bootcamps are ran. The bootcamp part of the movie takes up only half of the play time though. The other half shows the struggles of how hard it is to go back to the same problematic environment and use what was learned and how easily it is to fall back into old behaviors due to poverty and lack of opportunity due to being a felon. For example, it shows how hard it is to get a "second chance" in the job market being a ex-convict.

I agree with the past posters that this movie would be great to show in an educational setting especially college.... maybe even a high school psychology/sociology class. With that said dont take that as this movie being like a documentary... its not. With out a doubt this can be watched for just pure entertainment.

So give this a try if you can't make up your mind. Again you wont be sorry.

Editorial Review:

Faced with five years in prison or four months in boot camp greg yance a young gangster from chicagos west side takes what he thinks will be the easy road. The brutal marine-style discipline will teach him lessons that will change his life but can he resist the temptation of the easy money when he gets out. Studio: Hbo Home Video Release Date: 08/30/2005 Starring: Omar Epps William Forsythe Run time: 106 minutes Rating: R

El Diablo

Amazon Price: $5.99 List Price: $9.98 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Hbo Home Video - Model: HBOD90435D Amazon Marketplace: 53 new & used starting at $2.25

Buy at Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Great movie - bad reproduction 1 out of 5 stars.
4 of 9 people found this review helpful.

This is one of my favorite movies ... I love it! BUT, I returned the DVD after finding out that it is not made in Widescreen or Dolby Digital. I know .. I should have looked first, but I assumed.:( Why does anyone even bother to make a DVD in Full Screen - HiFi? A tape is almost as good. This movie, and dozens more that I know of, deserve much more.

Thoroughly Enjoyable Fun 4 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

I began watching this movie because there was simply nothing else on, and I like Lou Gossett Jr & Anthony Edwards. About 15 minutes into the film, I was hooked and really enjoying the ride. This is a very clever, witty, and funny screenplay, full of jokes both subtle and not, and it has a score that is nearly flawless, accentuating both action and comedy. There are a lot of laugh-out-loud moments, and some truly unique comedic situations. In many respects, the whole film reminded me of "The Frisco Kid" with Harrison Ford and Gene Wilder, another of my favorite Western comedies.

Anthony Edwards (Billy Ray Smith) plays a tenderfoot schoolteacher prone to falling off and accidentally shooting horses. One of his students is kidnapped by the stunningly attractive El Diablo ("Star Trek: Voyager's" Robert Beltran,) and Edwards sets out to find the girl and bring her home. His misadventures with a band of misfit outlaws brings a lot of laughs and even some tender moments.

With only minor bad language and some blood here and there, this is a movie the whole family can enjoy. I highly recommend it, and plan to watch it again and again.

Editorial Review:

A school teacher in a small texas town dreams of being a western hero. But his dreams become a hilarious nightmare when the legendary outlaw el diablo rides into town. Studio: Hbo Home Video Release Date: 02/08/2005 Starring: Anthony Edwards Louis Gossett Jr. Run time: 108 minutes Rating: Pg13 Director: Peter Markle

Don King - Only in America

Amazon Price: $13.49 List Price: $14.98 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Warner Brothers - Model: HBOD91469D Amazon Marketplace: 47 new & used starting at $5.18

Buy at Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 12 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Ving Rhames was wonderful as Don King 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 3 people found this review helpful.

The only things I knew about Don King was that he's a fight promoter and that wild hair he has. I like fight movies even if I don't like the reality of it. Weird huh? Ving Rhames was wonderful as Don King. I can understand why he won a Golden Globe award (which he gave to Jack Lemmon). Don King wouldn't have been so gracious. He was arrogant, mean (he killed a guy, beat him to death), racist (but a reason comes up in the film) and generally unlikeable. But Ving made him three dimensional in such a way that I admired King. He's smart and savvy (even if he does butcher the English language). He has a lot of spunk and drive. If he could have been honest with himself and others, no telling what he could have accomplished.

This movie has great moments. My favorite was when he was selling the idea of helping him get Mohammad Ali to participate in a fundraiser for a Black hospital. He was caught by a preacher and his wife using the MF bomb. So he turned that around in such a way that was hilarious.

Editorial Review:

From running numbers to the rumble in the jungle from ali to tyson don king wouldnt always fight clean he wouldnt always fight fair but he would always fight to win. Studio: Hbo Home Video Release Date: 06/01/2004 Starring: Ving Rhames Jeremy Piven Run time: 112 minutes Rating: R Director: John Herzfeld

Blind Justice

Amazon Price: $5.99 List Price: $9.98 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Hbo Home Video - Model: HBOD90984D Amazon Marketplace: 56 new & used starting at $2.03

Buy at Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Richard Spence's Blind Justice 4 out of 5 stars.
6 of 6 people found this review helpful.

Although derivative of many Oriental films, this short little western still packs a punch.

Assante is a nearly blind gunfighter traveling with a baby. He is looking for the baby's mother, asking everyone he finds about the town she is supposed to be in. He stops in one town where a group of soldiers is guarding a shipment of silver, which is being eyed by the local banditos. The soldiers, trapped, send Assante out for help. All hell breaks loose.

Assante is very good as the embittered gunfighter (and often very funny). His blindness never becomes gimmicky, although one has to wonder how he can ride a horse. He uses his hearing and sense of smell to shoot, how does he know in which direction the horse is going? Adam Baldwin, as the soldier's sergeant, is great, as he distances himself even further from the Baldwin brothers (no, he is not one of them, he can act). Robert Davi has his best role since "Licence to Kill" as the main villain. The one cast liability here is Oscar nominee Elisabeth Shue.

Shue delivers all of her lines in a flat monotonal vaguely-Valley Girl accent. She should be banned from doing any period films ever again. She has one embarassing nude scene, if you can call it that. At one point, she is sitting on a bed in her corset, and you can see part of her nipple mashed up out of her undergarment. It does not look erotic, it looks painful. Assante and Shue's forced romance is also the weakest part of the script.

One scene to watch for is in the climax as a major character is blown through the doors of a building. I rewound that three times just to bask in an action shot I had never seen before.

This feels like the first film of a proposed series that never came to fruition, and with an 85 minute running time, you have to wonder what they cut out. However, I do recommend "Blind Justice."

This is rated (R) for physical violence, strong gun violence, some sexual violence, some gore, profanity, very brief female nudity, and some adult situations.

Editorial Review:

Canaan is a roving gunfighter blinded during the civil war. Attacked by mexican bandits he finds shelter in a small town to disciver that the town is held hostage by his attackers who are after a stash of government silver. He offers to slip past the bandits and alert the calvalry for 10% of the silver. Studio: Hbo Home Video Release Date: 02/08/2005 Starring: Armand Assante Elisabeth Shue Run time: 85 minutes Rating: R Director: Richard Spence