Grives, Steven

Danger UXB

Harrowing, funny, and immediately addictive, the 1979 British television series Danger UXB stars Anthony Andrews as Army Lieutenant Brian Ash, an engineering student whose excitement about his rapid commission as an officer during World War II is tempered by his unenviable post with a bomb disposal unit. Assigned to a fatality-heavy team that defuses unexploded German bombs scattered throughout London during the blitz, Ash faces down his terror and eventually becomes the closest thing to an expert one can be dismantling sometimes booby-trapped ordnance. In doing so, he earns the respect of his superiors as well as from the enlisted men working under him, and his protracted survival is nothing short of miraculous considering the tragic number of friends and colleagues Ash loses.

There is a dark side, however. The longer Ash sticks with his unit, the more obsessive he becomes about his responsibility to keep London safe. Meanwhile, his nerves grow frayed and his morale collapses. Ash's desperate romance with a married woman (Judy Geeson) provides him little to hold onto, and when a true crisis ambushes his spirit toward the end, one can't be sure if he's headed for the scrap heap of permanent casualties. Based on the recollections of an actual wartime bomb disposer, Danger UXB was created by John Hawkesworth, who later produced (and wrote many episodes for) the fantastic Sherlock Holmes TV series starring Jeremy Brett. Despite many tense moments in Danger UXB's 13 episodes--one is always expecting a bomb to blow away a favorite character--the show is also graced by great humor (Ash's crew sometimes bring to mind Sergeant Bilko's hustlers) and a warm, likable cast. Andrews himself, perhaps, has never been better. This boxed set includes a History Channel documentary, "Bomb Squad." --Tom Keogh

How do you live when your job can kill you--as well as everyone else around you? The year is 1940, and the blitzkrieg is in full force. A furious battle is being waged over British skies. On the ground, bombs explode by the thousands. The land is far from safe, as many more bombs lie amidst the rubble, waiting to detonate. Lieutenant Brian Ash and the brave men of the 97th Tunneling Company must accomplish their ongoing mission: to defuse all unexploded bombs (UXBs). These are the stories of their lives--unsung heroes and their wives, lovers, and families, all facing the pressures of one of the war's deadliest jobs. Brought to you by the awarding-winning producer of Upstairs, Downstairs, DANGER UXB features Anthony Andrews (Brideshead Revisited) and a stellar supporting cast. Based on actual war memoirs, all 13 compelling and intelligently written episodes of this series are now available on DVD for the first time. DVD Features: "Bomb Squad" Episode from THE HISTORY CHANNEL's award-winning series SUICIDE MISSIONS; Interactive Menus; Scene Selection

Scooby-Doo (Widescreen Edition)

Sometimes it takes a Scooby scramble to satisfy an entire family, and in the peace-to-all holiday spirit, that's what's on offer here. Winter WonderDog spans the Scooby generations. We scroll through a splattering of Scrappy, where the hotheaded little hound hooks up with Scoob and Shag for a few fits of mystery-free bad-guy nabbing, but the classic Mystery Machine players also pull up for several episodes. In "That's Snow Ghost" they meddle at a spooky ski lodge where a mechanical abominable snowman look-alike's on the loose, and "The Nutcracker Scoob's" lineup links the entire groovy gang minus Velma for an investigation into the ghost of Christmas present, who's spooking an orphanage. It's the snowcapped, red-and-green Scooby-snack wrapped, all-era caper-scraper that'll see Scooby fans of all stripes circling the tube. The sort of spirits it ushers in may not be standard issue, but the jinkies-generating snooping and sleuthing are. --Tammy La Gorce

Zoinks! Two years after a clash of egos forced Mystery Inc. to close it's doors, Scooby-Doo and his clever crime-solving cohorts Fred (FREDDIE PRINZE JR.), Daphne (SARAH MICHELLE GELLAR), Shaggy (MATTHEW LILLARD) and Velma (LINDA CARDELLINI) are individually summoned to Spooky Island to investigate a series of paranormal incidents at the ultra-hip Spring Break hot spot. Concerned that his frightfully popular resort might truly be haunted, Spooky Island owner Emile Mondavarious (ROWAN ATKINSON) tries to reunite those notoriously meddling detectives to solve the mystery before his supernatural secret scares away the college crowds. Scooby and the gang will have to overcome their personal differences and forget everything they think they know about fake ghouls and phony creatures to crack the case, save themselves and possibly...the world! Ruh-roh!

DVD Features:
Audio Commentary:Two commentaries by cast and filmmakers
DVD ROM Features:Over 7 interactive ROM challenges
Deleted Scenes:Over 10 minutes of never-before-seen footage
Documentaries:Behind the scenes documentary
Music Video:Pop music video "Land of A Million Drums"
Other:Two-player Spooky Island Arcade Challenge

Highlander 2 - Renegade Version (The Director's Cut)

Theatrically released in 1991 as Highlander II: The Quickening, this sequel was later reedited and gained a small but loyal following (prompting a spinoff TV series), but at the time of its release critic Roger Ebert called it "the most hilariously incomprehensible movie ... almost awesome in its badness." In other words, you might find some guilty pleasure in this chaotic sequel to 1986's Highlander, in which Christopher Lambert reprises his role as Connor MacLeod, a member of the alien race known as "Immortals," banished to Earth from his home planet Zeist some 500 years ago. In the year 1999, Lambert owns a corporation that has created a shield to protect the Earth following the depletion of the ozone layer. But the shield is seized by an evil cartel, and Virginia Madsen plays a scientist who assists MacLeod in his mission to destroy the cartel. Sean Connery also reprises his role from Highlander as the Scottish Immortal named Ramirez (?!), but by the time he starts engaging in dashing swordplay you may wonder if he's wandered in from another movie altogether. Highlander fans welcomed the laserdisc and DVD release of this "renegade" director's cut, which attempts to clarify the original version's confusing plot. --Jeff Shannon

Highlander 2

Theatrically released in 1991 as Highlander II: The Quickening, this sequel was later reedited and gained a small but loyal following (prompting a spinoff TV series), but at the time of its release critic Roger Ebert called it "the most hilariously incomprehensible movie ... almost awesome in its badness." In other words, you might find some guilty pleasure in this chaotic sequel to 1986's Highlander, in which Christopher Lambert reprises his role as Connor MacLeod, a member of the alien race known as "Immortals," banished to Earth from his home planet Zeist some 500 years ago. In the year 1999, Lambert owns a corporation that has created a shield to protect the Earth following the depletion of the ozone layer. But the shield is seized by an evil cartel, and Virginia Madsen plays a scientist who assists MacLeod in his mission to destroy the cartel. Sean Connery also reprises his role from Highlander as the Scottish Immortal named Ramirez (?!), but by the time he starts engaging in dashing swordplay you may wonder if he's wandered in from another movie altogether. Highlander fans welcomed the laserdisc and DVD release of this "renegade" director's cut, which attempts to clarify the original version's confusing plot. --Jeff Shannon

Scooby-Doo (Full Screen Edition)

Sometimes it takes a Scooby scramble to satisfy an entire family, and in the peace-to-all holiday spirit, that's what's on offer here. Winter WonderDog spans the Scooby generations. We scroll through a splattering of Scrappy, where the hotheaded little hound hooks up with Scoob and Shag for a few fits of mystery-free bad-guy nabbing, but the classic Mystery Machine players also pull up for several episodes. In "That's Snow Ghost" they meddle at a spooky ski lodge where a mechanical abominable snowman look-alike's on the loose, and "The Nutcracker Scoob's" lineup links the entire groovy gang minus Velma for an investigation into the ghost of Christmas present, who's spooking an orphanage. It's the snowcapped, red-and-green Scooby-snack wrapped, all-era caper-scraper that'll see Scooby fans of all stripes circling the tube. The sort of spirits it ushers in may not be standard issue, but the jinkies-generating snooping and sleuthing are. --Tammy La Gorce

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

The year is 1886 and New England's fishing harbor is the scene for a "creature of unknown origin" destroying all ships at sea. It is the job of a curious marine expert, Professor Pierre Aronnax (Patrick Dempsey from the hit TV show "Grey's Anatomy") and the iron-willed sailor, Ned Land (Bryan Brown) to learn the truth of the "monster" roaming the depths of the ocean. Their discovery begins when they encounter the reclusive Captain Nemo (Academy Award Winner Michael Caine) and learn of his surprising relationship with the terrorizing "creature" and all the other secrets lurking in the waters.

A Nightmare on Elm Street 5 - The Dream Child

In the fifth installment to this hit horror series, Freddy attempts to create an evil baby out of the souls of his victims.

DVD Features:
DVD ROM Features
Theatrical Trailer

Inseminoid (aka Horror Planet)

It's trouble in space, as a crew of astronauts brings a little something extra back on their bargain spaceship. One explorer goes mental and hijacks the tram inside a space mining facility, then another gets her foot caught and amputates it with a hedge trimmer. A third (Judy Geeson, looking like a poor man's Angie Dickinson) is impregnated by a big slimy-looking alien, and then the trouble really starts. She has the rest of her crewmates on the run as the gestating little monsters inside her command her to KILL KILL KILL, eventually smashing up the cheapo control room aboard the ship and generally causing trouble. The plot elements will ring familiar bells for sci-fi fans, dating back to Alien and even the moldy Fifties classic It! The Creature from Beyond Space, with an alien stowaway and paranoid, suspicious crew members aboard a claustrophobic spacecraft. The movie's cheesy look is unavoidable throughout, with sets about on a par with an episode of the original Star Trek. However, there's a rather high gore quotient, wonderfully hambone performances (Geeson has a shriek that rivals any '50s scream queen), and a fairly repulsive (and inexpensive) alien. Fans of B movie sci-fi should find that Inseminoid will deliver some fairly familiar goods in a pleasingly trashy package. --Jerry Renshaw

Tower of Evil: A nude crazed woman slaughters a sailor on an island, then is taken back to civilization. An expedition is mounted to explore the island, which leads to a series of psychosexual murders. Inseminoid: A horrorific alien life form is awakened, and it needs the bodies of those who disturbed it...so it can breed!! Horror Hospital: Doc Storm, a crippled demented genius, performs brain surgery on his patients, making them brainless zombies! Curse of the Voodoo: After killing a lion, a big game hunter finds himself cursed by some African lion worshippers. The hunter then must find the witchdoctor and kill him, as the only way to lift the curse.

Joey

A young boy's friendship with a playful baby kangaroo leads him on the ultimate adventure in this fun-filled story for all ages. 12-year-old Billy McGregor lives on a ranch in the wild, rugged Australian Outback with his mom and lots of great animal friends including a baby kangaroo named "Joey."But when Joey's parents are kidnapped by poachers, Billy and the little 'roo must board a train for the big city discovering tons of excitement and fun new friends along the way to attempt a daring rescue that has the entire nation cheering them on!

Sandbaggers Collection Set 3