Masada - The Complete Epic Mini-Series
by Boris Sagal
from Koch Vision
This 1981 television miniseries, based on Ernest K. Gann's historical novel The Antagonists, is a dramatization of a documented revolt by nearly a thousand Jerusalem Jews against Roman oppressors in A.D. 72 to 73. Following a city-wide siege by Rome's soldiers, Jewish Zealots move into a fortress in the mountains of Masada, from which they present a defense strong enough to convince the enemy to negotiate. Peter O'Toole, in all his golden dignity, plays Cornelius Flavius Silva, commander of the Roman legions, and Peter Strauss is Zealot leader Eleazar ben Yair. Both are outstanding as representatives from each side trying, in good faith, to find a way out of the deadlocked situation. Unfortunately, neither realizes that Rome has no intention of yielding, resulting in one of the greatest tragedies in Jewish history. A strong cast of character actors--David Warner, Barbara Carrera, Timothy West, and Anthony Quayle--is rewardingly watchable, the action and sets are persuasive without overwhelming the story's human dimension, and direction by Boris Sagal (The Omega Man) is crisp and enthralling. This was a pleasure to watch when it was first broadcast, and it holds up very well today. --Tom Keogh
"A victory? What have we won?" laments a breathtaking Peter O'Toole as the Roman warrior Flavius Silva. "We've won a rock in the middle of a wasteland, on the shores of a poisoned sea." Thus does Masada, the epic 1981 miniseries about a horrific battle in ancient Palestine, echo the terrible toll of war in general, and of the brutal conflicts in today's Middle East in particular. Masada, from the golden age of miniseries (Roots, Shogun), is a transportive viewing event--shot on location, and apparently no expense spared.
The film retells (with some dramatic license) the true story of an uprising in Palestine of a ragtag band of Jews, in a fortress called Masada, who refuse to surrender to the governing Romans. O'Toole, as Flavius Silva, is the brilliant commander who, over the course of several years of trying, and failing, to breach Masada, comes to regard the leader of his foes, Eleazar ben Yair (the charismatic Peter Strauss), with a certain amount of respect and awe. If left to Flavius, he might have simply leave the holdout fortress and return to the Italy he so longs for; but the Roman emperor demands victory--at any cost.
The performances are uniformly crisp and believable; the direction by Boris Sagal, economical; the screenplay, sharp and incisive. David Warner, who won an Emmy for his performance, plays the brutal Roman henchman Falco with seething determination. The location shooting is nothing short of spectacular. There is sorrow in the story of Masada, but an uplifting message in the ability of true believers to create their own destiny. --A.T. Hurley
An epic true story of Jews fleeing Roman destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. Pursued to a mountain stronghold of the Herods they face lives enslaved or suicide. This is the full-length television miniseries.System Requirements:Running Time: 394 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating: NR UPC: 741952648291 Manufacturer No: KOC-DV6482
Lawrence of Arabia (Single Disc Edition)
from Columbia Pictures
There's no getting around a simple, basic truth: watching Lawrence of Arabia in any home-video format represents a compromise. There's no better way to appreciate this epic biographical adventure than to see it projected in 70 millimeter onto a huge theater screen. That caveat aside, David Lean's masterful "desert classic" is still enjoyable on the small screen, especially if viewed in widescreen format. (If your only option is to view a "pan & scan" version, it's best not to bother; this is a film for which the widescreen format is utterly mandatory.) Peter O'Toole gives a star-making performance as T.E. Lawrence, the eccentric British officer who united the desert tribes of Arabia against the Turks during World War I. Lean orchestrates sweeping battle sequences and breathtaking action, but the film is really about the adventures and trials that transform Lawrence into a legendary man of the desert. Lean traces this transformation on a vast canvas of awesome physicality; no other movie has captured the expanse of the desert with such scope and grandeur. Equally important is the psychology of Lawrence, who remains an enigma even as we grasp his identification with the desert. Perhaps the greatest triumph of this landmark film is that Lean has conveyed the romance, danger, and allure of the desert with such physical and emotional power. It's a film about a man who leads one life but is irresistibly drawn to another, where his greatness and mystery are allowed to flourish in equal measure. --Jeff Shannon
The Guns of Navarone (Special Edition)
by J. Lee Thompson
from Sony Pictures
This rousing, explosive 1961 WWII adventure, based on Alistair MacLean's thrilling novel, turns the war thriller into a deadly caper film. Gregory Peck heads a star-studded cast charged with a near impossible mission: destroy a pair of German guns nestled in a protective cave on the strategic Mediterranean island of Navarone, from where they can control a vital sea passage. As world famous mountain climber turned British army Captain Mallory, Peck leads a guerrilla force composed of the humanistic explosives expert, Miller (David Niven), the ruthless Greek patriot with a grudge, Stavros (Anthony Quinn), veteran special forces soldier Brown (Stanley Baker), and the cool, quiet young marksman Pappadimos (James Darren). This disparate collection of classic types must overcome internal conflicts, enemy attacks, betrayal, and capture to complete their mission. Director J. Lee Thompson sets a driving pace for this exciting (if familiar) military operation, a succession of close calls, pitched battles, and last-minute escapes as our heroes infiltrate the garrisoned town with the help of resistance leader Maria (Irene Papas) and plot their entry into the heavily guarded mountain fort. Carl Foreman's screenplay embraces MacLean's role call of clichés and delivers them with style, creating one of the liveliest mixes of espionage, combat, and good old-fashioned military derring-do put on film. In 1978, the sequel Force 10 from Navarone was released, but MacLean fans will prefer to check out the action-packed thriller Where Eagles Dare. --Sean Axmaker
Stills from The Guns of Navarone(click for larger image)
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Beyond The Guns of Navarone at Amazon.com
 More Military & War Films |  More Gregory Peck Films |  More Classic Films |
Lawrence of Arabia (Collector's Edition, 2 discs) - DVD
by David Lean
from Columbia Tri/Star
There's no getting around a simple, basic truth: watching Lawrence of Arabia in any home-video format represents a compromise. There's no better way to appreciate this epic biographical adventure than to see it projected in 70 millimeter onto a huge theater screen. That caveat aside, David Lean's masterful "desert classic" is still enjoyable on the small screen, especially if viewed in widescreen format. (If your only option is to view a "pan & scan" version, it's best not to bother; this is a film for which the widescreen format is utterly mandatory.) Peter O'Toole gives a star-making performance as T.E. Lawrence, the eccentric British officer who united the desert tribes of Arabia against the Turks during World War I. Lean orchestrates sweeping battle sequences and breathtaking action, but the film is really about the adventures and trials that transform Lawrence into a legendary man of the desert. Lean traces this transformation on a vast canvas of awesome physicality; no other movie has captured the expanse of the desert with such scope and grandeur. Equally important is the psychology of Lawrence, who remains an enigma even as we grasp his identification with the desert. Perhaps the greatest triumph of this landmark film is that Lean has conveyed the romance, danger, and allure of the desert with such physical and emotional power. It's a film about a man who leads one life but is irresistibly drawn to another, where his greatness and mystery are allowed to flourish in equal measure. --Jeff Shannon
Stills from Lawrence of Arabia (click for larger image)
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Beyond Lawrence of Arabia
 David Lean Collection |  Audio CD Soundtrack |  Gandhi |
David Lean's splendid biography of the enigmatic T. E. Lawrence paints a complex portrait of the desert-loving Englishman who united Arab tribes in a battle against the Ottoman Turks during World War I.System Requirements:Running Time: 226 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE/CLASSICS Rating: PG UPC: 043396256224 Manufacturer No: 25622
The Eagle Has Landed
by John Sturges
from Lions Gate
This 1976 adventure story set in World War II concerns a Nazi plot to kidnap Churchill from his retreat--or murder him if need be. The large, great cast and a director, John Sturges, who's been down this road of ensemble action before (The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape) make this project exciting if not as memorable as Sturges's more famous works. The weak ending doesn't help. -- Tom Keogh
In November 1943 Heinrich Himmler (Donald Pleasance) received a simple message "The Eagle Has Landed." It meant that a crack force of German paratroopers were safely in England poised and ready to kidnap the Prime Minister of England Winston Churchill. The force is under the command of Colonel Kurt Steiner (Michael Caine). All goes smoothly as the German force disguised in Polish uniforms is accepted by the villagers. But one of the men is killed while rescuing a little girl and his German uniform is discovered. The entire village has to be taken hostage and hidden in the town church.Agents and counteragents work desperately to keep the scheme alive. Steiner himself takes a dangerous gamble. He overpowers an American ranger commandeers his jeep and uniform and drives to the mansion where Churchill is relaxing.System Requirements:Starring Michael Caine Robert Duvall Donald Sutherland Directed by John Sturges Running time: 131 minutes Copyright Artisan Entertainment 2003Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE Rating: PG UPC: 012236115915 Manufacturer No: 11591
Murder by Decree
by Bob Clark (III)
from Starz / Anchor Bay
Murder by Decree has the distinction of being not only one of the best Sherlock Holmes films, but one of the best pastiches (i.e., a Holmes fiction created by someone other than author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle) featuring the late-Victorian Era detective. Christopher Plummer is very good as Holmes, and James Mason redeems the many mishandled screen portrayals of Dr. John Watson with a rare, insightful performance. The story may not be unique in post-Doyle Holmes adventures--the private investigator pursues Jack the Ripper during the latter's reign of monstrous murders in foggy London--but the script by John Hopkins (Thunderball) is keenly intelligent, developing concentric circles of power and evil with great subtlety. Before losing himself in Porky's, director Bob Clark did a masterful job of surprising audiences with Murder by Decree, convincing viewers they were watching one kind of drama but then unleashing something very different, very unsettling. --Tom Keogh
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex But Were Afraid to Ask
from MGM (Video & DVD)
A collection of vignettes, loosely based on the book by Dr. David Rueben, written and directed by Woody Allen, Everything contains some very funny moments. It's easy to forget that the cerebral Allen excelled at the type of broad, Catskill, dirty jokes and visual gags that run amok here. It's also remarkable how dirty this 1972 movie really was--bestiality, exposure, perversion, and S&M get their moments to shine. The Woody Allen here, who appears in many of the sketches, is a portent of the seedy old Allen of Deconstructing Harry. Although the final bit, which takes place inside a man's body during a very hot date, is hilarious, most of Everything feels like the screen adaptation of a '70s bathroom joke book. Still, a must for Allen fans. --Keith Simanton
Woody Allen pushes the frontiers of comedy by consolidating his madcap sensibility and wickedly funny irreverence with his developing penchant for visually arresting humor. Giving complete indulgenceto the zany eccentricity of his medium, Allen reveals himself as a filmmaker of "wit, sophistication, and comic insight" (Cue). Allen rises to the occasion with several hysterical vignettes that probe sexuality's stickiest issues! Aphrodisiacs prove effective for a court jester (Allen) who finds the key to the Queen's (Lynn Redgrave) heartbut learns that the key to her chastitybelt might be more useful. Unnatural acts get wild and wooly when a good doctor (Gene Wilder) fallsfor a fickle sheep. Jack Barry gives fetishism 20 questions on a wacky TV show called "What's My Perversion?" Sex-research goes under the microscope when a mad scientist (John Carradine) unleashes a monstrous, marauding breast. And the absurdity comes to a frenzied climax with Tony Randall, Burt Reynolds and Allen as sperm having second thoughts about ejaculation!
The Bourne Identity (TV Miniseries)
by Roger Young
from Warner Home Video
He goes by the name of Jason Bourne. Shot and left for dead he is rescued from the sea not knowing who he really is... nor why he is so good at killing with cold-blooded proficiency. Attempting to overcome both the killers who continue to hunt him and the obstacle of his own amnesia Bourne is determined to uncover his own mysterious past.Running Time: 185 min.System Requirements:Running Time 185 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE/THRILLERS Rating: NR UPC: 085392356522
Though not as briskly exciting as the 2002 theatrical release, this earlier TV adaptation of Robert Ludlum's bestseller has distinct advantages over its big-screen counterpart. It's far more loyal to Ludlum's serpentine plot, boasts greater latitude of geography and character development (allowing Richard Chamberlain's fine performance in the title role), and rises above TV limitations to achieve a big-budget look and feel. Suffering from amnesia and forced to piece together his past as a world-class assassin, Jason Bourne (Chamberlain) enlists the aid of a Canadian economist (Jaclyn Smith), and this pairing of '80s miniseries mainstays remains consistently intelligent, well paced, and altogether respectable. Chamberlain and Smith have adequate chemistry (albeit somewhat shallow), and their dangerous adventure--and eventual romance--is played out against a dozen European locations. Incorporating more of Ludlum's interwoven subplots, this ambitious Bourne is a globetrotter's delight, with a spy-thriller identity all its own. --Jeff Shannon
Hamlet - Criterion Collection
by Laurence Olivier
from Criterion
In the opening scene of Hamlet (1948), Laurence Olivier's voice-over describes the play as "the tragedy of a man who couldn't make up his mind." But Olivier's screen adaptation is considerably more thoughtful and complex than this thesis would suggest. Drawing on his experience playing the prince on stage at Elsinore in 1937, the legendary thespian provides the film with the patina of greatness and shows how the constitution of the formerly cheerful prince weakens increasingly under the burden of his own thoughts and inability to accept his mother's hasty marriage to uncle Claudius (Basil Sydney). As Ophelia, Jean Simmons captures the character's early spirit better than her gradual disintegration. Purists may bemoan the loss of Fortinbras, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern, but these choices allow Olivier to focus more squarely on Hamlet's plight. The winner of four Oscars® (Best Picture, Actor, Art Direction, and Costumes), this is a Hamlet for the ages. The rest is silence. --Kevin Mulhall
The Six Wives of Henry VIII
by John Glenister
from BBC Warner
A British television series originally broadcast on CBS (and rebroadcast on PBS) in America in 1971, The Six Wives of Henry VIII remains a painless way to learn something about royal history and its impact on the political and religious landscape of England. Keith Michell stars as King Henry VIII, who assumes the throne as a boy after the death of his older brother and inherits the latter's Spanish betrothed, Catherine of Aragon (Annette Crosbie), as well. Growing up and increasingly complicated in personality, with an ever-growing appetite for elusive happiness as well as power and food, Henry maneuvers (and is maneuvered by) forces around him to break from Rome and create the Church of England, in part to accommodate his wish for a divorce.
Each story of the king's successive brides takes up an entire episode in the series. Dorothy Tutin plays the doomed Anne Boleyn, Anne Stallybrass is Henry's favorite, Jane Seymour, Elvi Hale is Anne of Cleves, Angela Pleasence is Catherine Howard, and Rosalie Crutchley plays last-in-line Catherine Parr. A very large and fine supporting cast adds intrigue and extra layers of tragedy to the proceedings, especially John Baskcomb as Cardinal Wolsey, Wolfe Morris as Thomas Cromwell, and Ralph Bates as Thomas Culpepper. Each 90-minute episode was crafted by a different writer, but the series holds together very well under Keith Michell's dazzling performance as the despicable if sympathetic Henry, whose emotional arc over many years and losses is something to see. --Tom Keogh
A chronicle of England's turbulent years of the early 16th century recounting the life and times of the vibrant and lusty King Henry VIII in a cycle of six plays. Stars Keith Michell in his Emmy Award-winning performance as Henry VIII and features a 90-minute "bonus drama" The Other Boleyn Girl based on the popular Philippa Gregory novel.Running Time: 630 min.System Requirements:Running Time 90 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: NR UPC: 794051245427 Manufacturer No: E2454
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