Tate, Nick

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

Space 1999 - 30th Anniversary Edition Megaset (17DVD)

The year is 44 B.C. Julius Caesar has been assassinated and civil war threatens to destroy the Republic. In the void left by Caesar's demise egos clash and numerous players jockey for position. The brutally ambitious Mark Antony attempts to solidify his power aligning himself with Atia but coming to blows with her cunning son Octavian who has been anointed in Caesar's will as his only son and heir. Meanwhile Titus Pullo attempts to pull his friend Lucius Vorenus out of the darkness that has engulfed his soul in the wake of personal tragedy. For once again the fates of these two mismatched soldiers seem inexorably tied to the fate of Rome itself. Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating: NR UPC: 733961773378 Manufacturer No: AAE-77337

When it was first broadcast in 1975, there had never been a more lavishly produced science fiction TV series than Space: 1999, a British production whose budget for the first of its two seasons ran an astounding £3.25 million. What keeps us fans enthralled after all these years has only partly to due with the first-rate production values, the plausibly constructed spaceship models, and expert special effects. The tone of the show is one of scientific dispassion, setting it apart from its TV sci-fi predecessors such as Star Trek, whose mood was more convivial. Our heroes here are in dire circumstances that require cool heads as a survival trait. Those circumstances: the 311 crew members of Moonbase Alpha experience a cataclysm that causes the moon to break away from Earth's orbit and travel endlessly through space, turning our heroes into unintentional explorers. No TV series has created a more palpable feel of hard science fiction than this.

Of course the show is not without its detractors; it has been soundly lambasted for its many scientific errors. No less august a figure than Isaac Asimov criticized the show for its premise in the opening episode, "Breakaway," which had nuclear explosions on the "dark side of the moon" somehow propelling it out of Earth's orbit and flying through space without regard to any physical laws. In "Earthbound," aliens traveling to Earth state it will take them 75 years to reach their destination, making one wonder why it didn't take the moon that long to encounter the aliens. While these are serious complaints, fans tend to remember the scientific seriousness of the series and the sense of awe created by the many strange creatures and phenomena that the crew members encounter on their journey through the galaxy.

The Space: 1999 30th Anniversary Mega Set collects all 48 episodes broadcast over the show's two seasons, contained on 17 DVDs that include vintage interviews, production stills, TV promotional spots, and interactive menus, and some material that was not seen in the original U.S. broadcasts has been restored. The episodes do not use the 2005 high-def remasters, so this is essentially the same as the 2002 Mega Set, but at a fraction of the shelf space (the Thinpak packaging is nicely compact) and a fraction of the price. --Jim Gay

Bed of Roses

"Bed of Nails" would have been a better title for this romance, an excruciating exercise that brings out all the worst in the genre. Christian Slater's performance is the high point of this flick, but his character is so obvious that even his subtle skills ultimately makes little difference. Slater plays Lewis, a florist who looks up one night during one of his habitual nocturnal walks and spies Mary Stuart Masterson weeping in a window. The next day he follows her to work and delivers a gorgeous arrangement of posies, leaving her guessing as to the identity of her secret admirer. We must wonder why Lewis pursues her with abandon, as Masterson's character Lisa seems nothing but a dull workaholic. Well, okay, she's also neurotic. First-time director-writer Michael Goldenberg's lopsided script lets us see the psychic damage harbored by both of the main characters, but doesn't make Lisa interesting enough to warrant all the attention heaped upon her, whereas Lewis is a model of perfection. Goldenberg often slips and slides over many details in the story. Since the dialogue is not particularly witty or meaningful, and the plot has pretty much withered by the second reel, there isn't much left on the screen to enjoy. --Rochelle O'Gorman

A workaholic with unresolved issues of abandonment and trust falls in love with a widower who wants her to become a part of his family. Starring Mary Stuart Masterson and Christian Slater.

Junction Boys

Story of Bear Bryant's first summer as head football coach at Texas A&M. Bear takes his charges out onto the scorched plains and sees who survives.

Tom Berenger leads an outstanding cast in this bone-crunching dramatization of legendary college football coach Paul "Bear" Bryant's debut at Texas A&M in the summer of 1954. The often unnerving story finds Bryant ducking the school's good ol' boy network of rich, influential alumni by spiriting his new team away to a makeshift training base in a tiny town called Junction. There, Bryant runs the equivalent of a POW camp, brutalizing an oversized, underdeveloped bunch of rowdy young men and tormenting those who seek medical attention for cracked spines and deadly heat exhaustion. Berenger delivers a warts-and-all performance as the vulgar, monstrous, yet much-respected Bryant, and the direction by seasoned television vet Mike Robe (Son of the Morning Star) is brisk and almost explosively charged. Whatever one thinks of Bryant's punishing methods, the film does not flinch from telling its powerful tale. --Tom Keogh

Submarine X-1

Academy Award(r) nominee* James Caan commands a covert naval operation in this riveting drama inspired by an amazing true story discovered in declassified British War Office files. With "first-class underwater photography" (Variety) and taut suspense, this tale of heroism paved the way for films like The Hunt for Red October.Commander Bolton (Caan) has lost his submarine, the Gauntlet, in a sea battle with the Nazis in 1943. Although the survivors still blame him,he's cleared of charges and assigned to lead a top-secret training program with three experimental miniature X-1 subs, each manned by a crew of only four. Their mission: to sink the mighty battleshipLindendorfthe same ship that destroyed the Gauntlet!*1972: Supporting Actor, The Godfather

John Cleese - The Strange Case of the End of Civilization as We Know It

John Cleese is hilarious as the descendant of Sherlock Holmes in this modern detective drama of international power politics and intrigue. Unlike his illustrious grandfather however, this Sherlock Holmes only succeeds in bungling every job he organizes. Also stars Arthur Lowe as the "bionic" grandson of Dr. Watson, Stratford Johns as the Commissioner of Police, and Connie Booth as Mrs. Hudson.

Space 1999, Set 7

Counterstrike

An international peace summit aboard the luxury liner Queen Elizabeth II is thwarted by a group of extremists. Every threat is real and no one is immune. Two brothers, one an ATF specialist (Rob Estes: Silk Stalkings, Melrose Place) and the other a Secret Service agent (Joe Lando: Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman), launch a counterstrike to save the ship and avert global nuclear disaster. Also starring Marie Matiko (The Sum of All Fears and The Art of War).

Space 1999, Set 5

Fans of Space: 1999 (and there are many of them) are lavish in their praise for British producer Gerry Anderson's mid-'70s sci-fi series. They rhapsodize about provocative, seriously scientific story lines, expensive production values, the presence of star (and future Oscar® winner) Martin Landau, and more. But there are others who look at the series' glacial pace, loopy costumes and makeup, cheesy sets, primitive special effects, stilted dialogue, and self-serious tone and wonder what planet those rabid fans are from.

This two-disc set includes the first six episodes of the show's second season. Episode 25, "Metamorph," introduces Maya (Catherine Schell), a shape-changer and scientific wiz who, after witnessing her nutty dad's dastardly deeds, defects to join our Moonbase Alpha heroes. "Journey to Where" (Episode 29) finds Koenig (Landau) and Helena (costar Barbara Bain) returning to Earth--specifically, and bizarrely, 14th-century Scotland--while "One Moment of Humanity" (Episode 27) sees the evil Zamara (Billie Whitelaw) and her android cronies trying to learn the violent ways of humans. Intriguing ideas, occasionally rather lame execution. In other words, there's plenty here to justify the points of view of the show's adherents and its detractors.

DVD bonus features include production stills, TV promotional spots, and interactive menus. All episodes have been digitally remastered, and some material that was not seen in the original U.S. broadcasts has been restored. --Sam Graham

Space 1999, Set 8