Espionage

Casino Royale (2-Disc Widescreen Edition)

Casino Royale introduces James Bond before he holds his license to kill. But Bond is no less dangerous and with two professional assassinations in quick succession he is elevated to "00" status. "M" (Judi Dench) head of the British Secret Service sends the newly-promoted 007 on his first mission that takes him to Madagascar the Bahamas and eventually leads him to Montenegro to face Le Chiffre a ruthless financier under threat from his terrorist clientele who is attempting to restore his funds in a high-stakes poker game at the Casino Royale. "M" places Bond under the watchful eye of the Treasury official Vesper Lynd. At first skeptical of what value Vesper can provide Bond's interest in her deepens as they brave danger together. Le Chiffre's cunning and cruelty come to bear on them both in a way Bond could never imagine and he learns his most important lesson: Trust no one.System Requirements:Runtime: 144 minsFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE Rating: PG - 13 UPC: 043396148598 Manufacturer No: 14859

The most successful invigoration of a cinematic franchise since Batman Begins, Casino Royale offers a new Bond identity. Based on the Ian Fleming novel that introduced Agent 007 into a Cold War world, Casino Royale is the most brutal and viscerally exciting James Bond film since Sean Connery left Her Majesty's Secret Service. Meet the new Bond; not the same as the old Bond. Daniel Craig gives a galvanizing performance as the freshly minted double-0 agent. Suave, yes, but also a "blunt instrument," reckless, and possessed with an ego that compromises his judgment during his first mission to root out the mastermind behind an operation that funds international terrorists. In classic Bond film tradition, his global itinerary takes him to far-flung locales, including Uganda, Madagascar, the Bahamas (that's more like it), and Montenegro, where he is pitted against his nemesis in a poker game, with hundreds of millions in the pot. The stakes get even higher when Bond lets down his "armor" and falls in love with Vesper (Eva Green), the ravishing banker's representative fronting him the money.

For longtime fans of the franchise, Casino Royale offers some retro kicks. Bond wins his iconic Astin-Martin at the gaming table, and when a bartender asks if he wants his martini "shaken or stirred," he disdainfully replies, "Do I look like I give a damn?" There's no Moneypenny or "Q," but Dame Judi Dench is back as the exasperated M, who one senses, admires Bond's "bloody cheek." A Bond film is only as good as its villain, and Mads Mikkelsen as Le Chiffre, who weeps blood, is a sinister dandy. From its punishing violence and virtuoso action sequences to its romance, Casino Royale is a Bond film that, in the words of one character, makes you feel it, particularly during an excruciating torture sequence. Double-0s, Bond observes early on, "have a short life expectancy." But with Craig, there is new life in the old franchise yet, as well as genuine anticipation for the next one when, at last, the signature James Bond theme kicks in following the best last line ever in any Bond film. To quote Goldie Hawn in Private Benjamin, now I know what I've been faking all these years. --Donald Liebenson

Stills from Casino Royale (click for larger image)

Beyond Casino Royale on Amazon.com

On Blu-ray	CD Soundtrack	Why We Love Daniel Craig
The Amazon.com James Bond Store	Where Have I Seen Daniel Craig?	Bond on Set: Filming Casino Royale Book

The Bourne Identity (Widescreen Extended Edition)

A man washes up on the beach with no memory of who he is, but with a whole array of alarming skills.
No Track Information Available
Media Type: DVD
Artist: DAMON/POTENTE/STILES/COOPER/COX/OWEN
Title: BOURNE IDENTITY
Street Release Date: 02/14/2006
Domestic
Genre: ACTION / ADVENTURE

Freely adapted from Robert Ludlum's 1980 bestseller, The Bourne Identity starts fast and never slows down. The twisting plot revs up in Zurich, where amnesiac CIA assassin Jason Bourne (Matt Damon), with no memory of his name, profession, or recent activities, recruits a penniless German traveler (Run Lola Run's Franka Potente) to assist in solving the puzzle of his missing identity. While his CIA superior (Chris Cooper) dispatches assassins to kill Bourne and thus cover up his failed mission, Bourne exercises his lethal training to leave a trail of bodies from Switzerland to Paris. Director Doug Liman (Go) infuses Ludlum's intricate plotting with a maverick's eye for character detail, matching breathtaking action with the humorous, thrill-seeking chemistry of Damon and Potente. Previously made as a 1988 TV movie starring Richard Chamberlain, The Bourne Identity benefits from the sharp talent of rising stars, offering intelligent, crowd-pleasing excitement from start to finish. --Jeff Shannon

Casino Royale [Blu-ray]

Sony Pictures Casino Royale (Blu-ray)
"Casino Royale" introduces James Bond before he holds his license to kill. But Bond is no less dangerous, and with two professional assassinations in quick succession, he iselevated to "00" status. "M" (Judi Dench), head of the British Secret Service, sends the newly-promoted 007 on his first mission that takes him to Madagascar, the Bahamas and eventually leads him to Montenegro to face Le Chiffre, a ruthless financier under threat from his terrorist clientele, who is attempting to restore his funds in a high-stakespoker game at the "Casino Royale." "M" places Bond under the watchful eye of the Treasury official Vesper Lynd. At first skeptical of what value Vesper can provide, Bond's interest in her deepens as they brave danger together. Le Chiffre's cunning and cruelty come to bear on them both in a way Bond.

The most successful invigoration of a cinematic franchise since Batman Begins, Casino Royale offers a new Bond identity. Based on the Ian Fleming novel that introduced Agent 007 into a Cold War world, Casino Royale is the most brutal and viscerally exciting James Bond film since Sean Connery left Her Majesty's Secret Service. Meet the new Bond; not the same as the old Bond. Daniel Craig gives a galvanizing performance as the freshly minted double-0 agent. Suave, yes, but also a "blunt instrument," reckless, and possessed with an ego that compromises his judgment during his first mission to root out the mastermind behind an operation that funds international terrorists. In classic Bond film tradition, his global itinerary takes him to far-flung locales, including Uganda, Madagascar, the Bahamas (that's more like it), and Montenegro, where he is pitted against his nemesis in a poker game, with hundreds of millions in the pot. The stakes get even higher when Bond lets down his "armor" and falls in love with Vesper (Eva Green), the ravishing banker's representative fronting him the money.

For longtime fans of the franchise, Casino Royale offers some retro kicks. Bond wins his iconic Astin-Martin at the gaming table, and when a bartender asks if he wants his martini "shaken or stirred," he disdainfully replies, "Do I look like I give a damn?" There's no Moneypenny or "Q," but Dame Judi Dench is back as the exasperated M, who one senses, admires Bond's "bloody cheek." A Bond film is only as good as its villain, and Mads Mikkelsen as Le Chiffre, who weeps blood, is a sinister dandy. From its punishing violence and virtuoso action sequences to its romance, Casino Royale is a Bond film that, in the words of one character, makes you feel it, particularly during an excruciating torture sequence. Double-0s, Bond observes early on, "have a short life expectancy." But with Craig, there is new life in the old franchise yet, as well as genuine anticipation for the next one when, at last, the signature James Bond theme kicks in following the best last line ever in any Bond film. To quote Goldie Hawn in Private Benjamin, now I know what I've been faking all these years. --Donald Liebenson

Stills from Casino Royale (click for larger image)

Beyond Casino Royale on Amazon.com

On Blu-ray	CD Soundtrack	Why We Love Daniel Craig
The Amazon.com James Bond Store	Where Have I Seen Daniel Craig?	Bond on Set: Filming Casino Royale Book

The Bourne Supremacy (Widescreen Edition)

After being framed for the death of a CIA operative Jason Bourne is forced to use his skills as a former assassin to save himself.
No Track Information Available
Media Type: DVD
Artist: DAMON/POTENTE/STILES/COX/ALLEN
Title: BOURNE SUPREMACY
Street Release Date: 08/22/2006
Domestic
Genre: ACTION / ADVENTURE

Good enough to suggest long-term franchise potential, The Bourne Supremacy is a thriller fans will appreciate for its well-crafted suspense, and for its triumph of competence over logic (or lack thereof). Picking up where The Bourne Identity left off, the action begins when CIA assassin and partial amnesiac Jason Bourne (a role reprised with efficient intensity by Matt Damon) is framed for a murder in Berlin, setting off a chain reaction of pursuits involving CIA handlers (led by Joan Allen and the duplicitous Brian Cox, with Julia Stiles returning from the previous film) and a shadowy Russian oil magnate. The fast-paced action hurtles from India to Berlin, Moscow, and Italy, and as he did with the critically acclaimed Bloody Sunday, director Paul Greengrass puts you right in the thick of it with split-second editing (too much of it, actually) and a knack for well-sustained tension. It doesn't all make sense, and bears little resemblance to Robert Ludlum's novel, but with Damon proving to be an appealingly unconventional action hero, there's plenty to look forward to. --Jeff Shannon

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World [Blu-ray]

When a sudden attack by a French warship inflicts casualities and severe damage upon his vessel Captain "Lucky" Jack Aubrey (Crowe) of the British Royal Navy is torn between duty and friendship as he embarks on a thrilling high-stakes chase across two oceans to intercept and capture the enemy at any cost. Nominated for 10 Academy Awards including Best Picture!System Requirements:Running Time: 137 minutesFormat: BLU-RAY DISC Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE/SWASHBUCKLERS Rating: PG-13 UPC: 024543435501 Manufacturer No: 2243552

In the capable hands of director Peter Weir, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World is a seafaring adventure like no other, impeccably authentic, dynamically cast, and thrilling enough to give any classic swashbuckler a run for its money. In adapting two of Patrick O'Brian's enormously popular novels about British naval hero Capt. Jack Aubrey, Weir and cowriter John Collee have changed the timeframe from the British/American war of 1812 to the British/French opposition of 1805, where the HMS Surprise, under Aubrey's confident command, is patrolling the South Atlantic in pursuit of the Acheron, a French warship with the strategic advantage of greater size, speed, and artillery. Russell Crowe is outstanding as Aubrey, firm and fiercely loyal, focused on his prey even if it means locking horns with his friend and ship's surgeon, played by Crowe's A Beautiful Mind costar Paul Bettany. Employing a seamless combination of carefully matched ocean footage, detailed models, full-scale ships, and CGI enhancements, Weir pays exacting attention to every nautical detail, while maintaining a very human story of honor, warfare, and survival under wretched conditions. Raging storms and hull-shattering battles provide pulse-pounding action, and a visit to the Galapagos Islands lends a note of otherworldly wonder, adding yet another layer of historical perspective to this splendidly epic adventure. --Jeff Shannon

Austin Powers - International Man of Mystery (New Line Platinum Series)

Secret agent Austin Powers is thawed back into action after being frozen for thirty years. The time-warped swinger has to battle with his archenemy Dr. Evil and stop his plot to control the world.
Genre: Feature Film-Comedy
Rating: PG13
Release Date: 12-SEP-2006
Media Type: DVD

If you don't think Austin Powers is one of the funniest movies of the 1990s, maybe you should be packed into a cryogenic time-chamber and sent back to the decade whence you came. Perhaps it was the 1960s--the shag-a-delic decade when London hipster Austin Powers scored with gorgeous chicks as a fashion photographer by day, crime-fighting international man of mystery by night. Yeah, baby, yeah! But when Powers's arch nemesis, Dr. Evil, puts himself into a deep-freeze and travels via time-machine to the late 1990s, Powers must follow him and foil Evil's nefarious scheme of global domination. Mike Myers plays dual roles as Powers and Dr. Evil, with Elizabeth Hurley as his present-day sidekick and karate- kicking paramour. A hilarious spoof of '60s spy movies, this colorful comedy actually gets funnier with successive viewings, making it a perfect home video for gloomy days and randy nights. Oh, behave! --Jeff Shannon

The Nude Bomb

Yes, it's true; Don Adams's Maxwell Smart act is little more than shtick, but marvelous shtick it is, and on Get Smart! with its half-hour doses of high-tech hooliganism, straight Bond parody, and uproarious slapstick, he made his mark as one of the more memorable comic figures of 1960s television. You wouldn't necessarily bet that Adams's trademark moves--deadpan mock-seriousness, smart-alecky catchphrases, and elastic faces--would translate well to the big screen; truth is, though, he's no more irritating than Rodney Dangerfield, Bill Murray, or any of the other comic leads of the early 1980s. In The Nude Bomb, the first (and only) Maxwell Smart movie, our secret agent 86 battles a mad KAOS scientist who possesses a fiendish weapon: one which will destroy the world's supply of clothing. Joined by several attractive compatriots (not, alas, Barbara Feldon, whose ultra-hip Agent 99--the crucial foil for the hyperactive Smart--is sorely missed), the hapless spy has 48 hours to confound the evil plot. Several hilarious premises, including a plan to render the weapon ineffective by wearing food, are adeptly exploited through winning and well-timed sight gags. Recommended not only to fans of Get Smart! but to those who appreciate high-spirited '80s comedy as well. --Miles Bethany

Get smart with the most bumbling - yet undeniably cool - spy ever! Join Don Adams as Maxwell Smart (aka Agent 86) of the original Get Smart TV series in The Nude Bomb! Agent 86 is assigned to battle an evil villain who is threatening to drop a "nude bomb" capable of destroying all the fabric in the world. With only 48 hours, some voluptuous assistants, and his questionable spy skills to help him, Maxwell Smart certainly has his hands full trying to save the world from severe nakedness! The Nude Bomb is a hilarious spoof that is sure to leave you in stitches.

The Rock [Blu-ray]

Hollywood The Rock (Blu-ray)
Hollywood superstar Sean Connery ("Finding Forrester") joins Academy Award(R)-winner Nicolas Cage (1995 Best Actor - "Leaving Las Vegas") in the action-packed thriller of the year, "The Rock"! All of San Francisco is taken hostage when a vengeful general (Ed Harris - "A Beautiful Mind") seizes control of Alcatraz Island, threatening to launch missiles loaded with deadly poison gas! With time running out, only a young FBI chemical weapons expert (Cage) and a notorious federal prisoner (Connery) have the skills to penetrate the island fortress and defuse the lethal situation! Edge-of-your-seat suspense and unstoppable action explode off the screen in this must-see motion picture event!

Between his high-octane debut, Bad Boys, and 1998's wannabe blockbuster Armageddon, hotshot director Michael Bay forged his dubious reputation with this crowd-pleasing action extravaganza. In it a psychotically disgruntled war hero (Ed Harris) seizes the island prison of Alcatraz and threatens to wage chemical warfare against nearby San Francisco unless the government publicly recognizes the men who were killed under Harris's top-secret command. Nicolas Cage plays the biochemist who teams up with the only man ever to have escaped from Alcatraz (Sean Connery) in an attempt to foil Harris's terrorist scheme. As one might expect, what follows is an action-packed barrage of bullets, bodies, and climactic confrontations, replete with enough plot contrivances to give even the most jaded action fan cause for alarm. It's a load of hooey, but the cast is obviously having a grand old time, and there's enough wit to make the recycled action sequences tolerable. If you're ordering this movie on Blu-ray, be careful with the volume knobs on your home-theater sound systems, because The Rock could cause partial hearing loss and structural damage to your home. --Jeff Shannon

The Bourne Supremacy [HD DVD]

Good enough to suggest long-term franchise potential, The Bourne Supremacy is a thriller fans will appreciate for its well-crafted suspense, and for its triumph of competence over logic (or lack thereof). Picking up where The Bourne Identity left off, the action begins when CIA assassin and partial amnesiac Jason Bourne (a role reprised with efficient intensity by Matt Damon) is framed for a murder in Berlin, setting off a chain reaction of pursuits involving CIA handlers (led by Joan Allen and the duplicitous Brian Cox, with Julia Stiles returning from the previous film) and a shadowy Russian oil magnate. The fast-paced action hurtles from India to Berlin, Moscow, and Italy, and as he did with the critically acclaimed Bloody Sunday, director Paul Greengrass puts you right in the thick of it with split-second editing (too much of it, actually) and a knack for well-sustained tension. It doesn't all make sense, and bears little resemblance to Robert Ludlum's novel, but with Damon proving to be an appealingly unconventional action hero, there's plenty to look forward to. --Jeff Shannon

The Long Kiss Goodnight

A violent tale of a young mother who awakens after years of amnesia to discover she's an assassin with her former bosses in hot pursuit.Running Time: 120 min.System Requirements:Starring: Geena Davis Samuel Jackson Director: Renny Harlin Produced by Renny Harlin Stephanie Austin; written by Shane Black; running time of 120 minutes; Closed Captioned. Copyright: 1996 New Line Interactive Menus Languages: English and French Subtitles: English French and Spanish High-quality Dolby Digital multi-channel surround sound Original theatrical trailer Background information on the stars Standard version formatted from its original version to fit your screen Widescreen version presented in a "letterbox" widescreen format preserving the 2.35:1 aspect ratio of its original theatrical exhibition English: Dolby Digital 5.1 French: StereoFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE/THRILLERS Rating: R UPC: 794043444623

Geena Davis and her former husband, director Renny Harlin, attempted to pick up the pieces after the debacle of their box-office disaster, Cutthroat Island. What they came up with was this repulsive ode to American film noir, based on a script by Shane Black (Lethal Weapon) about an amnesiac schoolteacher (Davis) who searches for her true identity and finds she is actually a secret agent immersed in a deadly plot to topple the government. Mechanistic in its violence, obnoxious in its attitude, the film makes Davis, a once-promising actress, nothing more than a special effect. She tosses one to sadists in the audience by allowing her character to be beaten, punched unconscious, and tortured. The DVD release has optional full-screen and widescreen presentations, plus Dolby surround sound, theatrical trailer, cast information, optional French-language soundtrack and optional Spanish subtitles. --Tom Keogh