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Blade Runner - The Director's Cut
: essential video:When Ridley Scott's cut of Blade Runner was finally released in 1993, one had to wonder why the studio hadn't done it right the first time--11 years earlier. This version is so much better, mostly because of what's been eliminated (the ludicrous and redundant voice-over narration and the phony happy ending) rather than what's been added (a bit more character development and a brief unicorn dream). Star Harrison Ford originally recorded the narration under duress at the insistence of Warner Bros. executives who ...
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A Clockwork Orange
from: Warner Studios
: essential video:When Ridley Scott's cut of Blade Runner was finally released in 1993, one had to wonder why the studio hadn't done it right the first time--11 years earlier. This version is so much better, mostly because of what's been eliminated (the ludicrous and redundant voice-over narration and the phony happy ending) rather than what's been added (a bit more character development and a brief unicorn dream). Star Harrison Ford originally recorded the narration under duress at the insistence of Warner Bros. executives who ...
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Island of Lost Souls
: :When you've got Charles Laughton and Bela Lugosi, how can you go wrong? Shipwreck victim Edward Parker (Richard Arlen) is stranded on an island run by the mysterious Dr. Moreau (Laughton). Moreau is hospitable enough, but the jungle is full of menacing shapes--and what about those ominous references to the House of Pain? Parker gradually learns of Moreau's unholy experiments and worries that he'll never escape. Though it has aged a bit, Island of Lost Souls is surprisingly spine-tingling, particularly the horrifying climax. Light and shadows ...
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The Rocky Horror Picture Show - The 25th Anniversary Edition
:Description:Fasten your garter belt and come up to the lab and see what's on the slab! It's The Rocky Horror Picture Show Special Edition, a screamingly funny, sinfully twisted salute to sci-fi, horror, B-movies and rock music, all rolled into one deliciously decadent morsel. And now there's even more to make you shiver with antici...pation: two additional musical numbers, 'Once In A While' and 'Superheroes', never seen theatrically or available on video! The madcap, musical mayhem begins when rain-soaked Brad and Janet take refuge in ...
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Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
: essential video:Something's wrong in the town of Santa Mira, California. At first, Dr. Miles Bennell (Kevin McCarthy) is unconcerned when the townsfolk accuse their loved ones of acting like emotionless imposters. But soon the evidence is overwhelming--Santa Mira has been invaded by alien 'pods' that are capable of replicating humans and taking possession of their identities. It's up to McCarthy to spread the word of warning, battling the alien invasion at the risk of his own life. Considered one of the best science fiction ...
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Flash Gordon
: essential video:When the totalitarian planet of Mongo decides on a whim to obliterate Earth, it's up to the lunk-headed quarterback Flash Gordon and his oddball companions to make the universe safe for democracy. Based on the classic (and infinitely more reputable) comic strip and its '30s screen serialization, this cotton-candy-colored trash classic deserves immortality for Queen's unforgettably pulsating soundtrack alone. The legendary Max von Sydow appears to be having a blast as the evil Ming the Merciless, while Ornella Muti, as his daughter, is ...
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Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie
: :The cult television show (in which a hapless space explorer and his robot pals are forced to watch and deliver a hilarious running commentary on bad movies) makes a successful transition to the big screen as Mike and the 'bots lay waste to the '50s sci-fi yarn This Island Earth (a painfully stiff would-be epic that's actually a cut above the usual MST3K fare). While ardent fans may be a little miffed that more advantage isn't taken of the expanded theatrical venue (aside from a ...
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Attack Of the 50 Foot Woman
: :Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned... especially when you're fending off The Attack of the 50-Foot Woman! One of the most beloved camp classics of the 1950s begins with a three-way recipe for sci-fi disaster: Cheating husband Harry (William Hudson) is married to alcoholic heiress Nancy (Allison Hayes), but he's got a scheming mistress named Honey (Yvette Vickers) and a burning desire for Nancy's lavish inheritance. But before the greedy lovers can say 'Super-Size Me,' the insanely jealous Nancy gains a towering advantage: ...
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Wacky World of Dr.Morgus
: :Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned... especially when you're fending off The Attack of the 50-Foot Woman! One of the most beloved camp classics of the 1950s begins with a three-way recipe for sci-fi disaster: Cheating husband Harry (William Hudson) is married to alcoholic heiress Nancy (Allison Hayes), but he's got a scheming mistress named Honey (Yvette Vickers) and a burning desire for Nancy's lavish inheritance. But before the greedy lovers can say 'Super-Size Me,' the insanely jealous Nancy gains a towering advantage: ...
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Death Race 2000
: :Paul Bartel's 1975 cheap-o satire about a futuristic international sport--an anything-goes car race where drivers score points for hitting pedestrians--stars David Carradine as a hero behind the wheel and Sylvester Stallone as his nemesis. The film is clever and macabre enough as a modernist satire, but finally overplays its hand in grim, decadent humor. The sets are gloriously artificial, and former Warhol star Mary Woronov is in sexy, comic form. --Tom Keogh
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Diesel vehicles have nearly a 50-percent market share in Europe, thanks to tax incentives and diesel-friendly legislation across the EU. Diesels are so passé there that you can buy a BMW 730d and no one will think it odd that your luxury car burns oil. Pull up in a diesel 7-Series in America and people would leer at you like you've alighted from an amphibious vehicle reeking of saltwater and dead trout.