Starring Jaime Winstone (Donkey Punch, Kidulthood), Dead Set is E4’s new horror series in which the dead are returning to life and attacking the living. Curiously there are a few people left in Britain who aren’t worried about any of this – that’s because they’re the remaining contestants in Big Brother. Cocooned in the safety of the Big Brother house, they’re blissfully unaware of the horrific events unfolding in the outside world. Until an eviction night when all hell breaks loose. Kelly (Winstone), a production runner working on a fictional series of Big Brother, finds herself trying to fend off the walking dead alongside her producer boss Patrick (Andy Nyman, Severance), boyfriend Riq (Riz Ahmed, Britz) and the remaining Big Brother housemates. Featuring cameos from Davina McCall and several former housemates, this is a cruel and twisted take on one of TV’s biggest game shows. Dead Set was created and written by Charlie Brooker (Nathan Barley co-creator and Guardian writer).

In his most effective thriller since Enemy of the State, Tony Scott makes time travel seem plausible. It helps that his New Orleans hero, ATF agent Doug Carlin (Denzel Washington in his third go-round with the director), spends more time in the present than the past. In order to catch a terrorist, FBI Agent Pryzwarra (Val Kilmer) invites Carlin to join forces. They have the technology to see the past. He has the expertise to interpret the data. Unfortunately, the bomb has already gone off and hundreds of ferry passengers have died. Then there's the body of a beautiful woman, Claire Kuchever (Paula Patton, Idlewild), that turns up in the vicinity of the blast. Evidence indicates she was killed beforehand. Since the FBI enables him to observe Claire prior to her murder, Carlin gets to know what she was like and finds himself falling in love. He becomes convinced that the only way to solve the case—and prove her innocence—is to travel to the past. But as Pryzwarra's colleague, Denny (Adam Goldberg), argues, "You cannot go back in time. It's physically impossible." Or so he says. Déjà Vu is constructed around a clever script and executed by a top-notch cast, notably Washington, Patton, and an eerie Jim Caviezel (miles away from Passion of the Christ). In shedding the excesses of recent years—the sadism of Man on Fire and weirdness of Tarantino favorite Domino—Scott re-affirms his rep as one of the action movie's finest practitioners. —Kathleen C. Fennessy

Searching for new directions, Sylvester Stallone starred in this farcical, 1993 SF piece about an ex-cop (Stallone) freed from 36 years of forced hibernation to help catch a criminal (Wesley Snipes) who released himself from a similar incarceration. The futuristic story finds Los Angeles a sea of Taco Bells and enforced peace and within that satiric overview Stallone's character becomes a gun-toting fish out of water. The film plays like a live-action cartoon and while there is nothing particularly wrong with that, Demolition Man is a rather flat experience. The irony of a peaceable society that both requires and despises its bloody saviours has been captured far more profoundly in movies like Dirty Harry. Sandra Bullock costars. —Tom Keogh

This seminal 1988 thriller made Bruce Willis a star and established a new template for action stories: "Terrorists take over a (blank), and a lone hero, unknown to the villains, is trapped with them." In Die Hard, those bad guys, led by the velvet-voiced Alan Rickman, assume control of a Los Angeles high-rise with Willis's visiting New York cop inside. The attraction of the film has as much to do with the sight of a barefoot mortal running around the guts of a modern office tower as it has to do with the plentiful fight sequences and the bond the hero establishes with an LA beat cop. Bonnie Bedelia plays Willis's wife, Hart Bochner is good as a brash hostage who tries negotiating his way to freedom, Alexander Godunov makes for a believable killer with lethal feet, and William Atherton is slimy as a busybody reporter. This film is exceptionally well directed by John McTiernan. —Tom Keogh

Now joined by a hit fourth instalment, the Die Hard Quadrilogy is, bluntly, an essential set for any self-respecting fan of action cinema.

The gold, of course, is the original Die Hard, a flat-out five star classic pretty much without equal. Introducing Bruce Willis’ John McClane as an ordinary guy in an extraordinary situation, it’s littered with great lines, great characters, and genre-defining moments. Plus, in Alan Rickman, it has one of the finest cinematic villains of the past few decades.

Die Hard 2: Die Harder inevitably dilutes matters, this time switching the action to Washington’s Dulles International Airport. But with Willis and a good number of characters returning from the original, it’s a fun—if at times brutal—ride, that scores highly in the entertainment stakes.

Die Hard: With A Vengeance, the third film in the series, pretty much strips away the bulk of the supporting cast, and replaces them with the not-significant figure of Samuel L Jackson. It changes the dynamic of the film into a buddy-buddy movie, albeit a good one. And again, it’s a ride that’s hard not to enjoy, with Jeremy Irons giving good measure as McClane’s chief foe.

Finally, Die Hard 4.0 is a real surprise. Given the fact that it arrived over a decade after the third film, it finds Willis and relative newcomer Justin Long shouldering an entertaining, old fashioned action film, that papers over its occasional cracks by asking its lead actor to ramp things up a gear when necessary. And watching John McClane do what he does—even when any hint of reality is thrown out of the window near the end—is endlessly entertaining.

So while none of the sequels have matched the peerless original, the Die Hard Quadrilogy nonetheless delivers one classic, and three very enjoyable action movies. And you can’t argue with that kind of hit rate. Always, always bet on McClane... —Simon Brew

A provocative science fiction drama, District 9 boasts an original story that gets a little lost in blow-'em-up mayhem. Set in Johannesburg, South Africa, District 9 begins as a mock documentary about the imminent eviction of extraterrestrials from a pathetic shantytown (called District 9). The creatures, it turns out, have been on Earth for years, having arrived sickly and starving. Initially received by humans with compassion and care, the aliens are now mired in blighted conditions typical of long-term refugee camps unwanted by a hostile, host society. With the creatures' care contracted out to a for-profit corporation, the shantytown has become a violent slum. The aliens sift through massive piles of junk while their minders secretly research weapons technology that arrived on the visitors' spacecraft. Against this backdrop is a more personal story about a bureaucrat named Wikus (Sharlto Copley) who is accidentally exposed to a DNA-altering substance. As he begins metamorphosing into one of the creatures, Wikus goes on the run from scientists who want to harvest his evolving, new parts and aliens who see him as a threat. When he pairs up with an extraterrestrial secretly planning an escape from Earth, however, what should be a fascinating relationship story becomes a series of firefights and explosions. Nuance is lost to numbing violence, and the more interesting potential of the film is obscured. Yet, for a while District 9 is a powerful movie with a unique tale to tell. Seamless special effects alone are worth seeing: the (often brutal) exchanges between alien and human are breathtaking. —Tom Keogh

The return of The Master has been one of the many recent triumphs of Doctor Who. And with this, the final single DVD release of season three of the show, the three concluding episodes deliver John Simm’s majestic take on one of the Doctor’s deadliest and oldest enemies.

These three episodes also see Torchwood’s Captain Jack Harkness rejoining the Tardis, and along with the Doctor and Martha, there’s a mighty battle to be fought.

It all starts with "Utopia", one of the very finest episodes of Doctor Who’s third season. This is a clever, slow-burning tale, with Derek Jacobi guest-starring, and it features a final ten minutes so good it’s enough to make Who fans weep. Things continue with some style in "The Sound Of Drums", where The Master really comes into his own, replete with a devastating cliffhanger to set up the season finale. And ironically, it’s that finale, "The Last Of The Time Lords", that’s the weakest of the three here, a slightly muddled—but still very enjoyable—wrapping up of a very strong series.

The skill of these three episodes is how cleanly they interweave with the subtle building blocks that have been put in place for them over the duration of Doctor Who’s run. And with an ending the bodes well for the 2007 Christmas special too, this DVD is further proof of just what strong shape Doctor Who is in. Cracking stuff. —Jon Foster

The second series of the new Doctor Who disappears with a bang, thanks to an excellent two-parter that throws in the Doctors' old foes with the departure of companion Rose Tyler.

Yet this final disc of the series two collection actually kicks off with "Fear Her", a decent enough way to spend three quarters of an hour, but far from the series highlight, and not the reason most people will buy this disc. It's a breezy tale of a little girl whose disturbing drawings come to life, a premise admittedly with some promise. The execution though is fairly middle of the road, and save for some fun moments along the way, it's fairly forgettable, if entertaining, stuff.

The closing two parter though is terrific. It kicks of with "Army Of Ghosts", which finds the residents of Earth being visited by strange ghostly shapes, believed to be assorted relatives who have long since died. Predictably, that's not the case, and much to the shock of Torchwood, an Earth-based organisation investigating alien technology, the world promptly finds itself pretty much invaded. And there's still room for things to get worse in "Doomsday", with more than one major villain from the Doctor's past arriving on Earth, prompting a major battle, the return of faces from earlier in the series and a farewell to Rose Tyler.

It all wraps up another hugely successful series of Doctor Who, and once again does it with a considerably strong pair of final episodes. We've said it before and we'll say it again—we can't wait to see how they'll top it next time around… —Simon Brew

David Tennant ably steps into the shoes of the famous Timelord, as the first couple of episodes of the ‘second’ series of the reborn Doctor Who make it to DVD.

In fact, that’s not quite true. The first of the two is actually the excellent 2005 Christmas special, The Christmas Invasion, which not only marked Tennant’s first full story in the role, but also proved to be an excellent way to spend an hour. Taking place during the festive season, the story finds Earth under imminent threat of invasion, at a time when the Doctor is still getting over his regeneration. That means extra pressure for Billie Piper’s Rose Tyler, but also offers a welcome return to the series for the terrific Penelope Wilton as Harriet Jones. Yet it’s the witty script and Tennant’s confident performance that define the episode.

The ‘proper’ start of the ‘second’ series was the slightly uneven New Earth, which scores well again in the humour stakes, but struggles a little more with the story itself. The Doctor and Rose find themselves billions of years in the future, called to a hospital where the feline nursing staff have a cure for every disease. Naturally, there’s something more sinister going on, and there’s the returning, unscrupulous last surviving human Cassandra (played again by Zoe Wanamaker) to deal with. But while it amounts to a fun episode, it’s slightly below the standard the show has set itself of late.

All considered though, as a kick off to the second series DVD collection, there’s plenty in the pair of episodes on offer here to enjoy, and plenty of potential in David Tennant as the Doctor. Now bring on the rest…!—Simon Brew

David Tennant ably steps into the shoes of the famous Timelord, as the first couple of episodes of the ‘second’ series of the reborn Doctor Who make it to DVD.

In fact, that’s not quite true. The first of the two is actually the excellent 2005 Christmas special, The Christmas Invasion, which not only marked Tennant’s first full story in the role, but also proved to be an excellent way to spend an hour. Taking place during the festive season, the story finds Earth under imminent threat of invasion, at a time when the Doctor is still getting over his regeneration. That means extra pressure for Billie Piper’s Rose Tyler, but also offers a welcome return to the series for the terrific Penelope Wilton as Harriet Jones. Yet it’s the witty script and Tennant’s confident performance that define the episode.

The ‘proper’ start of the ‘second’ series was the slightly uneven New Earth, which scores well again in the humour stakes, but struggles a little more with the story itself. The Doctor and Rose find themselves billions of years in the future, called to a hospital where the feline nursing staff have a cure for every disease. Naturally, there’s something more sinister going on, and there’s the returning, unscrupulous last surviving human Cassandra (played again by Zoe Wanamaker) to deal with. But while it amounts to a fun episode, it’s slightly below the standard the show has set itself of late.

All considered though, as a kick off to the second series DVD collection, there’s plenty in the pair of episodes on offer here to enjoy, and plenty of potential in David Tennant as the Doctor. Now bring on the rest…!—Simon Brew

After dedicating himself for the best part of a decade to the Spider-Man franchise, director Sam Raimi returned to the horror genre with tremendous style in 2009 with Drag Me To Hell. A film that fused together the ethos of the director’s earlier Evil Dead movies with the toolbox of tricks that he’s picked up since doing big blockbuster movies, it’s a fabulously fun and quite unnerving piece of cinema.

Raimi’s working on a lower budget than we’ve seen him with for some time with Drag Me To Hell, but not for the first time, he makes every buck count. Few directors know the horror genre as well as Raimi, and he generates tension and jumps from clever set-ups and expertly executed sequences. Plus, he’s little intention of following the horror movie template here, which adds to the sheer entertainment factor.

So what’s so special about the Blu-ray? The extras package isn’t particularly enticing, after all. Yet the picture quality and quite stunning sound mix lift the film notably. The latter in particular, as the sound stage is swamped by subtle noises and audible shocks works extremely well, and is perhaps the best among a few reasons for considering a high-def upgrade here. A strong movie, wonderfully presented. —Jon Foster

Drive takes the standard American mismatched-buddies action comedy formula and turbo-charges it with furious Hong Kong wirework and martial arts. The result is a three-and-a-half million dollar "B" picture which looks like it cost 10 times more. The perfunctory story crosses Universal Solider (1992) with Rush Hour (1997) as a biologically enhanced Mark Dacascos flees a small army of Hong Kong assassins through California, teaming up with comedian Kadeem Hardison and delivering an almost unbelievable amount of bang per buck. Director Steve Wang stages the action with flair and clarity, the stunts, wirework and fights being exceptionally well-choreographed and shot. With Hardison's patter, two offbeat redneck assassins and a TV show about a frog with Einstein's brain there's abundant surprisingly genial humour, aided by Brittany Murphy's ditzy performance as a Twin Peaks-like teenager with hormones in overdrive. The cyborg aspect simply justifies the superhuman combat, but nevertheless a huge showdown in a retro-space age club is clearly styled after the "Tech Noir" bar sequence in The Terminator (1984), adding motorcycle killersstraight out of Rollerball (1975). Drive captures the rush of Hong Kong action movies yet almost has the feel of a musical, the mayhem replacing song and dance and offering more popcorn entertainment than many a bloated summer blockbuster.

On the DVD: For such a low budget movie the 2.35:1 anamorphically enhanced image puts many far bigger features to shame, being pin-sharp throughout, with strong and accurate colours and minimal grain. The Dolby Digital 5.1 sound is equally strong, with sound-effects and music both having considerable impact, explosions ripping thorough the room like the latest Arnie shoot 'em up. There is a 47-minute retrospective documentary which is particularly interesting on the way the film was cut and restored for American release—this DVD presenting the director's cut which runs over 16 minutes longer than the US version. Six deleted/extended scenes are presented in a variety of formats, and it's easy to see why they were deleted. Also included are the original theatrical trailer, three photo galleries, cast and crew biographies and interview galleries with director Steve Wang and four of the main stars totalling about 20 minutes of material. The informative commentary track has Wang, Dacascos, Hardison and stunt co-ordinator Koichi Sakamoto revelling in their sheer enthusiasm for the movie and for Hong Kong action in general. —Gary S Dalkin