Up Periscope

Manufacturer: Acorn Media Brand: KITCHEN,MICHAEL

The time is the early 1940s; the place is England's southern coast. As WWII rages around him, duty calls Christopher Foyle. Much to his frustration, however, the stalwart detective's responsibilities are on the home front, not the battlefront. Michael Kitchen (Reckless) stars with Edward Fox (The Strauss Dynasty) and Robert Hardy (All Things Great and Small) in a fast-paced four-part drama heavy on suspense and somber atmospherics. 6 hours 52 min. on 4 DVDs. Foyle's War is the rare mystery series that does more than plop a good detective into the middle of a decorative and bygone era. Created by writer Anthony Horowitz, Foyle's War makes profoundly resonant use of British society in 1940, a terrifying time in which the threat of an Axis assault on England disrupted ordinary life in often horrible ways, from the resettlement of city children (into the care of rural strangers) to a spike in xenophobia to a loss of personal freedoms. Against this heady backdrop is the near-solitary figure of Detective Chief Superintendent Christopher Foyle (Michael Kitchen), a London investigator who would rather be fighting Hitler abroad but is stuck solving domestic homicides--generally sparked by wartime fervor--with the help of a plucky driver (Honeysuckle Weeks) and a steadfast assistant (Anthony Howell). Kitchen's magnificently measured performance and Horowitz's masterful grasp of the moral and dramatic issues of his battle-scarred milieu make Foyle's War a must. --Tom Keogh

Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox Brand: MORE,KENNETH

A British captain and his Wren aide lead the 1941 pursuit of the sinister German battleship.

Manufacturer: A&E Home Video Brand: LionsGate

Ioan Gruffudd, Robert Lindsay, Jamie Bamber. The adventures of C.S. Forester's seafaring hero fighting for the British flag against the armies of Napoleon come to life in two all-new, full-length features, Loyalty and Duty . 2 DVDs. 2003/color/3 hrs., 20 min/NR/widescreen. Dashing Ioan Gruffud stars as dashing Horatio Hornblower, unparalleled British naval hero, in two more delightful episodes from the A&E series. In Loyalty, a peace with France has left Hornblower decommissioned and short on funds. Only the help of his landlady's daughter Maria (heartbreaking Julie Sawalha, Absolutely Fabulous) keeps him from being kicked out into the street. Fortunately for our hero, Napoleon's armies are afoot, and Hornblower soon finds himself sailing to France in command of the Hotspur, grappling with Irish traitors and French skullduggery. Duty picks up where Loyalty leaves off; Hornblower marries Maria with some ambivalence, but the day after his wedding sails for the coast of France to find a missing ship. After rescuing a supposedly Swiss man and his American wife in a storm, Hornblower finds himself caught between an old foe in France and diplomats in England. Though the derring-do is sometimes melodramatic, Horatio Hornblower swiftly becomes engrossing and suspenseful. Credit is due to smart scripts, efficient direction, Gruffud's heroically curly hair, and a superb supporting cast, including Robert Lindsay and Paul McGann (Withnail and I). --Bret Fetzer

Manufacturer: Warner Home Video Brand: Warner Brothers Model: 44980785

Mrs. Miniver (DVD)Greer Garson delivers an Academy Award-winning performance as a British wife and mother whose courage and grace hold her family together through the terror of the World War II German Blitz--Mrs. Miniver. In this film lauded by Prime Minister Winston Churchill, which eloquently captures the hopes of England and America at a time defeat by Nazi Germany seems imminent, Mrs. Kay Miniver (Garson) refuses to allow the war to destroy her family even as she huddles with her children through bombing raids, faces enemy paratroopers and fears for her husband's life as he fights in a string of crushing defeats.]]> A movie doesn't win seven Oscars for nothing. A glowing Greer Garson (Best Actress) commands the screen as Mrs. Miniver, a middle-class British housewife whose strength holds her family together as World War II literally hits their home. Walter Pidgeon as her architect husband seems to be the prototype for future TV dads in this affecting portrait of love--familial and romantic--during war. But the relationship between Mrs. Miniver's college-age son (Richard Ney) and the upper-crust Carol (Best Supporting Actress Teresa Wright) is filled with inherent drama--as the war speeds up their young love, it also has the potential to doom it. The 1942 film, which also won for Best Picture and Best Director, is filled with colorful characters, snappy dialogue, and sensational plot twists. Although you spend much of the movie dreading that one of the Minivers will become...

Manufacturer: HBO Studios Brand: HBO HOME VIDEO

By Dawn's Early Light (DVD)Nuclear war-- a nightmare that may become grim reality for the world in this riveting thriller. When a fanatical group opposed to friendly U.S./Soviet relations explodes a nuclear missile over a Russian city, it begins a chain reaction of accusations and actions that begin the groundwork for WWIII. As the clock ticks toward total nuclear annihilation, the American presidentand the Soviet president race toward a solution, fighting with their own camps as well as with each other. Two air force pilots involved romantically as well as professionally, Cassidy (Powers Boothe) and Moreau (Rebecca de Mornay), are ordered to take their B-52 bomber into the air and await further instruction from the president (Martin Landau). But when it is reported that a bomb has killed the President, pilots Cassidy and Moreau are ordered to perform the "grand tour", the systematic bombing of th ebunkers of all Russian leaders. Can these two follow through on a command that will mark the beginning of the end?]]>

Manufacturer: Warner Home Video Brand: Warner Brothers Model: 7065685

V: The Complete Series (DVD)V, the sensational, highly rated miniseries continues as an action-packed, hour-long series with Marc Singer, Jane Badler and Faye Grant reprising their roles in this science-fiction thriller ablaze with special effects. Slimy, carnivorous reptiles disguised as humans and with a taste for human flesh arrive from outer space, claiming to offer solutions of all mankind's problems. But they really plan to enslave the earth's population and use it for food. Now, a television cameraman named Mike Donovan (Singer) leads a group of resistance fighters ... the last, best hope for the survival of humanity!]]>

Manufacturer: Showtime Ent. Brand: PARAMOUNT - UNI DIST CORP

Based on the popular novel by Jane Yolen, a typical American teenager gets transported back in time and experiences firsthand the horrors of the Holocaust and discovers the meaning of her family’s heritage.

Manufacturer: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Brand: SONY PICTURES HOME ENT

June 6, 1944. 150,000 soldiers, 5,000 ships and 11,000 airplanes. One man's decision. The D-Day invasion - the largest military operation of World War II and the beginning of the end - marked Dwight Ike Eisenhower as one of America's most powerful military leaders. IKE: COUNTDOWN TO D-DAY follows the 90 terrifying days leading up to the invasion as Eisenhower decides the fates of thousands of soldiers while managing complex strategic relationships with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, American General George S. Patton, Britain's Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery and French President Charles de Gaulle. It was a time of no guarantees and certainly no second chances. In this climate, one man, Dwight Eisenhower, pulled the world's leaders together for one of history's most infamous battles. Tom Selleck gives a restrained yet powerful performance as General Dwight D. Eisenhower in Ike: Countdown to D-Day. This made-for-cable feature focuses on the solemn, brilliant but plain-speaking Ike as he fine-tunes, over 90 days, tactical and political concerns involved with the Allies' imminent D-Day invasion of Normandy, i.e., America and Britain's long-awaited joint assault against Nazi-occupied Europe. A strong cast--James Remar as General Omar Bradley, Timothy Bottoms as Ike's assistant, Walter Bedell "Beetle" Smith--anchors the film's mesmerizing, blow-by-blow account of Eisenhower's leadership under the shadow of many uncertainties (predicting the weather for D-Day becomes...

Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD) Brand: MOVIE

The true story of a man who stood up the atrocities in Rwanda and offered his hotel as shelter for thousands of refugees. Over 1 million people were brutally murdered in three months, but this man saved lives one at a time.