12 best defence dvds

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Public Enemy, The (DVD)

James Cagney created his career-defining role in William Wellman's landmark gangster movie also starring Jean Harlow, Mae Clarke, and Joan Blondell. The film, which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Writing, Screenplay, traces the rise and fall of prohibition-era mobster Tom Powers. From his childhood corrupted by the beer hall, pool parlor, and false friends, to his adulthood as a henchman of ruthless but innately decent bootlegger Paddy Ryan, Tom rises to the top of the heap, with all the accoutrements of success: custom-tailored tuxedoes, fancy cars, and gorgeous girls. But fate soon takes Tom down another path. Tommy's degeneration from brash kid to vicious lowlife is brought home in a famous scene in which he smashes a grapefruit in the face of his latest mistress (Mae Clarke).

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Questions are answered and truths are revealed. Learn how Henchman 21 copes with life without 24. See what happens when Brock and the Venture family are forced to part ways. Discover the final fate of H.E.L.P.eR. And all the while, the balance of the free world hangs in the hands of Dean Venture, who must kill Hitler.

The Venture Bros. continues its relentless march towards absurd brilliance with this second volume of its fourth season, which unfolds in a dizzying blend of conspiracy theories, convoluted psycho-dramas, maturity rituals, and at least one musical number. The brothers themselves--hapless Dean and thoughtless Hank--continue to grow up (whether they like it or not), with Dean taking on an internship with Professor Impossible (voiced by Bill Hader) that proves to be more than just a resume builder, and Hank joining the ranks of manhood in a particularly unpleasant manner while investigating his surly pal Dermott's parentage. Both episodes ("Bright Lights, Dean City" and "Everybody Comes to Hank's") are note-perfect examples of what makes the Venture Bros. such a pleasure: clever (but never self-satisfied) writing with a keen understanding of the show's comic book-pop culture roots and just the right blend of crassness and wit. The season's other highlight is its hour-long conclusion, "Operation P.R.O.M.," which brings the season's entire, labyrinthine story arcs to a finale that is fitting, a bit touching, and completely unhinged. Elsewhere, viewers learn along with Doc Venture (James Urbaniak) about the hideous slang term attached to his name, while Brock Samson (Patrick Warburton), Sergeant Hatred (Christopher McCulloch, a.k.a. series cocreator Jackson Publick), and Henchman 21 (cocreator Doc Hammer) resolve some long-standing emotional conflicts. It's a rare thing for a series to continue to grow and even blossom in its fourth season, but The Venture Bros. does both, in its own very odd but charming ways.

Extras on the two-disc Vol. 2 set are, like its predecessor, slim but entertaining: Publick and Hammer provide amusing commentaries for each of the eight episodes in the set, and there's a smattering of inconsequential deleted scenes. Actor Toby Huss, who voices the deeply deluded General Triester, is featured in a segment that has him providing a number of different readings on a line of dialogue, and the set includes several promotional spots for the show during its original broadcast. Viewers should know that the episodes in Vol. 2 are presented uncut, which means that the ridiculously grotesque definitions for a "Rusty Venture" are unbleeped; it's an unfortunate choice, as the adult language tends to cheapen the show's humor. --Paul Gaita

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Batman Begins:



Batman Begins explores the origins of the Batman legend and the Dark Knight's emergence as a force for good in Gotham. In the wake of his parents' murder, disillusioned industrial heir Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) travels the world seeking the means to fight injustice and turn fear against those who prey on the fearful. He returns to Gotham and unveils his alter-ego: Batman, a masked crusader who uses his strength, intellect and an array of high tech deceptions to fight the sinister forces that threaten the city.



The Dark Knight:



The follow-up to Batman Begins, The Dark Knight reunites director Christopher Nolan and star Christian Bale, who reprises the role of Batman/Bruce Wayne in his continuing war on crime. With the help of Lt. Jim Gordon and District Attorney Harvey Dent, Batman sets out to destroy organized crime in Gotham for good. The triumvirate proves effective, but soon find themselves prey to a rising criminal mastermind known as The Joker, who thrusts Gotham into anarchy and forces Batman closer to crossing the fine line between hero and vigilante. Heath Ledger stars as archvillain The Joker, and Aaron Eckhart plays Dent. Maggie Gyllenhaal joins the cast as Rachel Dawes. Returning from Batman Begins are Gary Oldman as Gordon, Michael Caine as Alfred and Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox.



The Dark Knight Rises:



It has been eight years since Batman vanished into the night, turning, in that instant, from hero to fugitive. Assuming the blame for the death of D.A. Harvey Dent, the Dark Knight sacrificed everything for what he and Commissioner Gordon both hoped was the greater good. For a time the lie worked, as criminal activity in Gotham City was crushed under the weight of the anti-crime Dent Act. But everything will change with the arrival of a cunning cat burglar with a mysterious agenda. Far more dangerous, however, is the emergence of Bane, a masked terrorist whose ruthless plans for Gotham drive Bruce out of his self-imposed exile. But even if he dons the cape and cowl again, Batman may be no match for Bane.

Review

Batman Begins:



Batman Begins discards the previous four films in the series and recasts the Caped Crusader as a fearsome avenging angel. That's good news, because the series, which had gotten off to a rousing start under Tim Burton, had gradually dissolved into self-parody by 1997's Batman & Robin. As the title implies, Batman Begins tells the story anew, when Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) flees Western civilization following the murder of his parents. He is taken in by a mysterious instructor named Ducard (Liam Neeson in another mentor role) and urged to become a ninja in the League of Shadows, but he instead returns to his native Gotham City resolved to end the mob rule that is strangling it. But are there forces even more sinister at hand?

Cowritten by the team of David S. Goyer (a veteran comic book writer) and director Christopher Nolan (Memento), Batman Begins is a welcome return to the grim and gritty version of the Dark Knight, owing a great debt to the graphic novels that preceded it. It doesn't have the razzle dazzle, or the mass appeal, of Spider-Man 2 (though the Batmobile is cool), and retelling the origin means it starts slowly, like most "first" superhero movies. But it's certainly the best Bat-film since Burton's original, and one of the best superhero movies of its time. Bale cuts a good figure as Batman, intense and dangerous but with some of the lightheartedness Michael Keaton brought to the character. Michael Caine provides much of the film's humor as the family butler, Alfred, and as the love interest, Katie Holmes (Dawson's Creek) is surprisingly believable in her first adult role. Also featuring Gary Oldman as the young police officer Jim Gordon, Morgan Freeman as a Q-like gadgets expert, and Cillian Murphy as the vile Jonathan Crane. --David Horiuchi

The Dark Knight:

The Dark Knight arrives with tremendous hype (best superhero movie ever? posthumous Oscar for Heath Ledger?), and incredibly, it lives up to all of it. But calling it the best superhero movie ever seems like faint praise, since part of what makes the movie great--in addition to pitch-perfect casting, outstanding writing, and a compelling vision--is that it bypasses the normal fantasy element of the superhero genre and makes it all terrifyingly real. Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) is Gotham City's new district attorney, charged with cleaning up the crime rings that have paralyzed the city. He enters an uneasy alliance with the young police lieutenant, Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman), and Batman (Christian Bale), the caped vigilante who seems to trust only Gordon--and whom only Gordon seems to trust. They make progress until a psychotic and deadly new player enters the game: the Joker (Heath Ledger), who offers the crime bosses a solution--kill the Batman. Further complicating matters is that Dent is now dating Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal, after Katie Holmes turned down the chance to reprise her role), the longtime love of Batman's alter ego, Bruce Wayne.

In his last completed role before his tragic death, Ledger is fantastic as the Joker, a volcanic, truly frightening force of evil. And he sets the tone of the movie: the world is a dark, dangerous place where there are no easy choices. Eckhart and Oldman also shine, but as good as Bale is, his character turns out rather bland in comparison (not uncommon for heroes facing more colorful villains). Director-cowriter Christopher Nolan (Memento) follows his critically acclaimed Batman Begins with an even better sequel that sets itself apart from notable superhero movies like Spider-Man 2 and Iron Man because of its sheer emotional impact and striking sense of realism--there are no suspension-of-disbelief superpowers here. At 152 minutes, it's a shade too long, and it's much too intense for kids. But for most movie fans--and not just superhero fans--The Dark Knight is a film for the ages. --David Horiuchi

The Dark Knight Rises:

Of all the "most anticipated" movies ever claiming that title, it's hard to imagine one that has caused so much speculation and breathless expectation as Christopher Nolan's final chapter to his magnificently brooding Batman trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises. Though it may not rise to the level of the mythic grandeur of its predecessor, The Dark Knight Rises is a truly magnificent work of cinematic brilliance that commandingly completes the cycle and is as heavy with literary resonance as it is of-the-moment insight into the political and social affairs unfolding on the world stage. That it is also a full-blown and fully realized epic crime drama packed with state-of-the-art action relying equally on immaculate CGI fakery and heart-stopping practical effects and stunt work makes its entree into blockbuster history worthy of all the anticipation and more. It deserves all the accolades it will get for bringing an opulently baroque view of a comic book universe to life with sinister effectiveness.

Set eight years after the events of The Dark Knight, TDK Rises finds Bruce Wayne broken in spirit and body from his moral and physical battle with the Joker. Gotham City is at peace primarily because Batman took the fall for Harvey Dent's murder, allowing the former district attorney's memory to remain as a crime-fighting hero rather than the lunatic destructor he became as Two-Face. But that meant Batman's cape and cowl wound up in cold storage--perhaps for good--with only police commissioner Jim Gordon in possession of the truth. The threat that faces Gotham now is by no means new; as deployed by the intricate script that weaves themes first explored in Batman Begins, fundamental conflicts that predate his own origins are at the heart of the ultimate struggle that will leave Batman and his city either triumphant or in ashes. It is one of the movie's greatest achievements that we really don't know which way it will end up until its final exhilarating moments. Intricate may be an understatement in the construction of the script by Nolan and his brother Jonathan. The multilayered story includes a battle for control of Wayne Industries and the decimation of Bruce Wayne's personal wealth; a destructive yet potentially earth-saving clean energy source; a desolate prison colony on the other side of the globe; terrorist attacks against people, property, and the world's economic foundation; the redistribution of wealth to the 99 percent; and a virtuoso jewel thief who is identified in every way except name as Catwoman. Played with saucy fun and sexy danger by Anne Hathaway, Selina Kyle is sort of the catalyst (!) for all the plot threads, especially when she whispers into Bruce's ear at a charity ball some prescient words about a coming storm that will tear Gotham asunder. As unpredictable as it is sometimes hard to follow, the winds of this storm blow in a raft of diverse and extremely compelling new characters (including Selina Kyle) who are all part of a dance that ends with the ballet of a cataclysmic denouement. Among the new faces are Marion Cotillard as a green-energy advocate and Wayne Industries board member and Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a devoted Gotham cop who may lead Nolan into a new comic book franchise. The hulking monster Bane, played by Tom Hardy with powerful confidence even under a clawlike mask, is so much more than a villain (and the toughest match yet for Batman's prowess). Though he ends up being less important to the movie's moral themes and can't really match Heath Ledger's maniacal turn as Joker, his mesmerizing swagger and presence as demonic force personified are an affecting counterpoint to the moral battle that rages within Batman himself. Christian Bale gives his most dynamic performance yet as the tortured hero, and Michael Caine (Alfred), Gary Oldman (Gordon), and Morgan Freeman (Lucius Fox) all return with more gravitas and emotional weight than ever before. Then there's the action. Punctuated by three or four magnificent set pieces, TDKR deftly mixes the cinematic process of providing information with punches of pow throughout (an airplane-to-airplane kidnap/rescue, an institutional terrorist assault and subsequent chase, and the choreographed crippling of an entire city are the above-mentioned highlights). The added impact of the movie's extensive Imax footage ups the wow factor, all of it kinetically controlled by Nolan and his top lieutenants Wally Pfister (cinematography), Hans Zimmer (composer), Lee Smith (editor), and Nathan Crowley and Kevin Kavanaugh (production designers). The best recommendation TDKR carries is that it does not leave one wanting for more. At 164 minutes, there's plenty of nonstop dramatic enthrallment for a single sitting. More important, there's a deep sense of satisfaction that The Dark Knight Rises leaves as the fulfilling conclusion to an absorbing saga that remains relevant, resonant, and above all thoroughly entertaining. --Ted Fry

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At a charity gambling benefit aboard the S.S. Fortune, the tables are hot, the jazz is hotter and, before you know it, a bandleader’s body is growing cold. They’re playing your song, Nick and Nora Charles! William Powell and Myrna Loy return as the married sleuths, rousting suspects out of bed for 4 A.M. interrogations while trying to fathom the bebop argot of ’40s jazz jive. Speaking of their renowned screen chemistry, Loy once said: “It wasn’t a conscious thing. If you heard us talking in a room, you’d hear the same thing. He’d tease me, and there was a sort of blending which seemed to please people.” Decades later, people are still pleased. The melody of Song of the Thin Man and the entire beloved series lingers on.

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Donovan's Reef (DVD)

Acclaimed director John Ford and screen legend John Wayne team up for wh at would be their final collaboration in this boisterous, ro wdy South S eas escapade. The Duke, Lee Marvin and Jack Warden play World War II na vy buddies who have made the French Polynesian is land of Haleakaloha th eir post-war paradise. Local headquarters is Donovan’s Reef, Wayne’s ro ugh-and-tumble watering hole where bra gging, brawling, and full-blown m isbehavior are the order of the day. But destined to create more turmoil than any barroom fisticuf fs is the sudden arrival of Elizabeth Allen, a straight-laced Boston blue blood. She’s hoping to locate her long-est ranged father ( Warden), affirm that he is “not of good moral character, ” and then assume control of the family’s shipping dynasty back home in the States. Suave, debonair Cesar Romero and a sarong-clad Dorothy Lamo ur add to the laughs – and mayhem – in this tropical comedy trea t.

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They were defiant. They were determined. They were not going down without a fight. With the whole world watching, these men stood up to the Ku Klux Klan and changed their lives, their town, and their country forever . . . the moving, inspirational,

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Eat Food. Not Too Much. Mostly Plants. With those seven words, journalist Michael Pollan distills a careers worth of reporting into a prescription for reversing the damage being done to peoples health by todays industrially-driven Western diet. Pollan offers a clear answer to one of the most urgent questions of our time: What should I eat to be healthy?

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Caught in the upheaval when the Raiders begin attacks against the city of New Haven, Alec joins the team that forms the thin line of defense. Slowed by a physical handicap and resistance from members of the team, Alec must choose where to focus his efforts if he is to keep his job with the force, and if they are to stop the Raiders from destroying the city. Join Alec, Eddie, Pete, and the crew as they battle through perilous adventures, hilarious mishaps, and tear-jerking moments in this allegorical story filled with fun, humor, and a reminder of the importance of Gods Word in our life.

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Features over 2 1/2 hours of content on 2 DVDs. Skills and drills; full review of everything you learned at camp!

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Thousands and thousands of lines have been written about defense against knives in the world of experts on real combat. The video that we have recorded with Sergeant Wagner is a master lesson reflecting the other side of reality—the streets; rough and tough. This material will definitely have many who thought they knew it all talking...Jim will show you how he performed in front of the professionals of Europe, and if they do not follow his steps, they will simply be...dead.Language: English, Spanish, Italian, French

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In this DVD, you will be presented with numerous defense techniques against an aggressor armed with a gun, all demonstrated by experts from different countries: France, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Spain, and all of them belong to the World Krav Maga Federation. Of course, keep in mind that the best possible defense against a gun remains running away, especially for beginners. Firearms are extremely dangerous from any distance but if you do not have any other choice than confrontation, then it is important to know effective and appropriate techniques that could make a difference. You will be shown how to disarm your opponent whenever it is possible and also how to use your environment to protect yourself. You will study techniques in standing, sitting or prone positions, with medium, short and long range threats from the front, from the side or from behind, you will also see how to defend another person from threats to the head, to the chest, to the abdomen. The purpose of these techniques is obviously to survive a threat, but also to lower the probability of getting hurt by showing you how to make the right decision and take as little risk as you can.



Languages: French - English - German - Spanish - Italian

Extra Features: Photo gallery - Trailers.