The greatest movie ever made? A soldier is sent into the Heart of Darkness to retrieve a commander gone AWOL in an insane reality of tin-pot power, paranoia and inglorious killing. The horror of war is stripped naked in a surreal twilight world. The crew nearly went mad making it, Martin Sheen suffered a heart attack and Coppola flew so far beyond budget that the word 'bankrupt' was nearly redefined. See "Heart of Darkness"... find out more...

The definitive 'Apocalypse Now' (as if the original wasn't pretty definitive) this has nearly an hour of extra footage fleshing out the surreal journey of our central protagonists and, though it brings the film to a whisker short of three and a half hours, much of it explains what happens to the eclectic characters we meet. The cut version of 'Apocalypse Now' stands as one of the most awesome films of modern cinema, anyone who has seen it will inevitably see it again, it's just that now you have find out more...

First Wolfgang Petersen's TV serial was cut to make a highly acclaimed film, nominated for 6 Oscars, but now he has reshot many scenes, added new ones and remastered the sound in order to make a genuine movie. The film follows the crew of a German WW2 U-Boat crew as they co-exist between hunting Allied ships and being prey themselves. The tension, claustrophobia and fear leap out of the screen and the movie successfully avoids any sense of nationalism, a sentiment that would have irredeemably fl find out more...

1941; a Jewish girl witnesses the murder of her family by a Nazi officer and a Jewish American guerrilla team roam Occupied France operating with a Geneva Accord breaking ferocity. find out more...

A truly epic epic and winner of 7 Academy Awards. Lawrence serves British colonial interests during the First World War by uniting the Arabs against the fast collapsing Ottoman Empire. Stupendous cinemascope drama with a cast of thousands and some of cinema's most famous shots; Sheik Ali's emergence from the desert haze and the storming of Aquaba for example. This is the director's cut, a more coherent version than the original cinema release. find out more...

The battle of Iwo Jima from an American perspective of the view of Japanese soldiers, eg 'good' Japanese soldiers are those that had had prior contact with the US. Starting with a contemporary archaeological discovery of a box of unsent letters from Japanese soldiers, we flashback to follow the fortunes of individual soldiers and officers through the horrific and unwinnable battle. Much beloved by 'liberal' US critics.........which has to be a lot better than unbeloved by them. Also check out it find out more...

Guillermo Del Toro's blockbusting tale of a young girl struggling to make sense of the violent world around her was a big 2006 arthouse hit. Continuing his exploration of the impact of the Spanish Civil War on his generation (it was also the backdrop for his excellent ghost story, The Devil's Backbone) Del Toro's fantasy mixes strong horror with fairytale-style aesthetics to great effect, making Ofelia's escape into an imaginary realm a poignant response to the cruel realities of her existence. find out more...

A highly acclaimed and influential account of Algeria's turbulent past made in psuedo-documentary style. The tense plot surrounds the rise of nationalist organisations in '54 and the French government's attempts to quell them. This film was the prototype for most political thrillers of the 1970s. find out more...

A veteran samurai, who has fallen on hard times, answers a village's request for protection from bandits. He gathers 6 other samurai to help him and they teach the townspeople how to defend themselves in return for three small meals a day. The film culminates in a giant battle when 40 bandits attack the village. Considered by many to be one of the greatest films ever made and the inspiration for "The Magnificent Seven", to be enjoyed both by film buffs and action fans. find out more...