Science Fiction & Fantasy VHS Movies
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The NeverEnding Story
List Price: $9.98 Now Only: $8.48 You Save: $ 1.50 (15%)
Category: VHS Movies
 Publisher: Warner Home Video Starring: Noah Hathaway, Barret Oliver, Tami Stronach, Gerald McRaney, Drum Garrett Directed By: Wolfgang Petersen Prices subject to change. Please verify pricing during checkout. |
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Wolfgang Petersen (In the Line of Fire) made his first English-language film with this 1984 fantasy about a boy (Barret Oliver) visualizing the stories of a book he's reading. The imagined tale involves another boy, a warrior (Noah Hathaway), and his efforts to save the empire of Fantasia from a nemesis called the Nothing. Whether or not the scenario sticks in the memory, what does linger are the unique effects, which are not quite like anything else. Plenty of good fairy-tale characters and memorable scenes, and the film even encourages kids to read. --Tom Keogh. |
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The Swan Princess II - Escape From Castle Mountain
List Price: $14.98 Now Only: $13.58 You Save: $ 1.40 (9%)
Category: VHS Movies
Publisher: Turner Home Ent Starring: Michelle Nicastro, Douglas Sills, Jake Williamson, Christy Landers, Donald Sage Mackay Directed By: Richard Rich Prices subject to change. Please verify pricing during checkout. |
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This straight-to-video sequel to The Swan Princess concerns the kidnapping of Prince Derek's mother, a crime that lures the prince into danger himself. Princess Odette can save him--but only if she becomes a swan herself. Even given the lesser ambitions and budgets afforded direct-to-video sequels, it's hard to accept that this boxy, unexciting movie has the same director (Richard Rich) as the fine, first feature in the series. More like a Saturday-morning cartoon than a real film, this is a disappointment, though kids who couldn't care less about scale might get caught up in the story. --Tom Keogh. |
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The Amazing Colossal Man
Price: $38.00
Category: VHS Movies
Publisher: Columbia Tristar Starring: Glenn Langan, Cathy Downs, William Hudson, Larry Thor, James Seay Directed By: Bert I. Gordon Prices subject to change. Please verify pricing during checkout. |
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This straight-to-video sequel to The Swan Princess concerns the kidnapping of Prince Derek's mother, a crime that lures the prince into danger himself. Princess Odette can save him--but only if she becomes a swan herself. Even given the lesser ambitions and budgets afforded direct-to-video sequels, it's hard to accept that this boxy, unexciting movie has the same director (Richard Rich) as the fine, first feature in the series. More like a Saturday-morning cartoon than a real film, this is a disappointment, though kids who couldn't care less about scale might get caught up in the story. --Tom Keogh. |
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Batman (1989)
List Price: $14.98 Now Only: $2.00 You Save: $ 12.98 (87%)
Category: VHS Movies
Publisher: Warner Home Video Starring: Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson, Kim Basinger, Robert Wuhl, Pat Hingle Directed By: Tim Burton Prices subject to change. Please verify pricing during checkout. |
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Thanks to the ambitious vision of director Tim Burton, the blockbuster hit of 1989 delivers the goods despite an occasionally spotty script, giving the caped crusader a thorough overhaul in keeping with the crime fighter's evolution in DC Comics. Michael Keaton strikes just the right mood as the brooding "Dark Knight" of Gotham City; Kim Basinger plays Gotham's intrepid reporter Vicki Vale; and Jack Nicholson goes wild as the maniacal and scene-stealing Joker, who plots a takeover of the city with his lethal Smilex gas. Triumphant Oscar-winning production design by the late Anton Furst turns Batman into a visual feast, and Burton brilliantly establishes a darkly mythic approach to Batman's legacy. Danny Elfman's now-classic score propels the action with bold, muscular verve. --Jeff Shannon. |
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The Hobbit
List Price: $8.98 Now Only: $2.45 You Save: $ 6.53 (73%)
Category: VHS Movies
Publisher: Warner Home Video Starring: Orson Bean, John Huston, Brother Theodore, Cyril Ritchard, Richard Boone Directed By: Arthur Rankin Jr., Jules Bass Prices subject to change. Please verify pricing during checkout. |
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The J.R.R. Tolkien fantasy classic set in Middle-earth was adapted into this excellent 1978 animated feature first broadcast on television. Codirectors Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin Jr., working from a script by Romeo Muller, are faithful to Tolkien's story and for that alone they get big points. The vocal cast can't be improved upon: Orson Bean is perfect as Bilbo Baggins, the timorous hobbit who grows brave on his adventure with the wizard Gandalf (John Huston). |
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The Year Without a Santa Claus
List Price: $9.94 Now Only: $4.71 You Save: $ 5.23 (53%)
Category: VHS Movies
Publisher: Warner Home Video Starring: Shirley Booth, Mickey Rooney, Dick Shawn, George S. Irving, Bob McFadden Directed By: Arthur Rankin Jr., Jules Bass Prices subject to change. Please verify pricing during checkout. |
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Even Santa can suffer a case of the holiday blues. In this 1974 stop-motion holiday family favorite, a sparkly eyed Mrs. Claus (voiced by Shirley Booth) sings and tells about the year her hubby felt too weary and too unappreciated to prepare for his annual Christmas rounds. Mickey Rooney stars as the voice of Santa, a rosy-nosed puppet who travels incognito to Southtown in search of his tiniest reindeer, Vixen, and two well-meaning elves. Seems Mrs. Santa sent them to find proof of Christmas spirit--but all they've discovered is ambivalence about Santa's year off. |
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The Indian In The Cupboard
List Price: $9.95 Now Only: $2.50 You Save: $ 7.45 (75%)
Category: VHS Movies
Publisher: Sony Pictures Starring: Hal Scardino, Litefoot, Lindsay Crouse, Richard Jenkins, Rishi Bhat Directed By: Frank Oz Prices subject to change. Please verify pricing during checkout. |
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Young Hal Scardino stars as a sensitive boy who discovers a way to bring plastic toys to life in a locked cupboard. One of those toys, a 19th-century Iroquois warrior (played by actor Litefoot), was actually a real warrior now only several inches tall. A bond eventually develops between boy and warrior, and a six-shooting toy cowboy (David Keith). As with E.T. |
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Somewhere in Time
List Price: $14.98 Now Only: $1.70 You Save: $ 13.28 (89%)
Category: VHS Movies
Publisher: Universal Studios Starring: Christopher Reeve, Jane Seymour, Christopher Plummer, Teresa Wright, Bill Erwin Directed By: Jeannot Szwarc Prices subject to change. Please verify pricing during checkout. |
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It's silly, it's superficial, it's so desperately earnest about its tale of time-spanning love that you almost wish for a cheap flatulence gag just to break the solemn mood. But there's something so unabashedly gushy and entertaining about Somewhere in Time that you can't begrudge its enduring popularity. The film has become a staple of romantic-movie lovers since its release in 1980, and endless showings on cable TV have turned it into a dubious classic of sorts--a three-hanky weeper that anyone can enjoy as a guilty pleasure or a beloved favorite, with no apologies necessary. In his first film after the star-making success of Superman, Christopher Reeve stars as a contemporary playwright who visits a posh hotel and sees the portrait of an actress (Jane Seymour) who had performed there in 1912. |
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Short Circuit
List Price: $9.98 Now Only: $4.39 You Save: $ 5.59 (56%)
Category: VHS Movies
Publisher: 20th Century Fox Starring: Ally Sheedy, Steve Guttenberg, Fisher Stevens, Austin Pendleton, G.W. Bailey Directed By: John Badham Prices subject to change. Please verify pricing during checkout. |
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John Badham's family-oriented adventure comedy, though obviously hatched in the wake of E.T. and Star Wars, manages to create its own identity through a sweet tone and an affectionate sense of fun. Military robot Number 5, a well-armed killing machine, is zapped by lightning during a test and emerges with a consciousness, curiosity, a wacky sense of humor, and a new peace-loving philosophy. Ally Sheedy (who debuted in Badham's hit WarGames) is the animal lover whose home is sanctuary for a zoo-full of strays and who adopts the adolescent robot. |
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Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (Commemorative 30th Anniversary Edition)
List Price: $9.94 Now Only: $2.18 You Save: $ 7.76 (78%)
Category: VHS Movies
Publisher: MGM Home Entertainment Starring: Dick Van Dyke, Sally Ann Howes, Lionel Jeffries, Benny Hill, Gert Fröbe Directed By: Ken Hughes Prices subject to change. Please verify pricing during checkout. |
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This remastered, pan-and-scan 30th-anniversary edition of that kiddie-car caper is flawed but solid family fare. It retains a quaint charm while some of the songs--including the title tune--are quite hummable. A huge plus is Dick Van Dyke, who is extremely appealing as an eccentric inventor around the turn of the century. With nimble fingers and a unique way of looking at the world, he invents for his children a magic car that floats and flies. |
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