Robert Altman's anti-establishment comedy is set during the Korean War but actually satirises the US Vietnam war effort. Based on a novel by Richard Hooker and following the fortunes of a group of rebellious surgeons stationed in a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH) during the Korean war, M*A*S*H is actually a thinly veiled indictment of the Vietnam conflict (Altman removed all references to Korea just to be sure). With its grainy, washed-out colours and documentary style camera-work, Altman has created a film that looks like authentic newsreel footage. The largely improvised script drips with sarcasm, and Sutherland and Gould spark off each other with rapier wit and devastating put-downs.

Buy the DVD >       Read the review >

Russell Crowe stars as the captain of a British warship, obsessively hunting down a superior French vessel in this nautical 19th century adventure directed by Peter Weir. Russell Crowe stars as "Lucky" Jack Aubrey, captain of HMS Surprise, a Royal Navy ship patrolling off the coast of Brazil. Her orders are to "intercept French Privateer Acheron", which has been harrying British interests in the area. Weir and his special effects team have done wonders with the battle sequences, which are terrifying, tense and evocative.

Buy the DVD >       Read the review >       Read our feature >

Originally commissioned by the wartime Ministry of Information to bolster relations between Britain and the US, Powell's compassionate and technically superb film about a pilot who cheats death has come to be regarded as a masterpiece in its own right. David Niven is Peter Carter, an RAF pilot (and poet) who bails out of his plane over the Channel. By a clerical error on the part of the angel (Marins Goring) due to escort him to heaven, Peter survives long enough to meet and fall in love with a young US woman (Kim Hunter), with whom he had been in radio contact in his fateful, fatal flight. As his life hangs in the balance, Peter appears before a celestial court to plea for another shot at life.

Buy the DVD >       Read the review >       Read our feature >

This timely paean to England became emblematic of how Americans saw the British under bombardment during the Second World War; Greer Garson, in the title role, represented indomitable English womanhood defying the Blitz. Illustrating the impact of war on the British people, specifically the middle-classes, this warm-hearted film won Best Picture, Best Actress and Best Director Oscars.

Buy the DVD >       Read the review >