Viking and alien worlds collide on Blu-ray and DVD on 31 August when Momentum Pictures awakens the beast in Outlander. In 709AD, a space craft streaks across the night sky and crash lands in a Norwegian fjord. From its wreckage emerge, Kainan (Jim Caviezel) a soldier from a far away planet and a deadly alien stowaway, the Moorwen. Before he has a chance to track down the Moorwen, Kainan is captured by Viking warrior, Wulfric (Jack Huston) and held prisoner in the local village led by King Rothgar (John Hurt).

Grudgingly accepted into the clan after saving Rothgar's life, Kainan confides in Rothgar's fiercely beautiful daughter, Freya (Sophia Myles) about his past. As the Moorwen wreaks terror and destruction on neighbouring villages, the threat of conflict between the clans escalates and Kainan is called upon to kill the creature.

Aware of their prey's strength, Kainan and Wulfric fuse advanced alien technology with Viking Iron Age weaponry. Joining forces with the bloodthirsty Gunnar (Ron Perlman), they lead one last mission to seek out and slay the Moorwen. In the face of the Viking's destruction, the tale of Kainan becomes legend.

Described as a cross between Alien and Beowulf, this exhilarating event-status battle of two worlds is brought to you by the producers of The Lord Of The Rings trilogy and features special effects from the teams behind Pitch Black, I, Robot and 10,000 B.C.

Available on DVD and Blu-ray, the film is accompanied on both formats by a Viking army of special features including an audio commentary, making of featurette, deleted scenes, visual effects tests, animatics, artwork galleries and a trailer.

Thanks to our friends at Momentum Pictures we have five copies of Outlander on Blu-ray to give away. To be in with a chance of winning, click the button below and answer a simple question:

Outlander is available on DVD and Blu-ray from 31 August, courtesy of Momentum Pictures

Following a thrilling first season crackling with murder, corruption, greed and betrayal, legal drama Damages is back with season two, centring on Ellen Parsons’ (Rose Byrne) struggles to deal with her fiancé’s murder and those she holds responsible – Arthur Frobisher (Ted Danson) and Patty Hewes (Glenn Close). As they work every angle to shield their own misdeeds while undermining friends and foes alike, Ellen is drawn deeper into a series of traps in which loyalty and trust are sacrificed and Patty pulls all the strings as she seeks justice for her clients. Season two adds to an already impressive cast list, thanks to star turns from Timothy Olyphant and William Hurt.

Damages: Season 2 is released on 31 August by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. To celebrate, we’ve a top prize to give away. One winner will scoop a Sony Blu-ray player, a 26-inch Sony Bravia LCD TV and a copy of the first two seasons (the first on Blu-ray, the second on DVD). Five runners up will also bag copies of the discs.

For more information on Damages visit the official Sony Pictures website.

To be in with a chance of winning, click the button below and answer a simple question:

Guillermo Del Toro calls it “The Woodstock of gore”. And the UK’s number one horror and fantasy film festival marks its tenth year with over 30 premieres and a move to the country’s largest screen.

The Film4 FrightFest 2009 celebrates 10 years of chills, thrills and kills by moving to the Empire Cinema, Leicester Square to serve up its distinctive and controversial mix of must-see and yet-to-be discovered genre movies from around the world.

From Thurs 27 August to Monday 31 August, 35 new films will play over two screens, with Empire 1 housing the main event and the FrightFest Discovery section playing in Empire 4. You can find a full list of films in both venues on the Film4 FrightFest website. This year 12 countries are represented across four continents and there are a record 11 world premieres and 15 UK premieres.

British horror scores heavily, as the festival opens with the world premiere of Christopher Smith’s shocker Triangle and the closing night finale sees the world premiere of The Descent: Part Two.

Fans of An American Werewolf In London will get the chance to meet John Landis, who is attending the festival with the cast, to present a fully restored version of the classic and a new documentary feature.

“Film4 FrightFest's tenth anniversary is a major validation for horror fantasy,” says Alan Jones, joint director of FrightFest. “FrightFest's mandate has always been to showcase the best the genre has to offer and this year we can do that on an even better scale on the UK's biggest screen at the Empire cinema, Leicester Square, and in our FrightFest Discovery strand focusing on the gems of the future."

Full festival passes cost £140, with day passes priced at £21.50 and single tickets at £10.

Tickets are available by calling 08714 714 714 or by visiting the Empire website.

Main Programme – Empire 1
Thursday 27 August
18.30 Triangle (World Premiere)
21.15 The Hills Run Red (UK Premiere)
23.15 Infestation (UK premiere)

Friday 28 August
11.00 The Horseman
13.45 Beware The Moon: Remembering An American Werewolf In London (World Premiere)
16.15 An American Werewolf In London (World Premiere of the fully restored version)
19.30 Shadow (World Premiere)
21.40 The Horde (Special Sneak Preview)

Saturday 29 August
11.30 Smash Cut (UK Premiere)
13.45 Hierro (UK Premiere)
15.45 Millennium: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (UK Premiere)
19.00 Giallo (London Premiere)
21.00 Trick ‘R Treat (UK premiere)
23.15 Vampire Girl Vs. Frankenstein Girl (UK Premiere)

Sunday 30 August
11.30 Dead Snow (UK Premiere)
13.45 The Human Centipede (First Sequence) (World Premiere)
15.50 Coffin Rock (World Premiere)
18.45 Night Of The Demons (World Premiere)
21.00 Clive Barker’s Dread (UK Premiere)

Monday 31 August
11.00 Zombie Women Of Satan (World Premiere)
13.15 The House Of The Devil (UK Premiere)
15.30 Case 39 (UK Premiere)
18.30 Heartless (World Premiere)
21.15 The Descent: Part Two (World Premiere)

We had a good old chinwag with Clive Owen when he was promoting The International, which is released on DVD and Blu-ray today. You’ll find a full news interview in Issue 130 of DVD & Blu-ray Review, but here’s a little bit more from the man of action...

Supernatural action-thriller Push tears up the screen with its electrifying FX and non-stop thrills and spills. Chris Evans and Dakota Fanning find themselves in a world of psychic espionage and intrigue, where the gift to move objects using the mind, see into the future and create new realities can turn a person into a lethal weapon – or a target.

And there’s no better way to watch Push than on Sharp’s new BD-HP22H Blu-ray player, a fully hi-def 1080p deck with BD-Live that’s perfect for recreating the full cinema experience. Images are brought to life through x.v. colour technology, so the full spectrum is vivid and defined, while 24Hz video output means action appears smooth and seamless. There’s also powerful 7.1 surround sound from the integrated DTS-HD Master Audio and Dolby TrueHD.

Push is out now on Blu-ray and DVD from Icon Home Entertainment – and we’re giving you the chance to win a Sharp BD-HP22H Blu-ray player and a 32-inch HD Ready Sharp Aquos TV, as well as a copy of Push on Blu-ray. Four runners up will also win a copy of Push on DVD.

To be in with a chance of winning, click the button below and answer a simple question.

Fans of Captain Jack and Captain John rejoice! John Barrowman and James Marsters are set to reunite at the SFX Weekender!

With a full line-up to be announced over coming months, sci-fi legends John Barrowman (Doctor Who, Torchwood) and James Marsters (Angel, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Torchwood) are already signed to appear at the SFX Weekender. Also confirmed are:

• Doctor Who scribe Paul Cornell
• Novelists China Mieville and Robert Rankin
• Hardware director Richard Stanely

Exhibitors and supporters include Manga, Forbidden Planet International, Tor, Gollancz, Diamond Comics Distribution and 2000AD.

As the first fan event of its kind in the UK – the SFX Weekender, which takes place over the weekend of 5 and 6 February 2010 at Pontins in Camber Sands in Sussex, promises the ultimate sci-fi experience with activities for fans – with book readings, big name guests, interviews, Q&A sessions, comic workshops, with videogaming, music and plenty more at one of the UK’s best-loved holiday camps (and Doctor Who fans can pretend they’re re-enacting Delta And The Bannermen).

Fans going to the SFX Weekender will get the chance to fully immerse themselves in the sci-fi culture which made SFX Europe’s bestselling genre magazine and leading website. Fans can get themselves written into a comic strip, get into discussion with their favourite author, chill out at the anime café, get digital art tips, or be amongst the first to see exclusive screenings of film and TV shows.

The SFX Weekender also includes the announcement of the annual SFX Awards – counting votes from thousands of fans for their favourite shows, movies, games, books, comics and stars of 2009.

Full-line up details and timetable will be announced over coming months at the official website. Tickets cost £85 per person and include two nights accommodation with entry into all arenas. Tickets are on sale now at the SFX Weekender website, or by calling 08700 110034. Kids under 12 go for free.

You can also discuss the Weekender on the SFX forum.

There are plenty of magic motors out there in movie land – Bond’s underwater Lotus Esprit, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Speed Racer’s Mach 5 – but we’d rather salute those who keep their wheels in mint condition. In honour of today's release of Gran Torino, here's The Blagger's Guide To... Looking After Cars.

Mr Miyagi (The Karate Kid)
Get the local kid who’s been bothering you for some free martial arts training to ‘wax on’ and ‘wax off’ while you put your feet up.

Arnie Cunningham (Christine)
When choosing a car to restore, pick the possessed red 1958 Plymouth Fury called Christine that heals itself when it gets a scratch.

Morris Frye (Ferris Bueller's Day Off)
Find a 1961 Ferrari 250GT California – tough job, less than 100 were made – and spend three years restoring it. Keep it in tip-top shape by buffing it with a diaper. Just don’t let Cameron’s slacker friend Ferris anywhere near it... oops, too late!

The King of Pop is gone. Michael Jackson, one of the world’s biggest superstars and one of the greatest entertainers of all time, is dead.

He was due to wow crowds with his spectacular “This Is It” mega concert at London’s O2 Arena and had he done so his comeback would have been complete. That’s because Jackson’s achievements almost came crashing down during a child molestation trial.

Wienerworld releases the 76-minute film Michael Jackson – The Trial and Triumph of The King of Pop, looking at the case on the 6 July.

“Due to his sad and untimely passing, this film is perhaps even more moving and poignant as it shows that his fans from all over the world were constantly loyal, always believed in his innocence and never gave up hope that he would emerge victorious,” a Wienerworld spokeswoman said.

The film features Kayne West, Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, Jon Voight, Fantasia, Mo’Nique, Ashford & Simpson, Kim Whitley, Dorien Wilson, Yolanda Adams, Shemar Moore, Terry Lewis, Tom Mesereau, Aphrodite Jones, Linda Deutsch, Jermaine Jackson and Geraldine Hughes.

Five of Jackson's solo albums – Off the Wall, Thriller, Bad, Dangerous and HIStory – are among the top-sellers of all time. During his extraordinary career, he sold an estimated 750 million records worldwide, released 13 number 1 singles and became one of a handful of artists to be inducted twice into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The Guinness Book of World Records recognized Thriller as the Biggest Selling Album of All Time.

Imitation being the sincerest form of flattery, we though we'd share with you the cover of the new issue of free lads' mag Shortlist. Nice one, guys: not only have you ripped off our cover and concept, you're over a week late - the Ghostbusters Blu-ray came out on the 15th...

Review questioned Red Dwarf’s Chris Barrie about his viewing habits and here’s a taster of what he told us. You can find out more in Issue 132, which is in shops 5 August 2009. 

Do you do that thing where you take boxsets of older TV programmes and watch them straight through?
Not really, but then again I don’t watch much TV in general. I will watch things like The Apprentice because it’s on television and my wife is a bit of a TV bird. She’ll watch The Apprentice and Britain’s Got Bloomin’ Talent, which we’ve just all about had enough of. I don’t know about anyone else but I’m just about fed up with it. Radio presenters that you have a lot of respect for start giggling ridiculously in the morning over bloomin’ Stavros Flatley and then you watch it in the evening and you’re disappointed.
There’s this family thing and this whole notion that Britain’s now becoming this blubbing sentimental nation over a middle-aged Scottish woman singing reasonably well. I think this has all happened since the passing of Diana Princess of Wales. We’ve become this nation of blubber-buns, you know? And it’s too much for me. I’ve just got to leave the room, I say ‘OK, enjoy Stavros Flatley’, I just go out of the room. Whereas The Apprentice I can quite sort of see that. Watching Alan Sugar take the mick out of these toe rags.
I’ll watch a bit of sport of course. I watched the match the other night, Man United versus Barcelona. Obviously on Red Dwarf there’s quite a big football thing going on there, with Doug being a Man U man and Craig being a Liverpool man and me being a Chelsea person.

Is there a lot of banter?
There’s quite a bit of banter. The night we were viewing Red Dwarf: Back To Earth, Craig was sending all these texts saying, ‘What are you doing now?’ ‘How’s it going?’ because he couldn’t make it. And then the following night Chelsea beat Liverpool and I sent him a text and funnily enough I didn’t get a reply. So there’s always a bit of footy banter going on.

There were a lot of Blade Runner references in the show. Did you re-watch the film before you started shooting?
We watched various relevant sections of it if we hadn’t seen it in recent times. But yes, I thought that was very clever.

Were you surprised that Spitting Image found a second life on DVD?
I find it odd that they would bring that back on DVD bearing in mind that it was so topical. It seems like it’s vintage television now. People want to see it for the sake of recalling television of the era and what really happened in the news is almost incidental. But that really does bring back the past.

There’s a brilliant question you can clear up from the forums at the IMdB. You’re not in Valkyrie are you? 
No I’m not in Valkyrie. Don’t talk to me about Nazi uniforms. I went to a WWII party three or four years ago now and I actually dressed up as a Second World War dispatch rider from the British Army. But a few friends of mine went as SS officers and their personalities changed almost within a second of putting on that hat and those black gloves and those jackboots. I don’t know where they got them from either, but they swear that they hired them. I think a little rummage around their wardrobes would reveal them. [Laughs]
But they started to walk down the high street in the middle of the road and I’m thinking, ‘What the hell? This is power gone mad here!’ I tell you what, it was a good uniform that they had but thank god they didn’t take over our country. But no, it’s not me in Valkyrie.

Red Dwarf: Back To Earth is available now on DVD and Blu-ray

America’s favourite paranormal psychologists are back to save the world, this time with unsurpassed picture and audio quality and advanced new bonus features!

To celebrate the release of Ghostbusters on Blu-ray we’ve got 10 copies of the high-def discs, plus a goodie bag stuffed with Ghostbusters gear.

For a chance to win, click the button below and answer a 'Busters-related question:

The one thing you love that nobody else will admit to liking.

Intern Ben Lamb defends Daredevil...

The Oscar and BAFTA award-winning Slumdog Millionaire is released today and there are a couple of announcements relating to the film – one we like, one we think is a bit insensitive (and that’s putting it mildly).

First up, news that supermarket chain Tesco will donate £1 from the sale price of every Slumdog Millionaire DVD to Railway Children. The charity works directly with kids on the streets of India and Tesco expects its donation to reach up to £200,000.

"Slumdog Millionaire has really helped to boost awareness of our work because the characters are exactly the type of children we help,” says Dave Ellis, corporate partnerships manager at Railway Children. "There is no happy ending for the majority of the 12 million street children in India. We work every day to change this shocking statistic."

Meanwhile, the PR company behind the DVD release is publicising it by announcing a £2,000 curry.

“Who wants to eat a (Slumdog) Millionaire curry?” asks the press release. “Food lovers who enjoy the finest tastes in life will be salivating at the new and exclusive £2,000 millionaire curry launched today to celebrate the release of Slumdog Millionaire on Blu-ray and DVD.”

For a limited period, the “mesmerising dish” Samundari Khazana – created by Chef Phalad Hedge from London’s Bombay Brasserie – is set to go on the menu as “the most prized and expensive meal at a whopping £2,000”.

Initial reactions from the Review team:
"Misguided PR stunt of the day - how long could one of those slum kids live on £2,000, I wonder?"
"A breathtaking combination of stupidity and insensitivity. Bravo!"

If you think there are times when you’re barking up the wrong tree, spare a thought for canine TV star Bolt. This modern-day action hero (voiced by John Travolta) has been raised on the set of a hit television show and believes he has amazing powers – like a devastating Superbark! But when he’s accidentally shipped to New York City, Bolt’s daredevil stunts no longer go according to plan.

As reality begins to challenge his delusions, Bolt learns his whole life has been a lie. Or has it? Amid the adversity and hard knocks, Bolt will discover that a dog’s true superpower lies in his loyalty to the owner he loves.

Bolt is yours to own on Disney Blu-ray and DVD on 15 June and to celebrate the release we’ve got a top competition prize to give away. One lucky winner will take home a Sony Blu-ray player and a Sony Bravia 32-inch HD Ready LCD TV, as well as a copy of Bolt on sparkling high-definition Blu-ray. Meanwhile, 10 runners up will also scoop a copy of Bolt on Blu-ray. For more information on the film visit www.disneydvds.co.uk.

To be in with a chance of winning, click the button below and answer a simple question.