This is the best of the recent Vietnam films and certainly one of the best war films ever. Brutal and black, realistic and terrifying, it portrays the systematic dehumanization of training and the resulting horror of actual war. Unreservedly acclaimed by the critics, this masterpiece must be seen. find out more...

The definitive gangster-epic; violent? Yes, but never mindless. The Jewish Mafia's coming of age on the Lower East Side in 1923, their rise to wealth during Prohibition, and their fall in 1933, provide the background to a story of friendship and betrayal, love and death. Leone's masterful cinematography evokes both the harshness of the vice-ridden decades before and after Prohibition, but also the philosophy behind it. Splendid performances by De Niro and Woods and a stupendous score by Ennio Mo find out more...

Oliver Stone's autobiographical account of life at the front in Vietnam deservedly swept the Oscars. It is particularly strong in portraying the tensions within the army social group between the brutal all-American rednecks and the more liberally inclined cynics. 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...

Born in New Orleans, abandoned and adopted on the day of the end of WWI, Benjamin Button is a medical mystery. Entering life as a physically old man, over the course of his remarkable existence he rejuvenates to infancy. He has a unique, poignant, but also joyous, perspective on the world around him. Very loosely adapted from F Scott Fitzgerald's excellent short story of the same title, 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button' is a beautifully visualised and whimsical tale that drifts through the e find out more...

The story of three steel workers caught up in the Vietnam war. Concentrates as much on the shattering effect on their families as much as on the conflict itself. This emotionally charged movie kicked off America's self-examination of this shameful episode in it's history. Stunningly powerful. Won Best Picture at 1978 Academy Awards. find out more...

Adapted from a story by Stephen King, this is the best prison movie you'll ever see. A city banker's life is changed forever when he receives a double life sentence in the notorious Shawshank prison. Freeman is superb as the old-timer who befriends him. A powerfully uplifting tale with a twist. find out more...