With some highly anticipated, potential mega-hits coming out this summer, including Alien semi-prequel Prometheus and The Dark Knight Rises, along with the recently released Avengers Assemble, we thought we would find the Top 10 Favourite Films of All Time, as voted by our readers.

We expected some people would dodge the obvious and somewhat clichéd classics, like Citizen Kane, Lawrence of Arabia and, of course, Piranha 3D. We didn’t expect such a great mix of movies, with horror, comedy, action and romance all getting a look-in.

Yes, the big winner is perhaps expected, but there are some surprises in there, and we think it shows the continued diversity of both modern cinema and the UK’s own film fanatics.

So without further rambling, here is the list, counting down from 10.

10. Blade Runner

Ridley Scott’s revolutionary sci-fi smash-hit, based on Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, saw Harrison Ford’s Deckard chase down replicants in a dystopian future. Rutger Hauer gave Han Solo a sound hiding, and Sean Young was great as reluctant replicant Rachael.

9. Alien

Ridley again, and with his success rate for sci-fi it seems guaranteed that upcoming Alien prequel-of-sorts Prometheus should be a classic. This 1979 game-changer is often credited with revolutionising the heroine character, as well as introducing the surprise-shock ending which has become a stalwart in horror. And who could forget that famous chest-burster scene? Grim.

8. The Goonies

The Goonies, helmed by Superman and Lethal Weapon director Richard Donner, featured a young Samwise Gamgee (also known as Sean Astin) and friends trying to find the lost fortune of One-Eyed Willie. You wouldn’t need three guesses to work out that Spielberg is heavily involved behind the scenes in this charming family adventure.

7. The Notebook

This surprise entry doesn’t so much tug at the heartstrings, as yank at them incessantly whilst showing you pictures of kittens. Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams do the unrequited, forbidden love thing, then mum gets angry, then the two separate for years only to stumble upon each other, both faced with a great decision to make. But who is telling the story?

6. Crash (2004)

Not to be mistaken with Cronenberg’s mid-nineties gag reflex test of the same name, Crash is an inventive, compelling and beautifully crafted examination of racial prejudices, told through several intertwining stories set in Los Angeles. It really is a modern classic; funny, gripping, engaging, unpredictable and original, Paul Haggis’ movies is simply a must-see, with stellar performances from the likes of Don Cheadle, Sandra Bullock, Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges, Matt Dillon, Ryan Phillippe and Thandie Newton.

5. The Godfather

The only shock here is that this movie isn’t closer to first place. Al Pacino, Marlon Brando and James Caan deliver performances to match the epic nature of arguably the best gangster movie of all time (although many believe The Godfather Part II is in fact the superior effort). Pacino’s Michael Corleone reluctantly accepts the task of heading up ‘the family’, following an attempt on dear old dad’s life, and what follows is an incredible story where love, loyalty and violence clash relentlessly. Look out for those oranges.

4. Dirty Dancing

Perhaps as much to do with the soundtrack as the actual film, Dirty Dancing performs very well on our list, and this 80s’ favourite set in the 60s captured that coming-of-age in the summertime feeling. Jennifer Grey stars as sheltered teenager Baby, who takes more than a shine to Patrick Swayze’s amusingly-named Johnny Castle. Needless to say, they do a lot of dirty dancing.

3. Terminator 2: Judgement Day

James Cameron proves, without question, that you can make a sequel that surpasses the original. The Terminator, which saw a cyborg sent back through time to kill the mother of the leader of the human race, was a lively, entertaining brutal slab of action, but Terminator 2 was a whole new breed of movie.

Packed with great lines, groundbreaking effects, stunning action and a brilliantly contrasting hero and villain double act with ultra-butch Arnie against Robert Patrick’s streamlined, shape-shifting T-1000, this film was a belting smash-hit worldwide. The drama was intense, the visual were immense, the one-liners offered great relief and the climax at the lead works was pure popcorn perfection. Absolute class.

2. Forrest Gump

Released to worldwide acclaim in 1994, this award magnet saw Tom Hanks play the eponymous character, a well-meaning, kind-hearted man with below average intelligence whose life has taken him through the heart of an incredible array of famous events. His own compelling personal story is intertwined along the way, as he meets and falls in love with Jenny, cares for his dying mother, meets his son and runs a very, very, very long way. For three years. Random.

1. The Shawshank Redemption

No one can deny this epic story’s claim for top-spot. Stephen King’s short story tells of a man, Andy Dufresne, wrongly accused of his wife’s murder, put away for life, who discovers his skill with numbers can make him a few useful friends on the inside. Andy, portrayed with perfect balance by Tim Robbins, contends with so much; the sickening, violent advances of the Sisters, as well as brutal treatment from the warden and his screws, not to mention the maddening tedium of prison and the bitter taste of his wrongful imprisonment.

Andy is able to survive and even thrive at times, thanks to his trust in hope, close friendship with Red, played by the ever-awesome Morgan Freeman, a little help from a big poster. A stunning score, riveting performances, fluid direction and a breathtaking story all make for possibly the greatest film of all time. Our readers certainly think so.

The tricky aspect is that, in order to do it justice, you would need to launch millions of dollars into each episode, get an absolutely stellar cast from kids to kings, film in genuine settings, structure the story faithfully and brace the audience for something which doesn’t exactly pander to the usual TV conventions. Luckily HBO has embraced the challenge, and now this studio has the best thing on TV either side of the Atlantic.

Prepare for dragons, incest, violence, gore, prostitutes, swords, sorcery, zombies, wolves and a dizzying amount of sneaky deception within the dynastic struggle which serves as the show’s foundation. There is also a eunuch and a dwarf, who are both utterly compelling, genius characters.

King Robert Baratheon sits on the Iron Throne, ruling the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros. He is married to Cersei Lannister, uniting his royal family with riches. Their marriage is loveless, and as he drinks and eats his way to an early grave, she conducts a grim affair with her brother Jaime. Her other brother, Tyrion, is a dwarf, but neutralises any potential ridicule through his sparkling wit and intelligence.

King Robert’s closest friend is Ned Stark, and when the King’s Hand dies suspiciously, the King calls on his friend to serve in the role. This pretty much means Ned will run business whilst Robert gets drunk, sleeps with prostitutes and eats as much food as possible.

At the same time, the son and daughter of the last King find themselves stuck across the Narrow Sea with no army and no friends, but the son Viserys plans to marry off his beautiful sister Daenerys to the head of a brutal army called the Dothraki, and march back to reclaim the Iron Throne.

Finally, a group of dedicated soldiers, called the Night’s Watch, acts as the front line of defence at an 800ft fortification known only as The Wall. Beyond this barrier lie lost men and women called Wildings, as well as an undead group of creatures called White Walkers, and other general weirdness.  And snowy woods.  A lot of snowy woods.

The scope of the show impresses to the extent that each individual episode feels like a big budget movie, but with the kind of class not usually associated with such cinematic popcorn-fare. The calibre of acting is unbelievable, with every child actor putting heart and soul into each line, and the adult cast delivering a pure masterclass every episode without fail. Sean Bean, Mark Addy and Lena Headey will be recognised, but many others seem to be a stream of miraculous finds.

The violence can be brutal, and the sex may seem indulgent, but it all makes for something utterly compelling. Direction, cinematography and costume design are all spot on, and the fact we get a genuinely enticing, exciting cliffhanger every episode is both devastating and brilliant.

Expect surprises. The second season is now on Sky Atlantic, and as one character aptly states, “the night is dark, and full of terrors”. Indeed.

Watch Game of Thrones. It is better than everything else.

DVD Rental Rating: 10/10

The Thing

The original novella Who Goes There? told the story of a vicious shape-shifting alien, which had previously crash landed in Antarctica and frozen in the ice. Discovered by researchers, and subsequently thawed, the creature goes around generally causing chaos, violently murdering the protagonists, ingesting their corpses and imitating them individually, thereby creating a sort of whodunit horror.

In 1951, it was given a typically American movie reinvention, replacing Antarctic researchers with the U.S. Air Force. The Thing From Another World was a hit, but the adaptation was rather loose, and in 1982 John Carpenter stepped in and gave us a an intense horror masterpiece which was far more loyal to its source.

The Thing 1982 took the whodunit horror concept and joyfully played with it for an hour and a half. Kurt Russell was brilliant in the lead role of MacReady, and the creature effects were as elaborate as they were shocking. It was horrific, but heart-pounding fun and a riveting watch, as each character tried to work out who had been infected with The Thing, before meeting a brutal demise. Upon being rumbled, those infected would freak out and split into some kind of deformed mess of filth. Grim.

Now there is a prequel; first and foremost, just calling it The Thing, like its predecessor, was a stupid idea. Moving on, there are two ways of looking at The Thing 2011; either it is a loving and loyal tribute to, and story expansion of, John Carpenter’s 1982 effort of the same name, or it is a horrible cash-in. Although if you want to cash in on a movie, best not to wait 30 years. This has been evidenced by the meagre box office takings.

The Thing prequel tells the story of the research team which discovered the alien; this group was there shortly before Kurt Russell’s MacReady arrived to take part in the grisly madness, and received mention in the 1982 movie.

The story was already set for a prequel, and it’s surprising it took this long to happen. Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Die Hard 4.0, Scott Pilgrim) joins a team of Scandinavian researchers to investigate something they find in the ice. The creature thaws and does a lot of the same stuff that took place in the earlier film.

It’s fast-paced, lively and entertaining, even if it simply hits a lot of the same beats as Carpenter’s movie. It has several nods and homages to that film, but it never feels cheap or pointless. The Thing 2011 loves The Thing 1982, and the respect shown gives this cinematic effort much needed authenticity.

Winstead is excellent; her character is a great contrast of sorts to Russell’s MacReady, and certainly offers shades of a young Ellen Ripley.

The film won’t win awards for originality or scriptwriting, but many of the creature effects are practical instead of CGI which offers a sense of continuity, and the direction is sharp and slick, making for an enjoyable watch.

The Thing is no-thing special, but some-thing well worth watching.

DVD Rental 7/10

So, Breaking Dawn was unlikely to do much except for the fully committed and blinded-by-devotion fans of the series.

Breaking Dawn - Part I sees the eternally depressed Edward and the eternally depressing Bella get married on an island, sleep together and have a baby. There isn’t much more to squeeze out in terms of a premise; the marriage ceremony seems to drag on longer than a German opera, and then they finally have sex, but not without Edward whinging his pitiful way through the process, emanating about as much eroticism as a dead cat.

Bella gets a couple of bruises from their night of vampire-human playtime, and then Edward insists they play chess for the remainder of their honeymoon. Lucky Bella!

We are saved from this nonsense by her pregnancy, but the weird baby-human-vampire inside her is a bit much for her measly pelvis. Jacob is still really upset about her choice, and stumbles through the film looking miserable and being annoying. Much of the same ground is covered, and there is a meagre threat from some of Jacob’s clan.

The performances are abhorrent, with US daytime soap-style line delivery, and a total absence of charisma. Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner are all terrible in slightly different ways, and their little triangle has somehow been stretched out over six hours of achingly dull cinema. The minor shining light is a cameo from the awesome Michael Sheen during a mid-end credits sequence. Too little too late, sadly.

The cinematography continues to be glossy, but this does very little to improve the movie, and the effects still look cheap. The sequences where the wolves talk to each other telepathically, whilst growling and staring each other out, are unintentionally laughable, which at least fits with the quality of the acting.  The film picks up marginally towards the end as some stuff actually happens, but it’s ultimately as disappointing as Bella’s honeymoon.

The blatant monetary motive behind splitting the film into two parts is evidenced by the sheer lack of story stretched painfully throughout this fist abysmal effort.

‘Imprinting’ is introduced in Breaking Dawn – Part I, which happens when a shape-shifter finds their soul-mate, regardless of age or species. Let’s just say this leads to something horrendously creepy that will test your gag reflex.

The only thing that has imprinted on us after watching this movie is the desire to burn all available copies.

DVD Rental Review: 2/10

His follow-up was the abysmal Valhalla Rising; a slog of a mess of a movie, barely glued together by its only positive which was the cinematography. A few guys wander slowly through some scenery, stopping for the occasional grunt or bout of violence. It’s horrible, dull and pointless.

So, not sure what to expect next then, but his adaptation of 2005 James Sallis novel Drive has already developed cult status, earned numerous plaudits and nabbed the Best Director gong at Cannes.

Drive stars Ryan Gosling as a stunt driver and mechanic who earns extra cash by offering his services as a freelance getaway driver. He has strict rules; his clients have a five minute window beginning from the moment they leave his car for the heist, and during that time he accepts total involvement and shared responsibility, but anything outside of that time frame simply isn’t his problem. He will not carry a gun, and he will not be involved with any clients for a second time.

From the viewer’s perspective, he is known only as The Driver, and comes across as a shy but focused recluse with very little interest in socialising. His world takes a peculiar twist when he meets new neighbour Irene (Carey Mulligan), and her son Benicio. They quickly bond, whilst The Driver is also offered the opportunity to race pro, courtesy of local financier Bernie Rose.

As Drive coasts along with glorious fluidity, punctuated by a pounding, wonderfully intense 80s-style synth soundtrack, we all know that things must take a turn. Once we realise that Bernie and his partner Nino are more than a little dangerous, just as Irene’s husband makes a reappearance, the film kicks into top gear and we get an action-packed thrill ride all the way to the end.

The film owes a lot to its soundtrack and retro styling; whilst the music is from modern artists, it is heavily influenced by 80s electro-pop, and this works in tandem with the visual style, such as the brilliant bright neon pink opening credits, to deliver a distinctive, memorable movie experience.It simply is unlike anything else, and the convention-bending and genre-hopping could be a risk, but in this movie it works perfectly to provide something original, gripping, intense and fresh.

Ryan Gosling is a revelation as The Driver, working with very few lines, but much of his character is delivered by his expressions and mannerisms. His performance cannot be overstated, and credit to Albert Brooks as Bernie Rose as well. The comedian-actor was not the obvious choice for this dangerous and powerful character, but he nails it and oozes genuine menace.

There are plenty of almost bizarre pauses between The Driver and Irene, where they seem to stare at each other for an age, but it has a very touching quality, as if the moments are only awkward to the viewer and not the characters. It feels like we should look at something else, whilst these two privately embrace and explore their attraction. The innovative touches, some less subtle than others, add to Drive’s appeal, and you will certainly notice more details upon repeat viewings.

You can expect some brutal violence, but whilst it can be harsh, it is also an important part of Refn’s movie. The contrast between meditative and macabre is so important for the film’s flow and effect, and in truth the finished work is flawless.

Drive will have your pulse racing, gut turning and heart wrenching, as you are thrown into a movie experience unlike anything before.

DVD Rental Rating 10/10

The Hangover was a surprise hit both sides of the pond, despite the formulaic nature of the story, and it succeeded because it was genuinely funny and an entertaining bout of mayhem. The group dynamic was well balanced with Bradley Cooper’s nice guy player Phil contrasting well with Ed Helms as the anxious, under-the-thumb Stu Price, who, it turns out, is some kind of absolute heathen when he hits the drink.

The Hangover’s group of protagonists was rounded off by unstable, clingy chaos magnet Alan Garner (Zach Galifianakis), brother-in-law to missing groom Doug.

The three of them spent the film trying to find their friend who was lost during a night of madness, fuelled by Alan’s illicit addition of rohypnol to the guys’ drinks.

They eventually found Doug on the roof and got him safely to his wedding, albeit frighteningly orange from his time trapped in the blaring sun. Alan came clean about his part in the widespread memory loss and got belted by Mike Tyson, they all befriended a semi-psychotic, highly excitable gangster called Chow (Ken Jeong) and Stu left his wife after realising she was a very angry and unpleasant woman.

So, it made loads of money (loads and loads of money) and the inevitable was, well, inevitable. The Hangover Part II sees our guys move the same situation to a different location, in a move that was guaranteed to make money, and odds-on to prove disappointing.

This time Stu is getting married to Lauren in Thailand, despite her father’s opinion that he is a waste of space and unfit to marry her. Alan manages to tag along, and they meet Lauren’s brother Teddy, who is an exceptional student and well-mannered, but sheltered, good little boy.

They have some drinks on a beach, and then wake up in the midst of hell, also known as a Bangkok hotel room, with no Doug (again), a pet monkey and Teddy’s finger, with no Teddy. They quickly find out that Doug left early when things got hectic, so once more it is Phil, Stu and Alan trying to piece together the night before, whilst looking for the missing brother. Without Lauren’s brother, who is somewhere missing a finger, the wedding is sure to hit a slight snag…

The real problem with The Hangover Part II is not that it rehashes the same story in a different location; the major flaw is that it isn’t at all funny, which is kind of a drawback for a comedy. Rumour has it that the cast got sick whilst filming and generally had a bit of a nightmare, and that is how the film comes across. It actually seems pretty sinister and grim, without levity, leaving it as an hour and a half of characters suffering in a confusing, unfamiliar environment.

Returning director Todd Phillips is clearly aware that he is making the same film with a different setting, and he makes no effort to suggest otherwise. His direction is good, but it only emphasises, without relief, the hellish nature of their situation; the film’s colour palette is dominated by a dull gold colour which in itself oozes discomfort, and each moment of pain is accentuated by the impact of savage visual and sound editing. It hurts to watch these guys get hurt, and it seems like those behind the camera have drained the life and fun out of their original story and filled in the gaps with a monkey, some violence and a couple of predictable Bangkok gags.

The laughs are thin, and even the return of Chow proved to be irritating. However, we always welcome a Paul Giamatti cameo, and Bradley Cooper remains a charismatic leading man and a firmly cemented Hollywood star for years to come.

With very few redeeming features, and about three genuinely amusing moments, The Hangover Part II is less fun and funny, and more pain and painful.

DVDRental Rating 4/10

It is perhaps unfair to pigeonhole Mr. Branagh, and he has plenty of movie titles to his name, but his work in performing and directing Shakespeare has dominated his career, so his selection for a Marvel Comics adaptation that has been a long time coming certainly baffled many. But then they gave the Hulk job to Ang Lee, a man known for directing Sense and Sensibility and The Wedding Banquet, and that worked out great.

No wait, that’s not right. Oh dear.

Moving on, Thor is one of the classic comic characters, but has been denied even a single big screen treatment before this effort, whilst Batman is awaiting his seventh Hollywood outing, Superman gets his sixth in 2013 and Spider-Man is chasing the pack with number four.

In all fairness, the man uses a big hammer as his weapon of choice, and it just isn’t as obviously cool as an array of Bat Gadgets, bullet- beating speed or the ability to sling spider-webbing from your wrists. Still, Thor is actually based on the Norse mythological God of the same name, and once you bring deities in, you can have plenty of fun with a big budget.

Branagh’s movie adaptation of Thor sees the eponymous character (played by Chis Hemsworth) banished from the Godly realm of Asgard by his all-conquering uber-powerful father Odin (Anthony Hopkins). He is slapped with this punishment when his rash actions bring about the threat of war with the neighbouring Frost Giants of Jotunheim. He was all set to be handed the title of King, but felt the urge to start a ruckus due to an overabundance of machismo.

His scheming brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) takes the opportunity to bring about his own plans for ruling the kingdom, once Odin suffers some kind of random collapse. Meanwhile, a disgruntled Thor finds himself landing on Earth with the commoners, much to his displeasure, but his father Odin was kind enough to send his big beast of a hammer, called Mjolnir for some reason, along with him. In a little bit of Sword in the Stone-type drama, Thor will only be able to wield this weapon and its power once he is worthy.

During his Earth-bound adventure, he meets some people from S.H.I.E.L.D. providing the foundation for his involvement in The Avengers movie, and love interest Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), as well as a confused pet shop assistant who tries to explain why he cannot sell Thor a horse, only to be met with a stern demand for any one of his domesticated animals large enough to ride.

Thor does a great job of keeping the action lively, and the pace of the film is never dragged by poorly executed exposition scenes or loose performances. It is great to see every single actor obviously having a ball in their respective roles. Anthony Hopkins is bloomin’ epic as Odin, whilst Idris Elba (RocknRolla, The Wire) wades in with a particularly likeable effort as gatekeeper Heimdall.

Portman breezes through her role, and considering her dubious contribution to a certain sci-fi series, this was a nice surprise. Tom Hiddleston is excellent as the malevolent Loki, and he will be welcomed back by viewers for The Avengers movie. Everyone does well, and, finally, Hemsworth was an outstanding choice for Thor, nailing the required blend of arrogance and defiance with potential for greatness. He can also deliver a comical one-liner obliviously.

Returning to Branagh, it’s nice to see that he can deliver a fast-paced, lively action movie, in between freely reciting lines from England’s famous bard. He never seems to be trying to overstate any aspect of the film; he allows it to flow seamlessly together, and it is never too much or too little.

The only real gripe stems from Thor’s inevitable change in attitude, which basically happens from nowhere, for almost no reason. It’s all glossed over cleverly through a string of visual and vocal distractions, but when it comes down to it, you have to ask why exactly Thor suddenly develops the worthy selflessness needed to pull that sword from the stone.

Still, the film works well as a brisk, bright and energetic action blockbuster, making for an entertaining watch without too much substance, and girls will undoubtedly think that a topless Mr. Hemsworth is a sight for Thor eyes…

DVDRental Rating 8/10

Bethesda’s latest instalment in the Elder Scrolls saga has arrived, and Skyrim sets this new story around 200 years after the events of predecessor Oblivion. You play one of the Dragonborn; a rare occurrence of a human with the soul of a dragon, that only appears whenever the world is in danger.

So begins your adventure of dragon-slaying, dungeon-crawling, bandit-beating fun that will take you across a map of epic proportions. From the frozen peaks of the mountains, to the luscious greenery that adorns the forests, every corner of the world that is Skyrim feels unique, boasting breathtaking detail and a mind-bending array of intricate touches.
The hundreds, if not thousands, of dungeons, ruins and tombs that fill the world of Skyrim create a grand and immersive setting. Once you’ve completed one dungeon, there always seems to be another to conquer, and each has its own original aesthetic. The gameplay also involves a new, convenient mechanism which means that you will always be sent to places you haven’t already visited, so you will always be encountering new locations and dungeons.

Clearly, dungeons are only one aspect of this truly open-world experience. Within this world you are able to create your own weapons and armour, and adorn your bodily defence with special enchantments to improve your abilities. You can mix potions to strengthen you and your skills or weaken your enemies, as well as hunt animals for the skins and meat to create food with healing properties and even join a number of guilds to perform special tasks. The game’s progression, and that of your character, appears infinite.

The levelling system has been streamlined from previous instalments, in that your character has a number of skills which can be improved; anything from heavy and light armour, to blacksmithing and enchanting. Every improvement of a skill now counts towards your level, as opposed to only the ones you choose at the beginning of the previous games. This means that you can start the game wielding a classic sword and shield, then halfway through change to being more of a mage with a spell in each hand, you could even choose to change again, becoming an archer, or even an assassin. All the time, you are improving the skills with each use, and levelling up the character and becoming increasingly powerful.

Then of course, you have the dragons; the huge and powerful enemies of the game, almost boss-like in structure, with a glossy, yet totally imposing and frightening, design. A fight with a dragon is something you must be prepared for, as it won’t be over quickly. But when the fight does finish, you are rewarded with an astounding sequence where the dragon’s flesh almost burns away from its bones, and converts into a mist which is absorbed into your character, bestowing you with the great beast’s soul. This can then be used to unlock ‘shouts’, which are found throughout the Skyrim game world. Each ‘shout’ is a word in Dragon Tongue; however, being in such an ancient and powerful language, these words convert into actual realisations of the literal meaning of the words. This means your voice can become a blast of fire or ice, or can call upon nearby animals to fight by your side and so on. Each shout has a maximum of three words, the third being its most potent form.

All in all, as Bethesda has proudly stated, this game can be played for an infinite amount of time. I cannot see myself playing it for the rest of my life, but I certainly wouldn’t complain if I had no other choice. The sheer amount of content, and the simple approach to something that would otherwise be complicated and overwhelming, is sure to enable Skyrim to win over anyone, RPG fan or not, and this means that it is a vital and welcome addition to the saga.

Utterly impressive; so for the makers of the Elder Scrolls series, it looks like the Skyrim’s the limit! Unless they can better it…

DVD Rental Rating 10/10

Written by Martin Whatmough

The Unlimited packages from Lovefilm give customers as many movies as they want over the course of each month, but each package differs in terms of the number of discs that can be rented at one time. The packages have now been streamlined so there are only two variations.

Customers can now have either two discs at home or three, with the one disc deal being removed, and those that originally had the one disc deal get the extra film at home without any change to their monthly fee.

Along with the increasingly popular home rental service, Lovefilm will continue to offer online movie streaming through Lovefilm Player, with access and inclusive films dependent on a customer’s chosen package.

Lovefilm also offers Pay As You Go movie packages, which let customers buy credits for renting at home as and when they choose, with no monthly subscription to pay.

Lovefilm currently has a library of over 70,000 titles, with both DVD and Blu-ray formats available.

It is hard to believe that Johnny Depp nearly walked because the execs at Disney thought he had gone mad when they saw early footage of his daft pirate. The series would have experienced a short drop and a sudden stop had Sparrow been sacrificed, or played straight by a less creative and more submissive actor.

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl was a refreshing surprise blockbuster, whilst follow-up Dead Man’s Chest had some great moments but got a bit tangled in its own fishing net. The second part of that story, and third entry in the series, At World’s End, also had some nice set-pieces but the story was contrived and needlessly complex thanks to the writers’ attempts to have everybody double-cross each other to the point of storytelling redundancy. All the way through, Jack Sparrow was great, thankfully.

A wise move, then, to give Jack a new stand-alone story without the irksome William Turner or his posh tomboy squeeze Katherine Swann. The general plan of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides was to reduce the needless complexity, keep up the laughs and action and give Sparrow plenty of screen time. Too much of a good thing could be bad, but never with Jack… sorry, Captain Jack.

Loosely (very loosely) based on a novel called On Stranger Tides, this film sees Jack in search of the Fountain of Youth, with the Spanish and King George II also keen on the prize that would see skincare products wiped off the face of the Earth. King George II sends his surprise employee Captain Hector Barbossa, once again played by the wonderful Geoffrey Rush, on an expedition to beat the Spanish to the Fountain. In general, everyone wants to get to the Fountain, but there is a little more to this legendary elixir of life than meets the eye-patch.

Along for the ride is Angelica (Penélope Cruz), an old flame of Jack’s who is frighteningly good at impersonating her ex-lover, and convincing drunken sailors to join her/him on the Queen Anne’s Revenge for, you guessed it, an expedition to the Fountain of Youth. Oh yeah, and this ship belongs to Blackbeard (Ian McShane), “the pirate all pirates fear”. You will recognise very few supporting pirates, with only Joshamee Gibbs keeping his place among the ever-switching crews, and even the Black Pearl has met her demise under the command of Barbossa, who was previously overpowered by Blackbeard and lost his leg as well as Jack’s ship in the process.

On Stranger Tides makes time for a delightfully terrifying take on mermaids, calling them sinister sirens that beckon men to the edges of their boats, before ensnaring them with a kiss and dragging them to the deep, dark depths of the ocean, ne’er to return!

Gore Verbinski, helmer of the first three Pirates movies, gives things a miss this time, and is replaced by Rob Marshall, who is a surprise choice given that his CV includes Annie, Chicago and Nine. He does a fine job of controlling the action and keeping a lively pace, and the simpler script from ever-present writers Terry Rossio and Ted Elliott certainly brings back some of the freshness and fluidity of the first, although it still lacks the original’s sharp wit.

The mermaid sequence is excellent, and of course Depp and Rush throttle the life out of their roles, which they both clearly enjoy. Cruz is stunning, as soon as she stops dressing like Jack, and her chemistry with Depp is great fun (don’t expect your standard movie romance here).

On Stranger Tides doesn’t really hit the same satisfying notes as the first, but manages to maintain several elements that fans of the series and newcomers will enjoy. Jack Sparrow is such fun, a timeless character, and Depp’s portrayal is irresistible viewing.

The movie is thankfully devoid of annoying characters (a feat missed by the two immediate predecessors), and it generally coasts along well enough, without exerting too much effort. It is a fair sequel to the all-conquering original, and will undoubtedly result in a fifth Pirates movie, especially considering it made over a billion dollars at the box office.

As long as each movie keeps making a yo-ho-whole lot of money, Jack will be back, sure as the sun sets in that horizon.

DVDRental Rating: 7.5/10