Madman June DVD Releases

Well on our way to winter... Madman has a winter wonderland of viewing for you!

This amazing National Geographic Documentary is sensational!

Harrowing, emotional, and viscerally, exciting as The Hurt Locker – and it’s all real” - MOVIELINE

“A riveting journey into combat” - NEW YORK MAGAZINE

“An unprecedented work of art” - THEWRAP.COM

From May 2007 to July 2008, Battle Company of the 173rd Airborne Brigade was stationed in the remote Korengal Valley of eastern Afghanistan – considered one of the most dangerous postings of the war. The soldiers of Second Platoon built and manned a remote and strategic outpost that they named “Restrepo,” in honour of their medic, PFC Juan Restrepo, who was killed in action. This is their story, in their words, of a group of men who came to be considered the “tip of the spear” for American efforts in that area.

The only goal is to make viewers feel as if they have just been through a 90-minute deployment. This is war, full stop. The conclusions are up to you.

Co-directed by celebrated documentary film-maker and photojournalist Tim Hetherington, who recently died whilst filming the conflict in Libya.

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More from National Geographic to keep you wrapped up and entertained...

National Geographic: Devil’s Bible/Witch Hunter’s Bible:  At 165 pounds, and allegedly made from 160 calf skins, the Codex Gigas is the world’s largest medieval manuscript. Filled with exorcism spells and a large image of Satan himself, according to legend, the bible sprang from a doomed monk’s pact with the devil. Now, Nat Geo follows a team of scientists as they embark on an unprecedented quest to unravel the secrets behind the book’s darkened pages and mysterious authorship. Using ultra-violet fluorescence imaging, handwriting analysis and a re-creation of the text, forensic document experts attempt to uncover the cryptic truth behind this ancient Devil’s Bible.

For the first time ever, an international investigation team joins forces to unravel the mysteries of the Malleus Maleficarum, or Hammer of Witches. Written in 1486, this infamous medieval manual changed the way the Western world saw evil. With detailed instructions on how to find, prosecute and punish witches, the Malleus inspired centuries of accusation and bloodshed on both sides of the Atlantic.

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National Geographic: Journey to Europa

A spacecraft lands on Europa, Jupiter’s icy moon, in temperatures of minus 260 degrees and searing radiation. Its mission: to penetrate the surface and send a probe into a watery realm beneath the ice. Bill Stone, a preeminent underwater cave explorer and inventor who is developing robots to carry out that mission one day. Now, he and his team hope to test an autonomous underwater vehicle called Endurance in Antarctica’s icy waters.

As we watch Endurance plunge into the depths, CGI animation helps us envision how its descendant would fare on a real mission to Europa. We see it hurtle across the solar system, finally dropping slowly into Europa’s liquid realm, where we follow it through its routines. Getting a robot through the ice and into the oceans of Europa will be an order of magnitude more difficult than anything Stone’s team has done so far.

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Spacelaunch: Along for the Ride

What does it feel like to be blasted into space, squeezed into a tiny capsule? What’s it like to travel at twenty eight thousand kilometres an hour? To experience three-times the force of gravity, then suddenly float weightless in micro-gravity? Go behind the scenes of a manned space launch from the Russian Baikonur Cosmodrome.

Meet the three men who ride the rocket: the cosmonaut, the astronaut, and the space tourist as they complete their final days of training. See how the giant Soyuz rocket is assembled and prepared for its voyage. Go inside Mission Control in Moscow to follow a day in the life of the lead flight director. They take you out of this world… and back again.

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National Geographic: Mexican Border Wars (Season 1)

It's estimated that more than 1 million undocumented immigrants cross the US-Mexico border each year. With a growing tide of illegal activity that includes human and drug smuggling, the US government has tightened its grip on the 2,000-mile border. But by foot or by car, immigrants and their traffickers will do whatever it takes to reach the United States, often risking their lives crossing a treacherous desert. National Geographic goes to the border to examine this polarising topic, following as Mexican drug smugglers and job seekers attempt to cross the border... and make it. Then, with rare access to the US Border Patrol, go on duty with officers working with high-tech tracking to stem the tide of illegal immigrants.

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We love Joanna Lumley! We are very lucky to have two of her DVD’s coming out in June....

Joanna Lumley’s Nile: Joanna Lumley embarks on the trip of a lifetime; to follow the River Nile, the longest river in the world, from sea to source. Heading upstream, in the direction of the earliest explorers, Joanna travels by boat, train, ferry, car, plane, mule and camel along Africa's 'life line'. On a four thousand mile journey, passing through Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda and Rwanda, Joanna revisits the romantic history of the Nile and talks with the people working and living on the river today.

Joanna Lumley’s Catwoman: From lions and tigers to cougars and kittens, people the world over simply love cats. Joanna Lumley (Absolutely Fabulous) sets out to unlock the secrets of this 5,000 year-old fascination with felines. Examining their god-like status in Ancient Egypt, their persecution in the Middle Ages, and their proliferation in the Twentieth Century, Joanna charts the evolution of the species from one common ancestor. Travelling the globe to get a thorough understanding of the 38-strong cat family, she also meets the dedicated owners of some exotic domestic breeds, including the longhaired Maine Coon, the Peterbald and the Sphynx.


 

Looking for a classic? Then Madman has what you want! Wagner: The Complete EPIC.

Over a hundred years after his death, Richard Wagner remains an enigma. His was a rags-to-riches saga with a fairy tale ending. He was loved, yet hated; admired, yet despised. He was a heroic villain who was worshipped and whose fame and exploits were the gossip of Europe. Above all, he was an incurable romantic whose affair with Liszt's illegitimate daughter rivals that of Romeo and Juliet. But he was also a dangerous political revolutionary whose influence penetrated the fabric of German society in the nineteenth century. He was a legend in his own lifetime, and he was one of the greatest composers to ever live. Only an actor of the stature of Richard Burton could measure up to the titanic character of Wagner, and this proved to be his final film role.


 

Let us stay with the classics...

Alfred Hitchcock Presents: The Complete Fifth Season (5 DVD Set)

Legendary, award-winning and suspenseful, ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS set the gold standard for all TV mystery series to come and has remained an indelible part of popular culture. And now, for the first time anywhere, the complete Fifth Season, all 38 episodes, is available on DVD, filled with tales of murder, madness, intrigue and suspense. Featuring an all star cast, re-discover why the series was voted one of "The 100 Best TV Shows of All-Time."

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Victoria’s Empire: Queen Victoria never visited her empire, so a century after her death, Victoria Wood is going to have a look for her...

Humorous and grave in equal measures, her epic journey takes us on a breathtaking tour of the old Empire beginning in India and continuing through Hong Kong, Borneo, Ghana, Jamaica, Newfoundland, New Zealand, Australia and Zambia.

Along the way, Victoria surveys the impact of the British abroad: discovering stories of remarkable deeds; listening to long held grievances and visiting some of the fascinating places that the Empire encompassed.


 

A world changing invention... A cultural revolution... The machine that made us.

Stephen Fry is so popular and this June Madman have Stephen Fry and the Gutenberg Press.

The printing press was the world’s first piece of mass-production technology. Its invention in the 1450s changed the world as dramatically as splitting the atom or sending men into space, igniting a cultural revolution which shaped the modern age. In this BAFTA nominated program, wordsmith and national treasure, Stephen Fry, embarks on a journey to investigate, Johann Gutenberg, the elusive inventor of the printing press.
 

Published 26th May 2011

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