Software Features

With its bravura mix of violence, intrigue, action and sex, Cinemax's recent hit series Banshee quickly established itself as a firm favourite here at HCC.

Having got his start working in New York's George Eastman House archives - home to one of the largest collections of silent films in the world, as well as a good portion of Martin Scorsese's own private collection - James White has become one of the leading lights of film restoration in the UK.

Joe Letteri has been responsible for the visual effects for many of the major box office blockbusters of the past two decades. The original Lord of The Rings trilogy, I, Robot, King Kong, Rise of The Planet of The Apes and this Summer’s Man of Steel are just some of the landmark titles that Weta Digital’s senior visual supervisor has toiled on. 

25: John 'Scottie' Ferguson (Vertigo)

Tenacity and perseverance are key strengths in any cop – traits that James Stewart's detective 'Scottie' Ferguson displays both before and after retirement in Hitchcock's thriller. As Vertigo opens, even latent acrophobia can't stop Ferguson pursuing a criminal in a rooftop chase (although, sadly, it does prevent him stopping a fellow officer falling to his death). Later, an old friend's suicide leads to the kind of obsessive behaviour that's necessary to solve even the most complicated cases – but also causes Ferguson to have a nervous breakdown. Still, imagine what he would be capable of if he was working on a case he was less personally involved with. And which didn't involve heights…

Welcome to the second part in our roundup of awesome-sounding Blu-ray discs. If you're looking for multichannel platters that will test your system's mettle, look no further...

Bond is back, bigger and better than ever. Cinema’s longest-running film franchise is celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2012 and to coincide, MGM and 20th Century Fox released Bond 50, a Blu-ray boxset featuring all 22 films from Dr. No to Quantum of Solace – nine of which (GoldenEye, Octopussy, The Spy Who Loved Me, You Only Live Twice, The Living Daylights, Tomorrow Never Dies, Diamonds are Forever, A View to a Kill and On Her Majesty’s Secret Service) are available on Blu-ray for the first time ever.