Steven Spielberg is one of the busiest men working in Hollywood, and one of the best-known directors in the world. He has three Academy Awards to his name, as well as a further seven nominations, and an eighth nomination that arrived earlier this week that could turn into his fourth Oscar if War Horse wins Best Picture next month.

So as you can imagine, when Warner Bros. started courting Spielberg for their epic biopic of Moses (and I do indeed mean ‘epic’ in the biblical sense), Gods And Kings, it seemed like a bit of a long shot. Deadline are now reporting, however, that the director is close to officially signing on board, with word expected to come by the end of the month on his final decision.

According to Deadline’s sources, Gods And Kings will be,

“a movie like a Braveheart-ish version of the Moses story,” an insider tells us. “Him coming down the river, being adopted, leaving his home, forming an army, and getting the Ten Commandments.”

And in case anyone’s concerned (or possibly hopeful, but I’d imagine that’s less likely), they are specifically not looking to do this in 3D. The biblical epic is something Hollywood is of course familiar with, and one of the biggest of them, Cecil B. DeMille’s The Ten Commandments, also took on this story for the big screen. And earned $65m. for its effort, which is close to the $1bn.-mark adjusted for inflation.

This adaptation, though, will be,

“as far from a remake of the Cecile B. DeMille-directed epic as you can get even though they cover similar ground. Instead Warner Bros wants Spielberg to direct it with the gritty reality of Saving Private Ryan, which is considered a masterpiece redefining battle movies. ”There have been glossy versions of the Moses story but this would be a real warrior story,” an insider tells us.”

And, as you can imagine, that’s what has me really interested. And I’d imagine that it will interest a lot of other people, too. A gritty warrior story directed by Spielberg, à la Saving Private Ryan, sounds like a sure-fire immense success, both critically and commercially.

The script is being written by Stuart Hazeldine (the upcoming Paradise Lost adaptation of Milton’s epic poem – clearly epic is Hazeldine’s skill) and Michael Green (co-writer of Green Lantern).

Spielberg’s next film, Lincoln, has just been finished and is due out in December this year, making it a prime candidate for next year’s Oscars.  and he’s already moving on to do Robopocalypse, which you can read more about here.

So Gods And Kings will have to wait a little bit for Spielberg’s schedule to be empty. But it looks as though that could be relatively soon, with Warner Bros. hoping for production to start in March/April 2013. With news expected by the end of the month on Spielberg’s decision, we should have more news to bring you very soon, so watch this space.

Here’s a turn up for the books. We know Jurassic Park 4 has been in development forever and it was always suggested by the man himself that Steven Spielberg would direct since he’d done two of the previous three outings. Well, Collider have found out that isn’t going to be happening as they spoke with the world famous Director about his new movie War Horse.

This is the quote that summed it all up:

“I don’t want to talk about Jurassic Park 4 yet – it’s too early – but I can tell you that I’m not directing it. I’m producing it though.”

After requestion a bit more infomatrion about whether the movie would be a reboot or a sequel, the response back was:

“I can’t say. I will when the time is right, but for now I can’t talk about it.”

He continued to talk about his new movie, Robopocalypse and fill us in on some updates to the Tintin sequel which will be handed solely to Peter Jackson to direct:

“I’m not going to say which stories have been chosen for Peter Jackson’s sequel because Peter and I agreed that we weren’t going to let that information out yet,” he said. “The script is now being written. It’s more than one book, but it’s not three books, so that means it’s two books. It’s two and a half books that we’re combining with ‘The Secret of the Unicorn.’ And Peter will start working on the film this year. When he’s done shooting ‘The Hobbit,’ he’ll begin his performance capture work with the actors later in 2012, which I’m very excited about. And of course, I’m hoping I’ll be able to direct the third one. I’d love to do the third one because I had so much fun on the first one.”

Last night the building site in central London that used to be Leicester Square was restored temporarily to its former glory for the premiere of War Horse. We were there, and managed to have a few very interesting conversations with some of the cast and crew of the movie, including Jeremy Irvine, who spoke about his experience working with Spielberg, Emily Watson on how seeing the play affected her performance and Richard Curtis on the influence Blackadder played on the script.

JEREMY IRVINE – ALBERT
ON WORKING WITH HORSES
I’m not really an animal person, I wasn’t expecting to at all. Within a week I was bleary eyed like everyone else. I’m a sucker for them now. And you have to, because you can’t really fake that.

ON WORKING WITH SPEILBERG
Just to have lines is an honour – just to be in a movie. To be in a film from Stephen Speilberg is beyond what I can take in. He’s a lovely man.

EMILY WATSON – ROSE NARRACOTT
ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE PLAY ON HER PERFORMANCE
I saw Bronagh Gallagher play it – she was wonderful, and that amazing, gritty strength that she had – she came on stage all guns blazing right from the off.

ON ROSE
I think she has very fierce love. She’s very tough about it. She tolerates her husband’s drinking because she knows he’s damaged by war. She has to teach her son respect for his father, and ultimately going to war teaches him that.

RICHARD CURTIS – SCREENWRITER
ON THE CONSTRAINTS OF ADAPTING AN EXISTING PROPERTY FOR A CREATIVE DIRECTOR LIKE SPIELBERG
What was interesting is that, when Stephen first asked me to do it, I didn’t say yes, I said ‘wait’, then I went away, and came up with the ten things that I thought I should do. Then Stephen gave me eight marks out of ten, and I did those eight things, so in a way, we were always working on the stuff that I had wanted to do in the first place, and then, of course, it was his reaction to that stuff.

THE INFLUENCE OF BLACKADDER ON THE FILM
The only thing I’ll say is that Blackadder did teach me that you could deal with the most serious thing in the world, and put in a few jokes still. So I did feel free, once in a while, to try and be a little bit funny.

EDDIE MARSAN – SGT FRY
WORKING WITH SPIELBERG
He’s like all the very successful ones, his enthusiasm hasn’t waned. He’s still as enthusiastic as he was when he made his first film. That seeps through, you become enthusiastic, you enjoy it, and you relax.

ON THE DIFFERENCES (OR LACK OF) BETWEEN WORKING ON LARGE PROJECTS AND SMALL
My job as an actor is to be able to do it in any conditions, in any environment, and to be consistent. I just turn up and do it really, I don’t worry about the size. When the camera’s on me, it’s just me.

ON WHO HE WOULD LIKE TO WORK WITH NEXT
I’d love to work with Shane Meadows, I think he makes great films.

PATRICK KENNEDY – CHARLIER WAVERLY
ON THE DYNAMIC BETWEEN HIM, HIDDLESTON AND CUMBERBATCH
We did five weeks of horse training together beforehand, which was a great bit of acting research. I knew Benedict very well, we’d worked together before. I didn’t know Tom that well, so we got to work together, get to know each other and work on our parts while we were doing our horse training. It was perfect training to be cavalry officers in the film. We were all playing such different characters, so there was a friendly competitiveness about the horse riding, but apart from that it was very supportive.

ON THE CAVALRY CHARGES
We did that scene. Anytime we were on camera, we did that charge. That was one of the most exciting moments of my life. You’re sort of crying with the adrenalin at the end of it, and you get some sort of imaginative insight into what a cavalry charge would have been like. There were 200 horses we were doing it with.

DAVID KROSS – GUNTHER
ON FILMING HIS FINAL SCENE IN THE FILM
I remember when we were shooting it, it was really horrible. It was dark, and the light was shadowy, so it didn’t feel very nice. We did the little stunt ourselves, and there was a loud noise, and we fell down. It was horrible, but also it’s good to get shot in a film at some point.

ON HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH THE HORSES, AS WELL AS ON-SCREEN SIBLING LEONHARD CAROW
It was great, because we had such a long preparation – about two months. We were around the horses a lot, and we felt safe around them. That helped, I think.

ON HIS FUTURE CAREER
I think the best thing would be that I don’t really care about the language, that I can do English films and German films and it doesn’t really matter. It’s all about the project in the end.

CELINE BUCKENS – EMILIE
ON EMILIE
I feel like I can relate to the character because she’s very stubborn, and so am I, unfortunately. She’s a great character. The horses are an inspiration to her, and give her a will to live, which I think is really inspiring.

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EMILIE AND HER GRANDFATHER
Neils Arestrup [the Grandfather] is such a wonderful actor. He made the job easier for me because just watching him is breathtaking. I get along really well with my grandmother, so I could relate in that sense.

ON THE SOURCE OF THE LIGHTNESS IN THE TONE OF HER SECTION OF THE FILM
It’s a moment of lightness in a film where there’s quite intense war sequences. I think it’s a bit of everyone, because obviously the acting’s vital, but Michael Morpurgo’s story, originally, is what makes it so light.

I’m in the hot seat today getting ready to live blog the War Horse UK press conference. Those expected to attend include Director Steven Spielberg, Producer Kathy Kennedy, and cast members Michael Morpurgo, Jeremy Irvine, Emily Watson, Tom Hiddleston, Benedict Cumberbatch and David Thewlis.

I have my laptop here ready to go and all you need to do is watch the feed below which will update automatically. This press conference is being split into two with Spielberg and Kennedy going first at 10.00 until 10.30 then the rest of the cast members from 10.45 – 11.15. Usually these things run late but we’ll be here ready and waiting. See below for updates when it all kicks off!

This evening, London Town was the host for the Royal UK Premiere of Steven Spielberg’s new movie, War Horse. What made it even more special was that The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (or William and Kate to their friends) were in attendance. Joining them was the legendary director himself accompanied by the main star of the movie, Joey the horse and cat members Emily Watson, David Thewlis, Peter Mullan, Niels Arestrup, Tom Hiddleston, Jeremy Irvine, Benedict Cumberbatch and Toby Kebbel.

The Royal UK Premiere was in  aid of The Foundation of Prince William and Prince Harry. Joining William and Kate for this special screening were 600 servicemen and women and their families. Our man on the ground, Ben Mortimer was on the red carpet ready to catch the stars as they walk by so keep your eyes peeled for his report of the evening later today.

War Horse is released in the UK this Friday 13th January.

Here’s an array of images from this evening’s premiere, all of which you can click to enlarge.

Chalk this one up a bit of a supercut curio.

Apparently this video is the result of two years from the people at StooTV who took on the task of compiling a shot for shot remake of the classic opening scene of Steven Spielberg’s Raiders of the Lost Ark from thirty-one separate adventure films from Hollywood’s past.

Top marks if you can name all the films on show here and though there are a few recognisable faces on show most of them are a mystery to me. Thankfully the uploaders promise a comprehensive list of the films featured here.

It’s no surprise that a video like this is possible given the nostalgia inherent in the Indiana Jones films but it is still an impressive feat. Throw in a few shots from an episode of the X-Files and perhaps the Crystal Skull will be next?

Here’s the video,

This came from the vertiable whirlygig of interest that is Metafilter.

If ever a film was openly seeking Oscar recognition, it’s Steven Spielberg’s latest solemn contender, War Horse, coming hot off the heels of his recent fun family adventure, The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn.

No stranger to evoking emotions when he so desires in his dramatic cinematic offerings that include Schindler’s List, Saving Private Ryan and E.T., the visionary filmmaker puts his money on a guaranteed winner in the Awards race – Joey the horse: It’s a shame there are no animal Oscars up for grabs.

Set around the time of the Great War, a young Devonshire farm boy called Albert (Jeremy Irvine) forms a deep bond with a spirited horse called Joey, and with some training and a lot of trust, tries to save his struggling parents, the Narracotts (played by Peter Mullan and Emily Watson), from financial ruin at the hands of their unscrupulous landlord Lyons (David Thewlis). But times are hard, and against Albert’s wishes, Joey is sold to the Army to be enlisted as a trusty officer’s steed. There continues one brave thoroughbred’s experiences of the Somme trenches from both sides of the equation, and a longing to one day be reunited with his master.

Spielberg and writers Lee Hall (Billy Elliot) and Richard Curtis (The Boat That Rocked and Blackadder) have taken Michael Morpurgo’s 1982 novel and subsequent successful West End stage play of the same name and created a distinctive Spielberg epic that even finds time to pause for a moment of ironic wit on the killing fields – possibly a Curtis-penned input. The horse’s point-of-view narrative is not as obvious as Morpurgo’s written word, but the sentiment that this story’s protagonist and prime hero is Joey is still apparent, particularly as a real animal is used, rather than any stage puppet or CG.

In turn, this enables the filmmakers to deliberately tug on our animal-loving heartstrings and trigger some gushing sentimentality – with a lot of help from maestro John Williams’ stirring score – as a poignant reminder of all our fallen heroes, past and present, human and beast. In mimicking elements of his past war recreations, the Oscar-winning Schindler’s List and Saving Private Ryan, in conviction and design, Spielberg offers a 12A-compatible film that demonstrates the futility of war and regrettable loss, without the disturbing blood and gore count of Private Ryan’s battlefield.

Indeed, though it’s necessary at the start to witness the seeds of a strong relationship between nag and man being sown to carry this tale through to reconciliation – particularly as it’s important to not lose the human relationship element, courtesy of some fine acting from Mullan, Watson and Irvine, the first-quarter of the film still feels drawn out and excessive. It’s only after the highly impressive charge by the British cavalry that the film’s driven momentum and purpose takes effect. And this is where Spielberg still excels in his fighting reconstructions, opening up the depth and breadth of the scorched and tortured landscape in his Somme vistas, wider than any cinema screen might possibly allow.

However, the film has a curious, mismatched pace to it, almost uneven as it tries to decide on how it wants be received – something replicated in its bizarre mix of real-life exposure and Gone With The Wind-styled, super-chroma-boosted cinematography. Rather than marrying the various key scenes in the film, including the charge of the cavalry, a shocking execution and a reality-defying gallop through No Man’s Land, the pockets of lighter relief seem to both trivialise and detract from the sombre but striking messages that, say, Spielberg’s Schindler’s List and Saving Private Ryan are known and respected for. These moments also highlight irrelevant narrative padding, such as the extensive French-farmer-and-granddaughter domestic scenes that might provide a respite from the muddy trenches and a way to tie up loose ends in the finale, but merely digress from more important matters.

The only lighter and quite amusing moment of any worth, away from all the sadness and melodrama, is (spoiler) when a Geordie soldier (Toby Kebbell) and a German soldier (Hinnerk Schönemann) join forces in the middle of No Man’s Land to release trapped Joey, sharing a bit of banter over a pair of wire cutters. Not only does this serve the purpose of thrilling any Blackadder Goes Forth fan, but speaks volumes about the absurdity of the whole desperate war situation. Joey the horse is reemphasised as the unintentional hero, further bolstering our affections.

It might be deemed rather crass by Spielberg to strategically toy with our emotions in such a way, and to a certain extent, this type of film makes no apologies for that, down to its grand, vibrantly coloured end palette – like an enrolment poster campaign of the time. However, Spielberg has a gift of simplifying historical events for family viewing, mitigating the grim facts but still delivering a sizable punch to the senses. On the whole, War Horse may accentuate a naïve perspective of going to war and its consequences, but its moving romanticism, though prolonged and mawkish for some, is well meant.

***~~ (3/5)

War Horse, Steven Spielberg’s latest tearjerker, is out in UK cinemas early in January next year but a few screenings have already taken place and in New York last month the director sat down to answer questions on the film and his career in general.

Entertainment Weekly columnist and contributing editor at New York Magazine Mark Harris moderated the session and there’s even a Jurassic Park shoutout from a questioner, so hey – go crazy.

There’s nearly an hour to spend in the company of one of the industry’s most celebrated figures and with Tintin and War Horse behind him and his long awaited Lincoln biopic and the prosepct of Jurassic Park 4 on the horizon there’s plenty to talk about.

Here’s the Q&A,

‘Tis the season to wreck havoc. Joe Dante’s 1984 tale of that loveable and unique Christmas gift which turns out to be more trouble than he’s worth is now a firm festive favourite, and similar to Die Hard, it has earned a loving place on that list whilst using the holidays ostensibly as a hook to tell the story.

Produced by Steven Spielberg under his now legendary Amblin banner, director Joe Dante was apparently brought on board due to the Jaws auteur being a huge fan of his debut feature, The Howling. The director’s playfully sense of dark mischief alongside that more traditional, wholesome Hollywood outlook serves the story perfectly, and the film has a little more bite than some of the other fantasy features it shares a kinship with from that era.

Dante’s own love for Christmas is palpable throughout, and he litters the film with amusing references amongst the creature mischief and carnage. He also has fun subverting the traditions associated with the season, and this is particularly apparent when a main character reveals why she doesn’t join in with celebrations, owing to the death of her father who broke his neck whilst emulating Santa and attempting to climb down the family’s chimney.

The Gremlins themselves are a fantastically evil creation, and the air of menace and danger is much more evident here than in the sequel, which opted for a more comedic, knockabout tone. In the days before CGI, the model work on display is pretty impressive, even with the limitations that process brings. The Mogwai and their green transmutations all possess distinctive personalities and the strong creature design and puppetry really help bring out those characteristics.

In fact, the effects work sometimes threatens to overshadow the sketchily-drawn human characters and the actors who inhibit them. Leads Zach Galligan and Phoebe Cates (fresh from being the object of lust for young American males in Fast Time in Ridgemont High) are appealing if a little bland, and the performance of the principal human villain (the spiteful and cantankerous town matriarch Mrs Deagle) is very broad and veers a little too close to out-and-out caricature at times.

It’s definitely the Gremlins show and it’s easy to forget just how vicious and deadly they can be during the scenes which are more slapstick and spoofy in nature. That the cinema turns out to be the only place where they are visibly (and hilariously) enraptured is a wonderful moment and a fun comment on the power of the moving image.

Gremlins was the fourth highest-grossing film of that year (Beverly Hills Cop, Ghostbusters and ‘Temple of Doom’ took the top three slots) and while it certainly hasn’t aged as well as Amblin stablemates, Back to the Future and The Goonies (it’s a very uneven film in terms of pacing and structure), there’s still much fun to had here, and it’s the perfect respite for those who tire of the overabundance of mawkish festive material which bombard our cinema and TV screens each year.

While a solid serving of Equine induced sniffles may be denied to us here in the UK on Christmas Day Steven Spielberg’s second film of the year enters cinemas across the pond in a couple of weeks and there’s a new clip available if you’re currently fence-straddled.

This new clip is introduced by Jeremy Irvine who heads up the bipedal cast as Albert, the young boy who follows his horse to war, and features Benedict Cumberbatch about to lead the troops into battle.

Cumberbatch has had a pretty fine coupld of years himself with the BBC’s Sherlock and a leading role in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy to his credit, and Tom Hiddleston, another young actor who made a good impression in Thor and later The Deep Blue Sea, is also glimsped here.

Here’s the clip all the way from the land of Yahoo,

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We’ve been sent this fabulous featurette which will be available to view on the Blu-ray of Super 8 when it’s released on Monday 12th December (pre-order here) looking specifically at the creature design in the movie. The featurette covers interviews with Director J.J. Abrams, Producer Steven Spielberg and legendary Concept Artist, Neville Page (who I got to meet a couple of times For Tron: Legacy and Avatar).

In the interviews, Neville talks about finding that balance of something completely new and working with both Steven and J.J. about their wishes for the creature.

It really is a great featurette which you can scroll down to view. Sorry the end is slightly chopped off.

He may have his critics, like any other director, but you can’t argue that Michael Bay knows how to make a pretty damn successful movie, with his box office takings being overwhelmingly impressive.

His feature directorial debut, Bad Boys, took almost $150m., followed by The Rock and then Armageddon, which took north of $330m. and $550m. respectively. The man knows how to make a great film that people want to see.

His latest film, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, the third in the recent Transformers franchise, earned more than a billion dollars internationally. More than a billion. At the time, he’d announced that it would be his final time directing a Transformers movie, three films into the franchise, but it looks like he may be re-thinking his decision.

Collider report, with tip-offs from EntertainmentWeekly, /Film, and Channel News Asia, that in an interview with EW, Steven Spielberg, who’s worked as executive producer on all the Transformers films, was asked whether he thought Bay would return to direct a fourth instalment, and this was his reply:

“I hope so, because I think he made the best of the three with this last one. I certainly can’t imagine anybody other than Michael being equipped to make another Transformers. He’s invented a genre and he’s got the secret formula.”

Though it’s only a ‘hope’, in his words, I definitely think he has a point. Bay does seem to have the secret formula, and I really can’t imagine anyone else taking the helm in his place. The Transformers director himself recently spoke to Channel News Asia about the possibility and said,

“How did I know someone’s going to ask me this question today? We’re talking about it, but there’s nothing right now. I’m going to do a tiny movie first, then we’ll talk about it, if I potentially do it.”

So fans of the franchise and fans of Bay, keep your fingers crossed. I’m a big fan of Bay’s films, and would love to see him take on another Transformers film. I think a lot of people would agree that Dark of the Moon was a big improvement on Revenge of the Fallen, and with a fourth movie all but inevitable, I think it only seems right that Bay would be the one to take it on.

That small film he wants to do first looks to be a project called Pain and Gain, a black comedy that he’d initially wanted to do between the second and third Transformers films. Since that is low-budget, and has been in the pipeline for some time, let’s hope that it won’t take too long to get production on it underway and completed, because it should be a great project too.

And once it’s finished, then we might well get to see him return for a fourth Transformers film. The question would then, of course, be whether or not Shia LaBeouf would return as the lead. LaBeouf has said that Dark of the Moon would be his final Transformers film too, but if Bay were to return, I wouldn’t rule LaBeouf out as a possibility at all. More as we get it.

Dreamworks have released three new TV spots for their new movie, War Horse which is released 13th January. It stars Benedict Cumberbatch, David Thewlis, Tom Hiddleston, Emily Watson, David Kross, Peter Mullan, Eddie Marsan but from all I’ve seen so far, the real star is the horse which isn’t surprising considering the title.

DreamWorks Pictures’ “War Horse,” director Steven Spielberg’s epic adventure, is a tale of loyalty, hope and tenacity set against a sweeping canvas of rural England and Europe during the First World War. “War Horse” begins with the remarkable friendship between a horse named Joey and a young man called Albert, who tames and trains him. When they are forcefully parted, the film follows the extraordinary journey of the horse as he moves through the war, changing and inspiring the lives of all those he meets–British cavalry, German soldiers, and a French farmer and his granddaughter–before the story reaches its emotional climax in the heart of No Man’s Land. The First World War is experienced through the journey of this horse–an odyssey of joy and sorrow, passionate friendship and high adventure. “War Horse” is one of the great stories of friendship and war– a successful book, it was turned into a hugely successful international theatrical hit that is arriving on Broadway next year. It now comes to screen in an epic adaptation by one of the great directors in film history.

Check out the new TV spots which come courtesy of Latino Review.

Paramount have spent most of today releasing new featurettes for their new movie, Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol and one that doesn’t seem to have been picked up is this fabulous one showcasing what we can expect from Benji Dunn aka Simon Pegg in the movie. Turns out that Simon actually sings the theme song to Mission: Impossible whenever doing something hard which I plan to adopt for myself too!

The fourth installment of the movie franchise is directed by Brad Bird​ and sees Tom Cruise​ back for more action packed fun in a movie which is expected in the UK on Boxing Day this year, 26th December. The film also includes Simon Pegg​, Jeremy Renner​, Paula Patton, Léa Seydoux, Michael Nyqvist​, Anil Kapoor in it’s cast and I have to admit, I am rather looking forward to it. Have a watch of the first teaser trailer for the movie below and let us know what you think in the comments section.

You can keep track of all our MI4 coverage right here.

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol is released in the UK December 26th.

Source: The Sun

Spielberg seems to be trying another of his “one for the Oscars, one for the multiplex” years, much like 1993′s double-whamy of Schindler’s List and Jurassic Park. That worked out rather well for him, yielding what was then the highest ever grossing film at the box office (supplanting his own ET after some 11 years) and an absolute bucket-load of utterly deserved awards for Schindler’s List. Whether the double-header of War Horse and Tintin will prove as successful remains to be seen, though the response thus far to Tintin would suggest not. The reaction from audiences and critics seems to be good but not great, which leaves War Horse to try to mop up the accolades for which it is clearly aiming.

From what we’ve seen of War Horse, its success is going to turn on whether Spielberg can rein in his much-criticized sentimental streak. A tough call for a film about a heroic horse in the bedlam of WWI, but a necessary one. Some early reports of critic responses seem to be generally warm and positive, but it is too early to say. While we wait with baited breath (or, you know, just wait), here is another bucket-load of stills for you to enjoy. There are dozens, so by all means check out the sample below and then click through here to savour the rest.

Source: IGN.

HBO Home Entertainment have recently released two of the greatest TV Mini Series of all time together as one box set and we’ve been given the chance for one lucky person to win one. Band of Brother and The Pacific, Produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks are two of the most real series you could ever watch. If you’ve never seen them, you simply must. You can order your copy here or scroll down for your change to win a copy.

Get ready for the ultimate gift this Christmas as the award winning BAND OF BROTHERS and THE PACIFIC, are both released together in a stunning DVD and Blu-ray limited edition gift set for the first time ever on 7 NOVEMBER 2011 from HBO HOME ENTERTAINMENT.

Ten years after Band of Brothers first came to our screens, this beautifully packaged limited-edition gift set includes every visually stunning and heart-pounding episode, along with the exclusive to the gift set bonus disc of the never seen before 60-minute documentary “Called to Service” and hours of special features and comes in a fold-out collector’s piece.

“Called to Service” includes historian interviews and reunites veterans from Easy Company (European front) and the 1^st Marine Division (Pacific theatre) in a conversation revealing their experiences after World War II. Organised in a four-act structure, the documentary captures how these soldiers re-acclimatised to normal life and the transitions these men went through coming back home.

These two critically acclaimed 10-part miniseries, both filmed nearly a decade apart, have won multiple awards between them including fourteen Emmys^®, a Golden Globe^® and a Peabody. Individually they are two of HBO’s biggest selling titles and still prove popular amongst fans and newcomers alike.

BAND OF BROTHERS

Based on the bestseller by Stephen E. Ambrose and made up of an all-star cast including Michael Fassbender (X-Men First Class, Inglorious Bastards), Damian Lewis (Your Highness, The Escapist) and Scott Grimes (Robin Hood, E.R), the epic 10-part miniseries Band of Brothers tells the story of Easy Company, 506th Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, U.S. Army.

Drawn from interviews with survivors of Easy Company, as well as soldiers’ journals and letters, Band of Brothers chronicles the experiences of these men who knew extraordinary bravery and extraordinary fear. They were an elite rifle company that parachuted into France early on D-Day morning, fighting in the Battle of the Bulge and capturing Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest at Berchtesgaden. They were also a unit that suffered vast casualties, and whose lives became legend.

They were ordinary men, swept up in the most extraordinary conflict in history.  With the eyes of the world upon them, they found their greatest source of strength in one another.

THE PACIFIC

The ten-part adventure tracks the intertwined real-life journeys of three U.S Marines – Robert Leckie (James Badge Dale), Eugene Sledge (Joe Mazzello) and John Basilone (Jon Seda) – across the vast canvas of the Pacific Theatre of World War II. From the very first scene witness the reality of war with disorientating and historical accuracy, set against a breath-taking and often harrowing backdrop. The series follows these men and their fellow comrades from their first battle with the Japanese on Guadalcanal, through the rain forests of Cape Gloucester and the strongholds of Peleliu, across the bloody sands of Iwo Jima and through the horror of Okinawa, and finally to their triumphant but uneasy return home after V-J Day.

Costing an incredible $200m to create, THE PACIFIC is a cinematic blockbuster for the small screen, representing a revolution in television and further cements HBO’s position as a pioneer of innovative and challenging programming.

To be in with a chance of winning thsi awesome prize, simply answer the following question using the form below:

Who plays the character Maj. Richard D. Winters in the Mini Series, Band of Brothers?

COMPETITION NOW CLOSED

The small print:

• Open to UK residents only
• Only one entry per household will be counted
• The competition will close 28th November at 23.59 GMT
• The winner will be picked at random from entries received
• No cash alternative is available

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With the re-release of Jurassic Park on the big screen here in the UK and the Blu-ray box set out this week it’s high time to catch up with one of the people who was there at the beginning.

Earlier in the week we spoke to Ariana Richards and today we have an interview with her co-star and on-screen brother Joseph Mazzello who, despite a burgeoning acting career as an adult, is still recognised for his role in the 1993 film.

He spoke to us about the legacy of Jurassic Park, how Steven Spielberg almost cast him in another film, and how a raptor almost ruined his birthday.

HeyUGuys:  It’s very exciting to see Jurassic Park back on the big screen and now with the new Blu-ray set. What’s it like for you, with so much history behind the movie?

Joseph Mazzello: I’m so jealous of you, I’d love to see it on the big screen again, I hope they do that here! With the Blu-ray coming out I’m glad they took time with it. I know Steven [Spielberg] cares so much about the quality of the process and it’s going to be a wonderful thing. I can’t wait to see it. I haven’t watched the movie in over ten years, so it’ll be a thrill for me.

Looking back at the movie, it remains an iconic film and it was groundbreaking at the time. When you were making it did it feel like you were pushing boundaries?

Well yeah, although as an eight and nine-year old you don’t think ‘Oh, wow – look at all this technology’. I didn’t think of it in that context but I knew it was special. When I saw the dinosaurs on set and saw how lifelike they were and how they moved… To see twenty guys controlling one dinosaur, even down to one guy controlling the eyelids and another guy doing the nostrils I thought ‘This is going to blow people away’. And then to know that on top of that there was going to be things that were computer generated I knew it was something special. Seeing it on the big screen I was blown away. And looking at things today I don’t feel like they’ve improved all that much – in some ways there’s too much CGI and Jurassic Park had it right with the mix of animatronics and CGI. It gives you a grounding when they are there and it helps bring you into the computer generated aspect.

And even watching it back on the big screen recently it didn’t look dated. Other things date it like Lex talking about an interactive CD-ROM, but the look of the film could be new, it retains that freshness.

Yeah, it’ll be on TV here once in a while and I’ll watch it and say that to myself, it looks like it could have been made today. I’m really proud to have been part of something that holds up so well.

Can you talk about the casting process? Did you know Spielberg before?

I was doing a movie called Radio Flyer with Richard Donner…

And he had done The Goonies…

Yeah, exactly. Actually – HeyUGuys, is that from The Goonies?

It is.

Great, so you’ll know all too well that they were friendly. Steven at the time was developing Hook on the same lot as Radio Flyer and he would keep coming over and talking to me and I was seven years old at the time and I didn’t know who Steven Spielberg was! He was this nice man with a beard who came around and wanted to talk to me the whole time. He showed me all the stuff for Hook and as it turns out he was trying to find someone for the film, but I was too young so he said, ‘Joe, don’t worry about that, I’m going to get you into a movie next Summer,’ and that movie turned out to be Jurassic Park. I made a pretty good trade – I love Hook, but Jurassic Park is definitely something to be a part of.

We’ve talked to Ariana about the switching of roles between the two kids in the book, her character was the younger one and the boy was the computer nerd.

Yeah, Steven actually switched those roles for me, because he wanted me to play the part. I can’t think of a bigger compliment than for his to change the script around to be able to have me in it. I feel like my role is very memorable. I still get recognised for it believe it or not. I got to be a funny, wise-guy and I had great fun doing it.

Do people still shout lines from the film at you? Does that happen?

It does! I can’t believe it when it happens. I look so much different now and half the time I have facial hair and still people will be like, ‘Hey, what do you call a blind dinosaur?’ It’s like – how do these people still recognise me? But I look on it as a compliment. It’s a great legacy to have. It’s a nice thing to know that it catapulted my career in such a way and I’m still working today because of it.

And with The Pacific there’s the Spielberg connection again…

Yeah, I had to do five auditions for that, and the final audition was in front of Steven. He didn’t even know I was still acting because I had taken some time off to go to film school and so when he saw my name on the sheet for that day that was the first time he knew I was going for it. So, when I went in he gave me a big hug and then it was down to business and I had to do the audition as if it was the first time ever because it was such a big role and there was so much money at stake that he wouldn’t just give me to me as a favour. I had to earn it. So, to know that he had faith in me as a kid and continued to have faith in me as an adult was a huge validation for me.

And you’re currently shooting G.I. Joe 2?

I am. I’m on hiatus from that at the moment. It’s going great. [Director] Jon Chu is fantastic and we actually went to school together and he texted me one day with a ‘Hey, I have a role for you in my movie, do you wanna do it?’ I told him that for him I’d do craft services… and that was how it happened. I’m loving it – Dwanye Johnson is fantastic. I think you could crush me with his pinky… but he wouldn’t – he’s the nicest, most gentle guy. Channing Tatum is so much fun. We’ve had a blast on set and going out at night experiencing New Orleans the way it’s supposed to be done.

Is there one memory from your time on set as an eight year old that stands out in your mind?

The kitchen scene. We shot that for two weeks and it was so beautifully choreographed, and so scary with those raptors. And that was the one injury I had on set where I’m going into the freezer and being chased – it went the wrong way and the claw of the dinosaur hit me in the head. And that was my birthday! So, that’s hard to forget – having the whole crew singing Happy Birthday while you’re lying on the ground with a bump on your head…

Has there been a cast reunion for the film since it came out?

No, I don’t think so. The film came out before you had the internet and these things got popular. There was no Facebook or iChat, and it was a lot harder to stay in touch with each other. So, there hasn’t been a reunion but I’d love to have one. It’d be so much fun to see everyone again.

So, Jurassic Park 4… There are rumblings and rumours. Have you been contacted, and would you be interested?

I know they are writing it and it’s been developed right now. The last time I saw Steven was at the Emmys and I put the bug in his ear, I have no shame in that! I said, ‘Hey, let me know when you’re doing Jurassic Park 4, ok?’ If it came around and I was a part of it that would be an absolute thrill. I think it would be a great idea to have Tim grown up and see how that would affect things. We’ll see, you never know. If it happens it’ll be the greatest thrill of my life.

Spielberg’s been out of the director’s chair for a little while (since Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls) but is making up for lost time by putting out action-adventure spectacle (Tintin) and serious drama (War Horse) in short succession. It’s like 1993 all over again.

In honour of Spielberg returning to action, here are six of his best.

They are in no particular order and other opinions are available (please share yours in the comments section):-

1. Jaws

As with each film on this list, there is an insurmountable challenge in trying to find something new to say and so it eventually comes down to simply restating what anyone with half a mind already knows to be true, namely that Jaws is one of the finest films of this or any decade, genre or director.

A masterclass in atmosphere-building, working with limited resources and almost debilitating technical problems, Spielberg crafted a film of almost peerless tension, thrills and technical virtuosity. It is difficult to distil its high-points to a manageable few, but the appearance of the shark (nick-named Bruce after Spielberg’s lawyer, a name echoed in Nemo years later) as Roy Scheider chums the waters (“you’re gonna need a bigger boat”), the body popping out of the boat as Richard Dreyfus dives down to a wreck, John Williams’ matchless score as we witness the first strike on a skinny-dipper, the focus pull / dolly zoom on Scheider as he sits on the beach and sees the kid disappear in a plume of crimson and Quint’s fingernails on the blackboard all resonate to this day.

It’s been years since I last watched it, but it never ceases to feel fresh on each repeat viewing. Despite unimaginable leaps and bounds in special effects, Bruce remains an effective and affecting antagonist, even with the afore-mentioned technical difficulties. Although in many ways it is as impersonal and relentless as the truck driver in Duel (the film in Spielberg’s cannon to which this bears closest resemblance), it doesn’t feel as mechanical as a villain without a human face might be expected to be. My 11 year-old son, raised on a steady diet of far superior special-effects and model work has seen Jaws a few times now and he loves it too.

Consider it whole-heartedly recommended by both of us.

2. Raiders of the Lost Ark

Everyone knows the back-story, indeed the Indy series has already been the subject of a Video Vault special on this very site. Spielberg and Lucas, blah-blah, TV serials and cliff-hangers, blah-blah, James Bond, blah-blah. Enough. This is, quite simply, the finest action adventure film ever made.

Others tried to follow in its footsteps with such varied results as Romancing the Stone, King Solomon’s Mines and The Goonies, but nothing comes close. It is impossible to fault the film at any turn. The script is laced with witty one-liners, deft and light exposition and expert myth-building. The set pieces (snakes in the Well of Souls, the truck chase, the South American booby-trap prologue, the face-melting finale) are energetic and thrilling but threaded effortlessly into the narrative, avoiding so much of the stop-start and narrative/geographic incoherence that besets and bests so many modern action films. Harrison Ford has arguably never been better, even as Han Solo and certainly the rest of the cast have never come close to matching these exalted heights.

More fun than any film about Nazis and dusty archeological relics has any right to be, depending on which of Spielberg’s films you have seen most recently, this is likely to be one of your favourites. Simply brilliant.

3. Jurassic Park

Quite how Spielberg managed to avoid getting bogged down, making this and Schindler’s List in parallel, is astounding. In all the ways that Schindler’s List is, quite rightly (and commendably), heavy, serious and deliberate, Jurassic Park is light, lively and entertaining. As ILM had developed the CGI work from Terminator 2 to the point where dinosaurs could be believably rendered and as Stan Winston knew he could deliver believable and dexterous large and small animatronic models, so Spielberg welded his usual technical ability to a story that was both thrilling and intellectually engaging. Although Jeff Goldblum’s considered warnings about the dangers of playing God are quite fleeting in their time on-screen, they nonetheless provide an invaluable over-arching ethical context for the ensuing adventure ride.

The successive sequels (evidence of the law of diminishing returns, if ever it was needed) laid on more dinosaurs and more special effects, but it is this original that remains the most exciting, the most deftly directed, the most narratively propulsive. Holding off with the T-Rex until well into the welcomely brisk running time and giving the raptors their moment too, Spielberg brings all of the elements together perfectly and just compare the CGI-rendering of the dinosaurs to (say) Weta’s work on King Kong. The extent to which the seamless work of ILM has stood the test of time bears testimony to just how far ahead of the curve it was in 1993.

Everything has weight, texture, even personality and it is this that makes the set-pieces work as well as they do – the T-Rex chasing the protagonists through the trees, the raptors in the kitchen, the attack on the hapless Wayne Knight, the lawyer on the toilet. It is thrilling and compelling in every way from beginning to end and after the relatively below-par Spielberg efforts of Always and Hook, an utterly welcome return to form.

4. Schindler’s List

Schindler’s List was famously the project that Spielberg had known about for years but did not feel ready to make until the early 90′s. He had tried to get Roman Polanski to make it, but it felt to close to the nerve for him (though he would eventually channel his own experiences through The Pianist) and so it waited until Spielberg was ready.

Clearly it was worth the wait. Although it is easy to simply batch together a number of Spielberg’s efforts into his “serious” films as opposed to his popcorn entertainment (Amistad, Saving Private Ryan, Empire of the Sun and Munich would accompany Schindler on such a List), Schindler’s List stands head and shoulders above even such exalted company.

On its release on video, one bus stop advert simply quoted a review from the time, “quite simply one of the greatest films ever made”. It is as true now as it was then. Yes, Spielberg could be accused of lapsing into sentimentality for Schindler’s final collapse against his car as the Allies approach, but that is churlish in the extreme. There are sequences of Schindler’s List that are so unflinchingly, unforgivingly and harrowingly shot that it is all you can do to not sob uncontrollably for much of the running time. Liam Neeson was perfectly cast as the conflicted and undoubtedly opportunistic Schindler, but all the plaudits were rightly taken by Ralph Fiennes as Amon Goeth, a monster of a man, capricious, cruel and likely psychopathic, shooting Jews with a sniper rifle from his balcony as if he were merely on a morning stroll.

The first sight of a little girl, hiding from the Warsaw extermination, her red coat deliberately sticking out against the monochrome stock of the rest of the film at first seems like an almost unpardonable gesture of optimism and sentimentality, until we catch sight of that same coat on a conveyor belt, body after body being carried to an incinerator after having been exhumed. What looks for all the world like a beautiful winter snow-storm turns out to be a blanket of ash, blown from the fires of extermination camps. We breathe a sigh of relief as Schindler’s Jews are rescued from Auschwitz and herded back onto their train, only for the camera to pan over to another queue of Jews, headed down into a basement below a chimney that it blowing endless clouds of smoke and ash into the cold night sky. We see industrious children finding hiding places, only to have the wind knocked out of us as those hiding places are revealed to be faeces-filled pit latrines. We tense up as we watch Ben Kingsley’s Itzhak Stern walk across a compound while Goeth takes pot-shots and the camera follows Stern as in the background we see the prostrate forms of those not so fortunate. Blood pumps from skulls, lives and bodies shattered by bullets shot at point-blank range.

What is perhaps most incredible is that amidst such harrowing incidents and details, Spielberg is able to avoid getting bogged down in the bleakness of it all. Yes, of course, a film about the Holocaust was never going to be a laugh riot, but the subject matter is so disturbing, so traumatic, that the occasional moments of levity are an essential respite and it is to Spielberg’s eternal credit that the finished film does not feel tonally inconsistent or abrupt. A quip from Schindler (“if this factory ever produces a shell that can actually be fired, I’ll be very unhappy”), the cathartic release of a seeming gas chamber turning out to be a shower, these interludes, however brief, mercifully leaven an otherwise unmanageable meal. But we must take it and this is why Spielberg had to make the film real but accessible. It is an unenviable task and a seemingly insurmountable one, but he succeeds and we are all the richer for it. An incredible story, imperiously and impeccably told and unchallenged by anything else Spielberg has made before or since.

5. Minority Report

Spielberg came to Minority Report off the back of a relatively “serious” patch, comprising Amistad, Saving Private Ryan and the austere and cold AI:Artificial Intelligence. Tom Cruise was in the middle of an incomparably successful period, having notched up Jerry Maguire, two Missions Impossible, Vanilla Sky and Magnolia in the previous years, before moving on to The Last Samurai, Collateral, War of the Worlds and more Impossible Missioning. It was really one of those seemingly obvious and inevitable joint ventures of stratospheric star and peerless director that made you wonder, “how come this hasn’t happened already?” The end product is a fascinating melding of chase movie, crime drama, sci-fi thriller and philosophical treatise that is arguably as close as Spielberg had come to perfection since his 1993 double whammy almost a decade earlier.

Although Spielberg resolutely refuses to hem in or pin down interpretations of his films through DVD commentaries, the making-of content on Minority Report is thoroughly considered and thought-provoking stuff, with the metaphysical elements (prosecuting someone for something they are destined to do, but have not yet done) having remained at the front of Spielberg’s mind throughout and finding their way front and centre in the final screenplay. Set-pieces such as the scrap with federal agents at the Lexus factory (has Colin Farrell come close to being this good since?), the alleyway run-in with jet-pack wearing Pre-Crime agents, the opening finding and arresting of a murder “suspect” and the escape from the shopping mall with the help of Agatha’s foresight are breathless, with special effects used in the advancing of the story rather than showing off and the silvery-blue cinematography proving evocative rather than distracting.

Were it not for the now inevitable (but nonetheless infuriating) Spielbergian sentimental coda, this could have given Raiders, Jurassic Park and Jaws a literal run for their money in the “which is Spielberg’s best action film” stakes. As it is, his insistence on wrapping it all up with a bow rather takes the shine off what might have otherwise been a sensational film rather than a merely excellent one.

6. Munich

At last, Spielberg seemed to have found a way of telling a serious and compelling story without spiralling into sentimentality at the last. Whether War Horse or Lincoln will be able to show that Spielberg can pull it off more than once remains to be seen. Munich is unlike anything else in Spielberg’s oeuvre.

All of the polish is gone and what we are left with is something gritty, bleak and savage. Consider two stand-out moments. Firstly, Eric Bana’s Avner reuniting with his wife and their desperate, frantic love-making. Avner is clearly somewhere else entirely and the scene plays out as one of a man in utter turmoil, having become someone, something else entirely. Secondly, there is the almost unwatchably personal and frank assassination (murder?) of a female target, shot repeatedly with makeshift weapons in necessarily close-up detail. Spielberg’s point is clear – these are not meaningless Arnie killings, dozens of faceless “baddies” mowed down by machine gun fire. These are people, on both sides, and the killings carry grave and enduring consequences for everyone, as personal vengeance becomes mingled in with the overall mission.

Once again, the cinematography is perfect, a multitude of muddy shades and grainy stocks effortlessly evoking time and space. The tension of the build-up to the assorted hits is superbly crafted, ratcheting the pressure to almost unbearable levels, though Spielberg has the presence of mind (as he did with Schindler’s List) to sweeten the pill with a few welcome lighter moments, that we might be able to digest his more important, over-arching themes. Eric Bana has the most heavy lifting to do, acting-wise as he conveys the sense of a man honouring his sense of duty and national identity, but losing himself and his soul in the process. He presents us with a compelling portrayal of a man who has lost everything in his efforts to do that which he is assured is “right”. But right and wrong have become utterly and helplessly blurred, not by way of a cop-out from Spielberg, but simply because a hopelessly fraught and complicated historical situation has created a world where there is no black and white, only greys.

It is in the finale that perhaps the greatest and most important gut-punch is found. Avner speaks with Geoffrey Rush’s case officer in New York and in the background stand the twin towers of the World Trade Centre. Of course nothing is said regarding them and the inclusion of them is subtle, but the point is clear. Though the events portrayed are rooted in slightly more distant history, the themes and issues could not be more relevant, more resonant for us today. A formidable piece of work from a director who seems able to continue to stretch himself.

Fans of the Jurassic Park trilogy will already be glued to their newly released Blu-ray boxset and following our interview with Ariana Richards at the start of the week we’ve got another interview with someone who, less directly, was also partially responsible for the films.

Filmbeat travelled to Montana to speak with the man who inspired the character of Alan Grant in the Jurassic Park trilogy, Paleotologist Jack Horner. He was also a lead technical adviser for the films. He’s the kind of guy you want doing the commentary for the films and he seems pleased that his work inspired thousands of kids to take up the spade*.

Here’s the interview.

If you’re keen to know more about the man then check out this TED talk he did a while ago.

*I’m sure Paleontologists don’t use a spade as such, but you get the idea….

This Friday, we’re going to get to see 20 minutes of Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol, tomorrow the trailer comes out and today, ahead of both these treats, MSN have released this new featurette from the movie focusing on the stunts that Ethan Hunt himself, Tom Cruise carried out on the tallest building in the world for the movie. It’s a great watch but it’s you’re scared of heights, beware!

The fourth installment is directed by Brad Bird​ and sees Tom Cruise​ back for more action packed fun in a movie which is expected in the UK on Boxing Day this year, 26th December. The film also includes Simon Pegg, Jeremy Renner, Paula Patton, Léa Seydoux, Michael Nyqvist, Anil Kapoor in it’s cast and I have to admit, I am rather looking forward to it. Have a watch of the first teaser trailer for the movie below and let us know what you think in the comments section.

You can keep track of all our MI4 coverage right here.

MIssion Impossible: Ghost Protocol is released in the UK December 26th.

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