The Naked Gun series must be the only successful big-screen franchise to have been a spin-off from a spectacularly unsuccessful TV series. Although Police Squad went on to become a cult favourite, at the time the American TV network was so unimpressed they only showed four of the six episodes before cancelling it. But Leslie Nielsen's bumbling Lt Frank Drebin just wouldn't go away. Supported in masterly deadpan style by George Kennedy and Priscilla Presley, Nielsen cemented his reputation as a gifted comic actor with The Naked Gun decades after he had first become known as a minor Hollywood leading man (in 1955's Forbidden Planet for example). The first movie appeared in 1988 and spawned two sequels that replayed exactly the same routines: in The Naked Gun series sight gags (some of which are worthy of the Marx Brothers, some not) combine with excruciating puns and lots of toilet humour to follow the same hit formula as the creators' earlier slapstick masterpiece, Airplane. By the third film the formula may have become more than a little overworked, and few including the filmmakers cared much about the increasingly creaky scenarios, but Nielsen's easygoing idiotic charm goes a long way towards saving the day. There are still a lot of laughs to be found in all three Naked Gun movies, even if some of them are the unintentional result of seeing OJ Simpson before notoriety overtook his budding film career.

On the DVDs: All three features are anamorphically enhanced 1.78:1 widescreen ratios, with Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. Each disc also has a jovial ensemble commentary featuring co-creator David Zucker with other producers and writers, which is only intermittently informative but is at least intermittently funny, too. --Mark Walker

After years of yawn-inducing testosterone displays in the political arena, The Contender is a uniquely intelligent feminist statement. Written and directed by Rod Lurie, the plot is concerned with appointing a female Vice President (Joan Allen as Senator Laine Hanson) to the White House. Barring her way are the collective prejudices and petty-minded historical grudges that mire all politics. For her, they're all focused in the repellent form of an unrecognisable Gary Oldman as Sheldon Runyan. Several other performances stand alongside these two excellent leads: a commanding President from Jeff Bridges, a fresh-faced do-gooder from Christian Slater and an incendiary moustache-free presidential aide from Sam Elliott. Beneath the extremely engaging surprise-filled plot, there are also several layers of commendable moral thematics. Effectively put on trial for being who she is and what she may or may not have done in her past, Allen's character stands for much more than a position in the Office. Viewers are presented with the thought-provoking statement: "principles only matter if you stick by them when they're inconvenient."

On the DVD: a trailer, four TV spots, an interview with Joan Allen and 10 deleted scenes (totalling 16 minutes) with optional commentary from director Lurie, all worthy of your attention. But the enthusiastic commentary from Lurie and Allen is the real treat. Crammed with information about the advice on re-editing given by Steven Spielberg, Lurie reveals the fall-out it caused with Gary Oldman. Gossip aside, it's also fascinating to hear him explaining his feminist standpoint after having become father to a daughter.--Paul Tonks

Sexy secrets from a womans past come to light as she runs for Vice President

With tongue firmly in cheek throughout, The Convent piles on the gross-out gore. A group of college kids take a midnight trip to a deserted convent school which 40 years earlier was the scene of a massacre by a wayward convent schoolgirl called Christine. What they don't know is that the long dead and mightily peeved souls of the murdered nuns are still stalking the premises. The demonic nuns liquidate a succession of dumb and dumber teens in order to steal their souls. Among the potential victims are a virgin Goth, a jive-talkin' jock and a pair of effeminate, flouncing Satanists. Coolio cameos as a likeably corrupt cop whose bark is worse than his bite. The humour fluctuates between goofy and just plain stupid. But director Mike Mendez thankfully bypasses the Scream blueprint for slasher flicks. The Convent provides strictly irony-free screams, harking back instead to classics like Halloween and Nightmare On Elm Street. Horror veteran Adrienne Barbeau shows up as the adult Christine, strapped with an arsenal that would make even Charlton Heston blush and ready to wreak revenge on her convent school education all over again.

On The DVD: The DVD features static menus and extras are limited to a theatrical trailer and cast and crew filmographies. The main feature is presented as a clear transfer in 4:3 full frame format with Dolby Digital 2.0 sound. --Chris Campion