Blu-ray

Even taking into account the success it's had to date, 2014 should go down as Marvel Studio's biggest and most exciting year. And not just because of the surprise Summer sci-fi smash Guardians of the Galaxy; several months earlier Marvel had turned everything fans thought they knew about its shared cinematic universe on its head with this edgy second solo outing for Captain America.

Credit card fraud is the curse of modern living and it’s amazing how easily thieves get away with stealing thousands of pounds of our hard earned cash. Well, according to director Julian Gilbey’s new gangster thriller Plastic such crimes are frighteningly simple. Based on a true story, Plastic relates the illegal practices of a group of students who successfully steal credit cards and pin numbers, and use the stolen money to sell high value goods.

I suppose it was inevitable that the public’s thirst for comic superheroes would lead to filmmakers once again raiding the world of myths and legends to find new muscle-bound protagonists.

Like some kind of camp 1970s precursor to the Saw franchise, The Abominable Dr. Phibes stars Vincent Price as the titular Phantom of the Opera-like ghoul out for revenge on the doctors he blames for the death of his wife. To this end he concocts a series of ingenious and spectacular murders patterned on the ten plagues of Egypt from the Old Testament. Sequel Dr. Phibes Rises Again finds Price's twisted genius rising from the grave and heading to Egypt to track down the location of the 'River of Life', which holds the secret of restoring his late wife.

Made at the height of Beatlemania, Richard Lester's comedic pseudo-documentary follows the Fab Four as they head to London to record a performance. Along for the ride is Paul's grandfather John (Wilfrid Brambell), whose antics turn the members of the band against one another and throw the entire production into chaos.

While it never sinks quite as low as Muppets from Space, this sequel to the 2011 box office smash The Muppets represents a noticeable dip in quality for the reinvigorated franchise. To make things even worse, Disney has pulled the same trick it did with John Carter and Mary Poppins in the past and downgraded the film's 5.1 audio from fully-lossless DTS-HD Master Audio to DTS-HD High Resolution on this UK Blu-ray plater. On the other hand, the disc's 1.78:1-framed 1080p imagery looks superb with its robust palette and intricately resolved textures.

After barely surviving an invasion by insect-like aliens called the Formic 50 years ago, Earth's military leaders have taken the idea that 'the children are our future' to their hearts. Realising that young minds are the most malleable and adaptable, the military now recruits and trains young children to fight and command the space armada that is massing for the inevitable rematch with the Formic forces.