It’s 2019 and there’s hordes of new games to look forward to, so it comes as a surprise that the one we're most excited for is a remake of a game over two decades old. But Resident Evil 2 is far more than just a super pretty makeover of the 1998 classic - like we’ve had with Shadow of the Colossus or Spyro. It’s essentially a new team of developers remaking the game from the ‘ground up’ with the all-new RE engine and a perspective shift from fixed cameras to behind-the-shoulder. Resident Evil 2, made anew.
This is also about capturing the spirit of the original for a new audience with higher expectations for the medium in the intervening decades. So not only is the remake dialling up the horror with more terrifying realism and claustrophobic lighting (or lack of it), it’s also drastically improving the script and performances.
Fans have been hungering for this remake for years, but just what is it about Resident Evil 2 that has infected us for all these years? Even if the low polygons and camp voice-acting of the PS1 version don’t pass the test of time, what at its core still makes it more vitally important than even the original Resident Evil, and so worthy of revisiting as a new big-budget release?
Global outbreak
After all, we should credit the 1996 title for giving birth to ‘survival horror’, and revitalizing zombies, before they would take over every other medium. But while the first Resident Evil was hugely acclaimed and one of the best-selling Playstation games, it was Resident Evil 2 that blew it wide open into the global mainstream.
At the time, it was listed in the Guinness World Records for “surpassing the revenue of all but one Hollywood movie for the same weekend” for its launch, while breaking the records of the biggest games at the time, including Final Fantasy VII and Super Mario 64.
Mirroring that was the game itself. This wasn’t a sequel content with re-treading the original beats. Instead, if took it to a grander cinematic scale (goodbye to those cheap live-action sequences). So instead of our survivors cooped up in an isolated mansion, the zombie outbreak has spilled out onto the streets of Racoon City.
The city would only be the beginning. The vision for the series would become even bigger, Resident Evil 2 laying the groundwork for building the lore into more than just about surviving a zombie outbreak but a metaseries where multiple self-contained stories could be told. Resident Evil 2 wasn’t just a blockbuster-selling game – it launched multiple blockbuster films, comics, and other spin-offs.
Iconic characters
Of course, what makes some games so memorable are their characters. And while you’d think terrible voice-acting or obvious gendered color-coding might be a detractor, it’s a testament how iconic Leon S Kennedy and Claire Redfield remain in our eyes.
Whereas the first game’s Chris Redfield was something of a typical dull masculine protagonist, Leon’s a fresh-faced rookie police officer on his first day on the job, with a hair style almost certainly modelled after Hollywood heartthrob Leonardo DiCaprio (the similarity of their first names is surely no coincidence).
The heroic leads, as seen in the new remake.
Meanwhile, Claire Redfield makes quite the entrance on her motorcycle, and while she might not have the same specialist background as her S.T.A.R.S. agent brother, she quickly surpasses master of unlocking Jill as one of the series’ most kick-ass female characters.
It’s not just the heroes that shine either. Hinted at in a few messages in the first game, Resident Evil 2 is also where we’re introduced to Ada Wong. Whether she stands out as one of the first notable Asian characters in 3D gaming or because of her not entirely appropriate femme fatale wardrobe, there’s no denying that this double-agent is one of gaming’s most iconic antiheroes.
Unforgettable nightmares
Then there’s the zombies themselves. While they were still the slow shuffling sort, before 20 Days Later gave them a literal boost a few years later, the emphasis of a citywide outbreak gave them a more frightening dynamic, whether you’d be cornered by a horde of them (or as many as the PS1’s power could allow) or find their arms reaching through the boarded-up windows to grab you.
But it’s also about more than just zombies. The Umbrella Corporation was always brewing more monstrous creations, and Resident Evil 2 had them in spades, from the terrifying fleshy crawly Lickers, whose eponymous tongues could lick your head clean off, to the ridiculously gigantic alligator lurking in the sewers.
The worst of them however was the Tyrant Mr. X, a seemingly unstoppable force who didn’t just soak up bullets and deal a lot of damage, but also had a knack of showing up unexpectedly, crashing through walls to scare the absolute bejesus out of you. This aspect of being pursued by an indestructible monster in fact forms the basis of the sequel Resident Evil 3: Nemesis.
Different paths
While the first game gave you two playable protagonists, it often felt like two parallel stories rather than two halves of the whole. Resident Evil 2 follows this approach to an extent but then adds its own ingenious twist, unlocking a ‘B’ scenario once one character’s ‘A’ scenario has been completed, basically giving you four campaigns in total.
It essentially gives you the other character’s side of the story, while a ‘zapping’ feature meant that certain choices from your character in the ‘A’ scenario would carry over to the ‘B’ scenario, like an unlocked safe or certain enemies not respawning if killed earlier.
And that wasn’t all. You could also unlock a minigame called ‘The 4th Survivor’ where you play as an Umbrella operative codenamed HUNK trying to escape Racoon City with just the items you have. Even more hilarious is a minigame that lets you play this as a block of tofu armed with just a knife - and it’s great that both are back in the remake.
Next-gen talent
Perhaps more importantly, Resident Evil 2 wasn’t just a great game, it also made a name for Hideki Kamiya. Having previously worked on the first Resident Evil as System Planner, he graduated to directing the sequel, but not without butting heads with the series creator Shinji Mikami.
To his credit, Mikami backed off from his baby, giving the young upstart the freedom and flair to make Resident Evil 2 bigger and more ostentatious in Capcom’s bid to make it the bestseller and multimedia franchise it would go on to become. Kamiya’s ideas and reputation would only get bigger and bolder, with a fantastical and action-packed take on Resident Evil eventually becoming the all-new demon-slaying Devil May Cry, while he would go on to co-found studio PlatinumGames and create the even more ridiculously bad-ass Bayonetta.
It’s been well over a decade since Kamiya has been with Capcom, which these days doesn’t have a big personality as the face of one of its brands (apart from perhaps Street Fighter producer Yoshinori Ono). But given how faithfully and successfully the remake has captured the original’s spirit of horror from the original, sure to ignite a new generation of Resident Evil fans, greatness surely beckons for the series’ new custodians.
Best horror games: get your bones rattled by these horrifying titles
Welcome to TechRadar's guide to the best animated shows and TV series you can stream on Netflix in the UK.
If you think cartoons are just for kids, you couldn't be more wrong, and with a huge range of brilliant original and syndicated content, Netflix is arguably the best platform for diving into the weird world of animation.
All that choice can make it difficult to settle on a show, and if you're at a loss as to which animations you should put on your watch list, look no further than our roundup of the best cartoons available on Netflix in 2019.
January update: Netflix has just released a brand new animated series 'Carmen Sandiego'. Based on the MS-DOS game 'Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego?', the series has 20 episodes available to stream now.
If you're not sure where to begin, our list is in order of most to least recently updated shows, so you can be sure to stay up to date with the rest of the Netflix watching population. Commence binge-watching!
Created by Nick Kroll, Andrew Goldberg, Mark Levin, and Jennifer Flackett, Big Mouth is a fictionalization of Kroll and Goldberg's teenage years in Westchester County, New York.
The series is all about puberty, with Nick's raging hormones personified by Maurice the Hormone Monster, who wreaks havoc on his anxiety-ridden teenage life. The new season sees the introduction of the 'Shame Wizard', who gives all the kids in the show a large dose of embarrassment about their changing bodies.
As a series it's pretty graphic, but not particularly in a gross out way - it actually feels quite progressive in it's frank portrayal of the ups and downs of puberty. Still, probably best not to watch this one with your kids/parents.
Seasons on Netflix: 2
Netflix has just released the fifth season of Bojack Horseman, an original series that follows the life of washed up actor Bojack as he struggles with alcoholism, toxic relationships, and a troubled childhood.
The new season sees Bojack trying to come to terms with his issues as the lives of the people around him spin out.
For those who are worried it may be too dark for them, fear not - there's loads of slapstick humor, word play, and stunning animation designed by cartoonist Lisa Hanawalt to keep everything balanced.
Seasons on Netflix: 5
Paradise PD follows a small town police department whose officers are morally corrupt, over-emotional, and violent. Featuring a ton of gross-out comedy and shock value humor, the adult cartoon takes shots at pop culture figures in a similar vein to Family Guy or South Park.
If cartoon violence and crass humor makes you cringe, this probably isn't the show for you, but with ten 30 minute episodes available of Netflix, Paradise PD is pretty binge-able.
Seasons on Netflix: 1
After human prisoner Gary meets a planet-destroying alien, they must go on an interstellar mission to save Earth. Alongside a ragtag team of misfits, Gary embarks on a journey through space to find out the true meaning of 'final space', or where the universe ends.
Laugh-out-loud funny, and surprisingly emotional, the series was picked up for another season in May 2018.
Seasons on Netflix: 1
Matt Groening's done the present (The Simpsons), he's done the future (Futurama), so it makes sense that his latest series would take place in the past.
His first production for Netflix, Disenchantment takes places in the fantasy kingdom of Dreamland, and follows the feisty young princess Bean, her sweet elf companion Elfo, and demon Luci as they navigate the magical medieval world they inhabit.
With an all-star cast and impressive animation, the series has been met with mixed to positive reviews so far, and has been described by voice actor John DiMaggio as "the offspring of The Simpsons and Game of Thrones".
Seasons on Netflix: 1
Originally aired on Cartoon Network, Over the Garden Wall is a charming mini-series that centres on two half brothers Wirt and Greg (voiced by Elijah Wood and Collin Dean respectively) who must find their way home through an enchanted forest.
Stalked by an evil ancient creature called 'The Beast', the two boys encounter the strange and sometimes wonderful inhabitants of the forest along their way.
With stunning animation inspired by Victorian illustrations and postcards, Over the Garden Wall is the perfect watch for adults and (older) children alike in the run up to Halloween.
Seasons on Netflix: 1
Archer is back on Netflix for its penultimate ninth season, and like the previous season, the characters are playing different versions of themselves as Archer still lies in a coma.
This time Archer is a drunken co-pilot alongside Pam, who crash their plane onto the verdant Pacific island of Mitimotu, with the series paying homage to the short-lived television series Tales of the Golden Monkey and the Indiana Jones films.
Seasons on Netflix: 9
Created by Sanrio (the people who brought you Hello Kitty), Aggretsuko is a terminally cute and funny animation that follows fed up office worker Retsuko the red panda.
Feeling under-appreciated by her demanding boss, Retsuko turns to death metal karaoke to relieve her work related stress, with hilarious results.
Seasons on Netflix: 1
Based on the life of comedian Bill Burr, F is for Family is a funny and endearing cartoon set in 1970's American suburbia, and centres around Burr's father Frank Murphy.
A little like an even more adult version of The Simpsons, the series is all about 70's nostalgia, with musical, costume, and cultural throwbacks interspersed with Frank's profane rants at his misbehaving children and long suffering wife Sue.
Full to the brim with laugh-out-loud moments, the series is just as heartwarming as it is hilarious.
Seasons on Netflix: 3
Rick and Morty has enjoyed an almost obsessive cult following since its release in 2013, and with three seasons on Netflix, there's a lot to catch up on if you haven't seen it yet.
The series follows the crazy inter-dimensional adventures of mad scientist Rick Sanchez and his timid grandson Morty, as they navigate both the multiverse and fraught family relationships.
Part of it's wide appeal is creator Dan Harmon's masterful combination of side-splitting humor with sometimes devastating emotional depth, meaning Rick and Morty is a series you will unlikely be able to stop watching once you start.
Seasons on Netflix: 3
Adaptations of video games into TV series are rarely good, but Netflix's Castlevania may just buck that trend. Based on the 1989 Japanese video game Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse, the series is heavily influenced by anime-style animation.
Suitably gory for a show about vampires, the series follows monster hunter Trevor Belmont as he tries to take down the vengeful Count Vlad Dracula Tepes.
Seasons on Netflix: 1
Based on the manga of the same title by Hajime Isayama, Attack on Titan is an action -packed anime that's set in a world where humans live in cities protected by enormous walls to protect them from gigantic humanoid monsters called Titans who devour them at any opportunity.
When a Titan breaks through the wall of protagonist Eren Yeager's hometown, he vows to get revenge by joining a group of soldiers who battle them. Although the show has a dedicated fan following, the second and third seasons are yet to be released on Netflix.
French fashion house Louis Vuitton has announced the launch of a 'new' pair of earbuds for the fashion conscious audiophile; the Louis Vuitton Horizon Earphones feature the famous LV monogram and are set to cost an eye-watering $995 (around £770/AU$1,400).
They may look new, but all is not what it seems with these ultra-luxurious buds – they are actually the Master & Dynamic MW07 wireless earbuds we saw last year, with the Louis Vuitton logo slapped on the housing.
Aside from the updated design, these earbuds are exactly the same as the original MW07s, with 10mm beryllium drivers, a 3.5-hour battery life, and support for AptX for detailed sound.
When we tested them, the already-expensive MW07s cost $300 (about £230/AU$414), so if you buy the new Louis Vuitton Horizon Earphones, you are essentially paying around $700 for the LV logo.
While the MW07s were admittedly some of the best earbuds we've tested, their high price and average battery life meant that we didn't feel they lived up to cheaper options like the Jabra Elite 65t true wireless in-ears, which cost $170 (£150/AU$300).
Earbuds, but make it fashion
It seems very extravagant, but you do at least get some cool design features for your hard-earned cash. The Horizon Earphones come in the black, white, and red colors of the monogram, or the blue and yellow of the Louis Vuitton stripes.
They come with a circular charging case, which was modeled on the Louis Vuitton Tambour Horizon smartwatch, and similarly features the LV monogram. The charging case provides a further 10 hours of battery life, so you can charge on the go.
The Horizon Earphones will be available to buy from January 24 from Louis Vuitton boutiques worldwide – whether many people will actually spend $1,000 on a pair of $300 true wireless earbuds with the LV logo added on remains to be seen.
Microsoft wants your feedback on how it can improve the gaming experience on Windows 10, in terms of changing existing features, or adding entirely new ones.
This cry for feedback was actually made on the Xbox Ideas forums, as follows: “Team Xbox would love to hear how you’d like to see gaming on Windows improved. How can Windows 10 enhance your gaming experience? What features would you like added or changed to make gaming on Windows 10 even better?”
The post adds: “What do you want Windows to do (or stop doing) while you’re playing a game? What can Windows do to optimize your gaming experience? What other gaming features would you like to see?”
Gamers are then asked to make their own suggestions on the web page, or vote for existing suggestions and/or leave comments. Note that when you submit an idea, it has to be vetted by the team before it will appear, and can be voted on.
Process palaver
At the moment, the most popular suggestion on this ‘idea drive’ with 762 votes is for Windows to automatically disable any superfluous processes not necessary to run a game, when you’re playing that game.
Folks are also clamoring for a version of Windows 10 that is optimized for gaming, and other popular suggestions include being able to launch a PC game with a controller (rather than having to reach for the mouse to fire it up), and the ability to stream PC games to an Xbox console.
The denizens of Twitter are also offering their own off-the-cuff suggestions, and popular ones include officially getting original Xbox and Xbox 360 games running on Windows 10, and, erm, ditching the Microsoft Store – or at least giving the latter an overhaul.
If you’ve got any dazzlingly bright ideas, then now is apparently the time to share them – head on over to the relevant Xbox Ideas page.
There's no denying it, O2 has had some of the absolute best mobile phone deals of late. Throughout January so far, some of our favourite offers have been on the network. Big data, cheap monthly costs or freebies to entice you in, O2 has had it all in early 2019.
Whether you're in it for the Priority rewards or O2's brilliant countrywide coverage the network is know for its high quality, making it the second most used in the UK. But going straight to O2's website isn't such a good idea, as the prices tend to be higher than you can find from other third-party (but still utterly trustworthy) retailers. They're where you'll find the very best O2 mobile phone deals, with our top five favourites picked out below.
We know you may have concerns with very recent memories of signal issues plaguing O2. They seem to have now been sorted. But if they still give you cause to avoid O2 or if you simply want to know all your options, then you can always head to our best mobile phone deals page to see what the likes of EE, Vodafone and Three can offer.
1. Samsung Galaxy Note 9
Are you more of an Apple fan than Android? Well you can get the iPhone XS at a good price on O2 as well, but it will cost you a bit more. For £58 a month and £49 upfront you can get a 75GB of data iPhone XS. That's a great price in the world of high-end iPhones, especially with that much data.
The only drawback is that to get such a barnstorming price, you need to claim cashback over five instalments over the course of the contract. It's a little bit of pain for significant gain. Doesn't sound like your kind of thing? Then check out our entire guide to the best Pixel 3 deals instead.
4. Samsung Galaxy S9
5. SIM only
We're not going to lie to you, O2 isn't very competitive on SIM only compared to what you can get on other networks, You can find all of your options using our best SIM only deals page but if you're set on O2 then you can find the best deal above.
For a long time Netflix was hands-down the best streaming platform. But these days, competition is mounting. Amazon is producing more and more fantastic TV shows every month and upcoming services Disney+, as well as Apple TV Plus, could change your streaming habits for good. Especially considering Netflix has recently raised its prices giving anyone unsure about whether they should renew their subscription at least some pause for thought.
UPDATE:There are a few new additions this month that are bound to suit all tastes: Tom Holland shines as one of our favourite heroes of the MCU in Spider-Man: Homecoming. There's also Sofia Coppola's beautiful movie The Beguiled, with some top casting choices. Or sci-fi classic The Terminator might be more your cup of tea, which also lands on Netflix this week.
But, for now at least, Netflix is still our favourite place to catch up on all of the best movies and TV shows. Sure that may be a bold claim, but there are many reasons why Netflix takes the top spot. Including its (mostly) intuitive interface, original series and films, offline modes, huge catalogue of movies and, most importantly, the fact it's constantly updated week-on-week (and sometimes even daily) with the best entertainment on the planet.
We've found that every single day Netflix adds at least a movie or two. Every week at least three or four of those are worth a watch. And for us that's what sets Netflix apart from Amazon Prime. Amazon may have a great back catalogue and some good movies added now and again, but it also has a really big back catalogue of rubbish titles – and we wouldn't want you settling for that.
It's nothing short of life-changing that Netflix delivers fresh movies to your home every day. But what this constant stream of great flicks also means is that many of us spend a lot of time scrolling through anything and everything the service has to offer.
And, as many of us are all too aware, often the dilemma of so much great stuff to choose from (which is known as ‘decision fatigue’ in psychology circles) leaves us feeling fed up – it's Netflix analysis paralysis, and it isn't pretty.
In an attempt to put an end to this indecisive cycle of doom once and for all, we’ve created this extensive list to the best movies that Netflix UK has to offer you right now. That's right. No more endless scrolling and no more movie-induced anxiety that you've made the wrong choice.
We'll be updating this cinematic hall of fame at least once a week, so be sure to keep it bookmarked so you can find out what's hot and ready to be watched on Netflix in the UK right now.
If you’ve been signed up to Netflix for a while now, you’ll be well aware there are lots of mediocre movie choices. But if you only have time for the best of the best, don't waste those all too precious minutes searching through the site's extensive and exhausting back catalogue. Instead, delve straight into this guide.
To make your life easier (and enable your worrying Netflix addiction), we’ve divided more than 40 movie recommendations up into categories that we're sure will suit every taste. We’ve got indie and horror through to kids and documentaries.
And make sure you keep checking back. Unlike Netflix's TV output, which seems to stay on the streaming platform for longer, movies on the streaming site tend to appear and disappear quickly. Enjoy!
Brie Larson may have just dazzled us all (and kicked some serious ass) as Captain Marvel, but to show that she can do more than grapple with the Kree and fly through the air, she's also now directing too. Unicorn Store is Larson's directorial debut and it's about a painter who adopts a unicorn. It's quirky and whimsical and although lots of publications are unfairly comparing it to Captain Marvel – it literally couldn't be more different – it's a nice watch for the weekend.
Image credit: Netflix
Bird Box
Everyone is talking about Bird Box right now, not least because of the spate of dangerous copycat challenges it has inspired on social media platforms. Starring Sandra Bullock, this sci-fi flick follows her and her children as they battle a mysterious phenomenon causes mass suicides once witnessed.
Image credit: Netflix
Okja
Okja is a fantastic movie that proves Netflix really does know what it's doing when it comes to commissioning films. Made by Bong Joon Ho, one of the greatest directors around, the film is the strange tale of a little girl and her best friend, a giant animal called Okja. The friendship is threatened when a CEO (a superb Tilda Swinton) wants to take Okja for nefarious means. The whole movie may well be an ode to animal activism but it's such a refreshing movie that you don't mind it preaching to you on occasion. Now you have this on-board Netflix, can you please grab the UK rights for Snowpiercer - another superb Bong Joon Ho movie that never saw the light of day in Britain.
Image credit: Netflix
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
This anthology of six short films by the Coen brothers takes places in the 19th-century Old West in the years after the American Civil War. Starring James Franco, Tom Waits, and Zoe Kazan, the Ballad Of Buster Scruggs switches rapidly between sentimental, pastoral scenes of the West and brutal violence.
Image credit: Netflix
Annihilation
This is exactly the sort of movie that Netflix should be making. It’s uncompromising sci-fi that has a smart smattering of horror running through it. Based on the hit series of books The Southern Reach Trilogy, the movie focuses on a group of scientists who go into Area X, a quarantined section of Earth where strange things are going on. Natalie Portman is superb and refreshing in the lead role.
Image credit: Netflix
Roma
From the director of Gravity and Children of Men, Alfonso Cuarón, Roma is the story of a housekeeper Cleo, as she and her family come up against social hierarchy and political turmoil in 1970’s Mexico. This semi-autobiographical film is said to be inspired by Cuarón’s own upbringing, and has been widely acknowledged as one of the best films of 2018, winning two Golden Globes for Best Director and Best Foreign Language Film.
Best drama movies on Netflix
Image credit: Film4
American Honey
A coming-of-age tale about a teen called Star who joins a group of travelling magazine sellers as they journey across the American Midwest. It's trying to be quite gritty throughout, but the road trip story and dreamy shots (like the one above) make it much more heart-warming. Sasha Lane truly shines in the lead role and Riley Keough and Shia LaBeouf are also on top form as they play two of the teen magazine sellers she warms to - and clashes with.
The Beguiled
Sofia Coppola's reimagining of the novel of the same name by Thomas P. Cullinan has a beautiful, alluring quality and a top cast list, including Nicole Kidman, Elle Fanning and Colin Farrell. It's set in the United States during the Civil War when a corporal in the Union Army is found by a pupil at an all girls' school after deserting.
Image credit: Netflix
Blue Velvet
We're not entirely sure Blue Velvet fits in the 'best drama' section, but David Lynch's movies are notoriously genre-defying. It's a deeply unsettling yet mesmerising story about a man (played by Kyle MacLachlan) who gets caught up in the high drama and high violence life of a singer (played by Isabella Rossellini). It's not a relaxing watch, but it's one of Lynch's most famous and unforgettable films.
Image credit: Fox Searchlight Pictures
Jackie
Natalie Portman takes the lead role in this biographical drama about the life of Jackie Kennedy, which takes place after her husband John F. Kennedy’s assassination in 1963. It’s a compelling but difficult watch at times, all about grief, trauma, consoling her children and Jackie’s struggle to create a legacy for her husband after his tragic death. As well as Portman, the movie has a great cast, including Greta Gerwig, Billy Crudup, Peter Sarsgaard and John Hurt - it was the final film that was released just before Hurt passed away in 2017.
Image credit: Canal+
Personal Shopper
Personal Shopper is a strange, but captivating movie. It shows off the acting prowess of Kristen Stewart who is superb as an American 'personal shopper' living in Paris who caters to the needs of an infuriating supermodel. And it just so happens, Stewart's character is also a medium who starts to interact with what she believes is her not-long dead brother. Personal Shopper is one movie which doesn't let you really know what it wants to be until the end - and that is what makes it great.
Image credit: 20th Century Fox
Selma
A heartfelt and considered look at Martin Luther King Jr's struggle to gain equal voting rights, campaigning in racially-charged Alabama, Selma was one of the finest films of 2014 and was rightly nominated for a Best Picture Oscar as a result. It may have missed out on the top gong, but David Oyelowo's performance as the civil rights leader is a powerful one, with a supporting cast recreating the inspiring story with great respect.
Image credit: Columbia Pictures
Taxi Driver
Martin Scorsese's flick Taxi Driver follows the story of a lonely veteran (played by Robert DeNiro) living in New York who becomes a taxi driver and slowly descends into madness watching the corruption and depravity of the city around him. It's not an easy watch, but it's a true classic and considered one of the greatest movies of all time.
Best romance movies on Netflix
Image credit: Lionsgate
La La Land
Director Damian Chazelle (Whiplash) does it again with La La Land, creating a fantastic musical romance about two creatives trying to make it big in Los Angeles. One is an aspiring actress (the fantastic Emma Stone), while the other (Ryan Gosling) is a jobbing jazz musician hoping for his big break. The song and dance routines are a wonder to watch, but this isn't just a film that relies on gimmickry - it's a well told modern day love story.
Image credit: Focus Features
Pride and Prejudice
The 2005 version of Jane Austen's classic tale of romance stars Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen as the young, stubborn and witty Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy.
Image credit: Columbia Pictures
When Harry Met Sally
The ultimate romantic film? Perhaps. It’s definitely one of the best watches you are likely to have. When Harry Met Sally is an all-time classic, brimming with confidence that only comes when you nail the acting, script and direction. Sally is played by Meg Ryan, someone who has been friends with Harry (a pristine Billy Crystal) for years but lost contact. They meet up again, when their lives are a little different, and the rest is history. Rob Reiner does a fantastic, subtle directing job here but top marks go to the script by the late Nora Ephron.
Image credit: Netflix
To All The Boys I've Loved Before
This teen romance follows high schooler, Lara Jean, as she tries to navigate school after five secret love letters are sent out to her crushes by mistake. Based on the young adult trilogy by Jenny Han, the film quickly became one of Netflix’s most successful Original films, after its release in October 2018.
Image credit: StudioCanal
Carol
Carol is a gripping drama that sees protagonist Therese (Rooney Mara) enchanted by Carol (Cate Blanchett), a glamorous older women she spots browsing in a Manhattan department store. Based on the 1952 novel, The Price Of Salt by Patricia Highsmith, it’s a story of forbidden love that reportedly received a ten-minute standing ovation at its Cannes Film Festival screening.
Best comedy movies on Netflix
Image Credit: Netflix
Murder Mystery
Perfect for a lazy Sunday afternoon, Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler star in whodunnit comedy Murder Mystery. It's fun, light-hearted and a return to form for Aniston and Sandler who have been involved in quite a few mediocre projects in recent years.
Image Credit: Netflix
21 Jump Street
Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill star in this laugh-out-loud comedy about two undercover police officers who go undercover in a US high school. It's gross-out comedy in places, but mostly it's stellar performances from a cast of actors who really know how to make you laugh. Ideal weekend watching when you need something light and LOL-inducing.
Image credit: Universal Pictures
The World's End
The World's End is the worst of the Cornetto Trilogy but that's only because the other two are the superb Shaun Of The Dead and Hot Fuzz. The premise is great: Gary King (Simon Pegg) gets his old friends together to relive a pub crawl of their childhood. The only problem is, everyone has grown up into self-respecting adults except him. But none of this matters when the group of lads get themselves into a very strange situation. Full of fantastic sight gags that made Baby Driver the success it was, The World's End doesn't quite hit the high notes it should but it has a lot of fun trying in the process.
Image credit: Universal Pictures
Popstar: Never Stop Stopping
This mockumentary stars Andy Samberg as Conner ‘Conner4Real’ Friel, a breakout popstar loosely based on Justin Bieber. The Spinal Tap-esque film follows Conner as he tries to hang on to success following dismal album sales, exposing the banality of YouTube stardom in the process.
Image credit: Warner Bros. Pictures
The Hangover (Part I, II & III)
A group of friends go to Las Vegas for a stag do and chaos ensues. The movie begins with their pre-drinking the night before and quickly moves onto the hangover the morning after. We have to piece together what happened the night before as they do and it's as gruesome, gross and hilarious as you'd expect. Because the first movie was such a hit there's now a trilogy of movie and all of them follow roughly the same formula. Hey, if it ain't broke, why fix it?
Image credit: Warner Bros.
The Goonies
This classic 1985 comedy follows a band of plucky kids as they take on a property developing company that threatens to destroy their home, and inadvertently find a pirate treasure map that leads them on a swashbuckling adventure.
Image credit: United Artists
Some Like It Hot
Some Like it Hot is a classic, and for good reason. Winner of numerous Academy Awards and Golden Globes, and featuring three of Hollywood's greats at the top of their game, it's a hilarious movie, with unforgettable central performances.
After witnessing the Valentine's day massacre, two male musicians try to escape town in disguise, as women. If you've never watched it, treat yourself. If you have, you don't need any convincing to watch it again.
Best action movies on Netflix
Image Credit: Netflix
Spider-Man: Homecoming
Tom Holland is hands-down one of our favourite superheroes in the MCU and Homecoming is a real treat. It's fun, colourful and has some truly great performances from Holland, Michael Keaton and Jon Favreau.
Image Credit: Baby Driver
Baby Driver
This slick action movie from Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World) follows the story of a young, baby-faced, music-loving getaway driver name, you guessed it, Baby, who wants out of the criminal life.
Image Credit: Netflix
Spartacus
Stanley Kubrick's truly epic 1960 movie Spartacus may be more drama than action, but it has some breath-taking battle scenes that we think put it firmly in the action section of our list. Starring Kirk Douglas in the lead role, it follows the story of Spartacus, a gladiator and slave leader who led a revolt against the Roman Republic. It's a spectacular piece of film-making from Kubrick with stellar performances from the cast.
Image Credit: Netflix
Snowpiercer
This highly-acclaimed science-fiction-meets-action thriller starring Chris Evans has everything you want from a movie: Captain America, a creepy dystopian future and lots of epic fight scenes. The basic premise is that humanity has screwed up the planet (we thought this was fiction?) and now all that's left of the human race is hurtling around the globe on a train. As you might expect, the conditions are terrible, especially for the working classes at the back of the train. Evans and his friends aim to start a rebellion, but things aren't as black and white as they seem.
Image Credit: Jurassic Park
Jurassic Park Trilogy
The first three Jurassic Park movies have hit Netflix this month, that's the first Jurassic Park movie, The Lost World: Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park III. The first movie was truly spectacular and remains one of our favourite action movies to date, taking a very real look at what would happen if the world's richest started mucking around with DNA. The other two aren't as strong, but still make for entertaining viewing.
Image credit: The Weinstein Company
The Hateful Eight
Arguably one of Tarantino's best movies, The Hateful Eight is a gory Western set some time just after the American Civil War. As you'd expect from a Tarantino flick, the cast is one of the best bits. Samuel L. Jackson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Michael Maden, Tim Roth and Kurt Russell take the lead roles as a ragtag bunch of criminals, bounty hunters and who knows what else who take refuge in a stagecoach stopover during a blizzard.
Image credit: Sony Pictures Classics
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
A masterpiece in both filmmaking and fight choreography, Ang Lee's superb Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon tells the tale of a Chinese warrior who steals a sword off of a master swordsman and the cat-and-mouse chase that ensues. Chow Yun-Fat may have been the star of the movie when the was first released, but it is Michelle Yeoh and Zhang Ziyi that steal the show. A follow-up was produced by Netflix, which is worth a watch but has none of the charisma of its enigmatic predecessor.
Image credit: New Line Cinema
The Lord Of The Rings trilogy
The full LOTR trilogy is now available to stream on Netflix, and we haven’t heard a better excuse to spend an entire Saturday parked in front of the TV. The epic fantasy adventures based on the novel by J R R Tolkein, were some of the most ambitious films ever to be made, with a budget of $330 million. If you haven’t seen them before, they are a must watch – and if you have, watch them again.
[Update: February 8 sees The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey land on Netflix. Martin Freeman plays Bilbo Baggins in this, the first film of The Hobbit trilogy.]
Image credit: Marvel Studios / Walt Disney
Avengers: Age of Ultron
When Tony Stark’s (Robert Downey Jr) plan to revive an ancient peacekeeping programme goes wrong, he and the rest of the Avengers must assemble once more to stop an evil villain from exterminating the human race. Packed full of adventure and thrilling fight scenes, this superhero film will appeal to even people who hate comic books.
Image credit: Miramax
Kill Bill: Vol 1 and 2
Quentin Tarantino’s bloody brilliant kung-fu opus should have been one big movie. But its distributors got cold feet, which meant we actually got two quite different films. The first is pure Shaw Brothers schlock. A revenge tale that follows Uma Thurman’s Bride looking to kill people on her hit list, for murdering her husband and family on her wedding day and leaving her for dead. The second film is a touch more subdued, but no less brutal - starting with a flashback of the infamous wedding and then furthering The Bride’s mission to ‘kill bill’. If you can, watch them together as it’s an epic movie that should be consumed in one sitting.
Best sci-fi movies on Netflix
Image credit: Marvel Studios
The Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 1 and 2
Guardians of the Galaxy follows space adventurer Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) as he joins a bunch of alien misfits to escape the clutches of powerful villain Ronan, after he steals an orb that he desperately wants. Funny, kitsch, and packed full of action, it's a much
Now also on Netflix, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 finds the intergalactic heroes thrust into another adventure, one that could reveal the identity of Peter Quill's father.
Even more visually spectacular than the first film, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 continually aims to surprise the audience, with simultaneously keeping its action and comedy levels high.
Image credit: Paramount PIctures
Star Trek: Beyond
Justin Lin directs the latest installment of Star Trek with bombast. And thank goodness he does, because the explosions and flash camera angles manage to mask some of the cracks in this film. Don't get us wrong: Star Trek Beyond is a lot of fun, but feels a little smaller than the first two rebooted movies. There's more humour, though, and the cast still shine.
Image credit: Netflix
Black Mirror: Bandersnatch
An interactive adventure that puts the viewer in control of key decisions throughout the film, with various routes the film can travel through, Bandersnatch is a natural evolution of Black Mirror's paranoid depictions of technology – as well as Netflix's growing interest in interactive media on its streaming platform, such as Minecraft: Story Mode.
In typical Black Mirror fashion, no stone has been left unturned with the creation of a website for the company Tuckersoft, which features in the episode. However, it's best not to explore the site until you've watched the feature-length episode in case you inadvertently stumble across any spoilers.
Image credit: Warner bros.
Gravity
Alfonso Cuaron's Gravity is a cinematic masterpiece. We're pretty sure you could watch it without sound or subtitles and still be in absolute awe of the aesthetics. But if you did that you'd also be missing out on a well-paced drama starring George Clooney and Sandra Bullock full of twists and turns all about things not going quite as planned in space. It also has an exceptional soundtrack and visual effects. It's one to turn all the lights off for and watch on the biggest screen in your house - you won't be disappointed.
Image credit: Film4
Attack The Block
This British sci-fi flick by Joe Cornish (of The Adam and Joe Show), sees John Boyega in his breakout role as a tough inner-city kid, whose alongside his friends, tries to defend his South London estate from an alien invasion. Cheeky, fast-paced, and endearingly familiar to anyone who grew up south of the river, it’s a fantastic directorial debut from Cornish, and what would prove to be an extremely successful debut for Boyega.
Image credit: Universal Pictures
Back To The Future trilogy
Given it was made in 1985, the effects of Back To The Future still stand up today. Actually, so does everything about the movie. It's a fantastic old-school romp that showcases Michael J Fox as one of the most affable actors around. Spielberg may have only produced the movie but his fingerprints are all over it. Back To The Future is a classic that is endlessly fun and re-watchable.
Best horror movies on Netflix
Image Credit: Netflix
The Girl With All The Gifts
The Girl With All The Gifts may look like a run-of-the-mill zombie flick, but it's so much more than that. Basically, everyone's become infected by a weird fungus that turns them into flesh-eating zombies. So far so horror film. But the twist is that a group of children all have the same infection, but can still think, talk and act normal. A group of scientists want to figure out why, but with lots of 'hungries' outside the door, it won't be easy.
Credit: Universal Pictures
Get Out
Award-winning horror movie Get Out has landed on Netflix this month. It's a very smart, very unnerving story about a young black man (played by Daniel Kaluuya) who uncovers a deeply disturbing secret when he's visiting his girlfriend's parents.
Image credit: United Artists
Carrie
Stephen King’s classic tale of the trials and tribulations of high school, fitting in, oh and having extremely powerful telekinetic powers has landed on Netflix, bringing the unforgettable and gruesome bloodbath of the 1976 imagining to the small screen.
Image credit: Columbia Pictures
Misery
Joining Stephen King’s Carrie on Netflix comes another classic story from the horror author’s creepy collection: Misery. Bringing the tale of the story, which will be making anyone who has seen it wince right now, straight to your living room. The movie follows a famous author who is rescued from a car crash by a fan. We won’t spoil what happens next, but you can probably guess it’s not exactly the warm, homely kind of recovery you’d expect after you’ve had an accident. It’s certainly not one for the faint-hearted, so prepare to hide behind a cushion for about 50% of the running time.
Image credit: Lionsgate
Cabin In The Woods
This super-smart horror from Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard is a movie that tries its hardest to turn the horror genre on its head, with continual knowing nods to movies of the past and a post-modern spin of the well-worn 'cabin in the woods' theme. Don't go into this movie expecting a normal film-watching experience but do expect to have fun watching a highly original script at play.
Image credit: Wigwam Films
Under The Shadow
Thanks to Netflix's sometimes surprising rights, Under The Shadow has popped on to the service around the same time as the movie's Blu-ray release. We're glad it has. It's a fantastic horror film set in Tehran in the '80s, focusing on a mother and daughter seemingly terrorised by otherworldly beings in an apartment block. The dread in this film is slow release but palpable, making it a terrific, scary watch.
Image credit: Netflix
Hush
Hush has a brilliant premise. Directed by Mike Flanagan it revolves around a killer who tries to get the best of a girl in the house on her own. So far so 'every horror movie ever made', but the girl who is being stalked happens to be deaf. Yes, the home invasion genre is getting tired, but Hush manages to quietly breathe new life into it.
Best documentary movies on Netflix
Image credit: Netflix
Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened
Billed as a luxury music experience on a private island, Fyre Festival was tirelessly promoted by social media influencers – but ended up being a complete and utter disaster, with multiple lawsuits being brought against the promoters. This illuminating documentary explores what went wrong, and it’s a must-watch.
Image credit: Netflix
Jim and Andy
Jim Carey has always been an actor that takes things to extremes - whether it's his face gurning or physical comedy. But nothing was quite like what he did in Man On The Moon, the Milos Foreman directed biopic of Andy Kaufman. Mixing exclusive interviews and behind-the-scenes footage of Carey that the studios didn't want released, this is one revealing documentary about the things people do to make people laugh.
Image credit: Netflix
What Happened, Miss Simone?
This Netflix exclusive documentary is a heart-wrenching look at one of the greatest singers of all time. While the highlights are definitely seeing Simone sing live - there's a huge amount of never-before-seen archive footage - it's the eye-opening truths about her troubled life that hit home hardest.
Image credit: Magnolia Pictures
Blackfish
One of the most important documentaries of the decade, Blackfish charts the life of killer whale Tilikum, who sadly died in early 2017. Kept in captivity as a 'performance mammal' at SeaWorld, the doc explores the unsightly side of why keeping whales in captivity is a terrible idea. Blackfish had such an impact that SeaWorld decided to phase out its orca shows and rebrand itself. Powerful stuff.
Image credit: Netflix
13th
Netflix bagged its first Bafta thanks to this stunning documentary. 13th looks at race and the US criminal justice system, showcasing numerous injustices in the way African Americans have been treated in the system. The documentary was made by filmmaker Ava DuVernay, who also made the superb Selma.
The best animated movies on Netflix
Image credit: 20th Century Fox
Fantastic Mr Fox
Wes Anderson’s quirky directing is a perfect fit for Roald Dahl’s Fantastic Fox. Lovingly crafted using stop animation that’s voiced by Anderson alumni, and George Clooney, the film works well as a kids animation, but it’s adults that will get the biggest kicks. Director Anderson is going back to stop animation for his next feature - let’s hope it’s half as good as the fantastic Fantastic Mr Fox.
Image credit: 20th Century Fox
The Peanuts Movie
Charlie Brown and his dog, Snoopy, are iconic cartoon characters, and in this new computer-generated film, which was co-written and co-produced by Charles Schulz's son and grandson, is a brilliant continuation of that legacy, pleasing existing fans and winning over new ones in a tale that sees Charlie Brown try to impress Little Red-Haired Girl. It's the first Peanuts feature film in 35 years, but the wait was worth it.
Image credit: Universal Pictures
The Secret Life Of Pets
One for the kids (and big kids) amongst us, The Secret Life of Pets is about two pet dogs who find themselves outside and have to fend off a gang of sewer-dwelling angry animals known as "The Flushed Pets" who really want to stage an attack on humans. It's as ridiculous and entertaining as it sounds.
Image credit: Paramount Pictures
The Spongebob Squarepants Movie
Starring Alec Baldwin and David Hasselhoff, The Spongebob Squarepants Movie takes all the charm and surreal humour of the original TV series and brings it to the big screen – and now the small screen, thanks to Netflix. It’s just as weird and wacky as you might expect, with clever jokes that even adults can enjoy.
Image credit: Netflix
The Little Prince
This charming English-language French film is an absolute feast for the eyes, with enchanting stop-motion animation and a moving story based on the beloved original 1943 book by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.
The most frustrating thing about getting a demo in one of the autonomous Aptiv BMWs at CES 2019 was having the driver present. Yep, although these cars are able to drive themselves, and have been doing just that over the course of the last three years around the streets of Las Vegas, rules and regulations state that there still has to be a human behind the wheel.
So, while Aptiv provided the perfect antidote for CES-weary feet, it certainly didn’t offer any thrills – which is actually what the company appears to want. An autonomous taxi ride should be uneventful, thrill-free and, crucially, safe, it says.
That’s not to say the latest incarnation of the Aptiv system isn’t exciting. It’s impressive to watch, with steering, braking, acceleration and indicators all being handled without anyone touching the controls. And, unlike some autonomous vehicles we’ve experienced, the revisions to the way the journey unfolds are subtle but they make for a smarter, more well-rounded trip. In fact, it’s pretty easy to forget that the guy sitting in the driving seat doesn’t have his hands on the wheel and is basically a passenger just like the rest of us.
More data means better driving
The company first got members of the public into the autonomous cars back in 2018 with a fleet of 30 autonomous vehicles using the Lyft network. That number has now grown to 75 test cars, which operate in and around the central Las Vegas area. As you’d expect, this has allowed Aptiv to get all-important feedback from real people, which it has combined with its vast mountains of data in order to tweak and fine-tune the operating system.
In short, Aptiv has beefed up its what it calls its operational design domain (ODD), which is allowing the company to increase its square mile coverage and also factor in more driving scenarios.
The city of Las Vegas hosts a staggering 21,000 conventions a year and while that means Aptiv/Lyft have lots of potential customers at their disposal, it also means there are an incredible array of different driving scenarios to ingest. In other words, the city of Las Vegas is a dream test bed location for the growing business.
The result (although it’s not really the end, as this is an evolutionary process) is a much better service. The company explains that one of the main areas of feedback that allowed them to make improvements has come from aspects of the ride quality that would tend to make members of the public feel a little bit uneasy in the past.
The engineers listened and if you take a spin in one of the new Aptiv vehicles you’ll find it’s a much more fluid, dynamic experience. The self-driving BMWs take a calmer, more measured approach to unforeseen obstacles and that’s a very good thing.
Interpreting human behavior
Jumping into the back of one of the BMWs in a car park across the road from the Las Vegas Convention Center, we are greeted with a predictable, mundane saloon interior. There isn't much visible evidence that this is an autonomous vehicle, save for the central screen on the dashboard that displayed multi-layered data diagrams of the road ahead.
The outside of the car is also low-key when it comes to showing off its autonomous credentials. There are sensors, most visibly in the grille and on both of the front wings, but nothing prominent.
As we move off, Lee Bauer, vice president of Aptiv Mobility Architecture Group, is in the front passenger seat to offer his thoughts on just how much progress is being made.
“Pedestrians are a real problem here,” he says, "so we've had to do a lot of work in that area. I guess in a lot of ways Vegas is the perfect workspace scenario because you’ve got a lot of unpredictable people and a lot of unusual behavior.
“People also drive very poorly in Vegas too,” he notes, “so what stands out the most with the revised system is that more dynamic kind of flow to deal with these factors. It's a lot smoother. The psychology of going from being a driver to a passenger is a very complex thing and people have a completely different expectation when they're passengers. And, if they're going to try to use that passenger time being productive they want the car to be smooth and the drive to be uneventful.”
Continuing support from the city that has been vital in getting the project to progress however. “We work very closely with the government across all facets of it,” adds Bauer. “Having the Regional Transport Commission (RTC) is a big advantage of Vegas. The RTC controls the entire region via their command center, so you get a one-stop shop in terms of joining up the dots.”
Moving beyond LA
And, reckons Lee, that ever-growing mountain of data is helping Aptiv progress things nicely to the next level. “I guess the interesting point about this car is that it's almost sort of just a regular looking vehicle,” he notes. “And, again, that was always the objective. We wanted to make it seem like a regular experience. What people don’t realise is that cars are probably 90% capable of doing more than you're aware of. At the same time, increasingly, a lot of younger people don’t care about cars. The only time I ever opened the bonnet of my car was to get a leaf out.”
Everyone still needs transportation, so the ability to have autonomous people-moving services seems like a very good area to be investing time and money. However, it’s complex on many different levels.
“Every country is different and in different ways,” Lee says. “But cities like Las Vegas are helping and we’ve also been working with people in other locations, such as Singapore where they’re progressive and open-minded too.”
So while it might not happen overnight, the gradual proliferation of autonomous people-moving machines isn’t as far off in the future as you might think.
"Don't get out. Do not get out." Instructions don’t come clearer.
And when they’re issued by long-time storm chaser Stuart Robinson, they’re instructions you listen to. Rather than brave grapefruit-size hailstones and the possibility of instant extinction courtesy of some vicious bolts of lightning, the five-strong crew keep the doors of their off-road vehicles firmly shut.
“Back in Europe, we’ll probably see one or two bolts of lightning per minute,” says Robinson. “A supercell thunderstorm will be throwing out four, five bolts per second.”
Given the dangers, you might wonder what five (mostly) sensible people are doing, deliberately, and repeatedly, putting themselves in the way of some of the most energetic, spectacular and dangerous storms on the planet.
Crammed into their vehicles alongside stacks of cutting-edge camera equipment, the crew is filming nature at its most destructive. They’re capturing the spectacular storms of North America to create a film fit for Philips’ 2019 range of premium OLED Ambilight TVs, including the audio necessary to make the best of the company’s new partnership with Bowers & Wilkins.
Take the weather with you
It’s not easy. The team arrives in Denver on an overcast Sunday and—after a morning kitting the cars out with enough weather equipment to send Michael Fish into shivers of ecstasy—they embark on a 4,500 mile trip that takes in nine states, from Montana with its frigid Canadian border to Texas with its Mexican crossing some 1,000 miles away.
Storms are the name of the game. To that end, Robinson parks himself in the passenger seat where he spends his time poring over weather predictions on his laptop. Thunderstorms typically strike in the afternoon and the days soon develop a rhythm. Mornings are spent plotting routes and planning journeys often hundreds of miles long, as nascent storms gather above. Robinson and camera op Alister Chapman form the perfect team, pitching potential directions and weather updates at each other on the fly.
The afternoons run at a different pace. With a likely storm located, the crew finds a nearby spot and waits for it to develop. The decision to chase comes at a moment’s notice and what follows is frantic. Entry routes are planned and escape routes are considered. “What’s in there are hailstones that will destroy a car,” says Alister. “You could lose windows, you could lose equipment off the outside of the vehicle,” agrees Stuart.
A storm of particular violence in South Dakota sees the crew take off down dirt tracks, where they hope to find a good angle to shoot the storm without suffering hundred mile-per-hour winds.
“Storms often move at about 40 miles per hour,” says Stuart. “So driving at 50 miles per hour means you’re only pulling away very slowly.” That means every stop for filming lasts five minutes at most.
This is a time of tense work for the team, who deploy film cameras, a robotic timelapse slider, stills photography tripods and associated cameras, lenses and lightning triggers (which automatically trigger the shutter when lightning strikes), only to have to get them all, safely and swiftly, back into the cars moments later. All of this achieved in perfect synchronicity on the side of roads ferrying locals away from developing storms.
The TV
An enormous amount of work went into getting Extreme Earth 3: The Storm into shape. But with the reproduction on offer from Philips’ 2019 TVs so spectacular, it had to be perfect. The flagship 55-inch OLED+903 Ambilight TV is the set for the job.
It’s one of Philips’ first TVs to offer HDR10+, which is handy since The Storm was shot and edited in HDR. That said, the 903 also handles non-HDR material just as well thanks to its Perfect Natural Reality contrast engine. This engine—which is part of Philips’ new 2nd generation P5 processor—means everything the TV displays has increased quality, sharpness and contrast.
It’s only when the team settles in to watch the film that the quality of the TV becomes truly clear. Colours are bold and vibrant, while HDR technology makes the most of the enormous dynamic range of a storm. That, coupled with OLED technology, means storms look their brooding and terrifying best, with deep blacks offset by blinding lightning strikes and deep blue storm clouds.
Meanwhile, the film’s composition—done with Ambilight in mind—ensures the storms’ colours bleed off the edge of the screen onto the wall behind, creating an immersive, captivating experience.
Storms aren’t just visual, so the OLED+903 Ambilight TV doesn’t pack your run-of-the-mill TV speakers. An alliance with Bowers & Wilkins means startling clarity as well as deep, thumping bass unheard of in a TV 50mm deep.
The film comes together beautifully. There’s evocative sound, gorgeous, dramatic pictures and—perhaps most impressively—not a single crew member was harmed. Both cars returned at the end of the trip more or less intact, albeit with the remainder of 4,500 miles’ worth of snacks in the footwells. Road trips don’t come much more epic than that.
Click here to learn more about the Philips OLED+903 Ambilight TV.
With the arrival of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, the latest and largest Smash Bros. game ever to grace our consoles, it’s almost impossible to imagine a time where there wasn’t a Nintendo-made crossover fighting game beloved by critics, players and pros alike.
It’s a series that redefined what we expect from a fighting genre, offering an enticing refuge that’s both inclusive for newcomers and consistently nuanced for veterans.
And yet, back in the late ’90s when creator Masahiro Sakurai first had the idea for a more acrobatic-minded fighting game, the medium was a very different place. Fighting games had reached a crowded critical mass and weren’t the powerful system shifters they were in the heyday of Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter’s early years.
20 years on from the franchise's debut, we look back at what made Super Smash Bros. so special – and how it came to be made at all.
In his late 20s at the time, Sakurai had served as director on the NES, SNES and Game Boy versions of the Kirby series, but he had outgrown the lovable pink lump and wanted to try something new. Specifically, a four-player fighting game that took the jumping and movement physics of a platformer and merged them with the power-ups and specials of a brawler.
It was an ambitious idea; so much so that Sakurai built the project somewhat in secret before approaching Nintendo with the idea. Fighting games weren’t making that much money at the time after all. Sakurai wanted to use some of the firm’s most well-known first-party characters to help make his idea stand out from the crowd, even if such an idea seemed unlikely to stick with his bosses.
So, of course, Sakurai went ahead and used them in his prototype anyway.
Despite leaving the Kirby series behind when started working on Smash 64, Sakurai included he lovable pink ball in the game’s 12 character roster.
But in the mid-to-late ’90s Nintendo just happened to be working on a powerful new console named ‘Dolphin’ – what would become Nintendo 64 – and in a stroke of good fortune, Nintendo approved the prototype and tasked Sakurai with building a fighting game that lived up to its lofty ambitions. And so, with a small team of programmers and designers, Sakurai went and did just that.
When it launched in Japan on 21 January 1999 – and in the West three months later – Super Smash Bros. 64 took the core tenants of a fighting game and purposefully threw them on their head.
Matches weren’t concerned with health bars or using dashes and back-steps to close a small modicum of distance. Instead, Smash 64 built itself around a remarkably simple concept. Rather than losing life, you accumulate damage in the form of a percentage. The higher the number, the further you can be knocked off the stage.
Risk becomes reward
Despite launching with a surprisingly small marketing budget for a game that a) arrived in the ’90s and b) featured first-party Nintendo characters, Smash 64 filled a niche no one even knew existed and cemented itself as one of Nintendo 64’s most lauded titles.
Sakurai’s risky ideas paid themselves off and it became a resounding critical and commercial success. Within two years it had sold five million copies, securing immortality as the console’s fifth most successful title of all time.
For a company that’s so vehemently protective of its first-party franchises, seeing Samus, Donkey Kong and more together is still magical.
While its sequel – Super Smash Bros. Melee, which launched on GameCube in 2001 – would establish itself as a mainstay in the competitive fighting scene for more than 15 years with far more characters and stages, the original Smash 64 laid every piece of groundwork with far less content. That’s a testament to the quality of Sakurai’s vision and just how deftly its roster of vastly different characters were blended together.
With only 12 fighters to choose from and nine stages upon which to do battle, Smash 64 redefined not just on what a fighting game could be but how succinct a crossover could be conducted.
Link from The Legend of Zelda. Samus from Metroid. Fox McCloud from Star Fox. Mario from… well, Mario. Characters with completely different movement animations, dash speeds and recovering times all melded together in a way that didn’t ever feel imbalanced.
This was the heyday of fighting game Tekken, which was only two years old when Smash 64 released. This was a time where Capcom’s Street Fighter crossover series had already produced the likes of Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter (a 2D fighting game that had become a huge hit in arcades with its recognisable licenses).
Fighting games had become considerably oversaturated with some of its best releases, and yet here was a new series that went against the grain and proved radically different approaches could bring about both critical and commercial success.
Much like Goldeneye 007 and Mario Kart 64, Smash 64 became one of the iconic four-player multiplayer games of the ’90s (and beyond).
Simplicity and legacy
Even now, 20 years on from its release, the core blueprint Sakurai established in Smash 64 still holds true in the latest instalments in the franchise. Every character, regardless of their origin, has the same control setup and one-button scheme. Without the need to learn tediously long BlazBlue-style inputs, Smash 64 levelled the playing field so anyone could pick up a controller and have fun without feeling outgunned.
It’s the genius of Smash in every one of its entries. You can play for the sheer bombastic fun of it, leaping between platforms, attempting to knock your opponents flying by sheer chance. Or, you can use momentum and positioning to gain an advantage, using double-jumps to grab a ledge at the last minute or unleashing a calculated flurry of hits.
Almost every other fighting game out there still struggles to find that balance between amateurs and pros, yet Smash has had it nailed for two decades now.
Smash 64 still plays as fresh and exciting as it did in 1999. It’s a testament to the vision and execution of Sakurai and his small team of developers.
While it would be its sequel in Melee that would serve as a touchstone for the competitive fighting game scene, interest in the game that started it all has been renewed by the recent arrival of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
Despite not having any online support – this was a 64-bit game on a chunky cartridge from the ’90s after all – today’s players have been using emulators to host online tournaments with the classic that kicked off the franchise.
Thanks to its timeless design, simple yet nuanced controls, and the deft symbiosis of Nintendo’s many contrasting first-party properties, Super Smash Bros. 64 remains an important milestone not just for fighting games but for crossover titles in general. Throwing Mario, Link, and Samus together in the same game had an incredible sense of audacity and chaos that still resonates today.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate may be the very best the series has ever known, but it owes everything to the trail that was blazed 20 years before.
Is 2019 going to be the year when you really start taking video editing seriously? Or are you an experienced video editor that's looking for a change from the fiddly, difficult-to-use software you've been struggling along with for ages? Either way, you've landed in the right place, as this TechRadar guide will point you in the right direction to find the very best video editing software - both free and premium - that you can download today.
The most impressive programs make your everyday tasks like cutting, trimming, combining and applying filters to clips as simple as possible. Downloading inferior video editing software will lead only to frustration and a less polished finished product. The tools we've picked out for you in this guide are the very best editors in their class.
Below you'll see lists of both premium and free video editing software. So if you're ready for something advanced, opting for a paid product will get you high-end extras like 360-degree video support, motion tracking and multi-cam editing, but that's just the start.
Keep reading to get the best of both worlds, with Adobe Premiere Pro leading the way as our #1 favourite
These premium video editors can't be matched - not even by the very greatest free options. The extra resources available to commercial projects help to refine the entire package, often bringing more accurate and configurable effects, an enhanced interface and a faster rendering engine.
Adobe Premiere Pro is an industry-standard video editor and getting the most from it will require an investment of time as well as cash, but if you’re serious about video then it’s well worth the effort.
There's a vast assortment of stackable audio and video filters, support for 360-degree and VR video, native support for a huge number of raw file formats, and the ability to work collaboratively with others. You can even start editing your videos before they've finished importing.
This kind of power doesn't come cheap and the monthly or annual subscription fee adds up, but the lack of a large initial outlay makes Premiere Pro surprisingly accessible. It's worth downloading a trial of the other video editors here before making a decision, but Premiere Pro is extremely versatile and the cloud-based model means you won't have to pay for upgrades as they're released.
This is a video editor aimed squarely at the professional end of the market, but it's not needlessly complicated. Its interface is a little different to most, and is built around a 'trackless' timeline that encourages you to organize elements into specific 'roles', such as voiceover, music and titles.
If you're looking for a video editor to pair with your drone, Final Cut Pro is an excellent choice. It supports raw video from all the major makes and models, and is regularly updated with additional profiles. It also supports 360-degree video editing (fast becoming mandatory for premium video editing software) and HDR, with advanced color grading.
Rather than adopt a subscription model like Adobe, Apple has chosen to make Final Cut Pro available for a one-off flat fee. It's relatively expensive, but includes all major updates and will work out cheaper than Premiere Pro if you keep using it over a couple of years. If you own a Mac and are torn between Apple and Adobe, we recommend taking the free trials of both for a spin before making up your mind.
If Adobe Premiere Elements and Apple Final Cut Pro X are overkill for your video editing projects, take a look at CyberLink PowerDirector.
Although PowerDirector is a premium, feature-packed video editor, it's also very forgiving, and offers a gentle introduction to post production that won't faze complete beginners. The Magic Movie Wizard is the ultimate example, paring the task of combining and optimizing videos down to a few clicks. You'll achieve better results by spending a while in the timeline editor, but for anyone who just wants to quickly piece something together to publish on Facebook, it's ideal.
That's not to say that CyberLink PowerDirector is dumbed down, though; far from it. The software also offers a standard post production interface based around control panels and a timeline. It sometimes takes a little while to drill down to the finer controls, but every filter and option is extremely flexible once you start exploring. Perhaps most impressive of all, CyberLink PowerDirector makes video editing fun.
HitFilm Pro is a premium video editor that's a firm favourite with fanfilm makers - and with good reason. It's packed with tools for creating stunning special effects, but is accessible enough for home users.
One of HitFilm Pro's biggest selling points is the ability to tackle pretty much every aspect of video post-production within the editor. Animations, titles, audio editing and color grading are all accessible with a couple of clicks, but the interface is intuitively designed and never feels cluttered.
Unlike the other video editors in this roundup, HitFilm Pro supports importing and animating of custom 3D models, complete with simulated 3D cameras, custom shadows and dynamic lighting. There are also impressive particle effects, and superb chroma-keying to minimize annoying spill.
Of all the premium video editors in this roundup, Adobe Premiere Elements is the most beginner-oriented. It's designed to make video editing as easy as possible, and even its Expert interface is extremely straightforward.
Unlike Adobe's premium software (like Premiere Pro), Premiere Elements is only available as a one-off purchase, so you aren't committed to paying a monthly fee to keep using it. It's also one of the most affordable video editors around, which is impressive for a huge name like Adobe.
Some video editors assume a certain degree of familiarity before you begin, but Premiere Elements is ideal even for total beginners. Its interface features large buttons, clearly labelled. There are also some excellent tutorials included to help bridge the gap between creating a video using wizards and using the more traditional multi-track timeline.
If you're a beginner, there are free video editors that will make the whole process as easy as can be and don't cost a penny. These user-friendly editors offer a gentle introduction to video editing, so you'll learn the basics and be able to make the step up to a more advanced premium program when you're ready.
Lightworks is an incredible tool that's published free with the noble aim of making professional quality video editing software available to everyone. As you would expect for such a powerful video editor, you won't be able to master it overnight, but that's certainly not something you could hold against it.
If you've tried other free video editors you'll probably find that the interface is a little different to anything you're used to, but you can arrange the various controls and windows to create something that suits your way of working.
There's a paid version, Lightworks Pro, which adds the ability to export in formats other than MPEG, publish 4K video directly to YouTube, and export 3D videos, but the free edition of the software includes everything else you need to make impressive videos.
Hitfilm Express is another video editor that promises pro-level features for free – and it delivers. The basic editor is very impressive, with advanced cutting tools, a great set of audio and video filters, layers and masking, compositing options, and chroma keying for creating green screen effects.
Additional tools are available for a fee, starting at £8.85 (about US$10, AU$15) for a pack featuring color-correction, exposure adjustment, split screen masking, and various creative filters.
The downside of all this power is that Hitfilm Express is much more demanding than either Lightworks or Shotcut, which is the main reason it's dropped to third place. Make sure you check the technical requirements before downloading it to avoid disappointment.
DaVinci Resolve is a free version of a premium video editing suite, but as with Lightworks, it's so feature-packed you probably won't miss the few tools it lacks.
DaVinci Resolve is a professional-grade video editor, with intuitive interfaces for editing, color correction, audio mastering and exporting. Color correction is one of DaVinci Resolve's standout features, whether you want to adjust a whole video or just a selected part. There's HDR support, and you can work on raw files directly from your camera.
A few of the filters are exclusive to the premium DaVinci Resolve Studio, and there's a maximum export resolution of 3,840 x 2,160, but those are the only limitations. It's overkill if you just want to trim a video and upload it to YouTube, but for bigger projects DaVinci Resolve is hard to beat.
Full review coming soon
Shotcut is another professional-feeling free video editor that requires a little patience if you are achieve the results it is so capable of delivering. The slightly unusual interface can be put down to the fact that this started life as a Linux application, and little has changed in its conversion to Windows.
To start with, the interface may seem a little stark. You will need to not only load a video, but also choose which editing mode you would like to work in and which tools you'd like to use.
There's no getting away from the fact that Shotcut has a steep learning curve. It's possible to achieve some impressive results by simply applying one of its many filters to your video, but the real rewards will only be reaped by those willing to invest the time and energy in fully getting to grips with what's on offer.
VSDC Free Video Editor is highly capable, and can yield superb results. As a non-linear editor, it works in rather a different way to many other similar tools, letting you position clips and other elements on the timeline wherever you like and edit them there.
With the ability to not only work with multiple scenes and transitions, but also to add sprites and text to videos, you can create a professional-quality movie if you're willing to stick with VSDC's slightly unusual workflow – though its interface has recently had a total overhaul, making it look much more slick and modern. You can now detach the timeline too, which gives you lots of extra flexibility – particularly when working on multiple monitors.
VSDC lets you add extra artistic effects, including smoke. There's also a dedicated Instagram export profile and automatic image stabilization. You also get look-up tables (LUTs) for professional color grading, the ability to export footage at 120fps, and automatic alignment when dragging objects. An excellent choice for creative video projects.
Some interesting new details have emerged concerning World of Warcraft Classic, and exactly how the reboot will be implemented as a ‘much rougher game with more difficulties and friction in its game systems’ compared to modern WoW.
As spotted by Wowhead, this is according to a couple of members from the WoW Classic team – Brian Birmingham and Omar Gonzalez – who spoke to German website Computer Bild, and underlined the fact that the vanilla reboot is a much harsher environment than current World Of Warcraft.
And this is a major part of the point – to encourage more social interaction because players have to band together to tackle those greater challenges.
When talking about how challenging Classic will be, and how relatively difficult the old version of WoW was, Brian Birmingham (text translated from German) noted that: “Leaving the city was terrifying! Even a harmless looking creature could pose an extraordinary challenge … In Classic, you are a newcomer to adventure who has a lot to learn in a dangerous and hostile world. This difficulty drives you to rely on other players to help you – and that in turn strengthens the emerging social connections.”
As we found in our time with the WoW Classic demo, combat is very different, and the old systems feel somewhat clunky – or indeed very clunky – but these sort of rough edges are seen as a definite positive by the dev team, not a negative, or something that needs to be smoothed out.
Grappling with groups
Indeed, the overarching aim is to fully recreate the initial hardships of the old World of Warcraft experience, not just in terms of potentially clumsier in-game mechanics, but also the greater difficulty of simple things like getting a group together to tackle a dungeon. Finding players in chat, communicating with them, coordinating getting to the instance – all of which aims to create more social interaction, and a greater bond between players.
Gonzalez noted: “This solidarity between the players was partly due to the lack of fine-tuning that the classic WoW had in comparison to the modern WoW. For WoW Classic, this is a critical aspect that we want to preserve.
“Yes, we are aware that there may be friction between players trying to master more difficult content. But it was precisely this friction that helped to weld groups and guilds together to tackle the different challenges of the game together.”
That’s the theory, anyway, and doubtless many players will want exactly this – a true recreation of the old game, and thus a heady hit of nostalgia. However, balancing the line between driving to achieve this, and ensuring gameplay isn’t overly frustrating, will be the tricky bit.
Remember, though, that WoW Classic will be modernized in terms of adding the bells and whistles that the modern game boasts such as anti-cheat measures, and delivering the full stability of the contemporary engine to keep lag to a minimum, among other benefits.
Maybe you’ll play WoW Classic on one of our best gaming PCs of 2019
