A box set that deals with a collection of remarkable true stories from America. We have some very famous faces like Meryl Streep, Donald Sutherland, Lloyd Bridges and Matthew Fox. We have stories that made national and international headlines like First Do No Harm, about a woman called Lori Reimuller who took on the medical elite for her son’s life after epileptic fits made it certain he would die. The story of the real Fugitive in Death in the shadows, a neurosurgeon wrongly convicted of the murder of his wife has to try to solve the problem of his unjustified incarceration or Freefall- Flight 174 that sees a plane about to crash after running out of fuel and the brave pilots that do everything in their power to save all on board. Many are made for TV and many are statement films that deal with the issues which are important and never covered by Hollywood exploitative fare as a way to make money!

Any good as a boxset? Which are the ones to watch? Should I buy it? That’s what you really want to know…Isnt it! Well then I will happily answer in that order! So is the boxset itself any good? Yes it is. I know they are TV films and sub studio pieces but what’s here is worth some time involving in. They have in the core, some great action, drama and intelligence. The artists knew that and invested in them, so in a way should you. You should want a box set like this. With its diversity and dexterity.  Which are the ones to watch? Ahhh that is a harder question to answer. Here I have to make a call and say what I liked. Well that is easy. 5 films stand out and one other is of interest to me. To you it maybe different but I will call the 6 I wanted to explore more than the other 4 I left and found little to engage with.  First Do No Harm is a very well made and frank portrayal of the medical elite and those fighting them. Streep walks through the film and gives a little soft eye to the whole but is warm enough to care about and connect with. The child can get on the nerves a little due to the slight whine but in truth I liked the whole and its sums…This is the one addition and one that most people will start with, I did not.

When I was 16 I worked in a video shop. I watched a lot of alround cinema but remember in the daytime shift (Worked in the summer!) on weekends (prior to a cinema screening or club) having to screen tv movies. A favourite was Death in the shadows as it was action lead but also well made and enthralled the average viewer. It also made the person who had know idea what to rent, rent it as it hooked them and had a link to a great movie called The Fugitive. Deadly Whispers was a late night fave in said shop (we closed at 10 so from 8-10 it was 15 plus movie galore!) It has a drama about a family and a horrific murder. For TV it proves that good directors and teams make films of quality anywhere. Gone in the Night is another film about family and is based on a very compelling murder mystery, family drama about the nightmare of the justice system in error. Trial By Fire is a stand up piece of real melodrama about sex and the power of those in authority being tarred with a brush and unable to wipe the stain off. I screened it often in the video shop as a late night Sunday titillation piece.  The final film for me that stood out was Sharing the Secret. Check out the power of this film and its micro budget. Great film making and subject handling add to layers of emotion and also again another videoshop fave…Do not ask why, it just was…

Discs are vanilla but 10 films make up, so does a google search of the films and check out the directors of 2 in particular….