TV: Sky 148 / Virgin 149 / Freeview 41 / Freesat 137
From Mon Feb 19 – Sat Feb 24, at 9pm, LEGEND goes into battle with WAR STORIES, a season of warfare action and drama, spearheaded by the Channel premieres of Enzo G. Castellari’s terrific WW2 exploitation actioner THE INGLORIOUS BASTARDS (which inspired Tarantino’s 2009 movie) and the Battle of the Bulge thriller COMPANY OF HEROES, starring Tom Sizemore and Vinnie Jones.
Other titles deployed are hard-hitting WW2 thrillers WAR PIGS, starring Dolph Lundgren and Mickey Rourke and WHEELS OF TERROR, starring Bruce Davison, Oliver Reed and David Carradine. Then there’s desert sniper thriller THE WALL, starring John Cena and Sidney J. Furie’s aerial action sequel IRON EAGLE II, starring Louis Gosset Jr.
Other channel premieres include full-throttle thriller THE COURIER, starring Olga Kurylenko, Terence Young’s wild spaghetti western RED SUN, gritty Canadian crime drama 2:22, starring Val Kilmer, Tony Scott’s acclaimed psychological thriller THE FAN, starring Robert De Niro and Wesley Snipes, KING ARTHUR: EXCALIBUR RISING, a vivid re-imagining of the Arthurian legend, hot crime drama NO MERCY, starring Richard Gere and Kim Basinger and the sci-fi thriller PROSPECT, heralded as the best indie sci-fi since Moon.
This month’s THE VINTAGE VAULT, which journeys into the history of genre cinema every Sunday night, includes such classics as THE CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF, THE DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS (1962), DR TERROR’S HOUSE OF HORRORS and THE PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES.
Legend premieres in transmission order:
Sat 3 Feb @ 21:00 – THE COURIER (2019) *Channel Premiere
Set against a gritty London backdrop, Olga Kurylenko plays a tough motorbike courier who discovers that one of the packages she’s transporting is a bomb, and that it is set to kill the only witness able to testify against ruthless crime lord Ezekiel Mannings (Gary Oldman). Can she evade Manning’s heavily armed army ad deliver justice?
Thurs 8 Feb @ 21:00 – RED SUN (1971) *Channel premiere
A gang robs a train and steals a ceremonial Japanese sword meant as a gift for the U.S. President, prompting a manhunt to retrieve it. Starring Charles Bronson, Toshirō Mifune, Alain Delon and Ursula Andress.
Fri 9 Feb @ 22:55 – 2:22 (2008) *Channel Premiere
The plan was easy. The job was not. On a snowy night, a tight-knit crew of four criminals plan to pull of a routine heist. When things go horribly wrong, friendship, loyalty and trust are pushed to the limit. A Canadian crime thriller directed by Phillip Guzman and starring Mick Rossi, Robert Miano, Aaron Gallagher, and Jorge A. Jiminez.
Sat 10 Feb @ 21:00 – THE FAN (1996) *Channel Premiere
The impressive career of baseball superstar Bobby Rayburn (Wesley Snipes) means more to Gil Renard (Robert De Niro) than any other fan. However, Renard’s fixation starts to cross the line when his own life begins spiralling downward, and when his hero is replaced in the team, Renard’s obsession takes a deadly turn.
Thurs 15 Feb @ 21.00 – KING ARTHUR: EXCALIBUR RISING (2017) *Channel premiere
In the heat of battle, Arth-yr lands his son, Mordred, a fatal blow with the legendary Excalibur, sword before receiving a deadly wound himself. Before dying, he tasks his loyal knight Sir Bedivere with returning Excalibur, the source of Arth-yr’s powers, to the Lady in the Lake.
Sat 17 Feb @ 21:00 – NO MERCY (1986) *Channel Premiere
Chicago detective Eddie Jillette (Richard Gere) poses as a hitman, but things go wrong, and his partner is brutally murdered. He follows suspect Michel (Kim Basinger) back to New Orleans and learns she in connected to a shadowy figure named Losado (Jeroen Krabbé). To bring him out in the open, Eddie abducts Michel, knowing the consequences could be fatal.
Mon 19 Feb @ 21:00 – THE INGLORIOUS BASTARDS (1978) *Channel Premiere
*Part of War Stories Season
Rebel AAC pilot Bob Yeager (Bo Svenson) and surly private Fred Canfield (Fred Williamson) are among a dozen soldiers on their way to face court-martials. But when German aircraft strafe their truck the pack of ex-crooks, loafers and misfits decide to fight their way to freedom in Switzerland – stealing a Nazi V2 rocket warhead en route.
Sat 24 Feb @ 21:00 – COMPANY OF HEROES (2013) *Channel Premiere
*Part of War Stories Season
During the last major German offensive of World War II, a company of American soldiers is lost behind enemy lines during the Battle of the Bulge, and they make a horrific discovery – Hitler has a super bomb in development. Faced with impossible odds, the company and an escaping POW go on a daring raid into the heart of Nazi Germany in pursuit of the scientist. in charge of a Hitler’s weapons programme.
Thurs 29 Feb @ 21:00 – PROSPECT (2018) *Channel Premiere
A teenage girl and her father travel to a remote alien moon, aiming to strike it rich. They’ve secured a contract to harvest elusive gems hidden in the depths of the moon’s toxic forest. But there are others roving the wilderness and the job quickly devolves into a fight to survive. Stars Pedro Pascal, Sophie Thatcher and Jay Duplass.