Publisher's Synopsis
Box set containing five popular action movies. 'Platoon' (1986) tells the story of a young innocent 19-year-old soldier, Chris Taylor (Charlie Sheen), who is thrown headfirst into the bloody Vietnam conflict. He is forced to fight not only the Viet Cong, but also his own fears and intense anger. As a result of not being able to make any progress against the enemy, the soldiers, led by the strict and unsympathetic Sergeant Barnes (Tom Berenger), are forced to turn their anger and guns on each other. Barnes also has a personal battle with fellow officer Sergeant Elias (Willem Dafoe), who is the more understanding and compassionate of the two officers and helps Sheen to cope with his personal problems. 'Raging Bull' (1980) is Martin Scorsese's acclaimed biopic of Jake La Motta, the boxing world champion who rose rapidly to fame but swiftly fell from grace. On the road to success, La Motta (Robert De Niro) marries a beautiful young starlet, but the pressures of success soon make him paranoid and he ends up alienating both her and his brother Joey (Joe Pesci). In 'Rain Man' (1988), self-centred car exporter Charlie Babbitt (Tom Cruise) attends his estranged father's funeral to collect his inheritance. To his surprise, he discovers the money is going to Raymond (Dustin Hoffman), the autistic brother he never knew he had. Charlie 'kidnaps' Raymond in an effort to claim some of his inheritance but, as he grows closer to his brother, he realises there may be more to life than money. In 'Die Hard' (1988) on Christmas Eve, New York cop John McClane (Bruce Willis) is visiting his estranged wife Holly (Bonnie Bedelia) in Los Angeles, where she works. They are attending a party at Holly's high-rise office block when terrorists, led by the suave Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) break in, taking everyone hostage. McClane manages to evade capture, however, and sets out to rescue his wife and the other prisoners. Finally, 'The Terminator' (1984) is James Cameron's much-imitated sci-fi classic. A humanoid cyborg from a future dominated by machines (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is sent back in time to kill the mother (Linda Hamilton) of the as-yet-unborn rebel leader John Connor. Meanwhile, the rebels also select an agent (Michael Biehn) to travel back in time and stop the Terminator, thereby ensuring that events follow their pre-ordained course.