Carpenter, Verhoeven, Winner and Neil Marshall lead LEGEND charge of Channel premieres in April 2025.
Some of the our most iconic films will receive their Channel premieres on LEGEND this April, including John Carpenter’s ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK, starring Kurt Russell, Micheal Winner’s DEATH WISH, starring Charles Bronson, Paul Verhoeven’s BASIC INSTINCT, starring Michael Douglas and Sharon Stone, and Neil Marshal’s CENTURION, starring Michael Fassbender and Dominic West.
Other premieres include Brit revenge crime thriller VENDETTA, starring Danny Dyer, and John Badham’s DROP ZONE, in which Wesley Snipes freefalls into new heights of crime-fighting.
Plus,LEGEND presents six classic afternoon ‘matinee’ premieres, including the celebrated 1976 version of KING KONG, starring Jeff Bridges and Jessica Lange, the 1972 rousing version of TREASURE ISLAND, in which Orson Wells is outstanding as Long John Silver and historical drama THE SCARLET BLADE, most notable for a stirring performance from the ever-menacing Oliver Reed.
Details in transmission order:
Sat 5 April @ 21:00 – ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK (1981) *Channel Premiere
1997 – and Manhattan has become a walled prison for three million criminals where they are left to run loose. The plane carrying the American President crashes there and he is taken prisoner by “the Duke”. Sent in to rescue him from this land of hell is Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell), former war hero turned criminal. To ensure he does not abandon his mission, two devices are implanted in his arteries, primed to blow him to pieces if he fails to return on time.
Wed 9 April @ 15:00 – ARIZONA BUSHWACKERS (1968) *Channel Premiere
During the American Civil War, a Confederate spy takes a job as the marshal of a small town as a cover for his espionage activities. However, he finds out that a local businessman is selling weapons to a band of rampaging Indians. This entertaining Western is directed by Lesley Selander and stars Howard Keel, Yvonne De Carlo, John Ireland and Marilyn Maxwell.
Fri 11 April @ 23:00 – VENDETTA (2013) *Channel Premiere
A former special-ops soldier (Danny Dyer) must stay one step ahead of the police and his former military unit while he hunts down and kills the gang who slaughtered his parents. Directed by Stephen Reynolds and co-starring Roxanne McKee.
Sat 12 April @ 21:00 – DROP ZONE (1994) *Channel Premiere
Wesley Snipes free-falls into the daredevil world of sky-diving to track down a cadre of techno terrorists. John Badham directs this chute-to-thrill adventure, which co-stars Gary Busey, Yancy Butler and Michael Jeter.
Wed 16 April @ 15:05 – APACHE RISING (1965) *Channel Premiere
Giving up his rebellious ways to wear a sheriff’s badge, Jim Walker (Rory Calhoun) faces Apache trouble as well as a cunning thief who is plotting to rob a stagecoach carrying gold. This Western, set in post-Civil War Arizona, also stars Lon Chaney Jr, and includes the last screen appearance of one-time cowboy star Johnny Mack Brown.
Fri 18 April @ 14:25 – KING KONG (1976) *Channel Premiere
Produced by Dino De Laurentiis and directed by John Guillermin, this monster adventure, praised for its advanced special effects, is a remake of the 1933 film and stars Jeff Bridges, Charles Grodin, and Jessica Lange in her first film role.
Fri 18 April @ 23:05 – DEATH WISH (1974) *Channel Premiere
.In this explosive story of revenge and urban violence, directed by Michael Winner, a New York architect, with liberal views, (Charles Bronson) has a change of opinion after his wife and daughter are violently attacked by a gang of thugs in their apartment.
Sat 19 April @ 21:00 – CENTURION (2010) *Channel Premiere
A splinter group of Roman soldiers fight for their lives behind enemy lines after their legion is decimated in a devastating guerrilla attack. Directed by Neil Marshall (Descent) and starring Michael Fassbender and Dominic West.
Mon 21 April @ 14:40 – TREASURE ISLAND (1972) *Channel Premiere
Robert Louis Stevenson’s tale of pirates and hidden gold begins in an inn when a mysterious sea captain, Billy Bones, collapses with terror and dies, but not before entrusting the inn owner’s son Jim with an oilskin bag, which contains a map of buried treasure. Jim shows it to Squire Trelawney and Doctor Livesy and they decide to set sail in search of it, engaging, as cook, a one-legged seaman known as Long John Silver (Orson Wells).
Wed 23 April @ 14:55 – THE SCARLET BLADE (1963) *Channel Premiere
A film set in 17th century England amid the bloody, head-on clashes between Cromwell’s Roundheads and the loyal Cavaliers of King Charles I. Led by a romantic, courageous figure known as ‘The Scarlet Blade’, the Royalists are determined to fight to the end. Set against this troubled background the drama surrounds two families, and the conflicts that they face against each other and themselves. Stars Lionel Jeffries and Oliver Reed.
Sat 26 April @ 22:45 – BASIC INSTINCT (1992) *Channel Premiere
The mysterious Catherine Tramell (Sharon Stone), a crime novelist, becomes a suspect when she is linked to the brutal death of a rock star. Investigated by homicide detective Nick Curran (Michael Douglas), Catherine seduces him into an intense relationship. Meanwhile, the murder case becomes increasingly complicated when more seemingly connected deaths occur.
Wed 30 April @ 14:50 – THE LAST COMMAND (1955) *Channel Premiere
Legendary Texan Jim Bowie (Sterling Hayden) attempts to come to a nonviolent compromise with Mexican President Santa Anna (J. Carrol Naish), but the negotiations soon turn sour. Consuelo de Quesada (Anna Maria Alberghetti), a Mexican girl with close ties to Jim, then warns him that Santa Ana’s men are planning to invade. So Jim, Davy Crockett (Arthur Hunnicutt) and a tiny crew of courageous Texans hide out in an abandoned mission, awaiting the violent confrontation.
