A rapidly growing market in fake DVDs has prompted film bosses to form a task force to tackle the problem.
The UK market in pirated films has grown by 80% in the past 12 months alone and, according to the Federation Against Copyright Theft, is now worth £400m a year.
One in three videos sold in the UK is a fake and more often than not, a product of organised crime.
Fake DVDs of the second Tomb Raider movie, The Cradle Of Life, are already on sale on British streets - days before the film even has its premiere.
Officials from the UK Film Council, which has organised the anti-piracy taskforce, found the Tomb Raider II DVDs selling for £5 each in London's Oxford Street.
"They were shocking quality and there was no sound for at least the first five minutes," said a spokesman.
The film receives its premiere on Tuesday in London.
Seizures in 2002 were double those of the previous year, with 659,000 illegal copies worth up to £10m recovered.
One seizure in Hornsey, north London, netted 100,000 DVDs, worth an estimated £1.4m, as well as computer equipment, artwork, and DVD labels.
FACT said the DVDs were traced to the Far East.
Illegal copies are often sold by fly-by-night dealers at car boot sales and street markets.
They are well packaged to look like the real thing but often suffer from poor sound, colour and clarity.
UK successes such as Bend it like Beckham, Gosford Park and 28 Days Later have all been targeted by pirates.
Hollywood hits The Hulk, Terminator 3 and Pirates of the Caribbean have also hit the streets weeks ahead of a cinema release.
The UK market in pirated films has grown by 80% in the past 12 months alone and, according to the Federation Against Copyright Theft, is now worth £400m a year.
One in three videos sold in the UK is a fake and more often than not, a product of organised crime.
Fake DVDs of the second Tomb Raider movie, The Cradle Of Life, are already on sale on British streets - days before the film even has its premiere.
Officials from the UK Film Council, which has organised the anti-piracy taskforce, found the Tomb Raider II DVDs selling for £5 each in London's Oxford Street.
"They were shocking quality and there was no sound for at least the first five minutes," said a spokesman.
The film receives its premiere on Tuesday in London.
Seizures in 2002 were double those of the previous year, with 659,000 illegal copies worth up to £10m recovered.
One seizure in Hornsey, north London, netted 100,000 DVDs, worth an estimated £1.4m, as well as computer equipment, artwork, and DVD labels.
FACT said the DVDs were traced to the Far East.
Illegal copies are often sold by fly-by-night dealers at car boot sales and street markets.
They are well packaged to look like the real thing but often suffer from poor sound, colour and clarity.
UK successes such as Bend it like Beckham, Gosford Park and 28 Days Later have all been targeted by pirates.
Hollywood hits The Hulk, Terminator 3 and Pirates of the Caribbean have also hit the streets weeks ahead of a cinema release.
