NAS Streaming Performance
I have since found a solution for this and would like to share:

VLC (and most other video apps) have a network caching feature. By default its set at 1/100th of a second or so - using the images below you can increase it. 

The trade-off is that you have to wait a few seconds when skipping or loading a film. 

1 - http://img.iamp.me/i5bN (click show all, bottom left)

2 - http://img.iamp.me/65qz