Customer Reviews

The Espionage Filmography: United States Releases, 1898 Through 1999

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Not sure what better guides are out there, but this one has some serious flaws. It does have a good index (essential for any filmography, and a number of them suprisingly don't have good indices) and lists a fair number of films. The biggest letdown are the reviews themselves, which veer from descriptive to opinionated consistently. I have no problems with somewhat opinionated reviews, but the author seems to have some crippling prejudices: "worst kind of Regan-era simplified nonsense," is an example of a comment -- but the author also has an axe to grind against Bond films, Hitchcock, and Paul Newman as an actor! Peculiar, and annoying. Very weak in listing cast, crew, director, alternate titles, and other relevant information far more interesting than some of the commentary and remarks on box office draw.

Furthermore this book is very out-of-date now, since a number of good films have been re-released on DVD only recently. I would hesitate to buy an updated book by this author, and I think his audience would be better served by far less commentary and "critical" reponse and a run-down of how well a film did at the box office. I think this is a shame, because I bought this book on the strength of another interesting review by this author and the overwhelmingly positive reviews I saw here. Skip this one.

Better filmographies out there:

The quirky but extremely useful Overlook film seriesThe Overlook Film Encyclopedia: Horror (The Overlook Film Encyclopedia Series), The Videohound Golden Retriever books Videohound's Golden Movie Retriever 2007 (Videohound's Golden Movie Retriever), and the TLA Video guides TLA Video & DVD Guide 2005: The Discerning Film Lover's Guide (Tla Video & DVD Guide)

While the book lists 1760 spy movies which is good for referance the authors very opinionated reviews leaves a very bad impression. He also forgets to list the majority of the Euro spy movies made during the spy craze of the 60's. This is probably on purpose as the ones he has listed he ridicules.
Don't waste your money unless you are a die hard spy fan and want to use this book for film title referance.

Here's the best guide out there for spy and espionage films, and one of the best filmographies period. Mavis doesn't forget one film, and his comments are strong and persuasive; he's not afraid to say what he really thinks about a movie. He can also be very, very funny -- is he the only other person to see how bad Tom Cruise and Keanu Reeves are??? Expert film analysis, as well, and great pictures. BUY THIS BOOK!

While doing research on my own film book, I came across this enormous American encyclopedia from Mr. Mavis that provided not only a wealth of information on spy and espionage films, but also some highly entertaining, sharply focused film reviews. The author is quite adept at getting to the core of what makes these films tick -- or what makes them not tick. And he's very funny -- I was surprised that such a scholarly author could also have such a humorous writing style. Quite accessible to even the most causual reader, this huge compendium is recommended for film buffs, film historians, libraries, and anyone who just wants to flip through a well-illustrated (I love his use of the films' posters as illustrations) filmography of their favorite spy films. Marvelous!

Forget the previous customer review, and check out what the book critics and film historians think -- this book is the best single resource for spy films released in America. It's also one of the funniest film books I've ever read -- I can't wait for his next book. The credits are more complete than other film sources, the photos are fascinating, and the author's comments are really helpful -- and again, hysterical. Should be in every film lover's library!