Leonard Maltin's Movie and Video Guide 2000 [Paperback]

Leonard Maltin (Author)

Book Description

Series: Leonard Maltin's Movie & Video Guide, 2000 | Publication Date: September 1, 1999

The #1 Bestseller

It's the year 2000. Time to buy a new video guide.

* Special new feature: Maltin's 100 "must-see" movies of the century
* 400 new entries, more than 20,000 in all
* Symbols to flag 14,000+ films available on video, 9,000+ on laser disc, and 1,000+ on DVD
* Updated and expanded index of stars

"The best movie and video guide just got better."--Chicago Tribune

"Head and shoulders above the rest."--New York Times

"Easily the most comprehensive work of its kind anywhere. It belongs next to every TV and VCR in every home."--USA Today

"Inch for inch, dollar for dollar, Maltin's book gives you the most."--Boston Sunday Herald

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Film historian and critic Leonard Maltin's Movie and Video Guide 2000 is incredibly extensive, offering summaries and ratings of movies from Aaron Loves Angela to Zuma Beach. Each movie gets a wry comment from Maltin (the 1981 teen sex comedy Private Lessons is summed up as "a mild piece of sleaze") and a rating from "****" to "BOMB." The Movie and Video Guide 2000 is also meticulously updated--Maltin and his editors are careful to note the bit part appearances of actors who later became stars, allowing you to keep an eye peeled for Charlize Theron in Children of the Corn and Ben Affleck in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. If you're looking for that movie that you can't remember the name of but you know Laurence Fishburne was in it, fear not--there's also a star index in the back. The book has several other thoughtful features: a guide to the old wide-screen formats like Panavision and Vistascope; a list of 100 must-see films of the 20th century; and grouped box listings of movies that belong to the same series but don't start with the same word, saving a great deal of flipping around. This book is both a fun browser's read and a valuable helpmate at the video store. --Ali Davis

Product Details

• Paperback: 1664 pages
• Publisher: Signet (September 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451198379
• ISBN-13: 978-0451198372
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.5 x 2.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (47 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,099,801 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Despite its faults, still the best of its type, December 17, 1999

By 

B. W. Fairbanks "Brian W. Fairbanks" (Lakewood, OH United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Leonard Maltin's Movie and Video Guide 2000 (Paperback)

There are a lot of books on the market that have attempted to duplicate the success of Maltin's annual guide, but this one remains the most thorough and convenient. Rather than classify films according to genre as some of his competitors do (Where would you look for "Dr. Strangelove"? In Drama? Sci-fi?), the titles are arranged alphabetically making the search for a particular film fairly easy. The information provided (year of release, running time, cast, director, availability on DVD and video) is all relevant and useful.

Certainly, this book has its faults. The ratings are often inconsistent, a result, no doubt, of its having been written by more than one person, and some classic films ("Taxi Driver," "Unforgiven") are dismissed with shockingly low ratings. Still, the capsule reviews are often witty, and whether or not you agree with the ratings, there is just enough pertinent information about thousands (and thousands and thousands) of movies to make it the most useful of these reference guides. My major complaint would be that, though each year's edition is larger than the last, a lot of older films are tossed out to make room for the new. I'd prefer that some of the extras added in the last decade (the list of actor and director credits at the end of the book) be eliminated instead. A complete list of films by a particular star or director can be found in other sources, and is not really essential here.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A decent movie & video guide., January 2, 2000

By 

sauerkraut - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Leonard Maltin's Movie and Video Guide 2000 (Paperback)

I've had this new 2000 edition of Leonard Maltin's video & movie guide for just a little while, but I do look through it every now and then. I have to admit that it's not my favorite movie guide though--that honor goes to Video Hound's Golden Movie Retriever (the best out there in my opinion). Something I have noticed about this guide is that the index of stars in the back isn't totally complete. Great actors like Klaus Kinski and Christopher Walken aren't even included. I still think that this guide is pretty good and worth owning, but Video Hound's Golden Movie Retreiver is much better and the best on the market.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars best review book ever, December 19, 1999

By 

William Christiansen (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Leonard Maltin's Movie and Video Guide 2000 (Paperback)

I have been purchasing this book for the past 12 years and have found each new one better than ever. This is the only book I seek come the holiday season. I look forward to reading this one cover-to-cover.