Leonard Maltin's 2002 Movie and Video Guide [Paperback]

Leonard Maltin (Author)

Book Description

Series: Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide (Mass Market) | Publication Date: August 7, 2001

Completely updated with new information-including 300 brand-new entries-this "indispensable" (New York Daily News) guide contains Maltin's exclusive list of the best family films of all time, an extensive index of stars, and thousands of videocassette, laserdisc, and DVD listings.

"A book you must buy." (Esquire)

"Head and shoulders about the rest." (The New York Times)

Product Details

• Paperback: 1648 pages
• Publisher: Signet; 2002 ed edition (August 7, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451203925
• ISBN-13: 978-0451203922
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 3.9 x 2.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,819,870 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A long-time user of Maltin's guide, October 16, 2001

By 

Cathy (Fort Bragg, CA, United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Leonard Maltin's 2002 Movie and Video Guide (Paperback)

As a long-time user of Maltin's guide, I think it's most useful after you gain some familiarity with his tastes and preferences. For example, after years of reading his reviews, I know he likes musicals much better than I do, and comedies not as much. If he gives a movie two or two-and-a-half stars, I know it's going to be a pretty entertaining movie, probably, as he often complains, one that follows a formula, but the formula works, and these movies work. If he gives a movie three stars, that tells me the movie tries for something a little more ambitious -- but his opinion of whether it succeeds or not doesn't always agree with mine, so, for me, his three-star movies are less dependably entertaining than his two or two-and-a-half star ones. Three-and-a-half star movies are usually so good almost anyone would enjoy them, and four star movies are the undisputed classics. This leaves one-and-a-half star movies (usually boring, unless they're comedies, which I always add an extra star to for the ones Maltin seems to take off), and the BOMBs, some of which are fascinatingly bad. For example, he rated "Francesco" a BOMB, and although it was a little weird to watch Mickey Rourke playing St. Francis, neither my husband or I could take our eyes off it. My biggest complaint is that I wish the index of stars and directors were more extensive, but the book is so huge as it is that it's kind of hard to handle, so maybe that would best be presented in a second volume. I wish the foreign films were in another volume, too, so more could be included. Still, overall, quite an achievement, and I use it a lot.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It gets bigger every year, September 3, 2002

By 

M "ireland19" (Lighthouse Pt, FL United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Leonard Maltin's 2002 Movie and Video Guide (Paperback)

I try to buy the Leonard Maltin book every year. I am not alone.
I may occasionally disagree with a particular review but that is human nature. This book is a great resource book. As I get older the fine print is getting to my eyes. He does release a trade size version of the book. Check the back for the index of stars.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A long, slow slide, January 4, 2002

By 

Walter (Loveland, CO United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Leonard Maltin's 2002 Movie and Video Guide (Paperback)

I've been buying this guide for years, but it has grown more and more out of touch. Many smaller films are omitted, suggesting the book aims at a mass market, yet film-school elitism infects the reviews that do appear: One of last year's most acclaimed and enjoyed films, Memento, gets 1-1/2 stars and a snooty review. I'm shopping around for a new guide next year.