Customer Reviews

Leonard Maltin's 2002 Movie and Video Guide

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

 

 

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.

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.

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.

The Leonard Maltin guide has been around since 1969 and is still the premier movie guide in book form. It's not without its flaws, but it still a very useful reference. Yes, the IMDB online is a fantastic tool, as well, but when you're sitting at home and need to look up a movie title quickly, going online is not always the quickest or most convenient solution. Maltin's book offers capsule reviews, a universally used and understood four-star ratings system, major cast, director, running time, year of release and a few other extras. It's not a comprehensive guide, but for a quick reference, it can't be beat.

When it comes to the reviews and the star ratings, I have to agree with some others here who have complained about inconsistency. I have always been disturbed by some of Maltin's ratings, especially (for example) the **1/2 rating for Amadeus, which has always struck me as insupportable.

Generally, the Maltin guide is less useful for its reviews than it is for just finding information quickly, like what year a particular movie came out or how long it is, or even what the basic plot is. So if you're looking for a guide that includes such things and that is easy to use, quick and handy, then this book is an invaluable resource.

I love this book in that it's the perfect reference guide to just about any film out there. However, Leonard Maltin isn't the greatest film critic. Well, I guess no critic is that great. I just hate browsing through this book and seeing that he rates some of my favorite films as only two or two and a half stars out of four. Once in a while, he's right on, but other times he's just totally off.

But all in all, this is still a great reference guide.

I recently purchased a copy of the large-format 2002 edition and ended-up returning it due to missing pages in the bookbinding. I am debating whether to get a new copy for the following reasons:

I don't complain too much about disagreeing with a reviewer's subjective assessment of a film; tastes vary. But I do complain when different criteria seem to be applied to different films. This is as unprofessional for a movie critic as stating "I just liked it" rather than noting the quality of the writing, acting, direction, photography, score, etc. I have long since given up waiting for revised ratings on such hideously dated antiques like "Ball of Fire", but to say that the scripts and supporting performances for "Die Hard" and "Twister" are equally good/bad is absurd, as is any assessment that the brain-dead "Twister" (SFX-ONLY films don't age very well, ask George Lucas) is better in any way than headache-inducing films like "Fight Club" and "The Matrix". The 2002 Maltin guide also makes no distinction between the different versions of films like "Aliens", "Das Boot", "The Big Sleep", "Touch of Evil", etc., which is strange since, in past Maltin guides, any "improvements" in a restored/alternate version (e.g. Leone's two "Once Upon a Time..." films) were noted in the text with revised star-ratings. If the inconsistant ratings between the multiple editors of the modern Maltin guides is a necessary evil to ensure complete coverage of the incredible range of titles now available, then readers should expect that updated entries for a film might be more helpful than merely noting that the multiple versions exist (even if the reader does end up disagreeing with an editor that 'the added footage in "Aliens" adds unnecessary scenes and slows the pace'). You can't cop out on both review consistancy and completeness.

Furthermore, the influential "Blade Runner" is still strangely low-rated when compared to equally "plotless", off-putting classics like several 4-star Bunuel films. And where are "Kiki's Delivery Service", "Ghost in the Shell" and "Perfect Blue" (all available on video or DVD), Mr. Classic Animation Authority? Where is the 1929 Marilyn Miller "Sally", which contains the ubiquitous "Look for the Silver Lining", heard so frequently between movies on TCM?

It's time for really revising and updating the Maltin guide (like when certain Clint Eastwood titles went from being < 2.5-star movies "marred by excessive violence" to their current status as classic films) instead of merely recycling the previous year's edition with knee-jerk ratings of recent films. I mean, can any reviwer really still say that some of the action films of the 1980's ("Die Hard", "Robocop", "T2", etc.) were really "dumb" or "violent" when compared to the escalation of both qualities in the action films of 1990-2001. Until that real update actually arrives, each "new" Maltin guide will be merely 3 stars out of 5.

You may be amazed at how often you would use this book if you had it on your bookshelf!

If you have a question about a particular movie... look it up in this book and chances are good that Leonard Maltin will have answered your question.

His reviews are based on his opinion and I don't always agree with him, but his reviews are not the reason I buy his books. The reason is because he gives such great information on each movie he reviews. Such as: director, actors, and year, as well as a brief synopsis and often times great tidbits of information (i.e. "look for so & so in such & such seen" or "so & so makes his/her debut")

The movies are listed in alphabetical order and in the back he has an alphabetical list of many stars and the movies they have been in.

If you are a curious sort, I think you will enjoy this book as a reference tool. I enthusiastically recommend this book!

If the fear of terrorism drives more home-based entertainment, books like Maltin's Guide should see rise in sales. The book gives you everything you need to decide what oldie to see in one paragraph--so long as your tastes and Leonard Maltin's agree. A critic is only personally valuable if the critic's sense and yours match. Fortunately for me, I see eye-to-eye with Maltin on a number of levels. So, I recommend the book for all couch potatoes with good taste. If you are looking for movie trivia, the book works less well. Each film's director and key actors are listed. However, the book attempts to offer a reverse directory by actor and director. This list is not comprehensive enough for a lot of my instant questions. An expansion of this area would be a major improvement (i.e., another star).

I like movies very much, I own so many and I appreciate every genre. Years ago, Leonard Maltin was my trusted movie critics. But cinema industry now days is not like the old days; movies are not being evaluated just for the story/music/cinematography, they are also appreciated for their high quality visual effects and actions. Cinema industry has entered the 21st century, but the problem is, Leonard Maltin has not yet.

Though, Maltin's guide still an excellent reference for pre 70s classics.

My previous edition of Leonard Maltin's exhaustive Movie & Video Guide was getting to be out of date. I didn't even hesitate to replace it with the 2002 edition--it's by far the best comprehensive listing out there in book form. While I don't agree with every movie's rating, that's sometimes the fun of it. The key point is this book never lets me down, where other guides sometimes have. I always find what I'm looking for if it was released prior to the book's publication. I've also never found an error--it's commendably accurate. The ratings are fun, the director & cast lists useful, the synopses almost always helpful & despite their brevity often containing some nugget I was unaware of, such as the movie's relationship to another or a piece of historical perspective on its role in one of the star's careers. This is a must-have on the reference shelf of any movie lover or anyone seriously interested in popular culture & an absolute bargain at the price.