Customer Reviews

Video & DVD Guide 2003 (Video and DVD Guide, 2003)

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

 

 

The only reason this didn't get 5 stars is because it does not have as many movies as "Maltin's Movie and Video Guide." I buy "Maltin's Move and Video Guide" on odd numbered years and "Video and DVD Guide" by Martin and Porter on even numbered years. Maltin has the best, most comprehensive movie reviews and Martin and Porter have the best cast index. Between the two you can find everything you could possibly want!

VIDEO & DVD GUIDE 2003 is very useful. For one thing it gives ratings on more than 18,000 movies. Of course the comments on each entry are necessarily brief because of space limitations.

One of the best features of this book is an extensive cast index. There is a similar index for directors. Also included is a listing of Academy Awards by year for Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Director.

What I have always liked about VDG/VMG is the fact that you can find movies by actors. This is something other books dont offer.

When you are a big movie fan it's a good thing to get yourself a reference book to keep track of all things film. Although this particular volume is not bad to have around it has some major flaws, especially in the review department. There seems to be no continuity from review to review. Because there are so many different people writing reviews there is no general opinion of what makes a good movie. How is it possible that the same source gives a thrown together mess like ARMAGEDDON three and a half stars and a superb satire like FIGHT CLUB a 'turkey' rating? The review of FIGHT CLUB is so far off it really seems that the author didn't even see the movie. There are more examples as well that induce some head scratching. With a guide such as this you need to have a kind of general opinion that gives you an idea of when to buy into the reviewers advice. I've bought the last five or six volumes of this guide and found the VIDEOHOUND GOLDEN MOVIE RETREIVER book to be far superior and chock full of extras that, over the years, this book didn't have or had to get rid of to put in more questionable movie reviews. I've actually rented movies based on highly recommended reviews within the VIDEO AND DVD GUIDE that were bad calls. Not bad if kept in the bathroom for quick reference but definitely not for coffee table presentation if you are a hard core movie buff.

I have been buying the Martin & Porter Video Guides for more years than I can remember. Because they were the first ones to offer a section in the back: Actor Lookup ("Cast Index"). Each Actor is listed, with all the movies (mostly) they have made. That is just a Huge bonus for me. I mean ANY guide can review movies!

I got into movie-review books when wanting to get reviews from professional critics on movies of my favorite genere; horror/ slasher films. I first picked up Roger Eberts and Lenord Maltins books. Un-surprisingly, as most critics seem to despise any kind of slasher pic, they panned pretty much every movie I looked up. Frustrated by thier harshness, I next turned to the Video & DVD guide. I was pleastntly surprised. Whoever reviewed these movies gave films like, for example, "Halloween 2" and "Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter", three stars!, while Ebert and Multin gave them below two, probably just because they were gory, and they consider that a big no-no for any horror movie to be good. Most of the horror/ slasher pics. in this book got two stars or more (except for those truly un-deserving ones). It's as tho the critic were looking through a horror-fans perspective! I defintely reccomend this book!

This is the best guide to movies on video. It captures the essence of movies better than other guides, with fairer assessments. I've compared them all repeatedly, and this is the only one I would buy.

I have been buying this movie and video guide for years. The mini-reviews are fine. Obviously, no one is going to agree with all of them. I must admit to be wondering how it is possible this book can contain 18,000 entries and still be missing some videos or DVD's I own and I know are still available. Certainly they can be seen on TV. Lots of real junk movies are included (and given "turkey" ratings), while many movies I own and like or that I know are available at amazon.com are missing. Unfortunately, this is the case with all the other guides too. As a result, this is still as useful a comprehensive guide as one will find.

This book is not informative enough to be a "guide" for those looking to find a movie that they may just enjoy. It is thus counterproductive. There is simply very little text about each movie (the guide does have a ton of movies--even some rarities). But the rating system! Oh my. Seriously, any "guide" that rates the film "That Thing You Do!" higher than "The Graduate" should be questioned. Now, I truly believe that that last sentence transends taste. Think about those two movies. Now read the sentence again. Really. This book is garbage. It's a nonbook, a mistake, a three-pound weight. It's not a guide.