Customer Reviews

DVD & Video Guide 2007 (DVD & Video Guide (Mass Market Paper))

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have been buying this guide for 10 years now and I still find it to be the best!

"The BEST." says -People mag.

"The best all around volume." says - Newsday

The guide rates movies on dvd and/or vhs by giving them 5 stars to "a turkey"..

***** excellent
**** very good
*** good
** fair
* turkey (bad/poor)

Ok.. there is no way anyone will agree with every star rating givin' by the two film critics that write this guide.. I know I don't but, I don't give this book 4 stars based on how much they did or didn't like a particular film. I like how many small reviews they have packed into this 1650 page book and how they include the star/director index, Oscar winners ect.

This guide rates over 20,000 movies.. by far the most of any guide of its kind. There is also two sizes. The larger one contains larger print and, the smaller one is a little more portable. Both have their benefits. Over all.. a handy little tool for any movie buff at any age.

The inclusion of a COMPLETE cross-referenced list of ALL actors and directors makes this an invaluable guide for the movie buff. I know of no other Guide that does this, and their reviews are uniformly descriptive. I also admit freely that the list of actors for EACH movie sometimes omits some "fairly" important people. It is for this reason that I use Leonard Maltin's Guide as a supplement. Maltin has longer lists of actors, but a puny index to them. If I were to buy only one TV and DVD Guide, it would have to be Martin and Porter.

I've been buying and enjoying this movie guide for years and I always buy the newest edition as soon as it's released. It usually hits my local bookstore by Labor Day, but for some reason they didn't release a 2008 edition...yet. (It's now December 1, 2007.) I hope it hasn't been discontinued because I find this review guide better than the Leonard Maltin movie guide book.

For the past 15 years I have used the Martina and Porter DVD and Video Guide as my movie encyclopedia. I find that for the most part their reviews match my movie preferences--and I use the guide as a reference to help me recall the names of directors, movies, and actors.

As for the 2008 edition--my understanding is that Ballantine Publishers dropped the contract with Martin and Porter, but a new 2008 edition will be produced with a different publisher before the end of 2008.

Like others who have submitted reviews of this terrific movie guide, I've been buying and using it for years and passing the previous year's copy to various movie buddies. It's also one of my favorite Christmas gifts to give. This is the most comprehensive, well organized movie guide out there, like being able to get basic info from imdb.com without having to get up from the couch. I pick it up most often for the thorough cross references of actors and directors that aren't included in other guides. I've now been checking availability for the 2008 edition since September and am worried that it's for some reason been discontinued. Where, oh where can you be Mick and Marsha??

Another year and no new DVD Video Movie Guide. This saddens me and countless others that have relied on this ubiquitous "armchair" guide. For years this book has been a staple of the reference materials I have kept on hand. The brief, concise reviews that Mick Martin and Marsha Porter collected were always insightful and usually spot on.

I have read on other sights that Martin and Porter were dropped from their publisher because of the availability of such information freely on the internet. However, I don't use the internet when I am sitting in front of the television with my family. I don't want to have to pull up movie databases when I am trying to figure out if I want to watch a movie that happens to be on TV. I want an up to date paperback that I can reach for from my couch or recliner and thumb through leisurely as I have for the past 15 years. Unfortunately, Ballantine Books does not feel that this is as important as I do.

Fantastic source of information about MANY movies! My only complaint is that the print is very tiny. However, if it was larger, the book would be too huge, so I understand. I use it often, in spite of squinting...

I have used this DVD guide for many years and have always enjoyed and profitted by the reviews. The new guide continues to be very helpful, but the smaller size and consequent smaller print makes the 2007 edition more difficult to read.

Martin's opinions are quite consistent with my own. Easy to use. I have several guides & it's the first one I reach for & I've been using it for 10 or 15 years. Very family-friendly in that it explains why the MPAA rating was given (e.g., nudity, violence, strong language, etc.) better than other guides.

We are HUGE movie buffs at our house, and to gain knowledge and reference I've owned everyone of these guides since they first hit the scene in the 90's. Comprehensive in its width and breadth, with excellent objective reviews. Additionally, the cast and directors lists are top notch.