Customer Reviews

Video Movie Guide 1999 (Video and DVD Guide)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is the third edition (1999) I bought. Older editions classified videos as drama, sci-fi, etc. For me, was a quick reference video in this way. Now, I have to look through the actor list, that is not in page order, as others editions and go again in the alphabetical order of all of the movies to see the description of the movie I want. Please, return to the format of the past editions; in clasifications of type of video, and list with page number in the actor/director video list.

Thanks, A perpetual reader of your guide.

A huge effort sure stands behind this wonderful book. It's simply amazing, handy and very useful besides being great fun too. But I think the authors should consider the following:

1. Like dictionaries, they should consider having alphabetical letters on top of pages with guide words as a hint for the alphabitical sorting.

2. They should focus on the film story rather than giving their own opinion out of their own point of view. I think it would be more helpful this way.

3. Some films I was surprised not to find like Forrest Gump for example.

I think if these points were added. The book will be the best ever on the market. But as an overall look, I think it's already the best on the market. It's simply Unmatched.

Not only is this book jam-packed with excellent movie reviews, the cross-references by director and actor make it easy to locate difficult-to-remember titles. But the best part is, they only review movies that you can actually rent. Many of the reviews really tell it like it is, and I really appreciate the wit and humour that the writers put into their reviews as well.

Mick martin and marsha porters giude is the best there is. Okay so they underrate some films, who cares! Its the only guide that gets the job done...Maltin sucks. Ebert's guide is very lenghty but there are barley any movies in it. Video Hound doesn't know anything. This is the best.

I got this book to update my old Maltin for my small reference library. Due to my own carelessness, I failed to consider that this volume does not include movies that are not on video, i.e., most TV productions and many older films. Another aggravation is the presentation of the indices of cast and director credits. While the number of individuals listed is impressive, their credits do not seem to be complete and worst of all, there are no dates. These lists should be chronological. The reviews are so-so.

I'll keep this one in my library, but I guess I need to get another Matlin also.

The one-line summary I have provided makes the point of what I'm going to quickly say very clear. In my opinion I believe the Internet Movie Database is the best, most concise, witty, and LARGEST (over 80,000 titles!) movie and video guide. What Martin is missing is that it's all just his opinion. Like most critics (Ebert, Leonard Maltin) he tends to believe that he's right and every one else should believe he's right. To accomplish this he uses big and intimidating words to get the less educated readers to believe that he's right and everyone else is wrong. To me he is no different from Halliwell, Leonard Maltin, and Roger Ebert. Go to the IMDB or read VideoHound instead, they're a helluva lot better.

There is simply no better movie guide on books than Video Movie Guide. I can recommend it to everyone!

I use it for looking for the movies i like. The rating system is good. I t's the best for everyone who love movies.

This book has a great rating system, an excellent index of actors and directors and their movies, and the authors have a good sense of humor about the bad movies. One of my favorites is "Speed 2" It says, "It generates as much excitement as watching snails on a collision course with fifty yards between them." One review that I don't understand is for "Hello, Dolly!" It received a turkey without any explanation other than a one-sentence plot summary.

I've been buying the Martin and Porter Guide since 1986. I missed no year, some years I received two copies from my friends. It was for years not easy to get it from here, Budapest, Hungary, but I managed it. I find their opinion the closest to my one in most cases, so "ex post" it is just the best available even here in Hungary. I can just thank the authors, editors and publishers for this excellent review.

Sandor Peter, PhD professor of economics (and film buff) Budapest, Hungary

petersan@mail.matav.hu