Customer Reviews

Video Movie Guide 2001 (NULL)

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

 

 

Video Movie Guide 2001 keeps on cramming more and more movies into a beefy little book. How do they keep adding more reviews to the book without making it grow any bigger? Simple, they trim reviews of past movies, and unless a movie is a huge hit or hot out of the theater success onto VHS or DVD, it will warrant bigger write ups over previous movies released at the same time which sometimes can get a rather paltry write up. Some bad movies get a one line or 8 word review with no good explanation as to why it is bad IE (Yeah Poice Academy 5 probably is bad but why? They don't explain it well.) Or as an example to how reviews get trimmed to accomodate room for the new additions, an earliar edition of the book compares the movie Mullholland Falls as being a later day Chinatown. Someone might be interested in that! Even with all of these flaws and gradual slag offs in quality, Video Movie Guide 2001 still remains an adequete guide to help in that rental/movie buying decision.

Won't say that I am God's gift to movie reviewers, but feel that I have a B+ (why not rate movies this way?) ability. I've owned several editions of this book, along with a few others. First, this book uses a (5) star rating system, which is appealing. With only (4) stars, and assuming (1) and (2) are probably not really worth viewing, this leaves only two categories. More categories gives a clearer rating. Think about it, schools grade on a (5) category system, A-F; why not movies? This book is a convenient size and is cross referenced very well. Not all reviews are perfect, but I never really disagree by more than one rating category. Other books seem to get very artsy in their commentary, which is fine, but I really only want to read a brief clever review with flim facts and a rating. That is what this book is about. See a title, find it quickly in the book and you will know pretty fast and accurately as to whether or not it is worth a view. As to the fact that it only covers films on video, yes, I would like it to cover all films; however, there are not really many films that are not on video that I will be able to view anyway, so not a big issue. So, anyway, being an above average viewer - not a university professor teaching video 101, and wanting simplisity and accuracy in review, I would highly recommend. A very good all around publication.

The Video Movie Guide is useful, but it should be more user-friendly. For example, past editions marked the actor and director indices clearly ON EVERY PAGE. Now if you want to find a director or actor you have to thumb around the back of the book with no way of knowing whether you're in the director or actor section. It's very frustrating. I'd also like to see them bring back the appendices listing four and five star movies. On the plus side, it's great that the authors have finally done away with the silly genre categories.

I buy this guide each year, and I'm always satisfied. I typically agree with Martin & Porter's reviews. The only improvement I would make is to go back to listing titles by category (and including an alphabetical listing of titles index in the back). Sometimes I'm in the mood for a suspense, and in the past, I could just pop into that section and look for a 4- or 5-star entry. I really miss having that option. Other than that, this guide is excellent. Oh, and disregard the comment made by an earlier reviewer who couldn't find a listing of "Starman." Its 4-star entry is right there on page 1039.

I had a copy of l997 book by the same authors. I used it all the time to refer to movies that I had seen but forgot about. Sometimes I would be in a disscussion with some one and couldnt rember who was in the cast and would look it up. It is also good to look at the ratings that it gives. Also it tells where to go to find rare films. It covers cast, directors and the stars. I would recomend this book to anyone who has a interest in movies I myself wouldnt be without it. Roger Bashore Wilmington Ohio

This book is the WORST movie guide that I've seen in the last ten years. The guide gives one word reviews for "TURKEY" (bad movies)(POLICE ACADEMY 4) rated films and sometimes doesn't even give a review for TURKEY rated fims (POLICE ACADEMY 5). You can tell that half the time they take the sypnosis from the back of a video cover because they make the same errors (SLEEPAWAY CAMP 3: They said "CAMP HAPPY WOODS" and the camp actually is "CAMP NEW HORIZONS"). They usually DON'T give the correct rating or EVEN the correct year or running time. So just use pure dumb luck to see what a video is like becuase I rate this guide "TURKEY"

I am amazed that someone is able to see, THAT many movies and have such a great guide. Video Movie Guide 2001 is a very helpful source and is packed with some of the best movies ever, along with ones that perhaps maybe should have been passed on. With a rating somewhat comical rating system of "Turkey" for zero to 5 stars for the best, it provides easy and fast ratings. Some negative thoughts about the Guide of mine are the lack of films. Yes, I like you, can understand that EVERY movie can not be put in here, but when you have a film like "Astro-Zombies" which is nearly unheard of, and do not have a film like "Ticks", or "Ticks 2" which is more known, that is just wrong to me. Well, overall it is pretty good, I would recommend it, but trust some of the other people on here that say there are a few BETTER books on this and choose those before buying or renting this.

Have a good one.

Ryan

Just ordered this book hoping that it would live up to the reviews. The first three movies I looked up that I have personally seen on video were not listed. What a disappointment! Example: Starman.. John Carpenter was listed under directors, Karen Allen was listed under actors as was Jeff Bridges( who was nominated for an Oscar for the film Starman), but alas no review of the film Starman. And there are other examples. Zorro...many inane versions were listed, but not the classic version with Tyrone Powers where he fights Basil Rathbone and marries Linda Darnell. I suppose TV watchers may appreciate this book, but I was watching great films 35 years before video came along, so as much as I appreciate reading some far out reviews, I will return this book in favor of one which is more comprenhesive to my age and interest group.

This is the right guide for finding what movies you want to see tonight. Will 18,000 movies listed this will help you find the right movie for you or you familey. The price for this book is good for the information you get for this book. When I first opend this book it game me the right information and none of the junk information like what you would find else were. This is a very helpful guide and any movie lover should have on.

Maltins reviews are the best around. Short, clear and they get the main point of the film spot on.

Only I don't understand why there is no indication on top of each page to enable quick flipping through the book to find the right place.