Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Invaluable & Fun! The Best Asian Cinema Guide!, August 13, 2003
Okay, as the guy with the third most reviews in the book, I'm admittedly biased. However, significantly less than 1/10th of the work is mine -- so I think I can have an opinion. And my opinion is WOW! The day the book came in the mail, I thought it was 3 books, just due to the sheer size and heft. The night I got it, I stayed up 'til 3 AM reading it and marveling at the amount of work that Brian (and the other non-me contributors) had put into it.This is an AMAZING collection of film reviews and facts. It's already invaluable to me (every time I see an Asian/Anime DVD for sale I wish I had it with me), and if you love HK/Action/Oriental/Monster films, I'm betting you'll adore this book, too. Heck, I'd _have_ to buy it, even if I hadn't worked on it. There is no better guide to Asian cinema. Dunno what book that NY guy was reading, or even if he saw this. Clearly, he was misinformed.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Essential, November 25, 2006
Simply put, if you're a fan of Asian films, or are interested in delving into the wild world of Eartern cinema, this book is a must-own.
To make things clear, this was originally intended solely as a guide to Hong Kong action films. But then the editors made a last-minute decision to include films from all East Asian countries. However, most of the capsules are for HK and Japanese films. There are some Korean, a few Taiwanese and maybe one or two Indian films covered here. The problem with a book like this is that it is virtually impossible to create a comprehensive guide. The world of Asian cinema (especially Hong Kong cinema) is as vast as that of America, meaning, there are tons and tons of titles that aren't covered here, even if they were on DVD at the time this book was written. I can name at least five to ten titles off the top of my head that should be in this book but aren't.
That said, what makes this book invaluable are the capsule reviews themselves. Besides putting to light some of the rarer titles (including some ultra hard-to-find kung fu movies from Taiwan that are nearly impossible to locate on the internet) the writers also provide incredibly detailed plot descriptions. This comes in handy, especially if you're the type of movie-watcher (like myself) who will go to the video store and pick out random titles off the shelf just because the artwork is cool. A lot of times the older kung fu movies are almost impossible to follow plot-wise, and I've spent many times in front of a film with this book on my lap, following along with the description as the actual film played out (this was especially helpful when I accidentally rented PEKING OPERA BLUES without English subtitles!).
So, overall, I'd say this is a great book. It's the only true movie guide to Asian films, and while I would have liked to have seen more Bollywood titles, I really can't complain.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
How else could you ever know!, April 12, 2005
This amazing book is bursting at the seams with information both insightful and witty about the vast unknown world of asian cinema.
It is great to be able to find a film to fit any wacky mood.
The way you can search so many different criteria and be entertained by informed trivia make this guide indispensible to anyone looking expand their film horizons.
There is a genuine affection for the subject that clearly comes thru in the writing and in the reviews.
I highly recommend this resource.
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