Customer Reviews

Violent Screen: A Critic's 13 Years on the Front Lines of Movie Mayhem (Expedition Series)

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

 

 

A wonderful and gritty collection of Stephen Hunter's work as a film critic is captured in this amazing book. Hunter has a keen eye for detail and he fill each review with wit and realism. Hunter also includes film essays and suggests movies that are similar to or better than the one he is reviewing. I have never been fan of Hunter's fiction (gun stories get boring) but "Violent Screen" was a pure joy to read again and again.

Stephen Hunter is a talented prolific novelist, who also writes insightful movie reviews. It's always interesting to see if you agree with the opinion of a writer you enjoy. But here Hunter has given us himself. There is an epilogue that appears out of place, until you understand just how willing Hunter is to invest himself in his writing.

Excellent and unforgetable.

.... each 3 - 4 page review is informative and entertaining (not that you'll agree with all his reviews).

Perfect book to leave in the bathroom for those visiting guets that will only have a couple of minutes work time in there.

I have been a fan of Stephen Hunter's novels for some time now. I think I knew for half that time he had a day job as a movie critic but pushed it to the back of my mind. In trying to acquire my own copies of all his books, I read some excerpts and the Amazon reviews and decided to get this and his other book of film reviews because of his blunt, pull no punches style. Fans of the novels should not necessarily get this book. Students of film history or those who like to disagree and debate will get more out of it.

Reading this book is like debating a friend about the relative merits of a film you both saw separately. You can have similar tastes in scotch and cigars, and opinions on politics, but still disagree on whether you liked a certain film. Ultimately, any form of artistic expression will have some who like it, and others who do not, regardless of whether it is a movie, or a book of movie reviews. Mr. Hunter and I don't often agree. I did not know that when I bought this book, and I consider myself politically and philisophically aligned with him on many other issues, especially guns. Other reviewers have noted an extensive discussion of firearms in film. I really liked those parts.

This book was written several years ago, and is a compilation of movie reviews from approximately ten to fifteen years preceding that. Most of the reviewed movies I have seen. Of those, I disagreed with Mr. Hunter's characterizations and opinions about half the time. He is a thorough student of film history, and weaves a thread tying films of today with those dating back to WWII. That doesn't mean you'll agree with him. This book reads in part like a college textbook on film history, and part op-ed page rant against modern Hollywood. As I read it, I kept hearing the voice of a college professor from 20 years ago assigning me to write a paper comparing and contrasting two films after viewing each one and using a review from Hunter's book as a source. Very strange, since I never took a single course in film. Decide for yourself whether you want to own a very different Stephen Hunter book before buying this one. The other book I own that is most like this one is David Grossman's On Killing.

This book gives a a short look at some of the most controversial movies Hollywood has made. It separates movies into different categories like action-adventure, film noir, horr, war, etc., so you can expect what you are about to read. Finally, it asks a question: If our nation is against violence so much, why are we supporting movies that contain so much of it?
I enjoyed reading Violent Screen somewhat. It showcased a few of my favorite movies such as Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dongs, and my all-time favorite, True Romance, all directed by Quentin Tarintono. But I got bored by reading about movies I can't stand like Born on the Fourth of July and Scarface. Author Steven Hunter also included reviews of movies like Thelma and Louise; that confused me. I didn't feel that it was violent or controversial enough to be featured in this book. Atfer reading other reviews, such as that of Romeo Is Bleeding, I wanted to see the movie as soon as possible.
Overall, I found Violent Screen a mediocre book. I enjoyed reading about some of my favorite movies, but flipped the pages of the ones that bored me. There were a few movies that made me wonder why they were even in the book. I enjoyed reading Hunter's opinions. Part of the "fun" of this book was seeing what he thought about my favorite movies. I agreed with the author about half of the time, but you are not always supposed to agree with a movie review. Also, I found the book to be a bit too long. If I were to recommend this book to someone, it would be to a person who likes violent movies. Anyone else should stay as far away as possible.

America is often seen by the world as a society that glorifies violence, as demonstrated by our movies. This book takes on that topic head on. The reviews themselves are very helpful. Some movies receive praise, others the opposite. Violent movies expose our flaws and show our conscience. Read this book if you are interested in good movies.

By the way, it takes about a minute to read each vignette. This makes for good bedtime reading or for the subway--anywhere that you have only a short amount of time to read.

I've read many of Stephen Hunter's novels, and have some more yet to read. This book, Violent Screen, intrigued me by its title because I have long noted that Hollywood, populated as it is with a preponderance of liberal, anti-gun, anti-violence sob sisters, cannot seem to make a movie without featuring gun violence, homicidal car chases, and other socially unacceptable action on a grand scale.

The average citizen of the United States has never, WILL never, in a normal lifetime, be witness, even once, to most of the violent acts that, if you judge our society by what Hollywood portrays, is a normal daily occurrence on our streets.

The so-called "Wild West," for example, depicted by Hollywood, with its stand-up quick-draw shoot-outs, is the product of the fevered imaginations of screenwriters and Eastern pulp fiction purveyors. If the truth were known, Eastern cities were far more violent than the Western villages of the nineteenth century.

But, Stephen Hunter is not judgmental about such things. His appreciation for their product goes beyond such judgments. His criticism is of their craft, not their agenda. Perhaps that is as it should be.

Despite the fact that his novels show evidence of a writer with encyclopedic knowledge of firearms, and it is evident that he is a shooter, which he himself confesses, his movie reviews show a different man: one who is sensitive to the feminist cause, and a sensitive portrayal of the "alternate life-style." While his novels, particularly the Bob Lee Swagger series, are filled with violence, crude language, torture, and denigrating racial depictions, in Violent Screen another writer emerges: a thoughtful, careful thinker whose sensitivities are subtle and nuanced.

There is no doubt that Stephen Hunter is a skilled writer, with an extraordinary vocabulary, and a wonderful ability to tell a story that holds you entranced. What this book shows me is that he is also a man I'd like to know. He is a critical thinker of the first rank, whose opinions I can respect.

Joseph (Joe) Pierre, USN (Ret)
author of Handguns and Freedom...their care and maintenance
and other books

Hunter's capsule reviews of several dozen violent movies of various genres is a great read for the film fanatic. Like Roger Ebert, you often find yourself recognizing the truth of what he is saying even as he is bashing some of your favorite films. Hunter is a perceptive critic who can provide great insight into specific films, yet somehow the scope of the book seems too narrow, despite several broader articles about films interspersed between the reviews; THE DEER HUNTER, for instance, is dismissed as a minor and flawed piece of film-making in just a few lines without going in-depth into why he feels this way. It is frustrating little things like this which prevent me from giving it five stars. Still, this book provides much food for thought for the film buff.