Video & DVD Guide 2003

Rating:
Summary: A very different kind of movie guide...
Review: I got into movie-review books when wanting to get reviews from professional critics on movies of my favorite genere; horror/ slasher films. I first picked up Roger Eberts and Lenord Maltins books. Un-surprisingly, as most critics seem to despise any kind of slasher pic, they panned pretty much every movie I looked up. Frustrated by thier harshness, I next turned to the Video & DVD guide. I was pleastntly surprised. Whoever reviewed these movies gave films like, for example, "Halloween 2" and "Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter", three stars!, while Ebert and Multin gave them below two, probably just because they were gory, and they consider that a big no-no for any horror movie to be good. Most of the horror/ slasher pics. in this book got two stars or more (except for those truly un-deserving ones). It's as tho the critic were looking through a horror-fans perspective! I defintely reccomend this book!

Rating:
Summary: Nothing is perfect
Review: I have been buying this movie and video guide for years. The mini-reviews are fine. Obviously, no one is going to agree with all of them. I must admit to be wondering how it is possible this book can contain 18,000 entries and still be missing some videos or DVD's I own and I know are still available. Certainly they can be seen on TV. Lots of real junk movies are included (and given "turkey" ratings), while many movies I own and like or that I know are available at amazon.com are missing. Unfortunately, this is the case with all the other guides too. As a result, this is still as useful a comprehensive guide as one will find.

Rating:
Summary: Nothing is perfect
Review: I have been buying this movie and video guide for years. The mini-reviews are fine. Obviously, no one is going to agree with all of them. I must admit to be wondering how it is possible this book can contain 18,000 entries and still be missing some videos or DVD's I own and I know are still available. Certainly they can be seen on TV. Lots of real junk movies are included (and given "turkey" ratings), while many movies I own and like or that I know are available at amazon.com are missing. Unfortunately, this is the case with all the other guides too. As a result, this is still as useful a comprehensive guide as one will find.

Rating:
Summary: 5 STARS !!!
Review: I've been turning to Martin and Porter for around 13 years now and all I can say is that I eagerly await each year's edition. This year sees the Video Movie Guide (VMG) renamed the Video & DVD Guide (VDG). When I first went looking for a paperback movie guide to keep on my desk, I spent a lot of time checking out the competition and found them all lacking in some area. Leonard (who is quite film savvy) and I just didn't see eye-to-eye at all. If he didn't like a certain genre, those type of movies didn't get a fair shake. Many of the others were geared for family viewing (which is fine but I've been there, done that, and have moved on to encompass a wide range of films). The only one that I found to be fair and have the technical info (color or b&w, running time, rating, subtitles, year released, cast, director, etc.) that I was looking for was VDG. I've watched the book's format change (for the better) over the years (I happily don't have to figure out the genre of the movie before looking it up anymore). After reading some of the other reviews, I understand the frustration of not having all of an actor's or director's films listed but if you read the Foreward/Introducton to VDG you'd know that only available (for rent and/or purchase) titles are covered (at the time of publication). This is why I've kept my old VMGs for reference. Nobody seems to mind when a book or DVD has an incomplete filmography on an actor or director so what's the beef?

Rating:
Summary: OK Guide
Review: Martin and porter uses a five star system. Instead of one star these movies recieve a turkey designation. THey also include many TV movies. I tend to agrree with some of their reviews

Rating:
Summary: Almost Perfect
Review: The only reason this didn't get 5 stars is because it does not have as many movies as "Maltin's Movie and Video Guide." I buy "Maltin's Move and Video Guide" on odd numbered years and "Video and DVD Guide" by Martin and Porter on even numbered years. Maltin has the best, most comprehensive movie reviews and Martin and Porter have the best cast index. Between the two you can find everything you could possibly want!

Rating:
Summary: Almost Perfect
Review: The only reason this didn't get 5 stars is because it does not have as many movies as "Maltin's Movie and Video Guide." I buy "Maltin's Move and Video Guide" on odd numbered years and "Video and DVD Guide" by Martin and Porter on even numbered years. Maltin has the best, most comprehensive movie reviews and Martin and Porter have the best cast index. Between the two you can find everything you could possibly want!

Rating:
Summary: The Best? Forget It!
Review: This book is not informative enough to be a "guide" for those looking to find a movie that they may just enjoy. It is thus counterproductive. There is simply very little text about each movie (the guide does have a ton of movies--even some rarities). But the rating system! Oh my. Seriously, any "guide" that rates the film "That Thing You Do!" higher than "The Graduate" should be questioned. Now, I truly believe that that last sentence transends taste. Think about those two movies. Now read the sentence again. Really. This book is garbage. It's a nonbook, a mistake, a three-pound weight. It's not a guide.

Rating:
Summary: the best
Review: This is the best guide to movies on video. It captures the essence of movies better than other guides, with fairer assessments. I've compared them all repeatedly, and this is the only one I would buy.

Rating:
Summary: 18,000 Movies Is A Lot Of Movies.
Review: VIDEO & DVD GUIDE 2003 is very useful. For one thing it gives ratings on more than 18,000 movies. Of course the comments on each entry are necessarily brief because of space limitations.

One of the best features of this book is an extensive cast index. There is a similar index for directors. Also included is a listing of Academy Awards by year for Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Director.