Asian Cult Cinema

Rating:
Summary: It's too bad he never watched most of the movies he reviews.
Review: A lot of people will complain that the reviews are too subjective, but that can actually be a good thing. Once you've read a lot of reviews, you can see where your opinions coincide or diverge from the opinions of the reviewer.

However, in addition to the MANY MANY factual errors throughout the book, it soon becomes all too apparent that Weisser, or whoever really wrote the reviews gathered in this volume, has never actually seen a large percentage of the films in this book! Or, at best, has fast-forwarded through some and written descriptions based on his misinterpretation of the films. Frequently it seems as though reviews are written by reading the liner notes and/or other reviews and trying to guess what might actually happen in the film. Too often, it's not even that accurate.

Buy virtually any other book on HK/Asian movies and you'll be much happier and more informed in the long run. Actually, buy any book on Asian travel, culture or cooking and you'll gain more useful insight on Asian cinema than you will from work of fiction.

To think trees died to print this... what a waste!

Rating:
Summary: Why are you still selling this doorstopper?
Review: As others have mentioned, ACC is a veritable treasure trove of misinformation, spelling errors, score-settling, and salacious partisanism that should no longer be sold on-line or in bookstores. There are many better books now on the subject and still many bookstores stock only this one because of the number of reviews it contains and their general brevity (quantity yes, quality no). Granted, until recently, none of those books covered as many films as this book does, but now Videohound has a decent Asian cinema guide that tops ACC by a good 400 reviews (around 1200 think). That he and his pals originally wrote the reviews for a fanzine hardly justifies the sloppiness. There were many fanzines in those early days of Asian cinema discovery that were far better written and more factually accurate yet published further underground. A recent thread at Mobius Home Video Forum about Weisser elicited a spirited round of error-spotting in not only this book, but his volumes on Japanese Cinema as well.

Thomas Weisser also sells bootleg Asian DVDs on his Miami-based website, a fact well-known to many fans of Asian cinema. While a lot of us may in fact buy boots on a regular basis simply to save money, to call oneself a fan and then publish such a damaging book, and THEN actually PROFIT from selling illegal copies of the films you supposedly love is another matter altogether.

Drop this book, Amazon. Please!

Rating:
Summary: That's all a bit harsh, it's not THAT bad!
Review: Being an obcessive fan and collector of HK film, I too found plenty of errors in this text. And yes, he does review almost completely on his own opinion...however, isn't that his right? Isn't that what a review is? I can't think of any other film guide that isn't just as opinionated. Has anyone ever read Leon Maltin's video guide? Just because you don't agree with his opinion doesn't mean he's being overly subjective. Anyways, the errors can be quite frustrating, but the book is still worthwhile. The amount of films he covers in the text is vast and he should be commended for going beyond the usual overview of mainstream HK cinema usually found in books of this sort. Previous reviewers have compared this book to other similar texts...such as Sex and Zen and a Bullet in the Head. While it may be better written and contain less errors, Sex and Zen... is just as opinionated and, I would say, covers only about half of what Weisser's does. Quanity vs. quality; it just depends on what you are looking for. To summarize, it's really not that bad. And since most people see HK film as either Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee, or generic Chinese guys jumping around, you should at least give the guy credit for trying to serve the genre's true fans.

Rating:
Summary: Not recommended.
Review: I would not recommend this book to someone looking for a balanced introductory guide to Hong Kong films. For one, there are a lot of factual errors. Titles, release years, stars, and plots are often mixed up and inaccurate. The author also seems to have a "more exploitative & trashy, the better" attitude--so maybe if your idea of an excellent film is the kind that would be perfect on "Mystery Science Theater 3000", you would like this book. Lots of great films are omitted, and his personal bias against some stars (like Chow Sing Chi) totally color his reviews. Don't get this one unless you're a completist for volumes on HK cinema and already have much better books like "Hollywood East".

Rating:
Summary: Not recommended.
Review: I would not recommend this book to someone looking for a balanced introductory guide to Hong Kong films. For one, there are a lot of factual errors. Titles, release years, stars, and plots are often mixed up and inaccurate. The author also seems to have a "more exploitative & trashy, the better" attitude--so maybe if your idea of an excellent film is the kind that would be perfect on "Mystery Science Theater 3000", you would like this book. Lots of great films are omitted, and his personal bias against some stars (like Chow Sing Chi) totally color his reviews. Don't get this one unless you're a completist for volumes on HK cinema and already have much better books like "Hollywood East".

Rating:
Summary: everything you need to know about butt-kickn' movies
Review: The book provides an extensive list of movies for the Hong Kong enthusist. Complete from front to back with movies most Americans never even consider seeing. I take this book with me to the video store when I want to see something good. So far, Thomas Weisser has not steered me wrong.

Rating:
Summary: Limited but Useful
Review: While none of the other reviewers or reviews for this book are wrong, there are some things to keep in mind before you decide if this book is for you:

1) This is essentially the only printed movie guide book encompassing most all Hong Kong films up to 1997 (reviews for the past few years can easily be found on the web). It's not complete but it's much easier turning pages than trying to read links on a web site.

2) Bear in mind that most of these reviews were originally written for a small fazine/magazine called "Asian Cult Cinema," whose readers were more interested in martial arts and Category III movies (softcore/NC-17 movies). To compile the book, he has added reviews of more mainstream/movies released overseas but think of this author as the Joe Bob Briggs of HK movies without the humor or writing ability. It is not the perspective of a professional reviewer.

3) yes, it is opininated and he may be wrong in his opinions of actors and certain movies but he does award 4-stars to the obvious best of the best so again, it's a safe starting point. I think the frustration lies in its complete unevenness - there are reviews that are thoughtful, insight, informative and educated. There are others that give away plot points or seem to have been written by a 13-year old just discovering salacious movies ...

In summation, if you are fairly to completely unfamiliar with the best HK movies to start with, this book, for lack of a better choice is a good place to start. Do not read this book from beginning to end. You will become annoyed at its shifting writing styles and readibility. But you can skim through to get nice overviews of the best HK movies out there - for those who are interested in the non-dubbed works of Jaackie Chan, Samo Hung, Jet Li, Chow Yun Fat and other major players, there is a nice chronological filmography of each in the back and you can then just jump to each review or use it as a jumping point to search Amazon.com or the internet. The other reviewers aren't wrong about this book but it does have some usefulness.