Rating: 
Summary: Out of its time, yet still relevant
Review: One of the problems I had with this book is that Field's prose is incredibly mundane. The question I kept asking myself was "Why am I taking writing advice from someone who's such a boring writer himself?" It led to the old axiom: "Those who can, do; those who can't, teach." I pegged Mr. Field as one who couldn't, so he's teaching. Another problem was that the book was ludicrously out of date. Two examples of this: 1) his reliance on 'Chinatown' as an example of good screenwriting; it definitely is, but it is also a couple of decades old; 2) the chapter on writing with a computer was unintentionally hilarious; it may have seemed like a good idea at the time, but just like the tacky clothes we all wore in eras gone by, it's best not to look back on it.But I realized that it wasn't about the style of the prose, or whether Field's own screenwriting was any good, or whether the specifics of his examples were still relevant. He was able to simplify the basic tenets of the screenplay, and give practical and easy-to-follow exercises for overcoming any obstacles. His paradigm of the three-act story structure (which he must have diagrammed at least a million times!) is simple, and yet effective. After first seeing it visually portrayed, many of the pieces of the story that'd been floating around in my own head fell into place. He also gives helpful hints on how to develop character, how to construct scenes and sequences, and how to begin the story itself (you begin by starting with the end!). Maybe his ideas seem obvious to others, but they are a real help to me. So my rating is not based on the style of the book. It's based on the effectiveness of the teaching. And this book does well in that regard.
Rating: 
Summary: Read the Rules, Then Throw Them Out The Window
Review: Syd Field is THE authority on how to write a Hollywood screenplay. That is, a cookie cutter, seen it a hundred times, time the pacing by your watch screenplay. Not that there's anything wrong with that [Box Office Numbers prove this time and again], but the real use for Field, I've found, is to teach you ALL the rules so you can know what they should be, and then throw them out the window. Field teached you the basics of creating plot and story [a section I think most Hollywood writers really ought to RE-READ], the [very] basics on getting to know your characters, and then shows off his grand Paradigm and orders you to live your life by it. True, a movie script needs to have structure, but you should not be able to tell where a story is going by the fifteenth page - which is how most screenplays I've read based solely on Field's teachings normally turn out. His reference is also stuck in the seventies and early eighties. Granted Chinatown was a good movie, but in the last ten years especially films have moved beyond "The Paradigm" and things like ingenuity, originality, and interesting stories have become much more important than structure Structure STRUCTURE. In the end, I did learn something from Syd Field's books [Screenplay and its companion The Screenwriters Workbook], but when I was finished I tossed the books over my shoulder, cataloged them away for future reference [if I should ever need it] and then read a number of books written just recently that actually helped create so many more improvements in my next few drafts than Screenplay could ever hope to.
Rating:
Summary: Don't listen to the frustrated reviewers
Review: Enough with the negative reviews. Syd Field writes from the perspective of a reader who makes decisions to recommend movies to be made. It would be foolish to totally dismiss his advice on structure just because a few movies were successful (e.g. Pulp Fiction) in flouting the 3 act structure turning on 2 plot points. Read your Aristotle. It is a tested formula for a dramatic structure that will help keep an audience's interest. The difficulty that most people will have with Syd Field's writing is that he is not writing from the perspective of a writer, but of a consumer of writing. He is not going to give you advice on how to invent your story - to express your soul - so to speak. There are other texts you can use to help you put your thoughts on the page. After reading this book, I would recommend reading his Screenwriter's Workbook. It will flesh out the three act structure even further. Note: You will need a style guide to help actually format your document correctly.
Rating: 
Summary: A most worthy contribution to the craft
Review: Reading reader reviews of books on writing for the screen is about like reading reviews of movies: There's a lot of disagreement between the eyes of beholders. I sometimes think I should ask the reviewers at Mr. Showbiz what I should get high on before going to see what they consider a masterpiece. "Screenplay" was sent to me by a movie producer who asked me to write a screenplay for a book I wrote. When I lamented that I knew nothing about writing screenplays, he said the book he'd just read proved to him I could write; all I needed was to understand some important aspects of the screenplay vs. the book. I've learned a lot from Syd Field. "Screenplay" clearly showed me the visual aspects of film, "It's all about pictures," Field stresses over and over. If I learned nothing else from him, how to put a screenplay into professional format would make "Screenplay" worth the trip. Sure, I had to study the book, go back over it several times before I got this, or that. But gosh, diving into writing screenplays isn't like a lesson in Microsoft Windows -- click here, drag that over there. There's a lot to learn, and Syd Field offers a lot of guidance for the serious student. I don't care if he's never written a screenplay. Some of the very best book editors wrote nothing except editorial marks on others' works. The fabled Scribner's editor of old, Max Perkins, who brought some of their best out of Scott Fitzgerald, Hemingway, James Jones, Marjorie Kennan Rawlings, etc. etc., never wrote a book. I'll say this: If you want to read a book on screenplays and put it down with the feeling you're ready to roll, don't bother with anybody's book on the subject. But if you really want to learn, if you have the requisite creativity -- AND gritty energy -- you'll get your money's worth from Syd Field's "Screenplay." Also, his "Four Screenplays" has been very helpful to me. Field has a way of reinforcing things by saying them a different way, in a different setting. I really didn't get his advice to "get into a scene late and get out early" until I read this book. And didn't he pick some dandies? "Thelma and Louise" and "The Silence of the Lambs" are the two I studied most diligently, and what a ride it's been. Two great, great movies, to my mind, both demonstrating what Syd Field repeatedy shows us are important elements of fine screenplays. One other thing, Field's coaching has put a tiny new edge on my writing skills as regards books, too, a benefit he probably didn't expect a writer would obtain.
Rating:
Summary: No wonder this book is considered the classic
Review: No wonder the New York Times calls this book "the classic," and why it's referred to as the "Bible" of the film industry. I read this book many years ago, and I thought it was very good, then I put it away. When somebody asked to borrow it, I loaned it to them, and never got it back. When I started thinking about writing a screenplay, the first thing I did was look for this book. I didn't remember who I loaned it to, so I had to go out and buy another one. Am I glad I did. The way Field writes, the conceptual presentation of his ideas, is truly masterful. The films used are broken down in a clear and concise way. I had truly forgoten what a great book this is. I have a much greater appreciation of what makes a good screenplay now. You begin with structure, then begin to unfold the elements of plot and character within that form. And, form is everything. Once you know the structure you can write it anyway you want. This is a book I'll never loan out anymore. I will always keep it by my bedside for many years to come and refer to it often.
Rating:
Summary: Start here . . .
Review: Syd Field's SCREENPLAY is a great book for a beginner. The author takes the reader through the basic steps of writing a screenplay, from the first idea to fleshing out the characters to the structure of the entire piece. He explains what a set-up is (and what it needs to be) and tips for beginning and ending the screenplay, two of the more difficult tasks a writer will face. Perhaps most importantly for those who have never written a script before, he devotes a chapter to the screenplay format, showing indentation and capitalization rules, defining terms used within the script, and explaining abbreviations. Novices to the form should start with this book before moving to more advanced books. I also recommend studying actual professional screenplays in their entirety.
Rating: 
Summary: Misleading reviews
Review: I frankly purchased this book based on the 5 star rating offered by a 'Top Reviewer' and feel quite disappointed. Although, I would give it a two star rating because there are some useful points to ponder and use in this book. The main reason I got disappointed: the author insists very many times that movie-goers will like/dislike any movie during the first 10 minutes (not necessarily so in my and others experience) and that, to entice their interest, the first 28-30 pages of the screenplay should be interesting enough; he follows it up in almost every chapter about how the movie 'Chinatown' is a splendid example of what screenplay is all about. What stumped me is his admission in a later chapter that he fell asleep after the first few minutes when he watched 'Chinatown' for the first time! And that, it was only during his third viewing that he realized that it was an interesting movie and it was only later on - when examining some paintings during a Europe trip - that he realized what a great screenplay it was. I am baffled that he praises a movie so much and uses that as an example frequently while happily confessing that he had to see it three times to realize that it had a great screenplay. What happened to his theory that the first 10 minutes is crucial to interest the audience?
Rating:
Summary: I am a teacher of screenwriting
Review: I am a professional screenwriter and I also teach advanced and beginning screenwriting at a prominent Bay Area university. Field is the benchmark teaching text, and I used it last semester to teach Screenwriting 1, the Basics. For this class, Field is as good as any text. I don't particularly like texts and don't usually use them to teach as I have a wealth of my own experiences to guide me and my students. But I did find Field useful, at least at this stage of the teaching process. Field gives new students a good overview of what is important in a screenplay: formatting; setup, confrontation, resolution, known as the "arc;" and he is helpful in creating characters. But it is my considered opinion that the best way to learn to write screenplays is to read screenplays. Personally, I would say that the person desirous of learning how to write a screenplay get his or her hands on as many screenplays as they possibly can. Reading them is what taught me to write them. And I had several bought, produced and shown in theaters and on TV. There is really no need to fill your shelves with textbooks on the subject. So I give Field three stars. Not so much because his book is faulty (in some places it is out of date: the screenplay today should be closer to 100 pages long, not the recommended 120 pages in Field), but because I doubt the need for books to learn this craft. Still, one book, like Fields, can be useful as a quick reference for a problem.
Rating:
Summary: Generic
Review: If there was ever a book that tried to teach you a formula for screenwriting, this is it. I've never understood the fascination with Syd Field by screenwriters. Some say this is the bible for screenwriters, but it really doesn't tell you much of anything. If you really want to learn about the art of scriptwriting, read Robert McKee's "Story: Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting". That will give you the deeper understanding of screenwriting you'll be lacking after Syd Field.
Rating:
Summary: "Screenplay" has good and bad points
Review: There are things that I liked and things that I disliked about "Screenplay." First, the things that I liked: It is a very well written, thoroughly researched, and instructive textbook. The constant repetition of simple concepts works for me. The points gets across. I disagree with the reviewer who thinks that Field is worthless because he has not authored a successful screenplay. Yes, it would help if he did. However, the job of a successful teacher (and I am a teacher myself) is to digest all the information out there and spit it back at you in a way that you can assimilate it. Field is successful at that. You don't have to build an actual living cell in order to effectively teach cellular biology. In fact, currently it is impossible to build a living cell from scratch. And, of course, you don't have to be a hen to judge an omelet. The things that I disliked: First, the basic premise that permeates the book, i.e., what we see in the movies is how screenplays should be written. What we actually see in the movies usually is very low quality. Syd Field may be right if your sole objective is to sell a script to Hollywood. If your objective is to advance the art, Field'paradigm is rather limiting. In fact, it is a straightjacket. Second, there is a basic contradiction in the book: Field praises the screenplay of "Chinatown" as a brilliant example of screenwriting. Yet, the first time that he saw the film, he was "bored, tired, and dozed off during the screening" (p. 74), and so did I. Field says that Chinatown was "a very cold and distant film," and I have to agree with him. Then how come it was a brilliant screenplay? It is very hard to believe that Roman Polanski received a brilliant screenplay and managed to turn it into a boring movie. How about if the screenplay wasn't so great after all? Field tells us that after repeated readings he learned to appreciate the subtleties of "Chinatown." That doesn't do much for me. Most movies have only one shot at the audience. Most people see a movie once, and if they don't like it, that's the end of it. They are not going back to read the screenplay. The product is the movie, not the screenplay. Overall, I give three out of five stars.
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