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Video & DVD Guide 2003 (Video and DVD Guide, 2003)
by Mick Martin, Marsha Porter
(9 customer reviews)Paperback: Tuesday, August 27, 2002 (Ballantine Books)
| List Price: Price: $1.13 You Save: $18.82 |  |
| Video & DVD Guide 2003 (Video and DVD Guide, 2003)by Mick Martin, Marsha Porter (9 customer reviews)Paperback: Tuesday, August 27, 2002 (Ballantine Books)
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Editorial ReviewsBook Description Wondering what video to rent tonight? This bestselling, fact-packed guide is the only sourcebook you and your family will ever need. Mick Martin and Marsha Porter steer you toward the winners and warn you about the losers. Video & DVD Guide 2003 covers it all—more films than any other guide, plus your favorite serials, B-Westerns, made-for-TV movies, and old television programs! Each entry, conveniently alphabetized for easy access, includes a summary, fresh commentary, the director, major cast members, the year of release, and the MPAA rating, plus a reliable Martin and Porter rating—from Five Stars to Turkey—so you’ll never get caught with a clunker again! THE BEST IN THE FIELD FOR 18 YEARS! Including • BRAND-NEW DVD LISTINGS • DIRECTOR AND STAR INDEXES • COMPLETE ACADEMY AWARD LISTINGS • WHERE TO BUY THOSE HARD-TO-FIND VIDEOS |
Reader Reviews |
| A very different kind of movie guide..., Saturday, June 26, 2004 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! |
 An unreliable guide., Sunday, July 13, 2003When you are a big movie fan it's a good thing to get yourself a reference book to keep track of all things film. Although this particular volume is not bad to have around it has some major flaws, especially in the review department. There seems to be no continuity from review to review. Because there are so many different people writing reviews there is no general opinion of what makes a good movie. How is it possible that the same source gives a thrown together mess like ARMAGEDDON three and a half stars and a superb satire like FIGHT CLUB a 'turkey' rating? The review of FIGHT CLUB is so far off it really seems that the author didn't even see the movie. There are more examples as well that induce some head scratching. With a guide such as this you need to have a kind of general opinion that gives you an idea of when to buy into the reviewers advice. I've bought the last five or six volumes of this guide and found the VIDEOHOUND GOLDEN MOVIE RETREIVER book to be far superior and chock full of extras that, over the years, this book didn't have or had to get rid of to put in more questionable movie reviews. I've actually rented movies based on highly recommended reviews within the VIDEO AND DVD GUIDE that were bad calls. Not bad if kept in the bathroom for quick reference but definitely not for coffee table presentation if you are a hard core movie buff. |
 Great guide, Wednesday, April 23, 2003What I have always liked about VDG/VMG is the fact that you can find movies by actors. This is something other books dont offer. |
| Almost Perfect, Wednesday, February 26, 2003 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! |
| 5 STARS !!!, Friday, January 24, 2003 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? |