( 3 reviews )
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Posted: Dec 22 2007
This series is up to four volumes, each of which is packed with details of hundreds of movies. For each flick, there's a listing of major cast and crew members, a plot summary and review, and loads of information about various DVD releases. The contributors will tell you all about the assorted aspect ratios, soundtrack options, subtitles, commentaries, extras, Easter eggs, and picture quality, and they'll advise you which DVD version is the most awesome. They often comment on how the DVDs stack up to the original prints--whether the color has remained true, how grainy the picture is, what kind of damage has crept into the transfer, what scenes were deleted or added, and so forth. Sometimes the amount of data they provide is daunting, especially when they begin to hold forth on the virtues of obscure Burmese DVD releases of Euro art films from the Soviet bloc in the Sixties and such-like. Be advised that virtually none of the films covered are mainstream films, at least by American tastes. It's a lot of genre stuff (science fiction, fantasy, horror, grindhouse/exploitation, and so forth), plus oodles of foreign material, mostly Italian, French, and Japanese. It seems as if virtually every giallo and Italo-Spanish zombie movie ever created is listed in one of these volumes, along with the more surrealistic stuff from Japan. The editors also have an amazing obsession with Chabrol and basically go through everything he's ever done, although it's not quite clear why. These books are one of the best film resources I've encountered and you can spend days going through them. Very much worth the price and highly recommended.
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Posted: Nov 13 2007
The third volume in this great set is just as indespencible as the other two. The details given are very important to someone like me (in the horror film industry). I can not wait for the fourth. Tony Bernardini Horror Theater Video (dot com)
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( 4 of 4 found this review helpful ) Posted: May 19 2007
I purchased the first two volumes of this series at a local store here in Vancouver for $45.00 each and thought I had a bargain with the quality I found in them. But when I found that there was a third volume available from Amazon for one third of the local price, I jumped at the chance to buy. The first volume has been revised (and if you have the unrevised first edition, the second edition contains `120 pages of new material), but if you are into the type of films covered in these books, they are worth their weight in gold. Each film begins with a look at the disc's technical specs: color, year, running time, director, stars and finally dvd manufacturer and region availability. Then follows a synopsis of the plot, followed by a discussion of each disc's technical merits. These include aspect ratios, color, sound and what king of extras can be found on each disc. For example, I wanted to buy the film "Cube", but I couldn't find a copy in Vancouver, so I drove to Seattle and found a copy there. Having looked the film up in these books, I'm glad I had to drive south. It seems the Canadian disc is a bare bones affair: no extras except the trailer. The American disc on the other hand has tons of extras. This kind of information is hard to find anywhere else. These books will also stand up to constant use as they are very well bound. The only drawback that I have found is that they list films that I very much want, but aren't available in my region. Oh well, at least I know they're out there somewhere. These are excellent guides and at the price Amazon is asking, worth every penny.
