Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide

by Leonard Maltin

Book Overview

This movie guide contains more than 18,000 reviews, including over 300 new entries, with over 13,000 video and 8000 DVD and laserdisc listings. It also has an updated index of leading performers. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0452288932
• ISBN13: 9780452288935
• Release Date: August 2007
• Publisher: Plume Books
• Length: 1600 Pages
• Weight: 2.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 2.3" x 5.3" x 7.9"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

A MUST FOR MOVIEGOERS

Anything we may say will add nothing about this abosolutely indispensable encyclopedia of movies which I keep by my bedside table. I've been getting regular up-to-date editions of Mr. Maltin's book and I've always found a guide to choose movies. You may not agree all the time on the comments but anyhow they're quite valuable. I've noticed though that in recent editions some movies have simply dissapeared. Does this mean that they've been sent to the book on Classics that the author has published?

Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide

I purchased this book for a gift, but we have been using this guide for years and really like having it available to check on movies that we might want to see. It is a very useful tool to have and we like Maltin's reviews.

Still my favorite movie reference

With the Internet Movie Database so easily accessible, you might think there's little need for a book like this. But I've been a fan of Maltin's guide for many years, and will continue to be for years to come. The concise reviews and ratings make it fun for me to browse for movies.

Exhaustive Reference is Worth its Weight in Gold

At least, if you like watching movies it is. I constantly find myself looking up movies that come on TV (especially the ones that are always of dubious quality on Comedy Central), and this is an invaluable book. If you know anything about these books, you already know all the perks, which include highly accurate information, capsule reviews that not only manage to convey the main gist of the plot but also give a generally very good critique of the films, an idex of prolific actors, actresses, and directors, and a rating scale of BOMB to ****. This is an amazing, quality book, and if you love movies, or even if you want to know what a movie is about before you see it, this is the book for you. As with any publication, however, there are problems. However, these problems have little to do with the guide itself, and more to do with my own personal tastes. First of all, this is a book that you will be referring to over and over again, so you'd think it would be made of sterner stuff; however, by the time this book came out (and maybe this is just me), my copy of the edition from last year was basically in shambles from all the wear and tear. I don't know if it has to do with the limited options they have with printing a book that is over 1600 pages, or what, but you'd really think this would be more sturdy. The only other real complaint I have is his star rating for some movies. A word to the wise: Mr. Maltin tends to like his movies short, sweet, and, if not full of joy, at least slightly humorous. Sadly, some of the great movies fall beneath his good graces because they do not exhibit these qualities. For example, Blade Runner, often regarded as one of the best science fiction movies of all time, recieves *1/2 because it is humorless and hampered by a muddled script (one could argue both of these, of course). Similarly, The Prestige, easily my favorite movie of last year, recieves ** because it is dark and long. Also, Maltin falls into many of the same pitfalls of his peers; movies like The Godfather and Gone With the Wind of course recieve ****, because they are apparently the greatest movies ever made. Maybe it's just my own bias, but I don't think either of those movies was perfect; in fact, far from it- they are among the most overrated films of all time, and I would have thought that Maltin, of all people, would be willing to break the mold and at least take off half a star because of the bits that dragged on a bit. Perhaps instances like these might be call for a five star system instead of a four, with five stars reserved for only those films which are truly something special. After all, with a four star system there's really not a whole lot of room between "fantastic" (what I would consider ****) and "terrible" (anything ** and below). But, I digress. This is a fantastic resource for everyone from film buffs to film novices, and easily the best book of its kind. Just go in knowing that he won't agree with you on many, man

Make sure you buy the right version

Have you noticed? There are two versions of this book (the other is Leonard Maltin's 2008 Movie Guide (Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide (Signet))) and they seem identical except for the price. But there IS another difference: the size! This one is bigger -- 8 inches tall instead of 7. That may not sound like much, but it really makes a difference. The two books have exactly the same pages, just at different sizes, and the smaller one's reduced type is much harder to read. In other words, stick with this one. Size aside, this is an exhaustive reference work. It lists every movie made from 1960 through early 2007, as well as most major films before then. Each listing has a star rating and short summary of its film as well as key specs (director, major cast, running time and year released) and icons identify whether each film has been released on DVD, videocassette or laserdisc. There's also a list of mail order and online sources for obscure titles, and, on the last 57 pages, an index of actors. Want a quick list of every movie ever made by Humphrey Bogart? Reese Witherspoon? Jim Carrey? Here's where to find them. Overall, this is a great book for any movie fan. The back cover features a recommendation by Roger Ebert.